Work Text:
Lightning painted the sky above Hope’s Peak in a cold shade of gray. The clouds didn’t leave a single ray of sunshine to get through them and rain poured heavily, splattering the asphalt. Shirogane stood at the entrance, her school uniform barely capable of protecting her from the cold humidity of the autumn air. She sighed as she watched different students rush in and out of the building. A sea of umbrellas gathered in small packs following organized paths. She was reminded of the all time cliche scenes from any random romance anime in which the main couple share an umbrella to get home. She knew any interpretation and subversion of the genre to exist. But real life was no anime, and her problems couldn’t be solved by a generic shonen protagonist. As if on cue a voice called her from behind.
“Hey, Tsumugi! You going home?” His classmate, Kaito Momota waved at her cheerfully.
“Ah, Momota. I’m surprised you’re still at school.” She cupped her cheek. “I thought you left with Harukawa and Saihara.”
“I got detention. Kokichi, that bastard played me good. I’ll get him next time.” He rubbed the back of his neck “So I told my sidekicks to leave without me.”
“I see.”
“You come from the manga club, don’t you?”
“Yes, we finished our club activities a while ago, but I got distracted and the rain became stronger before I could leave.”
“You don’t have an umbrella?”
Shirogane shook her head slowly. “I forgot. I didn’t check the weather today.”
“Guess that’s one thing we got in common.”
“You don’t have an umbrella?”
“Nope.” He answered with a careless smile, as if getting his clothes damped didn’t bother him. “The Luminary of the Stars doesn’t get wet, though. And you don’t have to now either. You’re lucky I caught up with you.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“No worries, I got you covered.” As soon as he said that, he took off his jacket and wrapped an arm around her, holding it like a cape above their heads. “There. Now we can go.”
The closeness made Shirogane blush. He was so warm. “Huh?”
“Come on, your folks live nearby, right? I’ll drop you off.”
She didn’t have any time to protest before Momota pushed forward and the curtain of water fell above them. The jacket did offer some protection, so maybe they’d be able to walk without any complications. Oh, how wrong she was. Momota’s slippers stepped right into a puddle making a strong "shlap".
“Oh no, Momota, your shoes!”
“Nah, it’s fine. I never get cold feet.”
They advanced through the now empty streets. Momota took the road side of the sidewalk, protecting Shirogane from any splatters from the passing cars. It wasn’t so bad after all. As if on cue with her thoughts, it started pouring even harder, if that was even possible.
“Oh, shit. We gotta hurry!” Momota picked up his pace and so did she.
“Maybe we should try to find a cover and wait for it to stop.”
“No, we’re almost there, come on!”
Eventually, the jacket couldn’t keep the droplets from falling on their heads and it soon became dead weight. Guess it wasn’t so waterproof after all.
“Damn it!” Kaito cursed under his breath as his hair spikes fell over his face. He let out a sight, slowing down. “Sorry for dragging you along with me. I’ll take responsibility if you catch a cold.”
“It’s okay. I would have ended up like this anyway.”
“Maybe.” He wrapped the jacket around her, leaving himself out with only his shirts to cover him. Shirogane made an attempt to protest but he shushed her. “I’m already wet so who cares?” He brushed his fingers against his scalp in an attempt to “fix” the messy purple mass of hair and gel. Unable to keep it upright, he combed the remaining spikes backwards.
Shirogane let out a small laugh.
They made their way trying to use any small protection the buildings could offer for cover until they reached an open field park. They had nowhere to hide now, and the grass hid an unstable path of mud. If Momota’s slippers already looked like a dog run over by a train, Shirogane was sure they wouldn’t survive the rest of the trip.
“My house is across this park but I think we should take another pa-” Her words fell to deaf ears when the astronaut ran ahead spreading his arms to the sky.
“Oho, man! I’ve never felt so alive! It’s been so long since I last did this!” To demonstrate what he meant he jumped with both his legs into the murky water, leaving his pants covered with mud.
He turned himself around with a huge smile on his face, gesturing Shirogane to come over.
She hesitated.
“Come on Smoogs!”
“Smoogs?”
“Yeah, that’s your nickname. Do you like it?”
“Not really.” She muttered. “I don’t think we should do that. Our uniforms will be ruined.”
“Who cares? You know, you should loosen up from time to time. It’s healthy. Helps you de-stress.”
That seemed to tick Shirogane’s insides. De-stress, huh? Did Momota pick up on that? Her classmates tended to ignore her most of the time. Not because they didn’t like her, they cared about her plenty. She was really close with Kaede and Shuichi, and everyone included her in their plans. It’s just that she always felt like a background character. But not in the way Shinguji does, watching their every move. It was more like she was so plain and bland she tended to go unnoticed most of the time. Those past weeks had been stressful. Exams were coming round and she was behind on a couple of commissions. She figured everyone already had their basket full to notice her problems.
A smile formed on her face and before she knew, she dropped her backpack and ran towards Momota. He in turn threw his own in the same direction. He also kicked his shoes off for good measure.
“Yeheah!” The laughter that escaped his lungs spread warmth through her chest.
Shirogane closed the distance between them, picking up speed, and then she landed on the puddle with both feet. The splatter reached to her glasses and it dirtied her skirt to the point of no return but it caught Momota off guard, so it was worth it.
He responded with more laughter and kicked his legs around in revenge.
“Kyaaa!” Despite her protests, she couldn’t help but laugh too.
Suddenly, Momota bowed before her and offered his hand. “May I have this dance?”
“Pfffffff. Sure.” She gladly took it.
And she instantly regretted it. Momota spun her around like a madman, making her lose balance. But before she could trip he grabbed her waist and pulled her close. Between the droplets covering her glasses purple eyes shone in front of her as they danced some sort of messy waltz. Shirogane used her tiptoes where Momota landed with bare feet, carelessly stepping on puddles and splashing everywhere. Without realizing she was soon using her entire feet too. It felt magical. The jacket around her shoulders looked like a cape, and the dancing felt like flying, no, floating in a sea of clouds. The rain kissed her cheeks as the world around her disappeared. Only the two of them mattered in that moment, nothing else.
Eventually Momota slipped and fell, dragging Shirogane with him. They both landed on the grass, one atop the other. Shirogane broke out with laughter, Momota following soon. The sound of thunder interrupted them.
“We should get going. We’ll freeze to death here.”
“Agreed.” Shirogane stood up, offering a hand.
Momota gladly took it.
The rest of the way was uneventful, considering none of them could get any worse. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off the cold made itself very present. Once they reached the appartment complex Shirogane lived in Momota waved and made a move to turn around.
“Kaito, you wouldn’t think I’d leave you to walk home like this, do you?”
Surprised at the use of his first name he turned around with a smile. “I said I’d drop you off, didn’t I?”
“Please, come inside. I can make some really good hot cocoa.”
“Can’t say no to that.”