"It's raining…."

It was another dull day of school, and I felt trapped like a rat in a cage. I… couldn’t focus on what sensei was going on about no matter how much I tried. 

Everything in me… wanted to ask to go to the bathroom and just up and leave. But that would be betraying the trust of someone important to me…

I wouldn’t be able to look her into her eyes and tell her that I tried to stay in class. 

“Focus…”

I ridiculed my behavior. With all my willpower, I focused on my lessons. It took a while, but I finally got through it and rushed out to go to lunch. This was the highlight of my day. I would be able to chat with Mado-chan and the rest. I can laugh, play, enjoy everything briefly before I would have to go back to… reality again.

“Oh, Watanabe-san…”

Before making it to the cafeteria, I was stopped by someone I honestly didn't want to see. Okabe-san approached me. Her short, rugged hair bounced from one side to the other.

“Ah… hey.”

I was confused as I turned to her.

“Are you going to have lunch with Nakagawa-san?”

“Yeah…”

She looked around for a bit then approached me. I wasn’t sure what she was going to do until she stopped right at my feet.

“Could you give this to her?”

She handed me a pink notebook. It was polka-dotted and super adorable… just like something Mado-chan would carry around.

“Ah… did she forget it?”

"No… she let me borrow her notes. I need to study, and… she’s been kind enough to lend it to me.”

I looked at the notebook. When I opened it… that cute handwriting brought me back to our elementary school days. Okabe-san… pushed herself to write all cute and bubbly… like a princess from those movies. 

“Why are you smiling?”

Okabe-san complained.

“Just… thinking of dumb things.”

She tilted her head and sighed.

“You’re her childhood friend, so I'm sure you have a lot of stupid memories about Nakagawa-san.”

“Yeah… I do.”

I put the notebook to my side and began walking to the cafeteria.

“Hey…”

She called out to me again. Everything in me didn't want to talk to her, but she kept drawing me back in.

“…What?”

I was harsher than I wanted to be. The ivy-head looked away and spoke silently.

"…I'm a jerk, I already know..."

I wasn’t expecting her to say this, so it made me turn back to her curiously.

"…Yeah, you are a jerk Okabe-san. What about it?"

I didn’t mince my words either. It felt like a blessing in disguise that this girl had finally grown a conscious.

“Listen… Nakagawa-san already gave me the 3rd degree so piss off.”

“No… I think I have a right to lay into you a bit too. You took my feelings and paraded them around my best friend like a game…. I... trusted you and you didn't care."

I stopped myself and calmed down.

“I don’t know what happened between you and Madoka… but I swear of you hurt Madoka the way you did to me… I won’t be as nice as her. You already know I sent someone to the hospital before.”

My best friend meant the world to me, and I hate to see her cry.

“Fair enough.”

She shrugged and turned around. 

“…I’m in a bad place… Watanabe-san… And I don’t know what to do.”

Before I could speak, she walked off back into the school. The rain came down heavier, and I started to feel an intense sense of anxiousness.

“… Maybe I was too harsh?”

I shrugged my shoulders. The previous happiness I felt was gone. All that was left was an overwhelming sense of sadness.

“I think we’re both in a bad place right now, Okabe-san…."

That is what I wanted to say, but she was already long gone. I took a deep breath and exhaled, but it didn't clear the tension inside me. So, I made my way to the cafeteria with low spirits, hoping my friends could brighten my mood…