*Whoooooosh-!*

"It's raining."

Kim Lu-lu looked up at the gloomy sky from the school entrance. Then she lowered her gaze. Raindrops fell from the dark clouds, hitting the dirt ground and scattering in all directions.

It was quite a tragic dive, but the raindrops weren't really dying. They just split into pieces and seeped into the soil.

Raindrops that fell on the cold asphalt instead of dirt couldn't seep anywhere and just flowed away. Following the slope, the rainwater would eventually reach the entrance to a black hell—the drain.

*Gurgle.*

With a sound like that of a hungry alligator's stomach, the drain greedily swallowed the rainwater. And so it flowed endlessly.

Nature's mysterious principles sometimes resembled human affairs. Specifically, like the rumbling sound when you're hungry...

"Alright, enough daydreaming."

Now, how to get home?

Getting rained on was fine. But showing up looking like a drowned rat would invite Oh Dae-su's nagging. Even Oh Hye-in would join in the scolding.

They'd say things like, "Won't your clothes become see-through if they're soaked?" and "What if you catch a cold?" and so on. She needed to find something to use as an umbrella.

Her bag?

Would it matter if it got wet? Not really. The textbooks inside could be left as they were. Especially the math workbook.

There was homework to complete up to page 45 by tomorrow, but if her book got soaked in the rain on the way home, she'd have no choice but to skip it... That would make for a perfect day.

No homework, no nagging.

"Perfect."

Just as Kim Lu-lu was about to cover her head with her bag and dash out—

*Splash. Splash.*

A familiar face was crossing the school yard. Holding a blue umbrella and carrying a folded pink one under her arm.

It was Oh Dae-su.

Kim Lu-lu narrowed her eyes as she watched Oh Dae-su approaching. Maybe it was because of the rain, but it seemed like rain was falling on her face too. Damp and humid.

The face of someone with a week's worth of overdue homework, or... someone facing seven painful injections, or perhaps...

The face of someone she might never see again. Kim Lu-lu carefully asked:

"...Are you crying, Oh Dae-su?"

"What nonsense are you talking? Here, take this umbrella."

"Your expression looks bad. And you left school early today."

"...It's that day."

Kim Lu-lu was about to tease with an "Oh, I see," but stopped herself. Hadn't Oh Hye-in mentioned "magical disappearance of magical days" when explaining the benefits of being a Magical Girl?

She took the pink umbrella from Oh Dae-su and opened it with a pop. The key was to imagine it was a shotgun while opening it.

Kim Lu-lu rested the umbrella on her shoulder and asked:

"Didn't you bring rain boots?"

"You're asking for too much..."

"But with boots, we could splash through puddles!"

"Save the water play for the bathroom. And scrub your feet thoroughly while you're at it. Don't ask me to wash your feet for you again."

As Oh Dae-su waved her hands dismissively like shooing away flies, Kim Lu-lu stuck close and whined:

"It's hard to wash them myself because it tickles!"

"Our umbrellas are hitting each other, back off...!!"

She backed off.

Like when applying iodine or pulling a knife out of your stomach—Kim Lu-lu thought it was better to have someone else's hand for such tasks. Things where you could imagine what would happen.

Feet were like that too. If you ran a shower puff over them, you'd obviously get ticklish and goosebumps. It was something she couldn't bring herself to do.

So Kim Lu-lu had made Oh Dae-su do it. When Oh Dae-su grabbed her ankle and scrubbed, she laughed and squirmed so much that poor Oh Dae-su got soaked too.

Since they were both wet anyway, she suggested they shower together, only to be told not to say weird things.

"Hmm-hmm."

Kim Lu-lu hummed a tune as she splashed through puddles. She was a bit excited that Oh Dae-su had come to meet her. The sound of rain was pleasant too. The only downside was that she couldn't smell Oh Dae-su's scent.

*Thump. Thump.*

Kim Lu-lu took a short running start and spun three times in the air before landing.

*Splash!*

"Ta-da!"

"...You're splashing water!"

She got scolded.

As they continued walking side by side, Oh Dae-su suddenly spoke. Not abruptly, but like an old man sitting quietly and dropping a Go stone—just a simple "plop."

As if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words, so she just threw out anything.

"Is Oh Hye-in at her club activity?"

"Yeah. Is that why you only brought one umbrella?"

"That's right. But maybe not."

"Mm-hmm."

*Whoooosh-!*

The raindrops hit the umbrella with more force. It was visually noticeable. Heavy rain spreads like a whitish mist beneath the asphalt, doesn't it?

The more trivial conversation they made, the heavier the rain seemed to fall on Oh Dae-su's face. Kim Lu-lu seriously checked if she had done something wrong.

Then.

"...Hey, Kim Lu-lu."

"What?"

"Maybe... No, never mind. Pretend you didn't hear that."

Hearing those words, she smiled brightly. Ah, so she wasn't upset with me or started disliking me.

She's just having a mental traffic accident!

Having caught the taboo "maybe—pretend you didn't hear that" combo, Kim Lu-lu made a patriotic decision. The brilliant mind of the Commander of the Capital Knights came up with the solution: a high kick.

*Thwack-!*

With a spectacular high kick that sent her foot above her head, Kim Lu-lu kicked Oh Dae-su's umbrella far, far away.

"...???"

Oh Dae-su froze with a dumbfounded expression.

Kim Lu-lu also threw her own umbrella onto the street. In the pouring rain, both of them were instantly soaked. Kim Lu-lu grinned broadly.

Just before Oh Dae-su could get angry, Kim Lu-lu grabbed her cheeks with a quick motion.

"Now, cool your head. There's only one thing you need to think about right now. Got it? Listen carefully and remember."

"......"

"Catch me if you can, dummy."

"...???"

Kim Lu-lu dashed away through the rain. Oh Dae-su struggled to grasp the situation, rubbed her stinging hand once, and pushed her annoying bangs back in a slick-back style.

"Stop right there, Kim Lu-lu, you crazy girl-!!"

"Hahahahaha-!!"

She chased after her with a dead-serious sprint, all humor gone from her face.

===============================================================

At the playground, which was, of course, empty.

The two of them were crouched inside a human-sized hideout full of holes. Sitting very close together.

They hadn't been close from the start. Kim Lu-lu had stuck close, then Oh Dae-su moved away. When Kim Lu-lu sneezed with an "achoo," Oh Dae-su moved closer again.

Oh Dae-su wrung the water out of her hair with both hands and thought. After doing something so foolish, she felt blood flowing to her head. In a positive way.

She knew this was Kim Lu-lu's rough way of cheering her up.

It wasn't a bad feeling. At the moment she was given the mission of "catching Kim Lu-lu," her mind had cleared completely, and after realizing it was encouragement, she felt somewhat energized.

"Dae-su, can I hold your hand?"

"......"

So she generously forgave Kim Lu-lu for taking her hand. Because it had helped. It had definitely changed her gloomy mood.

*Tickle, tickle.*

Kim Lu-lu's slender fingers intertwined with Oh Dae-su's. Then she clasped them tightly. Oh Dae-su hadn't expected such an embarrassingly intimate grip and turned her head to say something.

But Kim Lu-lu had her head slightly turned, her face flushed. Her ears were bright red too. So Oh Dae-su just kept quiet.

If you're going to be so embarrassed, don't play these pranks in the first place, she thought to herself.

Then, when the mood had sufficiently mellowed, Roderus finally spoke.

"...You know."

"Hmm?"

"I'm... actually not Oh Dae-su."

"Oh, you're a foreigner, right? You mentioned it before. Oh Dae-su isn't your real name, it's Ro... what was it again?"

"That's not what I mean. I have... a side to me that you don't know about."

The right hand of Duke Redburn, a hunting dog who kills anyone on command, a man who has never saved anyone and doesn't deserve to.

His hands were so stained red with blood that even a drenching rain couldn't wash away the crimson.

This man called Roderus, wearing Oh Dae-su's shell, was such a worthless person.

Kim Lu-lu, who obviously couldn't hear Roderus's inner monologue, simply commented:

"Is this... some kind of chuunibyou?"

"......"

"Ah, don't get upset, okay? I reacted that way because it's not as big a deal as I thought! I'm relieved!"

Roderus flinched as if pricked by a needle and raised his voice slightly at Kim Lu-lu, feeling like she wasn't taking him seriously.

"...How is this not a big deal?!"

"Well, who am I talking to right now?"

"......"

"It's Oh Dae-su, isn't it?"

But perhaps he was the one who hadn't been taking this relationship seriously.

Kim Lu-lu's eyes were unwavering. They were straight, somehow burning with a pure, radiant light. It was unadorned affection.

"Silly Oh Dae-su. Being irritable all the time is a sickness, you know. You should fix that. But even when you act all prickly like a hedgehog, I still like you."

"......"

"I know you care about me even though you grumble. This is Oh Dae-su, right? The person talking to me is Oh Dae-su, right? Did some evil organization brainwash you and force you to do this? Do you dislike me?"

"...No."

"Then, that settles it."

With that, Kim Lu-lu leaned back against the wall as if she'd said all she needed to say. Roderus tried to find something else to say but gave up and enjoyed the silence.

He had been accepted so simply. Too simply.

It didn't quite sink in yet, but he felt something seeping into his heart. Words like friend, companion, friendship swirled in his mind.

"And you know... I also have a true form that you could never imagine! As I've said many times, my real self is super strong!"

"...Yeah, right."

And so, Lu-lu and Roderus chatted quietly. About playing ranked games together when they got home, about how she couldn't play with him because her tier would drop, and so on.

In the natural silence that followed, Roderus casually asked. He wanted confirmation again.

"...What if I were a man?"

A man? Oh Dae-su?

...My heart's already pounding like crazy, but if she were a man?

Kim Lu-lu carefully imagined a handsome man's face over Oh Dae-su's. The same orange hair, but with slightly sharper features. Her heart began to race wildly.

*Thump-thump.*

Suppressing her fluttering heart, Kim Lu-lu smiled brightly and said:

"Ugh, that would be really tough..."

"...!!"

*Boom.* Outside, loud thunder rolled.

Roderus suffered a massive emotional wound.

===============================================================

The next day, during PE class at the indoor swimming pool.

Roderus became a depressed sea otter, hugging a surfboard and floating aimlessly in the pool.