Day 3: Umbrella

It was really coming down outside, thick sheets of rain slamming into the windows and forming little rivers beside the base's roads. Glasgow looked down at her dress and gulped. With the rain and the mud, it seemed certain it would be made into a mess, and she really didn't like the idea of washing it again so soon. These dresses weren't easy to wash!

Thankfully, she didn't have anywhere else to be today. She could sit down and wait for the weather to clear up a bit… hopefully. At the very least, she didn't think the rain could get any worse– if it did, she'd be swimming home, not walking!

There was a sort of overhang she could hide under, at least, with a raised concrete floor to keep her above the mud and sludge. The rain smell wasn't half bad, and there was enough light to read some of her manga by.

Really, it was almost like a scene from one of her manga… the young lady, enjoying some simple leisure during an otherwise miserable afternoon. It seemed like the perfect scene. Any moment now, someone would come by to pick her up and whisk her away.

Or maybe not. She was perfectly comfortable here, reading through the volumes she had stuffed in her bag. She really should thank whoever filled the base library with them. Maybe it was one of the Japanese girls, getting books from the homeland? But they were in English, and she couldn't imagine one of them reading in a second language– and through a layer of translation– when they had the original.

Maybe there was another manga fan among the English-speakers on base? She had some evidence to go off of, considering that they couldn't know Japanese…

She was about halfway through a cute little school romance when someone cleared their throat next to her. Snapping the book shut, she looked up to see a familiar face smiling down at her. Glasgow grinned. "Newcastle!"

"Glasgow. Is the manga any good?"

"Wonderful."

"Wonderful enough to show me?" Newcastle grinned down at her.

"Oh, it's nothing much…"

"I hope you might recommend me some."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You seem to enjoy them so much…"

"Well, these are some ways into the series," Glasgow said, tucking her books back into her bag. "You'd want to start at the beginning."

"As fair a place as any to start, I suppose. Would these be in the library?"

"Aye." Glasgow turned in the direction of the library, barelyvisible through heavy rain and tree limbs that bowed under the deluge. It was separated from the academy by a stretch of manicured grass that was usually quite pleasant… but now it had the character of a bog.

"It would be quite the adventure, wouldn't it?" Newcastle mused. "I think we can make it."

"You don't have to!" Glasgow squeaked.

"I want to," Newcastle said. "I'd like to see why it makes you so happy."

How could Glasgow say no to an earnest request like that? From her big sister, no less! She tried to remember what she knew about the way to the library. She thought there might have been a sort of curve of trees that you could follow, perhaps hiding under the branches to avoid the rain… but it was hard to spot. Was that tree the start? She squinted.

With the rasp of fabric, Newcastle opened her umbrella, the same unremarkable black one that she always carried. It didn't seem like as much of a silly quirk now that it had saved them from the rain. Glasgow rose to her feet and picked up her bag.

Newcastle grabbed her shoulder and pulled Glasgow in close, shoulders bumping against each other. "Newcastle!"

"It's not a large umbrella, I'm afraid. We'll have to walk in time, or we'll both get horribly soaked." Slowly, they crept up to the edge of their cover, the front of the umbrella catching some of the rain and forming a little curtain in front of them. "Three, two… one."

They stepped in time, thankfully, and managed to get down without fumbling over each other. Glasgow cringed when water splashed up into her shoes. What a dreadful feeling!

Newcastle led her at a moderate pace, trying to prevent any splashing that might make their walk even worse, to some success. There were the most minute dips in the path which turned into dreadful traps, just waiting to soak their shoes. Even the trees did not prove the safe refuge she had hoped they would: water came down from the ends of branches as heavy streams.

Through it all, Glasgow clung to her sister. For the most part, they managed to avoid the rain, even if she had to shuffle her bag around a bit. It felt a bit… silly, marching through the rain like this. They were courting a disaster, another complex washing of their uniforms, but it was nice, to lean against her sister as the rain poured down around them.

(A mundane little adventure, Newcastle thought. Nothing much compared to a fleet exercise, but a sort of… life-sized expedition. Something that could fit in with the sweet mundanity of normal day-to-day life.)

Sniffing, Glasgow thought she detected something other than the smell of rain. "Is this the flower patch we're walking past?"

"It is. I hope they survive this rain."

"Me too. They have the most lovely scent…"

"You didn't see them, then?"

"I might have," Glasgow sighed. "That red smudge over there?"

"That's a bench."

Glasgow groaned.

"You need to get your vision checked, Glasgow. All you're doing is sabotaging yourself, in daily life and in battle."

"It's nothing serious…"

"It doesn't need to be serious to be fixed. It would make your life better, and that's reason enough. Plus…" Newcastle reached out and patted her on the head, "I think you'd look cute with glasses."

"Really?"

"It would fit especially well with your cosplay."

"It's not cosplay!"

"My apologies. But wouldn't it really complete the look? London looks quite lovely these days."

"She does…"

After a bit more walking, they reached some steps and finally retreated back into cover and relative dryness. Newcastle stepped away and shook out her umbrella, spraying the ground with droplets before closing it and setting it against the wall. With that, they opened the door and stepped inside.

Their horribly damp shoes were left near the entrance, and Glasgow escorted her sister to the section that held manga, comics, and graphic novels. Maybe it was Reno who made the selection into what it was today? She loved that sort of thing, or so Glasgow had heard.

Browsing the books, she thought about what to pick. There were a few classic stories, classics that Newcastle basically had to read, but for easier reading, what to pick? There were romances and action pieces, but she gravitated towards the slice of life; she couldn't imagine a genre that fit her sister more than the one that focused on the sweet moments of daily life.

She picked out a few. And then a few more. And then some extras, which all went into Newcastle's waiting hands. Occasionally, she would take a peak at the contents of the books, when she wasn't busy storing Glasgow's newest pick in a bag.

Eventually, Glasgow concluded that she had picked out a nice introduction to manga, as an art form. "I think that's enough. I… really do hope you'll like them, Newcastle."

"I hope I will." Newcastle smiled. "Now let's get back home. I'll start up the big fireplace. We'll have nice warm baths, we'll dry our clothes, and you'll teach me how to read these things."