Chapter 19
Tap, tap.
Raindrops pattered against the umbrella over my head, making an irregular sound.
A slightly duller sound joined it from below.
Splash, splash.
With every step, my shoes struck the wet pavement, making another sound.
“………….”
The two sounds blended naturally into a charming little duet, and I walked along with them as my background music.
Together with Arai Shota.
And sharing one umbrella, at that.
‘Ugh.’
I groaned at the absurd situation. …Not out loud, since Arai was walking right beside me.
At this distance, even the smallest utterance would carry. I had to be careful not to say or do anything that could be misunderstood.
……Hmm? Can he hear me――?
Wait, does that mean he can hear me breathing right now, too?
Th-that's a little embarrassing.
Ugh.
At that realization, I hurriedly turned my gaze to the side to look at Arai, who was walking in step with me. ……For the record, I was breathing a little more quietly, too.
‘Can he not hear it…?’
I couldn't tell. Maybe he was nervous. His expression was quite stiff, so I couldn't read anything useful from his face.
But I could tell one thing: Arai, like me, wasn't comfortable with this situation.
‘How did this happen?’
What do you mean, how? I was the one who suggested we do this. …Sigh.
First, let me explain: I actually had no desire to deliberately put myself in this uncomfortable situation.
After all,
weren't we walking side by side, pressed close together under one umbrella?
Setting aside that it was the sort of thing that could easily invite misunderstandings from others,
there was our pace, the distance between us, the height of the umbrella, and so on.
Sharing an umbrella meant having to pay attention to all sorts of things. In other words, it came with considerable inconvenience.
And I'm not the sort of person who enjoys that kind of inconvenience. Rather than worry about someone else until my body and mind suffered, I'd rather get soaked in the rain without a second thought.
――Normally, that's what I'd do.
This time, the situation was so unavoidable that I couldn't do that.
‘Ugh. Either way, it was the right choice.’
Otherwise, Arai—this guy—would have gone home looking like a drenched rat out of sheer bravado—no, under the pretense of being considerate of me.
I absolutely couldn't allow that to happen. Arai had to stay healthy for me, always.
“………?”
Uh….
As I continued my uncomfortable walk with Arai, a scene entered my peripheral vision.
A sight I couldn't just pretend not to notice, given that I was the one borrowing his umbrella.
‘Arai. Why is your shoulder so wet?’
That's right.
It was wet.
Arai's shoulder was soaked by the pouring rain.
So soaked that I could see the skin beneath his clothes through the fabric clinging to his shoulder.
‘No way.’
I frowned.
It wasn't because the sight of a man's bare skin disgusted me. There was another reason.
Swish.
Right after checking Arai's shoulder, I turned my gaze to the right to compare his shoulder with mine.
‘Ah.’
Just as I'd suspected, my shoulder wasn't wet. Of course, the downpour was pretty heavy, so it wasn't completely dry.
Even so, compared to Arai's shoulder, it was dry enough to call it dry.
I felt conflicted.
I was troubled by receiving consideration I didn't need, grateful because that small kindness still made me happy, and, finally, worried about him.
Those conflicting feelings made me turn over just how complicated I felt.
Honestly….
Arai, you chose the wrong person to be considerate toward.
Do this sort of thing for Kaede, not me.
Nice guys who are kind to everyone aren't popular these days.
The trend is men who only have eyes for one woman.
So, I needed to get you to stop being so considerate of me.
I don't mind getting wet.
“Arai-kun.”
“……What?”
I called out to Arai. He turned at my call, and our eyes naturally met.
“Move the umbrella farther over to your side.”
“Ah.”
Arai's eyelashes twitched. He seemed to have immediately understood what I meant.
“……….”
Ah, he's looking away.
He's acting like a kid caught doing something wrong.
“Arai-kun, your shoulder's completely soaked. I don't mind, so move the umbrella closer to your side, at least from now on.”
“…It's fine. I'm already wet.”
With that, our conversation ended once more. I swallowed a groan at his stubbornness.
……Sigh,
just do as you're told.
Even though I say I don't mind, you're still being stubborn for no reason.
I've told you time and again, Arai.
I'm not the one you should be considerate of. It's Kaede……!
Frustrated, I let the complaint welling up inside me escape as a mutter amid the tense atmosphere.
Glance.
In the ensuing silence, I peeked at Arai. His flushed face now had a desperate look on it.
Hmm.
Judging by that expression, I think it'll only wear me out if I keep pressing him.
I couldn't help it.
I had no choice but to use that method. I didn't particularly want to, but it was the only way to resolve this situation.
Right, this was unavoidable.
……It wasn't something I wanted to do.
“Arai-kun.”
I called his name as a warning. At the same time, I pressed my body tightly against Arai.
Since Arai had no intention of moving the umbrella over to his side, I was trying to close the gap and bring him under it.
…Ugh. This is pretty embarrassing―――
“Ta-Takamine!!?”
“Huh!?”
Just as the shame from the unintended physical contact was overwhelming me, Arai suddenly called my name.
Right after he did, my body jolted. Arai had suddenly stopped in place.
“W-wait! ――Ah!”
I cried out at his sudden action.
Because the moment Arai stopped, the umbrella lurched, and the rainwater that had pooled on it came pouring down on me, even though I hadn't stopped walking yet.
“Ah! It's cold!”
“Ta-Takamine! S-sorry! Are you okay!?”
Ugh, the unexpected rainwater assault startled me into making a pathetic little noise, and Arai hurriedly spoke to me.
Hey.
I said I didn't mind getting wet, but even so, this was a bit much. Honestly, this crossed a line.
If I'd known this would happen, I would've just walked in the rain. Or I could've braced myself for overtime and gone home with Kaede.
You're soaked, I'm soaked—sigh. What a mess.
――is what I'd like to say, but,
“I-I'm fine. I didn't get very wet.”
Given that I'm always the one at a disadvantage, I couldn't bring myself to say that, so I simply said I was fine. And since a blank expression might give away how I really felt, I added a polite smile.
“B-but I'm sorry. This is my fault. I was so careless.”
“Mm-hmm. It's okay. Don't worry about it. You didn't do it on purpose, and… you apologized, didn't you? I'm really fine.”
As expected, Arai kept apologizing over and over. Before the barrage of apologies made my head spin, I hurried to bring the situation to an end.
Of course, unfortunately, he didn't react the way I'd intended.
“I'm sorry, Takamine. I'm really sorry―――…Ah.”
Instead of finishing his sentence, Arai let out a strange groan.
It was an odd reaction, so I looked at his face and then noticed his gaze had settled on something.
‘What is he looking at―――Ugh.’
Following his gaze downward, I saw something gray showing through the white fabric—and quickly snapped my gaze back up.
At that sight, I immediately understood
……what Arai had been looking at.
“Ugh.”
I hurriedly covered my exposed chest with my arm. Whatever else it was, this body had been temporarily assigned to me, but it was still my body. I knew I had a duty to take care of it.
“Ah, um, I, Takamine, well, you see.”
Arai stumbled over his words at my reaction. His face was as red as a ripe apple, too.
He seemed to be trying to come up with an excuse.
…Right, Arai.
I mean, you are a guy, too.
There's no way you could just ignore a sight that provocative. Even if you hadn't meant to, your eyes must've been drawn to it.
I understand how you feel. I'm a guy too, after all.
“Arai-kun.”
“Y-yeah, mm-hmm.”
Still, you know.
Arai. Being ogled doesn't feel very good.
After all,
wearing women's underwear feels like a denial of my identity—of my masculinity.
I'd never shown it to anyone, not even Kaede.
And you had the nerve to see it?
Honestly, that's pretty infuriating.
I don't want to let you off the hook this time.
I'm going to tease you a little.
I've got the moral high ground, so you can just put up with it. You got to see something good, so you should pay for it.
“Arai-kun. Are you a pervert?”
I said with a sly expression.
Heh-heh.
Arai. You sneaky little thing.
Now, time to make you understand how embarrassing this is―――Huh?
“I-I'm sorry!!!!”
Arai shouted an apology at the top of his lungs, then handed the umbrella he was holding to me.
His action was so out of the blue that I accepted the umbrella without thinking.
I stared blankly at the handle of the umbrella he'd handed me.
Why was he handing this to me?
That's when it happened.
Thud―――!
The sound of a shoe striking the wet pavement echoed through the air.
And at the same time,
Arai, who'd been by my side, suddenly dashed forward.
Right, he ran ahead.
Without looking back, he ran off and quickly became a dot in the distance.
Leaving me here alone.
“Hey, you idiot.”
The words slipped out in bewilderment.