IE || in the eyes of [you]

xviii. [Dark] Chocolate

"Isn't that⸺" Sakuma's shifted his body and umbrella, so he could take a better look at the familiar figure on the opposite side of the road:

Sheltering underneath a tree, you shivered away while hugging the tote bag you had long carried from Raimon to Mikage Sennou. The sweater vest that you usually wore over your uniform, draped over your head as a makeshift umbrella, and water droplets dripped off the edge of the fabric.

Eyebrows furrowed, Sakuma looked left and right before he crossed the roads.

You looked up when you heard his encroaching footsteps. Your eyes widened. "Y–You're ⸺" A sneeze saved you from blurting his name out.

Sakuma flinched. "I'm Sakuma. Sakuma Jirou. We've ... seen each other quite a few times."

You nodded, sniffling. "H–hello again. I'm Endou [Namae], b–but please call me [Namae]."

Sakuma nodded. "What are you doing out here without an umbrella, if I may ask?"

"I ⸺ I was on my way to Occult Junior High, but I didn't think it'd ⸺ achoo! ⸺ rain...."

A part of Sakuma wanted to ask you why you would visit a school well known for its mysteries and creepy air, but another part of him told him to leave it up to Genda to ask you that. So, instead, Sakuma said to you, "I see. Then, how about I guide you there?"

"Eh?" You wondered whether any rain got into your ear. "Y–you want to guide me there? Are you sure? I wouldn't want to bother you."

"It's of my own insistence." Sakuma offered you a friendly smile and tilted his umbrella over you. "The rain isn't going to subside any moment now."

You couldn't refute that. Therefore, after you put away your soaked sweater vest into a plastic bag, and stuffed it in your school bag, you agreed to his offer.

The walk to Occult Junior High with Sakuma was accompanied by the pitter pattering of the raindrops dripping against his umbrella.

Not liking such ambience for it revealed to you your racing heart, and remembering you had to act all cheery as Mamoru-chan, you piped up against your shivering body, "So ~ Sakuma-kun, what are you doing out here in this parts?"

"Me? I was visiting a friend."

"I see."

Seeing as to how you striked up the conversation, Sakuma decided to forgo his earlier decision and asked, "What about you? I know you said you're heading for Occult Junior High, but why are you heading there?"

You pondered whether you should tell the truth. When you realised that Sakuma will tell Genda about this interaction, you replied, "Oh, it's because I wanted to give them this." You tugged the top of the tote bag in your arm, then tilted it over to Sakuma's view.

Sakuma, after adjusting his umbrella, got a closer look as to what was inside the bag. "Eh? Is this mochi⸺?" Then, his eyes widened. In the snap of a finger, he leaned away and looked to his right.

You blinked twice. "I–is something wrong, Sakuma-kun?"

"It's ⸺ it's fine." Sakuma knew he could not; he mustn't; tell you that your soaked uniform top had become see–through enough that Sakuma caught peek of your bra. Due to that, while he prayed that you did not notice the blush that dusted his cheeks, the answer he whipped to you was, "A store over there caught my eye."

"Really?" You leaned forward. "What store?"

Sakuma leaned backwards. "Just a⸺" the colour of your bra flashed through his mind "⸺an undergarment store."