𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐒 - 𝐒. 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐀

𝐓𝐄𝐍

TEN
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      A week goes by filled with Sayo visiting that bench with Wisterias surrounding its place, and it was strange that she had not once seen Shinsuke around that time span. It was not like she desperately wanted him there, but there was this certain gap in between her heart that appeared, and it was almost as if he took that part with him every time he was not there.

      Sayo had been exasperated over the subconscious thoughts and emotions that she couldn't help but feel, and it was almost like the world dictated a part of her life, though she was not sure of what it was.

      There was always this pull like a puppet master pulling at their puppet's strings. But this, it was the world who purposefully tugged at her heart strings whenever it saw that the certain light-grey-haired young man was around her.

      She didn't want to feel it – well at least, she didn't want to feel it so soon when she barely even knew anything about him.

      Today, as Sayo walked on the usual route that she took towards school, it rained. The droplets were cold when it came from the sky before dropping down over the thin tight-knit threads of her blue umbrella, serving as a cover to prevent her from getting wet – though, it was honestly not much of a help.

      Some of the cold droplets bounced against the surfaces that sat near her, then finding itself latched on her arm – and as those droplets stayed there, it turned warmer against her skin before dripping down towards the ground, joining its whole that it had been separated from when they were together in the clouds.

      Sayo liked the rain.

      The smell of the fresh green leaves and earthy soil that emitted the natural strong scent of a forest, and the temperature that was cool but not cold enough for her to start freezing – but it was just enough for her to snuggle against bundles of the thin blankets that they owned.

      But at the same time, Sayo did not like the rain. It was a confusing love-hate relationship between a human and a natural phenomenon that occurred in this world.

      She did not like how the rain would seep into the sleeves of her white uniform or her shoes that made her feet feel soggy. She did not like the way its dull hues bled against every corner and surface of the streets, making their house appear darker than how it always was. And she did not like how it reminded her of when her father left – it had rained harshly that day, from what she could remember.

      Sayo sighed, removing her wet shoes and replacing it with the school-required ones that were placed inside a small wooden-cubicle by the entrance. Right after putting it on, she had immediately headed towards the direction of their classroom.

-o-

      Sayo sat on the chair right beside the window where she could watch each rain water drop against the metal window sill on the other side of the transparent glass. Minuscule and multiple drops would stick by its glass and she watched how it trailed down, multiplying to turn into a larger droplet when it touches another, before it falls down on the sill once its weight was too heavy to carry itself.

      Raindrops and its vertical trajectories down to its chemical components was what Sayo wondered about as she sat in boredom in their class. She didn't think it was weird for her to do so when it was similar to thinking that thirty-four minus fifteen is equal to nineteen – where thirty would be equal to another fifteen added to fifteen, then adding four right after – thus, fifteen plus four would be nineteen.