Episode 335: Only You…

Mayumi POV

I can hardly believe that Kazunari-kun followed up his confession by proposing right in front of me…

Doing something like that before a crowd this size is nothing short of startling. I’m not sure if he just has incredible guts or if he’s just that impulsive.

Either way, he’s definitely a big shot in the making. I’m not mocking him at all, I’m genuinely impressed, you know?

Though considering the future, maybe having that much bold spirit is for the best… fufu.

As for Sara-chan, I never dreamed she’d show me this much growth. A twisted mindset or personality developed over years doesn’t just improve that easily. That’s why I thought it would be enough if I could just see a sign, a tiny glimpse, that she could grow from here on out.

I was only expecting that much.

Yet today, Sara-chan clearly showed her hidden feelings to others. And she even made statements that showed consideration for the boys she’s always despised, regardless of the reason. That suggests an improvement in her indifference toward others and a sense of thoughtfulness in a social setting.

Most people probably won’t realize just how incredible this is.

That’s why the ones most shocked by the Sara-chan we’re seeing today are definitely us as a couple. Of course, I’m sure Kazunari-kun is just as surprised, but as her parents, we’ve spent more time watching over Sara-chan than anyone. In that sense, we’re the ones who are the most stunned. I bet Masaomi-san is watching this from somewhere in the crowd right now, looking absolutely floored.

Maybe he’s even crying because he’s so happy to see his daughter’s growth… fufu.

Anyway… the result of this test is a pass.

I can’t exactly give it a perfect score, but I’m more than satisfied with the result I was shown. As promised, the two of them can keep their current life together.

However… there will be many more difficulties waiting for them. They mustn’t let their guard down.

We’ll do our best to support them, so let’s all work hard together from now on.

But for now…

I’m so glad for you, Sara-chan.

And… congratulations.

I hope you’ll be happy with the person you love.

One by one…

Glittering jewels overflow from Sara-san’s eyes, creating a small puddle at her feet.

She looks so precious that I want to grab her in a hug right now and wipe away the tears. The urge is almost overwhelming.

But for now…

「Ugh… uuu… hic… Ka-Kazunari-san, you idiot… why, why are you always so sudden… this is, this is… hic…」

「I’m sorry, Sara-san. But I felt like… for things like this…」

「That isn’t all!! This time… I thought this time for sure, it was… it was my turn… That’s why I joined this farce in the first place!!」

「Um… what?」

Sara-san’s reaction… or rather, her claim, is so different from what I expected that I’m a bit confused. I’m pretty sure she just said「my turn.」

「Sara-san?」

「…Kazunari-san, you idiot… uuu… I love you… hic… I love you so much. I… I… I love you, Kazunari-san…」

「Yes… yes!! I love you too, Sara-san!! So… so Sara-san, your left hand!!」

Watching Sara-san choke up as her tears refuse to stop, I start to lose control of my own emotions. I wouldn’t call it sympathy crying, but if I stay like this, my own tear ducts will… I quickly pull out the ring and gently take her left hand. All I have to do is put it on… and yet, for some reason, I can’t do it right. That’s when I realize my hands are shaking just as much as Sara-san’s.

「Wait, what… um…」

「Sniff… Kazunari-san… please calm down. It’s okay… I’m not going anywhere, I’ll always be by your side…」

She gently places her right hand on my cheek, her eyes still brimming with those sparkling jewels. Even so, she gives me a warm smile that brings peace to my heart.

She’s so overwhelmed with emotion that she’s likely at her limit… and yet she’s still smiling for me. She’s being so strong.

That’s why I… I can’t keep looking so pathetic during such a vital moment!!

「…Phew.」

I take a deep breath to settle my nerves as much as possible… then I try again to slide the ring onto Sara-san’s ring finger.

We’re both still shaking a bit, but Sara-san’s smile has given me a little bit of composure. This time, the ring slides on easily.

Maybe too easily… the ring size might be just a tiny bit too big. I’ll have to get it adjusted later.

「Sniff…」

While letting out a sob, Sara-san holds her left hand up to eye level. She looks at the half-eternity ring shining on her finger, turning it over and over… she gazes at it with a radiant smile…

「…Sniff… uuu… uuu…」

And then, as if she’s finally hit her emotional limit, giant tears start falling. I can’t just stand here and watch her as she looks ready to collapse in tears… I just can’t.

「Sara-san, don’t cry… please don’t cry.」

When I gently pull her shoulders toward me, Sara-san lunges into my chest. I wrap my arms wide around her back to envelop her slender body… and Sara-san presses herself into me, squeezing tight…

「…How could I possibly stop!! Uuu… I’m so happy… hic… Kazunari-san, Kazunari-san…」

「Sara-san…」

「I love you… sniff… I love you from the bottom of my heart… I adore you!! I have only you… I… I… only you…」

「Yes… yes!! I-I do too… me too!!」

I… I can’t do this anymore.

The way Sara-san is sobbing uncontrollably in my arms is just so dear… so precious… just so lovable.

But at the very least, I don’t want Sara-san to see my own pathetic face, so I tighten my hug…

「Sara-san… Sara-san…」

I pour all my feelings into a gentle stroke of Sara-san’s head. I pour in all my thoughts and love, stroking her gently and carefully, over and over.

After repeating that for a while… Sara-san starts to quiet her crying and begins to act spoiled against my chest.

「Sniff… Kazunari-san… a bit more, just stay like this a bit longer…」

「Yes…」

Her voice is still a bit tearful, but it’s clearly laced with a spoiled tone now.

It was the same before, but between that outburst earlier and this, Sara-san tends to regress to the emotional state of a girl her age, or maybe even younger, whenever her feelings overflow…

「…Thank you, Kazunari-san.」

「Are you okay now?」

「…Yes. I’m sorry for showing you such an unseemly side.」

「No, that’s definitely not true.」

Sara-san finally looks a bit more composed while keeping her face buried in my chest.

Still, she doesn’t seem to want to let go, as she keeps her arms wrapped around my back to maintain our position.

Of course, I don’t want to let her go either… so I put a little more strength into the hug.

「My heart is… pounding.」

「…I’m aware of that myself. But…」

「Fufu… I’m not just talking about yours. Mine is the same. Being held by you like this, my heart skips a beat, it flutters… you’re so radiant, so wonderful… today, I’ve fallen in love with you all over again…」

「…Sara-san.」

「No… at a time like this, please call me Sara…」

With Sara-san in full spoiled mode, a side of her I don’t see often, my heart starts pounding even harder. Maybe she can feel my heartbeat, because Sara-san suddenly pulls her face away and stares at me with eyes that still hold a few tears.

「…Kazunari-san.」

Eventually, she starts to gently…

…close her eyes, but right at that moment.

「Um… I am reaaaaally sorry to interrupt while things are getting hot, but could you maybe give it a rest? Also, do you two realize where you are??」

「Ah…」

An all-too-familiar anime voice, a mix of awkwardness and exasperation, cuts in. I’m instantly snapped back to reality. I’m aware that this is becoming a pattern, so I have a general idea of what the surrounding situation is like.

So I brace myself and slowly look around.

First to enter my sight is Minamin, her cheeks a bit red, staring at us with the kind of dead-eyed look that some people might call a reward. Beyond her are the Miss Contest contestants, holding hands and looking excited or nervous, their own cheeks flushed as they stare at us intensely.

As a bonus, there’s the stuck-up woman and the Chairman, just staring blankly.

And finally…

「Nfufu… jeez, Kazunari-kun!!! Your mother-in-law got to see another wonderful scene!!」

As for Mayumi-san, who’s already had the experience of watching my confession scene from the front row… she looks beyond excited, for some reason squirming and writhing about.

Of course, I acted knowing that Mayumi-san (my mother-in-law) was here, so I have no regrets. But I’m probably the only man in the world who would follow up a confession with a proposal right in front of his girlfriend’s mother… I think.

Well, at least Masaomi-san isn’t here, which is a small mercy… wait, what about the audience!?

「…It’s over, I’m finished!!!!!!!!!!」

「…I’m going home, I’m going hoooome!!!!!!!!!!」

「…What is this… is this really happening…」

「…Satsukawa-san… my Satsukawa-san is…!!!!!!!!!!」

「…Uooooh, she was my ideal!!!!!!!!!!」

「…This is too much… this can’t be happening!!!!!!!!!!」

「…I love her… I love her… dammit…」

「…Takanashi-kun, you did it!!!」

「…No way!? Was that really a proposal!?」

「…He told her to marry him!!!」

「…Ugh, now I’m starting to cry too…」

「…To make that Satsukawa-san cry, she must have been so happy…」

「…What’s her answer!? What’s the answer!!??」

「…I mean, she said she loved him too!!!」

「…No way, that’s not the final answer yet!!」

I can tell just by a quick glance that the men in the stands are in a state of pure agony and screaming.

They’re slumping their shoulders, crying out, and wailing. I can see it clearly.

And in the back, I can see the women (and there are quite a few…), who look like they’re making a scene in a different sense. It’s pretty similar to the girls on stage.

「…Well done, Kazunari.」

「…You look happy, Hanako-san?」

「…Naturally. No sister wouldn’t be happy to see her brother’s brave moment.」

「…I see.」

「…Man… this is refreshing to watch.」

「…Natsumi, stop saying such tactless things. Though I understand the feeling.」

「…Eririn, that’s just adding insult to injury, you know?」

「…Sniff… hic…」

「…Marina-san…」

「…Uuu… that was so good… so good…」

「…Oh boy, Marina’s started sympathy crying…」

Looking toward the front row, I see Hanako-san and the others giving me a standing ovation with beaming smiles. Yuji has his hand up high with a thumbs-up, and Natsumi-senpai looks strangely amused while looking around.

But Hayato’s situation is concerning. Someone is hugging him… well, it can only be Marina-san, but what on earth happened?

「Aaaah… this has turned into quite the scene, hasn’t it?」

「Eh?」

「Thanks to you two pulling that stunt, the audience has been in chaos for a while now. Quite a few of the guys have already left… did you really not notice?」

「…Ah.」

Now that she mentions it, I can see scattered empty seats in the audience area that was supposed to be packed. I guess I was too caught up in everything to notice… not that it matters.

「Um… Takanashi-kun, can I just check something?」

「Y-Yes?」

「You just told Satsukawa-san… that you wanted her to marry you, right?」

「…Yeah, I did. Not that it’s happening right this second.」

「Well, obviously. But, um, sorry… I’m not sure how to put this… but isn’t that maybe just a liiittle bit too far ahead? Like, isn’t that jumping the gun a bit… right?」

It’s true… for someone who doesn’t know our relationship, hearing a high schooler suddenly say「marry me」would seem impossible.

But the premise is…

「Well, that’s…」

「…Kazunari-san, let me be the one to talk about that. Most of what I had planned is already over… but I would like to have my own big moment at the very end.」

「Sara-san?」

「Minamin-san, the plans have changed quite a bit, but now…」

「Eh? You’re going to do that ‘major announcement’ in this atmosphere?」

「Um… as I said before, it’s not really a major announcement… no, never mind, let’s just go with that. More importantly, I am sorry. After you went to all that trouble, Minamin-san…」

「Whoa-ho, don’t say any more than that, okay!? It’s fine, it’s fine, don’t worry about me. Things got so hyped up because you entered, I really had a blast!! Plus, this Miss Contest is probably going down in history in a lot of ways, so being the host… that’s got plenty of perks for me too! Hehehe…」

「Fufu… is that so. Then at the very least, I shall give you ‘one more peak’ to show off, shall I?」

「Oh boy, now I’m excited.」

I’d suspected Sara-san and Minamin had some kind of secret deal. But hearing this, it seems my actions messed up their original plans.

And when I think about Sara-san saying「my turn」earlier… I suspect we might have both been planning something similar.

I feel like I might have done something a bit bad to Sara-san. Of course, I don’t regret it…

「Kazunari-san, please wait just a moment.」

「U-Understood.」

After a quick word to me, Sara-san starts heading somewhere with a composed look. I watch her back as she slowly disappears into the wings… only to return just a few seconds later.

And in her hand, she’s gripping a long, narrow box…

I wonder what that is?