When things get too hot, rain comes in to save the day. The atmosphere had been boiling for two months straight despite it technically being late winter.

Well, it all came to a halt, as due to the heat, even the clouds began to sweat.

And sweat they did. The entire town was covered with a heavy downpour.

Usually, a town would enjoy the smell of the first rain and bask in the rapidly cooled air. But most of many farmers on our way back were busy protecting their fields with barrier devices.

This was an agricultural region after all. Off-season rain was almost as bad as a swarm of locusts to them.

For the people who didn't participate in agriculture religiously, today was just a shower that proceeded a scalding day. It was rather sudden, but it wasn't unexpected.

The phone told us when the rain would start down to the very second.

Only if these old folks turned it on they could have been prepared for this without busting their backs. Well, you win some you lose some.

Naturally, our house was prepared. Like responsible children, we warned the two ancient ones about the rain and they set the barrier up, right in the morning.

"It smells sooo goood!" Yuuno took a good whiff of the surroundings. There was a patter on top of the umbrellas provided by our school. You are supposed to bring them back, but the school had stock so that if it didn't rain in the morning, you wouldn't have to lug one around.

"Stop sniffing like a dog. I can hear your nose from here."

"Why are you constantly moody? Do you have to retort about everything?" Why was she giving me a natural mature response? It was almost like she was in a good mood.

Ew.

Snapping back wasn't fun if I was the only one doing it.

"Whatever you say. It does smell rather nice, Yuuno."

"See? That's better. Wasn't that hard was it?" Here comes the condescending tone. I started treating her voice as the white noise coming from the rain. It all blended together rather well.

It was nice that we had umbrellas but it meant that there was a little more distance between the three of us.

Luha wasn't fond of the distance. It meant that she couldn't use either of us as transport. You could see her pout.

But at least we weren't wet at al-!!!

A strong gust of wind, an updraft from our hand and the very next second the umbrellas turned inside out.

"SONOFA-"

"Mao! Language! We have a kid here."

"Oh dearie lord, my umbrella seems to have been mangled beyond repair. What do I dooo?"

"You run!"

Yuuno grabbed us one second, the next second we were on her shoulder, and the one after that going off at blazing speed.

The wind was cold and the raindrops hurt.

But the ride didn't last very long. By the time we realised what was going on here, we were in a small wooden shop.

Cobblestone at the bottom, dark wood planks on top. It smelled of incense sticks and moistness.

"Seems like we have quite the young ones for customers today." A creepy lady emerged from the back of the shop.

"Shop?" Mind you, I still didn't know where we were, it happened so quick... But there were a bunch of snacks laid in front of us. "A dagashi shop, huh? Of all the places, that's where you took us?"

{a/n: dagashiya i believe it's called. also ame dagashi is some really stupid crap that i came up with. from what ik ame is sweet (noun) and is rain... and dagashi is a snack which includes sweets like candies. this trivia is not funny or cool, i just couldn't come up with a better name.}

"Why do you sound so sarcastic? You should be grateful. This was the one closest to the place where our umbrellas blew away and in the direction to our home." Yuuno said while wringing out the water from her and Luha's uniform.

"I know I know... What's wrong with a dagashi shop?" The lady loomed over us almost like a ghost. If you ever asked me what sadako would have looked like in real life, it would be this lady.

Not very fit to run a shop for kids, huh?

"The snacks…" I replied and her face became bitter. "I mean, don't get me wrong… for mass-produced stuff, this is fine. But we are used to having top class food." I sounded so snobbish but it was true.

My dad was the greatest cook in the world. That held true even for snacks. I thought back to the pudding we made together all two years ago.

"Hehe~ So that's what it is." Her creepy smile turned into a competitive one. "What if I can make you say that my snacks are good?" She got closer.

"What is this some Dagashi Kashi episode?" I quipped.

No reply just anticipation.

"Well, if you can do that, I'll gladly come back here once a week with these two." My statement alone was able to light up the faces of the two kids next to me.

"That works! It's better than the usual 0 customers a week we get here." How does this lady even run her business? "What about the two ladies?"

"They can taste, I'll pay… but they won't compete. One of them has the tastebuds of a kid and the other one eats anything." Yuuno was the one with a kid's tastebuds cuz she liked puddings and stuff like that. Luha was the one who could eat something like that loveless ham sandwich. "Either way, if you counted them it'd be an easy win."

The lady's smile only expanded as two slaps struck my back. Two bashful girls behind me. Well, one was an old lady on the inside.

Anyhow, we took a seat under the shed as the rain fell a few meters away from us. There were fields and lamp posts laid out in front of us. Sounds of frogs and rain hitting the plastic sheath on top of us.

The battle began.

{a/n: DISCLAIMER! I've never had any of these before or even seen them. My only source here is Wikipedia and YouTube. Take this with a grain of salt.}

Round 1 : Big Katsu. (Basically a pseudo tonkatsu with fish instead of pork.)

I took a bit of the snack and it was decent. But compared to Dad's real stuff? It didn't even hold a candle. It had a bite, but no decent crunch. The fish flavour was a little too strong and the piece itself was a little too thin.

My tastebuds were far from satiated.

The two beside me were enjoying the snack thoroughly. Good job I didn't let them into the competition.

As we finished, the woman walked in to take a look at my face and immediately recognised the dissatisfaction. Not a single word was spoken. Even more pumped up than before, she then headed back inside.

Round 2 : Botan Rice Candy. (Soft, chewy, citrus-flavoured candy.)

I took a piece and immediately regretted it.

I did appreciate my sweets. But this was a bit too much. Even accounting for the texture, the whole thing was very artificial. Especially the lemony flavour was overwhelming.

But as time passed and it mellowed down, the sweet as a whole was rather refreshing.

The girl right next to me with her brilliant silver hair was having a blast.

Unfortunately, after looking at my face, the lady headed back inside.

Round 3 : Yan Yan. (Kinder sticks.)

Now I didn't know whether or not the lady took the cue or not, but sweet was not the way to my stomach. Yan Yan, the texture and crunch were great. The strawberry sweetening almost tasted like cold medicine though.

When she came back to pick the trash up from us, she noticed my face. It was then that a lightbulb replaced her face. She acted as if she figured my tastebuds out. A smug grin on the creepy lady's face.

Round 4: Butamen. (Small ramen for kids.)

Out came three plastic containers. Each was filled with warm water and some noodles.

Crap, this was going to be a tough one. Ramen on a cold rainy day?

'Stoppp I can only get so hard.'

I got my share and as I did a cold wind blew. This weather was perfect for the meal.

I took a slurp. It was good. Savoury. I could taste the MSG. It wasn't as good as back home. But eating was an experience.

The feeling of the cup warming my cold hands… the feeling of the noodles touching my wet lips. The smiles of the two girls around me. The sound of slurping. The warmth down my food pipe.

It felt incredible.

It was an experience indeed. For a moment, I became aware that the moment I was living in was everything I had ever wanted in my previous life. This peace? This serenity? It was worth more than what any power could amount to.

"Guess this will become a weekly thing then." I gave up. The lady fist pumped.

Well, this was good enough.

###

"Pray tell me how much did you guys eat today?" Us eating that many snacks were lapses in our judgements. We forgot about the scarier lady back home.

Let's just say that the scolding session took its time today.