Chapter 996 - A Foolish, Precious Love Poem
Come on.
"──────…I…"
Go.
Do it.
The things you want to say, the things you want to put into words────
Leave nothing out. Give them everything.
"I'm… well, as you know, I'm just a normal guy."
"Sure, my way of thinking might not be normal in some respects. But my absolute values and stuff like that… in those ways, I'm really, completely, a normal guy."
"There's no way I could do it. I couldn't even imagine preparing an arrogant line like 'All three of you, be mine.' Not even as a joke."
"But at the same time, no matter what I did, I could never 'choose just one.' I've thought about it over, and over, and over, and over again, seriously, so many times, but I could never, ever come up with an answer."
"And forget it, it was impossible. The idea of 'if I can't choose, I'll just get dumped by all of them'… that was impossible, too. I can't let go anymore. Because inside me, your presence has just become too big────"
There's no time to worry about their expressions.
There's no time to try and compose my voice.
I'm letting it all out. At this point, trying to act cool is completely out of the question.
"────And while we're at it, let me be perfectly clear…!"
My mouth, having started to scream out my heart, just won't stop, no matter what.
"If my love capacity has a cap of 100, then each one of you individually costs infinite overflow! What the hell is with you, every single day…!"
Fine, I'll just treat this moment as my final battlefield and burn out completely.
"You're too damn cute every second, are you idiots?! It's driving me crazy!"
"I glance beside me, and one of you is basically always there. You're always so close. I look at you, and our eyes almost always meet. I just say your name, and you get these earnest, happy looks on your faces…!"
"On a daily basis! You're exceeding my capacity! Times three!! ────…W-wait, hold on. I need to calm down, just… five seconds…!"
…My determination is one thing, but I have to exercise at least a minimum of control.
"………………So, you know. You've really been──── so cute, all this time."
"Truly, so beautiful… and you all carry the things that I'm pathetically afraid of. You're all so dazzling."
"Being a ranker, and all that. No, really, looking back, these past six months have been so full of events it's just stupid… but no matter what I remember…"
"…………────Your faces are always the first to come to mind. The face of one of you three."
I don't have the guts to look them straight in the eyes.
My gaze just keeps darting aimlessly, this way and that.
Just me, stripped bare—pathetic, miserable, and unadorned.
"…I remember everything."
"Not just here in the virtual world, but what happened in the real world, too."
"The words you gave me, your expressions, all of it."
"Even without relying on some 'memory' talent, I remember all of it."
"All of it──── It's what allowed me to stay me, to keep moving forward without changing."
I'm telling them.
I'm telling them, and…
I've told them. …If that's the case,
I've had enough of a preamble to muster my courage, you coward.
"…! ────Sora."
"…! ……………Yes."
"Nia."
"…Hic, y-yes…"
"Ashe."
"Yes."
I called their names, and our eyes met.
One by one, without running away, I let them see my pathetic, trembling face. I laid it bare, forced it on them. I faced them head-on, and called my precious ones by name.
I put some strength into my virtual knees, begging my legs not to tremble.
Come on, just a little more.
You can do this, me.
"────! What I'm about to say is my answer."
"It's something I chose without a doubt, something I'm convinced is the only way."
"It really is… ────the most 'me' thing to do."
I breathe in, and out.
In────
Reflected in my wide-open eyes are three shining lights.
I'm not the only one.
Prepared for the inevitable, I see their eyes—trembling with fear and tension.
Towards them, the girls I hold more precious than anything in the world, I offer the best smile—the best bluff—I can muster.
"────! Three years!!"
What comes out of my mouth are words of time.
"To be precise, a little less than two years and five months…! Please, give me time!!"
And yet, that's not it.
"I'm not asking you to 'wait' for me…!"
This is by no means a selfish plea to postpone things even further.
…Come on, please. Watch me.
I will continue to be the man you all fell in love with.
"I can't say something as arrogant as 'all three of you, be mine'! It's too late for me to choose just one! And if I tried to get dumped by all of you and just run away clean, my own heart would shatter and I'd die! …So!"
"Three years from now!! I want to ask each of you for your final 'verdict'…!"
I bend at the waist with enough force that I might as well be prostrating myself. I bow my head.
I know. No matter how you slice it, the answer I've come up with isn't something to be praised. From any angle, it can't be called 'sincere.'
But this is me.
"Of course, I've come prepared to be rejected right here, right now, with a 'don't be ridiculous'…!"
"I'm also prepared for the possibility that you'll get tired of me and give up on me before the deadline…!"
This is Haru Kasuga, and this is me, Haru.
"But even so, if you're willing to go along with my stupid plan!"
I shout.
"It's not a short amount of time, but if you're willing to give it to me!"
Shout.
"When that time comes, if you still feel the same way…!!"
This is my…
"────All three of you, just as you are, for the rest of our lives, please stay by my side!!"
This is the shape of my once-in-a-lifetime love, and even if I'm not praised, I will state it with pride.
I raise my face.
'What in the world does that mean?' they seem to be thinking, still gaping at me, swept up in my momentum. I look at them once more. Having already exposed every last shred of my pathetic self, with nothing left to hide,
I have, in truth, become invincible.
"Two years and five months. The time I will take to stake my life on winning all three of you over."
I declare.
"Then, at that time. If it turns out to be my win…"
Without a doubt, this is the one and only…
"Whether it's one of you, two of you, or all three of you. ────Please, marry me."
…love poem—the proposal—of an utter fool.
I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks.
This is the protagonist I fell in love with.