The Rainy Day's New Nickname

I turned my head slightly toward her, even as the soft, squishy sensation pressing against my back made it hard to think straight. Yoo Yu-ri's face looked like steam might start pouring out of it any second. At this point, maybe we should change the theme color for rainy days from purple to a deep crimson. This was my childhood friend, who had already overheated several times today and still kept trying to attack me.

Is it because of her tsundere personality? Does she get unsatisfied if she's the only one receiving affection?

Whatever the reason, from my perspective she was simply cute and lovable. "S-so... I want to hear your impressions."

Her voice grew incredibly shy at the end, and she ended up avoiding my eyes completely. I deliberately put on a mischievous expression. "What kind of impressions are we talking about~?"

"You know exactly what I mean!!! So... aww..."

I wanted to take a photo. Seriously.

"I like it, Yu-ri. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world."

Objectively speaking, Yu-ri had a more mature figure than most girls her age. She was far more developed than Jeong Ha-rin, who had blatantly rubbed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠herself against me earlier today. Of course, even if she were flat-chested, I wouldn't have cared at all. Still, the fact that she was pressing this voluptuous body against me with such affection made me incredibly happy as a man.

"Hee... Really? Hehehe... That's right. It should be like that~"

"I can imagine your expression just from the way you're talking~"

I tilted my head all the way back to look at the grinning Yu-ri. She stopped her kneading and naturally shifted into a lap-pillow position to support my head. Her tail, wagging happily, even wrapped around the back of my neck.

"This is dangerous. I feel like I might fall asleep."

"That would be a problem. You have to stay like this for at least thirty minutes, remember?"

"I didn't expect you to refuse. Usually people romantically say something like 'go ahead and rest your eyes,' don't they?"

"I don't like my legs going numb. Unlike Clear, I don't have that kind of stamina."

"Huh? Does stamina change depending on the personality too?"

Maybe each personality had slightly different detailed physical stats? If so, did that mean the Yu-ri who appeared on snowy days might be physically weaker than the others? At that moment, Yu-ri puffed out her cheeks and grabbed my face, stretching my cheeks.

"Oof... Why are you suddenly doing thiiis..."

"It looked like you were thinking about some other girl."

"Technically it is you. Just a different weather personality."

"That's cheating."

"It's still yourself."

"It's not me. I won't tolerate infidelity."

"I guess I'll have to organize a personality-only rock-paper-scissors tournament later."

She let out a small laugh at my silly joke and changed from stretching my cheeks to gently stroking them. Then she answered the question I'd asked earlier.

"The body is obviously the same. That's why when Clear exercises, the rest of us maintain our stamina too. It's more of a tension issue, I suppose?"

"Aha. I understand perfectly. So that's how the setting works."

It was true that high tension could suddenly bring out energy you didn't even know you had. That must be why the sunny-day Yu-ri went exercising every day.

"But you're calling her 'Clear' now too? Cloudy called your naming sense trash."

"It's easier to say this way, isn't it? A single word feels more natural."

At those words, I sat up from her lap and straightened my posture. Yu-ri remained in her lap-pillow position on the bed while I faced her directly.

"However, there's one problem with that nickname, Yu-ri."

When I suddenly put on a serious face, she looked puzzled. Right now she didn't look like a cat at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all. Instead, she tilted her head like a puppy, just like Clear would.

"Listen carefully. Clear, Cloudy. Adding '~y' to the weather makes it sound cute, right?"

"Yeah, it does. But why?"

I pressed my finger against her soft nose and got to the main point.

"For the you on rainy days, that kind of naming would be weird. 'Rainy.' It already sounds lame!"

It might seem trivial, but it was actually a fairly important issue. Some might suggest just calling her by her real name Yu-ri, but this was a kind of pet name. A special title just for the girls whose personalities changed with the weather. Besides, I'd given nicknames to the sunny and cloudy versions of her, but just called the rainy version plain Yu-ri? Hmm. Her tsundere self would definitely get sulky about that later.

"You're really such a strange person. So? Do you have any candidates?"

"I haven't decided on a single one yet."

"Are you serious? Usually the person who brings up an opinion prepares at least one or two options."

"I dunno!"

"Sigh... How did I end up with a guy like this..."

Yu-ri pressed one hand against the crown of her head and let out a deep sigh. Then she gave me a slightly sharp look, scanning me up and down.

"Just throw out whatever comes to mind. I'll tell you if I like any of them."

"Huh? You're not going to decide?"

"Isn't it weird for someone to name themselves? And... I like it better when you choose for me."

Huh. Saying something like that while acting so shy was totally unfair. Did she really say that naturally without intending to? Maybe the rainy-day Yu-ri wasn't a cat but a fox. Anyway, after seeing that expression, asking her to name herself would have been a crime. I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.

Something intuitive and fitting...

"Moist? Because you get moist when it rains."

"That's genuinely terrible. Rejected."

"Then how about Damp?"

"Can you show a little sincerity? Besides, the damp one is Cloudy, not me."

...She had a point. Even though the rainy-day Yu-ri was prickly, she wasn't as wet and gloomy as the cloudy version.

"Noah, aren't you too fixated on names ending in '~y'? Think of something else. Anything is fine."

From her tone, it felt like this was my last chance. Her cat ears had drooped compared to before, as if lamenting my terrible naming sense.

Even when I play games I just slap on color names because it's annoying. What do you want from me!

Even as I complained internally, I dug through all sorts of random knowledge in my head. Then it hit me.

"...Ame."

"Like amoeba?"

"No, the Japanese word ame! It means rain."

It was a bit impulsive, but I thought it sounded pretty good.

"What do you think, Yu-ri? The sound isn't bad, and it's not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠messy either!"

"Hmm..."

She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. After pondering for a moment and rolling the word around in her mouth a few times, she spoke.

"...I like it. Ame. Yes, please make that my nickname."

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better, right?"

"Losing confidence all of a sudden?"

Yu-ri pressed firmly on my forehead as I looked at her.

"You thought hard and came up with it, didn't you?"

Then she whispered in my ear.

"There's no way I could dislike it, Noah."

"Ame!"

"Kyaa?! Don't suddenly jump on me like that! And stop wrapping your arms around my waist without permission! Are you crazy? Where are you burying your nose right now!"

Once again, I had pounced on her hard enough to turn her bright red.

When the rain stopped and I got home, a message from Yu-ri arrived. Her tone had become calmer, so it seemed she'd returned to her original personality.

"This is the best way to wrap up the day."

I shook my freshly dried hair one more time, lay down on the bed, and quickly sent a reply.

So multiple personalities were a defense mechanism so that Yu-ri wouldn't collapse on her own? But in the future of my twenties that I experienced... Negative thoughts began creeping up again, so I shook my head. As if to tell me not to worry, more messages arrived in quick succession.

To think my childhood friend would throw the first punch like this. It was such a shame that I could only read it as text instead of hearing it in person.

Yu-ri naturally shifted the topic to the school I'd visited today. I thought she wouldn't like talking about school. But if she brought it up first like this, I was more than happy to follow.

An emoticon that seemed like it was about to deliver some kind of punishment flew over. At this rate, Yu-ri's mood would hit rock bottom, so I had to explain somehow.

When I got a little genuinely flustered, an additional voice message from Yu-ri arrived.

Her voice was sweet and low, wrapping around my ears. It gently reassured the anxious me from just moments ago.

...Wait, did I just step on a landmine?