Final Episode: “Say You Love Me”
After that, hand in hand, we walked barefoot along the shoreline, following the gentle rhythm of the waves as they rolled in and pulled back out.
The fine white sand didn’t cling to our feet at all — it felt like walking across a soft, silken carpet.
In the distance, I watched a large white bird with a long neck take flight.
Amazing. To think a place this beautiful existed somewhere on this earth.
“…I hope the stars look beautiful tonight.”
Looking up at the clear blue sky, Yui-san murmured it quietly.
“With weather this clear, I’m sure they will. Once it’s dark, why don’t we lie down on the beach and do some stargazing?”
“Yeah, let’s. I can’t wait for tonight either.”
*
After that, we thoroughly enjoyed the beach, then returned to the villa and stretched out on the beach beds by the pool.
Gazing out at the endless horizon, I felt the soft breeze wash over my whole body.
Glancing beside me, Yui-san noticed my eyes on her and smiled back.
“What’s wrong? Staring like that.”
Ah, I’m so happy.
We get to keep living like this, from here on. — The two of us, forever.
Yui-san shows me sights I could never possibly see on my own.
I’m sure we could go anywhere in this whole world. As long as it’s the two of us.
“…Nothing, really. Just thinking how happy I am. Thinking about how we get to keep going to all kinds of places together, from now on, with you.”
“Yeah. But honestly, wherever I am, as long as I’m with you, Kanata, I’m happy.”
Saying that, Yui-san smiled brightly. As always, she hands me lines this sweet without a shred of embarrassment.
“Ugh, Yui-san, you always say things like that so easily…”
“Oh, are you blushing?”
“I am not blushing!”
I turned away, trying to hide my reddening face. Yui-san laughed and took my hand, pulling me along.
“Hey, Kanata. Since we’re here, let’s get in the pool. I’ll put sunscreen on you.”
*
We’d splurged on expensive sunscreen, knowing the sun here would hit so much harder than in Japan. We decided to take turns applying it to the spots we couldn’t reach ourselves.
Sliding my palm across Yui-san’s beautiful pale back, something about it left me feeling strangely unsettled.
I traced along her slightly protruding shoulder blades, following the line of her spine. I’m always the one being held by Yui-san, so I’d never actually taken the time to really look at her back like this before.
Fighting down the urge to press my lips against her fine, pale skin, I deliberately reached over to her side instead to cover for myself, and she laughed, saying it tickled.
Yui-san returned the favor and put sunscreen on me too, but I was startled to feel my whole body shiver at the sensation of her fingers against my back.
I’m sure Yui-san didn’t mean anything by it, and yet somehow, at some point, my body had developed this function where every single sensation she gives me gets converted into that particular kind of feeling.
“Hey, Yui-san, stop, I can’t take it! It tickles…!”
“Huh? But Kanata, your skin’s so fair, it’ll be awful if you get sunburned. Just bear with it until I’ve covered every spot properly.”
“No! I really can’t anymore!”
Face bright red, twisting and trembling as I squirmed, Yui-san just laughed and pulled me into a tight, tight hug.
*
Once I changed into the frilled white swimsuit Yui-san had picked out for me, the moment she saw me in it her eyes lit up with delight, and she showered me with kisses, saying “cute, cute” over and over.
Yui-san had chosen a navy-blue swimsuit for herself, which suited her long, slender limbs beautifully.
My eyes were drawn helplessly to her toned, pale stomach. She goes to the gym now and then to keep in shape, and her body is always lithe and beautiful for it.
Sitting on the edge of the pool, gazing out at the emerald-green sea and the big clouds floating in the sky, I stirred the water with my feet, and it felt wonderfully cool.
Yui-san sat down beside me, dipping her own toes into the pool with a light splash.
“…Maybe once we’re back in Japan, I should start going to the gym with you too, Yui-san.”
“The gym? You don’t really need that, do you — you never gain weight no matter how much you eat.”
“I want a stomach as nice as yours, Yui-san.”
I poked at her firm, defined stomach, and beneath a little softness, I could feel toned muscle underneath.
At that, Yui-san reached over and gently stroked my own, slightly softer stomach.
“I like your stomach just the way it is, Kanata.”
“…Isn’t it a little soft, though? Maybe I should do some sit-ups or something.”
“Not at all. This is exactly right. Besides…”
She peered into my face, grinning. Somehow, I had a bad feeling about this.
“When you’re feeling good, you tense up right here, don’t you? So I think that’s plenty of exercise already.”
Yui-san whispered it, teasing, and I shoved her shoulder with everything I had, pushing her straight into the pool.
There was a splash, and water sprayed up with a loud plop.
“Yui-san, you pervert!”
The pool wasn’t deep at all, but having been pushed in headfirst, Yui-san surfaced, soaked through, and swept her wet hair back, laughing.
*
Before the sun went down, we headed to the dock where a small sightseeing boat waited to take us on a sunset cruise, and boarded.
The boat cut through the wind, gliding out across the water.
Climbing a ladder up to the open observation deck, I gripped the railing and looked straight ahead.
Feeling the sea breeze hit my cheeks directly, I felt almost like I was flying through the sky.
In the light of the setting sun, the line between clouds and sky glowed a brilliant orange.
I glanced beside me. Watching her narrow her eyes against the glare, I thought she was more beautiful than anyone else in the entire world.
Affection, I think, feels a little like sorrow.
Just seeing Yui-san’s smile is enough to make something deep in my chest tighten painfully.
Remembering myself, I lifted the camera hanging from my neck and looked through the viewfinder.
Wanting desperately to capture this unbearably happy moment and hold onto it forever, I pressed the shutter again and again, driven by that single wish.
And then, as the setting sun melted into the horizon, dyeing the sea a deep orange—
“Oh! Yui-san, look, dolphins!”
“Whoa, it really is!”
A pod of five or six dolphins appeared in the sunset-stained sea. Their sleek dorsal fins rose and dipped beneath the surface again and again, and I found myself utterly captivated by the sight.
“Incredible… it’s like a BBC documentary.”
“What’s that?”
Yui-san tilted her head, and I laughed.
Right, of course — Yui-san only ever watches movies. I made a note to myself that maybe that comment had been a little too niche.
“…Let’s watch one together sometime. It should be available on a streaming service even in Japan.”
We pressed our shoulders together and watched, burning the sight into our memory, until the pod of dolphins disappeared entirely from view.
*
By the time the boat returned to the island, night had fully fallen, and after enjoying a meal at a beachside restaurant, we walked hand in hand toward the shore.
Sitting down on the sand, where only the gentle sound of the waves filled the air, I quietly rested my head against Yui-san’s shoulder.
Looking up, the deep navy sky above spread out in a sky full of stars, more beautiful even than the planetarium show we’d seen that day, so long ago.
I laced my fingers with hers. An empty, nighttime sea with no one else in sight. It was such a comfortable, peaceful stretch of time that I could almost believe, if someone told me, that the two of us were the only people left in this entire world.
“…Hey, Yui-san.”
“Yeah?”
“The stars are beautiful, aren’t they.”
“…Yeah. I never imagined stars seen from the middle of the ocean could be this beautiful.”
“Thank you for bringing me somewhere this wonderful. It really does feel like a dream.”
“I’ll take you anywhere you want, Kanata, wherever that is. Let’s keep making memories together, from here on.”
Her eyes, dark as the nighttime sea, gazed at me with such tenderness. Something deep in my chest tightened, so full of affection it felt almost like it might burst, aching.
I remembered once, long ago, asking Yui-san why she never dated anyone. She’d told me, “No matter how much I might love someone, there are things I can never give them.”
She’d meant the future that’s simply assumed between a man and a woman — marriage, having children.
Having always had that expectation quietly pressed onto her by everyone around her, even if it was never meant with any malice, it must have stood before her like an enormous, impassable wall.
But in the future I’ve always pictured for myself, there’s only ever been you. I’ve never wanted anything more than that.
Just sitting here together like this, shoulders pressed close, my heart always feels warmed as if bathed in sunlight, filled with a real, certain happiness.
That’s all it ever took. This, right here, is the answer I found after falling in love with you and living through everything that came with it.
Love has the strength to overcome any hardship, no matter how difficult.
As long as two people love each other earnestly and honestly, there’s nothing that’s ever truly missing.
In a world that unconsciously presses some pre-molded version of “correctness” onto everyone, we kept running, all the way here, chasing the one certain shape of happiness we wanted for ourselves.
“…You know, Yui-san, it’s like you grant my wishes as if by magic. I always wish there was something I could give back to you too.”
At that, she squeezed my left hand tightly in hers.
“…Hey, Kanata. Then, will you grant me one wish?”
It’s rare for Yui-san, who wants for so little herself, to ask me for anything.
Happy at the thought, I lifted my face and smiled, looking into her eyes.
“A wish? Sure, tell me anything. I’ll make it come true, whatever it is.”
I answered proudly. If it’s something Yui-san wishes for, I want to make it happen with everything I have — the same way she’s always done for me.
“Really? Promise you won’t refuse, no matter what?”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
Facing me directly, Yui-san smiled, looking genuinely happy.
“…Okay. Then, close your eyes.”
“Huh? My eyes?”
“Hurry. You can’t open them until I say it’s okay.”
She gently covered my eyes with one hand, and following her urging, I closed them.
In the darkness, I felt Yui-san take my left hand. A soft, gentle sensation against my ring finger — I realized she’d pressed her lips against it.
Laughing that it tickled, I felt something hard against my ring finger next.
Even though she’d told me not to open my eyes until she said so — startled, I found myself opening them anyway.
The moment it came into view, lifted up to the base of my finger, I lost my words for a moment.
Catching the faint light and scattering it into every color, a diamond ring now sat — right there, on my ring finger.
“Yui-san… this is…”
“…Kanata.”
Hearing my name, I lifted my face. Her eyes, calm as a still night sea, looked back at me with total seriousness.
“…I love you.”
Carried on the gentle, endless rhythm of the waves, those words reached straight into my heart.
Up until now, she must have told me “I like you” hundreds of times.
But — this was the first time she’d ever said “I love you.”
My heartbeat picked up speed. My eyes stung, my vision blurring instantly, and tears simply spilled down my cheeks.
I love you.
The words replayed over and over in my mind.
Not a joke, not some extension of a lovers’ playful banter. Right now, she was trying, with total sincerity, to tell me that she loved me from the very bottom of her heart.
I never knew the words “I love you” could carry this much weight. — I never knew.
Yui-san’s palm gently stroked my cheek, wiping away my tears.
“I swear I’ll go on loving only you, for the rest of my life. So promise me too, Kanata. Tell me… tell me you love me.”
There had been so many obstacles standing between us, so many things we had to overcome. It was never an easy road, never the kind of pretty, uncomplicated love you’d find in a movie.
And still, we simply loved each other exactly as our hearts screamed to, chasing after each other relentlessly, without restraint.
Looking back over all those days, my emotions swirled together like a churning current — a burning feeling too immense for words welled up inside me.
I reached out and held her close, as tightly as I could. She held me back just as fiercely, tight enough to steal the breath from my lungs, and I did my best to wipe away the tears streaming down my face.
I wanted to say it smiling. The way she’d always done for me.
Loosening my arms just slightly, I looked into the face of the person I love so dearly.
Her dark eyes, calm as a still night sea, looked straight back into mine.
“I love you too, Yui-san. I swear I’ll go on loving only you, for the rest of my life.”
“Kanata… marry me. Even if we can’t officially register it yet, someday, I know it’ll be possible. So stay by my side, always, until then.”
At those words, I nodded firmly, and Yui-san smiled back at me, looking truly, genuinely happy.
I believe, without a doubt, that day will come eventually. However long it takes, that’s fine. We can keep walking forward together, side by side, no matter how far the road goes. Until death parts us — always.
“…Let’s have a wedding. I want to see you in a beautiful dress, Kanata.”
“Then I’ll pick out the dress that suits you best, Yui-san.”
I imagined the woman I love, wrapped in pure white. And right there beside her, no one else but me.
Let’s join hands and swear this love before God. Even if, for now, this love isn’t something everyone in the world is ready to accept.
*
We’ll live our lives with our heads held high.
*
Drawing close as if pulled toward each other, we let our lips meet in a gentle, barely-there kiss. — On this empty nighttime sea, with no one but the two of us, we swore a certain, unshakable love to each other.
*
We met like something out of a miracle, drawn to each other, and fell in love so deeply it left us breathless.
Even after hurting each other, even after being torn apart, the presence of the other remained carved into our hearts more powerfully than anything else, and that flame of love never once went out, never faded.
Not just in our happiest moments, but even through the unbearably painful, difficult ones — even through nights when we hurt each other — still, I want to stay right here beside you.
Until the moment this heart of mine finally stops, I swear I will go on loving you, no matter what comes.
*
And right now, in this very moment — we have found forever.
*
“…Hey, Kanata. Say it one more time. I want to hear you say you love me again.”
“Wh-why? I already said it properly, just now, didn’t I?”
“Once isn’t enough! I’ll say it to you a hundred thousand times, that I love you, Kanata. So you say it too. Say you love me.”
“…Ugh, fine, I guess there’s no helping it. Here, lean in for a second. It’s embarrassing saying it loudly.”
“Okay.”
“…Listen, Yui-san. I’m not good with words, not like you are, so it might not come across as well as I want it to, but… I really do love you, Yui-san.”
*
— How About Some Afternoon Tea? — End —
Thank you so much for reading over this past year!