"Woahhh! This place is awesome!" Hodaka looks around in wonder.
The streets are lined with shops selling a variety of items and services, from maid cafes to electronic shops. Even in the rain, the LED signs illuminate brightly and the streets bustle with people.
"I wanna go to Uniqlo!" Hina exclaims as she excitedly pulls Hodaka's hand along. Overwhelmed by the new environment, Hodaka had no choice but to go along with her.
"How does this look on me?" Hina prods as she tries on a white shirt with an image from the anime movie 'Your Name'.
"Yeah... anything looks good on you, Hina. Honestly," replies Hodaka. Hina blushes, and Hodaka wishes that he had a hole to dive into. No more cringy stuff, he promises himself and gives himself an imaginary slap.
Hina bounces from shirt to shirt, each with a different design. Hodaka thinks the one that had a puppy picture looks really cute on Hina, but apparently she disagrees. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking around and admiring, I mean, watching Hina try on shirts, they head to the checkout counter with the first shirt she tried on. It may have been a waste of time to Hodaka but at least he got the golden opportunity to see her try on a plethora of cute outfits.
Dragging Hodaka out of UNIQLO, they proceeded to the bookstore. The bookstore is lined with the newest manga and novels, with a few popular authors popping out. Hodaka couldn't remember when he last read a book by his own, nor could he remember ever going to a bookstore.
Well, it's not like we have one on the island I was living on, Hodaka recalls. He was mistaken - there was a bookstore, Hodaka was just too lazy to search for it.
They browse through the collection of books, searching for anything which stood out to them.
'Growl...' Hodaka's stomach grumbles.
"Let's go for dinner. I'm starving too," giggles Hina, unsuccessfully pretending to not notice. They exit the bookstore without buying anything, being the studious students they are.
It was nearly evening. With both their tummies rumbling, they hop over to McDonald's, the rain getting heavier and heavier by the moment. They quickly order their food and sit down on a cafe-styled table with their trays.
"Hey Hodaka, remember when we first met?" Hina playfully asks.
All this while, Hodaka was enjoying his food, but in that instant when Hina asked that question, a wave of memories flood back to him. He remembers the first Big Mac that he ever had in his life, the warmth of Hina's kindness as she gave him the hamburger. It wasn't the best dinner he had in his life because it was delicious, but rather it was because he felt that finally, someone in this world cared about him.
"Hodaka?"
"Of course I do. It was at that McDonald's outlet you were working for, isn't it? You even went out of your way to give me a burger. I'm still grateful to you for that till this day," Hodaka smiles, snapping out of his reminiscing.
After their dinner, they head towards the train station, preparing to make their way home.
Whoosh! A great gust of wind blew past Hodaka's shoulders.
"Hina, grab on to my hand!" Hodaka shouts back instinctively.
"Oka-"
"Hina?" Hodaka asks, turning around.
She isn't there.
"Hodaka!" A voice exclaims from above. Hodaka immediately tilts his head upwards and widens his eyes. Hina slowly floats down, body flicking from transparency to opaqueness.
Why is this happening again? Wasn't Hina no longer a weather maiden? A million questions flash through Hodaka's mind as he struggles to process what he was seeing. Hina understands what this meant too. Beads of tears flow down her cheeks as she lands on the ground.
"H-Hodaka..." she looks up at Hodaka, who is clearly taken aback as well.
"Hodaka... what do we do?"
