Mismatch

Life can be described in three words, dull, gray, and predictable.

They say one of the things that makes life worth living is the freedom of choice. After all, choices allow us to choose our path or shape our destiny. However, in the end, choices are just meaningless illusions. Their only purpose is to give people a false sense of control. People fail to realize that their decisions are never their own. Instead, their choices will always be influenced by either something or someone.

For instance, just peering off the rooftop gate, I see a courtyard full of students laughing, talking, and enjoying their brief lunchtime recess. Yet, looking up, the light gray clouds that once covered the sky have become darker. Right now, scattered drops of rain have begun to fall. Soon enough, these large storm clouds will burst into a heavy downpour, which will end up forcing all the students who chose to be outside to seek shelter, even though that wasn't their initial choice.

Or for a more personal example. I leaned in close. With my left hand, I tightly gripped the rooftop gate. Here we have me, fifteen-year-old Kazuma Ito, a first-year student at Kosei High. I was born into the renowned Ito family, a family that’s famous for producing and directing numerous box-office hits. From the outside, I have everything, wealth, connections, and limitless choices.

Heh, but that’s further from the truth.

Every choice I make has to be in the best interest of the Ito family. Relationships, friendships, none of that exists. People only see me as a tool for their selfish interests. In the end, I’m just the family puppet, forced to dance a life I didn’t choose to be born into.

Tsk, how annoying.

With all my strength, I swung my right arm against the gate. A large boom echoes across the sky. Suddenly, the scattered raindrops have turned into a torrential downpour. Screams can be heard from down below, as the students scurry away. 

I scoffed, “Well what do you know, right on cue.” 

The screams have finally started to grow quieter. All that can be heard now is the heavy pitter-patter of the falling rain. The once bustling courtyard is now deserted.

Placing my head against the gate, I gave an exasperated sigh. Honestly, I’m just tired of it all. I turn my gaze upwards towards the sky. I can feel the warm summer rain dripping down from my face. Heh, I half smiled. If this gate wasn’t here, I wonder… I wonder if I would…

“JUMP!”

A loud, high-pitched voice pierces through my thoughts. I turned to my right. Standing next to me was a short student holding a red umbrella.

She speaks up again. “That’s what you were thinking about, right? What if I jump from here? But do you think a jump from this height will… umm… you know…” her voice trails off. She turned away from me and began gazing out to the soak-filled courtyard.

“Not exactly,” I answered.

 “Hmm?” She turns back towards me and shifts her umbrella to the side. 

“You see this particular building isn’t that high from the ground. A fall from here may hurt, but it wouldn’t be fatal. You also have to get past the rooftop gate, which is designed to be pretty difficult to climb. Plus, from what I heard, the gate has a pressure sensor alarm. So even if someone climbs up, the alarm will go off before they even reach the top.”

“Ahh, I see,” she said.

Returning to my thoughts, I had a sudden realization. I spoke to the girl once more. “Wait a minute, did you just ask me if I was going to…jump? Who starts a conversation like that, especially on the roof!”

Softly she responds, “But you’re not denying it are you?”

Well, she’s not exactly wrong, but it was just a thought. As annoying as life can be, I still want to keep living in it.

I decided to change the topic. “Anyways, what are you doing out here in the rain? You know if you don’t head inside you’re going to catch a cold.” 

She laughs, “That's pretty funny coming from you. Mister, I don't have an umbrella. Tee-hee."

“Well, I was just about to head inside.” If I stay out any longer, I will be completely drenched.

“Too bad, but I guess that’s your choice. As for me, I'm going to stay out a bit longer.”

“Really...why?” Honestly, I don’t understand why someone would want to be out in this horrendous rain. Well, I guess I was out here first, but in my defense, I was distracted by my thoughts.

“Why? You see, here's the thing Kazuma Ito,” she then raises her arm and throws her umbrella up in the air.

“I love dancing in the rain,” she shouts.

This girl is completely wild! Who on earth just throws their umbrella up in the air like that? She could have seriously hit someone. Luckily, it landed a couple of meters away from us. With the umbrella out of the way, I decided to take a closer look at this odd girl.

Under the falling rain, she leaps from puddle to puddle. With each leap, she would make a big splash. Her twirls looked as graceful as a ballerina dancing in the moonlight. I took a closer look at her face. She has these bright, shining green eyes. Her hair, which is in two low pigtails, reminded me of the color of peaches. Suddenly she stops mid-dance. She then reaches up and pulls out her two hair ties. Vigorously she begins to shake her head, similar to a wet dog. Afterward, she returns to her endless twirling, with her medium-length hair slowly flowing behind her.

I hate to admit it, but she does look kind of cute.

Then another realization suddenly hits. She referred to me as Kazuma Ito, didn't she? Great, another fan. But, it’s a bit odd, isn’t it? Usually, once people know who I am, they either desperately cling to me or just avoid me entirely. Yet she has done neither.

“Hey,” I called out. “What’s your name?”

 She responds, “Ito-kun, I can't believe you don't know about the people in your same class year." 

"Well, I barely remember the people in my classroom."

 "For now, my name is a secret." She returns to her twirls once more. 

Ah, looks like she's a first year too.

As I headed toward the door, I decided to take one last look. Her dry uniform was becoming soaking wet. I shouted to her once more. “You do realize you’re wearing a white top, right? Listen, you really should head inside.”

“Don’t worry, I’m wearing a white bra, so I’m completely okay!”

“No, you’re not. Actually, it’s kind of visible. Also, with the way your wet skirt clings to your body, I can kind of see the outlines to your… well...you know.” But it seems she is no longer listening.

Whatever, this odd girl (really duck) has made her choice. Who am I to get in the way? I tried to be helpful. I should head inside and forget this whole interaction occurred. I head towards the door once more. Don’t look back, Kazuma. It’s not worth it. All I have to do is just reach up, turn the door handle, and…

Yeah…I ended up looking back.

Then, I saw something. Something I just couldn’t ignore...