<h1>Chapter - 16Beginning of a Budding Romance (1)</h1>
“Ahahaha, you guys are so stiff, it hurts. Come on, talk to each other! Flirt a little, look at you guys, there’s nothing going on.”
It’s after school and it’s raining.
While holding onto her own umbrella, Akitsu is happily teasing me and Natsuno for sharing the same umbrella. To be honest, she’s getting a little annoying. I never thought Akitsu who was ditzy and quiet most of the time, was surprisingly such an animated girl.
If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be using “The Umbrella of Intertwining Fate.” What’s more, I ended up leaving school with Natsuno under my umbrella. It’s not a lie that she’s the one who set this all up, but…
Following Akitsu-san reasoning, she’s going to swap with Natsuno after we reach the convenience store. I don’t know how effective the umbrella will be by the time we switch. But this is a great opportunity to get Natsuno and Akitsu to maybe have feelings for me.
“……This is the first time you’ve seen Akitsu like this, right?”
“Haha, yeah….. It seems like there’s a first for everything” I chortled.
“Right? She’s usually airheaded, but the moment something interesting happens, she always gets excited. It’s almost like a switch goes off inside her.” Natsuno started talking about her friend Akitsu who put us together in this situation.
Natsuno sighs with a fed-up expression, but there’s no actual anger in her voice. After seeing this side of Akitsu, I’d have to say I see her in a more favorable light.
“Ahaha, well if there’s something exciting in front of you, shouldn’t you enjoy it to the fullest? It’s not like it's bothering you or anything right?”
“….. I’m a little bothered by all of this…”
“Ah, no, I didn’t mean it like that Saino-san, does it bother you?….. I, I just mean I’ve never shared an umbrella with a boy before……”
Natsuno in turn became flustered and tried to make excuses. Unlike her usual self, who always carried a calm and collected attitude, this side of her was actually cute and refreshing.
I could feel something welling up inside me, the more I watched her.
Wait…. are these the effects from “The Umbrella of Intertwining Fate”, are we both under its effects?…….
It’s only been about five minutes since we left school. But it’s quite apparent that Natsuno’s usual demeanor has changed. If this was a normal situation, she wouldn’t blush while trying to answer me.
“But doesn’t this bother you too Saino-san?……. Being forced to go home together like this?…..”
“Well, that’s not really true. I actually wanted to get to know more about you”
“Oh, I see….. Oh, that’s right, communication between us classmates is important after all!…….”
Natsuno’s reply to my response was a little bit awkward on her part.
Being Natsuno-san’s closest friend, Akitsu stopped to look at her friend. Even from Akitsu-san’s point of view, Natsuno was being her usual self.
I continued to have a small conversation with Natsuno, while secretly shouting for joy inside my mind. If things continue like this, I feel like our walk to the convenience store won’t be that bad.
And if the effects of the umbrella are this fast, then I’ll probably have an easier time capturing Akitsu’s heart when we switch.
The more we walked together, the more Natsuno’s behavior became more exaggerated as she opened up to me. Rather than distancing herself, she would creep closer and closer, almost to the point where we were almost rubbing shoulders.
If anyone were to glance our way, it would be obvious that we were having a good time together. Akitsu-san would chime into the conversation every now and then, but most of the time I let the conversation flow between Natsuno and me.
Watching Natsuno become charmed and infatuated.
I decide to bring up a touchy topic.
“…..Come to think of it, Natsuno-san are you seeing someone right now?”
“Wha!? No, no, of course not…. why did you ask that?”
“No, it’s just that I thought Natsuno-san is very cute, so I thought maybe you had a boyfriend.”
I felt a little nervous when I involuntarily called her cute. Even though Natsuno really does have a cute appearance, she hates it when other people call her cute.
In the past, when others called her that, she would only glare back at them, and in extreme cases not speak to them for days or weeks. So, people thought cute was a vulgar word when it came to Natsuno.
…..But her reaction this time was actually quite the opposite.
After hearing my words, it was almost as if a bomb had gone off in Natsuno’s mind as she just turned crimson.
“Ah, ah, ah tha, that’s not t,truee…..I, I c..can’t bec…c…cuute ………there’s just no way!”
“…WOW. This is getting interesting” Akitsu butted in.
With Natsuno-san turning bashful and trying to shy away, Akitsu-san’s eyes flash with interest. Natsuno isn’t usually like this, and watching her turn into a love-smitten maiden, piqued Akitsu-san's curiosity. Is this how she becomes when she’s lovestruck?
The gap between her usual self and the way she is now was making my heart beat fast.
“Ugh…… what’s wrong with me?………why?….”
Natsuno covers her face with her hands while making cute sounds. It was at this moment, that I knew for sure, that this was due to the effects of the umbrella. Being caught under the magic of this umbrella made Natsuno see me in a romantic light.
And this all happened in under 15 minutes.
It would have been near impossible to create this kind of situation under normal circumstances, but with this umbrella, it was too easy.
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