FTL/TLC: Alisa
Editor: Kakarotto (aka G-String), verycreativeusername
Note: Alisa bought the official volume on Bookwalker JP and translated directly as a raw reader. Kakarotto (aka G-String) and verycreativeusername made final edits and checked for any irregularities in sentences.
Shout out to our beta readers.
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It was raining.
It had been raining quietly since early afternoon. Even though it was still April, the gloomy sky in Hokuriku was as heavy as the rainy season, enveloping this small town.
Two weeks had passed since I had been asked by my homeroom teacher, Kurasen, to bring the shut-in Yamazaki Kenta to school.
Here at Fuji High School, I was the popular guy who was acknowledged by everyone, and at the same time, people called me a man-slut shithead behind my back. Lately, because of various reasons, my schedule didn’t have anything fun and I mostly hang out with Kenta after school.
He had something to do today, so it’s been a while since I had free time after school. As soon as class was over, I got ready to go home early and left the classroom.
The old wooden floor at the entrance of the school building echoed with a tapping sound.
I pulled my Stan Smith out of the shoe closet and put it on, retying the loose laces. When I looked outside, the sound of the rain, which had been quiet, gradually became noisy.
Let’s go home quickly. As I started to walk, a voice suddenly called me from behind.
“Huh, Saku-kun? Are you going home already?”
When I turned around, Yua was looking at me with a confused expression.
She was a member of the popular group of class 2-5 like me, and although she didn’t have any features that stood out, she’s a girl with a gentle and warm smile. Her long hair, tied up at her side and slicked down to the front of her shoulders, smells like herbal shampoo.
“Well, the weather is like this. Don’t you have band practice?”
“I have a day off today. I’m thinking of buying saxophone reeds and going home.”
Yua told me about a musical instrument store near the school.
“I see, looks like we’re going to part at the school gate today.”
Our houses were in the same direction, so we sometimes went home together when the timing was right. But unfortunately, the music store was in the opposite direction. Judging from the things she wanted to buy, she probably wouldn’t want me to accompany her.
She took out a small shoe horn and carefully put on her loafers.
After she finished putting them on, we walked outside together, the rain really became heavy.
“Uwaa, it’s raining so hard, We’ll probably get wet even with an umbrella.”
Yua smiled helplessly as she took her umbrella out of her bag.
“Mm, wonderful! Being drenched and shirts becoming transparent, that’s what the male romance fantasy is filled with── Sorry, I’m just joking, please don’t pinch my carotid artery.”
While we were playing around, a girl who looked like a freshman was standing under the eaves, looking helplessly at the sky.
She seemed to have forgotten her umbrella. She must have something urgent to do as she kept checking the time on her phone, her face scrunched up as if she was about to burst into tears.
Next to me, Yua unfolded her pale pastel blue folding umbrella.
I lightly tapped the ground with the tip of the vinyl umbrella in my hand, then walked over to the girl and held my umbrella out. Perhaps startled at the suddenness, she looked up at me in surprise.
“If you want, you can use this.”
After I said that, the girl gazed at my face again, her expression looked shy but also apologetic.
“Huh? I can’t do that. Besides, senpai… how will you get back home?”
“Don’t worry about it. This is just an old umbrella that was left at school. And…”
I stopped there, looked at Yua before continuing.
“If you take this umbrella with you, I can make an excuse to share an umbrella with her. Can you do me a favor?”
The girl looked at me again, then at Yua, and sighed softly. She showed a smile that seemed a bit hurt and timid, then she took the umbrella from my hand.
“In that case… I’ll be sure to return the umbrella later. Senpai, um, may I ask your name?”
“I’m Chitose Saku from class 2-5. You don’t have to give it back to me, but if you insist, just ask which class the man-slut shithead senpai is in, and someone will definitely tell you.”
I grinned. The girl put her hand over her mouth and smiled, bowed her head to thank me repeatedly, and then ran towards the school gate with the umbrella.
I waved my hand at her back.
“…Classic Saku-kun. Didn’t I just tell you I’m going in the opposite direction today?”
“With such delicious bait in front of me, I accidentally jumped on it. I thought it was a great opportunity to go home with a soaked Yua close to my body.”
I stretched my body, took out my sports towel, and put it on my head.
“Okay, let’s go──”
I was about to start walking when someone grabbed my blazer.
“…Aren’t you going to share an umbrella with me?”
Yua snuggled up to me softly, a small blue sky spread over the two of us.
“What about your shopping?”
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be today.”
“But you only have today.”
“Why do you say that?”
The girl beside me turned away, deliberately not looking at me. I took the umbrella from her hand and walked half a step closer to her.
With only this small and gentle sky, both my right arm and Yua’s left arm would be wet and cold by the time we got home.
Walking with a smaller stride than usual, I murmured.
“I hope it will be sunny tomorrow.”
“…Looks like the rain will continue, probably.”
A warm rainbow hung over the two silhouettes who were leaning together at a distance of five centimeters.
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Translation notes – None
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Plebian Translation 