Please Tell Me How to Remember Love - Epilogue
Epilogue – Sprout
On their way to school in the morning, Takayuki and Aoi were walking, side by side.
“So, will Kuramori-san be living in that house by herself?”
“No, she will be living with Takayama and her caretaker. There’s no way Takayama is going to let her live by herself.”
“I see. By caretaker, do you mean an attendant of hers, or?”
“Not really. Takayama’s nanny, an old lady who had been taking care of her since she was a little baby. Her pancakes taste great, we should visit her together sometime.”
“Is that okay? We wouldn’t be a bother to the old lady, right?”
The distance between them was closer than usual. Though it was understandable since they had their hands linked to each other.
“By the way, Miyama, can you let go of my hand? You aren’t gripping it tightly, so it doesn’t hurt me or anything, but the shocked stares around us are hurting me in a whole different way…”
“No. If I let go of your hand, you’ll wander off on your own.”
However, it wasn’t a lovely hand holding between lovers, rather a forceful restraint to prevent Takayuki from wandering around.
“But, it isn’t like you can do this all the time. The rumors aside, we won’t be going to and coming back from school at the same time, it’s pointless.”
“Don’t worry about that. When Haru-kun is free, she’ll be with you instead of me. If neither of us are free, then we’ll send another person to stay with you.”
“I’m your partner, aren’t I? It feels like you aren’t trusting me at all…”
“You! Have! No! Rights! To! Say! That!”
“Ow, ow! It hurts, it hurts!”
Aoi relentlessly attacked Takayuki as he writhed in agony. Meanwhile, the students in the vicinity were enjoying the spectacle.
‘Lovers quarrel?’, ‘No, it looks like it, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.’ They discussed the nature of Takayuki and Aoi’s relationship. Oddly enough, they managed to discern it without distorting it to something else entirely.
“…I just want you to rely on me more often.”
“Imagine a scenario where you have a peculiar disease and it turns out that without my heart, you’ll die.”
“Surely there’s no problem if you were to donate your heart. Our gender difference shouldn’t be an issue.”
“See?! That’s what I’m talking about!”
“But, that was the right answer, wasn’t it? In that kind of situation, anyone would definitely make that choice.”
“The fact that you’re answering it without any hesitation means that you’re serious about this! Think about it a little before you answer!”
“Hmph.” Aoi scoffed. She was clearly upset. The reason? Obviously it was because of Takayuki’s attitude. After he managed to face his past, he turned for the better as he gradually stopped selflessly throwing himself to help others around him. It was just, he became unnecessarily dedicated to Aoi instead.
“My bad, my bad. I’ll restrain myself from now on.”
“Seriously, this idiot… Anyway, I have something to take care of, so this is where we’ll be parting ways, Satou-kun.”
“I see. That’s a shame, but if you’re busy then it can’t be helped. I’ll go to the classroom on my own.”
“Just so you know, my friends will take over to escort you there.”
“Goodbye, fleeting freedom.”
Takayuki was about to run, but when he saw Ukai Tomoe standing around, he decided to give up. There was no way that he could outrun the ace of the track club. Like a big boss, he was then escorted by a group of girls to his classroom.
Aoi watched Takayuki’s back while sighing.
“Good morning, Miyama-san. How was it? Do you understand my grievances now?”
“Yes. I understand now. He is an irredeemable idiot.”
“Congratulations, you’ve finally got this far.”
Aoi trotted toward an empty hallway. In front of an empty classroom, far away from the rest of the students. There, Yui was standing, waiting for her with a quiet smile.
“Not only he’s stupid, he’s also stubborn. He’s always putting in the effort to do the wrong things!”
“Exactly. The worst thing about it is that he knows what he’s doing.”
“I wish he could rely on someone else more. Let them carry the burden he’s carrying.”
“The fact that he has enough mental capability to carry such a heavy burden is troublesome.”
For a while, they shared their grievances about Takayuki. It was something that only the people who’ve been working with him closely could understand.
“So, what are you going to do, Miyama-san? Are you going to quit?”
Yui asked sincerely.
“You get it now, don’t you? It’s hard to be by his side. He has his flaws but that’s still workable. The problem is that we can’t leave him alone, that’s the most troublesome thing.”
She gave Aoi her advice out of kindness.
“If you want to stop before it’s too late, now is the time, Miyama-san. If you were to tell him that you don’t want anything to do with him anymore, you can get away with it by just telling him about it directly.”
“From here on out, things will be even more difficult. Your feelings might clash, you might get into arguments with each other and worse come to worst, your arguments might lead to a broken relationship between you two.” She continued.
“Well, if I want to save myself from future troubles, your words might be true, but I’ve already decided what I want to do.”
Aoi didn’t run away from her question, instead she faced it head on and answered.
“I want to become his hero.”
She wasn’t trying to imitate anyone. It was an answer that came from her heart.
“If he doesn’t trust me enough, then I’ll make him trust me. He’s strong and reliable, he’s someone who’s worthy to carry on all the burdens of the world. Therefore, I’ll be his hero, I’ll make him see me as his hero. With that, I believe that both of us will finally be able to understand what being a hero truly means and fulfill our dreams of becoming one ourselves.”
Hearing Aoi’s answer, Yui let out a happy smile.
“If that’s the case, then we’ll be enemies, Miyama-san. I want to turn him into a normal person, after all.”
“Yes, that outcome is inevitable.”
Seeing her smile, Aoi gave her a smile of her own. Both of them looked like they were enjoying themselves. Which was understandable, as despite they had a different goal, essentially what they wanted was the same thing.
“Alright, then, as someone who’s been in this battlefield long before you, I should send you some salt later.”
“Salt?”
“Yes, to match up your sweet ideals… Anyway, Miyama-san.”
And so, Yui decided to give her future enemy a parting gift as a preparation for what would be coming in the future.
“For me, it’s enough as long as he becomes a normal person. Even if I ended up not by his side, as long as he’s living a normal and happy life, I’m content with it. To me, that’s all that matters.”
To help Aoi understand what was in her mind, she pointed something out.
“But you are different, Miyama-san. You want to be with him, you don’t want to give up your spot to anyone.”
“…Huh?”
“That’s my parting gift for you. It’s up to you to mull over it or not, Miyama-san.”
After saying what she had to say, Yui turned around and walked away.
Aoi missed the timing to retort to her words. Still, Yui’s words were something that had always been in the back of Aoi’s mind. Right now, since she was Takayuki’s partner, she was the closest person to him.
But, if one day, Takayuki were to fall in love with someone, then she’d have to give her position to that person. She knew that she shouldn’t be monopolizing him even though she was his partner, especially not if he got a lover on his own.
Still, Aoi couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable about it. Even if he fell in love with one of her best friends like Haruka or even her enemy like Yui, she didn’t want to give that position up to them.
It was inappropriate for her to think this way since she was merely his partner and nothing more, she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t want to feel the ‘helplessness’ that she once experienced in the past after all.
“…Huh?”
Just like how a pinch of salt could bring out the sweetness in something, the one thing that Yui had pointed out brought Aoi’s childish feelings out of her chest.
Thinking about her future with Takayuki made her brain freeze and her heart raced to the point that it was hurting her chest. Aoi was at a loss, not knowing what was the name of the emotion she felt.
TL: Iyo
ED: Iyo
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
lgb_yt
This series is underrated