The Beginning of Disaster

"Uh... It doesn't look good."

Sensei raised his head to look at the sky. Both his expression and the sky above were dark. The dark sky is not because of the night, but because of the black clouds swimming above.

Since it was summer we thought that the sky would be clear. We didn't expect that there would be dark clouds like this.

"What do you think? Looks like there's a chance of rain. But seeing how the clouds are moving there's also the possibility that it's just going to pass by."

Sensei asked for our opinions. After a few moments of discussion, a senpai raised his hand.

"I think we should go. It would be a loss if we spent the night staying at the inn doing nothing. The chance of rain is 50:50. So I don't think there's any harm in trying."

After asking everyone's opinions and unifying our voices, we agreed to go. We brought some umbrellas just in case.

Just like yesterday, we walked to the location where we could see the stars at best.

Along the way, I tried to figure out Tsukinaga-san's whereabouts and found her some distance away from me. As I stared at her, she noticed my gaze and our eyes met for a glimpse. But she quickly averted her eyes as soon as that happened.

We arrived at the site without a hitch. We then put the items we brought with us accordingly.

At first, we could still see stars through the gaps in the clouds. But after about an hour passed, the wind stopped moving, as did the clouds above. Not long after, a different wind blew.

We had a bad feeling but no one moved. When water drops fell from the sky, we started to panic.

We hurriedly packed up our things. With sensei's direction, everyone descended from the hill.

"Don't panic. Descend carefully as the soil becomes slippery due to rainwater."

Even with an umbrella, it can't fully protect everyone from the sudden downpour of rain. When they arrived at the inn, they were already drenched. Especially those who brought binoculars, they sacrificed themselves so that their binoculars would not get wet.

When all the panic subsided, they realized that someone was missing.

"Wait, where is Chizuru?"

"Eh?! I thought she was with you."

"She was. But she suddenly turned back halfway through."

"Why are you only saying it now?"

"Don't blame me! I think she's still following us behind."

"Hold on, everyone. Stay calm and start counting."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

"Four."

They kept counting until the last of them.

"So it's Chizuru and Tomoe's lil bro who are missing."

"Have they lost their way?"

"How is that possible? We went down together."

"Don't ask me."

While they were all arguing, Tsukinaga-san who couldn't stop agitating suddenly ran out of the inn.

"Wait, Tsukinaga-chan! Where are you going?"

"Looking for them."

Without even taking an umbrella, she ran through the storm. She was so panicked about her missing boyfriend that she couldn't think straight.

Meanwhile, the people who are missing...

"Achoo!"

"Take off your clothes or you'll get a fever."

"No, I'm fine."

"Stop being stubborn and just do it."

Chizuru-san took off my shirt forcefully. When she was about to take off my pants as well, I stopped her and said that I would do it myself.

Wearing only underwear, we sat with our backs leaning against each other.

Kuh! How could this happen?

As we walked down the hill, I saw Chizuru-san suddenly change course. I, who saw her running up alone while the group left her behind, was in a dilemma between leaving her or following her.

"Argh! Damn it!"

I don't know what's right and what's wrong. But I felt that if I left her then I would regret it. In the end, I ran after her.

When I reached the top, I saw Chizuru-san crouched down looking for something.

"What are you doing?! Everyone else has left."

"My earring, I lost it."

Chizuru-san completely ignored me shouting at her. She was so serious but also panicked. Combining it with her previous sentence, it seemed like she had lost something precious to her.

This is the first time I've seen her like this. She usually looks calm and collected, someone who is in control. But I can't see that in her right now.

Scratching the back of my head, I crouched down to help her.

"Tell me about the thing you lost."

Chizuru-san turned to me as if she couldn't believe I was helping her. But then she apologized and thanked me at the same time.

"Those are the earrings that I always wear. The design is simple, it's small, round, and golden in color."

Finding an object that matches her description is so damn hard. If it's daytime, it's going to be easy because we might see something shining. But with the current sky conditions, we can barely see anything. Moreover, none of us had a flashlight with us. The lighting from the phone alone is not enough.

However, we are still searching in these difficult conditions.

Just as I was about to give up, I saw something similar to the description given. I was skeptical at first because there were times when I thought of pebbles as things I was looking for. But this time I wasn't wrong.

"I found it!"

Chizuru-san turned her head right away upon hearing the good news. She desperately ran to me.

When she saw the object in my hand, her body trembled in disbelief. She slowly picked it up and hugged it dearly.

"I'm glad. I'm truly glad."

I didn't expect Chizuru-san to cry from relief. I, who felt awkward, could only look the other way while waiting for her to calm down.

When the problem of the missing earring was resolved, there was one more problem waiting for us.

"So, how do we get back?"

When we tried to get down, we didn't know the way back.