Epilogue
This chapter was translated by the wonderful shizuumi, and proofread by kuririn, yuugs, and dei-hime!
My fun and busy school life passed by in the blink of an eye...
It was finally my first spring as a high school graduate. After my graduation ceremony was over with, I enjoyed my early spring break to my heart's content. And of course, I spent it with my special someone...
The arcade by the train station was packed today, too.
After that fateful Valentine's Day of my first year, since I'd started hanging out with Nagakura-sensei, the arcade had become our favorite spot.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Awwwright, I'm treating you today!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "What? You can't. I'll be paying for myself."
Shinpachi Nagakura: "C'mon, it’s fine! Just be good and let the adult here pay for today. Alright?"
Even though he'd called himself the adult, Nagakura-sensei searched my features, like he wanted me to spoil him somehow.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Honestly..." I always folded whenever he looked at me with those eyes.
Although, lately, I had been positively dying to do something for Nagakura-sensei.
The day when I became an adult and would be able to return the favor to him would be a good one.
We went to play the crane game, and Nagakura-sensei looked around at all the multi-colored prizes on display, searching high and low through them.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Will it be alright? It looks like it'll be tricky with the way that plushie's placed..."
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Nah, it'll be fine! You're talkin' to a math teacher here! The crane's range of movement goes up to here, with around 60 percent of the doll's surface area being visible, and its center of gravity should be around..."
Chizuru Yukimura: "Hehe..."
Hearing Nagakura-sensei thinking to himself so intently made me giggle a bit. The way he looked while mumbling calculations to himself, dedicating his total concentration to playing the crane game… He looked like a little kid; he was adorable.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Hm? What's up, Yukimura-kun?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Nothing; I was just thinking that, when I took my entrance exams, I'd also chosen math as an elective… It’s thanks to you that I enjoy math so much now, Nagakura-sensei." That was why… I decided I wanted to study more, so I chose to continue my education into university after graduating.
Nagakura-sensei smiled shyly at me as I spoke, my tone a little nostalgic.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "...It's fun to dive into it when it’s stuff you like, isn’t it! I better work hard not to lose to you, myself."
Incidentally...
Despite the accuracy of his calculations, it seemed like that still didn't quite match the actual skill needed to execute them. Maybe that was why he hadn't gotten one of the prizes yet...
Chizuru Yukimura: "Maybe only going after the biggest one might be a bad idea."
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Well, you might have a point there...But even when it comes to horse racing, aiming for a lucky break also really fires me up."
Chizuru Yukimura: "......" Now that I really thought about it, maybe his problem wasn't with skill, but with luck instead...?
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Oh, Yukimura-kun, they put in a new stall over there!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "A new one?"
Nagakura-sensei was in high spirits as he pulled me by the hand and brought me to the corner where some shooting games were lined up.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Hohoh, which to play..."
He looked around to the side of the stall and read out the game's instructions.
Shinpachi Nagakura: " 'It's the end of the Edo era. In the peaceful town of Edo, countless Furies start swarming the land...' Looks like a game where you play as some samurai and mow down these man-eating Furies. ...The heck is a Fury?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Is it like...some kind of monster?"
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Well, whatever it is, how about we give it a shot? Up to two players can go at it!" Nagakura-sensei had brought me to the arcade plenty of times up until today, and I always challenged myself to try out new games. That was how I'd come to play games from more or less every kind of genre.
However...
Chizuru Yukimura: "But, it looks kind of scary..." Honestly, seeing the drawings of the Furies with white hair and glowing red eyes drawn on the side of the stall made me pretty reluctant to try.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "It'll be fine! 'Cause I'll be there to protect you no matter what, Yukimura-kun. Promise!! It'll be fine! 'Cause I'll be there to protect you no matter what. Promise!!"
Chizuru Yukimura: ".........Alright, then."
Hearing him speak so resolutely, I nodded at him while smiling. It honestly always felt like this.
In the end, I always folded to whatever Nagakura-sensei would say. Of course, I never felt like I seriously hated doing that, though.
(CG get!°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°)
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Let's do this, Yukimura-kun!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Let's give it our best shot!"
Nagakura-sensei was really hyped up, and he looked really cool with the way he held the katana-shaped controller. I steeled myself and took hold of the other one.
When I was by his side, with the way he charged head-first into everything with boundless curiosity, it felt like seeing a whole new world. Even being here at this arcade. I'd never thought I'd be coming here to play so frequently. I couldn't think of anyone who would be more fun to go with, either.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Hell yeah, eat that!" His eyes were utterly serious, trained on the screen, arms whirling out wide with his slashes and strikes.
The moves and decisions he made were quick and alert, with just the right precision as he cleaved his way through practically all the Furies coming after him.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Agh, dammit...!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "I'll cover you!"
Just before an enemy was about to eat Nagakura-sensei alive and cut our play short, I frantically swung my controller to stop it.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Yukimura-kun, thank you!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Leave the rear flank to me!"
Hearing Nagakura-sensei sound so happy naturally lifted my spirits, too.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Alright, stage cleared! We make the best team!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Yeah!"
He struck a triumphant pose, high on our win, and his grin stretched from ear to ear. Seeing him so ecstatic, my own lips melted into a smile, too. As I thought. The reason it was so fun at the arcade… It just had to be because he was here, wasn't it? At least, if he weren’t here by my side, I couldn't have this much fun.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Maaaan, that was a blast! You know, throughout the whole thing, you saved my hide more times than I can count."
Chizuru Yukimura: "But it's thanks to you taking the lead that we got so far! If I'd just played it by myself, I probably couldn't even have cleared the first stage."
Then, straightening up my posture, I looked right back at him.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Nagakura-sensei."
Shinpachi Nagakura: “..?”
I wanted to tell him one more time.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Even though I've graduated from Hakuo Academy, I hope you can take care of me from here on out. I make fresh discoveries when I'm with you. Each time that happens, I feel like I've grown into a newer version of myself. That's why, if it'd be at all possible… I want to keep spending time together with you from now on."
Shinpachi Nagakura: "...I feel the same way, too, you know. We'll see each other again even after the spring break." Smiling bashfully, he gave me a huge nod. "Keep in touch even when you're in uni, okay?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Of course!" The fact I'd forged a new promise with him warmed my heart so much.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Yukimura-kun, you got a lotta guts, and you look really mature, too. But you can be surprisingly child-like as well. I don't know what'll happen in the future, so I'm worried that we'll drift apart..."
Chizuru Yukimura: "......"
He seemed like he was genuinely worried about me in a heartfelt way.
I had mixed feelings, seeing him be like that. I wanted to say the exact same thing right back at him...
Shinpachi Nagakura: "I wanna treasure this girl from now on and even in the future, so I gotta look out for her...Mmm."
Chizuru Yukimura: "Nagakura-sensei?"
Shinpachi Nagakura: "...What the heck? What’s this squeezing feeling in my chest...?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Uh, Nagakura-sensei...?"
Shinpachi Nagakura: "No, I can't. This girl's basically like a little sister to me. Any more than this, and I'll―"
Chizuru Yukimura: "W-What's wrong!?"
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Huh!?" Nagakura-sensei's eyes opened wide as if he'd just come back to his senses, and then he went stiff. "What was I thinking just now...!?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Are you alright...?"
After asking him that in my confusion, he smiled sheepishly as if to dodge the question.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Hahaha... I'm fine. But… maybe I'm not, really..." After saying that, he turned to face me. "...Um, so, we don't really have a teacher-student relationship any longer, so I thought… I was thinking...I could, uh...treasure you like a younger sister from now on."
Chizuru Yukimura: "...O―...Okay..."
Shinpachi Nagakura: "That's why...uh… Starting from now, I could call you… ‘Chizuru-chan’, again, maybe...?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "...That's fine."
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Y... You can say no if you want! Okay? Oh, right, right! Of course... Calling you by your first name would be weird, wouldn't it!?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Really, it's fine." It seemed he finally realized what I meant when I said it the second time.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Whuh? ...Uhhh… Um... Are you sure?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Seriously, I said it's fine."
When he heard me say it the third time, he looked up to the heavens while pumping his fists victoriously.
Shinpachi Nagakura: "Ch-... Chizuru-chan... Chizuru-chan! Chizuru-chaaaaaaaan!! Let's keep having a great time together!!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Yeah!"
We'd be able to make plenty of time to see each other from now on as well… I'd set aside what I didn't get to hear today for next time and looked forward to it.
Thinking about it like that, I couldn't help but look forward again to the coming months.
Really, so much had happened to me since I enrolled into Hakuo Academy.
My third year that saw off my academy life really did go by in the blink of an eye… And even after I’d graduated, I found myself wishing I could have stayed there a little longer.
And in that wonderful academy, the person who had the biggest influence on me more than anyone else...
...It had to be Nagakura-sensei.
Energetic, full of feeling, and so sunny, he was a person who naturally made me smile when I was with him.
I gave him Valentine's Day chocolates every year since I met him… Yet Nagakura-sensei always looked close to tears with how happy he was every time I did.
How could I put it? He cared for me a lot like an older brother would… I guess it was something like that.
There was something hugely different about us compared to siblings related by blood.
I also knew that he was a reliable, splendid man at heart.
He told me that he'd bring me someplace I'd like next time.
It seemed to be a celebration for my graduation ceremony, plus my success with my university entrance exams, as a White Day gift for me.
I happened to mention that I’d like to go to the theme park by the seaside… Nagakura-sensei said that he had plenty to go on from his wallet so that'd be ‘a-okay’.
In fact, he said it twice.
And then added, 'However, staying out overnight is prohibited, so we'll go where we can go in the morning and come back the same day.'
...He really did sound like an older brother saying that, though…I wondered how long he'd go on thinking like a protective sibling. I already had an older brother for real, so I wanted Nagakura-sensei to level up to a class change, and quick.
But part of me also thought that spending time with him this way was fun, too.
This spring, after leaving the nest of Hakuo Academy, all I wanted to do after I graduated, one way or another… was spend even more time with Nagakura-sensei.
I wished that from the bottom of my heart.
The End