Classroom of the Elite:SS Collection

Rain and him

Rain has been my best friend. 

Ever since I was a child, I loved to stand in rain and let my emotions run wild. 

Whether I was happy, sad, excited, or depressed, I always found myself standing in the rain. The drops of rain seeped within my heart and took the shape of the emotion I was feeling.

And right now, I was doing the same. 

With all sorts of emotions surging in me, I stood in the torrential rain and let it seep into my body.

"You'll catch a cold if you keep standing in a place like this-"

"...Ayanokoji-kun."

I didn't expect anyone else so I was a little surprised when he suddenly called out to me.

"What are you doing?"

"Just enjoying the rain."

"I don't think standing in such a rain could be called enjoying it."

"You should probably head back to the dorm. I would like to stand a little bit more."

He looked in my direction and lowered his umbrella, closing it.

"A-Ayanokoji-kun?

"I thought I would enjoy the rain together with you. Is there a problem with that?"

The rain didn't take much longer to seep into his body.

I chuckled slightly.

"This exact thing had happened a year, didn't it?"

That memory is still vivid in my mind. There was no way I could forget that day. It was a precious memory of a precious person in my life.

Back then I had gone to his room and that was where I asked him a question that was weighing heavily on my mind. 

Although the actions that he took back then led to many misunderstandings and caused me to be embarrassed, his words had helped me a lot. I think that was when I was sure what sort of feelings were blooming inside my chest. Yes, it had planted the seed long ago. It just took some time for me to realize it.

"Ayanokoji-kun, will you answer that question that I asked you a year ago?"

A year ago I had asked him a question about whether I would be able to win in the future. He hadn't answered that question. He had said that he would tell me the answer after one year. And now was the time. 

He glanced at me before looking up again. He closed his eyes only to open them immediately.

"I think you already have that answer yourself."

"Eh?" 

I couldn't understand what he was talking about. I had asked him this question exactly because I didn't know that answer myself. Because I was unsure of myself.

"The fact that you are here standing next to me in this heavy rain is proof enough, right?"

I still couldn't wrap my head around what he was saying.

"I had told you back then and I will tell you again: Ichinose you are a great leader. After the sports festival, your class plunged into Class D. But you didn't give up. And you are the reason that the whole of your class didn't give up. Through countless battles and countless hardships, you fought never giving up and the whole class followed you without any qualms. That is a quality that no one else posses  Ichinose. The sort of leadership that makes people want to voluntarily follow you. So, yeah, you have managed to win and that is why you are able to be here outside this mall, enjoying the rain."

His eyes were screaming earnestly. Although there was no change in his facial expression, I felt like he was smiling gently at me. I teared up. Despite being in the rain, I was feeling hot somehow.

In an attempt to not let him catch that I was about to cry, I closed my eyes and let the rain seep inside again.

The drops slowly trickled down and made their way inside my heart. The cold drops should have made my heart calm and soothed the heat but instead, a warm feeling spread across my heart.

I love rain.

Ever since I was a child, I liked soaking in the rain while different emotions surged within me. 

No matter what aspect of my life, and no matter what I felt and what I was going through, I always found the rain beside me.

It was an irreplaceable part of my life.

However, lately, I have subconsciously started to connect rain with a certain someone.

Although my relationship with him isn't that long compared to that of rain, he has now become an equally irreplaceable existence in my life. 

My feelings might not be reciprocated and it might be unrequited but they would never change. The fact that he was someone very very der=ar to me wouldn't change.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at his profile beside me, "I love you, Ayanokoji-kun."

The rain drowned my voice and hid my tears...