Under the pouring rain, an umbrella from you

—-------

The girl takes some seeds from her bare hand and sows them into every person she has met.

Not every seed germinates, but they are still there, waiting for a chance to be found out, accepted and watered by their owners.

"You still continue, even though you've been rejected and hurt countless times?"

"Yes."

She looked at the other girl and gave her a serious reply.

"Just like you."

—-------

Mesmer Jr. didn't know since when she herself and people around her started to see "rain" as an ominous weather.

Gray clouds, lightning, thunder, humid air and strong winds.

If two of the things listed above come together, there may be a high chance that a rain is approaching.

So is The Storm.

Both a normal rain and The Storm have similar weather signs before they occur, so that's why people couldn't recognize the first Storm until an era was completely wiped out and the time began to turn back.

After doing several experiments and failing many times, the surviving people of 1999 and other lost eras had learnt a specific trait to detect if that horrible calamity was on its way.

That trait was called The Storm's syndromes.

Those inexplicable syndromes only appear on humans, while arcanists and arcane creatures are immune to them.

Anyways, a rainy day can trigger the hidden trauma of those who have directly faced The Storm themselves.

It reminds them that the dear ones and the familiar eras where they had spent for the most of their lives had already disappeared.

By their bare eyes and broken hearts, they've become the remaining witnesses watching the destruction of their times.

Mesmer Jr. has seen the light in those bright gray eyes fade many times.

That small figure walked into The Storm with an umbrella bigger than herself and when she came back, she would immediately receive psychological treatment after handing over her mission's results to Laplace.

At first, Mesmer Jr. wasn't her main "therapist".

It was someone else, as they considered her mental state wasn't that "worst".

However, the more times that girl entered the Storm, the worse her mental state became.

Although her face didn't show much emotions or the way she responded to questions was normal, her examinations had shown that her mind wasn't at a controllable state anymore.

That was when Mesmer Jr. was appointed to handle her case.

..........

"It's raining outside."

The red brown-haired therapist raised her head to look at the person who just started a conversation out of nowhere.

"The weather in the suitcase is not different from the world outside, except for its randomness."

Mesmer Jr. remained silent, but she had stopped her current writings to listen to her special patient.

"Members of the suitcase can be divided into three groups: those that like rainy days, those that don't and those that stay neutral."

"For example, Druvis III prefers rain because it helps the plants grow. Meanwhile, Pickles thinks that rain separates us from each other."

"I may belong to the neutral group, since I don't actually hold any unique emotion for it."

"To me, as long as it's the usual rainy day, I'm fine with it."

Mesmer Jr. had to admit that the person in front of her had a talent of acting like she was totally normal.

A rather annoying talent to any therapist, though.

"Through the white curtain made of rain, my eyes can't see anything further. My mind then turns blank and my ears are covered with the sound of water pouring from the gray clouds."

"The pungent smell of earth is full of my nose, while the cold winds give my skin goosebumps."

"I used to have a thought that if I went straight to that heavy rain without an umbrella, would I be swallowed and disappear without a trace?"

The girl closed her gray eyes for a moment and opened them again.

"I'm sorry if I had stepped on the boundary."

"Can you let me pass today, too?"

Mesmer Jr. slightly knitted her eyebrows.

"What's your reason?"

After watching the other for a while, she asked in an indifferent tone.

"I've promised to go with someone to see a bridge."

That girl always used promises as her excuses.  But she was truly the type of person who would make several promises with others and seriously fulfilled them one by one.

"Your mental state is slightly above the average point. Going out for missions or violence is not recommended."

A report of the examination was soon completed.

"Now you can go."

The gray-haired girl nodded.

"Thank you, Mesmer Jr."

"Remember to bring an umbrella if you're about to go inside the rain."

The red brown-haired therapist said.

"Don't let me tie it into your hand."

"I won't."

Vertin gave the other person a hearty smile.

Next, they said goodbye to each other as they have done many times recently.