「CHAPTER 2」
“Thank you for all your trouble.”
“No, if it weren"t for this, I wouldn"t ever get out. I"m sorry I called you for this.
Please give my best regards to Hatori.” Yos.h.i.+no gave small nod and handed the grateful
Takano Masamune, editorial department"s editor-in-chief, a brown envelope with the
ma.n.u.script inside it. Really, he came to give it to Hatori, but Hatori was not here as he
was in a business meeting with another author, so Takano, who knew Yos.h.i.+no"s true
ident.i.ty, immediately had come to the lobby to look for him. This time, the ma.n.u.script
was a small comic scene, which was used as a supplement to the magazine, but that did
not mean it was a quick job to do.
Hatori said it was okay to send him the ma.n.u.script through delivery, but Yos.h.i.+no
had wanted to go out before the deadline due date, so he decided to come to the
publis.h.i.+ng firm in person.
“Yos.h.i.+kawa... No, Yos.h.i.+no. Are you going shopping after this?” Takano asked
him. He was so tall that Yos.h.i.+no could not make eye contact if he did not look up at him.
Every time he came here, Yos.h.i.+no wondered why there were so many handsome men in
the Emerald editorial department. Even Takano, with just his appearance alone, there was
no doubt that no one would think that he was an editor-in-chief for a shoujo manga
magazine.
“Yes. I"m running out of art supplies so I decided to stock up.”
“It"s going to rain this evening, so you"d better go home before it starts. Did you
bring an umbrella?”
“I brought a folding one just in case. It"s getting pretty cloudy, so I need to
quickly finish shopping and then go straight home.”
When he looked outside through the window of the lobby, the sky he thought was
clear just a few minutes ago was starting to get dark. It seemed sullen, like Yos.h.i.+no"s
mind. After he bowed for the second time and parted with Takano, he decided to hurry to
the art supply store before it rained; so he started down the hill, that was in front of the
company, at a brisk pace.
Suddenly, a cold droplet hit the top of his head. Perhaps he imagined it? When he
looked up at the sky, raindrops began to fall one after the other and before he knew it, it
truly started raining.
“Wah! It"s not even evening yet!”
He quickly ducked under the nearest roof of a building and pulled out his folding
umbrella. While he was opening up his umbrella, the rain intensified and began to fall
harder.
“The weather forecast is such a liar! I planned to buy paper. How are you going to
make it up to me now?!”
The weather forecast is based on probabilities after all. It is not a definite fact, so
even if you complain you will still suffer inconveniences. However, he could not stand it
if he did not blame something. Particularly today he wanted to buy paper designed for
coloring. Even if they wrapped it up tightly for him at the art supplies store, it was
impossible to protect it from the humidity of the rain.
“It"ll be easier for me to change to digital art...... No, staying like this is better
after all.”
He decided to head towards the station after the rain calmed down at least a little
bit, and as he continued to hide from the rain he spotted Hatori next to a building.
“Huh? Tori?”
It is him. That suit. What"s he doing in this rain......? He"s with Yuu, too?
Yos.h.i.+no was about to call out to him, but noticed Yanase beside Hatori.
Why where they together?
Hatori and Yanase were so incompatible that even the other day in Yos.h.i.+no"s
home they had talked with one another sarcastically. Since they talked like this to each
other, he seemed to think that they would not want to meet up. But they were both adults
already, so it was not strange even if at times they displayed an air of compromise.
Oh well, I"ll call out to them.
Thinking that, the instant he was about to open his mouth to call out their names,
he heard Hatori shout angrily. The sound of the rain mixed with their voices and he could
not hear very well, but there was no doubt that he heard ‘Don"t f.u.c.k with me!’
“Huh? They"re fighting......!?
No matter how hard you try to look at it, it did not look like they were displaying
an agreement to compromise. Yos.h.i.+no slightly s.h.i.+fted his stance and Yanase came into
full view.
The situation really was grim; it looked like they were arguing. Due to the
situation these two were in, Yos.h.i.+no began to hesitate in spite of himself. But if they
were arguing he probably should stop them. Yos.h.i.+no reconsidered it and solidified his
decision to stop them. As he was about to walk over to them in the rain, Hatori grabbed
and pulled Yanase towards himself.
Wh- What!?
Hatori"s open umbrella tilted and concealed their faces from view. However, their
pose was . . .
Yos.h.i.+no froze as he stared in shock at the sight. They were close to each other for
some time, but then broke off immediately as if nothing had happened; and after Yanase
glared at Hatori, he ran off into the rain without even an a umbrella. Yos.h.i.+no hid behind a
vending machine so that he would not be seen by Yanase and waited, his heart pounding,
for Yanase to pa.s.s. Right after, Hatori also went back into the office.
Yos.h.i.+no was fl.u.s.tered, as he was left behind standing alone in the rain.
Huh? What? What was that just now!?
They were hidden behind the umbrella so he couldn"t see very well, but from
where Yos.h.i.+no was standing it had looked like they were kissing.
Two men together? I mean, it"s Tori and Yuu!? Why are they....!?
He wasn"t sure why two men would be together, but he was far more shaken by
the fact that it was Hatori and Yanase who had kissed.
“No, even though it"s between two men, it"s not good to have a prejudice against
it......I mean, the other day Hatori said he liked someone......”
He remembered the words he had just heard Hatori mutter to himself the other
day: ‘Beautiful......perhaps more impudent,’ ; ‘I don"t think I"ll get anything out of it.’
He pondered over the words Hatori had been hesitant to say and then noticed
something.
“......Aah......”
Yanase certainly was beautiful and his att.i.tude towards Hatori can be called
impudent. Hatori said he wouldn’t get anything out it. He probably meant it was because
they were both men and perhaps his feelings disgusted Yanase. So all the questions led to
one thing and Yos.h.i.+no came up with an answer.
“Wow...... the person Tori likes is Yuu...”
I was a huge shock to Yos.h.i.+no and he remained standing stupefied on one spot.
His mind was so blank that even the sound of the pouring rain did not reach his ears.
Eventually, he came to his senses as an orange light flashed before his eyes. When he
noticed that it was the setting sun, it also stopped raining.