Double Planet Episode 11

Double Planet
Episode 11: Please Don't Get Cold
Satoru Aono (Furuta Jun & Kanda Yota / Radio Shonan Personality)

"If you can wait here with me until night."

The one word Tamaru spoke hit all my weak points. Could it be that he was reading my mind? I felt pathetic for having no money and wanting to be home by dinner time. Maybe I had to face Tamaru face to face. Would I never be able to get him to tell me about "Sky and Puzzle" unless I faced him properly? It was my turn to answer.

"Yeah, that was my intention."

I was trying to look cool. I blurted out that I had planned to stay until the night from the beginning. When Tamaru heard that, he said, "I see," trying to hold back his laughter. Once again, it felt like he had read my mind.

"I'm waiting for the stars to come out tonight"

Tamaru-san looked up at the sky, where a faint light still remained, and said, "What is the definition of night in the first place? What time does night start, and what time does it end? And what time exactly do the stars come out? There were so many things I didn't know. Maybe if I took out my smartphone and looked it up online, I'd find something that looked like the answer. But just for tonight, it felt like the answer wouldn't be very meaningful.

Here, I wait with Tamaru for the stars to come out.
Perhaps the answer lies there.
Tamaru and I remained in silence, listening to the sound of the waves and looking out to sea.
The sea breeze blew mercilessly, making my body cold.
I wished I had brought a jacket, knowing this would happen.
However, when I got on the Enoshima Electric Railway, I never imagined something like this would happen.
All we can do now is stay positive and accept this cold situation.

Suddenly, I felt a strange coldness on my forehead.
It was raindrops.
After that, rain started to fall lightly.
Raindrops melt into the ocean surface.

"It's raining?! It's starting to rain..."

Next to me, feeling flustered, Tamaru-san quickly stood up.

"Are you going home?"
"Sheltering from the Rain"

Tamaru-san walked briskly across the beach back to the road. I followed behind her like a pet dog.

"where are you going?"
"The next station"

Next to Kamakura High School is Shichirigahama.
Apparently there is a 7-Eleven near the station.
The rain was getting stronger than before. We walked quickly along the road.
When the rain clouds cover the sky, even I can tell that there will be no stars in the sky. I'm so unlucky. I can't help but sigh.

"If you don't like it, you can go home."

Once again, Tamaru-san read my mind.

"Eh, I'm not going home."

I'm not giving up either. I'm trying my best to act tough. Men are creatures that like to act tough.
I increased my walking speed more than necessary and tried to overtake Tamaru-san.
I feel dizzy at my own childishness.
What on earth am I doing? What on earth am I fighting against?
Come to think of it, it was even the first time I'd ever walked side by side with a girl outside of school.
Perhaps she doesn't want others to notice her embarrassment.
Then, Tamaru-san came running past me.

"Too early!"

I must have ignited something in her because Tamaru-san was going at a pretty serious pace. She may be just as competitive as I am. I ran and tried to overtake her.

"See you later!"

Tamaru-san picked up the pace even more. And so, after a fierce battle of passing each other (and having fun), we finally arrived at our destination, the 7-Eleven.

As soon as we got under the eaves we laughed.
I was soaked, but I could feel the heat coming from my body from all the running.
I was surprised to find that running in the rain can be so much fun.
Would it be fun to run alone? Or would it be fun because I was running with Tamaru-san? I could roughly guess what would happen when the heat rising from my body cooled down.

"If it gets cold, you might catch a cold."

Tamaru expressed that concern.
I came up with a way to combat this.

"Then you just need to let it cool."
"picture?"

I started doing side-to-side jumps right there. It was the kind of thing they do in physical fitness tests. Of course, I was joking. I thought maybe Tamaru-san would laugh. Why did I want to make him laugh? Why did I want to see him laugh? But I didn't hear any laughter from Tamaru-san. I glanced at his face and he looked like he was deep in thought.

"Sorry. Was it boring...?"
"Yes. I thought that was a great idea."

Instead of making him laugh, he was somehow impressed.

"Instead of lamenting the fact that it's cooling down, the idea of thinking about how to keep it from cooling down is amazing."

I'm not used to receiving compliments and I don't know how to react.
Tamaru-san becomes increasingly talkative as if he has discovered something.

"So, I think this is what it comes down to. It's not that the stars don't appear in the sky because of rain clouds, but the stars aren't going anywhere and will always be in space. They've been there for billions of light years, and they won't disappear. That's why we wait. If we keep waiting, we'll definitely be able to see the stars. If we keep moving, it's so that our body heat doesn't cool down."

At first glance, I couldn't tell because she looked so confident. But the sky covered with rainclouds was just as unsettling. I would be happy if my foolish side-to-side jumping could ease her anxiety even a little.

I checked my wallet just to be sure. There was only coins in it. I didn't think I could buy a shirt to change into.

"I'll buy it."
"Huh?"

With those words, Tamaru-san walked inside the store. Once again, it seemed as if she had read my mind. What should I do when she came back with the shirt?

The rain continues to fall as usual.
But tonight, no matter what, I'll keep waiting until I can see the stars.
That's what I had decided.

When Tamaru returned, he was clutching two cans of corn soup.

"I'll give you one."
"Eh, is that okay?"

He took the can that was placed in front of him with his right hand.
At that moment, my numb hands began to tingle from the heat of the can of corn soup.
The heat spread throughout my body, gradually warming my heart.

Part of this heat may be the heat from Tamaru-san, who was holding it just a moment ago.

That night we saw the stars.

"to be continued"

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