Chapter 7: Don't Let Delinquents Pick Up Cats in the Rain!

Don't Let Delinquents Pick Up Cats in the Rain!

In order to find out about Ijuin and Onizuka's past, the plan was to directly ask them about the situation.

It ended in failure.

Neither was found.

Onizuka was in the same year but in a different class.

As for Ijuin, he was in a different year in the first place, being a third-year student.

In order to find out their whereabouts, we have to ask around.

I wasn't good at asking for directions, so there's no way I would have the courage to start talking to every stranger I came across...

I was the first to ask Ayanokoji, but she bowed her head apologetically and said, "I don't know either."

Since she knew the two of them in the past, I assumed the three of them were close friends, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

During lunch break, I wandered around the third-year floor and tried to take a look at other first-year classes, but I never had any luck encountering him.

As I searched aimlessly, time passed and it was already after school.

"Wow, it's raining."

"Oh, I don't have an umbrella."

I heard this conversation just as I had given up on meeting the two of them.

I had just changed from my indoor shoes into dark brown loafers at the entrance.

The blue sky where the sun had been peeking in and out during the day had suddenly turned completely gray, and drops of water were falling here and there.

I don't have an umbrella either...

I've memorized the route to school perfectly now, so I'll run home.

After making that decision, I suddenly remembered.

I wonder if the calico cat in the backyard is okay?

It's probably a cat that lives in the school.

I wonder if I can at least shelter it from the rain at the edge of the school building...?

But spring rain is sure to be cold.

Before I knew it, I had taken off my loafers and was walking towards the backyard.

Go through the school building to the backyard.

I think the cat was around there...

I went to search the area where I found the cat.

When I turned the corner of the school building, there was someone there already.

Onizuka was crouching down, reaching his hand out towards the bushes.

He didn't have an umbrella either, so he was getting wet in the rain.

Feeling like I had seen something I shouldn't have, I instinctively hid in the shadows of the school building.

"You'll catch a cold in a place like that... Ouch."

Onizuka frowned for just a moment.

It seems he reached out to the cat hiding in the bushes and got bitten.

But he didn't pull his hand away.

"It's okay, there's nothing to be scared of... yes, you're a good kid."

The moment he smiled gently, the cat was already in Onizuka's arms.

A delinquent gets caught in the rain and picks up a cat...

"That's too cheesy!"

"Whoa, what's that, oh, you're here?"

The 180cm tall man's shoulders jumped in surprise when I suddenly appeared in front of him.

"...Are you starting to worry about this guy too?"

Onizuka looked back and forth between the cat in his arms and me.

I had always thought that delinquents were selfish, rough, and stupid, but this guy is actually quite perceptive.

What's more, he has a compassion for cats and even protects them.

I looked at him as he held the cat fondly, admiring him, thinking that I might raise my opinion of Onizuka just a little.

"Where's your umbrella?"

Onizuka asked me again.

I shook my head.

"Don't have"

"...You're useless."

He spat it out with a click of his tongue.

My evaluation of him quickly plummeted down the negative corridor.

That being said, it seems Onizuka will take care of the cat that was causing me so much worry, so there's no point in me being here.

My resolve to run home vanished like bubbles now that I was soaked from head to toe.

I decided to just walk home, even though I was soaked.

"Oh?"

A piece of cloth was roughly thrown over my head.

I picked it up to see what it was and it was Onizuka's blazer.

Apparently he skillfully took off his clothes while holding the cat.

When I looked up at Onizuka, he suddenly looked away.

The necklace around his neck swayed.

It looked like something that had been cut during a recent fight had been repaired.

"It's too late now, but put it on. A woman shouldn't let her body get cold."

"……thank you"

It's true that girls shouldn't let their bodies get cold.

Even I, who didn't have much romantic involvement with girls in my previous life, have heard of it.

...Oh right, I'm the girl now.

Onizuka didn't even look at me and started walking towards the small school gate that led directly from the backyard to the road.