Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Kisaki-san had approved of our relationship.
“It’s not like I’ve completely let you guys off the hook. This is just my silent consent.” It was two days after Kisaki-san stayed over at my house, and she was giving me a phone call to tell me about all the conditions that came with her approval. “First, you guys need to tell Shigeru-san as soon as you find the right time to do it. I’ll go with his decision, so if he’s against you two, so am I.”
Well, I guess this is only natural. Just thinking about it makes me depressed, though. Imagine dad’s point of view. The fact that his son is going out with a woman twelve years older than him is enough of a shock, and then you add on that said girlfriend is the little sister of his new wife... And we started dating before they did, and he’s already met Orihara-san when I introduced her as my friend’s older sister. In other words, this is an unimaginably messy situation.
I have no idea how he’ll react when he finds out about us. I guess it’s a path we can’t avoid taking, though, so we’ll eventually find the right opportunity and just do it. I don’t know if there’s a right time to do something like that, but one day I will do it...
“Second, be careful to not let yourselves be found out.”
That’s also to be expected. We’ve been pretty laid-back lately, so we should be more careful. Since Orihara-san is really going to become my aunt, it’ll probably be easier than before to pretend we’re relatives. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be careful.
“Third, be aware that you’re just a high school student, and have a romance like a student would.”
To be more specific, this meant stuff like no sleepovers, no dates past eight o’clock, and if my grades fall, I’d have a lot of restrictions added.
“From now on, I’m going to be your mother, Kaoru-kun. And I plan on being a stickler about those kinds of things.”
Well, that’s also natural I suppose... I’ve been too laid-back up until now, and it’s about time to be a little more reserved.
Kisaki-san then added, “...As long as Shigeru-san and I don’t find out, I don’t care what you two do. After all, I don’t think I could stop you if I tried,” and I thought that was totally something she’d say.
Lastly, she said, “Fourth... I want you to be happy.”
In a way, that was her hardest condition to meet, but also the one that definitely had to be met.
Thus, the whole affair somehow came to an end. I was happy and relieved, but...personally, I was a little disappointed since I had just come up with a plan to convince Kisaki-san to accept us. First off, I was going to tell her how much I was seriously in love with Orihara-san by reading her a poem about my passionate feelings... In the end, my poem strategy was dead on arrival. Hmm... I even wrote a good one. Well, whatever.
After the recent, chaotic events that had happened, we finally found some peace. Time passed, and so came the end of September and my sixteenth birthday.
“Happy birthday, Momota-kun!” Orihara-san said, and the sound of a party popper filled the room. It was six o’clock, and just the two of us were in Orihara-san’s apartment. There was a lavish party spread prepared by Orihara-san on the dining table along with a small cake.
“Thank you, Orihara-san.”
“Seriously...congratulations. I’m so, so happy that you’re sixteen.”
“A-Are you really that happy?”
“Yes! You’ve turned sixteen. That means you’re one year older!”
“Oh.”
“And I’m still twenty-seven years old!” Orihara-san said very excitedly. “This means that our age gap is now...eleven years! Not twelve, but eleven! Now I don’t have to say, ‘It’s not a full zodiac cycle, it’s eleven years and ten months,’ and sound like a sore loser!”
“...”
“Yeah, I know when it’s December I’ll be a year older and everything will go back to normal. I just want to enjoy this small miracle that doesn’t last for more than a little over two months, ha ha ha...” After getting herself all hyped up, Orihara-san proceeded to plummet down into the dumps. The highs and lows of her excitement were so intense I couldn’t really keep up.
After having a good conversation and a good meal, the time had finally come for my birthday present.
“U-Um... Don’t really get your hopes up too high, okay?” After being so happy, Orihara-san suddenly began to squirm. “With what’s happened with my sister, I didn’t really have a lot of time. I’ve been thinking about what to get for forever, but the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t decide what to do. Just when I started to think that this wasn’t it, I ran out of time to buy something else...”
“You don’t have to be so modest... I’m happy with whatever you’ve chosen, Orihara-san.”
“...Really? You mean really really?”
“Really.”
“You definitely won’t laugh?”
“I won’t laugh.”
“Hmm... Okay... Here you go.” Gathering her courage, Orihara-san handed over the present to me. It was a small, neatly wrapped vertical box.
“May I open it?”
“Y-Yes...” After receiving her permission, I opened it. What came out first was a box that was the size of a glasses case, and what was inside was...
“Is this...a ballpoint pen?”
“I-It’s a fountain pen!”
“This is a fountain pen?” When I think of a fountain pen, I imagine a pen that’s black or blue with a gold line running along its body to give it a dignified and luxurious appearance. However, this fountain pen had a translucent body. The barrel gave it the feel of a fountain pen, but...it had a trendy, futuristic design that made it not look like a fountain pen, in a good way.
“Apparently it’s a high-tech fountain pen. Someone at my office uses it, and they said it’s really easy to use. It’s not that expensive, but it’s high-class stationery...”
I could hear the nervousness and anxiety in her voice as she continued. “I-I gave this a lot of thought, you know? I wanted to get you something you would be able to carry with you every day... But I thought something like an expensive wallet or bag wouldn’t really fit a student, and I didn’t want to get anything too cheap either. So, what I came up with was some stationery that’s a little high-end...”
“I see. Yeah, this is nice. It’s really cool.”
“It wouldn’t be unusual for you to carry around a fountain pen, and you’ll have more opportunities to use it in the future, won’t you?”
“You’re right. I have a lot of writing to do.”
“...Yeah. Also, you know...two years from now?”
“Two years from now? ...Oh, yeah, when I become a third year, there’ll be a lot of times where I can’t use a mechanical pencil, like when I write my college application.”
“Yes, that’s true, but... Hey, come on, you know...” Orihara-san said as she blushed and fidgeted with her fingers. “Momota-kun...you made a promise to me about something you’re going to do two years from now.”
“Huh? Two years from now? You don’t mean...?”
“Yes, our marriage certificate!” Orihara-san said, looking embarrassed but happy. “You promised to sign it when you turn eighteen, right, Momota-kun? So, when you do, I thought it would be nice if you could use this fountain pen. I thought it would be wonderfully romantic if the pen you use to sign our wedding certificate would be the first fountain pen I gave you.”
“...”
“...That was a joke. I’m sorry, none of this happened. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. Please forget all of it... This was really cringy. You’re turned off, right? I called something this clingy ‘romantic’...” As I was at a loss for what to say because of her shocking words, Orihara-san kept apologizing to me with an embarrassed, despairing look on her face.
So, my first birthday present from my girlfriend since we started dating is a fountain pen, and she bought it with the intention of having me use it to sign a marriage certificate... No, this is... Yeah. Even for me, this is...
“...P-Pretty clingy.”
“...?! I-I’m sorry... I’ll get you a more normal present! J-Just give that back to me...!” Orihara-san reached for the fountain pen with a tearful look in her eyes, but I swerved to avoid her grasp.
“I’m not giving it back. I really like it.”
“Huh...? B-But you said I was being clingy.”
“You were, but it feels nice. I love how cringy you are when you’re so clingy.”
“...What? Is that supposed to be a compliment?” I intended to compliment her, but Orihara-san got a really confused look on her face.
“When I turn eighteen, let’s use this to sign our marriage certificate.”
“...Okay.”
“Until then, let’s somehow convince everyone about us—”
“—and make everyone happy,” Orihara-san said, finishing my sentence, and I nodded in agreement.
With nothing left to say, there was silence. I beckoned to her, and without a word she leaned in closer. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders.
“I love you, Hime.”
“Um... Oh...” Orihara-san’s face was bright red, and her gaze wandered around the room. “I-I love you too...K-Kaoru-kun,” she said awkwardly. “No fair! You surprised me.”
“It’s not unfair.”
“But...” She pouted and puffed out her cheeks, but soon a smile she couldn’t hold back broke out onto her face. Then we... Well, you could say that we spent some happy time together. The curfew of eight p.m. that my new mom placed on me meant we couldn’t do anything too adult, but it was still more than enough to make me happy.
The fact that Orihara-san and I were able to share the same thoughts and proceed in the same direction was a happiness that couldn’t be replaced by anything else. I didn’t know what would happen from here on out. However, I felt like if we were together, we could overcome any obstacle. Maybe I was a little crazy from how love had made me blind. But I wanted to accept all of that and move forward with her to the future.