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it had been raining since midday, a rain that came out of nowhere. it wasn't on the forecast, so you hadn't thought to bring an umbrella. you were hoping it would let up into a light drizzle by the time practice ended, so that you could walk home without being drenched. sadly, this wasn't the case. you were standing under a small ledge after leaving the clubroom waiting for someone you knew to walk by with an umbrella, hopeful they would let you walk with them until you got close enough to your house to sprint the rest of the way. you were texting your friends in other clubs asking where they were when you heard faint footsteps over the rain. you turned your head to see who it was and-
of course. it was him.
matsukawa issei, the guy you've had a crush on for quite a while now. you hadn't told anyone because the last time you did your friends made it way too obvious. your crush found out before you were ready to tell them which led to an awkward and embarrassing conversation. you were doing a pretty good job of keeping your crush secret this time, so you figured matsukawa didn't know. you were acquaintances with overlapping friend groups. the two of you had hung out before, but you could never pick up on any clues that might lead you to a conclusion on whether he liked you or not.
luckily, he had an umbrella today. you figured you would ask him if he would share since you two knew each other.
"matsukawa!" you called, gaining his attention. "i didn't bring my umbrella today because i had no clue it was gonna rain. do you think we could share on the walk home?"
"oh, hey y/n! sure thing. i always keep one with me just in case it rains out of the blue. looks like it came in handy today," he said. he knew you lived close to him, maybe a block away, so he had no issue with protecting you from the rain.
it's a relief that the umbrella heading towards you is a small one .
after all, matsukawa always thought you were cute. the way your hair fell, your personal style, your humor. he constantly found himself wondering what it would be like to be able to call you his, wondering about drawing closer to you instead of his friends monopolizing his attention when you were around. he had never told them, but they all had an idea of matsukawa’s unspoken thoughts. maybe that's why when hanamaki saw you duck under matsukawa’s umbrella from afar, he made a hooting sound. you know, the kind guys do when they see their friends make a move on someone they like. to this, matsukawa gave him the finger, and your friend who had witnessed hanamaki’s outburst gave him a questioning look. you knew you were gonna get a text later.
the situation is unexpected, right when our shoulders touched. the two of us, under this umbrella that only fits one.
feeling his body slightly pressed against yours turned your face a soft shade of pink. you both thanked god for the height difference between you, glad neither could see the blush spreading across your cheeks.
"i really hate the rain, but today i came to like it a bit," you said in an attempt to break the silence that plagued you two as you started walking home.
"oh yeah? i liked it too. it sounds nice coming down. it also provides a distraction; instead of paying attention in class, i watched the rain hit the windows,” he responded.
"i did the same! i watched the drops as they fell down and tried to see-"
"which one would hit the bottom first!" matsukawa jumped in. "i always do that. it's like a little race."
the butterflies that had sprung to life in your stomach earlier got even worse upon hearing this. you knew this was something everyone did, but the way he talked about it made your heart swell.
after this, silence took over once again. both of you were feeling a little hungry about halfway through the walk home.
" where is that pretty cafe i went to last time,” matsukawa thought to himself. he wanted to remember so he could ask you to go with him for a snack on your way home, his treat of course. to his disappointment, he couldn't think of where it was until you two had passed it. he didn't feel like bringing it up at that point; there was no reason to walk back three blocks in the rain for a coffee and a pastry.
you looked over to him to see how he was feeling and try to guess what was going through his head based on the look on his face. while examining his features, you noticed his shoulder wasn't under the umbrella and was getting wet. you pointed it out to him, offering to move over so he could be fully under the umbrella.
"the rain can soak my left shoulder a little bit more , i don't mind. and besides, if you move over you'll get soaked," he said looking at you. he felt his cheeks flush more when he saw the way you were looking at him with such a caring and loving expression.
"god, i can see my reflection inside your eyes since we're this close" he thought to himself. he smiled, chest warming at the way you blushed and looked away. he thought it was so adorable how you reacted to the small gestures he offered you. little did he know the effect his smiles truly had on you.
when you look at me smiling, i feel like my heart drops to my knees.
you thanked him for being so kind while trying to think of ways to make the blush on your cheeks less obvious. it didn't work. your mind raced thinking about him and the various things he's done in just this small interaction alone. you always thought he was cute and attractive, and you expected him to be sweet, but not this sweet. you thought if he does anything else you would end up with a cavity.
"oh! this is my block! this walk seemed so fast today. i'll just sprint to my house so you don't have to w-" you begin
"y/n, it's no problem. i'll walk you to your house, so you don't get wet, and i can make sure you're safe," he interrupted. you made a mental note to call your dentist when you got home.
no, don't stop just yet.
at this point, you noticed the rain around you beginning to stop. it wasn't as loud on the umbrella. you saw less drops hitting the ground, and you began to curse the clouds for letting up.
"if it's no problem, i'd still like to walk you to your front door," matsukawa said, bringing your mind back to the man in front of you.
"oh! uh, sure. thank you so much," you said, feeling your heart rate rise. you realized that he didn't offer to share his umbrella, stay in the rain, or walk you home just because he was nice. the sun was coming out from behind the clouds, and you could finally see the light tint painting his cheeks red.
the rain stopped, and matsukawa closed his umbrella, holding it with his left hand. despite no need to be close to each other, neither of you moved away. you felt his pinky brush against your hand and begin to intertwine with your fingers. the rest of the walk is spent in silence. you reach your front step and turn to look at him.
"i liked walking home with you. you don't have to agree, but would you like to walk home together every day? i only live about two blocks down," he asks, to which you immediately accept. you stay there holding hands and looking at each other for a few minutes until you hear commotion coming from inside your house.
i wish time would stop like this.