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When Nene looked up, all she could see was rain falling from the endless, gray-clouded sky. When she looked down, eyes glancing at her hands for the fourteenth time, there was no umbrella to be found, nor would it magically spawn there before her fifteenth look. Alas, she was stuck within the warmth of Kamiyama High’s building on her free day, an occurrence that was already rare as of late.
Usually, she'd have a scapegoat: Rui—her friend, her neighbor, her troupemate. Even if, for one reason or another, they didn't always head home together, he mostly agreed to go with her if both of them were free; however, Nene herself had stayed back to tend to some committee duties until an upperclassman offered to take over for her. Having run late, she was likely too late to accompany him.
She had bought a new game recently and had planned to practice her lines for their next play and make the most of her day off, then was utterly defeated by rain and an oversight on her side. Just plain rain, a playground for kids excited for puddles, crushed her hopes and dreams… Being overdramatic here, of course.
So, with a sigh, Nene repeated the earlier motion: she looked up, then moved her eyes to her fingers around her bag’s straps, only then finding a purple umbrella within her peripheral vision.
“You haven't headed home yet, Nene?”
She jumped just a little at Rui’s voice. It was as soft as ever, after all.
“I was at the library.” She paused, eyeing her friend as he looked down at her. “What about you?”
“Since a teacher caught us this time, we were lectured until just now.”
“‘We,’ you say… I almost feel bad for Tsukasa.”
“You wound me, Nene!” The face he was making could be compared to that of an ugly, sad cat plushie. “Tsukasa-kun is a dear friend of mine. You can be sure I would not embroil him into any predicament without his prior authorization— articulated or otherwise.”
What? Nene’s blinks at him were enough to make him chuckle, which additionally stopped the weird, dark feeling that had just suddenly started growing inside her heart.
“That aside, could it be that you did not bring an umbrella with you today?”
“Yeah. I forgot.”
“Even though you were excited to play your new game?”
“…Yeah.” If possible, she did not want to repeat herself. Rui probably saw that in her eyes.”
“Do you want to head home together, then?”
“Please.”
Rui’s company was, at least when he wasn't thinking of blowing something up, comforting in a way. He was a good person, kindhearted, with a riddle-like manner of speaking that could be often interpreted as either flirty or taken straight out from a Shakespearean tale. Throughout the years, Nene had gotten used to the sound of it; then, when they drifted apart, she tried to keep it in her thoughts still to remember the presence of the boy next door in case he successfully pushed her away.
Thus, joyful was the present time where they could be together again thanks to Tsukasa and everyone’s entrance in their lives; walking home together and heading towards their dreams side by side—or walking home under the rain with a shared, small umbrella, for that matter.
“Are you cold?”
Nene looked up. Truth be told, she had faced colder days; yet, her hands were cold, hence she kept rubbing them together before she stepped closer to Rui, just near enough for her shoulder to brush his arm, in search of human warmth.
“A little.”
Rui simply hummed in response, as if he acknowledged gamers were doomed to have cold hands. Then, he shifted; a simple gesture such as holding the umbrella to his left evolved when his free hand found its way to hers mid-breath. Both friends halted on their tracks, amber and violet meeting as their eyes on each other mixed in between a quiet silence.
“…What for?”
“You mentioned your hands were cold.” Likely, he’d tried to share his heat, which would have been especially smooth if his hands weren’t icy as well; hence, his target had missed completely and caused only her cheeks to warm up instead.
“Have you seen yourself? That's not going to work.”
“Is that so?” Once more, he turned into a sad, ugly cat plushie. “Here I wanted to help my friend warm up…”
It was impossible with his hands, though. Yet, as if mindlessly, Nene intertwined her fingers with his, perhaps craving nonphysical warmth. It wasn't only her face—her chest fluttered as well and it almost made her forget she, too, wanted to acquire the title of “dear friend” said out loud.
“Seriously. Do you not notice how cold they are?” Nene huffed. Still, she did not want to let go of that icy warmth, so she kept their fingers intertwined as she moved their hands to Rui’s wide eyed face, placing the back of his against his own cheek. “Seriously, you should be more self-aware of…”
Her voice trailed off. If anything, Rui’s eyes had softened, and that golden gaze remained on hers as his lips curled into a cat-like smile. Nene probably really liked cats.
Just then, he let go of her hand. She couldn't help but miss the contact as her palm moved to his cheek due to inertia. Rui, on his side, had also let go of the umbrella, now in equilibrium over his shoulder as both of his hands reached forward and down, then cradled Nene’s face with a gentleness only he could achieve.
Rui was a contradiction: a smart idiot with cold hands radiating warmth. Perhaps Nene was even more of an idiot, for her eyes widened and stopped her from triggering her flight—otherwise, rather than fight, she would've wanted to give in to the danger and lean into his touch—mechanism for the first few seconds.
“You are quite warm yourself, Nene.”
What? What the hell? Only then did she jolt away from him—forgot about the cold air and the rain, stepped right into a puddle, and slipped and fell on her back even when Rui tried to catch her hand. There she was as a result, sitting on the wet pavement of the street as her childhood friend held her hand firmly, even if uselessly, and let the umbrella fall away to make clear who was the priority there.
For a moment, neither of them opened their mouths. Their stunned expressions said just about enough.
“…Are you all right, Nene?”
She pouted at his grin.
“Why are you smiling now…?”
“Fufu. My apologies. You surprised me, you see.”
That young man had the audacity to laugh. Nene almost wanted to pull that ridiculously long body of his down with her (she wondered if she could, seeing how he refused to even look at vegetables), but Rui pulled her up before she had the chance to. Then, as if it were such a natural action for him, he also brushed her back carefully.
He did not, however, let go of her hand, so Nene couldn't help but think about how close he was during that whole ordeal. Even as he walked backwards to the umbrella, he kept looking at her with that stupid smile she had grown so fond of.
Under the rain, she realized once more how deep in trouble she was, how much she appreciated Rui’s tender presence in her life. Her feet stopped without her brain even asking them to.
“Nene?” For a moment, Rui looked confused. His weak attempt at pulling his hand back became insufficient when Nene's fingers hesitantly wrapped back around his dorsum. “I believe I should be retrieving my umbrella now.”
“It's fine.” Rather than being on him, her gaze was on the rain-wet ground beneath. “Let's take a detour.”
Rui still managed to brush her off, though, and her mouth became way too dry to get the subtle difference between “dear friend” and just “friend” off her mind. Even though they had been friends since forever, even though Rui’s had a big heart and would never want her to feel like that—jealous?—over anything, especially not a mutual friend. Even though Nene certainly did not wish to take Tsukasa’s place in Rui’s mischief and explosions, let the traitorous ones who can run fast escape instead; then he’d learn how troublesome hiding Emu from him was when she sneaked into Kamikou.
“I see. In that case, we may.”
That snapped her out of her thoughts. Rui held his closed umbrella in his right hand, the left one offered to her, accompanied with a smile despite the absurdity she had blurted out.
Rui was probably not the most radiant person around. If it was about their troupe and being dazzling, one would likely think of sunshine-like Tsukasa and Emu first. In Nene's eyes, however, Rui’s was a thoughtful, gentle brightness—the kind of light capable of supporting you without blinding you. His words had given his childhood friend hope before, much as he’d say she had done for him.
That smile, which was not necessarily the most eye-catching under the rain, was enough to make Nene swallow.
“No, hold on. We still need the umbrella, though.”
“I fear it happens to be too late for that.”
“It is certainly not." The weak part of her still placed her palm over his nonetheless. “You are impossible…”
“Oya? Yet you're still holding my hand, Nene.”
Of course a mouse would rush under a cardboard box if offered a piece of cheese, even if this mouse knew it was but a trap.
With no strength left to retort, the little rodent sighed in defeat at the cat pulling it along. Her little heart bumped a bit too eager to care about logic anyway. Still…
“It’ll be bad if we catch a cold now.”
“You offer a good point.” Rui did not stop, though. “Worry not, I would not want a precious friend to worsen their health. If given the case, I am positive something could be done about that.”
Nene wasn't sure which one of the elephants she wanted to address first.
“I also don't want you to be troubled; if I may ask, what is weighing on your heart?”
“…So you noticed.” Of course he would. Rui was smart—only his own feelings escaped his grasp. Yet, even though she knew feelings were to be shared, telling him something like that straight to his face was… “It's fine now.”
That wasn't a lie. Forget about jealousy and whatnot. Nene smiled at him just as his words sank in. A good friend, a dear friend, or a precious friend; no matter, she had an idea of what he meant to her. Possessed by some weird energy, she pinched his tie between her fingers.
“…a dear friend…”
He heard her mutter, a tingling feeling creeping up the back of his neck.
“…Precious.” At his correction, Nene mindlessly tugged on his tie, pulled him closer to force him to shorten their height difference by leaning down.
Rui was caught by surprise for once. His eyes widened, even as Nene stopped to move her gaze up to him, even as she came back to her senses and she herself got startled by his reddened cheeks.
“Ah-” Nene stepped back. Then, for the second time that day, her foot found a puddle; on that occasion, however, Rui fell after her as she dropped on her gear, then flopped on his side to avoid crushing her, even if still holding her sleeve.
Seconds passed without anyone saying anything. Only silence between their stunned faces and the confused look of a passerby as they walked off. Then, the two broke into chuckles. Even though both of them would probably need to shower once they got home, hair messy and clothes muddy.
“Ah… Were you jealous, then?” Rui reached out, gentle. As one of his hands shifted from her sleeve to hold hers, the other softly slipped under her hair to caress her cheek.
She bit her lip before replying.
“A little.”
“I see. There is no need to concern yourself, then.” His hand moved again. Green hair rested on his palm as he moved his pinched fingers to his lips to place a soft kiss on them. “I will stop by your class next time I need to premiere a new trick featuring an explosion.”
“Rui…” No, that wasn't right. “W-Wait, that's not what I meant! Please leave me out of your Weirdo Combo…”
He chuckled in response.
“Here I thought you would be glad to lend a hand.” That plushie face again. “Still, Nene, you are a dear friend of mine too. In a subtly divergent way Tsukasa-kun and the others are.”
So he was. So much she almost forgot they were sitting between muddy puddles under the rain.
“That's… good.” She held his cheeks between her hands. “That's good.”
Silence.
“…Nene, may I—”
Quiet, she leaned in all the way until she could place a quick, light kiss on the corner of his lips, pressing hers together afterwards. That wasn't nearly enough, so she thought; yet, her common sense told her it was time to stand up and head home.
Rui, on his side, didn't seem to care about common sense as he kissed her lips instead. It was a fleeting gesture, yet the feeling was sure to stay. After yet another moment where neither of them said a word, he simply decided to caress her face once more as he kissed her cheek, her forehead, any part of her face within his reach. Nene chuckled at that, likely tickled.
“We seriously should head home now, though…” Since rain continued to drop relentlessly.
“Oh? But I wish to stay here with my dear friend for a while longer.”
Nene stood up nonetheless, offering him a hand to follow. Despite whatever teasing complaint he could have still had, Rui followed. His next placement was behind Nene, close enough to rest his chin on her head as his arms hugged her over the shoulders.
“Right. We shall head back, then.”
“We should also use the umbrella now.”
“…” He didn't answer.
“Really.”
This time, Rui had no choice but to oblige and search for the umbrella inside his bag. Though defeated by a folding parasol, they did need to get home before they caught a cold.