I Quit the Going-Home Club for a Girl with a Venomous Tongue - Final Chapter

Final Chapter – Thus Spoke Hiwa Arina

Arina’s PoV

At first, I thought he was a nuisance.

He never cared about what I wanted. Under the guise of ‘rehabilitation’, he kept shoving me into situations I didn’t want to be in.

He was a weirdo.

His speech pattern was weird. His sense of humor was strange, but at the same time, it was fun. I never got tired of his jokes. It always brought colors into my world.

Then, we slowly became friends.

This outcome was pretty much inevitable. We spent so much time together. He was always by my side and his presence became a part of my daily life. I found myself smiling whenever he entered my sight.

Somehow, he became someone dear to me.

He knew about my secret and the past I wanted to forget. He did his best to understand me and helped me solve my problems.

His name was beautiful.

Both the sound and the kanji of his name were beautiful. I recited it over and over in my mind. Sui, Sui, Sui… I kept reciting it so one day I could call him by his name properly.

I found myself falling for him.

I became jealous whenever I saw him with someone else. With him by my side, even the coldest winter became warm. I wanted to tell him that I want him to always stay by my side, but I was too prideful to say it out loud.

I came to love him.

Even when I lost my memories of him, when I lost him for three years, my feelings didn’t change. No matter how far away he was… No matter what kind of state he was in… Even if he died and left me behind… my feelings would never have changed.

*   *   *

He looked a little out of it.

I didn’t know if it was out of nervousness, but he was strangely on an edge today.

He called this outing date and I was happy about it. We did similar things before, but we never called it a date, so when he asked me out on this date, I was so happy to hear it that I rolled around my bed with a pillow in my arms.

“Are you okay? Don’t push yourself if you’re unwell.”

“I’m fine, I’m pretty much recovered already.”

“Then, why do you look so out of it?”

“Anyone would be nervous if they’re eating with a beautiful girl…”

“My, thanks for the compliment. Also, wipe your mouth properly.”

His mouth was covered with Neapolitan sauce. His table manners weren’t normally this bad, so I guess this happened because he was nervous.

We were done with our aquarium date and were currently eating inside a fancy restaurant. Ugin-san prohibited him from drinking tomato juice, but he was still allowed to eat tomatoes. Anything with high salt content was prohibited though.

“You really like that food, huh?”

He pointed out while I was heaping a pile of pancakes.

“I could eat this on my deathbed if I want to.”

“Must be nice, eating the thing that you like… I wish I could go back to the time when I was able to drink as much tomato juice as I wanted…”

“It should be fine if you keep it in moderation, but I’d prefer you to not drink anymore of that, please. I don’t want to lose you a second time, okay?”

“Well, the feelings are mutual… I’ll just drink water for the time being. Water is the best drink ever.”

After eating and a little shopping, we went to a movie theater.

They were screening a sci-fi romance movie I had watched a while ago. I wanted to watch it with him because the story was nice and it left an impact on me. I could even say that the movie influenced me in a way.

Movies were amazing. Unlike other narrative media, movies made use of the viewers’ different senses to tell them its story. Nothing could come close to movies in regards to realism.

While we were watching the movie, I recalled a lot of things.

From the day we met in that library to everything that happened up till this point. About the joy and pain that we shared. I realized we went through more hardship than happiness.

Yet, I didn’t want to go back to the past and start over like in this movie. If the slightest change could cause a bigger change in the future, then I didn’t want that. I’d rather stay in the present with Sui by my side. With the boy who had never let my hand go from the start of our date until this very moment. It was the same hand that I kept holding for three years. This was my happiness. I had no reason to cry at night anymore.

Stop crying your heart out. (T/N: The song by Oasis, they used it in The Butterfly Effect, the movie those two are watching.)

The movie ended.

Watching it once again, I found myself crying over it.

“Is this the movie you were talking about back then?”

“Yes. I never thought they would screen it again. It was a good one, wasn’t it?”

“This is what I would call a timeless classic. I’m glad I got to watch it with you.”

“Me too…”

The sun had already set and Sendai was enveloped in thousands of golden lights. It was December, the month when the city turned into a city of gold at night. Golden lights were installed in various places, painting the city gold.

“Let’s take a walk, Arina.”

He held my hand tightly.

The breath of everyone who passed by us was white, signing that the winter was approaching. I walked while leaning on him. I wanted him to pamper me, to love me, to spoil me. I’ve been eyeing other couples with jealousy for three years now and I wanted to do the same thing that they did.

“These lights remind me of the Milky Way. Back when I was in grade school, me and my family used to go to the observatory to look at the stars. Funnily enough, all my family’s names are related to space one way or another, so I guess it makes sense that we’d do something like that. Anyway, the Milky Way is beautiful. I can understand why people invented stories like Orihime and Hikoboshi after seeing something like that. And I guess that was also the reason why Ugin fell in love with space.” (T/N: Orihime and Hikoboshi is the story behind Tanabata. Long story short, the Milky Way separated two deities, Orihime and Hikoboshi, and they were only allowed to meet on the day of the 7th day of the 7th month. That day became Tanabata Day.)

“Don’t talk about another woman when you’re on a date.”

“She is my sister, lady.”

“Hehe, I’m joking. That’s a nice story, though. I want to see the stars too someday. It’s hard to do it in this city, it’s too bright.”

“Alright, after the pool date, we should go stargazing next. Trust me, the stars are infinitely more beautiful than this view in front of us.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

We arrived at Jozenji Dori, the most beautiful place in the city. There were more than 100 keyaki trees lined up here. Countless golden lights were placed on their surface, creating a dazzling path of light.

The beautiful sight dazzled me. I almost lost my balance because of it, but Sui was there to support me.

“It’s beautiful. I understand why you compared this place with the Milky Way…”

“My one regret is that I didn’t invite you to this place sooner.”

“If I had known how beautiful this place was back then, I would come here more often. Now I’m looking forward to the stargazing date more.”

“Why do you look so happy? I’m glad that you are, but you know…”

He didn’t manage to finish his words as his face turned red.

“Being with you is enough to make me happy.”

When I said that, his expression changed. Then, he turned his head toward me slowly. Seeing this, my heart raced to the point that it hurt my chest.

I loved him so much…

Whenever I looked at him, it was hard for me to restrain my urge to hold him tight. I wanted him to stick close to me. I wanted him to whisper his love to me.

“Arina…”

He called my name. The person I’d been longing for muttered my name in such a gentle tone.

He looked at me straight in the eye and I unhesitatingly returned his gaze.

How could a person be this perfect? How could a person be this lovely?

Back when I first met him, I would never have imagined myself falling for him this much. Both his personality and his out of place jokes annoyed me.

““I love you.””

From now on, we will hold each other’s hands more often. We’ll devote ourselves to each other and live to make each other happy.

Perhaps, we wouldn’t be together in death.

Perhaps, one of us would leave the other and disregard their tears.

One of us would be there to watch the other on their deathbed. Whispering words of love as a sendoff in the midst of their departing consciousness. Holding their wrinkled hands while looking back on our lives together.

Perhaps, that would be our fate.

Despite that, until my life was over, I wanted to be by your side.

This was my wish, from the bottom of my heart.

This was my story…

TL: Iyo

ED: Dodo

Fuel my gacha addiction please