090. Are You Sure About This, Angel?

"The rain may be a blessing for nature, but it really causes a lot of inconvenience in daily life," Shiina Mahiru began, her voice tinged with frustration. "For example, clothes don't dry properly, you can't go out as freely, and the worst part is my hair! It gets damp and frizzy, and I have to spend so much time fixing it…"

Mahiru let out a soft sigh, her words carrying the weight of genuine annoyance.

"That's only because you ran into the rain without an umbrella, isn't it?" Kanade Natsukawa remarked, exasperated as he continued to towel off Mahiru's damp hair.

"T-That's not it!" she retorted, puffing her cheeks in protest. "Even on normal rainy days, hair just gets damp from the moisture in the air! It's sticky and uncomfortable!"

"And it's not just people who suffer. Food gets soggy, mold grows on things… But what can you do? Living in Japan means dealing with all these inconveniences."

"That's true." Kanade nodded in agreement. Rainy season woes were universal.

For Kanade, the rainy season had always been a source of frustration. It compounded his already heavy mood, often tied to memories of failed romances and personal struggles. But lately, something had changed. Rainy days no longer felt purely dreary; they carried an odd sense of anticipation, as though something—or someone—might appear and brighten his day.

"In a way, though, rain has its upsides, doesn't it?" Kanade said, his tone softening as he gently slowed his towel movements. "When it rains, everything gets quieter. The usual noise fades away, leaving only the steady sound of raindrops."

He smiled faintly, his gaze drifting to the window.

"Some people say that nighttime is when we naturally start reflecting on life—our past, our future. But I think it's less about the time of day and more about the right atmosphere. When it rains, the world feels more intimate. The sound of the rain, whether light and steady or heavy and urgent, becomes the perfect background music. It lets you focus on yourself, your thoughts… your existence."

The rhythmic patter of rain filled the room, each drop creating a soothing cadence as it hit the ground. It was simple yet calming, a gentle reminder of shared solitude.

"Kanade, you're surprisingly romantic," Mahiru remarked, a hint of awe in her voice.

"Romantic? I suppose that's not entirely wrong," he admitted with a small chuckle. Compared to Mahiru's practical and grounded nature, his tendency to get lost in thought probably did seem romantic.

"…"

Mahiru's fingers absentmindedly brushed the ends of her hair where Kanade had just touched. Her cheeks warmed slightly as a small, involuntary smile played on her lips.

Her mind wandered back to their first meeting—a rainy day just like this one. It had been a chance encounter, almost poetic in its timing, though Kanade's clumsy behavior had made it far less dreamy than it could have been.

"W-Well then," Mahiru stammered, her thoughts pulling her back to the present, "since you like rainy days so much, maybe I should just leave everything to you! Like fixing my hair when it gets messy, touching up my makeup, washing my dirty clothes, and—and coming with me whenever I need to shop in the rain!"

"That doesn't sound any different from what I already do," Kanade teased with a laugh.

Except for the makeup part, he thought. Most of her suggestions were things he had already done for her at some point. She might pretend to be bossy, but in reality, she often took charge of the chores herself, grumbling about how he'd just get in the way if he tried.

"W-Well, I don't care! It's all your fault for liking the rain so much!" Mahiru declared with a huff.

She shook her head like a soaked puppy, sending droplets of water flying onto Kanade's clothes.

"Are you marking me now?" Kanade joked, amused by her childish antics.

But his concern quickly returned. If her hair was still damp enough to spray water like that, she hadn't dried off properly yet.

"Leaving it to me is fine, but Mahiru, you should take care of yourself, too," he said, reaching for her hand. Her skin was cold to the touch—unusually so for someone indoors on a summer evening.

"If you keep sitting around like this, you'll catch a cold. Why don't you take a bath? You wouldn't want to fall ill and leave me unsupervised to do 'strange things,' would you?"

"Strange… things?" Mahiru's cheeks flushed a deep red, her mind immediately leaping to embarrassing conclusions.

"Like washing my own clothes in the middle of the night," Kanade began, listing off potential "crimes" with a straight face, "or secretly eating the pudding you left in the fridge, or swapping out your bunny slippers for another animal design…"

"Are you a child?!" Mahiru snapped, her embarrassment giving way to exasperation. She had been imagining far more scandalous scenarios, and here he was talking about such trivial things.

"Dealing with a childlike person requires childlike tactics," Kanade replied with a grin. "I mean, isn't refusing to take a bath after getting drenched in the rain pretty childish?"

Mahiru had no counterargument for that. She shot him a glare, her face still burning with indignation.

"I'm going to take a bath! And no peeking!" she declared, stomping off in a huff.

"Of course not," Kanade replied nonchalantly.

But as he watched her head toward the bathroom, something struck him as odd.

"Wait… why is she heading to my bathroom instead of her own?"

Was this a mistake, or…?

What exactly was going on here, Angel?

Notes-Read advances chapters in patreon.com/Shadow_D_X, i have finished uploading the whole series in patreon, a total of 274 chapters you can find it in the collections, thanks for supporting me and special thanks to all the patrons for joining