It was impossible for Hifumi Takimoto to go to work today.
Despite the heavy rain that had poured down all of yesterday, it showed no sign of letting up. The downpour continued without mercy. Her company had already sent out a notice to work from home, so she sat on the soft, fluffy carpet in her room, laptop open in front of her—but no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't focus.
It had been going on for a while now. Since around noon—far too long.
At first, she'd felt embarrassed, her cheeks flushing red from what she was hearing. But now that feeling had shifted into sheer frustration. Biting her lip, she turned her head toward the wall, glaring at it as sultry moans continued to seep in from the neighboring apartment. Her mood soured by the minute.
"Just how long is this going to go on…?"
She had a vague recollection of who lived next door. The last time she'd bumped into him, he looked like a high schooler. Just a student—and yet...
"It doesn't sound like it's from a video. It's probably the real thing… That doorbell earlier must've been his girlfriend arriving... Even in this rain, she came all the way over…"
Hifumi bit down harder on her lip and stood up. She had completely lost any motivation to work. She might as well take a break and wait until things quieted down before trying to concentrate again. As for knocking on the neighbor's door and asking them to tone it down—
She just couldn't do it.
Her sense of shame wouldn't let her go knock on someone's door over that kind of noise.
"If this keeps happening… what am I supposed to do, Sojiro…?"
Cradling her pet hedgehog, Sojiro, in her hands, Hifumi sighed deeply. All she could do was hope the rain would stop soon. If the weather cleared up, she could at least go back to the office and be spared this kind of torment during the day.
"It's already afternoon. You two still aren't coming home?"
It was around 3 PM when Mai called Haruto, asking when Setsuna would be returning.
Haruto, completely drained, had been lying in bed with Setsuna's warm body curled up in his arms. He was half-asleep, on the verge of drifting off when the ringtone jolted him awake. The sound also caused Setsuna to stir slightly, groggily opening her eyes.
"I should really change that ringtone later," Haruto thought.
He picked up the call, and Mai's question immediately came through the line.
"Setsuna got soaked in the rain, so she's resting here at my place. It's pouring outside, and I didn't want her to get sick again. There's nothing pressing anyway, so I figured it'd be better for her to stay and rest."
"So she's abandoning her poor, lonely mother to shack up with her boyfriend?"
"Pretty much. I can't really deny that."
"I wanna come over too."
"It's still pouring outside. Besides, my room isn't big enough for three people. Let's wait until the rain eases up a bit. I'll take her home then."
"I suppose it's been a while since I had some alone time anyway. Enjoy yourselves."
"Thanks."
Looking down at the girl nestled in his arms, he noted that Setsuna hadn't reacted at all during the call. He quietly set his phone aside and closed his eyes again to rest.
By evening, the rain had lessened—but only from a torrential downpour to a regular heavy rain. The two of them, having slept through most of the afternoon, finally woke up as dusk approached. After a few moments of drowsy affection in bed, they got up and started preparing dinner.
At one point, Mai called again to ask if Setsuna would be coming home that night. Upon hearing she wouldn't, Mai simply hung up without saying anything else.
"Is she mad?"
"Hard to say."
Probably a little. But with the weather like this, going out wasn't a great option anyway.
"Let's just make dinner. There's still some food in the fridge… Actually, I'll handle it. If you're bored, you can use the computer."
"Okay."
As Haruto walked to the fridge and began preparing dinner, Setsuna sat quietly at the desk. Feeling like she couldn't really help in the kitchen, she obediently stayed out of the way and turned on the computer.
Opening the browser, she absentmindedly wondered what kind of sites she should visit. Then curiosity struck: what kind of sites did Haruto usually browse? Without thinking much, she clicked on the browser history.
And what she saw left her stunned.
Tags like "brother-sister," "mature women," "incest," "taboo"—the list was endless. Her mind blanked for a moment.
She quickly turned her head, stealing a glance at Haruto. He was still busy cooking, seemingly unaware of what she was doing. Setsuna let out a breath of relief, but her heart was in turmoil.
She hastily closed the history tab, then sat motionless at the desk, unsure what to do next.
"Did I… just imagine that?"
But her eyes hadn't deceived her. Out of disbelief, she reopened the history and checked again—only to confirm what she already knew.
Once again, she quickly closed the window. Her expression turned increasingly unreadable as she stared blankly at the screen. Her mind spiraled as she tried to make sense of it all.
Why… why would Haruto look at that kind of stuff?
The confusion gripped her tightly, but she couldn't summon the courage to ask him about it directly.
After a moment of silent inner turmoil, she bit her lip and pulled up a few random websites, pretending to be casually browsing, even as her thoughts ran wild.
"Maybe… Haruto likes that kind of thing? Maybe he prefers the whole younger sister angle…? But I'm not his sister… and we're not even related…"
Just a glimpse at his browser history had shaken her deeply. Setsuna sat trapped in a spiral of doubt and insecurity.
When Haruto finally called her over for dinner, she was still deep in thought and didn't respond. He had to walk over and gently tap her shoulder before she snapped out of her daze.
Startled, she looked up at him, dazed, staring at his face for a long time.
"Something wrong?"
Haruto sat down across from her, picking up his chopsticks, puzzled by her strange expression.
"Haruto… how do you feel about your family?"
The question caught him just as he was about to eat, and he paused, looking at her in surprise. Her voice was casual, almost indifferent—but her eyes stayed fixed on him, waiting for an answer.
"My family? I guess… they're treasures for life."
He thought of that dark time when his younger sister Mitsuha had come all the way to Tokyo to take care of him. Despite her occasional mischief, he had no complaints about her. In fact, those little outbursts were part of what made her endearing.
"Do you like her?"
"Like... Of course I like her. It's the kind of love you feel for family. But even that word—'like'—feels a little shallow for what I feel. There's more to it than that."
"More than just 'like'?"
Setsuna stared intently at him, carefully studying the expression on his face, as if to confirm something once more.
Haruto, who had already sensed that Setsuna was acting somewhat unusually today, furrowed his brows slightly. He slowly shifted his gaze to her, and when their eyes met, he caught a trace of unease in her expression.
Thinking back, his eyes drifted toward the computer on the desk.
Then he looked back at her—and a suspicion began to form in his mind.
Did the browser auto-load that stuff I was looking at...?
Uncertainty rose within him. Still, facing Setsuna, he kept his voice calm.
"Did you happen to see... weird stuff on the computer? And now you're wondering if I have some kind of strange or specific fetish?"
Setsuna remembered what Haruto had told her before—that he wasn't looking for a relationship. His distant, indifferent attitude toward her was starkly different from how boys their age usually acted. That, combined with the browser history she'd seen, made her doubts and insecurities bubble to the surface.
Feelings she had long buried deep within herself—ones she had never spoken about—now took shape as silent suspicion.
She pressed her lips together and met his gaze. Her eyes wavered with emotion, but after a moment, she gave a small nod.
"I don't actually have any weird preferences," Haruto said. "I was just researching… for material. Looking for inspiration, so I browsed that kind of content."
"Material?"
"Yeah. The story I'm writing has the protagonist dealing with all kinds of temptation. That kind of plot development. You'll understand once the book is released."
"..."
If Haruto didn't have siblings, Setsuna probably wouldn't have overthought it. But he did have sisters—two of them, in fact. That alone stirred up complicated feelings in her.
Still, hearing Haruto's explanation helped ease some of the unease in her heart.
"Why write about something like that?"
"Most stories these days include a bit of that kind of theme. It's something a lot of readers seem to enjoy."
He gave her a simple answer in response to her puzzled gaze. Truthfully, it was probably just part of his personal guilty pleasure.
Setsuna still didn't quite understand, even after hearing him out—but she didn't press the issue. Instead, they sat down together quietly for dinner.
_ _ _ _
From around 3 p.m., the apartment next door had fallen into silence. Hifumi could finally calm her mind and make some progress on her work. But then, at 7 p.m., the noises started again...
Clenching her lips tightly, Hifumi didn't even know how to describe the emotions she was feeling anymore.
With a deep sigh, she put on her headphones and clicked on a music playlist, forcing herself to continue working. But her focus was completely scattered. Her eyes kept drifting toward the wall, her heart uneasy.
"He's not some kind of sex-obsessed maniac, is he…?"
Sitting gloomily in front of her computer, she struggled for a long time to get back on track.
__ _ _ _ _
On the third day, the rain finally began to ease.
Waking up to a softer patter of rain outside, Haruto blinked open his eyes. He glanced at the girl lying beside him and closed his eyes again, reluctant to leave the warmth of the bed.
Last night had been… exhausting. Even after a full night's rest, he still felt sluggish and worn out.
"Looks like I won't be able to go to school again today. Maybe tomorrow."
He shut his eyes again, choosing to stay nestled under the blankets. The girl beside him stayed wrapped in his arms, showing no sign of wanting to get up either.
By the time they both fully woke up, it was already midday.
He looked at the girl still resting beside him, then stretched slowly and finally got out of bed.
"The rain's eased up, but the streets are still full of water. It's hard to walk anywhere. Hardly anyone's out."
He walked to the balcony and looked out, just like he had the past two days. The downpour had turned into steady rain—less intense, but still persistent. In the morning, it had been light, but by noon, it had picked up again.
"Still not completely stopped?"
"The forecast said it'd rain for about three days. Today's the third. It should ease up more by tomorrow."
He wondered what kind of damage had been caused elsewhere. The outskirts of Tokyo—rural areas in particular—were probably hit hardest. With such heavy rain and strong winds, any old houses might not have survived.
"So we don't have school today either?"
"If we did, we'd have gotten a message. I didn't get any notice, so it's probably fine. Once the rain stops, I'm sure classes will resume."
Glancing one more time at the drenched streets outside, he turned back to the kitchen and began prepping lunch.
Setsuna sat on the edge of the bed, wearing one of his shirts, silently watching him move about.
In her heart, she was thinking about the rain.
If possible, I kind of hope it doesn't stop. If it keeps raining, maybe I can stay like this a little longer—with Haruto. Once it clears, we'll both have to go back to school, and it'll be harder to spend time together like this.
"Once the rain's gone, the heat will kick in for real. Summer's definitely coming."
Haruto let out a long sigh as he paused and looked out the window, the weight of the season's change settling over him.