Rain, Rain, Rain
"You're sure we found every single one, right?" I said worriedly, looking at the pile of chocolates and candies in the middle of the room.
Gathering the chocolates and candies scattered all over the place hadn't been that difficult.
"Yep. No problem," Rain replied with a confident look.
But I was still worried. Just imagine if a piece of candy or chocolate we missed was left in some corner of the house. Because of the room temperature, it would slowly melt. And then... what if Amy found the melted stains?
I squeezed my eyes shut and swallowed hard. My head was already starting to throb.
"Let's look one more time," I said, starting to search every nook and cranny of the room again.
Rain and Shine helped me. Even rolling around on the floor, not a single speck of dust got on our clothes. It just showed how immaculately clean Amy kept the room.
Crawling along the floor, I began to squeeze under the bed. It was dark and easy to miss things. I had already gone in and out once, but I hadn't found any trace of candy or chocolate. Even so, I crawled back under.
Sniff, sniff. I even sniffed the air. There was no way I'd miss the sweet scent of chocolate and candy.
"Jeff. Are you in there?"
As I was rummaging around under the bed, Shine's voice drifted in from outside. She had only poked her head under, looking around the space beneath the bed.
"Yeah, I'm here," I said, turning toward her voice and waving my arm.
Lying flat on our stomachs, our eyes met. Shine's gaze wavered dangerously.
"Ah..."
Once Shine confirmed I was under the bed, she began to crawl inside. With a dangerous look in her eyes, no less. The plush dinosaur spikes on her back bumped against the bed frame and flattened backward.
"Why... why are you coming in?"
"To help you look."
Shine didn't stop. Inch by inch, she crawled closer and closer to me. As she approached, I began to back away. The floor was polished so smooth that sliding backward was easy.
"Guys? Where did you go?"
Just then, Rain's voice called out from outside the bed. I called out to her urgently.
"Rain! Over here!"
At my call, Rain started moving. Her distant footsteps pattered closer—pitter-patter. Through my narrow field of vision under the bed, I could see Rain's tiny feet moving outside.
I crawled toward where Rain was.
"Were you under the bed?"
"Yeah. I was checking to see if anything dropped down here," I said, poking only my head out from under the bed. I couldn't pull my whole body out because Shine was tugging at me from behind.
"Where's Shine?"
"Shine's inside too—"
I was cut off mid-sentence. The tail attached to my backside was yanked hard, dragging my body backward. I frantically reached out at the sudden movement, but I couldn't get a grip on the slippery floor. And just like that, I was sucked back under the bed by Shine.
"Jeff."
"Shine."
Under the bed, Shine lay on her stomach, cradling my pajama tail in her arms. She looked at me, her eyes glowing vividly even in the darkness, and spoke.
"What do you think of Rain?" Shine asked in a tiny whisper.
Her vividly glowing eyes. Black. A dark, black light was staring into my eyes.
I thought blankly. Rain. Rain? A reliable friend. A child. And an adult. Someone I like.
"And what else?" Shine's question came again.
I frowned and shook my head. A headache was slowly creeping up on me.
"Hey, Shine. Is that really important right now?"
"It is," Shine answered firmly.
I let out a soft sigh and said, "That's all. She's a precious friend."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I don't lie."
At my answer, Shine pulled my tail even harder. My body was dragged closer to her.
"Then why did you try to lend her your clothes?"
"Don't friends lend each other clothes sometimes?" I answered, though I wondered if that was actually right. Didn't friends do that occasionally? I had a lingering memory of lending my clothes when friends came over to my house. An oversized T-shirt, ah...
"Wait. Shine. Do I even own an oversized T-shirt?" I muttered, rubbing my throbbing forehead. Hazy memories were starting to surface with increasing clarity. "I think we played games, too..."
"Shush, Jeff. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You don't have to think about that. It's okay."
As I muttered blankly, Shine rushed closer. She crawled up, almost climbing over my body, and stroked my forehead with her hand. In the cramped space, our distance became far too close. Her breath fell softly against my face. I blinked blankly.
"Is it?"
"Yes, that's right."
The light in Shine's eyes gradually faded. Her pupils began to shift from black back to white.
Backing away from Shine slightly, I asked, "Shine, why are you so wary of Rain?"
"Me?" Shine frowned and asked back.
I was sensitive to her emotions. Which meant I could feel, clear as day, that Shine was wary of Rain right now.
"Yeah."
"That's ridiculous. I like Rain," Shine answered, shaking her head.
"I know you like her. But, it's like..." I stopped mid-sentence and grimaced. The word wouldn't come to me. The perfect word for this situation remained sunk deep in my mind, refusing to budge.
Shine was being defensive. She was acting like a child who didn't want her favorite thing taken away. The thing Shine liked. Me? Was she afraid Rain would steal me away?
Cracklet— Blue sparks began to crackle before my eyes.
Shaking my head, I asked Shine, "Shine, are you jealous of Rain?"
Shine shut her mouth, unable to answer.
"Um, guys?"
At the sound of Rain's voice, I gently tugged the tail on my backside. With that, the tail cradled in Shine's arms slid out.
"We're coming out now!" I called back to Rain and began to crawl. Shine followed close by my side. Shine and I emerged from under the bed at the same time.
"How was it under the bed?"
"It was absolutely spotless," I answered Rain's question confidently. In truth, I couldn't really remember what had happened under the bed. It felt as if a hazy blur had been painted over it.
"Right...?" I asked Shine, my voice lacking confidence.
She had been staring blankly, but at my question, she nodded and replied, "Yeah. There was nothing."
"Thank goodness. If Amy caught us, it wouldn't end with just a single smack on the head," Rain said, rubbing her own head. She looked as if Amy's noogies were the scariest thing in the world.
At any rate, now that we had gathered the chocolates and candies in one place, there was only one thing left to do: eat them deliciously.
I moved all of them onto the bed and turned on the TV. Normally, this was the time we should have already been asleep in bed. But at this hour, they broadcasted late-night specials—theatrical movies of outdated anime.
Time flew by as we peeled wrappers and munched on chocolates and candies while watching the anime. Yet, there was still no sign of Amy returning.
"Rain, any word from Amy?"
"Nope," Rain replied, fiddling with her phone screen. "She must be really busy."
"I wonder what's going on."
"Who knows."
I popped the last candy into my mouth and gathered the empty chocolate and candy wrappers. How should I dispose of these? If I carelessly threw them in the trash can, Amy would definitely find out and scold us. That was when I needed Lucy's magic hat.
I balled up the empty wrappers and stuffed them tightly inside Lucy's magic hat. Stuffed like this, the wrappers wouldn't fall out even if I wore it on my head. Later, when we went to eat, I could just wear this hat and secretly dump them all into the trash can behind Amy's back. It was an absolutely flawless plan.
Perhaps because I had packed the empty wrappers so tightly, the pointed tip of Lucy's magic hat stood sharply erect. Rising in a massive cone shape, it looked sharp enough to prick someone if touched. For now, I placed the hat on top of Big Baxi's head.
"Should we get some sleep now?" I muttered, rubbing my sleepy eyes.
I had a few memories of sleeping with just Shine when Amy wasn't around. Every time we did, I ended up getting bitten by bugs much worse, but there wasn't any real discomfort. I slowly began getting ready for bed. I selected the plushie I would cuddle tonight and tossed it onto the bed. After that, I lightly misted my body with bug spray.
"Jeff, are you spraying that again?"
"Yeah."
Pshhh— Pshhh—
The cool sensation of the spray settling lightly over my skin. It had a faint peach scent, which felt nice.
"I hate that stuff, it's bitter."
"Bitter?" I asked back at Shine's words, raising my hand and sticking my tongue out slightly. It was to taste the spray that had settled on the back of my hand. My small, pink tongue touched the back of my hand and pulled away. Just as Shine said, the sprayed area tasted a bit bitter.
"You're right." I nodded, then walked over to the bed and lay down.
Seeing this, Rain asked me, "Um, aren't you going to brush your teeth?"
I nodded in response to Rain's question. Days when Amy was away were days we didn't have to brush our teeth. And, I wanted to savor the sweet, lingering aftertaste of the candy and chocolate in my mouth for just a little longer. It felt nice having the scent of chocolate and lemon linger in your mouth, after all.
"Is that really okay? We won't get in trouble with Amy, right?" Rain said, yet she still crawled over and lay down right next to me.
"Don't worry. We've never been caught before," I replied, looking at Rain's worry-filled face. She pulled the blanket up to her mouth and nodded.
"I'm turning off the lights."
No sooner had Shine spoken than the fluorescent light illuminating the room died. A cozy darkness settled over the room. With my vision gone, my senses of touch and hearing grew sharper.
Shine's quiet footsteps slowly approached. Reaching the bed, Shine climbed up and slid right next to me. The soft rustle of the blanket brushing against her sounded right beside me.
"Goodnight, everyone."
Once I confirmed everyone was in place, I pulled the blanket all the way up. The fluffy, soft texture of the blanket wrapped comfortably around my skin. Since I had eaten chocolate before bed today, I was absolutely certain I would have a sweeter dream than usual.