Epilogue
This chapter was translated by shizuumi151, and proofed by KittenSparkles, yuugs, and dei-hime!
I'd always been with Heisuke-kun. We’d known each other since we were little kids.
We were raised together. Since my birth parents had died and my dad adopted me, we had been good friends for more than ten years. We were the same age, and spent more time with each other than anyone else...which was why I thought long and hard about it. We were so close that Heisuke-kun was an open book to me, and I to him. Yet I hadn't even realized that, somewhere along the way, my feelings had changed into something deeper and still more precious than what I felt when we were children. But I understood all of that now. When I thought about Heisuke-kun, warm and tender feelings filled my heart...
These feelings were, without a doubt, love.
After I made a scene giving him chocolates in front of everyone on Valentine's Day, news of my relationship with Heisuke-kun immediately became well-known around the school. We went from being childhood friends to lovers. The way that the people looked at us changed a bit… but our lives really hadn't changed that drastically at all. I'd go meet with Heisuke-kun as always, and we'd run late and have to make a dash for the school gate, just like always.
Today was one such day that started out like that―
Heisuke Toudou: "Crap, I overslept...!!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh, come on, Heisuke-kun! You stayed up late gaming again, didn't you!?"
Today, just like always, we were running down the path to school. We were the same as always, and the view on the way to school was the same as always. As the clock on my wrist ticked relentlessly on, Heisuke-kun got impatient and reached for my hand.
Heisuke Toudou: "We won't make it in time like this… Chizuru! We're pickin' up the pace!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Right!"
I grasped the hand that he had reached out for me very naturally, and gave it a squeeze back. His hand was slightly warm, and comfortable. We’d held hands countless times back when we were kids… but now that we knew our feelings for each other, it felt strangely awkward, and I found myself a little shy.
...It was a little embarrassing, so I hoped we could get to school without anyone seeing―
Souji Okita: "―What's with the hand, Heisuke?"
Chizuru Yukimura: !?
Heisuke Toudou: "Gah, Souji!?"
Souji Okita: "That's some reaction. You wound me, you know."
A voice suddenly interrupted us, and I let go of Heisuke-kun's hand in a panic.
Okita-senpai had appeared and stared at us with a smile.
Souji Okita: "It'd be suuuch a pain if the disciplinary committee heard you’d held hands like a pair of lovebirds all the way to school."
While he talked, Okita-senpai was busy fiddling with something on his smartphone. He couldn't have. I thought he couldn't have, but...
Chizuru Yukimura: "Okita-senpai... Don't tell me you took a photo just now?"
Souji Okita: "......"
Heisuke Toudou: "Ah! Hold on a minute, Souji! Stop running! Delete that picture!"
Okita-senpai was up to his usual tricks yet again today. With a sigh, we hurried after Okita-senpai...
Chizuru Yukimura: "...It... It looks like we made it on time, somehow..."
We'd rushed through the gates and barely made it on time, and finally had a moment to breathe. My legs gave out and I dropped down on my heels to catch my breath. Seeing me, Heisuke-kun looked worried, and meekly mumbled:
Heisuke Toudou: "...Hey, Chizuru. Seeing as how we were almost late this time, too… I feel bad having you run every time like today. You can go on ahead of me, you know?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "No way. Even if we barely make it at the very last second in the morning, I'll always wait for you."
Heisuke Toudou: "I mean, you say that, but―"
Chizuru Yukimura: "―What I mean is, I want to start my days off seeing you first thing in the morning," I grinned.
Heisuke-kun gaped, caught completely off-guard, but then a smile slowly spread across his face, too.
Heisuke Toudou: "Then I better wake up earlier from tomorrow on. I wanna spend as much time as I possibly can with you, even if it's just a little more..." Heisuke-kun seemed happy as he softly petted my head. However, when his hand touched my hair―
Kaoru Nagumo: "Don't touch my sister with that filthy hand! Three strikes!"
Heisuke Toudou: !?
Hajime Saitou: "Nagumo. No matter how much you treasure your sister, you cannot use strikes for your own self-interest."
Chizuru Yukimura: "Kaoru...!? And Saitou-senpai, too."
Heisuke Toudou: "W-Where the heck did you guys come from? It was just getting good!"
Hajime Saitou: "We've been here checking latecomers for a while, though...?"
Kaoru Nagumo: "And what the hell are you saying in public, that it was 'getting good'!? You listen to me now. As your brother, I don't approve of the company you keep!"
Hajime Saitou: "Calm down, Nagumo. We're going back to our checks now."
I was grateful for Saitou-senpai’s help distracting Kaoru while we each left for our respective classrooms.
When it was time for our lunch break, I went up to the rooftop with my bento. That was where we’d been spending our afternoons together recently. The afternoons we spent together were always calming ones.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Heisuke-kun, you can eat this rolled omelet, if you like?"
Heisuke Toudou: "You sure? Heheh, thanks!"
The wind that caressed the rooftop, compared to the one that blew on Valentine's Day, was so much warmer. ...It thoroughly felt like spring was coming… But I thought that if we were sitting together, our shoulders pressed against one another, we probably wouldn't feel the cold.
Heisuke Toudou: "Oh, yeah, that reminds me..."
We kept talking about silly little things while eating our lunches, before Heisuke-kun brought something up.
Heisuke Toudou: "There's something I want to try. Like, just once."
Chizuru Yukimura: "Something you want to try?"
Making a meek face, Heisuke-kun put his lips up to my ear and put it into words.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Whaaat!? You mean as in now!?"
Heisuke Toudou: "C'mon, please, Chizuru! I've wanted this for so long!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "...Oooh..."
I wondered if it was embarrassing for him...? I glanced at my surroundings, before I picked up some deep-fried chicken, my chopsticks shaking as I brought it up to his mouth like he'd wanted.
Chizuru Yukimura: "R-Right, then… ...Say 'ahhh'..."
Sanosuke Harada: "―Heisuke. Tone it down with the PDA."
Toshizou Hijikata: "'Tone it down,' my ass. Relationships are completely forbidden."
Chizuru Yukimura: !?
The exasperated-sounding voices came from Harada-sensei and Hijikata-sensei, who had shown up together. We instantly separated ourselves after they'd seen us doing something embarrassing.
Heisuke Toudou: "W-We're not even in public!! Also, we've been doing this since we were kids...! Also, where did you even come out from!? Even you've shown up, Hijikata-sensei!"
There was no way I could go like 'ahhh' with two teachers here… We ended up spending our lunch break chatting with the teachers―
Then, after school. Classes had ended for the day, I found myself sitting on a bench with Heisuke-kun in the rear garden.
Heisuke Toudou: "Haah..."
Chizuru Yukimura: "What's up, Heisuke-kun? Are you alright?"
He'd been sighing non-stop for a while. I peered at him while tilting my head.
Heisuke Toudou: "Nah, I've just been thinking that the timing's been pretty awful since this morning today..."
Chizuru Yukimura: "The timing..."
I took a guess as to what he meant, and my face went red just a bit.
Heisuke Toudou: "Yeah... Like with us holding hands, or with you going like 'ahhh' and stuff… Why's everyone popping out of nowhere like they're after us!? Hell, are they, like, watching us!?"
Chizuru Yukimura: "I don't think that's the case, though..."
But maybe Heisuke-kun's anger was justified. There were lots of times when we were chatting, a nice mood had built up between us, before some interruption suddenly got in the way.
Heisuke Toudou: "The thing is, we're in a relationship, yeah? And yet we go to school together, eat together, and go home together like always… We're spending more time together, but it's like nothing much has changed up until now… Like, can't we do more stuff that lovers do?"
I thought that there wasn't really a need to rush things like that. But...I also understood how Heisuke-kun felt. I wanted to be with him; I wanted to chat with him more; I wanted to touch him. I felt the same as he did.
Chizuru Yukimura: "Hm..."
That was why, after I thought about it a bit―
(CG get!°˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°)
Heisuke Toudou: !?
Like a small bird giving a gentle peck. I felt a softness coming from where we had touched. Hot and tender, my heart hurt as much as it soared.
Chizuru Yukimura: "You said we weren't doing anything like lovers do… So I tried doing something. Like lovers do."
Heisuke Toudou: "W― W-W-Wh...!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "I understand how you feel, Heisuke-kun, but there's no need to rush things."
Heisuke-kun's mouth flapped open and shut as he gaped at my smiling face. Then he closed his mouth, a wry grin slowly peeking out.
Heisuke Toudou: "...... ...You're right. It's nothing we gotta rush. Because...we'll always be together from now on as well."
Chizuru Yukimura: "Yeah, of course!"
Heisuke Toudou: "...But that just now was unfair. I've fallen even harder for you now. ...You can't blame me now that I wanna respond in kind, can you now?"
Heisuke-kun smiled gently at me, and his lips slowly drew towards mine―
Kyou Shiranui: "Whassat? Ain't that Toudou with her?"
―We stepped apart like we'd been electrocuted.
Chikage Kazama: "How fortuitous that I would see you here, my wife. And here is the arrogant man who calls himself your lover."
Kyuuju Amagiri: "Wouldn't you count, considering who calls themselves that at present...?"
Heisuke Toudou: "Ka― K-K-K-K-Ka― Kazama...!?"
We swivelled around in a fluster. But Shiranui-senpai just grinned as he added fuel to the fire.
Kyou Shiranui: "...By the by. Weren't you two making out just now or somethin'?"
Chizuru Yukimura: !!
Chikage Kazama: "What did you say...!?"
Kazama-senpai's eyes narrowed until they were dangerously thin. This...didn't look too good… The moment I thought that, Heisuke-kun tugged my hand and started running.
Heisuke Toudou: "Run, Chizuru!"
Chizuru Yukimura: "Y-Yeah!"
Chikage Kazama: "Wait, you bastard! Where are you taking my wife!?"
Heisuke Toudou: "I keep telling you, man, she ain't your wife! Chizuru's... Chizuru is...! My girlfriend!!!"
Really, so much had happened since I'd gotten into Hakuo Academy. When Heisuke-kun had encouraged me to enroll in the beginning, I would've been lying if I said I didn't feel lost at the time.
I had begun my high school life. In a school where I was the only girl around. Even when I stuck my arms through the sleeves of my uniform for the first time, somewhere in my heart, I still felt doubtful. However...
The kind and strict teachers. The fun and reliable seniors. My energetic and funny classmates. I spent my first year surrounded by so many people.
I had made so many memories at Hakuo Academy… Memories that I never could've made at any other school.
But, of course, the most I'd experienced among them was the time I shared with Heisuke-kun. My precious childhood friend― No, my precious, special someone. We spent more time together than with anyone else...
And we'd spend more time together from here on out. I only had a little less than a year left to spend with Heisuke-kun at Hakuo… But we'd live our academy lives to the fullest, and do our utmost, so we wouldn't have any regrets. So that we'd be able to keep on spending time loving each other and living a sweet school life… I'd hold onto the happiness I had here tight.
The End
(Yuugs: Even the ending CG is so cute! Hot summers with Heisuke ✪ ω ✪)