25 – You Permeating the Edge of the Blanket (1)
Right now, her words didn’t make sense from three perspectives.
First, since it was still lunchtime, there was plenty of time to dry clothes at school anyway. Moreover, there was a lounge near the classroom with a fireplace, so it would be much better to dry clothes at school than at Yuna’s dormitory.
Second, the suggestion to dry clothes implied the assumption that the rain would eventually stop, but there was no sign of the rain letting up anytime soon.
Third, going to Yuna’s dormitory in the first place to dry clothes was strange in itself. Even if we used an umbrella, the clothes would get wetter in this rain, and it would be pointless to dry them on the street.
Even I, being stupid, could think of countless reasons why this was a bad idea, so why did smart Yuna say such a thing? As I looked at her with a puzzled expression, Yuna belatedly realized her mistake and hastily waved her hands.
“Oh…no, I mean, what I meant to say was…”
“Your words?”
“That…that…”
“That?”
“Ah…nothing. I think I spoke nonsense because I’m too tired. Just forget it.”
In the end, Yuna, as always, timidly concluded her words. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand. She must have thought it was a mistake. She was the one who always wanted to hide the dormitory location so desperately, and under normal circumstances, she would never have made such a suggestion.
Moreover, in the current situation, such a proposal was simply equivalent to saying, “Just stay at my place.” It was a statement that a noble lady wouldn’t make to a mere commoner.
While others might not know, I knew everything about Yuna’s circumstances, so turning a blind eye to this slight slip might have been the polite thing to do. With that in mind, I spoke up.
“Alright.”
“Yeah. Sorry. I said something weird for no reason…”
“Fine. I’m sorry too, but I’ll just hang my clothes and leave.”
“Uh…okay?”
But I only thought that way, in reality, I didn’t have the desire to act on it.
“Ah…no…!”
Perhaps flustered by my reaction, Yuna stammered even more. Then, she poured out her words like a confession.
“But isn’t there no meaning in drying clothes in my room? It’s still lunchtime, and they’ll be dry by the end of the class anyway…”
“The air is too humid, so I won’t wait until then. Commoners like me can’t use the lounge. Also, tomorrow is a holiday, so the academy building will be closed earlier than usual.”
“That…is that so? But won’t your clothes get wetter on the way there?”
“Just use an umbrella. And don’t worry. I’ll only be there until the rain stops.”
“But I don’t see any sign of it stopping…”
In my view, it seemed like it would stop by evening.
Clearly, lies flowed smoothly from anyone’s perspective. I felt sorry for her, but as myself, there was no reason to let go of this opportunity. I turned my posture as much as possible to make Yuna feel the burden on her heart, earnestly locking eyes with her. Then, speaking with warmth and sincerity, like addressing a family that had parted ways:
“So, can it just be until then?”
“Uh…”
Yuna didn’t respond. The obvious answer she should give was ‘no,’ but she seemed to be struggling with the decision. I gazed endlessly at her lips, which could be my last salvation. However, judging from the flow of events so far, the answer from her lips was clear. After a long hesitation, Yuna finally opened her mouth.
“It can’t be…”
“Really, just drying clothes, okay?”
“Yeah, right.”
“Can’t you even sleep? There’s no blanket… and also…”
“I know. But there aren’t many rooms, right?”
“That room is connected to the bathroom and the clothes room. It’s not suitable. Wait a moment. Do you plan to sleep right now?”
“No. There’s no way that would happen. No way.”
I laughed casually, and Yuna glared at me fiercely. But soon, she sighed, closing her eyes tiredly.
“Fine. Let’s go for now. Since almost everyone seems to have left.”
“We should be careful not to be noticed by the janitors, too.”
When we turned our heads, we felt the gaze of the janitors looking at us. No, to be precise, it was probably Yuna they were staring at.
The reason we had endured until this late hour was simple. We didn’t want others to see us sharing an umbrella. Although I never cared about it, Yuna seemed strangely obsessed with the act of sharing an umbrella. It seemed that among the nobility, sharing an umbrella held some special meaning.
Well, there was no particular complaint. Walking through the empty school with Yuna had its own atmosphere. As our footsteps echoed in the silent corridors, I couldn’t help but think of the first time I met her in the library. A lot had changed since then, considering the times when she would run away just from hearing my footsteps.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
It seemed my thoughts had manifested in my expression. I nonchalantly replied, concealing the emerging smile.
“Just… it’s nothing.”
“It feels like nothing, but it’s not nothing.”
“It really is nothing. I’m just laughing at the situation.”
“…Well, maybe. When we leave, you should carry the umbrella. Got it?”
“Because I’m taller?”
“Yeah. And if I carry it, you keep clinging to me… No, and it’s not that big of a difference, right? At most, it’s like a 1 or 2 centimeter gap.”
“A centimeter? You probably misspoke ‘feet’, right?”
“Huh? Ah. Yeah. Right. 1 foot… I guess. Anyway, let’s go with you carrying the umbrella. And don’t cling too much for no reason.”
“Why? But if we don’t stick closely, we’ll get soaked in the rain.”
“That’s true. Okay, let’s keep a distance like this. Understand?”
“That’s too far. Let’s do it like this.”
“That’s too close. No, we’ll do it like this.”
“No, like this…”
We argued about the distance we should keep while heading to the locker where we left our umbrella. Finally, when we arrived at the locker, Yuna got frustrated and snapped.
“Ugh! Fine. Since it’s my umbrella, do as I say. Got it?”
“It’s not even your umbrella. You just borrowed it…”
“Anyway! Don’t talk back anymore. I’m already exhausted and about to collapse.”
“Okay, okay.”
I ended up nodding with a smile. Of course, deep down, I thought about small pranks I could play with the umbrella. I wondered if providing a little comfort through those playful moments could help Yuna, who had a day full of disasters.
But in the next moment, Yuna uttered a word that made me feel uneasy at any given moment.
“Huh… huh?”
A sense of unease swept over me in a brief sentence. After fumbling through the empty locker for a while, Yuna slowly turned her head to gaze at me.
“No umbrella… I’m sure I put it in here.”
“…”
Is it Ilya…
In my mind, I recalled Ilya’s mischievous gestures. Our lascivious elf seemed to excel even in theft. While Yuna continued to search for the missing umbrella, she turned to me with a distressed expression.
“Uh… What should we do? Should we borrow from the staff?”
“They seemed to be using umbrellas. And there aren’t many people left.”
“This is bad. It’s not even mine; it’s a borrowed umbrella…”
“Is that the issue here?”
“Well, is there something else we can use in its place? Should we take a desk or something?”
“Something to use in its place…”
Suddenly, something brushed through my mind. The library. The locker. Something large to cover oneself. With admiration for my peculiar memory, I approached the locker. Yuna followed me with eager eyes.
“Why is that? Do you have something like a hidden umbrella?”
“Not exactly. Do you remember the bag I brought money in last time? It’s not waterproof, but it’s a large cloth, so it should work reasonably well.”
“Oh, right. I remember that.”
Using it like this… I smiled brightly and pulled out the bag that had been in the locker. However, Yuna’s words stopped my hand the next moment.
“But didn’t you say that bag had a hole in it?”
Ah… Using it like this…
Faced with the unexpected danger of being caught in a lie, I froze. But Yuna shrugged and approached me.
“Still, we should at least take a look. Maybe the hole is small. How big is the hole?”
“What…? What is it?”
“Let’s take a look at the hole. How big is it? If we do it well, we might even be able to cover it up.”
“Just… wait a moment. It’s not possible right now.”
“Why? What’s there that you can’t show me? Show me a little.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Just wait. No, seriously, just 10 seconds. No, 5 seconds!”
“Why? What is it?”
Yuna must have been frustrated, as she reached out her hand over my shoulder, and I desperately hid the cloth, gripping the edge tightly. But the cloth was tough, so a hole didn’t easily form.
“Why! Why are you hiding it like this…?”
“Oh… I hid some erotic books inside. Okay? So just look!”
“What? You borrowed those every time you went to the library? Why? Why did you start doing that after we met?”
“That’s not related, so just…”
“No, what kind of book did you hide… What is it?”
We tangled with each other for a while, wrestling, and I desperately tore one side of the cloth like a delinquent poking holes in a condom… No, what am I thinking…!
“Just because I asked? Why are you being so stubborn!”
“Just wait, I have something to do…!”
Rip.
…
“Hey! What are you doing!”
“…”
In the end, while struggling, one side of the cloth was torn apart. I raised the cloth with a sense of emptiness, and Yuna tiredly touched her head with her hand.
“Ah…”
“…”
“Why did you do that?”
“…Sorry.”
I timidly apologized, lifting the torn cloth that had become half. If I had just left it there, it would have been a size big enough to cover us like a blanket. But now, it had shrunk to the point where it was too small unless the two of us stayed close. Yuna seemed to realize that fact and asked me in a subdued voice.
“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I did it on purpose.”
Feeling too tired to make excuses, I just nodded. Yuna, too exhausted to criticize me, muttered a weak word.
“…Fine. Let’s use that at least.”
“Yeah.”
In the end, we picked up the small piece of cloth and headed towards the door. Somehow, it seemed like the disaster of the day had only just begun.