Chapter 91: Volume 3 - Epilogue

A day went by after we graduated from being a fake couple.

I invited Yuzu to my room on Christmas day. A couple that was born under the pouring rain, alone in the room with no one else; in this situation, there was only one thing to be done.

“Oh my… What a bad cold you caught here, Yamato-kun.”

—Yes, visiting the sick.

Yuzu sneered at me and put down a wet towel on my forehead while I was lying down on the bed.

“I’ve had a hell of a time…”

The feverish adrenaline running inside me the previous day had already vanished, while I, who really caught a fever, could only let out a lethargic sigh.

“Not only do you have a cold, but you have bruises all over your body and a sprained ankle. You must almost like me too much to come to see me in that state, hmm? Hey, hey, do you like me that much? How much do you like me?”

I gave an eye-roll to Yuzu sitting by my bed as her usual symptoms flared up at full blast.

“…To be sick and to have to endure your annoying self, it’s quite excruciating.”

By the way, after my confession a day ago, we didn’t actually spend a romantic time together; we went straight to the hospital. What a horrible Christmas Eve.

Suddenly, Yuzu seemed to recall something and rummaged through her bag.

“Oh yes, I brought a visiting gift for you. Here, a Christmas cake.”

“Thanks for going to the trouble. Anyway, not changing the topic, but the common food for the sick is porridge.”

“For Yamato-kun’s sake, I went to buy a cake stacked full with fresh cream, you know!”

“What a calorie bomb. That’s not easy to digest. You really put in a lot of thought.”

Huh, she is my girlfriend, right? Could it be that what happened yesterday was a dream?

“Well, I’m just kidding. I’ll also make you a proper porridge,” Yuzu beamed with a face that looked like the joke had come to an end.

“Hey, stop continuing to harass me with that I’m-about-to-get-serious attitude. I can’t cope with your home-cooked food or whatever when I’m not feeling well.”

""

“What do you mean?! I even meant to properly do the things you do when visiting the sick, you know!”

“Convenience stores nowadays are so great, they sell everything. Even packed ready-made porridge.”

“Aren’t you indirectly telling me to go buy those?! Do you dislike my home-cooked food that much?”

I raised my upper body and showed Yuzu my best smile.

“Yuzu, thank you so much for today. I’m so blessed to have such a nice girlfriend. But I don’t want to infect you, my beloved, with my cold. So, it’s okay for you to go home now.”

“And you start to chase me away! I got it, I’m only going to use this porridge pack I already bought.”

A little flustered, Yuzu curled inwards even as she took a packet of ready-made porridge.

“Oh, you already have one? Why did you even bother to think of cooking when you already prepared that?”

“I’m thinking of getting even more loved by Yamato-kun, that’s why. Just in case, I have this ready as backup, so you better praise my consideration for you.”

“I want you to be more considerate on other aspects, though.”

A few moments of awkward mood lasted before we both let out a sigh at the same time.

“Somehow, even after we start to date for real, nothing has really changed. I always imagined falling in love with someone would feel more dazzling and fantastic.”

“Well, that’s because our characters fundamentally haven’t changed. That just means that dating doesn’t necessarily change everything.”

“…I see. That’s kinda true.”

Yuzu nodded somewhat happily.

“Even so, the first event since we went official is actually ‘visiting the sick’. So very typical of an indoor person like you, Yamato-kun.”

“My bad. If you want, you can go and play outside with your other friends.”

I only said this before teasingly, but I was serious about not wanting her to get my cold.

“Nope, I want to be with you, Yamato-kun,” Yuzu muttered honestly as she held my hand without the slightest hint of mockery.

“…I see,” I accepted her words while shyness started to wash over me.

“Besides, only Namase is available now. If I’m going out alone with him, Yamato-kun, won’t you become jealous?”

For an instant, her words were inexplicable, but soon enough, it dawned on me.

“…Kotani and Sakuraba, they became a couple?”

“Yup, isn’t it great?” Yuzu smiled in relief.

“Right. So that was really a close call.”

Yuzu was perplexed when I expressed my relief in another way.

“What do you mean by a close call?”

“Once they safely became a couple, wouldn’t our fake couple thing automatically lose effect? I’m glad I managed to properly put an end to it before that happened.”

It wasn’t simply me being forced to move due to circumstances, but I chose to move on by my own will. I could now believe so.

“…Yeah, that’s true.” Yuzu also nodded, looking a little embarrassed, probably having no objections.

""

At that moment, a notification sound was heard from my phone. Reflexively, I looked at the screen and saw that Hina had sent me a message.

“…A message from another girl on Christmas day?” Yuzu seemed to have seen my phone display as well, her eyes were glaring at me.

“No, it’s nothing. I just met her before I went to see you, so I think she’s asking about that.”

“You met her on Christmas Eve?! Before me?!”

Huh? Why did my explanation have the opposite effect?

“Yamato-kun, you cheater! But wait, at that time we hadn’t gone official, so this is not considered cheating. Does that make me the one you’re cheating with? Yamato-kun, you cheater!”

Perhaps the damage was too great, Yuzu was pulled into confusion. This could be troublesome if I didn’t calm her down as soon as possible.

“You seemed to be misunderstanding something, but it was not only Hina and I there. There were other people from the girls’ basketball team too.”

“In other words, a harem?!”

“Ah, you can even interpret it that way…?

As expected of Yuzu, her mind worked in a completely different way.

“We just started dating and immediately a rival appears… I totally cannot relax!”

“Just relax. I’m telling you, there’s no heroine competition or whatsoever here. You’re the only participant.”

“…Really?”

I profoundly nodded to Yuzu, who finally was willing to listen to me.

“Yes. This is going to sound rather harsh, but don’t think that your boyfriend is popular.”

It was actually harsh for me that I needed to say it myself.

“Phew… I’m glad,” Yuzu patted her chest in relief.

But the next moment, she turned away with red cheeks, as if she had noticed my exasperated gaze.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Okay.”

When I forgave her with a scoff, it only provoked her sense of defeat and she pouted.

“…I’m telling you, I’m usually like this, so be prepared.”

I chuckled at those words.

“You really are a mystery, while being such a narcissist, you lose your confidence at the oddest places.”

“…What do you mean?” Yuzu glared at me thinking that I was teasing her.

“It just means, you also look cute when you act like that,” I explained to her with a smile.

“…!”

Yuzu instantly turned bright red and spun around. However, she was red up to her ears, concealing none of her emotions.

“You’ll forever never get your defence up, you know.”

“Sh-shut up!”

She complained, yet she turned back here again. With a red face, she then grabbed my sleeve tightly.

“…Still scared after all?” I asked.

To spend time together like this without any facade.

“’Of course I’m scared. That won’t change,” Yuzu said with a slightly serious face, and then she flashed a tiny smile.

“…But, I’m also feeling so happy that those things don’t matter anymore.”

Such straightforward words made me feel embarrassed instead.

“I see,” I nodded and gently grabbed the hand that was holding my sleeve, “after I recover from the cold, wanna go somewhere?”

Upon hearing my suggestion, Yuzu’s expression lit up.

“That’s nice! I have this place I want to go—”

We began to imagine our future. With a little anxiety and greater hope.

That was how our love story kicked off.