[Novel] Grapefruit Moon #6

It was raining when we left the izakaya.
I didn't miss the split second Erina-san frowned as she watched the rain falling right next to me.

"...Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine, it's nothing. I'm just not a fan of the rain. Do you have an umbrella?"
"Oh, yeah."

I was curious why she didn't like the rain, but the atmosphere didn't really allow me to ask.

"You're well-prepared."

She also took a folding umbrella out of her bag and opened it. ...Damn it, if I had pretended not to have an umbrella, she might have let me share hers. I hate how well-prepared and painfully honest I am.
It was a little less than a 10-minute walk from the izakaya to the nearest station. About three minutes after we started walking, the rain suddenly intensified, and by the time we reached the station, we were both soaked to the bone, making our umbrellas completely useless.

"Yikes, I wonder if it's annoying to get on the train like this."

Well, I guess everyone's in the same boat. Other people just as soaked as us were passing through the ticket gates without a care.

"Which station are you going to, Erina-san? I'm worried about letting you go home alone, so I'll take you."

It wasn't that I had no ulterior motives, but I kept up a calm facade. However, there was no reply from Erina-san. When I checked on her, she was looking at me with a melancholy expression, but our eyes didn't meet.

"Erina-san?"

"...My apartment is just right there, but... do you want to come over?"

I thought I had misheard her.
Looking toward the apartment building visible from the station premises, Erina-san had said that, as if whispering, yet clearly. After a brief silence, she seemed to come to her senses and wore an expression that clearly said she regretted it.

"Let's go."

Before Erina-san could change her mind, I took her hand and started walking back into the rain.

The rain had gotten even heavier.
When the door to Erina-san's apartment closed, thunder rumbled dully beyond the now-muted sound of the rain.
I hesitated to enter the room while soaking wet, but when I waited in the entryway, she immediately brought me a towel.

"Use the bath first."

She said without meeting my eyes.

"No, I couldn't, I'm fine for later."

I could have left it for later, but having come this far, I couldn't be reserved anymore, so I took off my shoes and let myself into the room.

"But it would be terrible if a vocalist caught a cold from getting chilled."
"I'm fine, really. Come on, go warm up."
"But... oh, wait a second."

Erina-san took a hoodie and sweatpants out of the closet in her studio apartment.

"I don't really have anything a man could wear, but if this is okay, please use it..."

She handed them to me shyly.
Oh man, I want to push her down right now...

I suppressed my worldly desires, sent Erina-san to the bathroom, and since I was at it, I took off my wet clothes and changed into the borrowed sweatpants.
From outside, the sound of the rain that wouldn't stop; from inside the room, only the sound of the shower she was using.
I was regretting it just a little bit.
Since I had come this far on momentum, shouldn't I have pinned her against the wall the moment we entered, kissed her, pushed her down, and said something like, 'You'll catch a cold if you don't dry off properly,' 'It's fine, we're already wet anyway...'—the kind of development common in manga or Western movies? No, I'd probably be creeped out if I actually did that in real life... Either way, I didn't have much confidence in creating that kind of mood. It wasn't like I hadn't had experiences like this in the past, but I was strangely nervous.
Listening to the sound of the shower, I became possessed by unnecessary delusions, and my body, which should have been cold from the rain, started to heat up, so I desperately tried to distract myself by carefully browsing through the records I had been curious about since entering the room. There was a row of masterpieces: The Beatles, The Who, The Band, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, Carole King, Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers, and for Japanese music, Happy End, Sugar Babe, and RC Succession. Among the newer ones, there were also Quruli and Sunny Day Service.
As I was seriously looking at the records, Erina-san came out of the bathroom. The scent of soap filling the room, her hair still wet, her bare, flushed face...

"...Don't look at me so much..."

She turned her face away shyly. ...The stimulation is too strong.

Momentum is important, but if I lack composure, I have a feeling I'll surely make a huge blunder. I went ahead and used the shower in turn. However, she had just been taking a shower here... ah, man, there's no way I wouldn't be on edge in this situation.

Since I kept having unnecessary thoughts, I finished my shower quickly and left the bathroom, where Erina-san was trying to dry my wet clothes with a hair dryer.

"Sorry, I don't have a dryer, so it might take a while."

...Does that mean I should leave once they're dry? I don't want her to try to kick me out so soon...

"It's fine even if they're a little wet. More importantly, since we're here, want to have another drink? I should have bought something."
"I have beer, wine, or whiskey. And canned chuhai..."

She's actually quite well-stocked. As expected.
I had already had a fair amount at the izakaya, so I decided on a light canned chuhai for now. I didn't want to get any drunker and lose even more of my composure.

"I don't have anything that could serve as a snack, should I make something?"
"Thanks, but it's okay, don't go to any trouble. More than that, I want to listen to records. It's this late, will it bother the neighbors?"
"I think it'll be fine if we don't turn the volume up. What would you like?"

Her expression finally softened.

"Do you have any recommendations?"
"Hmm, that's difficult. Rock?"
"Hmm, yeah, maybe something that goes well with alcohol."
"Then, is it okay if it's my preference?"
"Of course."
"...Maybe this one, Tom Waits' 'Closing Time'. It doesn't really feel like a chuhai kind of album, though..."

Tom Waits—I'd heard the name and recognized the album cover, but I'd never listened to him. His unique raspy voice matched the beautiful piano melody surprisingly well. While listening to the songs, I looked up Tom Waits on my smartphone. An American singer-songwriter who debuted with this album released in 1973, a genius often called the 'drunken poet'.
As I listened intently, side A ended, and Erina-san skillfully flipped the record and dropped the needle on side B.

"...Sorry."

I was startled by the words spoken without her looking back at me. At this stage, is she going to tell me to go home after all...?

"...What?"
"...Can I drink whiskey? Chuhai with Tom Waits just doesn't feel right..."

Erina-san, looking a bit embarrassed but serious, was so cute that I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll join you."


I prepared whiskey on the rocks for both of us with practiced hands, and Erina-san sat down next to me with a little space between us.

"We talked about it a bit at the izakaya earlier, but you have a wide range of music you listen to, Erina-san."
"Do you think so? But it's shallow, you know? I don't have everything by Tom Waits either. I just end up buying records when I find so-called masterpieces. Depending on the price, though."
"That's a good hobby."
"Really? Well, I don't have any other hobbies I can call hobbies. Just music and alcohol, really. What can I say, I'm like an old man, right..."

She laughed self-deprecatingly while tilting her glass of whiskey.

"...Sorry, I can't deny that."
When I replied like that, we both laughed out loud.

She suddenly closed her eyes and hummed along.
I checked the back of the record jacket lying nearby, and it seemed to be a song titled 'Grapefruit Moon'.

"Nice. The others were good too, but this song is especially good."
"...Yeah, I like it too."

Her profile as she smiled softly right next to me seemed the most beautiful of all the expressions I'd seen since we met...

I want to touch her...
My chest tightened, and my heartbeat quickened.
I can no longer resist my own desires.

I put my arm around the shoulder of the woman sitting next to me and gently pulled her close, then placed my hand on her cheek as she looked up in surprise, reflexively. Just a few centimeters before our lips met, she looked down and gently pushed me back.

"Wait, there's something I haven't told you yet."
"...What?"

I asked calmly while keeping the distance closed.

"I... am getting married."

At those words, I felt a stinging sensation deep in my chest. Even so, I had known from the beginning that she had a partner, and now that it had been upgraded to a fiancé, I couldn't back down at this point.
That kind of thing doesn't matter anymore now.

"Yeah, I see."

I turned her face toward me a bit forcefully.

"...Sorry, I really can't."

More strength went into her arms as she tried to push me back.

"...Do you hate it?"

Her eyes widened at my words.
I didn't miss the moment her resistance weakened, kissed her, and held her tightly.
Deeper, again and again, I kissed her ravenously and gently pushed her down.
In the depths of the eyes looking back at me, a hint of confusion was still visible, but she offered no further resistance and accepted me...