It was one of those heavy, sideways rain kind of days.
Umbrellas flipped. Windows fogged. My socks were already damp before first period. The school was filled with the smell of wet shoes and steamed convenience store buns.
Naomi had forgotten her umbrella, so we walked in under mine like a two-headed mushroom.
"Do you think rain like this is cosmic punishment for eating nine mochi balls last night?" she asked.
I said nothing.
Because deep down, I'd eaten eleven.
---
Third Period: Rain & Reading
The sky drummed on the windows like it was impatient. The classroom heater buzzed like it wanted to retire.
We were supposed to be reading silently.
I leaned back, reached under my desk to grab a pencil I dropped…
…and felt paper.
A soft, crinkled, slightly damp square. Folded twice.
I hesitated.
Because I knew what this meant.
Every time I found a random note, it was never just someone's shopping list or gum wrapper.
I opened it.
Scrawled in slightly smeared ink were the words:
"If the rain doesn't stop, go to the roof.
He'll be waiting."
No name. No context. No date.
Just a single pronoun hanging in the air like fog.
Reika's Golden Rule of Nonsense Notes:
Always pretend to ignore it for at least one hour.
So I did.
I drank warm barley tea at lunch. Played Uno. Lost three times.
All while the note burned a quiet hole in my thoughts.
I checked the roof access map in my head.
Students weren't allowed up there during rain. It would be slippery, dangerous, and possibly filled with seagulls.
And yet...
Part of me already knew I was going.
---
Sixth Period: Still Raining
As class ended and students packed up, I slipped away.
Notebook under one arm. Hoodie up. No powers. Just me, a girl following a soggy mystery.
I climbed the stairs.
Step by echoing step.
The rooftop door creaked open.
Rain fell in sheets, slicing the air sideways. The wind tugged at my sleeves. Puddles gathered like nervous conspirators.
But someone was already there.
A boy.
Standing at the edge near the chain-link fence, soaked hood over his head, looking out at the storm like he wasn't wet at all.
He turned before I spoke.
Dark hair. Tired eyes. Vaguely familiar.
And then he said:
"I was wondering when you'd come, Reika."
I froze.
"I don't know you," I said carefully.
He gave me a small smile.
"Not yet," he said. "But I know you. And I've been waiting for this moment… since Chapter 38."
I blinked.
My stomach dropped.
"…What chapter are you in now?" I asked.
He glanced at the sky. "Still 44, I think. Almost caught up."
I stared at him.
The rain. The note. The journal warning. The broom. The hoodie doppelgänger.
Everything was starting to connect—
But not yet.
So I did what any reasonable girl would do.
"I'm going back inside," I said. "You're soaking wet, and I don't do dramatic reveals without hot tea."
He laughed. "Chapter 33, then?"
"Bring snacks," I said.
And closed the rooftop door behind me.