[Editor's note: This chapter has been edited to remove content that breaks our content rules.]
Rain poured down in torrents, the fat drops striking the ground and sending up clouds of spray.
Thunder rumbled as though it would tear the sky apart.
Nodoka Haramura and Sora Kageyama were soaked through in the downpour, rain dripping steadily from their hair.
Sora was a little better off. At least he had come wearing a long-sleeved shirt and trousers, both in dark colors.
After a moment of stunned silence, Nodoka, whom Sora had caught in his arms, slowly straightened up.
Her pink hair clung in disheveled strands to either side of her face, and conflicting emotions flickered in her eyes.
She raised her head and looked past Sora’s shoulder at Saki Miyanaga, who stood a short distance away. Her expression seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words.
“Finishing at exactly zero three times in a row—was that deliberate?”
Saki froze, her clear eyes filled with surprise. She clearly had not expected Nodoka to ask such a question so suddenly.
Her lips parted slightly, but for a moment she did not know how to answer.
Kindhearted by nature, she had never been good at lying. After a brief hesitation, she answered with near-complete honesty.
“That’s how I always play.”
Those few simple words landed like a bombshell.
For an instant, even Sora was stunned, let alone Nodoka.
What shocked Nodoka was that Saki had actually admitted it so openly.
Sora, meanwhile, had already noticed something unusual about Saki’s play. Even so, hearing it confirmed left him awed by her almost frightening ability to control the game.
Just how skilled did someone have to be at mahjong to finish at exactly zero every single time?
Nodoka trembled slightly, rain dripping from her chin. Her voice was full of disbelief.
“Why? Why would you play like that?”
There was a trace of accusation in her tone, but far more confusion and bewilderment.
To her, mahjong was a contest fought for victory. Saki’s approach overturned everything she understood about the game.
“Why do I play like that...?”
After a brief silence, Saki bent down to pick up the schoolbag and red umbrella that Nodoka had knocked out of her hands.
Her movements were slow, as though each one reflected her inner conflict.
“I’ve always played mahjong at home. If I lost, I wouldn’t get any snacks. But if I won too much, the others would get upset. Before I knew it, I’d started playing this way.”
Her voice was quiet, almost as though she were speaking to herself rather than explaining things to Nodoka.
“That’s all?”
Nodoka’s voice suddenly sharpened. She took a quick step forward, splashing water beneath her feet.
She could not understand how someone could so readily give up on winning for such a seemingly absurd reason. To her, winning was a source of joy—a goal worth pursuing with everything she had.
Saki offered no further explanation. She turned and began walking down the steps.
Her red umbrella opened in the rain like a solitary flower. Her retreating figure looked forlorn, as though she wanted to leave the subject behind and escape the oppressive atmosphere.
But Nodoka could not accept her response.
She bit her lip, then hurried after her without hesitation. Gathering all her courage, she called out loudly.
“Miyanaga! One more time! Will you play another game of mahjong with me?”
Her voice sounded thin against the rain, yet it was full of determination.
Saki stopped and turned beneath her umbrella. On her face was a calm that Nodoka could not understand.
She looked quietly at Nodoka, her eyes utterly still.
“I’m sorry. I don’t like playing mahjong.”
With that, she turned away and continued walking. Her red umbrella gradually disappeared into the curtain of rain.
Nodoka stood where she was, watching Saki leave. This time, she did not follow.
Her fists clenched so tightly that her nails nearly dug into her palms.
Sora had remained quietly to one side, watching everything unfold.
Seeing her clenched fists and the dejection on her face, he felt an unexpected pang of sympathy.
He sighed and walked over to her.
Her bangs hid her face, and rain continued to trickle from her hair. Although she said nothing, her trembling and silence made it clear that she was in a bad way.
Somehow, Sora felt he could not simply leave her there.
He reached out and gently took her wrist.
“You’ll catch a cold. Your family will worry.”
His voice was gentle and openly concerned, as though they were longtime friends rather than two people who had just met.
“My family isn’t here,” Nodoka said softly, a note of loneliness in her voice.
Her father had been transferred to Tokyo for work. Since then, she had stayed behind on her own to attend school.
Sora felt briefly awkward. He had not expected that.
He gently rested a hand on her head.
“Then you need to take even better care of yourself. If you get sick at home alone, you might not even be able to get to the hospital.”
Nodoka paused, a little uncomfortable with the familiarity of the gesture, then lowered her head without answering.
Sora hesitated.
“What is it?” Nodoka asked, looking up in confusion.
A faint smile appeared on his face, his eyes gentle but resolute.
“I came here for you, Nodocchi.”
Not Nodoka Haramura, but Nodocchi—the name she used in the mahjong app, where she was all but unbeatable.
His voice was quiet, but his words sent ripples through her heart.
Chapter Fourteen: At a Hotel with Nodoka Haramura
Half an hour later, they were at the nearest hot-spring hotel to Kiyosumi High School. Warm yellow wall lamps lit the room, and the sound of running water came steadily from the bathroom.
Sora waited outside with a soft towel in his hands, drying his neck and arms. He planned to use the bathroom once Nodoka was finished.
Only a short while earlier, she had been drenched while chasing after Saki in the rain.
Stubborn as she was, Nodoka had not intended to listen to anyone. But Sora’s declaration—“I came here for you”—had finally persuaded her to come to the hotel and get out of her wet clothes.
He was simply worried that she would catch a cold.
At last, the water stopped.
Nodoka emerged from the bathroom.
“My clothes are wet...” she said quietly.
“There seem to be yukata in the wardrobe,” Sora told her.
“Thank you...”
“You can get changed. I’ll go take a shower.”
Sora turned and went into the bathroom.
When he came back out, Nodoka was sitting curled up in a corner of the sofa. Her half-dried pink hair fell over her shoulders, and her fingers absently twisted the hem of her yukata.
“There’s another yukata,” she said.
Sora took it from the wardrobe and put it on.
As he approached, Nodoka suddenly looked up.
“You...”
Before she could finish, a sudden crash of thunder outside made her flinch. Instinctively, she caught hold of Sora’s wrist.
He barely needed a moment to realize that she was afraid of thunder.
He glanced down at her hand. Her fingertips were slightly cold, and she gripped him tightly.
The rain outside grew heavier.
Then another thunderclap split the night. The floor-to-ceiling windows rattled, and the lights abruptly went out.
Nodoka stumbled toward Sora, clutching his clothes.
“I... I’m terrified of thunder...”
He instinctively steadied her.
Outside, rain hammered against the glass.
“Don’t be...”
He meant to tell her not to be afraid, but the words caught in his throat.
Chapter Fifteen
Lightning suddenly illuminated the entire room.
Nodoka noticed a red mark near Sora’s collarbone.
“How did you get that?” she asked quietly.
Before he could answer, another crash of thunder sounded, and she shrank against him in fright.