"Little Chiose?"
Ten minutes earlier.
Sakiko Togawa finished gathering her things, and the rain outside began to fall at almost exactly the same moment.
[Good thing I kept that little clear umbrella they were handing out with flyers on the roadside. The moment I saw it, I just knew it would come in handy someday.]
But what about Chiose? Had she brought an umbrella?
As Sakiko walked out of the classroom toward the school entrance, she glanced into the adjacent classroom — no sign of Chiose anywhere.
If she hadn't brought one, Sakiko could always walk her home on the way. A small favour, nothing more — just going with the flow.
With that thought, Sakiko headed downstairs.
She was still halfway lost in her own head when a familiar silhouette appeared ahead of her. She had been about to call out — but as she drew closer, she realised that Yoshiiro Chiose was not alone.
"Tomori, I'm making my move."
"Mm! Chiose, speed up."
One of the two girls ahead was the new friend who lived next door to Sakiko. The other was... someone Sakiko Togawa could never forget for as long as she lived.
[The two of them? They know each other? Ah... right, they must be in the same class.]
By the time the thought had fully formed, they were already gone, leaving not so much as a shadow behind for Sakiko.
The shoe lockers were nearly empty now — almost all the other girls had already left. Sakiko stood alone, the plastic umbrella in her hand catching the light and shimmering faintly like a pearl.
Sakiko didn't quite know what she was thinking. She just sighed, changed into her outdoor shoes, and opened the umbrella. The cheap plastic canopy sheltered her, more or less.
And just like that, she disappeared into the curtain of rain.
That's just how it was.
A flower drenched in water, or a girl soaked to the bone — which one is lovelier?
A flower could be hers. A girl could be hers too. But if Yoshiiro Chiose had to choose...
"The girl, obviously."
Chiose looked at Tomori, golden light shimmering in her eyes.
She tried to fish the handkerchief out of her pocket to wipe the raindrops from Tomori's face — but the handkerchief had already gone as limp and soaked as a dishrag.
"Hm? What's that?"
Tomori was wringing the rain out of her hair, puzzled by Chiose's sudden non sequitur.
"Oh, nothing~ Hehe."
How wonderful, that they could be friends in the real world...
Yoshiiro Chiose heard the words tumbling out of her mouth before she'd even decided to say them.
"Tomori, you're such a good person — no one's ever been this kind to me before! Can we be friends forever?"
"Forever? Can we really?! Yes! Forever and ever and—"
Chiose had found Takamatsu Tomori's weak spot, and hit it dead-on.
Tomori's face flushed pink — so warm it looked like she might be steaming, the rainwater on her cheeks evaporating right off her skin.
The train station. No passengers — only Chiose and Tomori huddled close together, trying to keep the rain from stealing away what little warmth they had left.
"Little Chiose, come sit at my place for a bit? We can clean up... otherwise you'll catch a cold!"
"We've only known each other for one day and Little Tomori already wants to bathe together? So scary."
"Wha — I! That's not what I meant at all... I didn't..."
"Pfft, I'm just teasing."
Chiose was about to say something more, but a commotion not far off shattered the cosy bubble between them.
What was that noise?
Furious splashing, ragged breathing — and beneath it all, a voice muttering bitter self-recrimination.
Was that—?
Huff, huff...
A black-haired girl came sprinting into the station.
With her pinky finger still hooked around Tomori's, Yoshiiro Chiose quietly studied the black-haired girl before her.
Her blouse was soaked through, her skirt hem caked in mud, and one knee was scraped raw...
Shiina Taki, what on earth happened to you?
Did you fall over like a little kid?
And yet here you are, showing up like this in front of me... you're terrible, you know that? You've made up your mind to make me worry about you, haven't you.
"Taki?"
At the sight of her old bandmate, Tomori felt a shiver run through her.
Only now did it come back to her — that she had once started a band back in middle school.
The deep impression Crychic had left on her from those middle school days had been smoothed over by those two bizarre, bittersweet nightmares. Ah — truly, a strange thing that was hard to put into words.
"Hah... Tomori, hi."
Taki had taken a tumble on the road, but she figured it wasn't a big deal.
She made her way over to the two of them on unsteady legs and sat down at a spot not too close and not too far from them.
Only then did the stiffness slowly begin to leave Taki's slight frame.
She had caught up to them. But what good did that do her?
One of them was an old friend she hadn't been in contact with for a long time.
Back in the band, Soyo had joked that she was so protective of Tomori she might as well have been her bodyguard.
Maybe that was fair — Tomori was such a fragile little thing, looking out for her had felt like the natural thing to do. But once the band fell apart, Taki hadn't lingered or clung to anything. After all, the band had only lasted just over two weeks.
The other person...
Taki squeezed her eyes shut, unable to stop herself from clenching her teeth.
The other person was just a stranger she had crossed paths with once in the real world. Nothing more.
When Shiina Taki opened her eyes again, the face of Yoshiiro Chiose was less than a centimetre from hers.
The tip of Chiose's nose was practically touching her own — just like on the day they first met. In the classroom, in the amber of late afternoon, in a space that had felt entirely their own...
"!!!"
"Hello there — it's the always-in-a-rush Shiina Taki who bumped into me that one time. Long time no see. How'd you manage to scrape yourself up again?"
[She remembers me! She even remembers my name!]
Only one brief encounter — so why does she remember me so clearly... my heart's going to do something embarrassing, you idiot!
Taki bristled slightly, though a different feeling was quickly drowning out the jittery, flustered embarrassment underneath.
"H-hi to you too... Yoshiiro Chiose."
"Do Taki and Little Chiose know each other?"
Tomori leaned in too, a strange feeling stirring inside her.
The friend she had once sworn to start a band with for life, and the friend she had just sworn to stay friends with for life — and it turned out these two knew each other?
How bizarre.
"You could say that," Chiose said, straightening up with a satisfied air at Taki's adorably flustered reaction. "Though we've only met the once. Hehe."
"Only the once..." The phrase felt cold to Taki — cold as the rain. She turned it over and over in her mind, slowly chewing on that small, quiet sting.
"What's the matter, Miss Shiina? You don't look very happy."
Chiose raised an eyebrow, sensing something off.
Wait — could it be that the band's disbandment had left its mark on Taki too, even now in high school? That she hadn't been able to move past it either?
Tsk, tsk.
Sakiko Togawa, you really are a big idiot!
Thinking of all the troubles that might be weighing on Taki — still only a high schooler — Chiose felt her heart go soft.
"Really now, Shiina — don't look so sad. You're an absolute mess, head to toe... I have a damp handkerchief here — it's a bit wet, but do you want to use it to wipe off some of the mud?"
"!!!"
Taki's head snapped up in disbelief.
[So kind... Little Chiose... but...]
"Thank you for the offer... but I have a request."
"What is it?"
"Um... could I join the two of you? I want to..."
"I want to be your... friend too."
The forever kind.
Please.
Please, please, please, please!
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