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Arisa was anxiously pacing by the riverside, often taking her phone out of her bag to check the time before glancing around. She was waiting for someone, and that someone was Toyama Kasumi. Wanting to surprise Kasumi, Arisa had been vague in telling her where she was, but in the eight years that Arisa had known her, Kasumi’s love for stars had never changed. That’s why she had hoped that the star stickers that she carefully placed to lead Kasumi to her would work out, but it had been nearly an hour since she last heard from her, and Arisa was getting nervous.
She stopped her pacing to lean over the metal railing and look up at the sky. It was already dark out, and although there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, all the lights from the city made it impossible to see even a single star. As Arisa started to question if a spot further away from the city would have been better, she heard the sound of someone running towards her and turned her head to see who it was.
“Ah! I found you, Arisa!” Kasumi said as she ran up to Arisa and wrapped her arms around her. “The stars led me to you again!”
Arisa smiled into Kasumi’s shoulder as she nuzzled her head into the crook of Kasumi’s neck as the taller girl held her in a tight, but comforting embrace. After enjoying the warmth of being in her girlfriend’s arms for a while, Arisa took a step back and Kasumi slowly slid her arms back to her sides.
Arisa closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath as she prepared to pour her heart out to Kasumi. She opened her eyes once she was ready, and saw Kasumi leaning over the railing in the same spot that she was just moments ago, staring up at the starless sky.
Arisa walked over and leaned against the railing next to her, placing a hand on Kasumi’s shoulder. “I’m sorry there aren’t really any stars out tonight. I thought that if there weren’t any clouds we could see some…”
She had expected Kasumi to be a bit disappointed from the lack of stars in the sky, but instead, Kasumi leaned towards her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“What do you mean, Arisa?” Kasumi asked with a playful smile on her face. “The brightest star in my sky is right here.”
Arisa felt her cheeks burning up as she took a step away from Kasumi, who had a smug grin across her lips from winning the ‘who can make their girlfriend more embarrassed’ game—which Kasumi was very good at.
“A-Anyway…” Arisa stammered out as she tried to regain her composure. “There’s something that I want to tell you, Kasumi.”
Her girlfriend’s carefree expression turned into a more serious one as she devoted all of her attention to what Arisa had to say to her.
Arisa took another deep breath, and started to expose all of her deepest feelings for Kasumi to hear. “These past eight years with you have been the best years of my life. I really don’t know what I would be doing now if you didn’t come crashing into my life. Without you, I might have never started going to school again. I never would have met Rimi, Tae, Saaya, or any of our other friends. I never would have been this happy if it wasn’t for you.”
“Ehehe~” Kasumi blushed at Arisa’s compliments.
“You’ve always been there for me no matter how much I tried to push you away. I used to think that you were a bit clingy and annoying when we first met, but now I love that about you. I love how you’ve always taken care of me whenever I got sick, how you cheered up whenever I was sad.” Arisa paused for a second and took another deep breath before looking down at the ground. “How you moved in with me after Obachan passed away so I wouldn't be alone… ”
Arisa felt a single teardrop running down her cheek, and when she looked back up at Kasumi, she saw that she also had tears in her eyes. She stopped to wipe her eyes before continuing her declaration of love for Kasumi.
“Do you remember back in our second year of high school, when I got sick with a cold and you came over to take care of me? And how in my sleep, I said that I wanted to spend the rest of my life by your side? When I got better, you really liked to tease me for saying that, and I kept on denying that I ever said it in the first place?” Arisa looked at Kasumi for some sort of response, and her girlfriend simply nodded her head with tears still in her eyes. “Well, I don’t want to deny it anymore. I love you, Kasumi, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Arisa reached into her bag and pulled out a small box before getting down on one knee. Kasumi let out a gasp as she covered her mouth with both of her hands as Arisa opened the box up, revealing a silver ring with an amethyst cut into the shape of a star in the center.
“Toyama Kasumi,” Arisa said as she beamed up at her blushing girlfriend, “will you marry me?”
Kasumi could hardly contain her delight as she quickly nodded her head while tears flew freely from her eyes. Arisa stood back up as Kasumi held out her left hand, and Arisa carefully slipped the ring on. After making sure it wasn’t going to slide off, Kasumi held her hand up to the sky to admire the ring that Arisa had picked out for her. The amethyst was the same color of her eyes, and the star cut fit the ring perfectly. She looked back down at Arisa, who was smiling, but she looked like she was waiting for something. It was then that Kasumi realized that she had forgotten to actually respond to Arisa’s proposal. “Yes!” Kasumi shouted as she flung herself at Arisa, who responded by pulling in her girlfriend—now fiancée—into a tight embrace. “A thousand times yes!” Kasumi wrapped her arms around Arisa and kissed her on the lips, feeling like she was melting into Arisa’s arms.
After the kiss, the two separated from each other with the exception of both their hands, which were still interlocked with the other’s. “I love you, Kasumi.” Arisa said softly.
“I love you too, Arisa.” Kasumi said before tilting her head forward and kissing her fiancée again.