Splaaash—splaaash—
Torrential rain hammered the ground, kicking up huge bursts of spray.
Arato Sora, ready to head out after getting up, stared at the endless downpour and couldn't help thinking of yesterday's weather forecast—today, it had claimed, would be sunny.
He'd known for a long time that forecasts were unreliable, but he hadn't expected it to be wrong to this degree.
He threw on a light green windbreaker and headed for the door.
Sweatpants. Windbreaker. A black short-sleeved shirt underneath.
That was more or less Arato Sora's usual look.
Because he spent so much time out in the field collecting rock samples, his clothes prioritized being easy to wash and hard-wearing.
He had two more identical sets in his closet.
He grabbed the umbrella by the entrance.
Like he was repeating a task he'd performed countless times before, he opened the door.
Umbrella up, he started walking toward the convenience store near his house.
With rain like this, there was no chance of doing field survey work today. He'd probably spend most of the day holed up at home writing reports.
Living alone, Arato Sora didn't have much motivation to cook, either.
He planned to buy a few bento boxes and make that his food for the day.
Rattle-rattle—rattle-rattle—
Raindrops drummed against the umbrella in a constant staccato.
Because he often went up into the mountains to do prospecting work, Arato Sora's home in Misaki Town sat at the foot of the mountain.
The nearest convenience store was about two or three kilometers away; the route passed through a small park in the middle of town.
As he walked, he watched the people around him hurrying along through the rain.
Even though he'd decided to go to the convenience store, he wasn't in any particular rush.
Maybe it was because of his previous life—this time around, there was always a trace of laziness in his movements. Sometimes, on a whim, he would even detour into a section of the park just to look at running water and stones.
Strolling in the rain like this, he had to admit, had its own flavor.
Maybe he could drag Aoko out to try it with him one day.
Once his thoughts wandered in that direction, Arato Sora couldn't help remembering something the two of them had done before.
It had been during a typhoon, of all times.
Arato Sora had been at home writing a report when, for some reason, his brain misfired and he said he wanted to go out for a walk.
And Aozaki Aoko—whose brain apparently misfired just as badly—had nodded.
They'd looked at each other for a few seconds… and then smiled like they understood perfectly.
That night, in the middle of a typhoon, they'd run out wearing their usual clothes—no umbrellas—then wandered the streets together under pouring rain.
If he remembered correctly, it hadn't stopped at getting soaked.
That idiot Aoko had even dragged him into the park's fish pond to catch fish.
And, just to be clear—they actually caught one.
Aoko cooked it.
It reeked so badly they could hardly swallow it.
In the end, they played rock-paper-scissors—loser drinks—and forced themselves to finish the fish soup, thick with muddy, earthy stink.
"What a shame I forgot to trick that idiot into taking a bath with me afterward."
He muttered the complaint aloud, his tone carrying a strangely genuine sense of regret.
He didn't know whether Aoko would've agreed, but he truly had forgotten to even try.
Sometimes it felt like the way they got along was less like lovers peeking at each other's bodies… and more like two dumb brothers.
Watching the pond in front of him—its surface rippling under the wind—
Arato Sora suddenly wondered if he should turn back right now, call Aoko, drag her out, and this time make sure he got her into a bath with him no matter what.
His thoughts were flying everywhere.
And then—umbrella raised, steps steady—as he turned away from the pond and started toward the convenience store—
"?"
He reflexively lifted a hand and rubbed at his eyes.
Across the pond, on the opposite side from where he stood, there was a figure with black hair.
A face that looked strikingly like Aoko's.
Pale skin. Sharp features with a hard edge to them.
She wasn't holding an umbrella.
She simply stood there, letting the rain hammer down on her.
A school uniform in pure black—almost like a nun's habit—was soaked through, leaving her looking oddly bedraggled.
Rainwater streamed down her cheeks.
He didn't know how long she'd been there, but her gaze had already settled on him.
The moment their eyes met, Arato Sora recognized who she was.
He had seen her once when he was little.
—Aozaki Touko.
His girlfriend Aozaki Aoko's older sister.
And, according to Aoko, the true heir of the Aozaki family.
Aoko was usually blunt and carefree, but once in a while she talked about her family—how, to the Aozaki clan, she was the one they'd abandoned.
The family's glory and burden were all piled onto her sister, Touko.
Aoko spoke like she was complaining, but whenever she brought it up, it was more like a quiet reflection than bitterness.
Arato Sora knew Aoko well enough to understand: she might envy her sister's position sometimes, but she was perfectly satisfied with her life now, with no desire to break it apart.
"I'm incredibly lucky," Aoko had said once, "because all my problems can just be dumped on my sister."
Every so often she'd say things like that—relieved, yet faintly envious at the same time.
From Aoko's mouth, her sister Touko was… a decent older sister.
When the two sisters met occasionally, Touko would listen to Aoko's ideas and then critique the failures Aoko ran into at school.
Most of those critiques were razor-sharp.
In Arato Sora's mind, Touko's image was that of a scholarly woman, heavy with bookish air.
"It's not our first time meeting, is it?" a woman's voice called from across the water.
Aozaki Touko, noticing Arato Sora looking at her, began walking toward him step by step.
"Yes," Arato Sora replied. "Touko-san—why are you here?"
Out of politeness, as Touko approached, he stepped toward her as well.
"Do you want the umbrella?"
As he spoke, he reached out and offered it to her.
"No need."
Rain slid down the girl's cheeks. Wearing glasses, Aozaki Touko looked straight at him—her younger sister's boyfriend.
Touko knew quite a lot about Aoko.
Whenever she met Aoko, a good portion of what Aoko talked about was Arato Sora.
Aozaki Aoko had a bit of a tsundere streak. She wouldn't show Arato Sora how much she cared when he was right in front of her—
But in front of other people…
She probably didn't even realize it herself. She would unconsciously bring him up, and talk about the two of them with unmistakable happiness.
"You've gotten soaked in the rain with Aoko before," Touko said. "How about you get soaked with me once, too?"
Her eyes were sharp. The words were phrased like a request, but coming from her mouth, they carried the weight of an order.
In that sense, she really was not so different from Aoko.
Only, compared to the Aoko Arato Sora knew, Touko's manner felt both fragile and forceful at the same time.
Arato Sora nodded.
"Alright."
In the rain, he folded the umbrella and let the water pour down over him.
Strictly speaking, if it were someone he wasn't close to, he should have refused something like that.
But Aozaki Touko right now—
Arato Sora didn't know whether she realized it.
Standing in the drizzle, putting on a hard front, she gave off the unmistakable feeling of a homeless dog.
A dog fleeing in panic, stripped of everything.
A broken-backed dog.
"Touko-san… are you in a bad mood? Is it because of Aoko?"
He asked the question he truly wanted to ask.
Touko didn't answer directly.
"You can think of it that way."
And as she spoke—almost without waiting for Arato Sora to agree—she grabbed his hand and, under the pouring rain, jumped straight into the pond.
Caught completely off guard, Arato Sora fell into the water with her, sending up a huge splash through the curtain of rain.
-------
Promotion Valentine's Month Sale: 20% off for 7 days. Apply now!
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (50 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (47 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (30 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (40 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (37 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (40 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (30 Chapter)From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it