Chapter 37 - Forever From Now On
(１)
March.
A miserable time when tests crowd together.
"If you study normally on a daily basis, there's no reason to panic during test periods, and it's no problem to go out to events."
That is Airi's personal theory.
Of course, since it's said by Airi, who is always at the top of the grade, it has a certain persuasiveness.
Events...
For boys, they are agonizing events.
The White Day return gift.
What should I do?
Actually, I looked it up on a search site last night.
The one shining at the top was a pendant!
I already sent her one!
Damn it!
What should I send?
As for Kanna, I'll send sweets from a famous confectionery, but for Airi, I want to give her something special.
This is the one thing I can't consult Kanna or Airi about.
The only one I could consult is... Makoto.
Makoto had managed to pull off something that sounded like it was from a manga—receiving enough gifts to fill paper bags this year as well.
Come to think of it, what does Makoto do every year?
Does he have enough allowance?
The answer was simple.
"Hm? I don't give returns. If I gave a return for every single one, it would never end."
How do you manage to receive so many with that attitude? Beyond admiration, it's actually scary.
"Ah, I might give one back to Kanna-san this year."
"And Airi?"
"Hm? Just the main one is enough, right?"
Makoto answered nonchalantly.
"Tosaka-san has Toya, after all. It'd be kind of weird to be compared to Toya. Hm? Were you planning to give one to Kanna-san?"
"Well, there's such a thing as a courtesy return, right?"
"Looking at you, it seems the one who's conflicted is Tosaka-san, huh?"
"I guess."
"You don't have to try so hard, we're still middle schoolers, you know? There's no end to it if you keep looking up."
"I know, but..."
I want to do something special for her.
"Hmm, can't be helped. Let's go to the shopping mall together next time. There should be a sale section right now. I'll help you pick."
Thank you, my friend!
"In exchange, treat me to a cup of coffee."
"Yeah."
(２)
March 9th
The three of us were studying at home normally.
"Um, say. Toya-kun."
Airi suddenly started speaking.
I wonder what it is?
"I don't need anything that expensive, okay? For the return gift."
What a body blow. After being told that, there's no way I can buy something cheap, right?
"What, I thought you looked troubled lately, and it was just White Day."
Kanna joined in.
"Stop doing things like you did during Valentine's. It's bad for the heart on this end too."
Kanna gave me a warning.
"I-I know."
"So that means it's not a surprise-type thing, right?"
Airi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Y-yeah."
"I feel like I already got plenty of a return with that, so something simple is fine."
That smile is scary.
...Hmm.
Looking at Airi's smile, I really have to buy something special.
I want to see her happy face again.
"Just as a hypothetical, what kind of things do you both want?"
I accidentally asked.
"Toya."
Yes?
"Give me Toya."
Wait... you...
"Kanna. That's not allowed."
Airi answered in my stead while smiling brightly.
Is a fight starting again?
"It's half a joke."
Is the other half serious?
"Let's see, if I say anything is fine, Toya will be troubled... so normally, sweets are fine. But if you buy potato chips or cookies sold at a supermarket, I'll blow you away."
It seems I can clear Kanna's part.
The problem is Airi...
"My true feeling is Toya-kun too~"
I want to present the feeling of bashfulness.
"But that's probably impossible. Hmm, I already got a bracelet and a pendant. I'm fine with sweets too."
I feel hesitant to send the same thing to Kanna and Airi.
As I thought, I should consult Makoto.
Makoto... Makoto, huh?
"Hey, Kanna."
"What?"
"If you were to get something from Makoto, what would you want?"
"Let's see, well, I'd probably beg for something appropriate? A wallet or a bag."
So it is that kind of thing.
"Also, a bouquet of flowers would be nice... Ah, don't tell Makoto!"
"I know!"
"But in the end, it's the feeling. Ah, come to think of it. I heard it's becoming a rumor among the boys."
"What?"
"Stop with the sending undergarments... I wouldn't tell you my size anyway, but it's too strong a stimulus for Airi."
"Kanna!!"
"I said it's a joke... half of it."
"So the other half is serious~?"
Come to think of it, I think it was written in some magazine, that the recent trend is to give panties as a return...
I vaguely imagined it. Airi in her undergarments, huh~.
Now that I think about it, I haven't seen them.
Ow!
Airi was pinching my cheek.
"What were you imagining~? Toya-kun?"
Airi's smile is scary.
"Toya really was a boy after all. I wonder if I can get somewhere if I push a little more?"
N-no. It's bad to drag that conversation out!
...But it seems it wasn't nothing.
"...I could tell Toya-kun too!"
"Ah, no, it's fine."
"What? When you say it like you're not interested, it makes me ticked off~"
After that, I was desperate to soothe Airi.
(３)
March 10th
I was at the shopping mall with Makoto.
The sale area was crowded with people.
"There's a lot of stuff."
Most of it was sweets, but the rest were bags and wallets.
For now, I buy sweets for Kanna. I had already decided on the shop.
Next is Airi.
Kanna said "wallets or bags," but it doesn't feel quite right.
What should I do?
Makoto was buying bags without any hesitation.
He really has no hesitation.
"How is it? Did you find something good?"
When Makoto asked, I shook my head.
"This kind of thing is about inspiration! Just think about Tosaka-san and buy the one that makes you think 'this is it'."
That's strangely persuasive.
I tried thinking about Airi as told.
...It flashed.
It was a certain shop a little away from the sale area.
I headed there.
"Didn't that cost a fair bit?"
"It's normal."
Probably.
It was among the cheaper categories in that shop.
"So that was the Tosaka-san inside you, huh?"
"Yeah..."
I said it without confidence.
"It's fine! It's the result of thinking that seriously! Have more confidence!!"
"Yeah..."
Answering that, I looked at the blue paper bag I bought.
It's okay, right?
(４)
March 14th
"Good morning~"
"Good morning."
I was awake today.
Or rather, I didn't sleep much.
"Shall we head downstairs?"
She made a face that said "Eh?" but immediately smiled and said "I understand" before leaving the room.
Sorry...
"Oh, Toya, 'ssup."
Kanna greeted me.
If she had come, she could have come up together.
Ah, I guess it's okay to give it to Kanna now.
I deliberately took a box out of the refrigerator and handed it to Kanna.
"Oh, thank you!! Oh, this is good. Thanks."
Kanna looked satisfied seeing the shop name written on the paper bag.
She still remembered it.
In contrast, Airi's behavior is strange.
She's wrapped in a negative aura, or something like that...
Unable to watch, Mother said a word.
"Ah, Airi-chan. About Toya's present, I thought it might be a bit much to take it to school, so I told him to wait until after you get home yesterday. So please look forward to it after you return."
"Oh, that's great. I'm looking forward to it, Airi."
Kanna followed up too.
I feel like the negative aura disappeared just a little.
"I see..."
"Sorry."
"If that was the case, you could have just told me."
After school, Kanna was called out by Makoto.
"Sorry, go on home a bit ahead of me."
After that, a message came.
"I'm not going to your house today."
Kanna is only considerate in these kinds of things.
"Well, shall we go home together?"
"Yeah."
Airi is unusually quiet today.
"Tests are over, so after this is spring break."
"Yeah."
"Second year went by in a flash."
"It did."
"What are you doing for spring break? Ah, studying, I guess."
"Hey, Toya-kun."
"What is it?"
Ah, the arm. I shifted my bag to my left hand.
Huh?
No?
"Why was Kanna first?"
Eh?
"Like I explained this morning..."
"Then why isn't there a single word from Toya-kun!?"
"Ah..."
"I was looking forward to it so much this morning... Is there only Kanna inside Toya-kun?"
In short, she's jealous that I gave it to Kanna first.
I know the way to handle this.
I no longer care if people see us.
I hug my proud girlfriend.
"W-wait, people are watching."
Airi panicked. That's rare.
"Does Airi dislike people seeing us flirting?"
"I-it's not that. Rather, I'm happy... because things like this rarely happen from Toya-kun... don't change the subject."
"I'm not changing it, this is my true feeling. Nothing but my proud girlfriend is in my head."
"Eh... but, this morning."
"Come to my house now. I'll give it to you."
"I said yes... but the order is wrong, right?"
"I apologize for that, sorry. But my head and my feelings are full of Airi."
"...Is that so?"
"Yeah."
"I understand... then, let's go to your house."
Airi walked while linking arms, looking bewildered.
We reached the room.
Airi sat in seiza on a cushion.
And then, she prepared to study... wait, that's not it!
"Airi!!"
"Yes!!"
Airi let out a high-pitched voice when called by me.
"This is my feeling!"
Saying so, I handed her a small paper bag.
"...Can I open it?"
I nodded vigorously.
When she opened the bag, a small bottle was inside.
And a message card.
"I love you."
"...This? What is it?"
She opened the lid of the bottle curiously.
The moment she opened it, the identity of the liquid inside became clear.
A faintly sweet and sour scent.
It was a citrus-based perfume.
"This... wasn't it expensive?"
"It's not a big deal."
No, it really isn't a big deal. A cheap one for a little over 1000 yen.
"...You're always mean, aren't you? Toya-kun."
"Eh?"
"Always troubling me, making me angry... and the result is this. Please learn your lesson already."
Did I do something bad?
"You're unfair, Toya-kun!"
Airi sobbed.
I sat beside her and gently put my arm around her shoulder.
"I said I wouldn't keep secrets."
"I thought if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."
"Something more normal is fine, you know? Just you doing it for me makes me happy, but if you make my heart race more than this, I feel like I'm going to die."
"It would be a problem if you died."
"Then just love me normally. I'm happy with just that."
"Sorry, I tried to make sure I didn't make you angry as much as possible."
"...I'm so dense that I can't even say anything to Toya-kun."
Airi said that and laughed.
(５)
Closing Ceremony
Report cards were distributed.
It seems Kanna's grades improved quite a bit.
She worked hard, after all.
She was happy.
I was the same as always.
Well, it's probably on the better side.
On the way home
"Finally third year... the last year of middle school, huh."
Airi said solemnly.
"It's too early to be solemn... there's still one more year, you know?"
Kanna answered.
"This one year went by in a flash, didn't it~"
"Really? I felt like a lot of things happened. Well, it was fulfilling."
"I want to make next year fulfilling too."
"I guess so."
Want to make it fulfilling... what does that mean?
Airi probably just wants to play.
She's the type who says there's no problem playing a bit if you study properly on a daily basis, and then puts it into practice.
Kanna has also improved a lot. She'll probably get into her target school.
I was told I'm fine too.
"Come to think of it, I heard Wada-senpai was crying. It's pathetic in that state."
Kanna laughed, saying that.
Wada-senpai is going to Mieno High School. Yaguchi-senpai is apparently going to Sakuragaoka High School.
"How about you, Kanna? Do you think you can get into Hofu?"
When Airi asked, Kanna showed a peace sign.
"I was talking with Mayumi-chan the other day, and we thought if I keep this rate, I should be able to."
"That's great~. Toya-kun is okay too, right?"
"Yeah, they said there's no problem at this rate."
"Then the three of us can spend our high school lives together."
"Are you already thinking that far ahead?"
Kanna said with an exasperated look.
"I just said it. One year goes by in a flash."
"True."
I nodded and said so.
"Even when we're in third year... we'll be together forever!"
Saying so, Airi grabbed my and Kanna's arms.
"L-let go."
I reacted somehow.
How would I have reacted around this time last year?
To my past self.
Right now, I'm incredibly fulfilled.
It looks like things aren't going well, but they are going well.
Please spend your school life with your chest held high.
There are times when you think things aren't going well.
There are times when you despair, thinking it's already over.
But the current me is happy.
After a spring break of about two weeks, the new school year begins.
No matter what difficulties come, I can overcome them.
That's what I thought.
At least, the current me did.
"What's wrong, Toya-kun? You have a distant look in your eyes."
"Ah, no. I was just thinking about various things."
"...Are you plotting something again?"
"I'm not, really."
I denied it hurriedly.
"You guys are dense, so don't think of clumsy things and just go straight for it."
Kanna said.
Kanna is always straightforward.
"What should we do starting tomorrow~?"
Why does Airi switch her thoughts so rapidly?
"It's obviously studying."
"Eh~ it's the last holiday! From now on, it's the hell of exam studying."
"...You have no intention of doing that at all, do you?"
"...You found out?"
Airi laughed, sticking her tongue out a little.
"It'd be nice if the four of us could play together next year. Makoto's club activities will be over too, right?"
In Makoto's case, his future path is at stake, so he's not in a position to play, right?
"Now, now, I'm counting on both of you."
Airi laughed, saying so.
I didn't know she was someone who laughed this much.
I watched her with admiration.
"What are you spacing out for, Toya. I'm leaving you behind."
"Ah, wait a second."
I hurriedly chased after them.
Suddenly, I thought.
That I'm so lucky to have met these two, who are so lovely.
I ran toward the two who were waiting.
That night, Makoto came to pick me up and went home with Kanna.
And then, I walked Airi home to her house.
"Bye-bye...?"
Before I knew it, I had grabbed Airi's arm.
"What is it?"
Airi looked at me blankly.
"That time, it was from Airi's side, right?"
"Eh?"
Faster than hearing Airi's reaction, I kissed her.
"Toya-kun!?"
She didn't seem to understand what had happened.
She was surprised and bewildered.
"I've been wanting to say this. That even an inferior student like me could date a girl like Airi. Thank you."
Then, Airi looked miffed.
And she hugged me.
"I told you. The one who chose me was Toya-kun. If I hadn't met Toya-kun, I think my life would have just been a miserable one of being bullied."
"That's not true, right? In fact, you're being confessed to left and right now, aren't you?"
"The first one to notice me was Toya-kun. That's why now I only look at Toya-kun. From now on, forever..."
"Forever?"
"Let's be lovey-dovey!"
Saying so, she went into her house.
I also went home.
Forever, huh...
I wonder how long we can stay together.
That's why, stop being pessimistic.
Somewhere in my heart, I'm saying that.
I think that falling in love with someone is, in the end, about how much you can trust the other person.
It wasn't long before I realized that.
But right now, I didn't doubt Airi in the slightest.
And so, spring break passed, and I welcomed the final year of middle school life.