Three years after that fateful day, Hodaka has returned to Tokyo. Fresh out of high school, he now lives alone in a tiny apartment, and he's finally reunited with Hina—the girl he once risked everything for.
Hina is no longer the "sunshine girl." She's just an ordinary high school student, living peacefully with her younger brother Nagi. They see each other almost every day—shopping for groceries, cooking meals together, laughing over nothing. But something's stuck between them. They still have
After the Clear Skies - Standing next to me in the rain
Back then, I still didn't understand anything.
Open the phone. Close it. Open it. Close it. How many times had he repeated that? Hodaka no longer knew. On the screen was his LINE conversation with Hina. The last message remained from long ago.
*I'm sorry.*
He had typed it out, but still couldn't send it. His finger wouldn't move.
(*What am I supposed to do?*)
The grain of the ceiling blurred. He lay sprawled on the tatami, arms thrown out limply. Outside the window, rain was falling. Today, too, endlessly. As if the world itself kept weeping.
Deep in his chest, something heavy had sunk. Just breathing felt like wading through mud.
(*All I wanted was to protect Hina.*)
Somewhere in his head, the same words looped over and over.
No.
Those words had been a blade of pretty ideals. His own voice, shouting furiously at Miu, still clung to his ears. It went back further than that. From the very moment he'd told Hina "don't push yourself anymore," he'd been wrong all along.
Protect.
Every time he spoke that word, Hina had looked down.
Protect.
Every time he clung to that word, the light had faded from Hina's eyes.
(*I have to protect her.*)
The more he thought that, the more Hina was forced to carry a cross of self-blame. Hina cried because she believed Tokyo had been submerged because of her. And the more he stayed by her side, the deeper her sense of guilt grew.
(*I—*)
(*Every time I try to be next to Hina, I end up leaving her alone.*)
That contradiction pressed heavily on Hodaka's chest.
How long had he been like this? The air in the room was damp, musty. A pile of unwashed laundry was collapsing in the corner of the tatami. Crumbs from snacks lay where they'd fallen. None of it mattered.
*Bang bang!*
A violent knock. His heart jolted.
"[angry]Hodaka-san! I know you're in there, open up!"
Nagi. *Again?* he thought somewhere in his head. But his body didn't move.
"I'm opening it! Seriously!"
*Click.* The door, which he hadn't locked, swung open forcefully again. Amano Nagi stood there, a faint sweat on his brow, pushing back his slightly long black hair, wet from the rain. He was still in his school blazer. Probably on his way back from school. His large eyes fixed on Hodaka, sprawled on the tatami.
"[sarcastic]...You're a mess. Again."
Nagi let out an exaggerated sigh. But today, he didn't step inside. He just stood there, looking down.
"[cold]I told you before to lock the door. You forgot I'm the one with the spare key, didn't you."
Hodaka sluggishly sat up.
"...What do you want?"
He could tell his own voice was hoarse. Nagi was silent for a moment, just staring at him.
"[serious]My sister."
He said it quietly.
"[serious]She's insisting on going to Mizunomori Park alone tonight."
Hodaka's body froze.
"[surprised]...Alone? Why?"
"[cold]Says she has something she wants to think about by herself. And she chased me off. When I asked why, she refused to say anything else. It's probably about you."
Nagi's voice was flat. As if he was holding back his emotions.
"[whispers]...I..."
Hodaka hung his head.
"I can't go. If I go, I'll just hurt Hina again."
His voice trembled. Of course he wanted to go. But if going meant saying he'd protect her again, forcing a smile onto her face—if being beside her meant crushing her under guilt—
Nagi sighed again. This time, it was a truly small breath, one of resignation.
"[serious]Hodaka-san."
Nagi leaned against the wall, still looking down at Hodaka. His face, still bearing the traces of childhood at fifteen, looked strangely mature now.
"[serious]You're not going to protect her. You're going to stand beside her. Isn't that enough now?"
Nagi's voice was quiet. Not shouting, not lecturing. It had a resonance like he was simply confirming a fact that existed there.
"[serious]You understand what's different, right?"
Hodaka froze.
—*Not protect her. Stand beside her.*
The words dropped into the center of his chest. Like a heavy stone, they sank to the bottom of his heart. Until now, he had clung to the words "I want to protect you." He'd thought he had to protect her. For his own ego, out of weakness, out of guilt—to somehow protect himself.
But no.
What Hina truly wanted wasn't someone standing over her, shielding her.
(*She just wants to stand side by side.*)
(*Just... beside me.*)
Hina had said it. "I wanted to see Hodaka again, too." That tearful voice echoed in his head as if it were yesterday.
(*Me too.*)
Hodaka raised his face.
Nagi's eyes were fixed on him. Those eyes weren't angry. They weren't sad. They just held a light, as if believing in something.
"[gentle]I think my sister is at the gazebo."
Nagi said that, and turned his back.
"[gentle]What are you gonna do if you don't go?"
He left only those final words behind.
Hodaka grabbed his shoes as if screaming. The sound of his own heartbeat was terribly loud.
—*Go stand beside her.*
(*How did I not realize something so simple until now?*)
He went outside. It was pouring. Rain pelted his face. Passing under the overpass of the shopping district, Hodaka sprinted up the slope leading to what was once Asukayama Park.
Mizunomori Park.
A rainy night. The streetlights were sparse, visibility poor.
Hina was sitting on the bench of the old gazebo.
She was alone. Without even an umbrella, she was looking up at the sky. Her black hair, a little longer than her shoulders, was soaked through, clinging to her pale cheeks. Her large, gentle brown eyes seemed to be gazing at the invisible moon beyond the dark clouds.
(*I've been afraid all along.*)
Only the sound of rain filled the world. Hina layered the sound of her own heartbeat onto that rain.
Nagi had asked her. *"Sis, do you want Hodaka-san to protect you? Or do you want to be with him?"*
At the time, she couldn't answer.
But now, she understood.
On a cold night like this, alone, beaten by the rain.
(*What I was afraid of... was different.*)
Being by Hodaka's side and making him suffer again. That was the only thing she'd feared. That summer three years ago, the day Hodaka had raised a gun and been chased by the police. The person she loved being broken because of her—that was more terrifying than anything. So she'd thought she had no right to be protected. That just being near him was a burden.
(*But.*)
Hina bit her lip. The rain became silver threads before her eyes, pounding the ground.
(*I was wrong.*)
It wasn't that I wanted to be protected. I just couldn't forgive the weak version of myself who only ever *was* protected. Hodaka's "I want to protect you" had made me happy. But leaning on those words felt like I was *using* him, and that scared me.
(*That's not it.*)
It was something much, much simpler.
"[crying]...I just... wanted to be with Hodaka."
Her voice trembled. The one wish she had locked away deep in her heart for three years. Her own desire, sealed under layers of guilt, hidden away so she couldn't see it. This was the moment she finally acknowledged it.
What she feared wasn't that Hodaka wouldn't protect her. It was that she wouldn't be able to stay by his side. At that fact, her own mouth curled into a wry, almost exasperated smile. *What, is that all?* For just that, for three whole years, they had been passing each other by.
Tears spilled from Hina's eyes. Mingling with the cold rain, they ran down her cheeks. Hot. She cried aloud in the rain. In the dark, empty park. Her shoulders shaking, as if pouring out three years' worth of feelings, Hina simply wept.
It was pouring.
Cold, heavy rain, carrying the premonition of a submerged city, beat down on everything.
Hodaka stopped just before the slope. He was out of breath. His lungs burned hot. Rain streamed from his unruly black hair down into his determined brown eyes.
He saw her.
Under the old gazebo.
A small figure huddled on the bench. Soaked through, without an umbrella. Even from a distance, he could see her shoulders trembling faintly.
(*Hina.*)
Hodaka broke into a run again. Mud splashed. He kicked through puddles. He could only hear the sound of his own breathing and the bursting beat of his heart.
He slipped into the gazebo.
"[whispers]...Hodaka."
Hina raised her face. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. Her wet bangs clung to her forehead. The moment she saw Hodaka, her expression twisted into something complex—impossible to tell if it was a crying face or a smiling one.
"[gentle]...You came. Again."
Her voice was hoarse.
Hodaka tried to say something. Tried to apologize. *Hina, I'm sorry. Because of me. Because I said I'd protect you again.*
His mouth began to open.
—*No.*
Nagi's voice echoed in his head. *"You're going to stand beside her."* That's right. Until now, he had always started with an apology and ended with "protect." All of it had been chains that cornered Hina.
Hodaka steadied his breathing. Only the sound of rain filled the silence between them. His heart was loud.
"[serious]I won't say arrogant things like 'I'll protect you' anymore."
His own voice sounded strangely calm. Hina's eyes widened just a little.
"[serious]I want to be by your side."
Those words spilled from his mouth. It was his first true feeling in three years.
"[serious]I always thought I came back to protect you. But I was wrong. I just... wanted to be by your side."
Hina's lips trembled. They twisted as if she was about to cry.
"[crying]...Me too."
Her voice was so small it almost vanished into the rain.
"[crying]I didn't want to be protected, either. I just wanted to be with you, Hodaka."
For the first time, Hina's own "desire" took shape and overflowed from her lips. Deep in Hodaka's chest grew warm. A strange temperature he'd never felt before—reassuring, yet somehow heartbreaking.
It was at that moment.
*Whoooosh!*
The rain grew even stronger. At the same time, a thick column of water from the gazebo's old roof landed directly on Hodaka's head.
"Whoa!"
Hodaka instinctively jumped back. This time, cold drops fell on Hina's shoulder too.
"[surprised]Eek!"
The two looked at each other. Hodaka was soaked. Hina was soaked. Right after they'd said the most important thing, rain leaked mercilessly through the roof.
Hodaka stared blankly up at the hole in the roof.
"...This gazebo is pretty bad."
Hina looked at the trail of drops wetting her shoulder, then at Hodaka's drenched head.
"[laughing]...Hehe. It's been leaking every time I come here."
Her tearful voice turned into a ticklish laugh. Hodaka's mouth loosened into a smile too, drawn in by hers.
"What the heck."
"[laughing]That's why no one ever comes here."
Their laughter overlapped, neither knowing who started it. Against the backdrop of the rain, their silly laughter echoed through the dark park. The tense atmosphere from moments ago unraveled as if it had been a lie, and something warm filled the space between them.
The laughter subsided.
Quiet returned. But this silence wasn't painful like before. It was soft, natural. As if breathing had finally become easier.
Hodaka timidly reached out his hand. Hina watched that hand intently, then gently placed her own on top of it. It was a cold hand. But her fingertips definitely gripped his back.
Hodaka pulled Hina's hand, and they stood side by side under a thick pillar, out of the way of the leaks.
Their shoulders touched.
From Hina's wet hair came the scent of rain, and just a faint, nostalgic hint of sunlight.
Hodaka slowly drew closer to Hina's face. His heart was loud. But it wasn't a painful beat. It was a gentle sound, marking the seconds before something began.
Hina closed her eyes. Traces of tears remained on her cheeks. Near her left cheek, where her dimple would form.
Their lips touched.
It was a cold, rainy night.
But only the place where they touched was very warm.
It was their first kiss, three years overdue. Protect, be protected—none of that existed anymore. There was just one boy and one girl, under the same rain, gazing at the same future.
Their lips parted.
Hina opened her eyes.
"[whispers]...Nagi's probab
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