"Do your best, Kyousuke-kun!"
Shouko's hand, which had risen in panic, didn't lower.
Instead, she clenched it into a little fist, her face brimming with determination.
Her voice was firm, almost as if she wanted to pass her strength directly to Kyousuke.
Kyousuke curved his lips into a helpless smile.
He had thought no one would notice, but it turned out all of them were quietly worrying about him.
He raised his hand and gently pressed it on Shouko's head.
"Don't underestimate me. Your hero isn't some useless man."
"I wasn't underestimating—"
"Shou-chan is working so hard toward her goal. How could I let you worry about me instead?"
As he spoke, Kyousuke tugged Shouko's hand and pulled her into the room.
Her body was so soft, like a cloud, and she obediently sat down on the spacious bed.
Kyousuke knew Shouko wasn't the type to be brushed off easily like Eriri, so he explained a little more before casually tossing out a distraction: a plan to co-produce a radio drama adaptation of The Devotion of Suspect X with her agency.
Fortunately, even though Shouko was sharp, her faith in him was unshakable.
Even if Kyousuke claimed he had already secured next year's Nobel Prize in Literature, her first reaction wouldn't be doubt.
It would be to immediately start planning how to celebrate.
Before leaving the room, Shouko even bent down to tidy his bed.
She straightened the pillows, smoothed out the sheets, and carefully picked up the fallen strands of hair.
Knowing he disliked having to remake the bed at night, she only laid the quilt flat instead of folding it.
By the time she finished, the bed was so immaculate that even Kyousuke, a mild neat freak, couldn't find a single flaw.
The gray-blue bedding looked like it had come straight from a home goods showroom, practically inviting someone to dive in for a luxurious nap.
Standing at the foot of the bed, Shouko clapped her hands together in satisfaction.
"Let's go, Kyousuke-kun. Breakfast is ready."
"Mm."
As they finally stepped out, Kyousuke glanced at his warm bed and couldn't help but smirk triumphantly.
If only foolish Eriri knew.
For some reason, she'd suddenly grown "clever" yesterday, barging into his room while he was still staring absentmindedly at the rainy view.
Like she'd been possessed by Momotarou himself, she sniffed furiously at his bed, wrinkling her little nose as if searching for "evidence."
But really—was Kyousuke someone you could catch that easily?
In a place like this, careless words or actions could leave him without a grave to rest in.
After sending Utaha-senpai home last night, he had agonized between two choices: "fall asleep wrapped in Utaha Kasumigaoka's lingering scent" or "follow Utaha back to her room and sleep together."
In the end, he spent half an hour meticulously erasing the crime scene.
And that was the only reason Eriri had sat there obediently, listening to his story, instead of shrieking her lungs out.
Every time Kyousuke descended the stairs, he took his time.
To outsiders, it might look like he was afraid of slipping and tumbling into another world, but the truth was—he was savoring the view.
From above, the living room was a dazzling scene of flowers in bloom.
Even the illiterate would understand what "a chorus of orioles and swallows" or "a hundred blossoms vying for beauty" meant.
The massive space was filled with girls, each busy with her own thing.
Forget comparing spring orchids to autumn chrysanthemums—even if you lined up all twenty-four solar terms, each one would match a girl here.
And the moment Kyousuke's foot touched the stair, their attention snapped toward him.
A chorus of greetings rang out, as melodious as heavenly music.
"Kyousuke-kun…"
"Kyousuke…"
"Ugh, you walk so slow…"
"…"
How could a single word—beautiful—ever be enough?
Breakfast that day had been prepared by Sakura and Yukari.
Ever since his mother moved in, Kyousuke hardly ever cooked anymore.
After all, aside from Eriri, nearly everyone wanted to show off their cooking skills in front of Hojou Mikiko.
His little sister, Kasuko, of course longed to eat her big brother's cooking every day.
But Eriri—her brain fried with jealousy and had already issued death threats: "If you keep making him cook every day, he'll drop dead from exhaustion!"
Kasuko wasn't a gullible child.
She didn't buy Eriri's nonsense for a second and immediately begged her brother for a grand feast.
Still, she adored him enough to reluctantly accept meals from the pretty big sisters.
Rain always brought a strange kind of comfort.
Strange, because along with the comfort came a faint unease.
Kyousuke had figured this out long ago and, after thinking it through, decided it was an instinct inherited from humanity's distant past.
Back in primitive times, people couldn't hunt in the rain and had to hide in caves.
Likewise, predators wouldn't hunt in such weather, so there was safety—and comfort.
But hiding in caves brought new worries.
Without hunting, there was no food.
Without food, they'd starve.
With nothing to do, they'd… well, make little cave-children.
But that only meant more mouths to feed, and sooner or later, starvation again.
So rain brought comfort, but also worry.
Case in point: breakfast wasn't even over before a miserable groan echoed across the table.
Of course, the one shouting "I don't want to go to school" so loudly in front of Mikiko wasn't carefree Sakura, but Eriri—whose hatred for school had reached its peak.
"We studied so much yesterday! Why do we have to study again today!?"
"Yesterday, today, tomorrow—it's all study, study, study! When does it ever end!?"
"Even prisoners have a sentence! Didn't all that effort yesterday reduce my time at least a little!?"
Her muttered complaints were like a spell, leaving little Kasuko blinking blankly, wondering what "school" was and why it tormented Eriri so much.
She jabbed her spoon into her cereal porridge, ranting nonstop—only to realize no one had spoken up in her defense.
Furious, she lifted her head.
Yukari? She was a teacher.
Hearing stuff like this, she'd lecture before sympathizing.
Enemy of the people!
Sakura? In her eyes, school was probably just another amusement park.
Ugh! What kind of student was that supposed to be!?
Kasumigaoka Utaha? She went to school only to sleep.
Damn it, so unfair! How could her grades still be so good?
She should drop dead and apologize three times over!
Shouko? Maybe she once disliked school, but now… now—ugh! Too cruel!
Naoka….
Eriri pinned her last hope on the one person most likely to join her in skipping class.
But instead of nodding in solidarity, Naoka only looked baffled, as though she didn't even understand what Eriri was talking about.
That look threw Eriri into confusion.
What do you mean? Shouldn't you hate school too?
On a day like this, wouldn't it be perfect to hole up in your clubroom, stitching clothes to the rhythm of raindrops?
Just then, a soft chuckle drifted from Mikiko.
Eriri's eyes widened in sudden realization.
That sneaky little Naoka—she was pretending!
So out of this whole big table, was she really the only hopeless student left?
Impossible! Eriri's eyes went wide with indignation.
Eriri let her gaze sweep across the living room once more.
Counting even housewife Mikiko, there were still people whose "academics" ranked lower than hers.
Her little sister-in-law Kasuko was still a kindergarten trainee, and the puppy curled up on a slipper hardly counted either.
By that logic, she was only third from the bottom—not too bad, actually.
"If you really… don't want to go, Eriri, I can excuse you."
The gentle voice made Eriri lift her head from her pit of despair.
To her shock, the speaker was Yukari!
"Rainy days… they really are good times to stop and sort out your thoughts."
Yukari's smile was soft, her voice delicate—like willow branches glistening with raindrops.
Just hearing those words nearly brought Eriri to tears.
That look of quiet understanding, that gentle smile—it made her, who just wanted to slack off out of pure laziness, suddenly feel as though a flood of emotions had been unlocked inside her chest.
Yukari was right.
She wasn't just trying to skip school.
No—she'd been bottling up so many feelings day after day, and on a rainy morning like this, they all rushed out at once.
The endless drizzle outside, every drop like another weight on her heart, pressing against her delicate, sensitive soul like raindrops on a flower bud—
"Careful, sensei. You'll spoil her. This girl's shallow little brain doesn't get melancholic. She just wants to be lazy."
That cold, biting voice could only belong to one person.
Eriri didn't even need to look—her glare shot straight toward the merciless witch, Kasumigaoka Utaha.
The worst part? Utaha's sharp words rang true.
The melancholy Eriri had just been savoring vanished instantly, proving that maybe her brain was shallow.
And now she felt guilty—like she had just betrayed Yukari's kindness.
"Wanting to be lazy is still a thought, isn't it? On rainy days, I sometimes want to skip work too. Maybe open a beer, reminisce about the past, and think about the future."
Yukari's smile remained calm, her voice gentler than Shouko's.
Even Utaha was silenced by her words, and Eriri felt so moved she wanted to raise her bowl of cereal porridge and toast her on the spot.
Kyousuke listened quietly.
Of course he knew why Yukari had such feelings about rain.
She had been betrayed by her mentor, Hinako, in the rain.
She had left Tokyo—the city of heartbreak—in the rain.
She had lost her sense of taste, in the rain, back in her hometown.
She had hidden herself away in Itomori, nursing her wounds in the rain.
And in the end, it was also in the rain that she had finally opened her heart to him.
Yukari—who had never once been treated gently by the world was now the one offering gentleness back to the world.
She really was walking toward the future.
As if sensing his gaze, Yukari's black eyes like the eyes of a spirit born of the rain—turned toward Kyousuke.
No words were needed.
Just one shared look was enough for Yukari to understand what her "god" was thinking.
She curved her lips into a smile.
'Yes… eyes as beautiful as these should never be wasted on tears.'
"All right, I've decided!" Kyousuke suddenly raised his voice. "No school today. Let's all stay home and enjoy the rain together!"
"Yay!"
The first to cheer wasn't Eriri, but Kasuko.
She didn't even understand what "school" was yet, but anything her big brother said was absolute law, and she'd support him no matter what!
"Then I'll go change." Utaha didn't hesitate, standing up immediately.
"Eh? Does that mean I can drink beer?" Yukari asked uncertainly.
Among those present, only she and Aunt Mikiko were of drinking age.
"What does it matter? I'll join you with a glass of fruit wine."
Mikiko smiled warmly.
"And Kasuko, you'll have apple juice, okay?"
Sakura didn't need to be asked twice.
Skipping class alone was fun, but skipping class together? Ecstatic!
"But… if the four of you all call in absent together…"
Eriri glanced at Shouko, who was already on her way to change into loungewear, her brow furrowed.
Usually they could pretend it was "just on the way to school," but taking leave as a group was pushing it.
"It's fine. Everyone knows I live at Ruyi Dormitory~" Shouko replied with a soft smile.
'!?'
She just said that—out loud!?
Eriri was stunned.
Then what about Naoka?
She turned to her last ally, the fellow underachiever.
But Naoka was already flipping through a takeout menu, happily discussing options with Aunt Mikiko.
'Unforgivable! If I back down now, doesn't that make all my earlier complaints sound like lies?'
Eriri clenched her teeth, torn.
Yes, she always said she didn't want to go to school.
But in truth, she was one of the most punctual students, hardly ever missing class.
Even club activities—she'd never skipped once.
That was why Katou Megumi had been so surprised last night when she found out Eriri hadn't shown up.
That was just the reality.
Toyogasaki's flawless young lady was, well, flawless.
Anything rebellious simply didn't belong to her.
"Fine! Then I'll go change too!" Eriri bit her lip.
"Oh? What's this? At this point, Kashiwagi Eiri, are you really going to change into your uniform and obediently go to class?" Kasumigaoka Utaha, already halfway up the stairs, glanced back with a mocking smile.
"Huh?" Eriri froze.
Only then did she realize that in her rush to chase down Sakura and that witch Kasumigaoka, she'd completely forgotten to change out of her pajamas—still dressed in her polar bear sleepwear.
But losing face was one thing; losing to Utaha was another.
There was no way she'd admit her head had been in a mess.
"Do you think I'm some careless girl like you? Kyousuke said we're going to enjoy the rain, so of course I'll change into something proper and prepare myself."
Even as those inexplicable words left her mouth, Eriri's brain spun at high speed, desperately rummaging through her ojou-sama upbringing for anything related to rain-viewing or cherry-blossom-viewing.
But all she could recall was her mother saying: 'Wear this kimono. Carry this Rikyu-style bag. Come, let me do your makeup…'
'Oh no. Don't tell me I've turned into a shut-in girl…?'
A certain occasionally-romantic but completely unaware recluse thought so to herself.
Luckily, Hojou Mikiko came to her rescue.
When it came to dressing up girls who were practically like daughters to her, Kyousuke's mother had a boundless enthusiasm.
She even pulled Yukino Yukari, who had been quietly sitting nearby, into the discussion—asking if she had a kimono that might fit, then deciding it was far too outdated.
In the end, she smacked her purse with confidence and declared she'd take the girls out to order brand-new outfits.
So Kyousuke, who had just been about to send a text, canceled it.
He'd originally called for a company car to drive the girls to school, but if they were all skipping classes anyway, he figured he might as well send the car away.
Instead of changing into loungewear, the girls dressed in proper casual clothes for going out, piling into the car on their way to a traditional kimono shop Mikiko recommended—one with an 800-year history.
In an instant, the house fell silent, leaving only Kyousuke behind.
He'd wanted to go with them—not that he could offer much advice, but at least he could play the role of the wallet.
But his mother had flatly refused with a single line: "This is my gift to them."
A warm feeling spread in Kyousuke's chest.
He knew this was her way of thanking the girls for always looking out for her precious son.
Seizing the rare quiet, Kyousuke sat cross-legged in the tatami room, opened his laptop, and began typing furiously.
Sure, he'd said today was for watching the rain together, but it wasn't like he planned to spend the whole day doing that.
Who could really stare at raindrops for hours on end?
Before long, Eriri would definitely be yawning and dragging his little sister into a nap alliance.
That would be his cue to head out and handle business—he had to meet with Editor-in-Chief Shimomura about his new manuscript, and if he had any extra time, he'd need to win over those two judges as well.
What he was working on now was precisely the weapon to deal with them.
"Oh, right."
Kyousuke smacked his forehead. He still had to request leave.
'Family matters. Absent for one day.'
A short sentence—followed by four different signatures.
Such a casual leave note could only be sent to Hiratsuka Shizuka, who would surely understand.
Not even two minutes later, Kyousuke's phone buzzed with her reply—a message so long it stretched across two whole screens.
He didn't even bother reading it, just flipped the phone over on the tatami and resumed hammering the keyboard.
From time to time, he made calls.
One was to Kisaki Tetta—if the boss was working, then the top underling had no business leisurely attending class; he needed to be out running errands.
Another was to Editor-in-Chief Shimomura, confirming times and contacts.
Then to Osaka Gou—that call was the hardest.
Typical writer.
Even though high schoolers were already in class, Gou was still sleeping.
Utterly shameful.
Maybe his wife should hurry up and have a kid to remind him how hard student life was.
Since he couldn't get through to Gou, Kyousuke switched targets and called Konno Kenzo, the president of the Mystery Writers Association, to arrange a few things instead.
Even amidst business, Kyousuke didn't forget to help his mother get in touch with Mitsuha and Miki.
If he left anyone out now, his future would be a living nightmare.
————————————————————————
'Rainy days, huh…'
Sitting in her office, Hiratsuka Shizuka watched the raindrops splattering against the window and suddenly felt the urge for a beer.