Kuroki and Satsuki walked through the heavy rain with their umbrellas open.
splash splash splash
The sound of their feet splashing on the wet ground echoed as they walked.
"Wow, this is crazy," Kuroki expressed. "The rain isn't letting up."
They continued their walk.
"Alright, we are here," Kuroki said as he stopped and looked at Satsuki. "Okay, see you."
They stopped at a pathway, and Kuroki was about to begin going his separate way.
"Wait."
As Kuroki was about to leave, he was stopped by Satsuki.
"Yeah?" Kuroki questioned.
"H-hey… um…" She was hesitant, but then—"Come to my modeling."
A blank expression mixed with shock spread across his face.
"Huh?" He couldn't believe his ears.
"W-why do you want me to come to your modeling?" he questioned. "I think I remember you telling me that if I went to your modeling, you'd beat me half to death and feed me to vultures."
"W-well, yeah, I did say that." Her eyes turned away as she scratched her chin. "But I want to make it up to you for giving me this umbrella."
It seemed like she was nervous when she asked him.
"Oh, don't worry about it," he expressed gratefully. "It's fine. I just want to go ho—"
As he was about to reject her offer, Satsuki suddenly came close to his face.
"Please… just come with me."
Her face looked innocent—something Kuroki had never seen before.
(W-what is this face?)
He continued staring at her innocent expression like she was a puppy.
(There's no way I can reject her now.)
He let out a sigh. "Fine… I'll go."
"Yes! Thank you, Kuroki." She did a small jump of joy.
"Come on, let's go."
They both walked to the train station through the heavy rain once more.
—
They arrived at the train station.
"Wow, I'm surprised," Kuroki said. "The trains are still running in this weather."
When they entered the station, Kuroki felt a lot of stares. He turned his head left, then right.
(Ahhh… all these people are looking at us.)
(Well, not us…)
He turned his head and looked at Satsuki, who still didn't have a clue about the stares.
"Do you deal with this every day?" he asked.
"Deal with what?" she replied, completely clueless.
"Never mind," he said, giving up.
"So… where are we going?" he asked.
"We're going to Tokyo," she replied.
"Mmm… I se—"
"Huhhhhh?!"
He was shocked.
"Tokyo?! That's like 45 minutes from here!"
"Yeah, so?" she said like she didn't care at all.
Soon after, the train arrived. They both got on and headed to Tokyo.
—
[Next stop: Shinjuku] the automated voice said.
(I can't believe I'm actually going to Tokyo…) Kuroki thought as he looked at Satsuki.
She was just on her phone.
(Does she know what she's doing?) Kuroki wondered with a confused expression.
(Now that I think about it, this is the first time she's done something nice for me in a long time.)
Kuroki thought back on all the obnoxious things she had done before.
(But I don't understand why she wants me to go with her to her modeling shoot.)
As he was lost in his thoughts, the doors opened, and the train became even more crowded.
"Ah, sorry," a man said as he accidentally pushed Kuroki.
(Damn, I feel like I can't move.)
A bunch of people surrounded Kuroki, unaware of his presence.
(Damn it… this is so stupid.)
The crowd continued to crush his body until someone suddenly pulled him out.
"Woah—!"
It was unexpected. Satsuki had grabbed his hand and pulled him free.
"You okay?" she asked with concern.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he replied, averting his eyes.
Satsuki had Kuroki up against the door, towering over him. Both of them were in an awkward position.
[Next stop: Tokyo] the train began to move once again.
(Ah, man… this is dumb. Why did I bother coming?)
Kuroki tried his hardest not to make eye contact with Satsuki, given the awkward position they were in.
(What the hell is going on?) he thought. (Maybe she isn't having a good time either.)
He turned his eyes toward Satsuki, but it looked like she was completely unaware of what was happening.
(Are you kidding me?! She doesn't notice this at all?)
Satsuki had a calm look on her face.
"Oof!"
The train shook abruptly, and Satsuki moved even closer than before.
"Are you okay?" she asked again.
"O-oh yeah," he replied.
(I am not fine at all.)
(Oh my god, her chest is so close to my face.)
Kuroki was in agony as he tried to move his head as far away as possible.
Each bump of the train pushed her closer.
(S-stop… don't come any closer.)
He couldn't pull his head back any further.
The distance between them kept shrinking.
10 cm…
7 cm…
(Stop.)
4 cm…
He was sweating profusely, his face strained as he tried to get away.
Satsuki was still unaware of what was happening.
Kuroki was fighting for his life.
As her chest was on the edge of touching his face—
The doors opened.
"Ahh—oof!"
He fell onto the ground the moment the doors opened.
"Kuroki, are you okay?!" she asked worriedly.
"Yeah… I'm fine," he said, completely relieved.
"God, thank you."