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Yoimiya didn’t like the rain.
Well, to say that Yoimiya didn’t like the rain would be a bit of an understatement. Sure, it could be fun, and she could splash in puddles with the kids in Hanamizaka, but they were at risk of catching a cold and their parents always made them come inside after only a few minutes. Not to mention that the water always soaked her socks.
And to add to that, she couldn’t do all her regular daily activities when it was raining. No napping under a tree, no going for walks, no playing with the kids (see reason above), and worst of them all, no fireworks.
Oh how Yoimiya loathed to see her precious creations ruined by just a few minutes of rainfall. All her hard work wasted so quickly by the ruthless weather.
Yes, this borderline hatred of rain had always existed in Yoimiya’s mind despite her usual cheery attitude towards anything and everything.
So when she woke up one morning to hear the soft pitter patter of raindrops on her roof, she knew the day was going to be rough.
Fortunately for her, Ayaka was coming to visit today! And she was actually going to visit for more than a few minutes this time!!!
Due to Ayaka’s usually hectic (at best) schedule, she never really had the time to see Yoimiya for more than a minute or two. They only really ever got to see each other a few times a month, and that was far too few times for Yoimiya to see her friend (not crush, no sir).
Yoimiya rushed to get her room clean, well, cleaner, while the seconds counted down for Ayaka’s arrival.
When Yoimiya eventually heard a knock on her door, she rushed over to the entryway to find Ayaka’s gentle smile greeting her.
“Ayaka! Come in, come in!” Yoimiya ushered Ayaka inside, very chivalrously taking her umbrella and putting it off to the side. “I hope the rain wasn’t too hard on you.”
“No, no, it wasn’t bad at all,” Ayaka replied, her voice sweet as ever. “It was fairly pleasant, really.”
“Pleasant, for real?”
“Of course. It’s not really all that cold out, and I didn’t get very wet at all. It was a nice walk.”
Yoimiya looked outside to the still rainy sky. It wasn’t pouring down too hard yet, nothing more than a light drizzle at this point. Still, Yoimiya had heard from her father that it was bound to rain pretty heavily come evening.
“The rain’s supposed to get worse.” Is all Yoimiya said in response.
“So it is.”
Yoimiya didn’t really know how to feel about that. She didn’t want to send Ayaka home in bad weather, but really she was more concerned about the fact that Ayaka wasn’t concerned.
A short silence passed between them.
“Let’s go to my room. I took the time to clean it today and everything.”
And so the two of them went to Yoimiya’s room and stayed there for a while, chatting about whatever they wanted.
After a while, there was a lull in the conversation. Ayaka looked outside to the rain which had considerably picked up since her arrival.
“It’s peaceful, you know?” Ayaka spoke softly.
“What is?”
“The rain. How it sounds.” Ayaka continued to watch the world outside, seeing the rain touch every surface outside.
Yoimiya supposed she could agree with that. The sound of rain was rather nice as background noise. Though, that didn’t stop it from being the absolute worst in every other regard.
“It sounds nice, but it’s a bit of a pain sometimes, no?”
“I suppose. It can ruin plans, but it’s also peaceful. I’d much prefer a rainy day over any other weather.” Ayaka paused for a moment. “I really do love the rain.”
Yoimiya couldn’t believe her ears. Ayaka loved the rain of all things? If you asked her, Yoimiya thought anyone should prefer a sunny day over the misery of a rainy one. But here Ayaka was, saying she loves the rain more than anything else. There was simply something wrong with her, Yoimiya was convinced.
Though, she’d never say that to Ayaka’s face. She loved her friend (still not crush) far too much to say something like that.
Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could understand why Ayaka liked the rain, and gently guide her to the path of righteousness (rain hating).
“You love the rain? Why’s that?”
“Well, apart from it being relaxing, it also smells nice with that post-rain smell. And it’s also good for slowing down. Just makes it easy to sit back and take a moment to reflect.”
“You could do that at any time, though.”
“That’s true, but the rain really does help with it, especially if you’re out on a walk.” Ayaka finally looks away from the window and into Yoimiya’s eyes. “Rain walks are great for you, you know?”
“Yeah, but then your socks get all wet.”
“That’s never really bothered me.”
Ah, Yoimiya had almost forgotten. Ayaka really was crazy.
Yoimiya had heard all about the traveler’s outing with Ayaka, including the grand finale of wet socks in a river. How Ayaka could stand the feeling of wet socks, Yoimiya will never know. Regardless, she knew she couldn’t convince Ayaka to not like the rain on that front. She’d have to try elsewhere.
“You can’t really do anything fun in the rain,” Yoimiya said, hoping this would be the point that got across.
“Sure you can,” Ayaka countered. “You can do mostly anything you’d do on any other type of day. You just might get a little wet. But that doesn’t really matter when you’ve got a dry change of clothes waiting for you.”
“But what if there’s no change of clothes involved?”
“Hmm…” Ayaka paused for a moment. “Then I guess you’d just have to suffer. Oh well.”
Yoimiya couldn’t help but laugh. “If that’s true, then why would anyone want to go through that?”
“Well, it could be fun. Being out in the rain, getting soaked, catching a cold. That’s all an unforgettable experience.”
“You’d really want to get soaked for no reason? You’d really be totally fine with that?”
In lieu of response, Ayaka stood up from her spot on Yoimiya’s bed and offered her hand out to her. “Let’s see, shall we.”
Yoimiya didn’t know what possessed her to take Ayaka’s hand. She didn’t know what possessed her when she went outside to the ongoing storm. Yoimiya didn’t like the rain, she hated it, even.
And yet seeing Ayaka’s smile as she pulled them both outside and spun them around until every inch of their clothing was drenched caused any sort of disdain about the weather to vanish.
After all, if the girl Yoimiya loved most loved the rain, then surely the rain was meant to be loved.
“You know how I feel about the rain,” Ayaka said after a few minutes of splashing around. “But how about you?”
“Me?” Yoimiya took a moment to collect her thoughts.
The rain was annoying and always ruined her day. The rain messed up her fireworks and gave her a cold. The rain was something that Yoimiya would always hate.
“I think I love the rain, too.”