Osaka Rain || N. Yuta [Completed (✓)]

二

The Scent of Air after Rain
雨の匂い

Bouncing a tennis ball back and forth on the off-white plastered wall—he sat beside the ajar bedroom door—his back against the wall, eyes staring at nothing—out of zone and mind trailing off, running the flashback of the class from that morning.

"Hayashi Sei," Yuta uttered in sync with the soft, melancholic voice of the new student replaying in his brain. "—Sei." A small gentle smile took place on his lips, as he said her first name again.

It was pouring in Osaka. Yuta decided to stay in his room, enjoying the sound of rain all by himself, sitting idly. He could hear the sporadic raindrops and inhale the odour it emitted by hitting the ground.

The screen of his cellphone lit up—invading through the darkness he had created in his bedroom, breaking him out of his trance—letting him know that there was an incoming call since there was no other way because he kept it on silent mode all the time. Slight annoyance was expressed through his knitted eyebrows, seeing an unknown number flashed on it.

He slid the receive icon, left to right across the screen to pick the call. Pressing the phone to his hear, he spoke after finally dropping the ball from his hand, "Hel―"

His nonchalant attempt to greet the person on the other side became futile as he got completely cut off by a feminine voice's cry.

"Nii-chan (兄ちゃん)!"

The feeling of annoyance was completely gone now as he was clouded by genuine worry for his younger sister. "Haruna?" He asked—his voice was a tad higher than usual and eyebrows furrowed.

"I am stuck at somewhere around tsutenkaku. I don't have any umbrella and it's raining like crazy out here. Also my phone died so I'm using a—" Haruna glanced around her to see that the person who let her use the phone was standing at a distance, gazing elsewhere.

She lowered her voice before continuing to speak, "A stranger's phone to call you." Yuta blinked, letting out a sigh of relief. Here I was worried that something might have happened to her.

"Text me your exact address and stay right there. I'm leaving now." Yuta hung up the call and grabbed two umbrellas before heading out.

"Haru!" Yuta called her out as soon as he spotted her figure. Sei watched the guy who was dressed in a casual black tee and grey coloured sweatpants―had multiple piercings in his ears. She might or might not have found him familiar.

"How did you get here so fast?" Haruna asked him. She had almost forgotten that her brother was going to pick her up since she was too immersed in talking to the older female. "Before that, why are you here so late?"

"Uh—" The youngest was struggling to find a plausible excuse to explain the reason for her to not go home even when her school had gotten over long ago.

But before she could come up with something, Yuta's eyes shifted to the person who was with her, causing it to widen. "Aren't you the one who got transferred to our school today?" He muttered involuntarily.

"Wait, yes! You are wearing the same uniform as ours." He did not even let her speak and the fact that Sei was a slowpoke did not help at all. "Do you two know each other?"

The brunette solved the mystery of recognising this wide eyed male. "If you go to Yosen High as well then yeah," she spoke with a smile. The youngest went totally unnoticed as Yuta mirrored Sei's expression before introducing himself. "Hi, I'm Nakamoto Yuta."

"Umm—" Sei finally realised that it was also weird for her to stay out so late that too wearing her uniform. Even so, she decided to say her name. "I'm—"

"Hayashi Sei, I know."