Chapter 4 – Under Her Umbrella’s Shade

There's this thing called perception manipulation, hallucination, hypnosis, visual dissonance, illusion, or maybe just simply imagination. I don’t think any of those is happening to me, but they certainly will explain how Koharu looks to me right now.

I mean, she’s practically shining at this point.

She seems a little dissatisfied though. Why?

She stops walking, so I stop as well. I wait, holding my breath for whatever she is about to say. Eventually, she lets out a heavy sigh as she looks at me with a frown on her face.

“…Why are you that far? You’re almost outside the umbrella.”

Now that she mentions it...

I glance upward at the purple canopy of her umbrella, half of which is blocking the dark sky. Conversely speaking, it also means that I am half exposed to the rain.

"Look at yourself. Your shoulder and even part of your head is wet."

I struggle to find an answer. I cannot say that I am making sure we will not make any body contact, so I am keeping my distance away from her hand that holds the umbrella.

And now, this is the result.

“I-I’m fine so long as my bag wouldn’t get wet, ha-ha…”

“No. You’ll get sick that way. Come closer.”

I reluctantly put my entire head under the shade of the umbrella, but a part of my shoulder is still getting wet. I reflexively stiffen so as not to touch her shoulder and hand.

I notice something. Her hand which I was avoiding earlier still has some leisure space away from me and I immediately find out the reason.

“Y-you say that but, your shoulder. It’s also getting wet,” I say.

Koharu reacts and I can tell she also stiffens a little.

“I-It’s fine! It’s my umbrella after all,” she replies forcefully as we continue to walk.

Sure, she will not get sick with a wet shoulder. But she's sharing her umbrella with me, and as a man, I cannot overlook it. Eventually, I slightly move away from her and my entire right shoulder is exposed to the rain again.

If I keep my head dry, there should be no issue—

Something bumps into my shoulder and the shade of the umbrella occupies me entirely…

“N-now, there’s no problem, right?” she says.

Her delicate shoulder is touching mine, and I can feel her warmth on my skin. My heart is beating awfully loud as I breathe slowly, trying to calm it down. I can tell exactly when she breathes, and that she’s breathing the same way as I do, slow, deep, yet steady.

Our rhythm eventually starts to sync.

She seems a little flustered and this is probably just my imagination, but her face looks red right now.  My face is most likely in the same state if not redder.

I dare not speak; I dare not move. I feel like my heart could burst out at any time.

We keep the nerve-wracking silence as we stand here, exactly as we are. It is as if there is a veil embracing us, a tight, suffocating, yet warm veil.

Koharu makes a step forward, softly dispelling the veil that constricts us. My reaction is a bit delayed, but I manage to walk to her side.

We advance more slowly than before, as if careful so that we will not bump into each other, but I know that we will be going on separate paths soon again.

I like her… I want to tell her how I feel. Now is a good chance, that no one will hear us, and we're alone.

However, when I open my mouth to speak, I cannot bring myself to do it. I keep trying several times, but the outcome is the same. Before I realize it, we are already turning to the last corner.

Ahh… I don't want this to end…

Unfortunately, wishes like that cannot be granted easily.

“See you, tomorrow,” she says.

After a short goodbye, Koharu leaves the place without looking back.

The rain has let up and instead of running straight to home, I watch her go until I can no longer see her.