After Reaching the Happy Ending, I Was Locked up by the Extremely Possessive Heroines I Had Conquered - Chapter 17.2: This Is My Proposal

Chapter 17.2: This Is My Proposal

That was probably the right level. I carefully turned the knob down to that position.

“…”

Before pressing the mic button, I noticed one labeled “Call Sign.”

When I pressed it, a nostalgic chime—ping pong pang pong—rang out in the room. It was the island broadcast’s start signal.

“Phew…”

No turning back now, I thought as I gripped the mic and took a deep breath.

“…”

Whenever I tried to do something protagonist-like, I always ended up questioning myself.

—Did I even have the right to do that?

Did I have the qualification to take on the actions, the role, the responsibility that were supposed to be the protagonist’s?

As a reincarnate, wasn’t I just an outsider?

Honestly, thinking about it wouldn’t yield any answers, and there was no way to know the right one, but I couldn’t help pondering it. And I thought.

—Yeah, as expected, I’m not cut out to be the protagonist.

Because I was this scared. Because the trembling wouldn’t stop. Unlike the protagonist, I wasn’t brave.

—Even so.

I pictured Satori’s face. Her gruff smile, her languid voice, the sharp eyes she sometimes showed, like a carnivore.

Imagining her like that naturally stirred something hot deep in my chest.

In the end, it was I who was being saved.

In this world with no acquaintances or family, she and the others were my only support.

They were the only ones I could open my heart to, be myself with—everything…

“!”

I steeled myself, gripped the mic tight, pressed the button, took one more deep breath—and raised my voice.

“Satori, can you hear me? It’s me, Akira. Akira Akiyoshi.”

Honestly, I had no idea if my voice was getting through. The signal might be unstable, and there was no guarantee Satori was listening.

Even so, I had no choice but to believe. I had to shout, believing the words would reach her.

“Getting straight to the point…”

I paused for breath and said it.

“—Will you come to my house right now?”

“I have something important to talk about. About the future, about our lives ahead—I want to discuss it.”

My hand trembled on the mic. Even so, I continued.

So that Satori, hearing this broadcast, would definitely come to my house. So that she absolutely wouldn’t approach the shrine.

“I have a dream. A dream to make games. The trigger… sorry, honestly, I don’t remember well.”

“But before I knew it, games had saved me, and before I knew it, I wanted to make them.”

When I was young, my family moved around a lot for work. I changed schools repeatedly and had to part from friends I’d just made.

Tired of that life, I gradually found making friends a hassle…

I stopped playing with anyone, stopped interacting with anyone, and just immersed myself in games.

The loneliness and emptiness from then—games filled it all. Games were my only support.

“So I want to make that dream come true. But to do it, staying like this won’t work.”

On this island, I couldn’t fulfill my dream. Sooner or later, I’d have to move to the city.

“Of course, I’ll keep that promise from before. I love your stories too, Satori. I love them so much I want to listen forever.”

“Forever” wasn’t an exaggeration.

Spending time with Satori was as important to me as fulfilling my dream.

“So what I’m saying is, I want to talk about everything together. About the future, about dreams—everything.”

“So come to the house right now. See, I want to spend my whole life with you—”

Before I could finish, a massive thunderclap boomed. It must have struck nearby, enveloping everything in a flash of light for an instant.

With that, the breaker tripped, and the room’s lights went out.

The noise filling the room cut off, and silence enveloped the interior.

“…The timing sucks.”

Well, but most of what I wanted to say should have gotten through. I could only hope she heard it and came to the house.

“Phew…”

I collapsed onto the floor, catching my breath. The tension had worn me out completely. I was so exhausted I couldn’t stand.

But it wasn’t over yet.

For safety, I’d stake out in front of the shrine.

If Satori tried to go back to her house, I’d have to turn her away immediately.

With that in mind, I left the broadcast room and descended the stairs in the dark.

I retrieved my shoes and headed for the entrance when…

“Hm?”

Something approached from the front—a shadow closing in at tremendous speed…

Footsteps pattered, the entrance lock clicked open, and someone burst in forcefully.

In the darkness, silver hair glinted as it swayed—the girl with silver hair I wanted to see most in this world right now.

“Awawawawawawawawa!”

The moment our eyes met, she started groaning in a fluster—it was the drenched Satori.

“Akira! Wh-wh-wh-what are you doing⁉︎”

Satori’s voice was full of confusion and agitation; she must have run here, gasping for breath. Hands on her knees, she panted roughly.

“I was calling out to you, Satori.”

As I muttered, Satori immediately raised her voice.

“The whole island heard it!”

“Really?”

“I heard it from the ferry terminal too. Not just islanders—people off the island heard it!”

Her face flushed red as she pressed closer.

Unable to hide her fluster, she fidgeted with a tormented expression, insisting on her grievance.

“Uncle definitely heard it too!”

“Yeah.”

Watching Satori like that, a smile naturally overflowed. The relief of finding her and her flustered state were just too endearing.

“Wh-wh-wh-what are we gonna do? The whole island knows now? About our relationship!”

“No, there’s nothing to know. I just invited you to the house—”

“That’s the problem! A huge problem!”

“Eh…”

“Come on, that’s foul play. Anyone would—”

As she started to say it, thunder struck again. A deafening boom lit up the dark community center brilliantly.

“Eek—”

Startled by that, Satori clung to me. Her wet body pressed close, transmitting her cold chill and, at the same time, her pounding heartbeat.

“…”

After a moment of silence, our eyes met.

Her moist eyes gleamed faintly, and her silver hair clung wetly.

Even so, her hair hadn’t lost its luster; it shone radiantly in the light.

As I lost myself gazing at her beauty, Satori pursed her lips and murmured softly.

“You’re sly. After proposing, this…”

“Hm?”

“You’re sly! A proposal like that!”

“…Hm?”

That was odd. An unfamiliar word echoed in my ears.

I thought I heard “proposal” just now, but it must be my imagination.

“…”

Yeah, it had to be.

But if she misunderstood, that would be trouble, so just to be sure—really just to be sure—I should correct it.

“No, no, it wasn’t a proposal—”

“A proposal!”

“It’s not—”

“A proposal!”

“I said it’s not. I just wanted to talk about the future with you—”

Before I could finish correcting her, Satori suddenly pressed a finger to my lips. The soft sensation touched me, forcibly silencing my words.

As if she wouldn’t allow any more speech, wouldn’t let me correct it—

She pressed it firmly.

The direct feel of her soft finger made my heart race wildly.

“Akira.”

Satori pulled her finger away, touched it to her own lips for a moment, and blushed shyly.

Then she leaned in closer.

“…”

At a distance where our noses nearly touched, her jewel-like eyes locked onto mine, and we simply gazed in silence.

“…”

Just looking into each other’s eyes felt like our hearts connected.

As if only the two of us existed in the world.

In that dense, eternally seeming silence that tricked me so,

“Let’s talk a lot about the future. A lifetime is really long. But before that…”

Satori gently grasped my shoulders, slowly closed her eyes, and stretched up tall, her silver hair brushing my cheek.

“…⁉︎”

The next instant, Satori’s lips touched mine.

My head boiled, thoughts melting away.

The feel of Satori’s lips, her warmth, her sweet scent raced through my body, gradually dissolving me.

It was soft, warm, faintly sweet—a sweet kiss.

“Mm…”

Satori pulled away quickly, her expression dazed as she touched her lips.

She traced them slowly, cherishingly with her fingers. Over and over.

Then, looking up at me,

“Akira.”

She called my name happily and declared firmly.

“—You’ll take responsibility.”

Her voice held unshakeable will and fathomless emotion…

—I realized there was no turning back.

And so, I succeeded in protecting Satori from the threat.