Chapter Text
Shattering, booming, heavy breathing. Sorry Yuzuru, I dropped your camera. I had to run, I hit my leg, it doesn't matter. I can't hear anything other than my breathing. It's so quiet, so silent. My heart is beating through my chest, and my body feels like it's burning up from the inside out.
But that doesn't matter
I take a leap of faith and grab onto her arm. Thank- thank god, thank god!
[BOOM!]
Everything is so loud that I can't hear myself think over my own breathing. My ears feel like they're about to rupture from the sounds of the exploding fireworks. I can see the night sky reflected off her eyes, I can see the light show above us. I can see the river and hard ground far beneath her.
Why would she do this
"SHOKO! TH- THE RAILING!"
I can't pull her up with my arm.
Please, please grab the railing, please stay in my grip. My hands are sweaty.
I'm losing my grip
"THE RAILING! GRAB THE RAILING!"
I see her try her best, reaching up to grab the railing. My hand loses its grip. My hand isn't wrapped around her wrist.
Everything stops
I can't hear anything, everything is frozen in place. Everything is grey, her eyes, teary eyes staring into my own, frozen. I reach, and-
[BOOM! CRACKLE]
I watch her yelp in terror as I nearly let her drop, her face lit up by the fireworks. My other hand grabbed her. The only thing I can hear is my own heartbeat. Did I cause this?
I'm losing my footing
Was this my fault? Did I go wrong? If I never spoke to her, if I died that day, would she still be smiling? Watching the fireworks with her family?
Her hand reaches and misses
I never got to apologi-
No.
I never thought to apologize.
Please God, grant me just one more ounce of strength.
I won't run from my problems anymore.
I won't use Shoko as an excuse.
I'll look everyone in the face.
I'll listen to everyone's voices.
Starting tomorrow,
I'll do better.
I shove my feet between the brick and the metal railing, I'm sorry Shoko but I grab your arm so firmly my nails leave marks in your skin, I look you in the eyes and with all of my strength, I pull you over the railing.
You're safe. I fell onto the floor, you fell on top of me. My head hit the back of the wall, it hurts, but it doesn't matter.
You're crying, in my arms. I'm losing my vision, and as I look up at the moon, something comes to my mind.
"I lub moo"
The moon.
"Lub moo!"
Oh...
"Lub moo!"
Before my eyes close, I look down from the moon, I look into your eyes. you're crying, you can barely muster out your sobbing. Through the shock, through the pain, through the fireworks, I muster something out.
"You love me."
Ah, it's morning. The sunlight's in my face. I try to move my arm to shield my eyes from the sun, but I can't because my arms in a cast. It looks like I'm in a hospital room because of yesterday.
There's a heartbeat monitor attached to me. Nurses and doctors are moving in the hallway past the door.
I'm not alone in here, my mom's here, she's fast asleep on a chair.. who's that next to her?
Oh, it's Shoko. Her arm's in a cast, that must be my fault, sorry Shoko. She looks so peaceful sleeping.. why would sh-
"CHO-YA'S AWAKE!"
"M-maria you'll wake them-" Looks like Maria is here too. Jeez, she screamed so loud my ears are ringing.
Mom was shocked awake and she looked at me. I lift my free arm to wave. "Hey."
But before I could even let my arm drop back to my side she rushed in to wrap her arms around me, squeezing me tightly in a hug.
"SHOYA! THANK GOD YOU'RE FINE!"
"M-Mom! My arm!"
"R-right! Sorry! I'll get the doctor!"
I watch as she rushes out of the room, Maria following after her.
If Shoko wasn't awake before, she's definitely awake now. I look towards where she was sleeping and, she's staring right at me. She looks starstruck, instead of smiling.
My first instinct was to sign 'hello' to her, but one arm is in a cast and the other one hurts to move.
She stood up and walked over to the side of my bed, with every step she took she looked sadder and sadder. By the time she made it to me her eyes were filled with tears.
"A-Am shorry!" She cried out as she bowed over me, face looking towards the ground.
"D-don't apologize!" I say in response, pushing myself further up the hospital bed to be in a sitting position.
She didn't hear me, she's still looking at the ground. Slowly, and rather painfully I reach my arm up and grab her shoulder. When I make contact with her, she quickly looks up at me, eyes still full of tears.
"Don't say sorry! You have nothing to be sorry about!" I shout, I speak loudly so she can hear me.
"I can't sign to you properly, so let's talk about everything later! But please, don't say sorry!"
I hope I didn't wake up any of my neighbors, Shoko looks at me, wiping her tears with her wrists. She's still shaken up, making those hiccup like motions you do when you've been sobbing.
Did, did she hear what I said back then? There's no way, right?.. It was way too loud, no way she heard me.
My mind wanders, but I don't exactly want to scream "DO YOU LOVE ME?" in the middle of a hospital.
With a bit of pain I put my arm back where it was. But I can't tear my eyes away from hers. Whenever I look at her, I still think of what it looked like when she was dangling from the balcony.
I really want to ask her why. If it was my fault, if she was angry with me, if... if she still loved me... Stop! Not the time for th-
"Shoya! The doctor's here!"
Turns out, I dislocated my right arm and nearly tore a tendon. My other arm is mostly fine but it'll have a bit of pain for a few days. Other than that, I had a minor concussion from hitting my head. Luckily, I had no brain damage. I told Shoko to meet me by the bridge like always tomorrow. I don't want to talk to her about... everything over the phone.
I'm in bed, tossing and turning. Man, I fucked everything up. I told everyone off and got them to hate me, now they probably want nothing to do with Shoko either...
I feel the urge to slap myself out of shame, how can I be so dumb?!.. Did I, change at all?..
I stopped tossing and turning in bed, I'm staring at the ceiling, in silence. I guess I just need to brood and sulk in silence to feel bette-
My door opens and Pedro enters, huh, I haven't seen him in a while. Is he here to pick Maria up?
"Hey there kid." He takes a seat next to me, looking down at me.
I make a small attempt at a wave. "Hey."
"I heard what happened last night and drove over, your sister's still busy so she couldn't visit but she gave you her blessings. Don't take no offense to it, yeah?"
"I know how she is, don't worry."
Pedro put a hand to the back of his head and moved in closer, putting on an awkward smile.
"Look, I came to tell ya how proud of you I am kid. Ya dad skimped out on you as a kid, so I just felt like I should tell ya that. Man to man, y'kno?"
I nod in response, Pedro and I don't speak much normally but I appreciate him.
"Saving a girl from making such a stupid decision. You've really grown as a man, y'kno? I remember when you were a kid, you were a bully. A real brat, then until a while ago you were too scared to make friends. Now you're out saving lives."
"Huh.. I guess you're right." A smile creeps its way onto my face. "Thanks Pedro. I uh.. needed that."
"It's nothin' but the truth, kid." He scooched closer to me. "Hey, tell me the truth, won't you. You're head over heels for that girl, aren't you?"
"W-where did that come from?!"
"Aw come on kid! You've been all over that girl for the whole year! And now you've gone And saved her life!"
My face gets flushed red as I look away from him, I muster out an answer, embarrassed.
"M-maybe a little."
Pedro laughed loudly and slapped his knee.
"There ya go kid! You're her knight in shining armor, how couldn't she love you?"
The memory of Shoko wearing a ponytail flashed across my mind. I feel like slapping myself.
"O-okay well how do I bring that topic up to her?.. I-I mean I've never even had a girlfriend before, not to mention I need to deal with everything that happened last night an-"
Pedro put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"Kid, I worried just about as much as you if not more for your sister. Though my worries were about marriage. I could only propose to her once I cleared my head of all those thoughts. You just need to do you, and things will end up well. Trust me."
I couldn't help but smile up at Pedro when he gave me his advice.
"Thanks Pedro, that actually means a lot."
Pedro stood up and walked to the door, opening it. "No problem, kid, sleep well." He walked out of my room and closed the door, leaving me alone and in silence once again. But I didn't feel sad. In fact, I felt even more hopeful for the morning.
Monday
I would take my bike to the bridge, but I cant exactly cycle when one of my arms are broken and the other hurts like hell if I move it the wrong way. So I had to walk all the way.
I bought flowers on the way, mom told me girls love flowers. She didn't really want me leaving the house so soon, but I'm fine, really. I got odd looks from students going to school on my way. I don't know why I decided to leave so early, but I'm pretty sure Shoko can't go to school right now either. I wonder what her family spoke to her about. Did she tell them anything? What if her mom won't let me see her..
No! Pedro told me I need to shove all my worries out of my mind!
I just need to calm down and clear my mind, I can do this right. I pull the flowers up to my face and smell them. They smell really good. I hope Shoko is a flower girl, I never bothered to ask her those things.
I can do this. You got this, Shoya. You can do this! You'll win! You'll make everything better, and you'll confess your feelings, too!
I smile confidently.
"Yeah, I got this!"
I made it to the bridge, and I also bought bread, two loafs. Shoko isn't here yet, but then again I went half an hour earlier than I do normally because I couldn't take my bike. Looking down at the water below me, I sigh. A horrible feeling washes over me. What if I wasn't strong enough? What if she dropped? What if I let her die? What if Shoko died because I was too weak to save her? What if-
Oh.. I'm crying. Oh man, I'm sorry, Pedro, I need to listen to you more. But, but not right now. I wipe my tears from my face, and as I look to the side to do so, I'm met face to face with Shoko again.
The first thing she saw of me was my face filled with tears, god damn it, Shoya, you're so dumb!
Wait, why's she runni-
I nearly topple over as Shoko runs straight at me, pulling me into a hug. My arm hurts really bad, but... for some reason, it does matter to me. Her arm must hurt, too.
I look down at the girl who even after all this time is still sobbing just at the sight of me, the girl who's digging her face into my chest, the girl who I was strong enough to save and it feels as though my worries all wash away.
I move my free arm to wrap it around her back, I wonder how I'll talk about this to her. I've never hugged Shoko before. This feels nice. This feels warm.
I see Shoko move her face up to look at me, my shirt's stained with her tears, but she's smiling. A real smile, ear to ear, happy despite her teary eyes.
I can't help but smile too. It's as though even if I didn't want to, I wouldn't be able to stop it.
We stay like that for a while, but eventually, Shoko leaves my arms. We have to talk about everything, after all.
I've signed with one hand before, it happens naturally, whether one hand is holding something or I'm just too busy, using one-handed sign language is normal. But I've never held an entire conversation before with just one hand.
I hope this won't be too difficult, especially since my arm hurts.
Shoko and I sat down on a nearby bench and table. She's sitting in front of me, nervously looking at me.
"I hope signing with just one hand won't be too difficult," I speak as I sign in tandem, like I always do.
Shyly, but with great anticipation, Shoko nods.
"So... why did you try doing that?"
Is the first thing I ask, I want to avoid it. I want to lock it away and never talk about it, but I need to bring it up. I've been where Shoko was, but then I met her, and I declared that I'd live, if even just for her... Right in front of her little sister too, oh my GOD.
Shoko looks a bit surprised that I'd ask her that so abruptly. But she regains her composure and responds.
"W-what?! No! Don't say those things!" I shout abruptly, standing up from my seat. I sit back down once I've calmed down, almost forgetting to sign.
"I understand where you come from. I thought those things too, but they aren't true! Up until yesterday, instead of truly listening to you, I just filled in the blanks of what I didn't know. I really wasn't no better than I was when we're kids!" I feel shameful, but I can be better now! I have to be!
"Shoko, I am deeply sorry for everything I did back then! I never thought to apologize, so now I will. I'm sorry for hitting you, for screaming at you, for saying bad things to you, I'm sorry that even till now, I never truly listened to your voice! Please, forgive me, Shoko!" I bow my head deeply. If I had truly, really listened to her, maybe she would have never gone on that balcony.
If I apologized sooner, we'd be sitting happily here, smiling, laughing, with everyone around.
But I was selfish, I've always been selfish, that's my worst trait... I really don't des-
"N-no!" I feel a nudge on my shoulder, I look up from the ground and see Shoko leaning over the table, her eyes teary once again. She sits back down and responds to me as quickly as she can.
I can't help but smile at her response.
"You're too forgiving, and too hard on yourself... You're not worthless, you don't destroy everything for the people around you, you didn't ruin my life, Shoko. In- In fact-" My heart is beating through my chest, is this it? Is this even the right moment? Oh god, I'm so scared, I don't want to mess things up. What if she hates me after this I-
I breathe in deeply as I stand up and shove every possible bad thought out from my mind. I walk out from my seat and stand in front of Shoko. She looks startled from my sudden movement.
I'm sure if there was a mirror, I'd look like a tomato from how red I must be, oh god, this really is it!
"In f-fact!" I hold the flowers out in front of me, offering them to Shoko. But before she could grab them I place them on the table in front of her as I realize I couldn't speak to her well without at least one free arm.
"You saved my life, Shoko! That day, where I met you, I was intending on killing myself. I ended all my subscriptions, sold all my possessions, and gave all the money I had left to my mom. But when I stood on the railing on top of that bridge, I noticed some kids playing with fireworks. And then you came to mind, I remembered that I never apologized to you." I exhale deeply and then inhale even quicker, Shoko looks surprised, but I'm not done yet. I need to do this quickly!
"I found you there in that class, and I chased after you to apologize to you, but I ended up asking to be your friend instead! That was the greatest mistake I've ever made! From that day on I woke up everyday so I could meet you and do things for you, it sounds kind of creepy, but, but I'm serious! I lived for you, and because of that I made friends! And I made memories together with those friends- I made memories together with you! S-so Shoko, if you don't want to live, then let's learn to live together!" My heart is about to jump out of my throat and leave the country.
I reach for the flowers and crouch down a little to be eye level with her as I hold the flowers out in front of me. Finally, I say it. No, I shout it!
"B-because I love you, Shoko!"
My eyes are closed, and honestly, I'm almost too scared to open them. But I can't let my fear stop me from this, I need to see, I need to know!
With great bravery, and a good amount of fear, I open my eyes and look at Shoko.
A gust of wind blows past us, blowing her hair to the side as I look at her. She's holding a hand over her mouth in shock, her eyes are twitching as she looks at me. Is this normal? Is that a normal girl reaction? What if she's disgusted right now? But quickly, I see her repeat the same sign to me over and over. And as my eyes widen from the realization of what she means, a wave of relief and happiness washes over me.
'I love you too!'
I get down to be eye level with her and quickly hug her again, there's nothing else I could think of in the world that I want to do more than this. Everything I've been through- No, everything we've been through up until now happened for this.
She hugs me back and once again, we stay like that for a while. I can't help but think if I should kiss her now. I mean, that's what usually happens about now in movies or stories.. But then again, maybe it's a bit too soon for tha-
No! It's just like what Pedro said, if I let my worries and doubts control my decisions I'll never get to do the things that'll make me happy!
I pull myself away from Shoko's warm embrace and and hold her shoulder firmly with my free arm. I'm looking her in the eyes, she's looking me in the eyes.
Oh god. I'm doing this. I'M DOING THIS? Okay, just do it, on 3
1
I'm staring into her eyes, she's staring into mine. It feels like this moment could go on for ever, but I need to keep going.
2
I move my face closer to hers, she isn't moving away from me. That's good, right? Did I brush my teeth this morning? I hope my breath doesn't smell bad, oh man what if it d- Too late now she's moving closer to me too!
3
This is it! Our lips finally connect and we kiss. Her eyes are closed, but I can't bring to close mine. My hand loosens from her shoulder and instead wraps around her back pulling her closer to me, I hope I don't pull her off the bench. It feels strange, I've never done anything like this before. Soft(?), Is a way to describe it.
Books always described kissing in such strange detail it almost scared me, but this is fine, nice even.
A minute or so passed and I remember I need to breathe, I pull away from her and stand up gasping loudly for air as I turn around from her, my face feels way too warm for comfort. I quickly turn around and look at her, she seems to be in just as much embarrassment as me! And her face might just be redder than mine!
She's holding the sides of her face with her hands as she looks bewildered at me.
"S-sorry for not asking you! I should've asked first! Sorry! Sorry!" I repeatedly sign 'Sorry!' to her
She looks surprised at my words as she stands up and signs back to me.
"Y-you really mean that?... Man I'm so stupid!" I quickly walk over to the other side of the bench and take my seat sitting down.
I watch Shoko as she grabs the bouquet of flowers and smells them. 'They smell nice' I can't help but smile gleefully in response to her comment.
"Then I-I'll make sure to buy you lots of flowers!" I say happily, I can just work and get more money for her, it doesn't matter at all! But suddenly, what she says next hits me like a semi truck.
"B-Boyfriend?" I cough into my fist, I'm pretty sure if there was anyone nearby they'd have heard me by now.
"R-right, yes, then we're dating now! I'm your boyfriend and you're my- my girlfriend!" I almost can't say it. Could you believe it? I, the same horrible Shoya who bullied Shoko into transferring schools, am now that very same Shoko's boyfriend. I really don't deserve her!
"R-right, I still have something to show you." I dig around in my backpack and pull out the gift Shoko got me the day she confessed to me. When she sees me put them on the table she can't help but smile.
"I gotta be one hell of a stupid man to not have understood you back the-" I was abruptly cut off by Shoko leaning over the table and slamming her palms onto the table, exasperated.
"I lub moo! Lub moo! Lub moo! Lub moo! Lub moo!" She might as well be shouting it to me, but it's alright. I'm happy, she's happy. I can finally hear her voice,
and it's beautiful.
Shoko and I spoke a bit more about whatever else we could at the bench before we stood up and walked over to the bridge. I bought two loafs of bread after all, and the fish need feeding. I really can't help but stare at her, something inside me worries me that, if I lay my eyes off of her I might never see her again...
Without thinking I dropped the loaf of bread and got Shoko's attention by grabbing her shoulder.
"Don't you ever do that again! Okay? Please, I know you already said you wouldn't but please, don't ever think of yourself like a waste of peoples time, and don't ever think everyone would be better off without you, alright?" I stammered my words and I only started signing halfway through, but judging by her expression and reaction she understood what I was saying.
Shoko looks away from me before nodding her head guiltily, the mood feels gloomy now, ah that's all my fault isn't it?
I inhale deeply and let out a sigh.
"Did you tell your family what happened?" Pedro seemed to know what happened, so Shoko must've told them, but it's better to be sure rather than accidentally telling them instead for her.
Shoko throws the last of her bread into the water before answering me.
"Oh, they want to speak to me?.. I see, I hope your parents weren't too harsh on you. Where do they want to meet me?" As I finish speaking she grabs my wrist and begins dragging me to her apartment. "W-wait right now?"
The walk up the stairs was quiet, I was worried with what would happen inside her apartment. I wouldn't know what to say or how to say it, to describe me as feeling nervous would be an understatement. And then we went up the final set of stairs, as Shoko took out her keys and unlocked the door I couldn't help but remember what happened the last time I was here.
... Better off I don't think about it.
Shoko unlocked the door and stepped inside, keeping the door open for me. I take off my shoes and enter the apartment. The first thing I see is Shoko's mother standing in front of me. Shoko moves aside to let her mother take a step towards me. "H-hello Ms. Nishimiya, I heard you wanted to speak with me." I gulp unexpectedly loud, she narrows her eyebrows at me before reaching her hand out towards me.
She grabs my hand (the one not in a cast) with both of hers and bows her upper body down towards the ground, holding my arm above her head. Her hands are shaking...
"Shoya Ishida, thank you, thank you so much! If it were not for you Shoko wouldn't be here today! I am deeply sorry about your injuries, forgive us!" She stammers out all at once. I don't know what to say..
"P-please! There's no need for this, S-shoko matters to me too so there's no reason for you to feel indebted to me! And if you really need to make it up to me, let's just... have dinner?" I say in response, trying my best to get the best result. I understand where she's coming from, but really I just want to move on from all of this.
Shoko's mom lets go of my hand and looks up from the ground, she's still shaking.
"I see... Yes, alright. Thank you, again."
She quickly walks away from me, presumably into the kitchen. Everyone's so shaken up about last night, it makes sense. It's only been a day, after all.
Shoko looks at me from the other side of the hallway, she's signaling me over to her room. I've never been inside a girl's room before... but can I really get nervous about such trivial things when all of this is looming over me?
I follow Shoko, and as I step into her and Yuzuru's room, the answer to my question is quickly revealed to me.
I CAN ABSOLUTELY STILL GET NERVOUS
There's not even a chair here that I can sit on. I see Shoko sit down on her bed and pat the space next to her, is, is that really okay? I push my fear far away and I step towards the bed to sit down and-
Someone tugs at my sleeve.
"Hey, there's something I want to talk to you about.."
Huh? I turn to see who's tugging at my sleeve and, oh, it's Yuzuru, and she's holding her camera.
"Oh, is it about your camera? Yeah I'm sor-"
"Sorry Shoko! I'll bring Shoya back to you once I tell him something important!" Before I can respond I am dragged away by Yuzuru, into the balcony.
As I stand inside the balcony I... who am I kidding it's super obvious how much I hate being here.
"Sorry I had to bring you here, but I don't really want Shoko to hear this."
"It's about last night, isn't it?" I state the obvious.
"Yeah... I uh, mom was really harsh on Shoko when she found out. The two argued all night, it ended with mom basically grounding Shoko from doing everything and anything. But, she still let her stay with you in the hospital, even overnight. When Shoko came home this morning mom spoke with her again. I tried listening to them but they wouldn't let me, so I had to wait until the end to eavesdrop. Mom gave up on all the groundings, she also spoke about you a lot but I couldn't really make up the details."
"I see... uh, why are you telling me this?"
"...I don't really know. I just felt like you deserved to know it, but I have other stuff to say."
Yuzuru looks away from me, she's holding something in her hands as she continues speaking.
"Shoko... was always like this. One night, when we were kids she broke down in front of me... saying how much she wanted to.. you know. I thought that, if I took photos of death she'd stop wanting to die... But it was all meaningless, wasn't it? So I took the photos down, cuz none of that matters anyway."
I don't know what to say, after all these years?... Was it... me?...
I look over the railing, at the ground. But Yuzuru taps me on the shoulder to get my attention, she's facing me.
"But that's when I realized something. Maybe, if I had taken photos of life instead, she would've realized how amazing life really is. And I only realized that, because of you. You really helped her live, instead of showing her stupid stuff like how scary death is you showed her how fun life could really be." She's holding a photo towards me, offering me it. It's facing the ground so I don't know what's on it.
"I thought it would be fitting if you got to be the one who put my first photo on the wall for me. So, here you go, Shoya."
"Right, of course."
I take the photo from her hand and turn it over. It's a photo from today, when Shoko and I were feeding the koi. We're both smiling, the sun is reflected in the water and sunlight bounces off both of us in such a way where it seems not only the camera was focusing on us, but instead the entire world was.
I couldn't help but feel warm upon seeing it.
I look up from the photo and smile at Yuzuru.
"Thank you for taking this photo."
Yuzuru doesn't respond, instead she simply slides the balcony door open and we both walk back to Shoko and Yuzuru's room. She hands me a small bit of tape and I put the photo on the empty wall.
Shoko, Yuzuru and I look at the photo.
This is it, this is life.
This is the beginning of our life, together.
Dinner with the Nishimiya family was good, we spoke about whatever but last night still loomed over every conversation we had, even if we avoided speaking about it. Ms. Nishimiya thanked me again and Shoko walked me to the entrance to her apartment block. We hugged again... a-and kissed.
After that I went home, I feel great, despite the circumstances. Me and Shoko promised to learn how to live together, but doubts still loom over my head. I need to fix everything with everyone. Tomohiro, Miyoko, Satoshi, Miki,... Naoka. I grab the back of my head and scrunch my face up in mild frustration, Naoka's gonna be the hardest to deal with. But I'll manage it, somehow. I have to do it. For Shoko, for us, for everyone. The sun's setting, I hope my mom isn't too angry that I'm coming home so late.
I insert my key into the lock and unlock the door, taking my key out and entering before closing the door and locking it. Once I look at the hallway inside I see mom with her arms crossed expectantly at me, she's tapping her foot.
"So..."
"Wait, mom! I-I know I came home late but I have a really good excuse oka-"
Mom quickly rushes me down and stands in front of me with a smile.
"So how'd it go with the giiiiiiirl?~" She says in a sing-songy voice.
"O-oh uh, well, it went well?"
"Did you confess? Did she confess?"
"I- mom! We spoke about what happened last night and why she tried to do that... and... and y-yes..."
"Yes what?"
"...I confessed."
Mom puts her arms up in the air and loudly goes "yayyyyy!"
"You saved a girls life and got a girlfriend!" She pulls me into another hug, this time she's mindful about my arms. "I'm so proud of you! You're such an amazing young man!" She then let go of me and looked me in the eyes sternly.
"Now I'll only say these things once so listen clearly and carefully, because if you forget I'll ground you for life!"
Mom inhales deeply before continuing.
"One, if you get yourself hurt so badly you need to stay overnight in the hospital again I'll make you pay the hospital bills yourself! Two, if you come home this late again I'll make you sleep on the couch! And three! If you get a girl pre-"
"MOM! D-don't talk about those things! It's embarrassing!"
I'm laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling trying to sleep.
A lot happened today, and I still have a lot to do for the rest of the week.
Despite everything, I don't think I've ever been happier.
I close my eyes, drifting off to sleep.
I better make things up with everyone tomorrow...
I'm such a bad friend. But I can be better, and I will be better.
I'll make things up to you,
Tomohiro!
...
Wait there's something in my pocket.
I reach into my pocket and pull out, a photo?
I turn the light in my room on to look at it and-
It's a photo of me kissing Shoko for the first time.
...
YUUUZUURUUUUUUUU!