Interlude 4: One heavenly encounter
1257 Words
“What are you doing?”
The first time Ren Takamiya spoke to Hoshimiya Alice was when he caught sight of her sitting on a swing in the park, in the middle of the pouring rain.
The boy named Ren was a freelance writer. He’d recently begun living alone in a nearby apartment building. Little did he know when he first moved in that his next-door neighbor was a veritable angel on earth.
Of course, calling her an angel was just a figure of speech, but Hoshimiya Alice was such a beautiful, sweet girl that calling her an angel was seemingly fitting.
Her straight silky hair looks so smooth and lustrous. The girl’s pale porcelain white skin was always soft, as if it had never been anything less than perfect. From her nicely shaped nose and big large eyes rimmed with long eyelashes to her delicate pink lips. Anyone would agree that she’s very beautiful.
Most people talked about her beauty or how she was accomplished in both academics and sports.
As if happened, Alice always got the top score on exams. If the rumors were anything to judge, Alice was some kind of supernatural being.
Truly, she seemed without a flaw, with an attractive face and figure, and an excellent student. Perhaps most surprising is that she wasn’t the least bit arrogant about it. With her quiet, modest personality, it was no wonder she was so popular.
Living next door to such a beautiful girl would’ve gotten most boys practically drooling at the mere thought.
Ren, however, didn’t intend to make a fuss over her or try to get too close.
He certainly was captivated by her beauty and wouldn’t deny it, but she had never been more than a neighbor to him. There hadn’t really been any opportunities for them to talk, and not once did he consider approaching her himself.
If they did somehow become involved in some kind of event. It would attract other people’s eyes. A 20-year-old writer living alone is creepily chasing a high school girl. Rumors like that are something Ren doesn’t like to spread. Ren decided to better remain amicable to his next-door neighbor.
It was possible to appreciate a charming girl without falling in love with her, after all. Ren recognized that Alice was the kind of girl best cherished from afar and had contented himself with existing in her life as only her neighbor.
The rain downpour was heavy enough to send everyone running home.
But there she was, sitting all by herself on a swing in the park between their school and their apartment building.
What is she doing in the rain?
Everything was gloomy beneath the darkened sky and the rain, relentless since that morning, only made it even difficult to see.
Ren did not know why she was sitting there without an umbrella, leaving herself to get soaked. Alice didn’t appear to be waiting for anyone, nor did she seem at all concerned by the rain. As far as Ren could tell, Alice was simply staring off into the distance.
Her face tilted slightly upward, and though she was always pale, her complexion appeared right pallid. If she wasn’t careful, she was sure to catch a cold.
Even so…
Alice sat there quietly, not making any move to head home.
If she was content to sit there, it probably wasn’t my place to interfere, Ren thought as he made his way quickly past the park.
He took one last look and could see that Alice’s face was screwed up as if she might cry.
Ren scratched his head nervously.
He wasn’t really looking to make any kind of connection with her or anything, but it seemed wrong to him to ignore another person who was having such a pained expression.
“... What are you doing?”
When he called out to her in the bluntest voice possible, the angel looked at him.
Alice’s face is as lovely as ever.
Even wet with the rain, its radiance was not dulled. In fact, every droplet only seemed to enhance her elegant features. One could say it was dripping with beauty.
She stared at him with large, striking eyes.
Alice must have been vaguely aware of Ren as her next-door neighbor because they occasionally passed each other in the morning.
However, the look in her eyes revealed she was slightly guarded. Someone she had never really spoken with had suddenly called out to her.
“Takamiya? May I help you?”
Ren was rather shocked that she had recalled his name, but at the same time, he also figured that this level of familiarity most likely wouldn’t cause her to drop her guard. It was only to be expected that Alice would raise her defenses when confronted by a stranger, even if he wasn’t entirely unknown.
She probably didn’t want much to do with the opposite s*x. It certainly seemed like she received plenty of romantic advances from boys at school, regardless of what year they were in.
Would anyone have blamed Alice for suspecting Ren of harboring an ulterior motive?
‘I don't really need anything. I was just wondering why you were sitting in a place like this, all alone in the rain.”
“Oh, you were? I’m grateful for your concern, but I’m here simply because I want to be. Don’t worry about me.”
There was no edge of suspicion in Alice’s soft, listless voice, but it was clear that she had no intention of opening up to Ren.
All right, suit yourself.
It was clear that there was something going on with her, but she didn’t seem to want Ren to get involved, and he wasn’t particularly inclined to pursue the matter any further.
Ren had only approached her on a whim. He was simply curious about her situation, that was all. It wasn’t really his concern. If this was what she wanted to be doing, then that was just fine by him.
He sensed the evanescent beauty regarding him with some suspicion. He was sure that Alice was wondering why he’d even bother speaking to her at all.
“I see…”
He offered in reply.
Further continuation would get him any further, so Ren decided to withdraw.
There was no share of history between them, and perhaps that was for the best. The decision to leave her alone was an easy one.
Even with a very good reason to depart, Ren still didn’t think it seemed right to abandon her.
“You’ll catch a cold, so take this and go home. No need to bother giving it back.”
Deciding this would be the one and only time he meddled, Ren offered Alice his own umbrella. After all, he didn’t want her to get sick or anything.
Without giving Alice a chance to reply, he turned away and took off. As he left the sense, Ren heard calling to him.
Whatever she was trying to say was too quiet and became drowned out by the rain. Ren didn’t stop or turn around until the park was well behind him.
He had cared enough about the girl possibly catching a cold to foist his umbrella on her, so he didn’t feel that guilty about the fact that he had originally intended to ignore her altogether.
At any rate, Alice had refused his attempt to start a conversation, and Ren didn’t intend to get any closer to her, either.
After all, they had no connection to each other beyond this.
- Writer
