“The sky! Look!” Juri breaths, suddenly excited as he notices the heavy, dark clouds that have gathered above their heads, hiding the last glimpse of the sun just as he speaks.
Shintaro looks up too and whoops aloud, dropping the pile of branches he was gathering. They can wait; it’s not like Sakanoue-sensei needs them today anyway.
Side by side, Juri and Shintaro dash up the narrow path, and just as they arrive at the small clearing in the woods, the first raindrops fall on them. Only a minute later the water is pouring from the clouds, and soon the both boys’ clothes are soaking wet.
“Show me what you’ve got!” Juri challenges and takes a firm stance, ready to evade incoming sprays of water, whichever direction they might be coming from. Shintaro beams at him as he spreads his hands. The sincere excitement on his face makes Juri’s chest feel all warm and fluttery.
It’s a new skill that they found out about a week ago. They were walking home from the village when it started to rain. Shintaro was only play-acting like Mitani-sensei when his hands suddenly grabbed a hold on the raindrops in the air. His eyes went so ridiculously wide when it happened, Juri didn’t even mind losing to him at the subsequent, extremely unfair water fight.
“It’s like snowball fight except that you’ve got wet snow and mine is dry powder!”
The next day was warm and sunny again, and the wait for the next rain seemed endless. But it is only the beginning of summer, which means they’ll have plenty of time to practice. They have all seen the beauty and strength of Mitani-sensei’s powers. Juri can’t wait to see what Shintaro can do when they grow up.
Concentrating, Shintaro grins and makes a movement like he’s throwing a snow ball at Juri. Except that it’s still not snow, but a bubble of actual water. Juri jumps aside, but it’s a close call. Some droplets splash against his earlobe. Other than the heavy rain, that is.
“Not even close,” Juri sneers and makes a mocking face. Shintaro laughs and throws another handful of water that splashes right in the middle of Juri’s chest.
“Close enough this time?” Shintaro asks innocently. Juri fakes having been hit, gripping his shirt and staggering around, and Shintaro laughs again before yelling: “Another!”
Juri laughs too, and dodges the next hit.