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It was typhoon season, so miserable weather was to be expected. But this was "mild" miserable weather, which meant everyone still had to go to work and school. The subway ride offered some temporary relief from the storm, but Kuroji knew they would have to go back out and endure it in a few minutes. They had made a habit of leaving home early for work just for situations like this. Bad weather always slowed traffic, and if you weren't careful you could get stuck and be late to your destination. Kuroji was careful. Maybe their superiors would even praise them for their diligence.
But truthfully, that wasn't their only reason. They didn't want to show up with Hoojiro. It's not that they didn't like their older sister; they just wanted to be treated as separate from her. They didn't want this to be a position they acquired due to nepotism. They didn't want to be only known as "Hoojiro's younger sibling". But that was hard when those things may as well be true. So making their morning commute by themself was just one small attempt at independence. They found it nice, even.
The morning commute was probably an odd thing for someone of Kuroji's age to romanticize, but they couldn't help it. There was something about taking the train at the same time as the office workers rather than students that made Kuroji feel like an adult. They were no longer striving for the top of their class, and instead skipped straight ahead to what they needed those grades for: A good job that paid real money.
Their first few times commuting to work was a bit awkward, with them obviously being the youngest (and smallest) passenger, but they soon came to realize that nobody was giving them any thought at all.
Though they wish they were at least given some thought instead of being shoved around as the other commuters tried to make their escape when their stop came. Kuroji made sure they were right at the exit when it was time for them to get off. As soon the train stopped and the doors flung open, Kuroji darted out. They were not keen on finding themself getting pushed around in the chaos. As they distanced themself from the crowd, their pace slowed down. They started up the stairs and readied their umbrella in preparation to face the rain once more.
Kuroji noticed the wind before they noticed the rain as they climbed up the stairs and emerged onto the street. The wind caught their umbrella as they opened it, forcing them to make great strides as they were pulled along. Hopefully it would be able to withstand this weather.
When it came to the typhoon season, the usual rain gear was honestly quite inadequate. The wind still blew rain in faces and pulled umbrellas out of hands. An umbrella didn't do any good against puddles and ankles ended up soaked. Still, it would be stupid not to bring one. The millions of umbrellas held in the hands of nearly every pedestrian was proof enough of this.
Nearly every pedestrian.
The figure of a person not holding an umbrella did bring itself into Kuroji's line of sight. It was someone they recognized, though they wished they didn't. They wanted it to be some old, hunched-over drunkard. Someone they had nothing to do with. Instead it was someone undeniably young who walked with a gait of indifference as if the rain and wind weren't affecting them at all. Someone Kuroji had much to do with, as well as a certain sense of obligation and responsibility towards. Kuroji thought they had gotten used to their colleague's eccentricities by now, but still managed to find themself perplexed. Surely even Tsubakura had enough common sense to know an umbrella was a necessity for a day like today?
Kuroji gave out an exaggerated sigh, expressing their frustration to no one other than themself. They picked up their pace in order to reach Tsubakura, then promptly forced them under their own umbrella, shimmying their hand towards the bottom of the handle to make up for the height difference between them. They didn't bother to ask Tsubakura if that's what they wanted, but it's not that it mattered anyway, as Tsubakura was already completely drenched. Kuroji gave Tsubakura a quick lookover before returning their gaze to directly in front of them. Their hair was weighed down with water and their clothes stuck to their skin, though they didn't seem bothered by it. Kuroji found themself freezing even though they were mostly dry and dressed for the weather, yet here was Tsubakura, coatless and soaked, showing not even the slightest sign of discomfort.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kuroji asked.
"Good morning to you too," Tsubakura retorted.
Kuroji ignored Tsubakura's sarcasm and continued on with their lecture. "Did you really forget to bring an umbrella with you today?"
"It's not like I forgot," Tsubakura said, scratching their head. "I just didn't feel like carrying it."
That was even worse than forgetting. Kuroji sighed. "I'm amazed you haven't had the cops called on you. You must look like some sort of crazy drunkard."
"I kinda am." Tsubakura sounded a bit proud of themself.
"This early in the morning?"
Tsubakura's drinking habits bothered Kuroji, especially considering they were underage, but they no longer found much use in arguing about it.
"Technically it's late, since I still haven't gone to sleep yet."
"Where do you even get your alcohol supply anyway? It's not Hoojiro, is it?"
"Why, you interested?" Tsubakura teased. Kuroji was about to protest, but Tsubakura gave their answer before they could. "But nah, she's too straightlaced for that. I have a couple of people, but I've just been synthesizing it myself lately."
Kuroji had thought it might be something like that. "You're too resourceful for your own good."
The more Tsubakura seemingly boasted about their bad habits, the angrier Kuroji grew. It wasn't fair that Tsubakura could waltz into work drunk, drenched, and sleep-deprived, and still end up more successful than Kuroji. They gripped the handle of their umbrella tighter, then loosened it. They were in public. They looked ridiculous enough with the sopping wet Tsubakura by their side, they didn’t need to draw even more attention by starting an argument.
Kuroji had a habit of wondering how they appeared in public. Were the other commuters piecing together their own story in their heads as to how Tsubakura found themself in such a state? Were they assuming Kuroji was just a random passerby who happened to take pity on the umbrella-lacking stranger, or could they tell the two knew each other?
"Do you think we look like a couple?" Apparently Tsubakura had also been thinking about how they appeared.
"Of course not!" Kuroji's response was instantaneous, and louder than they had meant. Kuroji looked around a bit, trying to figure out if anyone was staring, but it just seemed like everyone was trying to reach their destination as soon as they could.
"True, umbrella sharing is more of a rainy season trope than a typhoon one."
That was absolutely not what Kuroji had meant.
"Why would you even say something embarrassing like that?"
Tsubakura shrugged. "Cause you're easy to mess with."
It was always just Tsubakura messing with them.
"Whatever! If you're so worried about that, we can just stop by a convenience store and buy you an umbrella."
"I think you're the one who's worried about it, but if you're offering to pay…"
"I'm not."
"You're such a miser."
"Someone in the family has to be." Hoojiro was annoyingly bad with money.
There wasn't any point in buying Tsubakura their own umbrella at this point anyway. All Kuroji could do was try to drill it into their head that it was a necessity.
"Well, the weather is going to be similar tomorrow. Make sure to bring an umbrella then. I don't want you to get sick." As much as Tsubakura's lack of self-care angered Kuroji, they couldn't help but be concerned as well. That older sibling side of them showed up once in a while.
"What, you worried about me?" There was a sneer to Tsubakura's voice.
"T-That's…" Kuroji looked at the ground. "It's just a hassle for all of us if you can't work properly. The least you can do is make sure to carry an umbrella with you during typhoon season."
Tsubakura let out some kind of grunt Kuroji couldn't decipher any meaning from. "Why should I bother carrying my own umbrella…" They looked down, then up, somewhere in the general vicinity of Kuroji's face. "…if you're going to do it for me?"