Waiting for You in the Rainy Garden - Chapter 5

A few days had passed since the rumors began to spread.

I had started keeping my distance from Hiyori.

In the classroom, we only exchanged the bare minimum of conversation.

So even when Hiyori tried to talk to me, I could only respond awkwardly.

We stopped walking home together, and whenever our eyes were about to meet in the hallway after school, I’d instinctively look away.

I couldn’t bring myself to go to that greenhouse anymore either.

Hiyori had tried to reach out to me many times.

But each time, I’d just smile vaguely and escape.

I was aware I was running away.

I knew it was my fault that the shadows were gradually deepening in Hiyori’s expression.

Even so, the anxiety swirling deep in my chest wouldn’t disappear.

If I acknowledged my own feelings, there would be no going back.

The possibility of losing Hiyori was becoming frighteningly real.

That fear was tripping me up.

The more I experienced Hiyori’s kindness,

The more terrified I became of the self that would betray that kindness.

I hated myself for wanting to respond to Hiyori’s feelings but being unable to.

Trapped in that endless cycle, all I could do was keep my distance from Hiyori.

Then one night.

A heavy rain was falling outside the window.

Streetlight reflected off the raindrops, drawing fine lines of light across the windowpane.

The room was quiet, with only the sound of rain echoing in a steady rhythm.

That sound only amplified the restlessness in my chest.

That’s when my phone vibrated.

Hiyori’s name appeared on the screen.

My heart leaped.

My fingertips turned cold.

Should I answer? Shouldn’t I?

While I hesitated, the call ended.

A message arrived immediately.

“Mashiro, I want to talk. I’m in front of your house right now.”

My heart nearly stopped.

I rushed to the entrance in a panic and opened the door.

There stood Hiyori, not even holding an umbrella.

Clothes completely drenched by the rain, hair plastered to cheeks.

Shoulders trembling slightly, breathing somewhat ragged.

It was obvious Hiyori had run here.

“Hiyori… why…”

“You kept running away, so I came to catch you.”

Hiyori smiled desperately while catching breath.

That brave smile hurt just to look at.

“You’ll catch a cold…!”

“It hurts more when you won’t talk to me, Mashiro.”

Those words struck deeper in my chest than the sound of rain.

Hiyori had been worrying about me all this time.

And yet I kept avoiding Hiyori.

Hiyori’s eyes were so moist I couldn’t tell if they were wet from rain or tears.

The reflection of myself in those eyes looked utterly pathetic.

“…Come inside.”

I gently took Hiyori’s hand and invited inside.

Hiyori’s hand was cold, the rain-soaked body trembling.

That trembling seemed to convey Hiyori’s anxiety and loneliness directly, making my chest ache.

The moment Hiyori’s cold hand quietly touched my heart that had been constantly running away,

I felt something slowly beginning to melt.