episode_0046

The next morning.

As we entered the restaurant with Amy, we were able to meet Lane.

She was sitting at a large table eating.

“Ouch!”

The very first moment when Rain’s eyes met mine.

She jumped up from her seat and greeted me.

“Hello!”

The rice stuck to the corner of Rain’s mouth sparkles.

He smiles as if he doesn’t remember running out crying yesterday.

I didn’t bother to bring up yesterday’s events.

As I wave my hand slightly, her smile becomes brighter.

“Come this way!”

At Rain’s gesture, Amy led us to the table where she was sitting.

She was sitting alone.

When I ran into him yesterday, the men who appeared to be my teammates were nowhere to be seen.

“Who are your team members?”

“Everyone is on vacation except me.”

Shine and I sat across from Rain.

“Donkatsu today too?”

“Yes.”

Shine and I nodded.

Amy walked straight over to order some food.

Rain, I, and Shine’s gazes intersect.

At that moment, Shine opened her mouth.

“Rain.”

“Huh?”

“Who is this guy named Hughes?”

Rain’s face instantly turns red at Shine’s question.

A gaze that quickly shakes and scatters in all directions.

She seemed very embarrassed, as if remembering yesterday’s events.

“My… My teammate?”

“Team member?”

“Yeah… .”

“If you cry, do you go find your teammates?”

At Shine’s innocent question, tears well up in Rain’s eyes.

Her face was bright red like a tomato.

“Ah… I didn’t cry.”

“I see.”

Shine shut her mouth, seeming to lose interest in it.

Rain lowered his head and observed us.

The strange silence continued until Amy returned.

Shine and I stuffed our mouths full of the tonkatsu set that Amy had brought.

The crunchy texture that spreads in your mouth brings a happy smile to your face.

After finishing our meal, we headed straight to the gym.

Rain also followed us, seemingly having some business at the gym.

“Rain.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you do gymnastics?”

“Ah… . I didn’t do it… .”

“I want to grow taller.”

“That… . Yeah… .”

Shine spoke while looking at Rain.

For some reason, a picture was drawn of Rain getting scolded by Shine.

Rain’s head bowed as if he had done something wrong.

Shine nodded and spoke.

“We didn’t do it either, so let’s do it together later.”

Shine said, holding my hand.

He nods as if telling me to nod quickly.

I nodded with a clumsy smile.

“Did you drink milk?”

“Yeah.”

“Good job.”

Shine praised Rain.

Is it really something to be praised for just drinking some milk?

For some reason, I felt a bit disappointed.

I moved quickly and dove between Shine and Rain.

Both people’s gazes are turned towards me.

“Jeff?”

I reached out with both hands, grabbed their arms, and started running to the gym.

The two were dragged along obediently.

Amy’s laughter slowly dissipated behind me.

The three of them were able to run down the hallway and arrive in front of the gym.

As always, Victor was waiting inside the gym.

He looked at us with a tired face and said.

“Are there three of you today?”

“Hello Victor!”

“Hi Rain. Looks like you made a friend.”

Lane turned to us at Victor’s words.

Her expression becomes subtle.

Amy, who arrived late, led us to Victor.

Shine looked like she wanted to play ball, but she didn’t refuse Amy’s offer.

“What are you going to do today?”

“What we did yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“Yeah, always make sure you keep that flow going.”

With those words, Victor opened the small book.

I immediately raised my hand.

A blue electric field spreads across the hand.

I know the trick.

The current that had been dancing around at my fingertips begins to repeat a certain movement just like yesterday.

“Like this?”

“Stopped and then started again.”

I stopped expressing my abilities as Victor said.

A blue current that disappears immediately.

The moment I confirmed that the electricity had disappeared from my hand, I raised my power once again.

Dismissed-!

A blue light that jumps out immediately.

I concentrated and tried to reproduce the same flow as before.

The current that had been surging in all directions began to show the same steady movement as before after a while.

“Too slow.”

I frowned at Victor’s words.

He spoke without even looking up from the book.

Are you watching?

When I looked up at him questioningly, he closed his book and raised his hand.

“This is what I want you to do.”

Dismissed-!

A blue current immediately appeared in Victor’s hands.

Unlike me, the blue current shows a constant movement from the beginning.

“If you apply it, you can do things like this.”

Victor said so and changed the movement of the current.

As if lightning were striking, the current that had been flowing in a zigzag pattern begins to spread out in a straight line.

I nodded absentmindedly.

I could understand what Victor was saying, but it seemed like it would take a long time of practice to apply his abilities like that.

I started practicing again and again with a sad face.

“It’s too hard… .”

A grumbling voice keeps coming out of his mouth.

I turned my gaze and looked at Shine.

She sat on the chair and shook her legs as if she was doing nothing.

“Is it difficult?”

“Yeah… .”

I nodded to Shine’s question.

“Victor. Jeff is having a hard time.”

“Of course it’s difficult. You can’t do it well from the beginning.”

“But if you don’t do everything, you can’t play ball.”

“I didn’t tell you to finish it today.”

“Then how much more do I have to do?”

“Um… .”

Shine asked.

In response to her question, Victor opened his mouth and checked his wristwatch.

“One hour.”

“That much?”

“Okay 30 minutes.”

Time has been drastically reduced.

“Jeff, you just need to practice for 30 minutes.”

Shine shook my hand and smiled.

I stared blankly at Victor.

He scratched the back of his head and opened the book again.

I practiced my skills for 30 minutes as he said.

Little by little, just little by little, I began to feel myself gaining more control over my abilities, as Victor had shown me.

“The end!”

As I was checking the time, I immediately got up from my seat and ran to the corner.

The 30 minutes I promised Victor were over.

It meant that we could play ball.

In the corner was the rubber ball that Shine and I used to play with.

It looks like no one has ever used it.

I picked up the ball and looked around.

Amy was talking to Victor as always.

I turned my head to the other side and started looking for Lane.

Lane stood in front of a machine with numerous targets floating around it.

“Rain!”

Rain, who was absorbed in something, looked back in surprise at my call.

The moment our eyes met, I waved and said.

“Let’s play together!”

Rain didn’t answer.

I looked at the sight and lifted the ball high above my head.

“Let’s play ball!”

Lane began to think seriously.

A subtle smile on his face.

The corners of the mouth began to tremble.

For some reason, he seemed embarrassed to answer.

I threw the ball to her.

“Take it!”

Tong- Tong-

The ball hit the floor, bounced several times, and rolled towards Lane.

A rubber ball that came up to Rain’s feet.

She eventually picked up the ball.

I smiled brightly at her appearance.

“Sleep… . Should I play with you for a bit?”

Lane came towards me holding the ball as if he was doing me a favor.

Shine, Rain, and I stood in a triangle formation.

It was a simple game of just throwing a ball, but the three of us had a lot of fun.

The smile on his face did not disappear.

After playing ball and running around for a while, we decided to take a break.

We sat side by side on the soft mat and caught our breath.

As the heavy breathing slowly subsided, Rain carefully opened his mouth.

“Over there… .”

“Huh?”

“Are you guys staying here?”

“Yeah.”

“….continue?”

“Yeah. Keep going.”

At my answer, the tips of Rain’s ears turned red.

She pursed her lips and gave a small smile.

“I see… .”

“Like it?”

When asked if Shine was good, Rain’s face turned bright red.

She wiggled her fingers and nodded slowly.

“Jeff! Shine! Rain!”

Then, Amy, who was talking to Victor, called us.

It seemed like the conversation with Victor was over.

I immediately threw the ball down and ran to Amy.

Shine and Rain, who were sitting next to me, also followed me.

“Are you going now?”

“Yeah.”

Amy answered my question.

I immediately said goodbye to Victor and ran out of the gym.

Dadadadatta-

As I started running, Shine and Rain followed me.

I turned my head and saw Amy walking slowly towards me.

After seeing her, I ran straight to the room.

“Arrived!”

When I got to my room, I quickly moved and turned on the television screen.

Immediately after that, I turned on the channel where [The Little Witch’s Great Adventure] was being rebroadcast.

There was plenty of time.

I immediately took off my clothes and threw them away.

Shine also took off her clothes like me.

“Uh… Hey guys?”

Then, Rain, who had followed us into the room, said in a panic.

She didn’t seem to understand our sudden behavior.

“Rain doesn’t shower?”

I said that and ran to the bathroom with Shine.

Rain covered his face with a blush, unable to answer.

While I was showering with Shine, Amy barged into the bathroom.

I told her that the two of us could wash together, but she insisted on holding us back and starting over from the beginning.

The plan went awry.

Thanks to Amy, I had to spend more time showering.

After I finished showering, Amy started drying my hair with a towel.

Head shaking back and forth.

I kept turning my head to check the clock on the wall.

“Jeff, stay still.”

“Yeah.”

The towel moving with Amy’s hands blocks her view.

I shook my head and shook the water off my head.

Pitter-patter – water droplets scattering in all directions.

I took advantage of that gap to escape Amy’s grasp.

It was soon time for the broadcast to begin.

The skin soaked in hot water felt warm.

I drag my tired body and sit down in front of the television.

“Jeff!”

Amy followed behind and hurriedly wrapped my head in a towel.

Amy’s hand blocked my view, and I twisted my head from side to side.

“I’m going to see this.”

“Okay, just stay still.”

Amy was brushing my hair.

Shine, who came out of the bathroom late, crawled onto the bed dripping with water.

She seemed to be planning to dry her hair the way I taught her.

Shine lay down on the pillow with her head spread wide.

“Shine!”

Amy screamed at the sight and ran towards Shine with a towel.