The weather had grown stifling. When Watanabe Tetsu swam at the municipal pool in the evenings, he noticed far more people than before; doing nonstop fifty-meter laps without pause was no longer realistic.
He had to give up freeloading and bought a gym swim card.
On Monday afternoon, May 26, Tokyo was hit by a sudden downpour.
The clear sky went black in seconds; raindrops plastered themselves across the classroom windows, pattering loudly.
Tetsu was in his Modern Society class without an umbrella, but his mood was good—he couldn't remember the last time it had rained properly, and it felt oddly pleasant.
Mr. Inoue, who taught the class, paused mid-sentence. He glanced out the window, pushed his black-rimmed glasses up his nose, and switched on the fluorescent lights.
The dim classroom took on a cozy air.
"This kind of economic phenomenon is rare yet persistent—take Wall Street in 1994, for example—"
The lecture wound down.
"Wow, it's really pouring."
"This might be the seasonal rain front, right?"
"Could be just a summer downpour."
"Idiot! It's only May—summer hasn't even started. How could it be a summer storm?"
Keisuke Saito and Osamu Kunii bickered at the window about nothing important.
Tetsu packed his bag. "Shall we go?"
"We're coming!" the two called back as they grabbed their things.
The three of them headed to the club building, hearing plenty of people comment on the sudden storm as they walked. The campus felt relaxed and peaceful in the rain.
Crossing the elevated walkway to the club building, they each made for their activity rooms—really more like study rooms until exams were over.
On the fifth floor, the Human Observation Club's activity room had Yuki Miki sprawled asleep on the sofa. Judging by the time, she probably hadn't attended class that afternoon.
Usually aloof and queenly, she looked perfectly ordinary when asleep, curled up with a cushion in her arms.
New manga and light novels lay scattered around the sofa; a cup of tea still radiated warmth; the TV displayed a Mario Kart finish screen.
The gamertag "Yuki Miki" was ranked first.
Tetsu scanned the room as he walked to his seat. The scrape of his steel-frame chair woke her.
"Watanabe? Make another sound and I'll kill you." Yuki murmured without opening her eyes, clutching the cushion tighter and slipping back into sleep.
She was certainly grumpy upon waking.
Tetsu kept quiet. Even the kindest people could get murderous first-thing-out-of-bed moods; with Yuki, the urge could even extend to destroying the world.
When he pulled out Spanish Grammar & Vocabulary, Kiyono Rin entered on light feet and frowned slightly at the mess on the floor.
Her chair made hardly any sound when she sat; she didn't wake Yuki.
As usual she took a book out. This time it was an all-English Encyclopedic Guide to Marine Life: Dolphins.
Tetsu had seen that edition translated into the local dialect translation when he'd been to Kino Kuni Bookstore the previous Sunday—but he hadn't read it. Tokyo Handsome didn't need to know about dolphins, after all.
The three of them listened to the rain and went about their own things—reading the encyclopedia, studying Spanish, and sleeping—until a thunderclap shook the room and woke Yuki.
She sat up, knees bent, staring blankly for a long moment. Finally she said, "Watanabe, get me grapes."
"I'm studying."
Thwack! Tetsu caught a cushion that flew his way, still scented with Yuki's lingering fragrance.
"Go on." The girl tossed the cushion back and flopped down again, commanding.
Tetsu placed the cushion on his seat to use as a pad—steel chairs weren't comfortable, and air conditioning in summer could still feel chilly.
He stood and walked to the fridge. "If I'm doing chores, you ought to pay me. Not billions, but at least a million yen a month, right?"
Yuki yawned lazily and ignored him.
He opened the luxurious refrigerator. Inside: pristine fruit and desserts he'd never even seen before.
He took a plate piled with grapes to the small table by the sofa.
Yuki grabbed a handful from the bottom, fingers full.
"Here—your pay."
Her hand looked long and elegant by proportion, but it was still a small girl's hand. In reality, Tetsu's salary and the grapes together amounted to only four pieces.
"Lady Yuki, I'm a man of dignity… I—sorry." He tried to preserve his pride.
Yuki lifted her brows slightly and glanced at him. Tetsu obediently accepted the "wage" from her hand.
Seeing him look so put-upon seemed to delight her; she happily ate grapes and flicked bananas at the Mario Kart racers with her foot.
Tetsu sat down on the cushion she'd been clutching, two or three grapes in hand and furious.
He imagined seating himself on Yuki's face to erase his pain. He told himself to move on.
'Isn't this just a spiritual victory like Lu Xun's A-Q?' he thought. 'Do I become A-Q? No, no!'
Sobered, he shoved a grape into his mouth and returned to earnest Spanish study.
The grapes were delicious—sweet but not cloying, juicy. He popped a second one in.
That's when he noticed Kiyono Rin watching him.
"You want one?" Tetsu offered.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Yuki's voice blended with the rain: "If you give what I gave you to someone else, I'll have you jump from here."
"This is the fifth floor."
"Too low? Tell me how high you want to jump and I'll have it arranged."
"Maybe your generosity is misplaced," he muttered.
"Funerary benefits for martyrdom are pretty high." Yuki's in-game racer led the pack as she tossed banana peels behind her. "You could use this chance to sponsor Shinkawa Private School—on condition that the school rules be changed to require club participation."
Tetsu turned to Kiyono Rin. "Sorry, Rin—these grapes are mine."
Kiyono closed her book and sighed. "Watanabe, how did you know I wanted grapes?"
"Then why were you staring at me?" he shot back.
"I just thought you seemed to be enjoying following Yuki's orders. Do you like that? Have I used the wrong tactic?" She really was thinking it through.
Tetsu's head nearly cracked from the black lines of stress. Who actually liked being bossed around? If it weren't for his parents, he'd have killed Yuki and left already.
"This is work—obedience is a subordinate's duty," he said, irritable.
"So you admit you like being ordered around."
"Enough with you."
He shoved two grapes into his mouth like a squirrel, cheeks bulging.
After the awkward exchange the room fell quiet again, the rain loud and insistent against the windows.
By dismissal time the corridor and sky were still dim—the day had a longer daylight span approaching summer, but outside it felt autumnal, with sharp rains striking the ground in metallic staccato.
A chill hung in the air.
Tetsu stood in the ground-floor lobby trying to figure out how to get home. Tamamo Emi's one-month check-in was today.
"What should we do?" someone asked.
"The rain isn't stopping. I shouldn't have brought my instrument."
"Call your family to pick you up?"
"My parents get home late," another said.
"Same here."
"Then my father can give you a ride."
"Senpai, that'd be great~~"
Three girls with instruments came out from the shoe rack area.
Tetsu looked at the smallest girl. The cello case had Hanada Asako written on it—this must be the girl Kunii liked. He thought to himself that this must be her.
The trio approached and, noticing Tetsu, dropped their voices.
Hanada Asako hid behind her cello case, shy under his gaze.
Tetsu looked away at the rain; it'd be awkward if there were any misunderstandings.
Soon Kiyono Rin, who'd returned a club key, also came out and tied her shoes under the awning.
"You don't have an umbrella either?"
"It was stolen." Her tone was annoyed.
"Stolen?"
"I've left a good umbrella in the school umbrella stand for ages, and now it's gone."
Tetsu laughed loudly. The sound drew the attention of students waiting out the rain; he was happy—Kiyono losing out was a rare thing.
She glared at him, helpless as the relentless downpour showed no sign of letting up.
Because he had nothing better to do, the cheery Tetsu chatted with her and ended up explaining the cause of the seasonal rain front, feeling pleased with himself.
"Cold air from the north meets warm air from the south over the middle and lower Yangtze region in China, forming a semi-stationary front. That rain band extends eastward to our islands. The prolonged precipitation that can last a month or more—that's the plum-rain season."
Kiyono Rin pressed her temple. "I admire how you regurgitate textbook knowledge with an air of triumph. And I've had enough of rain—please don't talk about it anymore."
"It's timely," he protested.
"Normal people call that 'not understanding atmosphere.'"
"Is that so?"
"Kiyono Rin, I suggest you cut your hair shorter."
"My hair's long?" Tetsu smoothed his bangs; they hadn't reached his eyebrows.
"No. Shorter makes you look smarter."
"…."
A trio from the wind-instrument club snickered like tuned instruments.
Tetsu snapped, "I'm already smart enough. I don't plan to get any smarter."
"Saying that proves you're not smart enough."
[You have a new mail.]
Tetsu fell silent. It wasn't that he couldn't argue with Kiyono—this was about the daily login reward. It mattered. After all, it could affect whether he could take down a Yuki-level household with trillions of assets.
He hadn't chickened out—well, not really. But sometimes, being able to back down when needed is a skill in itself.
[Sign-in days: Tamamo Emi · 30 days]
[Player received sign-in gift]
[Points · 5,000]
[Money · 1,000,000 yen]
[Charm Discount Ticket (players with charm under 10 get 30% off; 70% off if above 10)]
Points? Exactly five thousand? The same points reward he'd gotten when pursuing Tamamo Emi!
Tetsu picked up his phone and dialed Yuki Miki's number—he'd saved it after she'd answered the call on Saturday.
"What is it?" Yuki's impatient voice came through.
"Watanabe, do you think I'm like you—just studying? I have work you couldn't begin to finish in even a lifetime!"
"If it's not something important, I suggest you start thinking now of an excuse so I won't punish you tomorrow."
"Yuki—no—Miki, do I still have any chance?"
"…Huh?"