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Sequel 17 - I Got Better, and We Share an Umbrella

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Tuesday, May 25th.

When I wake up... it is quite dark in the room. But, there is light coming in through the gaps in the curtains, so it must have been morning. When I check the time on my smartphone... It's 6:45 a.m. huh.

──Fsshhh

I hear that kind of sound from outside. Judging from this sound, I think it's raining.

When I slowly sit up and get off the bed, I feel a chill. But, I don't feel the fever I felt yesterday morning, nor do I feel any pain in my head or throat. So this chill is probably due to the cold air.

I measure my body temperature with the thermometer placed on the low table.

──Be-beep. Be-beep.

“...36.3 degrees, huh.”

My temperature is back to normal. I should be able to go to school with this.

It's raining today, so I have to walk to school. For that reason, I have to leave home a little earlier than usual.

After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I go to the living room on the first floor.

My parents and sister are already awake, and my sister is in the kitchen making porridge for me. When I tell them that my temperature has returned to normal and I’m feeling better, my parents look relieved. Also, my sister smiles in relief and hugs me.

“I wonder if the porridge that Onee-chan made helped.”

My sister happily says, and I answer, “It did.” Because she made egg porridge for me yesterday morning and dinner, and it was delicious.

Perhaps considering the possibility that I’m not fully recovered, my sister made me some egg porridge. So, I eat the egg porridge for breakfast. Since I have just recovered, a porridge might have been just right.

After finishing breakfast, I go back to my room.

Before changing into the high school uniform,

[I’ve gotten better. I’ll be going to school again today. Let's meet up as usual.]

I send that message to Hiori. I also send a message to Kazuo and the others' group chat saying that I am feeling better and that I’ll be going to school.

While I am changing into my uniform, my smartphone keeps ringing [Brrrr]. I'm sure it’s Hiori and the others sending me a reply.

When I’m done changing and pick up my smartphone again, I see notifications telling me I have received messages from multiple people on LIME. On the group chat, Kazuo, Shimizu-san sent me replies saying things like, [We'll be waiting for you at school!]. And in Hiori’s individual chat,

[I'm glad you're feeling better! Well then, let's meet up as usual and go to school together.]

She sent me that reply. I'm glad that there are people who are waiting for me.

It's still raining, so I decided to walk to the meeting place with Hiori today as planned. I leave home earlier than usual.

It's chilly outside. But, it's better than the day before yesterday when I got caught in a guerrilla downpour on my way home from my part-time job. The reason I think that might be because of my school uniform jacket that I'm currently wearing, and my umbrella that prevents me from being exposed to the rain.

Since I just recovered, I walk at a slower speed than usual. Still, because I'm moving my body, I'm gradually getting warmer. And that feels comfortable.

After walking for a little over twenty minutes, I see the underpass that is my meeting place with Hiori. This meeting under the overpass at 8:10 a.m. when we go to school has become our daily routine. The current time is... 8:05 huh.

“I wonder if Hiori is already there?”

Hiori often comes to the meeting place early. So she might already be there. When I speed up a little and head to the underpass,

“Akito-san!”

I see Hiori waiting for me at the underpass, facing me. When Hiori spots me, she smiles happily and waves her hand toward me. Hiori looks so bright, as if it's sunny only where Hiori is. By the way, Hiori is also wearing a jacket. Seeing Hiori like that makes me walk faster.

I arrive at the underpass that is our meeting place, and close my umbrella.

“Good morning, Hiori.”

“Akito-san, good morning. I'm glad you're feeling better.”

“Thank you. I think it's because the medicine I got at the hospital worked and Hiori and the others came to visit me.”

“I’m glad that I could be of some help to Akito-san, even if it’s a little.”

“Thank you. ...As a thank you for coming to see me and for a good morning, I’ll kiss you.”

Saying that, I kiss Hiori.

Perhaps because it’s chilly, the gentle warmth coming from Hiori's lips feels comfortable. The soft sensation of Hiori's lips feels so nice that I want to do it forever, but right now we’re on our way to school. After about 10 seconds, I part my lips away from Hiori’s.

Hiori's cheeks are slightly flushed and she looks at me with a gentle smile.

“I'm happy that I was able to get a good morning kiss today. It's chilly today, so Akito-san's warmth felt even better and lovelier."

“I also thought that Hiori's warmth felt really nice.”

“I see. I’m glad. On a different topic, this is a nice place, isn’t it. Because it shelters us from the rain.”

“Isn't it? Come to think of it, isn’t this the first time we've met in the rain?”

“That's true. ...If Akito-san doesn't mind, would you like to share an umbrella with me until we get to school?”

Hiori glances at me as she asks in a cute voice. Her cheeks are even redder than before.

Still... sharing an umbrella, huh. What a wonderful sound! I've never shared an umbrella with Hiori before, so of course──

“Yes, let's share an umbrella!”

“Thank you very much!”

Hiori looks very happy. So cute.

“Then, shall we use my umbrella? I think it's bigger than Hiori's. I think if we’re close enough to each other, neither our body nor our bag will get too wet.”

“I understand.”

I open my umbrella on the spot and hold it up with my right hand.

‘Excuse me,’ Hiori says as she comes under my umbrella. She then goes on to wrap her arm around my right arm. We’re both wearing jackets, but I can still feel Hiori's softness.

“It's quite a big umbrella, so I believe we won't get wet if we do this.”

“I’m glad. I also... think our body or uniform won’t get wet.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Shall we go then?”

“Yeah.”

I start walking towards school with Hiori, being careful about my walking speed.

Maybe it's because it's my first time sharing an umbrella with Hiori. Even the familiar scenery of the residential area along the railroad tracks feels refreshing.

Just as I guessed, because of my big umbrella, neither our body nor our uniform are exposed to the rain. When I look at Hiori, I see that she too, doesn't have her uniform and bag hit by the rain. Thank goodness.

“Sharing an umbrella... is nice, isn’t it. Is it because it's my first time? Or is it because Akito-san had the day off yesterday? I feel really happy right now.”

Hiori smiles and tightens her arms around mine. Hiori has been wrapping her arms around mine since the underpass, so I can feel more warmth coming from Hiori.

“I'm also really happy, you know. Aren't there a lot of scenes in manga and anime showing people sharing an umbrella?”

“There are a lot in rom-coms and slice of life manga. I've seen it many times.”

“Isn’t it? Ever since I had an unrequited love for Hiori, whenever I saw a scene like that, I thought that someday I'd like to share an umbrella with Hiori. That’s why, I'm happy that I was able to make it come true. What's more, I'm in a lovers relationship with Hiori.”

“Fufu, I see. Hearing that makes me feel even happier. I too, ever since I started dating Akito-san on a trial basis, whenever I see the scene of people sharing an umbrella, I sometimes find myself overlapping them with Akito-san and myself.”

“I see. So cute, Hiori is.”

“Akito-san is cute too~”

‘Fufu’, Hiori lets out a laugh that is both elegant and cute at the same time. If it’s from Hiori, I start feeling happy being called cute.

“The rainy season will be here in about half a month. Until last year, I didn't like it when it rained because the air was damp and I had a hard time doing my hair. But, starting this year I can share an umbrella with Akito-san, so I might start to like it a little bit.”

“I see. I also don't like the rainy season for similar reasons. Sometimes it gets cooler when it rains, so I think it's fine when that happens. But, just like Hiori, because of the shared umbrella, I feel like from this year onwards, I'll start to like it a little bit more.”

“I see.”

Hiori's happy smile as she says that is so cute. To think I got to see such a wonderful face this close to me. Shared umbrella, banzai!

As Kasagaya High School starts getting closer, we start to see many students from our high school walking around us.

If I include the trial period, it's been almost a month since I started going to school with Hiori. Because of that, the number of students who stare at us on our way to school has decreased recently. But today, just like when we first started dating on a trial basis, a lot of people around us are staring at us as we walk.

“There are so many people looking at us today.”

“I wonder if it's because it's our first time going to school while sharing an umbrella.”

“I see.”

Hiori says with a smile, not showing any particular discomfort. I think it's partly because she's happy to be sharing an umbrella for the first time, but it's probably also because she's used to being looked at by so many people.

We arrive at school while being looked at by more students than usual, and head to the Year 2 Class 2 classroom.

I haven't been in the classroom since last Friday. So it feels like it’s been a long time.

Some of my classmates, mainly my friends, call out to me, saying things like, “Are you feeling okay?” and “Don't push yourself too hard.” And then,

“Good morning to you both! Glad to see Aki's feeling better!”

“Good morning! I'm glad you're feeling better, Kamitou-kun!”

“Good morning, you two! Kamitou is feeling better now, so I don't have to look at Hiori's lonely face anymore.”

“Hiorin today is cuter than usual-ssu. The power of her lover Kamitou-kun is amazing-ssu. Seeing Hiorin and Kamitou in the classroom is relieving-ssu. Good morning, both of you-ssu!”

Kazuo, Shimizu-san, Himura-san, and Hazuki-san give us a kind and warm morning greeting. Hazuki-san sometimes comes to school late, but seeing the four of them in the classroom like this makes me feel that my school life is starting again today.

The six of us chat together before the morning ritual, and when the homeroom teacher comes, we start the morning ritual, and after that, we take the classes. This has been my daily life ever since I started dating Hiori on a trial basis. But, since I caught a cold and was absent, I start to actually feel that this is a precious and happy thing.

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(T/N: that’s the end of my translation. anyone want to continue the translation please go ahead, there's still almost 100 chapters left, but I can't handle translating this series anymore, so I'll stop. See you in the next series I translate.)

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