Chapter 998 - To the One and Only, I Dedicate This to Blue
And so, after a dozen or so minutes.
"────…Well then, we're agreed on that, right, Haru?"
"YES, MA'AM."
Having done all I could… or rather, messed up all I could, I, who had so refreshingly burned all my bridges, puffed out my chest and sat in seiza with dignity.
On the floor, of course.
Standing before me, with a hint of red still on her cheeks, was my partner, striking a truly imposing stance. Sora-san, who was trying to look angry, but whose heart was surely still a whirlpool of bewilderment.
And────
"………………"
Not quite a glare, but something close. An angel of consideration who was feigning ignorance of her various inner thoughts with a 'not right now,' slowly shifted her gaze to the side.
To my side, to be precise. Very close.
"────……"
A beaming, deadpan expression.
Undoubtedly in the best mood she'd been in since we met, looking like she might break into a hum at any moment, was one Sword Queen, also forced to sit in seiza just like this idiot (me).
Then, Sora looked at culprit number two, Ashe. This, too, was a look I'd never seen before.
To be more precise, it was a look I had never seen directed at anyone other than me. In short, the meaning of that extremely exasperated and troubled expression was…
"………………………………Haaah… Let's go, Iris-san."
"Mm."
Simple and clear, a sense of resignation that this one couldn't be left alone.
────And so, with that decided. Since they had finished their discussion for the time being and settled on a plan 'for now,' Sora-san reluctantly made her move.
Yes, reluctantly.
She couldn't let Ashe, who had temporarily lost her trust after that stunt a few minutes ago, do as she pleased. Nor could she push Nia, who had shouted in the heat of the moment and then mentally crashed. Thus, Sora-san, who had managed to regain some semblance of composure, stepped up.
She had worked so hard to manage the situation.
"Sora."
"…! Y-yes. What is it?"
Right next to me. True to her words 'Let's go,' she pulled Ashe up by the hand and was about to turn on her heel to leave the atelier when I called out to her back.
She turned on her heel again, a full rotation.
Surrounded by the rampaging older girl (idiot), the berserk older girl (Ashe), and the collapsed older girl (Nia), I felt incredibly sorry for my partner, who was trying so desperately to keep it all together… There was only one thing I could do for her right now.
"…Thanks. For everything, always."
At the very least, I put all my feelings into it.
I just offered her all the sincerity—all the smiles—I could, along with words I knew would be more than enough.
I wonder if she understood.
"…! ────L-later!"
It wasn't just my words, but how much I appreciated her—
" W E ' L L T A L K L A T E R … ! ! ! Y O U I D I O T , H A R U ! ! ! ! ! "
"Ah, ahh…────"
────WHOOSH! ────WHAM!! ────SLAM!!!
"………………"
…or so I was about to think.
Well, yeah.
"See you later, huh… haha."
I brought this on myself. I could do nothing but laugh wryly at the inevitable outcome.
The only saving grace was that just before she stormed out of the room like a tempest, dragging a flailing Ashe with her, there was no real anger in the amber eyes that glared at me.
And that she had said, 'later.'
…The matter of my ridiculous proposal, and the matter of Ashe snatching my first kiss while I wore a stupid look on my face. Begging for forgiveness for the confusion and shock, one by one, was going to be tough, but…
"…Later."
In other words──── for my answer, the verdict is on hold for now.
Putting aside the heroic and immediate decision of the 'Princess,' who truly lives outside the box in so many ways, I've received what I could call the best possible pardon for now.
For now, I can only be grateful to my partner for giving me a 'later.'
────And so.
"…Well then."
"…!"
With the dangerous person (Ashe) secured, and the first place… or would it be second place? having been conceded, Sora departed like a gale, half out of desperation. After they left,
With two gone, it was naturally just me and one other person left in the room—the atelier.
I unfolded from my seiza, and as I stood up and turned around, there she was──── the master of the room, who had been hiding her presence on the sofa for a while, buried as if to conceal herself.
"Nia."
"…!!"
The sapphire-haired girl pressed her face into the cushion she held protectively. At the sound of my voice calling her name, her shoulders jumped as if in fear.
────Or maybe it's not 'as if.' Maybe that's exactly what it is.
She's not afraid of me, but of the unfolding situation itself.
"Nia."
She had been shouting earlier, riding the momentum of her extreme agitation, but that must have completely overloaded her brain's capacity. She had since sunk powerlessly onto the sofa and hadn't moved.
"…Nia?"
I called her a third time, but there was no response.
…Can't be helped. It's rude to think this when they're not here, but in this regard, it's not just Ashe; Sora, who shows a fortitude unbecoming of a fifteen-year-old when it counts, is special too.
I know. I know it all too well.
The famous 'Fairy of Aquamarine' in the virtual world──── the girl who shows an extraordinary face when it comes to her work, searing my eyes time and again with her extreme contrasts. I know what kind of person she is.
Unbefitting of her special birth.
Unbefitting of her fairy-like appearance.
"………………"
Just as she naturally drew close to me as I struggled, not wanting to let go of being ordinary.
She is more ordinary than me, more ordinary than anyone else.
"Nia."
"…………"
What should I do──── is what I think, but my mind's been made up from the start.
I thought it was the right thing to do to announce my 'choice' to all three of them together. After that, how would I convey my 'feelings' to each of them, one by one? It's only natural.
"…Suuuu──────Liliania Vroo—oof!"
See? Just as I expected, a cushion came flying. …The 'older sister' who has always made a mess of my heart is weak to my childish antics.
""────……""
Following the virtual gravity, the cushion naturally fell from my face. On the other side, still sunk into the sofa, her face red from a jumble of emotions, my reflection appeared in her wavering sapphire eyes.
────Through her eyes, I could see I wasn't making too bad of a face. I was able to smile at that thought.
In that case, I'll take it out of my pocket now.
One more thing. An important matter I'd had them put on hold.
"Give me your right hand."
"………………"
I showed her what was in my palm, the item she'd entrusted to me. The thing I had kept safe since before my trip home, postponing the decision of what to do with it.
The bracelet I once gave to a precious friend. And now, anew,
────I wanted to offer it again, this time as a feeling dedicated to a precious woman.
Given the situation and the timing, I'm likely to get yelled at from all sides for this not being the time. To be honest, a part of me thinks I'm an idiot, too.
But I don't care.
"…………Let's set aside the proposal for a moment. No, I'm not setting it aside, but that's that. …Ah, well, including that, but for now, let's just say that's that."
"………………Mmm… yeah."
I'm really sorry, but right now, I couldn't care less about any of that.
"The 'Weaver of Legends,' you know. For me right now, it's a dream come true. I have no reason to refuse anymore."
"…………"
What does that mean? The answer is simple.
"I don't care what it's called. ────I want every special part of you to be mine."
It's the height of selfishness.
"…………………………………………………………────Hah, haaah…………"
And so, after a long silence.
"…………Mm, an… um, I'm sorry. Okay? I get it, I'm following the situation properly. I'm not angry… well, maybe I'm just too confused to be angry, but…"
Slowly, taking her time, with a hesitant yet desperate air, Nia finally spoke clearly for the first time in a while.
"I'm just so… overwhelmed, and it's not going away at all…"
"It's okay. It's my fault."
And then she said, it's my turn.
For half a year, I made her wait. Now it's my turn to wait as long as it takes.
"……,…………Ugh…!"
Then Nia covered her face with both hands instead of the cushion, and…
"…………………………………………, ……Hey──── I do too."
She wove her words.
Hearing the words she spun, I nodded to myself.
"………………I do too…!"
Because I knew, without a doubt, that the words to follow──── were the ones I had been hoping for.
They were,
"────! Your special one. I want all of it…!"
A 'truth' that my choice had made impossible for anyone.
""………………""
She shed no tears, but her sapphire eyes watched me.
With no anger, only sadness, her sapphire eyes watched me.
To imagine what's in her heart would be the height of arrogance. I can't do that. All I'm allowed to do is accept the words of a truth that is equal to tears, with my whole heart.
To accept them as the one and only me in the world.
"………………Wait, that's not it."
"It's not not it."
"It is! …I didn't mean to say that. That's not it──── I don't think that way…!"
"You do. But, I understand."
Yes, I understand. I know that the 'choice' I presented wasn't something only I had been thinking about──── it was a future they, too, had surely considered at least once.
Of course I know. We've been together for so long, how could I not know? How could I not notice?
Nia, Sora, and Ashe, are all truly… truly, truly, so kind it's almost too much. They care for others so much it's almost too much.
While wanting to have my 'special' all to themselves, they also didn't want that.
People's hearts are easily filled with contradictions.
I, who have three 'number ones' in the world, know that better than anyone.
"………………Nia. Look at me."
I call the name of the precious person who has cast her head down.
Not only that, but I took her hand, which was clenched on her own knee, trembling.
"Look at me. I'm going to tell you something I've wanted to say for a long time."
"………………Not now. Wait a little…"
"I won't wait. Sorry, but I can't keep it in any longer."
It was trembling, but there was no rejection. So I held on tight.
"I can't give you everything, just like you said. No matter how hard I try, I can't create more of the 'special one' that I only have one of."
Ashe's kiss was surely just a trigger. It was certainly a clear, incredibly special moment… but it's not just about that.
Being together, all of us, means that kind of thing will happen.
────That's why that damn girl played the villain.
She fired off an incredible shot, presenting an unavoidable premise.
And that, surely.
"………………Yeah… I know."
Both Sora and Nia realize it, which is why they're not angry.
But I want them to be angry.
"Nia."
I want her to throw her true feelings at me, the ones that just spilled out.
"I'm about to give you the greatest 'special' of my life."
A 'special' that can match the undeniable 'special' she gave me.
"Don't miss it. I can't say this over and over again, you know."
"………………What… is it?"
Because I can go all out, staking my life to dedicate it to her.
"────Nia."
"……────Yes."
Then, the first one.
"My first love. It was you, Nia."
To the one and only first love in my world.
I'll give it to you now.