Kiyoko Forgets Her Key

The afternoon had been clear skies, but after practice, it started raining again before Hayato and the others could even change. Fortunately, they had all brought umbrellas when they came to school that morning. After saying their goodbyes, everyone walked into the rain, holding their umbrellas.

After dropping Hitoka off at her home, Hayato looked at Kiyoko beside him on the way and fell into thought. He had been thinking that morning about how if they shared an umbrella, given their height difference, it might turn into a scene from Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun. Sometimes being too tall wasn't ideal, but it could also be interesting.

"What are you smiling about?"

"I thought of something interesting."

Hayato told her about his whimsical idea of what would happen if they shared an umbrella, and Kiyoko laughed at his sudden thought.

"Our height difference isn't as big as you say, you know. All the rain would just pour onto my head. It's amazing you could even come up with that."

"Really?"

"Of course. Want to try it?"

Without waiting for Hayato's answer, Kiyoko put away her own umbrella, which had a wave pattern, and squeezed under Hayato's black umbrella.

"See? Nothing like what you described happened."

Because of his build, Hayato used a large umbrella. Even with one more person under it, it didn't feel crowded. Still, the two of them were pressed tightly together.

Kiyoko's slender shoulders brushed against Hayato's arm. Since it was their summer uniforms, they were both only wearing thin white shirts. Kiyoko, however, was wearing a sleeveless sweater, but it didn't have sleeves. The temperature had dropped quite a bit due to the rain.

Through just a thin layer of clothing, they could both feel each other's body heat.

"Kiyoko-senpai, your arm feels a bit cold. Are you cold?"

Hayato could feel Kiyoko's body temperature was a bit low through his shirt, likely due to the rain. Kiyoko's experience was the complete opposite. Boys naturally had more body heat, and Hayato had just finished exercising. To Kiyoko, the warmth radiating from his arm even made her feel a little flushed.

"It's normal for girls to feel cold, especially with the rain."

Her voice was a little unnatural. Kiyoko tried her best to speak to Hayato in a calm tone, while also trying not to pay attention to the heat emanating from him.

"Then let's have sukiyaki for dinner tonight. We can go buy some ingredients first. Oh, Kiyoko-senpai, it's okay for you to eat with me tonight, right?"

Hayato's arm, holding the umbrella, was against Kiyoko's. It wasn't really practical to reach out and wrap his arm around her, and he doubted Kiyoko would agree to such a forward move anyway. So, he decided to bring up the topic of hot food to change the subject.

As expected, upon hearing about sukiyaki, Kiyoko forgot about their proximity and nodded in agreement.

"Sukiyaki, of course, I can. I can eat with you, Hayato. My parents are actually going out today to attend a relative's wedding and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Then it's settled! Come on, let's head to the shopping street~"

Hurrying Kiyoko along, Hayato took her to the shopping street first, where they bought a bunch of ingredients. Carrying their bags, they returned to Hayato's house. Upon entering the genkan, Kiyoko didn't take off her shoes but handed the bags to Hayato.

"I'm going home to take a hot shower first. You should take one too."

Kiyoko suggested, noticing that Hayato's other shoulder was already wet.

"Sure, a hot shower sounds good. This rain is really cold today."

The mention of it made Hayato shiver slightly. After Kiyoko left, he first put all the ingredients in the kitchen. Hayato walked to the bathroom, turned on the water heater to heat the water, and then took off his slightly damp white shirt, using a towel to wipe his shoulders.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Hayato found it strange. Kiyoko-senpai should have gone home to shower. How could she be back so soon? Who could it be?

Casually hanging the towel around his neck, he walked to the genkan shirtless and opened the door.

"Who is it... Huh? Kiyoko-senpai? Didn't you go home?"

Hayato was puzzled by the familiar face. Then he saw Kiyoko nervously fiddling with her hands.

"I forgot my keys at school."

"... Pfft. Hahaha, sorry, I'm really sorry. It's just, you being so flustered like this is so unlike your usual self."

Knowing how embarrassing this was, Kiyoko's face flushed even more when she heard Hayato's laughter, and she couldn't even lift her head. Then she heard the sound of Hayato moving.

"Come in, I just heated some water. Kiyoko-senpai, you can go first."

When she looked up, she saw Hayato, shirtless and showing off his physique, making way for her and inviting her inside. His dark short hair was slightly damp from the rain, a white towel hung around his neck, and his clean-cut face wore a gentle smile, not to mention his very eye-catching build.

Kiyoko froze. She had to admit, this "puppy-like boyfriend after a shower" look had truly stunned her.

"Kiyoko-senpai?"

Seeing that Kiyoko hadn't moved, Hayato looked at her with a strange expression. His innocent, puppy-like eyes and tilted head made him even cuter.

"It's nothing. Hurry and go in. Look at you, still shirtless. Aren't you cold? Be careful not to catch a cold."

Kiyoko snapped back to reality, quickly entered the house, and reminded Hayato to be careful not to catch a cold.

After Kiyoko entered, Hayato finally realized he had opened the door for her shirtless. But he figured it shouldn't be a big deal. The members of the volleyball team often took off their shirts, especially Ryu, who would often pull off his shirt and wave it around after hitting a good shot.

He figured Kiyoko must have a pretty high tolerance for seeing men's upper bodies by now.

Suddenly, Hayato had a thought. This meant Kiyoko-senpai felt something for him, but that couldn't be right. They were, at best, childhood friends, and they had only just reunited. Hmm~ she definitely wouldn't have that kind of feeling.

However, she probably did have some good feelings for him. After all, Kiyoko had only ever smiled at him before.

While Hayato was reasoning like a detective, Kiyoko, who had already reached the bathroom, was cupping her bright red cheeks with both hands.

"What's going on? Why am I so shy seeing Hayato's upper body? That shouldn't be happening. Hayato is like my little brother. Yes, a little brother."

Kiyoko muttered to herself in the mirror and quickly recovered, the flush on her face fading. At that moment, Hayato's voice came from outside the door.

"Kiyoko-senpai, I don't have any women's clothes at home, so I prepared my clothes for you. Is that okay?"

"N-no problem!"

Startled by Hayato's voice, Kiyoko answered him with a slightly off-key reply. This made Kiyoko blush with embarrassment, and she pinched her own cheek. What's wrong with me? Ever since I met Hayato, he's always been able to get the better of me.

"Then I'll go start cooking. Call me when you're done with your shower."

Before Kiyoko could reply, she heard his footsteps fading into the distance.

Kiyoko patted her cheeks to psych herself up. Once she regained her composure, she opened the bathroom door, took the clothes from the shelf by the door, changed out of her cold, damp clothes, and tossed them into the washing machine. She then stepped into the bathroom, closed the glass door, saw that the water heater had finished heating the water, turned on the faucet for the bathtub, and sat down under the showerhead, starting to wash herself while looking in the mirror.

The way of bathing here was still a bit troublesome. One had to wash thoroughly in the shower first, then soak in the bathtub. Hayato hadn't quite gotten used to this method yet; on his last few occasions, he'd just showered and left.

After washing her body, Kiyoko sat down in the bathtub, sinking her shoulders into the water. The warm, comfortable feeling made her let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Ahhh~ Finally warm."

After soaking for a full twenty minutes, Kiyoko emerged feeling refreshed. Placed with her clean clothes were a new bath towel and a face towel. Hayato was quite thoughtful. Looking at the items he had prepared for her, Kiyoko nodded in satisfaction.

She then dried her body with the bath towel and slowly dried her soaked hair with the face towel. Finally, she used the hairdryer hanging on the wall to dry her hair about eighty percent. The washing machine also signaled the end of its cycle, but unfortunately, Hayato's washing machine didn't have a drying function.

After changing into the prepared clothes, Kiyoko tied up her hair and wrapped it in a towel. Looking at herself in the mirror, wearing Hayato's ridiculously oversized pure white t-shirt and black shorts, she couldn't help but feel a little troubled.

These clothes were all a size too big for her. The t-shirt alone reached down to her thighs, and while the shorts weren't as exaggerated, they still came down to about her knees.

Since she was already wearing them, Kiyoko decided not to dwell on it and opened the bathroom door, walking out.