Do You Think that Umbrella Thing Works for Girls?
Miki woke up to the sound of heavy rain beating down on her roof. She sat up immediately in bed, her eyes wide in alarm. She glanced at the calendar and it told her that today was, indeed, that day. Valentine's Day. And it was raining. She sat there in silence for a moment, thinking that it was just her luck that it would rain today of all days. She sat there quietly before an exclamation broke from her lips.
"Yes!" she exclaimed, rousing her family and causing heads to stick into her room.
"Too bad about the rain, huh?" sighed her elder sister, Luka, who'd spent last night making and decorating a great variety of chocolates for one Miku Hatsune.
"What are you talking about?" exclaimed Miki, appalled. "It's perfect!"
Her brother, Kaito, gazed at her curiously. "What in the world are you talking about? No girl's gonna want to give chocolate on such a gloomy day."
"You idiots!" Miki shouted, pumping her fist in the air to get herself in the spirit. "Rainy days are for romantic heroines, don't you know?"
Luka and Kaito exchanged dubious looks. There was no deterring Miki when she had her heart set on something, so they mutually decided to leave her be and headed off to get ready for school.
. . .
"I've had this idea for a while now," Miki informed her friends, gazing at them all very seriously despite the fact that no one, other than Iroha of course, was truly paying attention. The girls were too busy complaining about the horrid rain outside and how it was ruining the mood. "You know that thing people do, you know, that romantic thing with umbrellas where you share an umbrella with the guy you like?"
"Yeah, of course we know it," Lily absently replied, glancing back at her friend with a mild hint of interest in her gaze.
"Do you think it'd work if I tried it with another girl?" Miki questioned, causing Lily to do a spit-take.
Slamming her hands onto the table, Lily leaned over it and exclaimed at her friend, "Why in the world would you want to do that, you psychotic woman? Are you completely insane? Is being single for Valentine's day really that bad?"
Miki jutted out her bottom lip in a pout while replying, "It has absolutely nothing to do with that, Lily. Well, Valentine's day, I mean."
"Miki's been like this for a while now," Iroha informed the blonde along with a couple other friends who had turned around. "I'm trying to figure out who it is."
Miki blinked at her friend, genuinely shocked. Wasn't it obvious? "Well, who else would it be but my darling Gumi?"
That definitely caught the attention of her remaining friends. Cul quickly snapped, "Are you crazy, Miki? You barely even know her."
"We've been in the same class for four years now," Miki replied confidently.
"You've never spoken a single word to her," Rion argued.
"We talked just yesterday," Miki replied with a proud smile.
Her friends stopped for a moment and stared at her, a little shocked. Maybe it wasn't so abrupt, after all.
Miki continued to be so annoyingly self-satisfied as she stated, "I told her we were on page 306 of the textbook."
And then, in unison, her friends exclaimed, "That doesn't count!"
Miki looked at them in confusion. "Why not?"
"Look, it's not like I'm going to go ask some random guy out after talking to him once about schoolwork," Cul replied. "I'm going to spend some time with him, get to know him, get him to know me. How do you know Gumi even knows who you are?"
"Well, she knows Oniichan," Miki replied thoughtfully. "I'm sure he talks about me all the time since he loves me so much."
"He never talks about you, so shut up! He's just like any other boy!" Iroha exploded, concluding her exclamation by going bright red and falling back into her seat, gazing at the table and fiddling with her hair nervously.
The redheads blinked to each other before turning back to the pinkette. "Putting aside Iroha's relationship with Miki's brother," Cul supplied, waiting for the other redhead to finish it off.
"I've decided that I'm going to ask Gumi out," Miki finished. "And I want it to be in the most romantic way possible. Which is why I ask: Would that umbrella thing work on another girl?"
Lily rolled her eyes and said, "Why don't you test it out for us, Miki?" Then, she pushed herself away from the table and continued, "I'm going to go find Piko. Gotta clarify that the jerk shouldn't be expecting any chocolate from me."
"Isn't she just the greatest girlfriend?" Rion wondered, her voice sugary sweet even when she slipped into a squeal as Lily angrily gripped onto a twintail. "Okay, okay, I take it back! I'm sorry!"
"Good girl," said Lily, releasing the teary-eyed girl. "Now c'mon, you're coming with me. Visit with Lui or something."
Rion went bright red, but her eyes were gleeful as she squealed, "But that's so embarrassing! I couldn't possibly do that!"
Lily, with a scowl, dragged her friend away, leaving behind the two redheads. Cul stood up suddenly, and Miki gazed at her curiously. Then, Cul winked at her. "I've got something to do, so I'll see you later, okay?"
Miki scowled playfully. "Fine, go ditch me for your boyfriend."
"You think so little of me," Cul said with a smirk before disappearing into the crowd. And, as Miki expected, the flame-haired girl looped an arm over her boyfriend, Len's, shoulder and started chatting with his group of friends, which included the one and only Gumi. Miki pouted. Why hadn't Cul invited her along? Jerk.
Miki's heart skipped a beat when she made eye contact with the greenette, who stared back at her with a question in her gaze. Oh God, Miki, look away! But, as captivated as she was by that green gaze, she couldn't. Instead, she continued to stare at the girl who'd captured her heart and who eventually decided to be the first to look away, having lost interest. Miki sighed, feeling her stomach still doing flips. She smiled to herself. Yep, she'd made the right choice. Gumi was the girl of her dreams, and, today, she'd let her know.
Miki gazed at the package of homemade chocolates in her hand. She'd tell Gumi today for sure. The excitement was nearly suffocating as she thought of doing it. How would Gumi react? She couldn't even imagine. School couldn't end fast enough.
. . .
"And voila," Cul said as she approached Miki, who gazed at her curiously as the other redhead swung around an umbrella, looking quite satisfied.
"What's that?" Miki wondered.
"My umbrella." Cul thrust it at her friend, leaving Miki no choice but to take it. "Knock yourself out."
"But what if she had one already? Then what do I do?" Miki exclaimed.
Cul shrugged. "I dunno, figure it out. Well, Len's waiting for me. See ya."
And then, without any offerings of assistance, the flame-haired girl cheerily went out with her boyfriend, hiding under his umbrella from the rain. Sheesh, Rin thought as she watched Cul cling to the boy. They're almost attached at the hip. She glanced around for Gumi, thinking, Maybe we could be like that.
"But we both have umbrellas already," Piko reasoned to his girlfriend, Lily, who whacked him with the umbrella she held in response.
"So what?" she questioned. "It'll be fun."
"We'll get wet," he argued.
Lily narrowed her eyes at her and grabbed Rion by the hair, dragging the squealing girl over and handing her the umbrella. "Well, Lui and Rion don't have one, so we should help them out."
"Share with Lui?" Rion squeaked. "No, that's too—"
"Embarrassing, I know," groaned Lily, shoving the shy Lui under an umbrella with Rion, out into the rain. The two shuffled nervously before heading out into the rain, laughing nervously and peering at each other in the corners of their eyes before swiftly looking away. Miki smiled. How sweet. "Let's go, Piko."
Piko, to Miki's surprise, laughed and shook his head. He smiled fondly at his girlfriend and said, "You're so difficult."
"Out of my way!" called Iroha as she plowed through the crowd, stopping before Miki's elder brother, who was busy talking to Luka and her girlfriend, Miku. Huffing and puffing, Iroha held out her umbrella to Kaito. Staring at the floor, she requested, "Let's share this, Kaito."
Kind of weird, Miki thought, gazing curiously onward as her brother smiled at the younger girl and accepted her offer.
"Hey, Miki."
Miki jumped, pulled out of her only slightly creepy people-watching, as a voice sounded from behind her. She looked behind her to see Gumi standing there. The greenette smiled nervously and said, "I completely forgot to bring my umbrella today. Mind sharing?"
Miki beamed and shook her head frantically. "No, I wouldn't mind at all."
Gumi smiled brightly in return. "Great! Thank you so much!"
"No, it's my pleasure!" Miki insisted, unfolding the umbrella and positioning it overtop of them. It was a pretty big umbrella. Well, of course. It had to fit Cul's crazy, spiked hair. Miki giggled.
Gumi smiled curiously at her and wondered, "What's so funny?"
A bit of colour drained from Miki's cheeks as the shock ran through her. "N-nothing. Are you ready to go?"
"Yep, I'm ready," Gumi said with a kind smile. "Let's go."
"Y-yeah," Miki stuttered.
As they walked, they were so close that Gumi's hair brushed against Miki's. Miki felt a blush on her cheeks, and she was far too nervous to speak a single word to Gumi. At least, not before Gumi herself spoke.
"So, what do you think about Cul and Len?" she wondered.
Miki's mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario. "Do you like Len?" she questioned.
Gumi was shocked silent for a moment before she broke out laughing. "Yeah, right. Like I could ever have feelings for that doofus. Len's just my friend, got it?"
Miki wasn't quite convinced, but she didn't argue, either. Instead, she began talking with Gumi, now that the ice was broken. They talked about everything from the most basic things to things that were more personal. However, in the end, they were forced to separate. Miki clutched at the chocolates that she'd made for Gumi, hidden in her pocket. This was her last chance.
Then, before she could do it, Gumi grabbed her hand and forced something into it. Startled, Miki looked down in her hand to see a small bag. She looked back up to Gumi curiously.
"They're Valentine's chocolates," Gumi stated. "I had some left over, so I thought I'd give you some as a thank you for sharing your umbrella." She stuck out her tongue playfully. "Besides, I've eaten way too many of those lately." Then, she turned her back to Miki and cast a grin over her shoulder. "Thanks again! See you tomorrow!"
Miki was left, dumbstruck, standing in the rain, as she watched Gumi dash into her house.
. . .
Miki got to school early the next morning, long before even the earliest arrivers came in for the day. She still wanted to give Gumi the chocolates she'd made her, but she wasn't brave enough to do it in person. So, instead, she decided to place them into Gumi's locker. Only, there was something strange waiting when Miki open the locker.
There, out in the open within that locker, lay an umbrella.
Author's Note: Do you get it? Gumi had her umbrella all along, but she told Miki she didn't have it. Anyway, since one of the three winning pairings was Gumi and Rin, so now Gumi's being paired with the three who came in third place. Oi. Lots of different pairing in here, huh? Other than Negitoro, which was there just for my virtual big brother, Ken-kun. Well, hope you enjoyed, happy Valentine's Day!