Chapter 16 – I Proposed to a Beautiful Girl

On November nights, temperature drops dramatically.

When I opened our front door to go to the station, cold wind caressed my cheeks and took away my body heat. I left the house to accompany Kurumi-san.

「……」

「……」

Silence reigns over the place as neither of us know what to say to each other.

Still, it is colder than expected. Looking at Kurumi-san, she probably underestimated the cold of the night. She exhales on her hands. Her white breath rose directly into the air and disappeared, melting into the darkness of the night.

I took my coat off and gave it out to Kurumi-san.

「Kurumi-san, put this on.」

「A-are you sure?」

「Of course, my coat is meant to be worn by Kurumi-san.」

「…well, that’s one way to say it but….thank you.」

As she slipped her hands on the sleeves of the coat, she brought the cuffs up close to her mouth and murmured, “It’s warm…”. That’s so cute. I mean, I’m not going to was that coat anymore. I absolutely won’t.

「……」

「……」

---and the conversation ends.

I want to go back to what we were talking about earlier. That thought intensifies but I don’t know what to say to her. I let my thoughts wander for a few moments. But in the end, I decided to ask her in a straightforward question.

「Ano---」

「A-ano---」

The moment I opened my mouth, Kurumi-san did the same.

We were both startled that none of us was able to talk.

Then, Kurumi-san urged me by saying, “You go first”. I nodded and began talking.

「……it’s about what we were talking about a little while ago.」

「………..! Y-yeah……..」

When I said that, Kurumi-san’s shoulder shook and grasped the hem of her clothes with both of her hands. She was so cute that I felt the urge to hug her. If I could, I would fill up a marriage certificate and go to the city office to submit it.

「I love you. I really do and I definitely want to marry you. You warned me before that if I say it too much, it would come off as frivolous but even so, I love you so much that I can’t contain it inside me.」

I told her that seriously. When I glanced sideways to look at her, she nodded with a “…Hmm” as her cheeks dyed red.

「Kurumi-san. What do you think of me…….?」

Kurumi-san showed a slight hesitation but immediately moved her closed mouth---

「……I-I don’t hate you.」

「Does that mean you like me?」

「…………」

Kurumi-san was silent. However, her cheeks have been crimson red for a while. No, not only her cheeks. Her ears are bright red too.

「Your face is bright red.」

「〜〜〜〜! Y-you two are really siblings……」

「Siblings? Is there something wrong with Kasumi?」

「N-nothing!」

Kurumi-san turned her face away, mumbling a few words. I don’t know what Kasumi said but perhaps something happened while they were talking. I don’t know. I don’t know but I found something out.

Or to be exact, it convinced me about something. To confirm it, I asked her again.

「Kurumi-san. What do you think of me?」

「I-I already answered that earlier….」

「Yes and I’m asking you again. Depending on your answer, our destination will not be the station but the government office. Our purpose is, of course, to get our marriage license.」

「A-are you an idiot!?」

「I’m serious.」

「……….r-really?」

「Yeah.」

「Y-you really want to marry me?」

「Of course.」

It was like a question of confirmation. Hearing my answer, Kurumi-san’s mouth twitched and her gaze wandered. Perhaps thinking that it would prevent me from seeing her expression, she put her hands on her cheeks and closed her eyes tightly….

「D-do you really love me that much?」

She looked at me and asked that.

Of course, I answered immediately.

「I love you. I truly love you. You’re the one I love the most in this world.」

「………! Au……….」

When I answered honestly, Kurumi-san put her hand on her chest.

「A-are you alright?」

I was worried so I hurriedly called out to her but she just gestured to me to calm down. She took a deep breath or two to regain her composure. She looked at me and said---

「Marrying you….I can’t.」

Those words made my mind go blank.

「Is….that…..so……….」

I have asked her to marry me many times before and she rejected me all those times but this time, it feels different. Why did it feel that way?

……..probably because Kurumi-san is serious.

Kurumi-san is a person who is relatively easy to express her emotions. Up to now, she’s always answering me with a slight smile and even a little embarrassed when she’s rejecting me. Because of that, I didn’t take them seriously. However, she’s seriously rejecting me this time.

The moment I realized that, I felt like there was a big hole in my heart---

「…..eh?」

Suddenly, Kurumi-san’s cool hand touched my left hand. I was surprised but that’s not the end of it. Kurumi-san moves her fingers to grasp my hands as it grasps hers. In short, our hands are entangled.

This is the so-called “lover’s connection”….

Kurumi-san started talking with a trembling voice.

「I can’t marry you yet…we have to take one step at a time.」

Grasping my hands like this, telling me something like that.

There’s no way I could overlook such obvious hints.

I grasped her hand back, turned to face her, swallowed hard---and proposed.

「Kurumi-san, please go out with me.」

「……yeah.」