Chapter 13: The Umbrella Between Us

Tuesday arrived cloaked in a steady drizzle.
Fine drops fell soundlessly over the school courtyard, making the air damp and cold. The sky was a soft, unbroken gray. Windows in the classrooms shimmered with faint condensation, and umbrellas bloomed like flowers at the school gates.

Inside the classroom, the atmosphere was subdued. The usual idle chatter was dulled by the weather. Some students wore their gym jackets over their uniforms. Others leaned against desks, sipping from steaming flasks or checking their phones, eyes sluggish with sleep.

Yasu sat as he always did—quiet, distant, watching the raindrops run down the glass.

But today, there was something subtly different in his expression.
His gaze was less absent. Less drifting. His fingers tapped lightly against his desk in a slow, absent rhythm.

He hadn’t spoken a word about the judo match with Hoshiko-sensei.

Not even to himself.

But the feeling had lingered since yesterday.
Not just the awkward closeness on the mat, or the sudden truth about the man with her—it was her presence. Her unpredictability. Her honesty, strangely filtered through playful jabs and teasing smirks.

It disoriented him.

Yet it was also the only thing that had made his heartbeat feel less… monotonous.

During class, Hoshiko-sensei seemed normal, maybe a bit brighter than usual. She bounced between the blackboard and her desk, explaining cell division with exaggerated hand gestures and mock battle sounds.

“Mitosis—our cell’s way of cloning itself! Like a ninja multiplying with smoke!” she declared, earning soft laughter from the front row.

Yasu glanced at her briefly.
She caught his eye for a second—just a second—and smiled.

A small one. Not her usual grin.

Then she turned away as if it hadn’t happened.

Lunch came. He didn’t go to the rooftop this time.

Instead, he stayed at his desk and slowly pulled a convenience store rice ball from his blazer pocket. Tuna-mayo.
He chewed silently while reading the back of a manga volume he’d already read twice.

“Hey.”

Yasu looked up slowly.

Standing next to his desk was Sakura, a girl from the middle rows. Long hair tied neatly, bright eyes, and a polite smile.

He blinked, unsure she was actually talking to him.

“Uh,” she hesitated. “Do you have the biology notes from yesterday? I… kinda zoned out.”

Yasu nodded silently and opened his notebook, tearing out the needed pages.
She bowed slightly and took them with a “Thank you, Yasu-kun!” before skipping back to her desk.

It was nothing.
Just a favor.
But it made Yasu aware that people were beginning to notice him more.

After school, the rain had turned into a stronger drizzle. Not stormy, just persistent. A cold mist clung to the air.

Yasu had forgotten his umbrella.

He stood under the front awning of the school, watching students hurry off under transparent domes or laughing in pairs under shared covers.

He sighed and adjusted his collar.

“You’ll get sick like that.”

The voice behind him was familiar now.

He turned.

Hoshiko-sensei stood there, holding a dark green umbrella in one hand, her bag slung over her shoulder. She was wearing a light beige coat over her outfit, her hair a little messy from the humidity.

Yasu didn’t speak.

“You forgot your umbrella?” she asked, although she clearly already knew the answer.

He gave a slow nod.

“Lucky for you,” she said, stepping beside him and tilting the umbrella slightly toward him. “I’m heading toward the station. That way?”

He nodded again. Still without words.

She motioned with her chin. “Well, come on. I won’t bite. Unless you’re into that sort of thing.”

He coughed. “...What?”

She laughed. “Kidding. Sort of.”

The walk was quiet at first. Only the soft sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella fabric, and their synchronized footsteps over wet pavement.

The umbrella wasn’t large, so their shoulders brushed occasionally.

Yasu pretended not to notice. But he also didn’t move away.

“You’ve been acting more normal,” she said suddenly.

He glanced at her.

“Than yesterday,” she added. “Progress?”

He gave a slight nod. “I guess.”

“So… you really thought that guy was my boyfriend?”

Yasu didn’t answer.

“Don’t worry,” she continued. “You're not the only one. One of the teachers saw us too and asked if I finally found someone. I told him the same thing: That’s my little brother, idiot.”

Yasu gave a small smile. The first real one that day.

“You don’t talk much, huh?” she said.

“You talk enough for both of us,” he replied dryly.

She laughed, surprised.

“That was actually funny. Who knew?”

They reached the fork in the path—a narrow alley leading to a bookstore Yasu often visited, and the straight road to the station.

He stopped.

“I’m going this way,” he said.

She looked down the alley. “Ah… manga again?”

He didn’t answer, but his silence was telling.

“Don’t get lost in there,” she said, lifting the umbrella slightly away from him.

Raindrops touched his hair immediately.

She paused.

“Here,” she said, and handed him the umbrella.

Yasu blinked. “What?”

“You’ll need it. I have a spare in the office.”

He hesitated. “But—”

“Take it. Or I’ll just follow you into the bookstore and embarrass you in front of the cashier.”

His grip closed around the handle instinctively.

He didn’t say thank you.

But as he walked down the alley with her umbrella in his hand, he caught himself glancing back once.

She was still standing there. Watching him.

And when she noticed him looking, she smiled and waved.

Yasu turned forward quickly, heart beating a little too loud.

He wasn't sure why.

But he didn’t hate it.