Final Act: Walking the Same Path
Next Morning.
"The way you walked in looked like a robot dance, Nii-chan!" (T/N: Change Big Bro to Nii-chan)
As I entered the dining room, Sana greeted me with a weird comparison.
Moving sluggishly, I poured miso soup at a snail’s pace, scooped rice just as slowly, and finally sat down before replying.
"I wasn’t doing a robot dance."
"You totally were! Are you gonna perform a robot dance at the culture festival?"
"Like hell I would."
"But you’ve been dressing up more lately."
"Just because I dress better doesn’t mean I’ll suddenly start dancing at the festival."
"I'm sure Kohei is just sore from muscle pain."
"Ohh, that makes sense! As expected of Mom, great deduction!"
"I was just about to say that too…"
"Ahh, so close, Dad~!"
…She wasn’t wrong. I was sore.
The only real exercise I did was rowing a boat, but yesterday was a fourteen-hour, non-stop date.
I’d walked so much that my hip joints were throbbing.
"You got home pretty late last night. I was worried since you didn’t call."
"That just means he had a good time. If you’re in pain, I can drive you to school."
"I’m fine. I’ll walk."
I had promised to meet Yuzuhana at the park and walk to school together. If I took the car, I’d be breaking that promise.
She was probably sore too, so technically, if we rode together, it wouldn’t be breaking the deal… But if we arrived in the same car, people would start suspecting we were dating. Not that they’d be wrong. I just wasn’t ready to introduce her as my girlfriend to my family yet.
Sana looked puzzled—normally, I’d take the easier option. But without giving her a reason, I finished breakfast, washed my face, and headed to my room.
Just as I finished changing into my uniform, the doorbell rang.
"Coming~!" I heard Sana call out.
There was some excited chatter, footsteps approaching—then my door burst open.
"Nii-chan, Nii-chan! Koikawa-san is here!"
…Huh? She came to my house!? Why!?
I grabbed my school bag and dashed downstairs in a panic.
At the entrance, Yuzuhana stood there, smiling as Mom complimented her, "You look lovely as always," and Dad introduced himself, "I’m Kohei’s father."
She beamed at them.
Meanwhile, I was the only one thrown off by this whole situation.
Noticing my confusion, Yuzuhana waved at me.
"Morning, Kohei."
"Ah, m-morning—wait, hold on! Why are you here!?"
"I couldn't wait."
"Couldn't wait…? It's only five minutes until our meeting time!"
We were supposed to meet at the park, and she just came to my house instead!?
I mean, I'm happy that she's so excited to walk to school with me that she couldn't even wait five minutes, but still…
"Oh my, so you two had plans to walk together?"
"No wonder he didn’t want to take Dad’s car."
"You two sure are close~."
That aside, now my whole family knows, and it's so embarrassing!
I was planning to introduce her as my girlfriend eventually, but the day after we started dating is way too soon! I wasn’t mentally prepared for this…
While Sana and the others watched with amused smiles, Yuzuhana gave a small bow.
"Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Yuzuhana Koikawa, and I'm dating Kohei-kun."
"Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Kohei’s father. I work as a salaryman."
"Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Kohei’s mother. I work as a librarian."
"Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Kohei’s little sister. I’m in the basketball club. C’mon, Nii-chan, your turn."
"…Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Kohei Kurose. I, uh… am Yuzuhana’s boyfriend."
Who was that introduction even for?
I feel like I was the only one suffering here… (T/N: ...)
"I knew you two were dating! Keeping secrets from your cute little sister is so mean!"
"I wasn’t hiding it. I was planning to introduce her eventually. Besides, we just started dating yesterday. I’ll properly introduce her some other time, but for now, we’re heading to school. Let’s go, Yuzuhana."
"I’ll come greet you all again soon."
With my family grinning at us, we left the house.
Once we had walked far enough—past the park—I turned to Yuzuhana.
"You never said you were coming to my house."
"Does it matter? Instead of dragging things out, it’s better to just show up and introduce myself, right? That way, you don’t have to keep secrets from your family, and it’s less stressful for you."
"Well… yeah, I guess. But I needed time to prepare myself. How were you able to just walk in there so casually?"
"There was nothing to be nervous about. I knew your family would welcome me."
My family had nothing to do with what had caused the rift in her own.
Knowing they had wholeheartedly accepted us made me feel oddly proud.
Even though things happened earlier than planned, I still needed to properly introduce Yuzuhana to my family.
Thinking that, I continued walking.
"You’re walking pretty slowly."
"My legs are sore from all the walking yesterday. Sana even said I looked like I was doing a robot dance."
"That’s a good comparison."
Watching Yuzuhana chuckle warmly made me feel all warm inside too.
"You're not sore?" (Kohei)
"Not really. Back home, I used to walk long distances all the time." (Yuzuhana)
"Got it. If you match my pace, you might be late, so you can go ahead if you want." (Kohei)
"No way. I don’t mind being late—I’d rather enjoy this morning walk with you. Don’t you feel the same?" (Yuzuhana)
"I do. I want to stay by your side. Let’s walk to school together like this every day." (Kohei)
"Mm-hmm! …By the way, aren’t you going to hold my hand?" (Yuzuhana)
"Of course I am." (Kohei)
(T/N: I’ll be adding names in conversation if it's long or confusing.)
We held hands and continued down the familiar school route.
Even though I had walked this road countless times before, it looked different now that I was with her. Just walking together filled me with happiness, and for the first time, I wished school would never come into view.
Of course, there were plenty of other fun things besides our morning walks.
"So, what are we doing after school? Are we finally having that study session?" (Yuzuhana)
"I'm in the mood for gaming today." (Kohei)
"Even though midterms are coming up?" (Yuzuhana)
"I'll start studying tomorrow." (Kohei)
"You’re totally going to say the same thing tomorrow." (Yuzuhana)
"I’ll study, I swear. You’re going to be my tutor, right?" (Kohei)
"Of course. I’ll make sure you stay on track. And after exams, what do you want to do?" (Yuzuhana)
"I wanna hit up karaoke and go all out." (Kohei)
"Sounds good! I’ll show you the difference in our skill levels." (Yuzuhana)
"Then let’s go bowling too. I’ll show you the difference in skill." (Kohei)
"Our scores aren’t that different." (Yuzuhana)
"A win is a win." (Kohei)
Yesterday, our relationship changed.
We went from friends to lovers.
But what we did together stayed the same.
Playing games.
Reading manga.
Singing karaoke.
Going bowling.
The only real difference was that now, those things had "date" tacked onto the end.
But either way—
“…Wait, did you do the math homework?” (Yuzuhana)
“Crap. I totally forgot! What about you?” (Kohei)
“…I forgot too. Looks like we’re both in for a lecture.” (Yuzuhana)
“Yeah… well, that might actually be kind of fun.” (Kohei)
“…Are you a masochist or something?” (Yuzuhana)
“That’s not what I meant. It’s just that… if I’m with you, it won’t be so bad.” (Kohei)
Unlike my last school life, which had been dull and lonely, this time, I had something to look forward to.
After all, my former wife—now mysteriously younger—was sitting right there in my class.
Final Act END
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