Epilogue
When I opened the door, the princess was there.
A glossy black tube in hand, school bag slung over her shoulder. Had she actually run from the bus stop? Her cheeks were faintly flushed.
“……Did you get taller?”
“Eh, really? Do I look it?”
“Sorry, joking. I honestly can’t really tell.”
“Shigure-san, you’re pretty careless sometimes, aren’t you.”
Puffing out her cheeks like that, she still looked so innocent — and yet, somehow.
She seemed just slightly more grown-up than the version of her in my memory.
“Sorry it’s late, but — congratulations on passing.”
“Yeah, thanks. Shigure-san, I heard about the Rêve thing too. From Hiname and the others. Good work on that.”
“Thanks.”
I stepped aside and invited Ibara into the new home.
The anxiety I’d been carrying vanished the instant I laid eyes on her.
Taking off her shoes in the sunlit entryway, heading toward the living room, I asked:
“Have you eaten lunch?”
“Yeah, I have. ……With my mom.”
At the shy addition to her words, a warm relief welled up in me, seeping through everything.
Good.
That’s — that’s a very good thing.
“So, what should we do. I don’t have any work booked in today, so—”
The lips I’d started speaking with were sealed by hers.
A kiss that was nothing but touch, packed with pure affection.
From Ibara’s lips came the scent of citrus lemon, like a cool breeze.
“Wh-what?”
My heart leapt at the physical closeness, after half a year apart.
I’d thought I was completely used to it by now, and yet it still made my heart flutter with the same freshness as ever.
“Shigure-san.”
“Yes?”
“I worked really, really hard, you know.”
Ibara nuzzled against me. When I gently stroked her hair, it was faintly damp with sweat.
It was still chilly outside. She really must have run here.
“……Yeah. Good girl.”
“Praise me more.”
“Good girl, good girl.”
She rubbed her forehead against my chest, over and over.
I gently took hold of Ibara’s shoulders and, as casually as I could manage, put a little distance between us.
“Right, shall we watch a movie or something?”
“……Hm?”
Turning Ibara’s slightly bewildered body around in a half-spin, I led her to the sofa in the living room.
The new one-story-plus-loft home was spacious, and the secondhand sofa we’d bought comfortably fit the two of us.
We watched a new anime film on Netflix. The movie lived up to its reputation, and Ibara — who had initially looked a little let down, as if her expectations had been off — gradually got drawn in, and by the time it reached the climax, her eyes were a little misty.
The movie ended.
I got up from the sofa and headed for the kitchen, saying:
“A bit late to mention it, but I bought a cake to celebrate you passing, so—”
Thump — something soft collided into me.
Face still lowered, Ibara said:
“The cake can wait until later.”
“Ah, but eating something sweet this late isn’t great for your health—”
“Shigure-san.”
Her voice carried a slight edge of irritation.
“I’m not falling for the deflection.”
“I wasn’t trying to deflect, honestly……”
“Liar.”
Ibara lifted her face.
“I’m not a high schooler anymore, you know.”
“Th—” that might be true, but.
“But you’re still wearing your uniform.”
“Then I’ll take it off.”
“Wait wait wait wait.”
Damn it. That was completely self-inflicted.
“Look, it’s still three in the afternoon.”
“Time doesn’t matter. Or is it——”
Ibara’s eyes wavered. They shimmered like jewels.
“……is it still not okay, because I’m younger?”
——Ah.
It wasn’t as though I hadn’t anticipated this. Knowing Ibara, I’d figured something like this would happen the very day we were reunited.
I’d just wanted time. Time to steel myself.
But.
Ibara was trembling, in small tremors.
Surely from anxiety, from embarrassment, and above all, from the act itself that we were about to do.
“No.”
I touched Ibara’s hair.
Sliding my palm down, I touched her smooth cheek.
Like water dripping, the words slipped from my lips.
“I love you. I love you so much, Ibara. More than anyone in the world.”
However many times I say such ordinary words, it never feels like enough.
That’s probably why people reach out and touch each other. Shaking hands, hugging, pressing skin to skin.
“Thank you for meeting me. ……Really, thank you.”
My adorable, precious princess. Mine, and mine alone.
I had been saved by you, all along.
A single tear spilled from Ibara’s eye and fell.
I brought my lips close and drew that tear in.
Ibara’s face crumpled.
“I’m the one who should thank you. Shigure-san, I love you. I love you so much.”
Saying that with a trembling throat — there was nothing to be done after that.
I’d meant to wait until night at least, until after a bath. But it was already impossible.
“Please, Shigure-san.”
I couldn’t refuse a princess’s plea.
Trading kisses without letting them break, we made our way to the bedroom. I sat down on the semi-double bed. The brand-new springs bounced softly.
In Ibara’s eyes, colors of every kind of emotion shimmered like a kaleidoscope.
I thought — this is the most beautiful thing in the world.
This, at least, could never be captured in a painting or a photograph.
Because this light is something only I, in all the world, can see.
I think this light itself is love.
“Haa, ha…… ah.”
Ibara put her hands down on the bed.
Her eyes, having lost all composure, darted nervously left and right.
That gaze told me she didn’t know what to do from here.
“Um, Shigure-san, I, I……!”
“——It’s okay.”
I spread my arms wide, putting on the composure of the elder.
“You can do as you like, Ibara.”
I heard the sound of Ibara catching her breath.
“I’ll forgive you for everything now.”
After one beat, she threw her whole body into me.
The scent of citrus lemon wrapped around me. The rustle of fabric as she roughly shed her uniform. The warm heat of spring in her body. The heat of a tongue forcing its way past my lips.
Everything blurred together, mixing into one.
I won’t leave her. And I won’t let her go. That’s what I decided.
†
“……Ah. That painting, you finished it.”
“More or less.”
“It’s good.”
“Not really. I’ve been out of practice, so, well — maybe sixty points out of a hundred, at best.”
“I see. I don’t really get oil painting.”
“Honestly, I don’t fully get it either.”
“Really?”
“Really. So, I’m thinking of painting again.”
“I see.”
“I’m half-freelance now, so I’ve got the time.”
“Yeah.”
“Be my model again sometime.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, but you’re busy with university, huh.”
“I wonder. Is the business department hard?”
“No idea at all.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Because — we’re living together now.”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll study bookkeeping and do your tax filing for you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Just study whatever you want to study.”
“……Okay.”
“Getting sleepy?”
“Mm.”
“Actually, me too.”
“Shigure-san.”
“What?”
Wearing a smile so soft it seemed to melt, Ibara whispered to me.
“——Good night.”
“Yeah. ……Good night.”
*
(The end. And — good night.)