Chapter 21: Is This Reality?

They walked out of the jewelry store.

"Is it raining?" Kamikawa Chie lifted her snow-white forehead and blinked her long eyelashes.

She was so busy chatting with classmates that she hadn't noticed it had started to rain.

Mizushima Ori suggested, "The rain is so heavy; it won't stop for a while. Let's go back to the jewelry store and buy umbrellas."

Not long after.

They came out again, each holding an extra umbrella.

"Let's go."

Mizushima Ori stepped out under an umbrella.

The rain was pouring down heavily.

The sky was overcast with rain, dark clouds rumbled, and thunder cracked from time to time.

Many fewer people were on the streets; the liveliness was gone, replaced by a cold, quiet atmosphere.

Kamikawa Chie's mood was not affected at all by the terrible weather.

When one is in a good mood, everything looks good.

Kamikawa Chie was just like that.

Raindrops struck the Japanese-style roof tiles; to Kamikawa Chie's ears, the tapping sounds were like tinkling bells, crisp and pleasant.

She raised her head slightly, looking at the Japanese-style eaves of the street-side houses.

Rainwater splashed down, flowing into the gutters along the eaves, the sound of water gurgling.

Two utterly different sounds from the roof merged together.

Then she looked down at the ground.

Under the heavy rain, small puddles had formed on the ground.

Raindrops fell, big pearls and small pearls dropping onto a jade plate; they sparkled and scattered, the sound like a rattle drum, a blend of dull hums and light tinkles.

Listening to the various echoes of rain around her, sounding like different instruments playing a beautiful symphony, Kamikawa Chie stepped over a small puddle.

Just then.

Kamikawa Chie, who had been chatting with Mizushima Ori and the others, looked toward the eaves at the street corner.

There was an old homeless man there.

He was standing under the eaves to shelter from the rain, but the rain was too heavy and the eaves too small; he couldn't really stay dry.

More than half of his hair was soaked, and his shoulders were completely wet.

Because of his wandering life, his body appeared thin and frail; with nothing in his hands to block the rain, he could only keep rubbing his arms to ward off the cold of the icy rain.

"Achoo!"

The old homeless man sneezed.

Because he was so cold, he leaned toward a nearby shop, but the shopkeeper drove him out as if he were a fly.

With no other choice, he had to return to the eaves nearby.

"Sigh."

The old homeless man sighed.

When will the rain stop? It's so cold.

Won't this rain last all day? This place doesn't seem to have many places to take shelter from the rain.

Hah~

As if the heavens were opposing the old homeless man, a gust of wind blew up.

The wind, mixed with rain, was chilling in this season when autumn was turning toward winter.

The old homeless man shivered and wiped the rain from his face.

I won't freeze to death today, will I...

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, the old homeless man, lost in sorrow, paused.

Where did the rain go?

The rain was still falling in front of him, yet he realized it wasn't landing on his body.

The old homeless man instinctively looked up.

Above his head, an umbrella had appeared at some unknown time, and beside him stood a girl; the umbrella was being held by her.

Looking at the umbrella, then at the girl.

The old homeless man was stunned, utterly surprised.

This girl wasn't just coincidentally standing next to him with her umbrella covering him; she was deliberately holding the umbrella for him.

His gaze fell on the girl's shoulder.

Because the umbrella wasn't large, and the girl had deliberately covered the old homeless man, part of her left shoulder had been soaked by the rain.

"Old grandpa, here, take this umbrella." Kamikawa Chie handed her umbrella over.

The old homeless man froze.

This was the first time since his son had taken his house and driven him out, making him a homeless man, that anyone had offered him an umbrella.

Even after taking the umbrella into his hands, the old homeless man hadn't come to his senses.

"Old grandpa, goodbye."

Hearing these words, the old homeless man finally snapped out of it and hurriedly spoke: "Um... take your umbrella back. If you give me your umbrella, you won't have one to use."

Kamikawa Chie smiled and pointed to Mizushima Ori and Komuro Meijiang, who were rushing over.

"It's fine; I can share an umbrella with my friends."

"My heavens, Chie, why did you run so fast? Oh, you brought an umbrella. You..."

Mizushima Iori wanted to say Chie was foolish, that the old man was just a homeless drifter, but seeing the old drifter present, he didn't speak the final words.

Kamikawa Chie seemed to understand what Mizushima Iori was about to say and hurriedly spoke.

"Iori, let's go, aren't we going to eat dessert?"

As she spoke, she squeezed her way to Mizushima Iori's side, who had bought a large umbrella, smiled brightly, and showed all her cuteness.

Just as Chie and the other two were about to leave, and the old drifter wanted to thank her.

"Yo, little sisters, you want to eat dessert? We happen to be going to eat too, why don't we go together?"

A voice like a raven's croak came through.

Not far away, five or six young men walked over.

The one who spoke was a young man with Japanese-style bangs.

He had one hand in his pocket, held an umbrella in the other, and strode forward.

His behavior and mannerisms were full of thuggishness.

The other young men were no better, each either wearing an ear stud, having tattoos, or dyeing their hair gold.

Seeing the six young men who were clearly street thugs approaching, how could the three junior high school girls, Kamikawa Chie and her friends, not be afraid?

Instinctively, they huddled together in fear.

The six young men seemed not to notice their timidity and surrounded them.

"Little sisters, what desserts do you like? Tell me, don't worry, we aren't bad people."

The thug with Japanese-style bangs spoke in a frivolous tone, revealing a smile he thought was elegant.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tominaga Mori, you can call me Mori. These are all my friends, he is Nakata, that one is Horii..."

"Yeah, yeah, we aren't bad people."

The other young men chimed in, then all stepped forward to hit on them.

"What are your names, little sisters? Don't be afraid, I just think you're so cute and want to treat you to a meal."

"Treat you to a meal my ass, didn't you hear them say they wanted dessert just now? Hehe, I know a good dessert shop, I'll take you there."

"I also know a dessert shop that's very delicious."

"Dessert, huh? I love treating girls to chocolate bars the most."

The last young man's words caused the other thugs to burst into laughter.

The laughter was unrestrained and very lewd.

Kamikawa Chie and the other two girls had never seen such a scene and were terrified.

The three junior high school girls huddled together, not knowing what to do.

The rain was still falling.

The downpour was heavy, pattering down.

Facing the blockade by the street thugs, Kamikawa Chie felt fear in her heart; like Mizushima Iori and Komuro Meijiang, she was so afraid her body trembled and her legs went weak.

At this moment, she felt everything had become terrifying.

The faces and words of the street thugs made her afraid.

The various rain sounds that had sounded pleasant to her ears no longer sounded melodious at this moment; gathering in her ears, they were like a drum kit beating irregularly and fiercely, appearing noisy and grating.

Nissan...

Kamikawa Chie, in her fear, thought of Kamikawa Mitsu.

At this time, people walked out onto the street and in front of other shops, looking over in this direction.

These people included men and women, teenagers, adults, and middle-aged people.

Every pair of eyes revealed pity.

Most people just watched; only a very small portion wanted to walk toward Kamikawa Chie and the others.

As a result, as soon as they took a step forward, either the street thugs glared at them, glaring them back until they shrank away and abandoned the idea.

Or they were pulled back by people beside them, seeing the people beside them shake their heads to signal and speak, so their steps stopped.

In the end, not a single person stepped forward to rescue Kamikawa Chie and the others.

Not a single person.

They just stood there as bystanders, whispering to each other and discussing.

And when Kamikawa Chie and the others looked at them, casting looks seeking help.

These people all turned their heads away, dodging their looks seeking help.

Either pretending not to see, or simply walking away.

Seeing this, Kamikawa Chie and the other two had never felt colder in their hearts, more chilled to the bone, than at this moment.