Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V10.5: Chapter 8 - Under the Rain

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

Just after noon, it started pouring rain like someone was upturning buckets overhead. Over thirty millimetres of rainfall. For some reason or another, I couldn't bring myself to head back to my dorm, so I stayed at Keyaki Mall by myself.

There were lots of conveniences around campus. So even in sudden rainfall, it was never all that difficult to get back to the dormitories. Provisional umbrellas were made available for students who didn't have any, and since they were free as long as you returned them on time, more than a few students took advantage of the offer. Some of the students who'd gone out to have fun this morning hadn't brought umbrellas with them, to reduce the amount of stuff they had to carry around.

That being said, today was a bit of an exception. When it was raining this hard, you'd be completely soaked even if you had an umbrella.

"Doesn't look like it's gonna let up at all today," I muttered to myself.

If the forecast was correct, it sounded like the downpour was supposed to keep coming down from noon today until tomorrow morning. My phone's notification sound went off from time to time. Each time it did, I saw that people in a few group chats were talking about the rain, as well as other miscellaneous topics, as well. Right now, it seemed like they were talking about how the rain was really coming down.

"What should I do, I wonder?" I muttered to myself.

I didn't feel like participating in the chat, so I decided to just leave the messages on read for the time being. I stared blankly at the screen, looking through the messages in the chat group. Then, I would look outside the window at the rain, as if I suddenly remembered something. I repeated that process several times.

An unproductive waste of time. It was nice to spend time like this every once in a while, though. Instead of going back to the café, I sat down on a random bench, and spent some time just zoning out. But it wasn't like I was going to just sit here and do this for hours. After listening to the sounds of the rain for about twenty or thirty minutes, I decided to leave.

I ran my student ID through the machine and rented an umbrella. Even though the lower half of my body would get wet, especially the part below my knees, that was still way better than not having an umbrella at all. Then, when I went outside to make my way back to the dormitories, I saw a familiar student near the mall exit.

It was Nao. Even though she was standing in the heavy rain, she wasn't holding an umbrella. She must have been finished her meeting with her upperclassmen and decided to come back to the dorms. But then, why stay under the rain like this? Maybe she had a lot going through her mind after everything that had happened. These past months; her conflict with Chikujoin; the final exam and the escape game... what I told her about my conversation with Rin.

"I guess she's probably trying to wrap her head around the situation, huh," I said to myself.

But from the looks of things, it didn't seem like she had been able to do so all that well. If she headed back to the dormitories without an umbrella, she'd obviously get completely soaked, down to the bone.

I considered to just leave her there alone, but... I was a little bit worried since she seemed to have recovered after the exam and I didn't want her to start being illogical again because of what I told her about Rin. So, I hurried back and rented another umbrella. When I got back outside a little later, Nao was out walking in the rain. She was apparently prepared to get soaked after all.

She wasn't heading in the direction of the dormitories. Nao was heading in the direction of the park. Without an umbrella, she continued to get showered with rain. I could just watch her go, but...