May comes to an end, and it’s June.
The rainy season.
It’s currently pouring rain.
「Haah…」
Standing in the entranceway, staring blankly at the sky, I repeatedly confirmed that I didn’t have an umbrella, sighing each time.
The weather forecast had said “It will rain”, but I forgot when I left home. As a result, I’m faced with the choice of either going home wet or spending the night at school.
The overcast sky shows no sign of stopping the rain.
At least the possibility of a safe journey home has vanished.
Just as I was about to reluctantly set off for a waterfall training, a warm presence appeared beside me.
「Ara ma, it’s raining heavily, isn’t it?」
「……」
The words were spoken with an “refined” resonance.
I’m not looking that way as much as possible, so I’m not sure, but it’s probably a classmate. The ribbons on the girls’ uniforms are different colors depending on the grade, and the color matches.
But that doesn’t mean I want to deepen our acquaintance.
I’m against the recent trend of “Let’s be friends because we’re classmates”.
A cold neighborly relationship is in vogue.
「You’re unlucky too, aren’t you?」
「…I suppose so.」
「To get caught in such rain.」
If anything, being spoken to by you is a greater misfortune, I didn’t say.
Adashino You is a considerate man. Why no heroine has appeared yet is a mystery.
She (?) bent what seemed to be her head and sighed softly.
Her uniform sways with the movement. A small piece of debris fell.
Judging by her appearance, it’s dust. Maybe it stuck to her during cleaning, I thought, escaping reality, but I had to admit it was clearly her own. Or rather, I was made to admit it.
「I’m Susami Youko.」
「Haa, how very polite of you.」
「What’s your name?」
「I’m often called Adashino You.」
「That’s because it’s your real name.」
I tried to escape by giving off a slightly alias-like vibe, but she──Susami-san laughed heartily. Maybe she’s the cheerful type, true to her name.
If she were human, I’d definitely want to be involved.
But she’s probably not human. Sadly, she’s kind of grayish.
The closest analogy would be dust. Like what’s rolled up in the corner of a room.
She looks like that solidified and born.
Even dust accumulates into a Yamato Nadeshiko.
I never thought it would literally accumulate.
「Ahー, You-kun is fine?」
「Go ahead.」
「You-kun forgot your umbrella too?」
「Yeah.」
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
「Me too.」
Achaa, that’s unfortunate.
Susami-san is dust, so she’s probably weak to water.
「You-kun, don’t people say your surname is unusual?」
「Not really.」
「Actually, my family… ahh, you see, I moved here when I was in middle school, but before that, I lived in Kyoto. There was a place called Adashino(・・) nearby.」
「Heeh.」
As I listened to her say, “Don’t you feel something fateful?”, I thought that Susami is unusual too. By the way, if you mishear “Susami”, it becomes “Sasami”. In other words, meat. Meat-devouring warrior. Once again, a meat-devouring warrior.
「Adashino… a barren field, right?」
「Then, I’m going home.」
「But it’s raining heavily!?」
「I thought I’d do some waterfall training.」
And thus attain spiritual enlightenment.
Begone, demon.
Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.
I tried to step out from under the entrance roof to get away from this new type of monster, but Susami-san, looking worried, grabbed my sleeve. What she used to grab me was what humans would call an arm, but at first glance, it’s a “clump of sand”.
It shouldn’t be shaped to grab anything. Yet, it’s grabbing. The wonder of the human body, or rather, the wonder of monsters.
The rain was too strong, so I gave up on escaping.
If I did waterfall training in this, I’d be guaranteed a cold tomorrow.
It’s hard to say which is worse, being promised a cold or spending time with dust.
Well, dust wins by a narrow margin. I’ve been conditioned by meat lumps, zombies, and mud dauber wasps. As long as it doesn’t attack, it’s within my tolerance.
「You-kun, are you a mysterious boy?」
「Unn.」
I still don’t know if I’m weird or the world is weird, but since I have a vision where beings considered beautiful girls by others only look like monsters to me, I might indeed be called a mysterious boy.
I hesitated a bit in answering, “The fact that you’re hesitating makes you a mysterious boy”, and she laughed at me.
「The rain is strong, isn’t it?」
「…Haa.」
「Did something painful happen?」
「Yeah.」
The cause is right next to me.
Why are all the opposite sex I interact with monsters?
I want a pure human to appear soon.
That alone would probably break through the affection meter.
「It’s fun talking with you.」
「I see.」
Susami-san clasped her hands in front of her chest and made her throat──which I can’t recognize from here──vibrate with a rolling sound. Her voice is still nice. It seems there’s a rule that monsters have nice voices. Maybe I should research it and publish a paper.
Unfortunately, I’m in the humanities, so I probably can’t study them, as it would require either a scientific or magical approach.
I glared at the overcast sky that continued to pour rain.
There was no sign of the overcast sky stopping.
There was no sign of Susami-san’s words stopping either.
She’s a talkative type of dust.