I decided to shift my positioning a little, hoping it would help me calm down...
“Eeek!”
...and the moment I did, Hatoko let out a shriek.
“J-Juu! Y-Your breath is tickling me...”
“Gah! S-Sorry!” I yelped, reflexively sitting up.
I had, unfortunately, forgotten something extremely important. My childhood friend—which is to say, my girlfriend—was surprisingly well-endowed. She didn’t wear very revealing clothing, so it was sort of hard to tell most of the time...but long story short, she had a lot going on underneath those clothes. Not that I’d ever seen her wearing anything less than a swimsuit, of course.
Anyway, the point is that lying with my head in her lap meant that there was a certain obstacle right above me, and sitting up rapidly from that position meant that I’d plowed my face right into it with a mighty thwump. That’s how I learned that, even through her clothes...Hatoko’s underboob was way softer than even her thighs.
“Hyeek!”
“Wha— Gah! S-Sorry!” I shouted. Hatoko’s wordless shriek had snapped me back to reality, and I tumbled away from her, sprawling on the ground in an ungainly heap. “Sorry! I’m seriously so sorry, Hatoko!”
“I-It’s fine...” said Hatoko. “I was just a little surprised, that’s all.”
“What? But I—”
“W-Wait! Don’t turn back toward me just yet!”
“Huh...?”
“I-I, umm... I mean, what happened just now, um, bumped things out of place... I’ll fix it, just give me one second!”
“R-Right... Seriously, sorry.”
Bumped what out of place...? There’s only one answer, right? What else could’ve been dislodged in a sort of way she’d have to fix?
Say, how out of place are we talking, though? How do you fix something like that? My imagination was running torturously wild conjuring up images of what might be happening behind me.
“Okay, it’s fine now,” Hatoko eventually said.
I turned right around and gave her an apologetic bow. “I’m so...so sorry,” I said.
“I-It’s fine! Doesn’t bother me at all,” Hatoko replied.
She was as kind and tolerant as ever, but I felt so bad and awkward that I just couldn’t bring myself to look up at her. A very uncomfortable moment of silence fell over us. I searched for the right thing to say, but the words just weren’t coming to me...
“Hee hee!”
...until Hatoko burst out in laughter. “You know, dating’s a lot harder than I thought it’d be!” she said. I didn’t know how to reply. “It’s like all these things I took for granted up until now feel like the biggest deal all of a sudden. The more I try to act naturally, the less naturally I actually end up acting.”
“Yeah... I get that,” I said.
“But you know...”
Hatoko paused to crawl in my direction. She sprawled onto the ground, resting her head on my thighs this time. She’d turned the lap pillow routine right back around on me.
“I’m really happy right now,” she said, beaming up at me from her place atop my lap. “All the little things that I took for granted before feel so special now, and I’m enjoying every bit of it. I’m seeing all sorts of sides to you that I’d never noticed before too.”
“Hatoko...” I muttered. I gently stroked her hair, and she closed her eyes, most likely out of a sort of happy embarrassment. “I’m having the time of my life too. I always thought that no one could be more relaxing to hang out with than you...but lately, you’ve become the person who makes my heart pound harder than anyone else.”
It took quite a lot of nerve to swallow my embarrassment and admit that. Hatoko gave me a smile in return.
“Let’s stay together forever. Okay, Juu?” my former childhood friend and current girlfriend proposed.
“Sounds good to me,” I replied. It was the best suggestion I could’ve asked for, and I didn’t hesitate to affirm it.
Honestly...is it really okay for me to be this happy? I wondered, saying a silent prayer that this wouldn’t all turn out to be just a dream.
Pretty Pigeon Route: The End
About a year had passed since we’d fought our final battle. It was the decisive clash between me and Kiryuu—the ultimate showdown between Guiltia Sin Jurai and Kiryuu Heldkaiser Luci-First. That battle was truly the culmination of everything that had happened in our story up to that point...and it was a climax that defied description, no matter how hard I tried.
Words could not do it justice. Prose could never depict it. It was such an outlandishly over-the-top battle that your only choice would be to describe it in a brief, vague summary form, or otherwise to cut the scene entirely and only discuss it in retrospect. It was a battle the likes of which had never been seen before and would likely never be seen again. The chances of another conflict even remotely living up to it were simply nonexistent.
Seriously, though, what a fight! Looking back now that it was all over, it almost felt like the whole thing—my battle with Kiryuu, the Spirit War’s existence on the whole, the fact that we had ever possessed absurdly potent supernatural powers, all of it—had been a dream.
Anyway, that was all over now, and another year had come and gone. All sorts of stuff had happened during that year...and over the course of it, I’d started going out with a certain girl.
“Your time is up. Pencil down, please, Andou.”
I heaved a sigh, put down my mechanical pencil, then slumped over onto my desk. Meanwhile, Sayumi scooped up the mock exam answer sheet that I’d done my best to fill in completely.
“Feel free to relax while I grade your test,” said Sayumi.
“Got it,” I replied. “Oh—actually, I’ll get us something to drink while I have time.” I added, slipping out of my room and making for the kitchen.
A week had already come and gone since my final summer vacation in high school had begun, and now that I was a third-year student with entrance exams on the horizon, I’d spent that week hitting the books day in and day out, never pausing for even a moment to go out and have fun. I wasn’t going to a cram school like some test-takers though—I didn’t need to. After all, I had the most exceptional home tutor you could ever possibly ask for.
“Sorry about all this, Sayumi,” I said as I stepped back into the room and handed her one of the glasses of barley tea I’d poured. “You would’ve finally had a chance to enjoy yourself this summer, but here you are using it to help me study instead.”
“There’s no need to concern yourself with that. I’m helping you because I want to,” Sayumi replied.
Ever since summer vacation had begun—or, really, ever since we’d become a couple—Sayumi had watched over my studies like a hawk. This hardly even bears saying at this point, but she was a multitalented academic wonder who’d fought for—and frequently claimed—the top spot in her class’s academic ranking all throughout her high school career. The college she was now attending continued that streak of excellence, as it was a prestigious institution known for its students’ remarkably high average grades, and Sayumi had been accepted there by recommendation. She hadn’t actually had to take the school’s entrance exams as a result, but I was confident that if she had, she would’ve easily passed them with flying colors.
“It’s just that considering you’re on summer vacation too, you might’ve wanted to, er... Well...” I muttered.
“To what?” asked Sayumi.
“To, umm...go on more dates and stuff,” I tentatively admitted, extremely conscious of the blush spreading across my face.
For a moment, Sayumi’s hand came to a stop, hovering above my answer sheet. A gentle smile came across her face.
“No need to concern yourself with that,” Sayumi repeated. “It may not be immediately evident, but I am, for the record, quite enjoying myself. Spending time with you, in your room, is worthwhile on its own. Moreover,” she added, her voice taking on a mischievous, slightly sulky tone, “I was under the impression that these get-togethers were our version of at-home dates. Was I the only one who felt that way?”
All I could manage in reply to that was a very awkward smile. My sheer embarrassment wouldn’t let me produce much else. Sayumi, on the other hand, snickered as she returned to grading my test. Once again, the room was silent aside from the sound of her pen scratching across the paper.
“S-So, how’d I do?” I eventually asked.
“I’m still only partway through, so I can’t say definitively...but so far, you’ve done quite well,” Sayumi replied.
“Seriously? All right!”
“Your grades have improved remarkably, Andou. I’m genuinely impressed.”
“Well, of course they would. I’ve had a great teacher, after all.”
“All I’ve done is assist you. The fact of the matter is that ever since you became a third-year, you’ve applied yourself to your studies with incredible zeal. Your sister told me recently that even on days I don’t come over, you’re practically glued to your desk, immersed in your work.”
“I mean, sure, but I’m a third-year. That’s totally normal when you’ve got entrance exams coming up, isn’t it?”
“Perhaps, but not when your mock exam results all but ensure you’ll be accepted to your college of choice already—which is the case for you, isn’t it? You seem oddly driven, considering...”
“W-Well, y’know, you can’t get complacent about stuff like this, right?”
“Andou...”
Suddenly, Sayumi’s hand came to a stop once more. She straightened her posture and turned to face me.
“I intended to feign ignorance about this...but I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to bring it up after all.”
“Huh...? B-Bring what up?”
“Andou...you’re planning to take the exam for the college I attend, aren’t you?”
I took in a sharp breath and stiffened.
“Yes, I thought so,” Sayumi said with a sigh.
“H-How’d you know...?”
“It was rather obvious.”
A slightly strained smile spread across Sayumi’s face. All I could do was break eye contact. She was right about everything—I had been secretly studying to take the test for the college that she was going to. I’d thought that I’d done a pretty good job of hiding my intentions, but Sayumi was clearly not so easy to fool.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Sayumi.
“Because...I thought that if I did, you’d try to stop me,” I admitted.