Page 18
"What do you mean by suitable?" At this time, Yukino was not in a hurry to leave. She held up the umbrella with one hand and lifted up her hair.
"At least it has to be the return of the God of War. Actually, I can accept the Dragon King's script..."
He began to talk nonsense, Yukino looked into the distance, and in the hazy rain, Natsume's voice became distant.
"I'm going back now. See you Natsume-san."
"Oh~"
Natsume Rinno deliberately changed the subject, showing a victorious look on her face, proudly stepping on the water and making happy sounds.
When I could see the community, there was still no sign of the rain stopping. It might continue until tomorrow.
There is a small park near his rented apartment. Usually housewives bring their children to play here, but of course there are few people here on rainy days.
But when Natsume passed by, he seemed to see a familiar figure sitting on the swing in the park.
She sat alone in the rain without an umbrella. Her bright yellow hair was soaked and she looked particularly disheveled.
Chapter 26: Natsume-san, I don’t have a boyfriend.
Shiina Mahiru lowered her head, holding the swing tightly with both hands, her slender fingers turned slightly white, and the cold raindrops hit her body, but she seemed unable to feel any warmth. There were traces of water on her fair face, and it was hard to tell whether it was rain or something else.
"You're just an unwanted child."
Her mother's cold and hateful words echoed in her ears, making her feel confused, with a bitter smile on her lips.
It seems that no matter how well she does, in her mother's eyes, she will always be the extra child. Without her, will the relationship between her parents get better?
It’s just that her father had no feelings for her mother at all, and her mother also had a lover outside. Even if she had not been born, this would have been just an ordinary couple in a family marriage.
Just like Aunt Xiaoxue said, I am just one of the reasons for their hatred. The better I perform, the angrier they get.
Phew, it’s really cold to stay outside without an umbrella on a rainy day. It seems that this little bit of willfulness will make me catch a cold.
Do you want to take a day off tomorrow?
The rain above her head suddenly stopped. Shiina Mahiru looked up in confusion. A black umbrella blocked her from the sky.
"If I hadn't recognized Shiina-san, I would have probably ignored the situation."
The voice was very recognizable, and Shiina Mahiru quickly figured out who the owner of the umbrella was.
Her new neighbor.
"..."
"Why are you so depressed that you have to sit here in the rain? Are you heartbroken?" Natsume Rinno forcefully stuffed the umbrella into her hand, touching Mahiru's wrist in the process, and she felt a bone-chilling chill.
It looks like she has been sitting here for some time.
So Natsume, who was originally planning to leave after throwing his umbrella to her, couldn't help but ask a few more questions.
"……no."
Shiina Mahiru raised her face and saw through the gap in the umbrella, Natsume's face, which looked even more handsome after being washed by the rain.
"Natsume-san, I don't have a boyfriend."
She attends a girls' school, and the school rules in this regard are quite strict. Shiina Mahiru certainly has neither the desire nor the conditions to find a boyfriend.
"Is that so." Natsume Rinno tightened her school uniform, feeling that it was not a good choice to talk to her in this environment: "It seems that Shiina-san has her own troubles. Remember to return the umbrella to me when you get home. I'm leaving first."
Without waiting for her answer, Natsume Rinno propped her head with her schoolbag and ran towards the community, leaving Shiina Mahiru sitting in her seat, holding the umbrella that was a little too big for her, staring blankly at his back.
Having just been caught in the rain, Natsume's first reaction after returning home was to take off his clothes and take a hot shower.
When he came out of the bathroom humming an unknown song, there was a knock on the door.
"Is that Shiina-san? Wait for me."
After changing into a yukata neatly, Natsume Rinno opened the door a crack and looked at Shiina Mahiru outside, who looked extremely miserable.
"Give me the umbrella."
"Natsume-san, can I come in..." Shiina Mahiru said in a low voice.
Natsume Rinno, who had just changed her clothes and felt it was inappropriate to be in the room with the opposite sex, noticed her look.
His clear eyes were confused, like a lonely deer lost in the woods. Occasionally he encountered a human. Even if the other person was a hunter with a shotgun on his back, he could not suppress his inner emotions and made a faint cry.
Mingyao's hair was wet by the rain and stuck to her body, making her look even more disheveled.
“…Please come in.” Faced with this look, Natsume could only choose to give in.
Natsume went to the kitchen to boil water. Shiina Mahiru put away the umbrella, sat on the sofa and looked around Natsume's room.
I didn't pay much attention to it when I came last time, but today I looked carefully and found that his room was very clean.
"Shiina-san, would you like some hot coffee?" Natsume asked her in the kitchen.
As a light novel author who occasionally needs to stay up late, he always has a variety of refreshing drinks at home, the most common of which are coffee and strong tea.
"Yes, thank you." Shiina Mahiru responded. The wet school uniform stuck tightly to her skin, making her frown.
Do you want to go home and change your clothes before coming back?
She would usually use loose clothes to cover her skin intentionally or unintentionally, so when her body got wet, she felt more uncomfortable than other people.
"Your coffee could be a little hot."
Natsume Rinno sat down with two cups of coffee, her eyes subconsciously sweeping towards Shiina Mahiru's figure.
The attire of the aristocratic girls' school tends to be elegant brown long skirts, and Shiina Mahiru even wore dark stockings on her legs, so even if she got caught in the rain, there was not much danger of being exposed.
But this also makes her figure look even slimmer, especially when she sits down, from a distance she looks like a junior high school student.
"Thank you, Natsume-san." Noticing his gaze, Shiina Mahiru, who was sipping coffee, thanked him softly.
"If you notice it, you can't ignore it. If Shiina-san wasn't my neighbor, I would probably just pass by."
Natsume would have stayed out of it if he hadn't recognized the figure in the park as being similar to the kind neighbor who had fed him.
"Well, no one wants to cause trouble, so I ran out into the rain and stared blankly without permission. I was really willful." Shiina Mahiru smiled bitterly.
In her previous life, she always maintained the most perfect attitude and basically never troubled others. Occasionally, she would behave inappropriately, but she would vent it in private. This was the first time that she was discovered by others.
"Shiina-san is because..."
"A little conflict in the family." Shiina Mahiru held the coffee cup, trying to use the temperature of the coffee to warm her heart.
"I never understood the world of adults. I thought that as long as I could do my best, they would be proud of me and even their relationship would improve because of me being their daughter. Now it seems that it is best for them if I don't show up."
Natsume Rinno didn't say anything, but listened to her complaints quietly. At this moment, all she needed was a silent listener.
Although he is rejecting girls' confessions all day long, he is actually quite gentle. After high school, he will surely meet a gentle other half.
"Natsume-san, don't your family live with you? Or did you come to Tokyo to study alone?" After Shiina Mahiru finished complaining, she remembered that the boy in front of her was just a new neighbor who was somewhat familiar to her, and her face flushed with shyness.
If she hadn't wanted to return the umbrella or didn't want to stay home alone, she wouldn't have shown up at her neighbor's house in wet clothes.
so cute!
Natsume Rinno seriously evaluated in her mind how cute Shiina-san was. Compared to Yukino, she had a complete advantage in cuteness as she always smiled.
Unless Xiaoxue smiles normally, there is really no way to compete.
"Family? I don't really have much impression. My parents had a car accident when I was very young, and we were responsible. The insurance company still owed a large sum of money after paying the compensation."
"My house was taken away and mortgaged, so I stayed with distant relatives. I rented a house when I felt embarrassed to continue disturbing them."
Chapter 27: Brother, Don’t Run Around
Not only was their house taken away as compensation, but the Yukinoshita family also paid a large sum of money to take care of the funeral.
If Natsume hadn't kept these things in mind, he wouldn't have agreed to Yono's request.
"Sorry……"
Shiina Mahiru's entire body stiffened, and she whispered awkwardly.
She felt a little ashamed and regretful for complaining about family conflicts in front of Natsume, and she didn't know how much of an impact it would have on him.
And compared to her, Natsume, who is obviously more miserable, can still stay so sunny every day.
"There's no need to apologize. Incompetent parents can cause more serious trauma than this. Besides, it's been more than ten years, and I've long since gotten over the accident." Natsume Rinno shrugged.
He couldn't decide which was worse, the lack of parental care or the psychological pua of incompetent parents.
But the former's hurt is one-time, and his impression will only stay at the beautiful moment, convenient for future recollection, while the latter reminds you all the time that you are just an accidental product of your parents' relationship.
In her spare time when she is earning a living, Natsume Rinno occasionally reminisces about the past, but she spends most of her time planning for the future.
"Natsume-san..." Shiina Mahiru looked around the room again and felt that her housework skills were not of much use.
"Ok?"
Taking a deep breath, Shiina Mahiru thanked him solemnly: "Thank you Natsume-san for the umbrella, and for listening to my complaints just now."
"If you hadn't shown up in time, I might have caught a cold... Aaaaaaaaa!"
Shiina Mahiru's serious expression was broken in a second. After sneezing cutely, she covered her face so that Natsume wouldn't see it.
Wow, I thought nothing was wrong, but I didn’t expect that I would actually catch a cold.
It was all because I didn’t change my wet clothes. The heat from my body actually warmed up my clothes, but I caught a cold instead.
"Natsume-san..." She covered her face and said hurriedly, her voice a little hoarse: "I'm going home first, and I'll come to see you later."
Without waiting for his reaction, Shiina Mahiru stood up hastily, her calves wrapped in stockings hit the low wooden table, and after letting out a muffled groan, she fled Natsume's house in an even more embarrassed manner.
"Haha."
Natsume Rinno laughed unconcealedly, causing her covered face to blush.
After returning home, Shiina Mahiru leaned against the cold wall, stroking her chest with her small hands to soothe her rapidly beating heart, breathing softly.
Damn it, I embarrassed myself in front of Natsume-san.
He normally performs so well, why does he fail at the critical moment?
Her slender hands wandered over the school uniform, unbuttoning it one by one. When the wet clothes that had troubled her for a while were thrown onto the sofa, Shiina Mahiru shook her bright long hair and went to the bathroom to flush the toilet in her white shirt.
After the water was indeed warm enough, she stood on tiptoe to take off her brown knee-length skirt and the stockings on her legs, feeling more relaxed than ever before.