Transmigrated into a World of Reversed Roles
Chapter Twenty-six

Evening.

After finishing my call with the manager to ask for a day off today, I looked at my phone for a moment and checked my contacts. Tapped on Yona’s name and opened our message history, my message still hadn’t been replied to or even read by her.

The sound of raindrops falling could be heard. Outside the window, the evening sky had turned cloudy, making everything feel dark.

"Seriously, what is Yona doing."

I still hadn’t found her. After I parted ways with Yuri during lunch break earlier, I didn’t give up on looking for her. But I never found her. It was as if she was trying to stay away from me.

"Did I make her mad because I fainted in the middle of our date yesterday? Did I trouble her too much?"

But that was impossible. Knowing her personality, she could never be so mean as to get upset at someone who suddenly got a fever. It was purely an accident. Besides, if she was really mad at me, she wouldn’t have stayed with me until Dad came to the hospital.

"... Or maybe, she is blaming herself again?"

Yona was always like that. Not just in the old world, or this new one. She has a habit of blaming herself.

Back when we were still in kindergarten, I remember we once made a sand house together in the park. It wasn’t that impressive, since it was made by baby hands. So in less than a minute, the sand house we made collapsed when Yona tried to add decorations, making her cry and apologize for breaking it. Even though honestly, I didn’t care that much.

For this Yona in this world, she is no different. Sure, she was at fault for running into me, but how many times have I told her I don’t care about the injury I got? Just to take responsibility, she even lowered her pride so far as to ask me to marry her.

"If only Dad hadn’t interfered and made us have lunch together, maybe our relationship would still be stagnant right now."

Letting out a long sigh, the air felt colder now. I wanted to go home quickly. It would be stupid if I caught another fever after just getting discharged from the hospital.

I walked down the hallway. The school was already quiet by now. After all, class hours had ended. The only ones left were students in indoor clubs or those who forgot their umbrellas and couldn’t go home.

Since I always bring an umbrella even when it’s not rainy season, I didn’t end up like the latter. Alone, with no friends to talk to, just playing with phone in boredom while waiting for the rain to stop.

Kaito actually also forgot to bring an umbrella. But since he suddenly said his new girlfriend had come to pick him up at the front gate, he left me alone just like that.

My feet stopped for a moment in front of a classroom. I reached out my hand to open the door. Of course, there was no one inside. Especially Yona’s seat.

"... My last option might be to go straight to her house later."

The memory of that night I spent with Yona crossed my mind. But I quickly brushed it off. I have no intention of hoping to see her in her underwear again, seriously.

I continued walking. Going down the stairs leading to the first-year classrooms, I passed by a student.

He raised his eyebrows when we came face to face.

"Ah, you’re the one looking for Yona earlier, right?"

"You haven’t gone home yet?"

"The Art Club has an activity today, so I’ll be staying here for a while. It’s not like I hate it though, since I also didn’t bring an umbrella. Anyway, did you find Yona?"

"... Not yet. I just checked her classroom but there was no one there."

"Aren’t you unlucky? I just saw her leave earlier, wearing her PE uniform."

"... PE uniform?"

"Yeah. I guess she wanted to run through the rain but didn’t want to get her regular uniform wet, so she changed LOL. Anyway, good luck finding her tomorrow. I’m heading to the club now."

Saying that, he continued walking up the stairs.

The rain was getting heavier, and a bad feeling began to fill my head.

"... She really went home, right?"

If she really went home, maybe that’s fine. Even if she got soaked, at least she went home. I could just visit her house later if that’s the case. But why did my gut tell me she wouldn’t go home just like that?

My feet started moving, then turned into a run. I opened my bag, took out the umbrella I always carry, and opened it. Stepping out of the building, I was already out of breath when I reached the running track.

At first, I was relieved because there was no one on the field. But that relief didn’t last long when I turned toward the Track Club building. My breath caught in my throat.

Because Yona was there. Standing outside the building, wearing her PE uniform, finishing her stretches and then stepping down onto the track.

Then, she started running.

From head to toe, she was already drenched. As if she didn’t even notice it was raining, her body kept moving around the track. There was no one with her. No clubmates, no teacher supervising her.

"What is she doing!?"

Without wasting time being surprised, I went down to the field too. Everything was muddy with puddles. My shoes got soaked, and my pants got wet from stepping in it. Dad might get mad because he’d have to wash them, but I was sure he’d be angrier if I left Yona alone here.

Once I reached the middle of the track and stood in her path, the girl with the ponytail finally noticed me. Her eyes, which looked empty at first, widened when she saw me. She quickened her pace and stopped right in front of me.

"Ren!? Why are you all wet? Did you get caught in the rain again? What if you get another fever!"

"... How about you look at yourself first?"

Our voices sounded so quiet in the middle of the rain. If we weren’t standing this close, we wouldn’t have been able to hear each other at all.

Yona followed my words and looked at herself. She was in worse condition than me. Her PE clothes stuck tightly to her body from all the rain they had absorbed. Her face was pale, with hair plastered to her cheeks.

I held out my umbrella to block the rain from drenching her even more.

"..."

"Let's take shelter."

With that, I took her hand. Making sure the umbrella kept covering her, we left the field together.

There were so many things I wanted to ask her. So many that I didn’t even know which question to ask first. So for now, I would hold back. At least until she was warm again.

"... I’m sorry."

"Don’t try to act like I’m going to scold you. I’m not your parent."