Chapter 52 - Shower

When we have been hugging for so long that my vague feelings almost turned into words, it started raining. As the small droplets started falling down, we, who were clinging to each other until then, came to ourselves and separated.

Drop, drop.
The heat and humidity brought my delirious self back to reality.

– Um, sorry… I"ve been caressing your hair all this time…

– No, there"s no way I could mind that…

Tenderness and awkwardness blended, alternating with each other.
We were quietly crossing our trembling gazes. But in contrast to several days ago, it"s not just awkward.
I… No, we. Even this awkwardness, surely we are enjoying it somewhere inside.

– It, started raining, huh…?

– Ye-, yeah…

I"m just thinking, but we are sticking our bodies to each other too naturally.
Since when has it become like that? What made us so?

For the several days since I have escaped to this town, I was embracing this huge hole inside my chest.
Last night, just how happy I was that we have made up. This feeling of the hole being filled. The sense of fulfillment much stronger than even satisfaction of simply being together.

But then, what is it right now?
Just from separating our clinging bodies a little, I feel down in my chest.

I"m a fool. This is a serious illness. Is it inevitable that I will be downhearted every time we separate?
Hmm, It"s rather good that it started raining. It is a good medicine…

– Wait a bit. Gosh, the rain is getting heavier…

– Yeah, it"s true. Before we get soaked…

Let"s leave.
As I thought so and stretched my hand towards fishing rod,… drop. A large raindrop hit my arm. In several seconds, heavy rainfall started resounding in the air.
This is bad. We"ll get soaked if just we stand here.

– We might not be able to return. We have to first find a shelter from the rain, it is indeed shower-like

– Ye-, yes… Ehehe… Jun, you"re so reliable after all!

– Is it the time to say that? Let"s go.

We stood up, held our hands with no particular initiator and looked around.
There is a heavy cloud right above us, but the sky is blue. The bright sunlight is still shining through a big rift.

Luckily, there was a nice place in the immediate vicinity.
We rushed over to the beach hut.
It is an isolated old wooden hut with an open door located on the sandy beach. There is a drum left outside of it. I wonder if fishing tools were stored here in the past? It seems that it hasn"t been used for a very long time.
Leaving the fishing tackle around there, I breathed a sigh of relief.

– Can"t be helped. For the time being, let"s use this place…

Weather forecast was for a clear weather.
Even though the waves were so gentle when we were riding the boats.

– This is the worst. I got so wet…

– Same here. What are others doing…

– The sound, is getting terrible, right…?

– What should we do, seriously…

The more we look through the window, the darker outside is getting and sound of the rainfall is simply becoming louder.
Oi, oi, this is a shower… right? Really, what"s the deal with this? If it goes on like this, we won"t be able to return to where everyone is.
This sucks, should we return even if we get wet?
But I"m not alone, Tachibana is here too. It would be a great trouble if she caught a cold. In this case, we should at least make a call…

– Hey, Tachibana, I didn"t bring my smartphone with me, so could you…

As I turned around, I could see Tachibana who now took off her hoodie. Well, that"s understandable. It was so wet, it would be unwise to keep wearing it.
I understand. I do understand.
Still, we are in a dark, small hut with just the two of us…

——"Ehehe, now we"re alone… n.o.body can see us…"

It"s overlapping with the dressing room on that day.
It happened now more than a several weeks ago. But still, at that time, there was considerably more distance between us than there is right now. Right now is different. The feeling of distance became so small, that it is difficult for me to admit it. And also, I am accepting it enough for me to be embarra.s.sed myself.

As for that, that person stirs up a different kind of nervousness in me.
This is… bad.

– Um, a call… Can I ask you to do that? I don"t have it with me, so….

Silence descended between us.
Within that silence, a notification sound rang from Tachibana"s phone. As she picked it up, she apparently has noticed something.
She playfully smiled as she gazed at me.

– …… Not a chance

– Wh-, what are you saying? What are we gonna do if they are worried? We have to at least let them know that we are here, it will become a strangely serious matter otherwise…

– It"s fine like this for just a bit longer. Isn"t Jun actually thinking the same? The two of us, in swimsuits, in such a place, truly just the two of us… Haa… It"s like a dream

A usual face has returned to the blonde girl with wet hair and skin.
She left the smartphone on the dirty desk as it was. Before long, signals stopped coming and she got closer to the window step by step.
She stood right before me and started lightly wiping me with the rolled up hoodie.
She used her hands carefully. Stop this, I said so with my eyes, but she"s not paying attention.

– Fufu… Hey, you"ll get cold if I don"t do this, you know? Haven"t both of us gotten dripping wet?

– That, that is so…

– Jun, you"re so nervous… Just like when we have just met…… Virgin♪

This, this girl…
She always uses the opportunity to have fun in this situations when you have to seriously do something. She has already entered the usual teasing mode. By now, there"s nothing that can stop her.

– Sh-, shut up… You"re a virgin yourself…

I somehow resisted with words only, but it doesn"t seem that it was effective.
Tachibana"s red face gradually turned pleased. She put her white, soft hand against my shoulder and let her weight press on me.
As her lips drew near to the side of my face, her voice brushed my cheek.

– If you don"t warm up, you"ll catch a cold…

– Ugh… There"s no need for this much…

– Jun, despite not being nervous up till just now. Ehehe, is this still not good?

– I, I give up. Let"s just settle this with my defeat…

– Nooope. Aren"t you already a little cold?

d.a.m.n Koumei, I mean, d.a.m.n rain!1
Making the south-east wind blow…!

Until now, she was dressed all over, so I tolerated the touching, but now that it is a direct contact, it feels like my insides are completely out.
In a situation where my sense organs exceeded their processing ability, the core of my body started generating heat.
Far from being calm, the acc.u.mulation inside my heart is blazing without being used, but Tachibana"s pursuit is not stopping.

– Hey, Jun…?

– … Let go of me already…

– Being your girlfriend for a day… I truly enjoyed it a lot…

Her lips… are soft.
She put them against my cheek and pressed them just like that, chu… It took two seconds for her to separate. Darn, I"m about to turn bald. I feel like I"ll become older from the two seconds between her touching and separating.

– Ehehe… Sorry, I touched carelessly…

– I-, idiot… You…

– Hey, that"s why… Before we leave this hut… okay?

Be my boyfriend, again…?

Sweetness, sourness, thump-thump, beat-beat.
All sorts of feelings mixed up so much that I can"t understand them anymore, creating a chaos inside my chest which… doesn"t stop.
But still, this chaos is pleasant at the same time. Just like a storm raging inside my body, it excites my blood flow.

I put my hand on Tachibana"s shoulder.
Her ear is right there. It is at a distance where I can reach it immediately, so to speak.

– Okay… Until we leave this hut is… fine

For now, we can"t leave this hut.
Most likely, we felt the same about that.