Together on a Rainy Day, and Then Home - 2
How long had I been sitting alone on the sofa, meditating? Honestly, I couldn't even remember what I'd been thinking about the whole time.
I'd just been meditating so I wouldn't spiral into some strange torment from the sound of water coming from the bathroom.
This had to be what they meant by the 108 worldly desires.
And then, before I knew it, that sound of water had faded.
Click—
From behind me came a short sound as the bathroom door opened.
It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow I thought I could feel the warm, moisture-laden air as well.
"Sihyun, can I wear these?"
"Ah, yeah. Those are ones I don't wear much."
In that moment, I could sense something odd about our exchange.
If she was asking what to put on, that meant she hadn't put anything on yet.
And she had just finished showering in the bathroom.
In other words.
She was wearing nothing.
...Crazy.
Don't imagine it, you idiot.
Don't even think about imagining anything.
Don't even think about turning around. Just don't pay attention.
....As if.
Unfortunately, my mind followed my body, and my body was currently that of a vigorous adolescent boy.
Not imagining anything in this situation... was nearly impossible.
Even a promising Buddhist monk would shake his head at this one.
Rustle, rustle—
Since I hadn't even turned on the TV, the house was filled with silence.
In that quiet, the sound of clothes brushing against skin from behind came through all too clearly.
A sound that, by itself, was enough to fire the imagination.
How many deep breaths did I take at that sound?
"Sihyun, I'm done."
At last, the sound of fabric rustling stopped.
At her words, I could finally turn my head. And there she was.
Riya, still wet from the water.
Hot water clung to her hair, not yet dry, and rivulets dripping from her strands soaked the clothes she was wearing.
On top of that, her white skin seemed almost to gleam.
And in both her hands, she held the clothes she'd been wearing.
Her school uniform, completely soaked and limp. And her underwear.
Yes. Her underwear.
"....Riya, go put those in the washing machine."
"Okay."
Her figure was developed enough that even an adult wouldn't find it lacking.
And as I kept unconsciously imagining that... I really felt like I was going to lose my mind.
No—just thinking about this kind of thing was a sin in the first place.
Should I go become a Buddhist monk or something?
How was I supposed to control these worldly desires? These desires filling my entire head!
There were times when she would suddenly come close that were really hard to endure.
For example, when we were playing games side by side and she'd suddenly push her face in, or when I was sleeping and she'd suddenly stick her finger in my mouth.
Or.
"Sihyun, what are you doing?"
Like this—pushing her face right up to my nose while I was in the middle of thinking.
"Eek!?"
Startled by her sudden face, I jerked my body straight back.
It was almost a pure reflex. The same level of reflex as when a finger gets pricked by a thorn.
But Riya didn't seem inclined to let me go.
"Why are you pulling back?"
"....!"
She slowly pushed her face toward mine.
Very slowly.
As her face drew closer little by little, my heart also beat faster and faster. And by the end, it was pounding violently.
"...."
Her soft legs touched mine, and the distance between our bodies was less than a handspan.
We weren't quite touching body to body, but it was close enough that you could call it pressed together.
Riya's blue eyes looking at me with an expressionless face—but not an unpleasant one.
I only managed to come to my senses when water droplets falling from her hair soaked into my clothes.
"R-Riya! Your hair... you need to dry it."
I rolled my body to the side and barely managed to escape.
Thump, thump, thump—
My heart was still racing madly.
This had to be the highest heart rate of the year.
Honestly, if my heart exploded and I died in this situation, I'd understand.
"Aren't you going to wash up, Sihyun?"
"...Yeah, I'm fine."
I'd actually been planning to wash, but it seemed like a bad idea to wash right now.
Really—I had a bad feeling about it.
"Sihyun. Then dry my hair for me."
"Ah? Uh... okay."
Drying her hair was something I'd done a few times before, so it wasn't like I couldn't do it.
Yeah, no problem.
I'd done it several times.
But.
Why is my heart... racing like this?
It had been happening a lot lately.
When I did things with Riya that we'd done plenty of times before, my heart would race and things would feel strange.
Actions that hadn't meant anything until now.
Now they bothered me.
And I didn't know why.
"Sihyun?"
"...Coming."
At Riya's call, I went straight to her and dried her hair.
Her hair reached down to her waist, so drying it wasn't easy.
Her soft hair touched my hands, and the dampness soaked into them. The sensation was so ticklish.
Then Riya, who had been carefully watching my face, opened her mouth.
"Are you okay?"
"About what?"
"Your face has been red for a while."
At her words, I looked in the mirror and saw my face was flushed bright red.
A face that looked ready to burst. Plus an expression full of worldly desires.
As she said, something seemed wrong.
The problem was that the cause was Riya.
...What am I doing?
I tried hard to shake off the desires that had been there until a moment ago.
Thinking those kinds of things about Riya was truly something I shouldn't do. Really.
If she ever found out about these thoughts, even by chance.
It would be horrible.
Absolutely, truly a result I didn't want to imagine.
Thinking that, I let out a sigh and finished drying her hair completely.
I can hold out, right?
I thought, banishing the desires that kept rising again.
I just need to get through today.
...He's not doing anything.
Riya let out a sigh as she watched Sihyun drying her hair.
Her expression looked rather dissatisfied.
Of course, the change in her expression was so slight it would be truly hard to notice.
There is a reaction... though.
Getting completely soaked by the rain and ending up at his house hadn't been something she'd planned.
That was literally an accident.
Something that had happened suddenly.
But deliberately changing clothes outside the bathroom, deliberately showing her underwear among the laundry—and pushing her face toward Sihyun as he sat there—those had been intentional actions.
And finally.
...Not wearing underwear right now, either.
Everything had been done with intention.
There had been somewhat—no, quite a lot—of impulsiveness involved, and she was aware of that herself.
But today, she just felt like doing it.
You could say the desires she'd been holding back had overflowed a little.
It's not like this happens often.
Being alone together at his house like this was something that hadn't happened in a long time, and washing at his house was also a long time coming.
All of these impulsive actions so far had stemmed from this situation.
But even faced with Riya like this, while he might have a reaction, he never said anything directly.
It had always been that way.
He avoided seeing Riya herself as a member of the opposite sex—or more bluntly, as a sexual object.
She didn't really know why.
...It's fine, though.
It was fine.
Whatever he wanted didn't matter.
Of course, since they were middle schoolers right now, she had no intention of going further than this.
But if they became adults.
If we become adults....
What would they do?
And at that thought, Riya herself flushed bright red and lowered her head.
What?
Why was she suddenly blushing?
Had I done something?
I thought about it for a moment, but all I'd done was dry her hair.
"Riya, is there anything you want to eat?"
So I brought up a different topic to change the subject for both of us.
I was also getting hungry.
"Food?"
"I'll order something. It's been a while since you've been over. Plus Mom gave me her card."
The so-called Mom card.
Mom couldn't cook for us and would often leave her card so we could order food when she went out.
So today, we could order whatever we wanted from outside.
"A hamburger. I want a hamburger."
"Hamburger? Then let's order hamburgers."
I hadn't had a hamburger recently either, so I wanted one after a long time.
After deciding on the menu, I immediately ordered hamburgers from a place we ate at often. There weren't many hamburger chains near our house, so the options were limited.
After ordering the food, while we waited for it to arrive, we watched a movie.
A movie I'd been wanting to see recently had become available on a streaming service, one I'd been meaning to watch sometime.
It was good to watch it on this occasion.
"...Riya?"
"What?"
"Aren't you watching the movie?"
"I am watching."
The problem was that Riya kept looking at me.
Every time I turned my head to the side, I inevitably met the eyes of Riya, who had been looking this way.
And she was watching from quite close—close enough that our shoulders would touch if either of us moved even a little. The distance was far too near.
Close enough that I could see her white eyelashes.
I can't even concentrate.
In that situation, of course I couldn't focus on the movie.
What was really in front of me was just moving pictures, and all my attention was solely on Riya, who was looking at me.
As that awkward situation continued.
Ding-dong—
"Looks like it's here."
At the doorbell, I went straight and got the hamburgers.
After the hamburgers arrived, she also focused on eating.
Honestly, if she'd kept looking at me until we ate, I might have thrown up. Really.
After eating quite a large amount of hamburgers and checking the time, it was pretty late. Eight o'clock. Outside had also gotten quite dark.
"Riya, when are you going home?"
"Home?"
"It's getting late. I'll walk you."
At my words, Riya rubbed her fingers together as if thinking for a moment.
And then, before long, she said to me. In a tone a little more firm than usual.
"I'm staying over."
"...?"
The greatest plot twist of my life had arrived.
In a truly unexpected situation.