When She Becomes a Witch

The pounding, the pounding, the pounding, the pounding, the rain continues.

The vitreous window was brittle and the rain was stunning.

On the curly window of the classroom, Chloe draws a whirlpool as she twirls with her fingertips.

The short spring in the Atlantis Islands is over, and the rainy season.

The most depressing season of the year has arrived.

It's usually Atlantis with lots of nice weather, but it rains for days all this time.

"There's a twill over here, too."

That's how Souzillow shrugged without even looking at this one as he painted the design painting.

"Tsuyu? Is that what you call long rain in Smeramikuni?

"Long rain, or this rainy season. That's what they call a rainy season before it's full summer."

"Oh well. But Tsuyu sounds kind of beautiful."

Saying so, he turned this way. That look looks very unexpected.

"... do you?

"Yeah."

Such a name, like a shiver of rain, pouring down on a green leaf.

Tell Souzillo that as it were, he laughed bitterly this time.

"I want to teach Chloe the rain and humidity of Smeramicuni, not at all"

"Is it that bad?

"Whatever this time of year, it hurts in no time. Especially the food. Even if you think it's a little while away, it's not working right away. And a cloth. Clothes are moist and moldy at all times."

"That's troublesome."

"Right?"

Two laughs sound small in an unpopular classroom.

The rain still has no sign of stopping.

I don't even have a club today.

Since when do I feel comfortable relaxing and spending time with Souzillo?

"Chloe, could you take a look at this for a second"

That's what Souzillo put on the big work desk, a beautifully wrapped cloth.

Apparently it is made of smooth silk and I can see it being matte.

"What's this? Sounds like a lot of fine silk though."

"My parents sent me the other day. It's a cloth called Yuzen made in the West Capital."

Souzillow spreads the cloth slightly.

There, the natural scenery remains intact but beautifully painted.

Unseen birds floating on the water and plants that don't even know their names. And poor blooming flowers.

There is such an overly luxurious presence there, no longer worthy of calling it a painting, rather than a patterned cloth.

"Soujiro... what is this?"

"I told my parents I couldn't do it and they procured it.... In the summer, there are exams at the end of the school year. That's for the Magic Dress."

"I knew you were?!

Chloe didn't think, she uttered such a voice, like a screaming cheer.

Of course I'm happy to be able to wear a dress made of a beautiful cloth.

But before that, I get the feeling that this is something a student witch like Chloe could wear.

"That's all I mean, for the next exam. That's all you have to do to win. No, but it's about as dangerous as whether you can win. 'Cause the number one sig is a genius, and that's in a double sense."

That's what he says in shame, touching the flowers blooming in Yuzen.

Sig Arcanna, the second-largest in the first year of sartorial science, is clearly a dressmaking genius.

Always bright and a bit of a favorite boy, he is a dressmaking genius as well as a hard-working genius.

The gift and taste of nature, the mind that always forgets the effort and the spiritual power that sustains it, in addition to that, the environment of a family of excellent tailors even in Atlantis.

Exactly, Sig was the supreme for the first year of tailoring.

"Souzillow"

"He's everything he can have, and he keeps trying and getting results. So, so do I. I'll do whatever I can. I'll use everything in my parents' house.... Either way, I can learn in this school because I originally owed it to my parents' understanding and money."

That's what I said, a lot. He turned to the side.

"... sucks, awesome. But I can't win this much. To Sig, to Rio. When I'm in this school, I'm reminded I haven't got anything yet."

With a trembling voice, he squeezes out so.

That's not true, Souzillow is trying.

It's too easy to say that, but you won't get to him with those words.

"That's not true, Saudirou is..."

Chloe stopped the words there. And say it again.

"I've got a lot for Souzillo. I got a lot."

The sound of the rain grains pounding on the glass windows only echoes.

"Chloe, you know"

Finally, he opened his mouth.

He's letting his gaze wander without looking at Chloe.

"Am I really being given something by you?"

Chloe scowls at the words.

"... maybe I've just been making dresses the way I want to. Put that on you, maybe I was just self-satisfied.... all the time, as has always been the case"

"Once upon a time?"

So Souzillow shook his head again and again as he panicked.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing.... I want you to forget about that one now. Please, forget it."

Tell him to fix it, and he rewinds Yuzen back to normal.

The small Smeramicuni landscape painted on the cloth quickly became invisible.

"... Are you leaving today? I'm sure it won't stop raining."

"Yeah, you are."

Puffy, puffy, puffy, puffy, still raining.