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“You excited?” Ren asks Ryuji in his living room, trying to hand him his jacket. In the meantime, Ryuji paces back and force. He practically carves a trough into the wood flooring. He sighs as he grabs the coat and lazily puts it on.
To say Ryuji is excited is an understatement.
It’s been six years since Makoto and Ryuji started dating. They’ve seen each other at their best times, worst times, and everything in between. It hasn’t been the easiest six years, but Ryuji’s loved every second of it. Now, Makoto’s started her amazing career at the police station, already on track to become the best police commissioner in Tokyo. Ryuji’s also made a name for himself as an up-and-coming physical trainer. They’ve moved in together ages ago. They’ve talked about their future before. Knowing all this, it still makes things way harder for him too, well -
“I’m nervous, man. What if she says no?” Ryuji panics, “What if she decides she doesn’t wanna spend the rest of her life with me?”
“I see the way she looks at you. If she says no, then she will never hear the end of it from the rest of us.” Ren tries to reassure him.
“But what if shit goes bad during the whole thing and -”
“Ryuji! You spent weeks planning this. She’s going to like it,” Ren grabs his friend’s shoulders, “Everything is going to be okay. Breath. if anything actually happens that you’re not okay with, call me after, and we can talk. Although I’m not expecting you to call me.”
He knows Ren is right. Makoto will definitely say yes. With everything he’s got planned, it’s going to the most romantic night they’ve ever had.
“Wow Ryuji, this place is really nice. Are you sure we can afford this?” Makoto says as they approach a lavish building. With the sun setting on the horizon, the whole place sparkles. Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.
He wraps his arm around her waist, “Yeah! We never go to fancy places like this. We can treat ourselves sometimes,” He lies. Well, not a lie per say, but he’s choosing not to tell the whole truth. Besides, if everything goes well, she’ll definitely forgive him for it.
The two go up to the hostess. She looks down at the paper on her stand before she looks up at them with a small smile.
“Table for two?” She asks. They both nod and are escorted into the dining room. Ryuji didn’t think it would be this packed. Why the hell are there this many people inside? He feels himself panic, going through all the shitty scenarios along the way. His stomach drops as they’re placed into a corner of the room. They’re forced into a small dingy booth with hardly any leg room beneath it. It looks more like a booth in Shibuya than some high-class restaurant.
“Ah, sorry,” Ryuji apologizes as he hits Makoto’s thigh.
“It’s okay! Maybe moving forward, if we come to a place like this again, we should make a reservation?” Makoto suggests. Why didn’t he think of that? It would’ve meant getting a better seat. It’s okay, the meal will make up for it. He picks up the menu and looks over it. Yikes, it’s more expensive than he remembered seeing online. But they never come to places like this, and it’ll be worth it. Once the waiter comes out, they order their food and beverages. Minutes later, their drinks come out.
“I’m looking forward to the food. Everything on the menu looked delicious,” Makoto smiles.
“Yeah. Oh, when we get dessert later, I’m thinkin’ we get that chocolate cake. It looks good - “ Right as he moves the menu to show her the picture, his wrist hits the glass. It spills off to the side of the table and starts to drip off the table.
“Oh no!” Makoto exclaims as she picks the napkins off the table and starts to wipe down the mess. Ryuji follows right after and helps her. Outside, he’s perfectly calm. Inside, he’s ready to throw himself against a wall. Did he piss off some god to get this shitty of a night so far?
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think I’d hit it.” Ryuji sheepishly says.
“It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean it,” She says as she wipes down the last of it.
All he can do is hope the meal itself goes fine. Thankfully, it does. It’s delicious, and he loves every second of the meal. And from the look on her face as she eats her, he knows Makoto likes it too. At least he got something right.
And then it goes downhill as soon as the check comes out. Ryuji knew it was going to be expensive, but it’s shocking to see it written down. His eyes briefly bulge out, but it’s okay. It’s not an everyday thing, and he can afford to pay for it.
“Thanks, Ryuji hands the waiter his card. He looks at Makoto, “Sorry about the rough start, I dunno why it was like that.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” She gently grabs his hands across the table, “I had a great time.”
“Excuse me, sir,” The waiter returns, “It appears your card was declined.”
Oh no. He should’ve known shit was going to hit the fan all over again.
“It’s okay, I can pay for it.” Makoto pulls out her own credit card. As he leaves, she raises an eyebrow, “Any reason why your card was declined?”
“Uhh…” The ring, definitely the ring. He can’t tell her that though. Okay, some other believable lie, “It’ll make sense in a few days when it comes in the mail.”
Makoto sighs, “I’m not looking forward to you throwing your back lifting that upstairs to our apartment.”
“One time! That was one time!” Ryuji defends himself.
Not long after, the waiter returns with her card. Despite his shitty luck, the waiter returns Makoto’s card, and they’re able to leave the restaurant. He would run out of the restaurant if he could, but he basically drags his feet instead. This dinner was supposed to be a way for him to unwind before he finally pops the question, but nope. More nerves.
“So what’s next in your grand plan, Ryuji?” Makoto grabs his hand. His mind blanks briefly. Right, the park. Just a simple stroll in the park, find a really nice tree near the center, and then propose. It won’t that hard, he tells himself. Just… relax.
“Just a walk in the park, the one right next to it.” Ryuji and Makoto hold hands and start their walk. He passes by tons of trees, but none of them look right. Some have weird branches, and the others don’t have enough leaves. In the distance, he sees it. A small open area with a few trees surrounding it. The sun has set by now, but it still feels like a shining light for their future. It’s not a single tree, but everything feels perfect. It needs to be here.
Makoto appears to feel it too, because she walks right into the center. She looks beautiful in the moonlight. Her smile gives him all the confidence he needs to get down on one knee right now. He reaches into his left coat pocket and… his blood runs cold. He tries the right, maybe he just messed up putting it back in… nope, just his phone. He stares at his reflection in the black screen. He sees the stress in his eyes.
Shit shit shit shit -
Okay, where can it be? He was pretty careful taking his jacket off when they were at the restaurant, so it couldn’t have fallen there. The cab there? No, their driver would’ve called by now to let them know (hopefully). If he plays dumb about the driver, maybe he can -
His phone vibrates in his hand, with Ren’s picture covering the screen. Did he leave it at his place? He did rush to put on his coat before.
“Uh, I’ll be right back Makoto! Just a call from a client. S-stay here, I’ll be back!” Shoot, why did he say it twice? He hides behind one of the trees not too far. He allows his body to fall, now sitting on the grass. Wait, didn’t it rain this morning? Feeling the last of the rain seep into his pants, he thinks it’s fitting. After all, why wouldn’t shit go wrong?
He finally hits that green button and answers his best friend’s call.
“I left the ring at your place.” Ryuji panics over the phone.
“Yeah, and it took me way too long to notice that it was left literally right by the coat hanger. Wish I saw it sooner - Oh, oh no.” Ren’s voice goes up at the end. He’s nervous, why is he nervous? He literally told him that everything was going to fine earlier that day.
“What’s going on?” Ryuji says worriedly.
“So I called you while I was walking to the train station, and now that I’m here, it looks like all the trains are delayed. I don’t know why, but I can’t even drop off the ring. Sorry man.” Any hope Ryuji had before pops like a bubble.
“Shit, this whole night is cursed.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s been a rough time, man. We got sat in some shitty corner of the restaurant, and then I spilled my drink all over the table. And then my card wouldn’t go through because I blew it on the ring and I’m not gettin’ paid until tomorrow. Now my pants are wet, and Makoto’s probably wonderin’ where I’m at. She’s never gonna say yes to the proposal anymore.”
“Okay, that sounds pretty shitty. But look, I’m going to go home. If you want to postpone the proposal, it’s okay You can come by, pick up the ring, and try another night. It doesn’t mean you failure.”
Ryuji groans, “You’re right. I can always propose on a better night. I’ll get the ring tomorrow morning.”
“Or you could always propose now.” Makoto’s voice. Ryuji’s heart is going to burst out of his chest. He turns around to see her on the other side of the tree.
”Uhhh I’m gonna go. Call me tomorrow.” Ren hangs up on him. Ryuji drops the phone immediately after. His legs are frozen in place, his body in shock. Now that she knows, he can’t properly surprise her or give her the best proposal he could’ve given her. He can’t take any real action right now, and she notices. She walks around the tree and crouches in front of him.
“If you’re worried about me saying no because of everything that went wrong, don’t.” Her face is flushed. Is she nervous too?
“I just wanted everything to go perfect, and it didn’t. I mean, I forgot the ring! That’s the most important thing!” Ryuji cries out, rubbing his fingers against his temples. She stops him, grabbing his wrists. Her thumb makes small circles in his palms.
“It’s not. It’s about the two of us wanting to take the next step in our lives. You could’ve asked me any random day. We could’ve been making breakfast, or just finished shopping at the underground mall. It’s not about the setup, although I can’t say I don’t appreciate the effort you put into this, because I do.”
“Will you marry me?” Ryuji sputters out. If he didn’t ask at that moment, he wasn’t sure when the courage would’ve come back.
“Of course I will.”
“Oh thank god.” He cups her cheeks and pulls her right in for a kiss. In his impulsive action, she falls down to the grass. Their kiss is interrupted by her body falling on top of his, and in turn, the two falling over to the side. They land on their backs, shoulders against each other. Their laughter booms in the area. If anyone is remotely close to them in the park, they would’ve thought the couple is crazy. But Ryuji doesn’t care - not anymore.
“So… you do realize that planning a wedding is going to be more difficult than planning a proposal, right?” Makoto asks him.
“Uhh, you’re gonna help, right?”
Makoto gives his hand a light squeeze, “Yeah, we’ll do it all. Together.”