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Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Cloudy with a Chance of Goodbye

"The hardest part of goodbye is the moment before it happens — when it's raining, and no one says the words."

Kazuki didn't sleep much that night.

He didn't know why. The rain had kept falling after he got home, pattering against his window until well past midnight. Usually, that sound helped him sleep. But this time, he just lay there, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

He kept thinking about how close she stood. How her shoulder brushed his. How her voice sounded when she asked, "Can we share?"

It wasn't just the question. It was that she asked.

And how easy it was to say yes.

The next morning was overcast. The kind of gray that made the world feel soft at the edges. The streets were still damp, puddles everywhere, and his shoes made that quiet squeaking sound as he walked to school.

The air smelled like wet leaves and concrete. He liked that. Familiar. Comforting.

Inside the classroom, the atmosphere felt different.

Not louder. Just… more awake. Like everyone could sense a shift they couldn't name.

He walked past Haruka without looking. Past the other clusters of students exchanging looks, glances bouncing between him and Ame like invisible lines drawn on the floor.

He took his seat.

Ame was already at hers. Head down, hair falling over the side of her face. She looked up once — not at him, not at anyone in particular — then back to her book.

No one said anything. But they didn't have to.

Rumors had a smell. Like steam off wet pavement. You couldn't see them, but you felt the change. The slow burn of curiosity.

First period passed, then second. Then lunch.

Kazuki didn't eat. Just watched the clouds roll in deeper. The rain started again—thin and cold this time. The kind that looked harmless but soaked your sleeves in minutes.

During art class, he found himself drawing without thinking. His pencil outlined raindrops falling from a sky that darkened toward the edges. A pair of shoes in a puddle. An umbrella that barely covered two people. When he caught himself, he flipped the page over.

By the end of the day, the tension had built up like static. Every whispered comment, every glance, every half-smile made his skin itch.

He waited by the shoe lockers. Half-wondering if she would just leave first. Avoid the awkwardness. Avoid him.

But when he looked up, there she was. Closing her locker, slipping into her outdoor shoes. She didn't hesitate. Just walked.

He followed.

The rain hadn't stopped. If anything, it was heavier now. More persistent. The kind that made cars slow down. The kind that made everything outside blur.

They didn't speak until they were halfway down Shinonome Street.

"You waited?" she asked, voice soft, almost drowned out by the rain.

"Yeah," he said.

"Why?"

He looked at the sidewalk, then up at the sky. "Because it's Thursday."

That made her smile. Just a small one.

The bus stop was empty when they arrived. No other students today. Just the two of them and the steady rainfall.

Kazuki opened his umbrella again. He didn't even think about it.

Ame stepped beside him like it was automatic. Like this was already routine.

They stood that way for a while. Quiet. Side by side. Rain ticking off the umbrella's surface.

She shifted her weight slightly. "You don't think it's weird?"

"What?"

"That people are talking."

"I think they were always going to," he said.

"But we're not—"

Kazuki glanced sideways. "Aren't we?"

Ame paused.

She looked down, then back up at the sky. Then at him.

"I don't know what we are," she admitted. "But I keep thinking about next Thursday. And the one after that."

Kazuki adjusted the umbrella so it tilted more toward her. His arm ached slightly from holding it so long, but he didn't care.

"I think about that too," he said. "Every week now."

She was quiet.

A car passed, tires slicing through a puddle.

Then, without warning, she said, "I'm moving soon."

He turned to her. "When?"

"End of the term."

She said it like she'd practiced it. Like she had tried saying it out loud to herself and didn't like how it sounded.

Kazuki's heart dropped a little.

"That's... three weeks."

"Yeah."

He didn't know what to say. He wanted to say a lot of things. That it wasn't fair. That they'd only just started talking. That maybe they weren't dating, but this was still something.

But he said none of that.

Instead: "So how many Thursdays do we have left?"

She looked at him. "Including today? Four."

He nodded.

Then he said, "Let's make all four count."

She looked at him for a long moment.

Then, as if the sentence had been waiting for a reply that wasn't words, she leaned forward.

He didn't back away.

She kissed him.

And it wasn't shy. It wasn't hesitant.

It was the kind of kiss that comes after waiting too long. The kind that says everything that couldn't be said before.

The umbrella tilted slightly as Kazuki leaned in too. One hand trembled slightly on the handle, the other brushing against her rain-soaked sleeve. Their clothes were damp, the rain loud in their ears, but it all faded for a moment.

And then the bus arrived.

Its headlights cut through the haze. The hydraulic hiss of the brakes broke the moment.

They pulled away slowly, both blinking like they'd just remembered where they were.

Kazuki stared at the ground, his heart pounding.

Ame wiped a drop of rain from her lip. Her cheeks were flushed.

Neither said anything as the bus doors opened.

They stepped on together. Sat at the back, close. But quiet.

Halfway through the ride, she leaned her head against his shoulder.

And he didn't move.

He didn't want the rain to stop.

He didn't want her to leave.

Not after this.

And for once, he let the silence be enough.

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