YOU COULD FEEL THE SUNLIGHT warming your exposed skin. You took your usual walks around the town. With Mr. Froppé in arms, you took slow steps on the streets, while the vehicles beside zoomed passed.
The weather was really hot. Sometimes makes you want to lay down and sunbathe on top of a rock. But today was too hot that you could feel your body sweating. Your clothes weren't suited for a hot day like this.
You had an oversized pink sweater for a school uniform, a short white skirt with black trim. Along with white loose socks and black platform shoes. Why were you wearing a school uniform? Because they felt comfortable to wear, that's it.
You wiped off a sweat on your forehead with your sleeve, and shielding your eyes from the sun. "I should have brought an umbrella..." You muttered to yourself, knowing that there's nothing else you can really do at the moment to subdue the heat you were feeling.
Staring down at Mr. Froppé, his ears were laid flat and you decided to shield him instead with your hand. "Sorry, Mr. Froppé. I guess we have to cut our walk short this time. It's really hot, even for you." You gave him a wry smile.
But then you had an idea popped up in your mind. Maybe I could buy an umbrella... You could just go back home and enjoy the cool air, but you really didn't want to end your walk on an unsatisfying note, so you quickly made your way to a nearby store. A store that... sells a lot of things, you supposed.
You looked around for umbrella, and the cashier guy was giving you weird looks. Maybe because you were wearing a school uniform. Not that you cared what he thought though. You eventually found some and dug into your pockets for cash.
500 yen... Another 500... 10 yen... 100 yen... You furrowed your brows. This should be enough for an umbrella, right? And to your expectation, the umbrellas were mostly under 1,000 yen. The corners of your lips curled up as you hurriedly bought it and stepped out.
"Huh?" You saw droplets of water coming down from the sky. And to think just a minute ago, it was sunny. Before you could even think, the light rain soon became a freaking thunderstorm.
The weather sure is strange...
Thankfully you had decided to find some shelter, and got an umbrella no less. So now you can go back home with much assurance... was that you wanted to think, until you saw another person also hiding under the rain.
"Mr. Froppé, look." You turned your friend to where you're looking. "That's Blondie. He picked you off the floor, remember?" But then you saw a lot of bandages on his face. You wondered if he was badly injured in some accident.
"Blondie" felt eyes watching him and turned to that direction, seeing you as he had quoted "the girl with a bunny," and broke eye contact. He wasn't used to ladies after all. Him? A delinquent? With girls? Psh, whatever.
Back to you, you saw that the rain wasn't gonna let up anytime soon, and you stared between your newly bought umbrella and Blondie. "Hmm..." Umbrella. "Humm...?" Blondie. "Mmn..." Umbrella? "Nng..." Blondie?
It was amusing for Chifuyu to see you make weird faces, mumbling some mumbo-jumbo and staring back and forth between the umbrella and him. In the end, you decided to just talk to him to see.
Bye-bye monthly allowance.
Just as you took a couple steps towards him, you halted. But what if... he doesn't need it? You shook your head, tightening your arms (slightly crushing Mr. Froppé a little), puffed your chest up and promptly made your way over to him. You held out the umbrella to him. "Want an umbrella?"
Chifuyu stared at your umbrella for a second, before realizing that you only had one and refused. "No thanks. I can wait for the rain to stop."
You... wanted to puke blood. "Wow... Thanks for deteriorating my confidence. I feel great." You mumbled immediately. To your dismay, Blondie had heard what you said and panicked.
"No, no, no! I just thought that... uh... W-Well, you only have one umbrella, and you should use it on yourself."
You blinked. This guy's... a dummy. "If... I wasn't okay with getting wet, I wouldn't be asking." Then you continued. "I'm not a stranger with water. I'm used to getting wet."
The blonde male had to stop and recalled your words in his head. Slowly his face started to turn red, realizing what you had just said. "What!?!" He screamed, and you flinched away from his outburst. "Why are you screaming?" You asked.
"Did you know what you just said!?" He was extremely confused. Were you doing it in purpose, or were you just oblivious?
"Um... I said I'm used to getting wet... 'cause the girls at my old school always dumped dirty water bags on me." Hearing your explanation was nice and all, but it didn't help that he was still seriously embarrassed at how you worded it. He also cursed himself for thinking so dirty. Still though, he felt bad that you were being bullied.
"Oh." Was all he could say. Your calm and neutral expression told him that you weren't really bothered by it, but he still felt bad. Remembering your question earlier, he asked. "Hey, do you wanna share the umbrella instead?"
"...Eh?"
"I mean, we're both going somewhere, right? For me, I'm going home, so you could just bring me home, and then you can be off your way."
You considered the situation for a bit, looking out at the rain. It was raining cats and dogs, and you swore you saw lighting flashed too. Facing back Blondie, you nodded, and both of you began your way back home.
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You two were walking on the streets, together under one single umbrella. It was sort of tiny, so you were really close to him. Your shoulder brushing against his once in a while. You felt weird being this close with a boy. The only man you were ever close with was your uncle. But, it was like you were nervous or anything. No, no, no. You were far too busy thinking about Mr. Froppé and other stuff, while also following where he was going, since you are bringing him to his house after all.
When he spoke up, you swiftly paid attention. "Why are you wearing a uniform actually? And that's even not the uniform the girls at our school wear." He peered at your face for response, and as usual, your face was of a blank one.
You brought your finger to your lips, seriously thinking his question. "...It's a style, I guess."
"A style, huh?" Chifuyu repeated, a grin on his face. "I think I read a manga on something like that. Gyaru, right?"
You quickly faced him with a surprised look, before slowly turning back on the street ahead. "...Yeah. It's more specifically called kogyaru for me. We like to wear school uniforms with cute accessories and such." You stayed silent for a minute before speaking again. "I only wear the clothes though because they're comfortable and cute. I don't really speak words combined with English or act really loud and rebellious... All in all, I don't consider myself a gyaru."
Your blonde buddy hummed and nodded while he listened to you talked. "Sometimes the make-up they wear are too extreme, so I don't really like it. I'm not about to shame them for wearing it though... I think they're really cool for acting like that in public. Without a care in the world... How nice would that be?" You whispered.
"Hey, the umbrella!" Chifuyu speedily took the umbrella out of your hand. You didn't realized that it was slipping out. "Oh... Sorry." You muttered an apology.
"Haha. You must've got pretty comfortable with me, seeing how you were deep in thoughts just now."
"I... suppose."
With your free hand now, you pressed your arm against your body, clutching Mr. Froppé like how you always do.
Chifuyu noticed that and inquired. "Do you always carry that?"
"It's not "that," it's Mr. Froppé!" You held the bunny up all of a sudden for him to see clearly. He stepped back and gulped, not expecting such a fervent retort. "Look at his beady eyes, his gray fur and cute long ears!" Your fingers moved to Mr. Froppé's arms at the sides and flopped them up and down repeatedly while his head fell sideways.
The male had to admit. Seeing that kind of reaction from you was really surprising. And cute too...
"To be honest..." He was brought out of his thoughts when you started speaking again. "Mr. Froppé sounds like a name better suited for a frog, but it's funny how the name was passed onto a bunny instead." He could see the smile creeping up on your face, and he couldn't helped but smile himself.
After some more chatting, you reached a building, which you figured it was an apartment complex where he lived.
Then the drops of water in front began to slow down and become less visible. The male put a hand out. "Oh, the rain stopped." You stared up at what was once dark and gloomy, to a happy and vibrant sky.
"Wow, talk about a coincidence, huh?" Blondie laughed and moved the umbrella down, closing it. "Here." He handed the umbrella back to you. "Thanks... Blondie."
But he gave you a weird look. "It's not 'Blondie,' it's Chifuyu. Matsuno Chifuyu." He copied your words earlier and smiled. You slowly nod your head. If he's telling me his first name first, then does that mean I have permission to use it?
Wanting to see if you were right, you decided to test this vocally. "Matsuno... Chifuyu-san." Your eyes went over him and anticipated his response, but he only gave you a big grin. You took it as a yes and kept it in mind. "So, what's your name?" He then asked.
"My name... [Last Name] [Name]." You were a bit reluctant on giving your name, but you said it anyway since he had been such a nice person to you since you've met. "[Last Name]-chan, huh? Okay, see you next week at school then!" He waved before running inside the building.
Unbeknownst to both of you, someone watched all of your interactions on the fifth floor with a huge smirk. "You really got a chick, huh, Chifuyu?"