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The rain had started sometime during the last class, quietly tapping against the classroom windows until it became loud enough that everyone had begun glancing outside.
By the time Nene finally left Kamiyama High, the sky had turned into one enormous sheet of gray, the steady downpour blurring the streets and making the pavement shine beneath the overcast afternoon light.
She paused beneath the entrance awning to open her umbrella, checking that her and her bag was beneath it before stepping out into the rain.
The familiar sound of water immediately surrounded her. Raindrops pattered against the umbrella's fabric, cars hissed over wet asphalt, and the occasional gust of wind carried the cool smell of rain through the streets. Nene adjusted her grip on the umbrella and started toward home, her shoes making soft splashes whenever she stepped through a shallow puddle.
It wasn't unpleasant.
She actually liked walking in the rain sometimes.
There was something peaceful about it. People were quieter on rainy days, most of them hurrying along beneath umbrellas with their heads lowered.
The usual noise of the city seemed muffled beneath the constant pitter-patter of rainfall, leaving Nene with little more than the rhythm of her footsteps and the occasional passing car to keep her company.
She had made it several blocks when she noticed something strange.
A faint warmth brushed against her cheek.
Nene slowed.
She looked around beneath the umbrella, expecting to see someone walking particularly close to her. There was nobody there. The sidewalk behind her was empty except for a few distant pedestrians, all of them carrying umbrellas.
She frowned slightly and continued walking.
There it was again.
Warmth.
Not the humid warmth (were rainy days even supposed to be wam?) of the rainy air, either. This felt softer. Almost like standing near a tiny lamp.
Nene glanced toward the street.
Nothing.
She looked behind herself again.
Still nothing.
Then a tiny burst of pink light flickered at the very edge of her vision.
Nene stopped so abruptly that one of her shoes slid slightly against the wet pavement.
Her eyes widened.
"Emu...?"
A familiar pink-haired magical girl was standing directly beside her.
"Wonderhoy!" Emu exclaimed with a huge grin, lifting both hands up. "Nene-chan!"
Nene stared at her for a moment, then let out a quiet breath through her nose as the surprise faded. She tilted her umbrella slightly toward the glowing girl.
"Mhm!" Emu nodded enthusiastically, her smile somehow seeming even brighter against the dull gray afternoon. "It's me!"
Nene looked her over.
Emu wasn't merely visible.
She was glowing.
Soft pink light radiated from her entire body, illuminating the wet pavement around her feet. The rain seemed almost translucent whenever it passed through that glow, each droplet briefly catching the light before disappearing into the darkness of the street.
It was ridiculous. It was also incredibly pretty. Nene found herself staring longer than she intended.
Emu noticed immediately.
"What's wrong, Nene-chan?" she asked curiously, tilting her head as she brought both hands behind her back.
"You're glowing," Nene pointed out as she adjusted her umbrella to keep the rain from reaching Emu despite knowing perfectly well that it wouldn't matter.
Emu looked down at herself, then back up with an innocent smile. "Oh! Am I?"
"Yes," Nene replied, the corner of her mouth lifting slightly. "You're practically a walking flashlight."
Emu gasped and clasped her hands together. "A magical walking flashlight!"
"I didn't say magical."
"But I am!"
Nene gave her a fondly exasperated look and started walking again, the umbrella moving with her. After only a moment, she noticed that Emu had fallen into step beside her.
Or rather, beside her and slightly above the ground.
Emu's shoes weren't touching the pavement.
Nene glanced down at them, then back at her face.
"You know people can't see you, right?" she asked, quietly reminding herself of something she had already learned.
"Mhm!" Emu answered happily as she floated along beside her. "Only Nene-chan can see me!"
"Then you shouldn't shout. It'll be weird if I wince suddenly to nothing"
Emu immediately covered her mouth with both hands.
"Mmf!"
Nene couldn't help laughing softly.
Emu lowered her hands and smiled at her. "Sorry."
"It's fine." she said, shaking her head. Wincing to 'nothing' actually could still be normal, but talking to 'nothing' is probably weirder anyway.
...
For a little while, they simply walked together.
Nene kept her umbrella overhead while Emu drifted beside her, her glow casting a warm circle over the sidewalk. Every time they passed beneath a streetlamp, Nene could see the contrast between the cold yellow light above and the softer pink radiance coming from Emu beside her.
It was strangely comforting.
The rain had made the whole world feel gray, but wherever Emu went, the darkness seemed to lose some of its weight.
Nene glanced at her again.
Emu was looking up at the rain with obvious fascination, watching droplets strike the umbrella and slide down its edges.
"You like rainy days?" Nene asked as she stepped around a puddle.
"Mhm!" Emu answered while reaching one hand toward the edge of the umbrella, letting a few droplets fall onto her palm before they vanished through her. "I like all days! But when rainy days happen... everything gets all shiny!"
Nene looked at the wet pavement reflecting the city lights. "It does."
"And the clouds are fluffy!"
"They're storm clouds."
"Fluffy storm clouds!"
Nene smiled despite herself. "...Sure."
Emu drifted a little closer until their shoulders were nearly touching.
"Nene-chan," she said softly as she looked up at her, "You like rainy days too, don't you?"
Nene considered denying it.
Instead, she gave a small shrug while keeping her eyes on the road ahead.
"I don't hate them." she settled on replying with.
Emu's smile widened. "That means you like them!"
"That's not what I said." She did like them.
"But it's close!"
Nene shook her head, though the smile remained.
She had gotten used to this.
That was probably the strangest part.
Not the glowing girl only she could see. Not the fact that Emu could appear seemingly whenever she wanted. Not even the way she sometimes floated beside Nene on the walk home as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
Nene had gotten used to enjoying it.
At first, Emu's presence had felt intrusive. Confusing. Sometimes overwhelming. Nene hadn't understood what she wanted from her or why she had appeared in the first place.
Now, though, there were days when Nene found herself looking forward to seeing her.
Today was apparently one of them.
Emu suddenly moved ahead, floating backward so she could face Nene while continuing to drift in the same direction.
"Nene-chan!" she called out.
"What?" Nene asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Look!"
Emu spread both arms dramatically. Her glow intensified. For a moment, the rain around them seemed to turn into glittering threads of light.
Nene's eyes widened slightly.
"Woah..." she murmured before she could stop herself.
Emu's expression softened. "Did you like it?"
Nene looked at her.
There was something almost unbearably earnest in Emu's expression, like she genuinely cared whether Nene had enjoyed those few seconds.
Nene lowered her gaze briefly before looking back at her. "Yeah," she admitted with a small smile. "It was pretty."
"Really?"
"Really."
Emu spun happily in midair, her dress fluttering around her as she made a little circle above the sidewalk.
"Yay!"
Nene laughed quietly as she watched her. "You get happy over everything."
She really wished she could be like Emu.
Emu nodded happily. "Mhm!"
"Even when I compliment you?" she asked, almost in a teasing voice.
"Especially then!"
Nene's cheeks warmed.
She looked away, pretending to be particularly interested in the sidewalk. "You're weird."
Emu floated back beside her, smiling brightly. "But you like me anyway!"
Nene's steps slowed for half a second.
She could have teased her.
She could have denied it.
Instead, she quietly shifted her umbrella a little farther to the side, making sure the glowing girl remained beneath its cover even though the rain passed harmlessly through her.
"Yeah," Nene said as she resumed walking. "I do."
Emu went completely still.
Nene noticed her silence and glanced sideways.
The pink-haired girl was staring at her with wide, sparkling eyes.
"What?" Nene asked, suddenly self-conscious.
Emu's infectious smile slowly returned. "Nothing, nothing!"
"That doesn't look like nothing."
Emu giggled as she drifted closer, until her arm gently brushed against Nene's.
"I'm just happy."
Nene's expression softened. "...Me too."
The rain continued falling around them, steady and quiet, while Emu's light followed her down the street.
For once, Nene didn't mind that the walk home seemed to be taking a little longer than usual.
She found herself hoping Emu wouldn't disappear before they reached her house.