Chapter: 160. The Escape in the Rain (Part 1)
A sudden downpour enveloped the city of Chuanxi.
Under the torrential rain, the entire city seemed to be submerged in a haze of grayness.
As the door of the inn was pushed open, the storm brought in a gust of fresh, unusually cold air for summer, splashing against the puddles on the ground and creating tiny waves.
Kanade and Nagi stood at the entrance of the inn.
Their actions attracted the curious gazes of the inn staff.
After all, no one would willingly go out in such weather.
But for Kanade, it was crucial to leave this city at a moment’s notice and get away from Chuanye.
He exchanged glances with Nagi; they said nothing, but her gentle gaze provided him with precious warmth against the chill of the wind.
Kanade opened the umbrella to shelter both himself and Nagi from the rain.
Raindrops beat heavily against the umbrella, creating a dull and rapid sound.
Together, they stepped into the storm that shouldn’t have existed.
Kanade remembered that he had never experienced this rain before reverting the world line. Today, both Chuanxi and Chuanye should be clear and sunny.
However, he decided not to think about this problem for now and simply attributed it to the effects of the world line changes. After all, the details brought about by “rewriting the world” were countless, and similar butterfly effects often appeared in the many works of similar themes he had seen.
He didn’t want to dwell too much on these unknown deviations, focusing only on leaving as soon as possible.
Under the curtain of rain, the streets appeared blurry and oppressive, with water pooling beyond the curbs and streaming continuously down the drains.
As the city was shrouded in thick clouds, the shops along the streets lit up their signs.
The neon lights of the shops reflected on the wet ground and were distorted into a patchwork of colors in the water.
The few pedestrians on the street all kept their heads down, hurriedly walking as if they wanted to reach their destination as quickly as possible, unwilling to linger even a moment longer in the cold rain.
Kanade and Nagi walked side by side, the space under the umbrella was small, forcing their shoulders to press closely together.
This scene made Kanade reminisce about the memories of walking home from school with Nagi on rainy days during their childhood.
Back then, he would often forget to bring an umbrella, so he would have to sneak under the umbrella Nagi held up, feeling shy about sharing the same umbrella with her. Yet, on the way home, he could feel Nagi’s warmth through their close contact, her lovely voice echoing in his ears.
Kanade secretly sighed in his heart.
Unknowingly, he and Nagi had officially become a couple. Even the once-embarrassing “lover’s umbrella” could now be faced openly. Yet, there was always an unsettling feeling in his heart; even though he was closer to Nagi than ever before, it felt as though she might vanish before him at any moment.
Nagi’s hand gently curled around his sleeve, her fingertips slightly cool, seeming a bit anxious as she held on tighter.
Kanade noticed Nagi’s small gesture and turned to look at her, only to see her eyelids lowered, her lips lightly pressed together, as if lost in thought.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.
“……This rain.” Nagi’s voice seemed somewhat unsteady, as if parts of it were swallowed by the sound of the rain, “I just feel… a bit uneasy.”
Nagi, who usually reacted with optimism, caused Kanade’s heart to jump.
This behavior in comparable stories often hinted at something about to happen next.
“It’s alright. Let’s go.”
Kanade didn’t want to dwell on the issue any longer.
He forced himself to appear calm, displaying an optimistic tone as he interrupted Nagi, while firmly holding her slightly cold hand.
—They had to leave this place quickly.
After walking for several dozen minutes, the outline of the bus station finally emerged at the end of their line of sight.
Rainwater dripped continuously from the edge of the bus sign, and the characters on the notice board were blurred by the rain.
However, thanks to his extraordinary vision, Kanade could still clearly see the text on the sign.
The information conveyed made his heart tremble slightly—
[Due to heavy rain causing track flooding, all trains are temporarily stopped today, resumption time to be determined]
For Kanade, in that instant, the world seemed to fall into a stagnant silence.
—Was it a coincidence? No, that was not right.
Standing in the rain, he quietly stared at the line of text, his fingers tightening around the umbrella’s handle.
How could it be possible for a sudden storm strong enough to halt trains to arise when just a short while ago, the weather had been clear and sunny?
—Is this… a correction of the world line?
This was the only explanation Kanade could think of at that moment.
Even though he had reverted the world line by “changing the world,” the world line itself would still attempt to correct everything through various “coincidences.”
An invisible force seemed to be slowly yet firmly pushing them back onto the trajectory of the previous world line.
…No way.
He would never sit back and do nothing.
“……Subaru-kun, what’s wrong?” His sudden halt seemed to intrigue Nagi.
“Um, it seems the trains are temporarily stopped due to the rain.”
“Eh!?”
While responding to Nagi’s question, Kanade took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.
His gaze scanned his surroundings quickly in search of other means to leave.
—Even if the tracks were flooded, the buses should still be running, right?
In small cities like Chuanye and Chuanxi situated in the mountains, there were quite a number of local buses connecting adjacent cities.
The train suspension left Kanade unable to leave Chuanxi, but as long as they could take a local bus to a city south of Chuanxi, they might still be able to catch other means of transportation from there—
Just as Kanade was contemplating this,
A bus slowly approached through the curtain of rain, coming to a stop right beside him.
This startled Kanade.
It was only then that he realized he had just happened to stop next to the bus station.
Rain was pounding against the bus’s windshield, and as the doors opened, the rainwater cascaded down the door, with warm yellow lights from inside the bus spilling onto the ground, like an invisible guide waiting for him to step inside.
Just as he felt lucky and was about to pull Nagi onto the bus, he caught a glimpse of the flickering text on the electronic display inside.
That was the destination of the bus’s next stop—
Chuanye.
Kanade’s footsteps halted suddenly, and his heart contracted sharply.
Logically speaking, it would be entirely normal for a local bus to have a route to the neighboring city. They could simply seek out the reverse route.
But for Kanade, all these coincidences felt unsettling.
It was as if this world was genuinely trying to correct his course of action, forcing him to step back onto the path of the previous world line, once again heading towards Chuanye.
Kanade abruptly halted, letting the rainwater drip from the edge of the umbrella and soak his pant legs.
He didn’t get on the bus; he merely stood there, his expression stern as he met the bus driver’s surprised gaze before slowly shaking his head.
“Sorry, we won’t be getting on.”
The bus driver nodded politely as always, no further questions asked. He pressed the button to close the doors, started the engine, and slowly pulled away from the platform, splashing a wave of water.
Kanade silently watched the bus depart, rain hitting his face, cold enough to feel like a warning.
He had a premonition that even if he found a bus going in the reverse direction, it would face a stoppage as well.
For a brief moment.
Kanade even considered using his abilities to escape this city with Nagi.
Though at this distance, it was highly likely that he would be noticed by the special circle SEMA personnel lurking in Chuanye, still, if he utilized his remaining three rewriting opportunities…
The moment he thought that he now had only three opportunities left, Kanade felt uneasy about the future.
At that moment.
A flash of yellow caught his attention at a nearby intersection.
It was a taxi parked in the rain, its yellow body distinctly visible on the dimly lit street.
“Shall we take a taxi?” Nagi tilted her head curiously, looking at Kanade.
Upon hearing this, Kanade decided to make one last attempt, nodded, and walked over with Nagi to the taxi.
As they approached,
The window slowly rolled down, revealing a wrinkled, kind face.
It was a friendly old man wearing a somewhat worn black “TSUBASA” baseball cap and dark work clothes, resembling a taxi driver who had just come off a long shift.
He leaned out, speaking with warmth and a tinge of concern:
“Young man, young lady, with this heavy rain, you’re not thinking of walking home, are you? Want a ride?”
“Um, could you take us to the closest city?” Nagi gently asked, leaning slightly down.
The old man’s expression showed a hint of surprise.
“……You want to leave Chuanxi in this weather?”
The old man seemed to hesitate for a moment but finally pushed up his hat’s brim, revealing a cheerful smile: “Well then, hurry up and get in; we might still make it to Chuanye before the expressway gets closed due to the rain—”
“—W-wait, that’s not right; it’s in the opposite direction…” Nagi hesitantly interrupted, her voice filled with difficulty.
Hearing this, the old man froze for a moment and then sighed heavily.
“That’s a problem then…”
At this, Kanade felt a tightness in his chest and interjected, “Why?”
“We just received a notification that the rain is too heavy, and the national road leading over there is already flooded; even the expressway is closed, and ordinary vehicles can’t get through.” The old man explained, gesturing toward the distance, where the rolling hills could be faintly seen through the rain.
—So, it really won’t go smoothly?
Kanade had actually anticipated this outcome long ago.
But the taxi driver’s next words reignited the hope within him.
“If you really want to go—”
The old man paused, as if weighing whether to continue, but under the expectant gazes of Kanade and Nagi, he finally spoke slowly:
“Then we can only take the mountain road.”
From an angle where Kanade couldn’t see, the taxi driver adjusted his hat, and the eyes glimmering under its brim shone with a faint red light.
