School Trip Day 5

As I woke up in the morning and turned on my phone, countless missed calls flooded the screen.

“…Maybe I overdid it,” I thought, feeling a pang of guilt, but my anger still overshadowed it.

Heading to the breakfast area with Kurumi, I saw Kiyohito.

“Hey, Marin-sama. Where’s Aoi?”

“Huh? I don’t know…”

“What? Wasn’t he with you?”

“…He wasn’t in my room.”

“He’s not here either.”

Realizing the gravity of the situation, I said, “I’ll go look for him.”

“Wait, we need to report this to the teacher first…”

“Sorry, Kiyohito, you handle that,” I said, running outside.

It was then that I realized my mistake. What I did was the same as the abuse he faced from his family.

Those days of being ignored…

And I did that to someone I love.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

I wanted to apologize, to say I’m sorry, to promise never to do it again. I wanted to hold him, to tell him not to hate me, to tell him how much I love him.

I was such an idiot, thinking only of myself. Aoi-kun, I want to see you. I love you! I dialed his number repeatedly as I ran, but he never picked up.

Using my map, I frantically searched for the park.

The first park, the second park… He wasn’t there.

Panting heavily, I kept running, grateful for my stamina and speed.

Finally, I spotted Aoi-kun lying on a bench in the third park.

“…Aoi-kun.”

He slowly opened his eyes at the sound of my voice.

“…Marin-chan… I’m sorry.”

“Why… Why are you apologizing? It’s my fault… I knew what you’d been through… and yet… I did the same thing as those people! I’m the worst! I’m… I’m…!”

“No, you’re not the same. You came looking for me, out of breath and crying. That means a lot to me,” he said, smiling wearily.

I hugged him tightly.

“I’ll never do something like this again! So… please…”

“Hey, Marin-chan.”

“…?”

He lifted my left hand and slid a ring on my finger.

“…Will you… marry me?”

The words I had longed to hear, the words I had always wanted to hear. Tears of a different kind streamed down my face.

“…Yes!” I said, smiling as cutely as I could.

And so, I was proposed to for the first time.

(Aye, clap clap clap clap)

◇(Aoi’s POV)

Both of us got a severe scolding from the teacher.

“…You two, honestly…” 

“Oh, come on! All’s well that ends well!”

“…Sigh. I’m counting on you, Shiozaki.”

“Yes,” we both replied in unison.

“Hey, hey, hey, you okay?”

“Sorry, I made you worry.”

“You, who’s usually so quiet, sometimes pull off the most daring stunts. Seriously. But hey, you’re looking good.”

Shortly after, we boarded the plane back to Tokyo.

While 90% of our classmates were fast asleep, Marin-chan and I were wide awake.

Despite being incredibly tired, I couldn’t sleep. My heart was racing.

Marin-chan gently held my hand and giggled, “Ehehe.”

This angel! Seriously, an angel! Just look at her, she’s really cute…

“…You can sleep, you know?”

“Aoi-kun, you can sleep too, you must be tired, right?”

“Yeah… but I can’t seem to fall asleep.”

“Is that so…”

“…”

It wasn’t an awkward silence. I could tell we were both acutely aware of each other.

“…Let’s keep doing our best together, okay?”

“…Yeah.”

Then she leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Hey, let’s kiss?”

“No, that’s a bit…”

“Everyone’s asleep, it’s ok.”

“But…”

Ignoring my words, Marin-chan nibbled on my ear.

“O-Oi!”

“…Ehehe”

“You two…”

Turning around, I saw our homeroom teacher, Kunioka-sensei, standing with his arms crossed.

“Hehe,” we laughed, only to receive a playful but firm punch of jealousy from the teacher.