13 - Weather Forecast (of heavy rainfall…)

Our manga project was going on quite smoothly—and it even had a name now! Considering the sweet yet mysterious adventure our protags would be going on, we had dubbed our one-shot as "Into the Unknown Forest: with you". Well, I wasn't too sure if the sweet nature of our characters was apparent from this title, but at least it did show that they were together in this! Plus, I think our character designs had ended up showing their natural chemistry as a couple quite well, so people could get a feel for the series just from the cover art alone. All thanks to Rika-san and her beautiful drawings…

A timid, shy princess and an aloof yet protective wandering hero. Two characters who had tightly locked away their hearts, only for them to gently discover feelings of love together: they had the secret key to unlock each other's tightly secured hearts. A quiet, yet powerful love—what a beautiful couple they've turned out to be.

I wonder what kind of dynamic me and Rika-san had… Was it as natural and apparent as our characters? Did it show at first glance that we had a special bond? Well, I had no way of knowing her feelings, but I thought we must have been looking quite cute working together at least. A sweet, hopeless romantic kind of guy and a strong, talented woman who had her charisma levels all maxed up. Got a nice feel to it, don't you think~?

What honestly surprised me the most was the fact that despite me finding her to be the coolest person in existence, I didn't even feel one bit intimidated. I didn't feel like hiding. Rather, she was bringing out some sides in me that I didn't even know that existed before.

Such a powerful force. She was really incredible…

Of course, our manga wasn't the only topic during our text chats. She had started to share daily bits from her life, and stuff like her favorite series and her music taste. I returned the same information about my own life, too. And honestly? The more I knew about her, the more I knew that this was someone I wanted to keep in my life forever, if possible.

Evenings had become my favorite time of the day, because that time was precisely when I'd either get lost in working on the manga script, or fall into a deep chat with Rika-san. Both of these things brought me immeasurable happiness.

However, I'd usually turn my phone notifications off as I worked on the script, in order to avoid any distractions. One evening, I found that I had accidentally forgotten to turn them off—not to mention I had left the sound on the highest setting! Imagine my terror when one second I was working on some lovely dialogue of our protags, and the next I was jumping on my seat in reaction to the explosive sound!! I let out a soft swear word, and checked my phone to see what it was about. It was Mayu declaring that she was finally free, and that she had gotten the highest possible score for her project!

Alright, the jumpscare moment aside, this was totally worth seeing!

Mattsun: yooo, congrats mayuyu! all your hard work has paid off (flower emoji)

mayuyu: hehe!! (proud sticker) your support helped me a lot, don't forget that yuuma!

mayuyu: i thank you again for trying on one of the dresses and even posing for some pictures!!

Once her costumes were done, she had asked me if I could drop by for a visit, and since we had talked before that maybe I could model for her pieces, I had no reasons to refuse. If anything, I was thrilled to try on the beautiful gown my talented friend had designed and sewn with utmost passion… I still looked at the photos from time to time, and it'd make me smile. What an honor it was!

Mattsun: hehe, it was my pleasure, mayu-sama~

mayuyu: the model was sooo pretty, some guys in my class asked "who's this pretty girl? is she your friend??" but hehe, that beautiful friend already has someone in mind… :3c

Mattsun: (bashful sticker)

After a while, Riku appeared to say his congratulations as well, and afterwards we decided to finally hold our visit to the mall (for my fashion makeover, and as Mayu's congratulation event). Gosh, I looked forward to it so much that I felt butterflies fly all around my tummy…

Once that was settled, I informed them that I'd go back to writing, and they both wished me luck. However, right as I was about to turn down my notifs for good that evening, a message from Rika-san prompted me to redirect my attention once again.

Rika: hey, are you working rn? you don't have to reply right away, so take your time.

Without thinking, I made up a white lie, saying that I was available to listen, as I was just about to take a break. Well, I always had time to spare for Rika-san, so…

Rika: oh, that's good then! thank you for your hard work as always.

I replied that I was most thankful for her efforts too, drawing such beautiful drawings that brought our heroes to life. She said that all she had done so far were the rough storyboards, so there was nothing much to praise. I insisted that they were already works of art, but she didn't sound too convinced.

Suddenly, a hollow feeling appeared in my chest. She was sounding… different than usual.

Rika: so um, i don't really know how to request this, but… here goes.

Rika: as much as i love working on this, i think i might need to take a little momentary break.

Oh.

Well, of course I didn't mind it, and obviously she had other projects to work on, especially with her uni and social media accounts, but… A deep, heavy cloud of worry appeared out on the horizon. What was the reason for her request for a break?

Yuuma: oh, of course, rika-san! We still have a lot of time, if you need a break please feel free to take it.

Yuuma: though… may i know the reason? if you need help with something, i'll do my best…!

She replied with a comically huge 'pien' emoji, and then attempted to swat my clouds of worry away.

Rika: oh, you… yuuma-kun, you're the sweetest. don't worry! it's just some personal stuff. since i value this project a lot, it'd be for the best if i gave myself the time to process stuff going on in my life first. of course, after that's done and over with, i'll be working extra hard.

Rika: don't underestimate a fired up rika!!! (fire emojis)

I tilted my neck and sighed. You don't have to push yourself, Rika-san… After I let her know of this, she reassured me one more time, that I shouldn't be worrying about her at all, and she had just wanted to handle her situation early on rather than ignoring it.

Frankly speaking, this just made me admire her even more. I didn't know what exactly her situation was, but I was 100% sure that if it were me, I'd either ignore the problem, or try to run away as much as I could. Only when the consequences came to bite my bum would I finally deal with it all, so I was utterly amazed by this display of maturity from her side of things.

Ah, Rika-san… You're making it hard for me to not love you for real…

Yuuma: alright, i trust that you know what's the best for you, rika-san.

Yuuma: and really, don't worry about it, there's plenty of time until the deadline, and everything has been smooth so far, so don't worry! take all the time you need (thumbs up sticker)

Rika: you too, don't worry about me, okay~? good night!!

Despite my efforts, the heavy clouds didn't dissipate from the horizon. To think that such a laidback and easygoing person would have to request a break… Something heavy must have come up, no? I cursed myself that I wasn't close enough to her that I could ask for the reason properly, or give her a helping hand… Be someone strong and reliable for her…

But all I could do that night was to roll around in bed, fully drenched in that heavy rainfall of worry.