Amaterasu and Itano Collab
Somewhere in Warakuma town
June 9 TUE: Evening
Drip, drop. Drip, drop. Evening summer rain had started to shower over the town of Warakuma, tranquility washing over the little rural town. Its occupants were slowly making their way back home under umbrellas of different sorts.
One particular girl did not anticipate such change of weather, having to wait out the downpour under a roof. This girl, Shizuka, had just got off from her work at the cosplay cafe, despite informing her friends at the agriculture club otherwise. The reason she spouted was merely an excuse she thought up in a moment's spur. While the freshman did feel guilty for her action, she couldn't figure out why she was flustered to that extent.
The calming raindrops drowned out her thoughts when another person stepped under the roof, taking refuge from the seemingly ceaseless summer rain. With a slight curiosity, Shizuka's eyes turned towards the person, just to widen from surprise.
"Ha-Harvester-senpai?"With the usual goofy expression upon his face, Matt turned to the surprised girl with a grin.
"oh hey Shizu you got caught up in this weather change too? hahahahaaa..." Matt's laugh trailed off as his eyes wondered around a bit.
"oh yea you feelin ok from before?" Reaching into his pocket the boy produced a handkerchief
"you seemed to have dropped something in your collision" In an attempt to calm herself, Shizuka gazed away from the upperclassman and towards the serene scenery of raindrops.
"A-Ah, yes, I hadn't expected this sudden change so I unfortunately haven't brought an umbrella with me." Despite the trembling, soft tone of her voice, the raven haired maiden loosened her tense posture and relaxed a little.
However, once the boy mentioned what had happened earlier this afternoon, she flinched slightly and tightened her hands together in front of her.
"Uhm... I-I'm alright...-- ...! I've been searching for it all afternoon, thank you senpai!" With an expression of relief upon her half covered face, Shizuka received the handkerchief and kept it into her school bag.
After a brief pause of thoughtful silence, thinking over the events earlier in the day, the younger student parted her lips to speak once more,
"..... Harvester-senpai, .... what did you mean by the language of flowers? You haven't um.... gifted anyone with a bouquet of flowers, have you?" With how soft her voice was, unless he were intently listening to her, it would've been easily drowned out by the sound of the harsh raindrops. Her eyes were averted towards the ground, with cheeks flushed rosy pink. The shoujo romance delusional girl had finally started to figure out why this has been bothering her, but admitting to it was a whole different story.
Matt had stood there watching the girl fumble around with her words seemingly able to hear everything as his expression had changed from the usual and it seemed somewhat more serious... if anything Matt's smile turned into a bit of embarased one as the girls eyes averted from him.
"huh? have I giv... no I've never done such a thing.... though" Matt gave an embarased scratch at his face before continuing
"you do remind me of Lilacs"A relieved smile made its way upon her lips at the answer but realizing this, Shizuka immediately hid her lips behind her hand in embarrassment.
'I-I mustn't be too obvious...!' , Shizuka told herself, before what Matt said caught her attention.
"Lilacs...? What significant meaning does it hold? I-I apologize for not studying enough about flowers." As Shizuka asked Matt about the meaning of Lilacs the boy became more fidgety as he restlessly scratched the back of his head. As experienced as he was with some things Matt was completely inexperienced in others, this was one of those things which made him extremely nervous which would probably seem obvious.
"uhh... how do I um...come on man just say it" Matt seemed to be psyching himself up
“Uh the Lilacs are known to represent… their known to represent first… first love” by the end of the sentence Matt was almost mumbling with his hand now resting on the back of his neck.
Wait.
Wait. Did she just hear that right? This wasn't another one of those delusional shoujo romance scenes she's been dreaming about right? Shizuka caught her breath, her hazel eyes now still towards the flustered boy. A long moment of silence had passed, save for the dropping noise of the rainfall, until the color upon her cheeks darkened and she could swear he could've heard the beating of her heart from how loud it was.
The lips of the girl shyly parted but no voice would come from it. It frustrated her how here Matt was, expressing himself how he felt, but she couldn't find the courage to do the same. Shaking her head, she attempted to muster all the courage she had as trembling hands firmly, yet gently, clasp one of the boy's hand between hers to raise it up to the height of her chest.
"I...... I admire you as well, Harvester-senpai."Astonished by the mutual feelings from the girl, Matt's facial expression was that of delightful surprise before flashing the widest grin he could manage, but one could tell he was still pretty embarrassed by the color of his cheeks. Shizuka returned the gesture with a sheepish smile, one that was warm and gentle enough to ward off the cooling feeling as a result from the rain.
The two had kept silence between them after the confession while they faced the raining scenery, a pair of hands being held together in an innocent bliss. When the rain had eventually lighten up, the upperclassman held his jacket above the freshman and assisted her home, after countless times of insisting despite her protests that she did not want to be a burden. Upon arriving at the gate of the Otonashi residence, the two bid farewell, exchanging expressions of true delight before parting ways for the night.