Chapter 6: Umbrella

"Good morning, Clara," people greeted her as she entered the classroom.

"Good morning," she responded with a smile, which seemed to energize those around her once again.

She took her usual seat, exchanging greetings with her closest seatmates, Leon and Rosie. "Good morning, guys."

"Good morning, Clara. You seem to be in a good mood today. Did something happen?" Rosie asked.

"Not really, it's just that the weather today is nice, innit?" Clara replied, her British accent prompting Leon to give her a questioning stare, but he decided just to shrug his shoulders then.

"Innit?" Clara repeated, obviously waiting for Leon to answer her question.

Looking at Leon, who appeared unbothered based on his reaction, but deep down, he was troubled by the need to face this girl every single day. As the wait continued, tension built within him, so he gave in this time to at least satisfy her.

"Y-yeah..." he responded.

"Right? Like the sky is so bright that it makes the clouds look fantastic in a way!"

"Uh huh," he replied, having no choice but to go along with Clara's vibe by responding to her stories about various things.

"Hey, do you think that Clara is very talkative to Leon but when she’s facing us she looks like a quiet and reserved student?"

"Yeah, that’s true. It’s not fair," their other classmate felt a bit of jealousy as they gossiped about the mysterious behavior of Clara when she interacted with Leon. But Leon overheard it and pondered in his mind, "Eh? Are they serious? You’re lucky, you don’t experience this kind of torture like what I had."

The class ended, and everything seemed normal, except for one thing. The trio glanced out the windows and noticed the dark clouds, signaling an upcoming rain.

"Hey, Clara, the weather is not looking good today, innit?" Rosie asked Clara sarcastically, holding herself to laugh at her friend.

Clara pouted and attempted to defend herself. "It’s just unlucky today that the sky looked gloomy in a moment, hmph."

While the two discussed the weather, Leon quietly slipped away unnoticed.

As the rain began, people hurriedly used umbrellas and raincoats to shield themselves from the cold droplets.

"H-hey there, Leon," a girl approached him in the front shed of the building. She was dressed in a gray jacket and had a cute striped bag on her back.

"Can I help you?" Leon politely responded.

"Nothing much. What are you doing here?" 

"Just waiting for the rain to stop," he replied, trying to keep his hands warm on his pocket

"Oh, is that so? Do you want to share this umbrella with me?" she offered directly, sensing that he didn't have one.

Despite the offer, Leon declined politely. "Thanks for the offer, but don’t mind me," he smiled, respectfully refusing.

"Are you sure? It seems that the rain will not stop yet, you know?" she insisted, subtly hoping to walk home with him together.

"It’s really okay. I’ll have somewhere to go too before I head home," he replied, although it was a lie. He just wanted the girl to stop bothering him.

"Is that so? Alright, take care," she said, sounding a bit disappointed but still smiling as she walked away from the school.

"Yeah, you too," Leon replied, watching her leave the school.

The anticipation Leon held was dashed as the rain became stronger, surpassing its previous intensity from a few minutes ago. He could not complain because he already thought that this was his consequence in leaving his umbrella at home. Thus, he found himself with no choice but to wait until someone else came along.

"Hey!" A mischievous voice cut through, accompanied by a playful bump to his back. Turning around, he found Clara standing there. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing," he replied, barely meeting her gaze before looking away.

Curiosity gleamed in Clara's eyes, making her tease him further. "Oh, are you waiting for me here so we can walk home together?"

"Not a chance," he immediately answered.

"Then why are you still here?" she curiously asked

"Waiting for the rain to stop," he admitted. Hearing his response, Clara nodded understandingly. "Ah, did you forget your umbrella again?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"That's Leon for you," she chuckled.

"What did you say?" he questioned, detecting her suppressed laughter just by looking at her reaction.

She attempted to hide her laugh, but it was obvious enough for Leon to notice. "Oh, nothing, hehe…"

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and sighed lightly.

“Then do you want to share an umbrella with me?” she offered.

“No thanks,” he politely declined, just like he did to the girl who was inviting him earlier. 

“Come on, don’t be shy,” she insisted, nudging his arm with the umbrella.

“I’m not being shy, and I had somewhere else to go before heading home,” he attempted to brush her off with the same excuse as before, but this girl was persistent, unlike the others.

“Then let’s go together,” she said without hesitation, surprising him with her response.

“W-what are you saying?” he stuttered in shock, feeling like he was facing an unstoppable force pushing him against his will.

“Why? What’s wrong?” she innocently asked.

“What do you mean what’s wrong?! Did you ever consider thinking about how you answer?” he confusedly asked.

“I do, but what’s wrong going together? You have no umbrella, right? It would also be a bad thing if you waited here until the rain let up and we have no assurance that the rain will stop yet right now." she explained. "Where will you be heading after this rain anyway?”

He sighed in defeat and facepalmed, realizing he was being well scrutinized by her. Leon knew Clara well, when she wasn't satisfied with something, she would keep digging and asking questions until she understood the situation fully. That's the kind of person she was in Leon's eyes, leaving him no choice but to accept her offer.

“F-fine–” Before he could finish his sentence, they both heard the struggling voice of an old woman near the shed. Turning their attention to her, they saw her struggling to fix her umbrella.

It was an unfortunate sight, and they both feel bad for her because of what happened.

They both glanced at each other and nodded as they walked towards the old woman. “Ma’am are you alright?”

The old woman turned at them, making a hopeless expression just by looking at her face. “I think my umbrella is broken.” 

As Leon examined the old woman's umbrella, he noticed that it lacked a locking mechanism. He realized that without a means to secure it, the umbrella couldn't stay open on its own, making it inconvenient to use.

"Yeah, it seems that the lock is not working," he remarked, his tone reflecting a hint of concern.

"Oh no, what should I do?" the old woman murmured, her voice carrying the weight of disappointment.

Without hesitation, Clara stepped forward, "I can lend you my umbrella, Ma'am," she offered.

Respectfully, the old woman declined Clara's offer. "N-no, It's okay," she responded.

But Leon knew Clara's determination all too well. He always recognized her desire to assist others, no matter what it takes, "I insist, Ma'am," Clara persisted, her smile conveying reassurance.

"Then what about you two?" she inquired, her worry evident in her furrowed brow.

Clara's response was swift and reassuring. "Don't worry about us," she reassured, gesturing toward Leon. "My friend here has a spare umbrella on his back.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yes, Ma’am, so don’t worry about us, okay?” Clara reassured the old woman with a calm smile on her face.

“Thank you so much. I hope you’ll be blessed with greatness someday. Take care of both of you, huh?” the old woman expressed her gratitude to the two.

“Take care of you too, ma’am. Goodbye!” Clara said as they both watched the old woman gently walk on the road with the umbrella she had lent. It was heartwarming for Clara to see that she had helped another person in a difficult situation. That was one of the reasons why she was very popular in their school, not just for her beauty and brains, but also for the kindness in her heart.

She suddenly noticed Leon staring at her from the side, “Why are you staring at me?”

“Nothing, I’m just glad you’re still the Clara that I know,” he replied with a contented voice.

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, confused by his words, trying to figure out which part earlier made Leon realize that.

“Nothing. By the way, what should we do now?” he replied, while staring at the dark skies. It seemed that the rain would not stop anytime soon, leaving Leon with no choice but to wait. But not for Clara.

“Hey, lend me your jacket,” she ordered him.

“What are you trying to do?” he asked, sensing a new plan coming from her.

“Just relax, and wear your bag in front,” she explained, demonstrating it to him. “Like this.”

He looked at her with a questioning expression.

“Trust me,” she said, giving him an assuring smile that made Leon obey her instructions. He placed his bag at the front as Clara had instructed.

“Now what?” he asked.

Clara glanced at his arms and suddenly locked them with hers, bringing them closer together. “Now, hold the other side of the jacket and run!”

“Hey, wait, what are you doing–”

After a timeless wait at the shed, both of them finally ran outside of the school together under the one piece of jacket that served as their cover from the rain.

“Come on, faster! You’ll ruin our cover,” she demanded, immediately running together with him.

“How are we supposed to go home with this setup?” he responded, clearly dumbfounded by their current situation. For him, it would have been wiser to wait for the rain to stop at the shed than to take this risky approach.

But despite the difficulties they faced, Clara just chuckled it out. “Hahaha!”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I just remembered this kind of experience back when we were kids. You know, we forgot both of our umbrellas on our way home from the playground. It was raining, and the only thing we had was your little jacket,” she remarked, happily reminiscing about the memories they had when they were young.

“It’s different now, you know,” he shyly responded.

“What do you mean different? We’re still close right now, aren't we?” she asked, looking at him.

“Y-yeah, never mind,” he averted his gaze away and continued to match his pace with her.

Luckily, the rain stopped right before they would be parting ways with each other at their respective homes.

“Whew, your jacket is really soaking wet!” she said while trying to dry his jacket and handed it to him.

“Yeah, thanks to your nonsense solution,” he sighed.

"Hehe, sorry! But hey, at least we are near our homes, right?” she smiled.

“You really never change,” he mumbled.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing, I’m gonna go now,” he remarked, avoiding her question.

“Okay! Take care, Leon!” she cheerfully waved at him to bid goodbye.

“Yeah, you too.”

And the conversation ended with both of them walking on their way to their homes.