A World Coloured by You

“There. That’s the last of it”.

I fold up the final cardboard box that had been taking over the room, and allow myself a breath. There’s still plenty we’re missing, but it’s nothing that would stop us from living normally.

Going out to buy things we need is just an ordinary fragment of a day — but for me, it will be something to look forward to. There are no wasted hours in the days I spend with her.

“Senpaiii!”

A loud voice, and almost immediately the door swings open. I was fairly sure we’d agreed she’d knock before entering a room…

“Please wear this! It would be so cute on you! You can wear it right now if you want!”

A bad feeling runs through me the moment I see what she’s holding.

A fluffy hoodie with round bear ears on the hood. The kind that, if I put it on, would probably cover me to the knees.

“N — no…”

“Awww, come on. It’s not going to hurt you.”

Every time she makes me do things like this — my self-respect, my dignity. She doesn’t seem to notice those things quietly leaving me.

I try to push her out of the room, but she shows absolutely no inclination to go. When she gets like this, there may be no stopping her.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I already know that once the atmosphere is right, you’ll put it on for me, even while you’re complaining.”

This woman….

Infuriating, but she’s right. I’m easily swayed, weak against persistence. If she asks me in a soft voice at the right moment, I’ll make all kinds of excuses, but I’ll end up going along with her.

It’s happened more times than I care to count.

“W — well. That’s going to change. From now on I’m being strict with myself. I won’t get carried away.”

Her eyes narrow, and she presses closer. I make my declaration, but as her shadow falls over me I stop breathing and my body seems to shrink.

“Do you really think you can manage that? You always start out like this, but the moment I spoil you a little, you’re just soaking it up. Are you aware of that?”

“…Be quiet.”

“More to the point — are you done packing? You promised you’d finish today.”

This isn’t a conversation I want to extend. I clear my throat and change the subject.

“Just a bit more. Actually — before that, shouldn’t we write the letters?”

Her words catch me off guard. It isn’t that I’d forgotten — it’s more that I’d been quietly not thinking about it.

A letter we’d promised to write together on our first day living here. I haven’t thought at all about what I’d put in mine, and I wonder if she has.

“…Let’s do that when the packing is done and we’ve calmed down a bit.”

I look away and murmur it to myself. Once we’ve done this, we can truly move forward.

“Alright, okay. I’ll go finish then!”

I watch her go bouncing out of the room, the fluffy hoodie clutched to her chest. She has always run circles around me and always will.

Tomorrow, Tsumugi and Hiiragi-san are coming to celebrate the move. Apparently those two have started going out — when I heard about it, I nearly fell off my chair.

Tsumugi, in a relationship with someone. I cannot fathom it.

Whether Hiiragi-san made the first move or Tsumugi did, I couldn’t say, but my instinct tells me it was Hiiragi-san. I’ll have to grill Tsumugi thoroughly when I see her — we’re meeting tomorrow anyway.

I’d like to see Tsumugi embarrassed, for once.

The summer that seemed like it would go on forever has slipped away unnoticed, and Christmas is almost here. Once that passes, the year is over.

What a year it has been.

To be honest, I have almost no memory of the time before that night when I met her. More precisely — there was nothing in it worth remembering.

After we met — a great deal happened. A great deal, I think.

We worked together. She carried things I couldn’t carry. We laid everything bare, cried more than we ever had.

Every bit of it, now, feels like something I’d choose to keep.

I glance at the full-length mirror propped against the wall. A composed, slightly grown-up face looks back at me. If only I could keep that expression when I’m with her.

It’s been hectic, but today — finally — our life together begins.

We’re a clumsy, strange pair. Things will probably not always go smoothly.

But we found each other against all odds. We’ll be all right. Ichikawa Seriha’s colour has seeped deep into me, and will not wash out.

So from now on, we’ll choose our colours together. The Hiito who kept choosing colourlessness is gone.

“Senpaiii, can you help me for a second?!”

Called already. I exhale and head toward her room.

“This box got all jumbled up somehow — can you help me sort it?”

Several unopened boxes still fill the room. Whether everything will genuinely be packed away today is a matter of some doubt.

I crouch down in front of a box crammed full of make-up, and the eyes looking up at me catch mine.

In her ears — moon-shaped earrings, swaying, as if inviting me closer.

As though drawn in, I lower myself in front of her, bring my hand to her cheek, and press my lips to hers. Soft, and I never want to stop.

“I love you, Seriha”.

I think right now I must be wearing a silly, helplessly happy expression.

The person fate sent to find me. The person I will love always.

From here on, the two of us will keep riding on from dream to dream together.

We’ll be all right. I know it.