Epilogue 1 | Us From Now On 

With the class match and the mess with Arae-san, April—a month where my body and mind never got a break—is finally nearing its end.

It’s hard to believe only a month has passed with how dense this time’s felt, but that just means we should get some calm days for a while. Unless you’re in a club or student council, there’s barely any school events or activities from here to summer break, so I can focus on my usual routine—studying and my part-time job.

Of course, that includes time with my precious girlfriend too.

“Maki, there’s a bunch of new releases, but what should we rent? Classic panic flicks are great, but I can’t pass up ones full of stuff to poke fun at either~ Oh, this Four Seasons Shark series—you can’t talk about it without tearing up. Spring or winter, a shark’s a shark, right?”

“Too much laughing, yeah. It’s already hilarious that it’s a whole series.”

After school, the day before Golden Week kicks off with the late April holiday, Umi and I are at our usual rental shop for the first time in a while, picking out stuff to watch over the break.

During Golden Week, aside from my job, I’ll be spending it with Umi. It’s getting warmer, so we’re thinking of going out somewhere together at some point, but mostly, we plan to chill at my place.

In another month and a half, it’ll be six months since we started dating—and we’re still as lovey-dovey as ever, with no time to settle down.

The two of us, cuddling on the sofa watching movies, rolling around on the carpet reading manga or playing games, and when we get sleepy, napping together on the sofa or my bed.

I don’t know how Umi feels about it, but for me, I get lonely without her around—like my body’s always craving something when she’s not there.

Steadily, I’m being dyed in the colors of this girl named Asanagi Umi.

After renting a curated selection aiming for one movie a day, we wander around the shop.

Maybe it’s a perk of this small, privately-run place—besides rental DVDs and Blu-rays, they’ve got used games, anime merch, and even some retro stuff like old pachinko and slot machines.

“Huh? Could this be…”

“? Maki, what’s up? We’re still high schoolers, so no naughty games, okay?”

“No, they don’t stock that stuff outside DVDs here… Not that—look, over there by the UFO catcher.”

“! Is that… a purikura machine?”

“Looks like it.”

Compared to the one we used the other day, it’s pretty old-school, but peeking inside, it’s definitely a legit purikura booth. When did they put this here? I hadn’t noticed until now.

“Hey, Maki.”

“…You wanna take some, don’t you?”

“Hehe, you get me. Last time was with Yuu and the others, but we never got any just the two of us. I kinda want some~”

“…”

“Makiii, you remember that promise you made me, riiight?”

“…Yes, of course, ma’am.”

I’m not big on being in photos, so I’m not thrilled, but when Umi puts it like that, I can’t exactly say ‘no.’

I promised to grant her requests as much as I could until Golden Week ends—a promise made is a promise kept.

Well, even without a promise, this much is no big deal.

I’ve been working hard enough at my job to splurge a bit on arcade games, after all.

“It’s not like the arcade where we can tweak our faces, but it looks like we can write stuff in different colors. Just snapping pics is boring—let’s write something couple-y.”

“Couple-y stuff… Like ‘I love you’ or ‘Together forever’?”

“Exactly, that vibe. It’s just for us anyway, so let’s go extra mushy. Here, scoot closer.”

“Fine, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

I don’t know what Umi plans to do with these, but I can already see them getting spotted by Amami-san or Nitta-san, leading to a full day of teasing.

She’s usually fine, but when it comes to me, Umi’s guard drops fast.

“C’mon, Maki, smile a bit more. Your face is all stiff.”

“Uh… Th-Then, like this… Hehe!”

“Hmm, it’s kinda awkward… but that’s so you, so it’s fine.”

“…Sorry about that.”

Like with the purikura we took with Amami-san, Nitori-san, and the others last time, I always tense up and my face freezes when I’m the subject.

The only time I smiled naturally might’ve been that family photo from last Christmas.

My memories with Umi will keep growing, and hanging out with Amami-san and the crew means more chances like this, so I need to get used to cameras—photos, videos, whatever—and act natural bit by bit.

Today’s a first step toward that.

“Maki, here we go. Strike a pose!”

At Umi’s cue, we press our cheeks together.

Her cheek against mine—smooth and oh-so-comfy.

Warm, soft—and the moment I think that, a certain urge bubbles up inside me.

Maybe I want to do something a little more, just a tiny bit more obviously romantic—

3, 2, 1—

Right before the flash goes off,

“…Umi, excuse me a sec.”

“Huh?”

—Chu.

Almost synced with the shutter sound, I shift my face slightly and plant a shy kiss on Umi’s cheek.

The screen shows me sneakily kissing my girlfriend’s cheek and her cute, startled face caught off guard.

“Uh… M-Maki?”

“Oh, uh, sorry. Your cheek was softer and felt better than I expected, so I kinda wanted to do that… Our faces came out weird, so should we retake it?”

“Y-Yeah… No, let’s retake it, but we should keep this one too. It’s just us seeing it anyway, and it’s a good memory like this.”

“Really? Well, if you say so, I don’t mind…”

“Yup. So, handle the payment.”

Next, we take one as planned, leaving us with two types of photos.

…I did it myself, but no way can these go anywhere people might see them.

Especially the kiss one—absolutely not. Let’s keep that strictly between us—but no sooner do I think that than Umi starts sticking both fresh prints onto the back of her phone.

“Uh, Umi-san? What exactly are you…”

“Huh? Well, we paid for these, so we should use them as stickers properly.”

“Sure, but… someone else might see them.”

“…Please, my selfish wish, till Golden Week.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She’s pulled out the limited-time trump card, so I can’t argue back.

Post-Golden Week, I can picture Amami-san, Nitta-san, and now Nakamura-san and the Class 11 girls teasing me too, but that’s my own fault, so I’ll brace myself.

“So, you should stick yours on too, Maki. I’ll spare you the kiss one. No one but me sees your phone anyway, right?”

“Muu… Fine, I guess.”

On the purikura Umi stuck on, showing us together, we’d each written messages in our own handwriting.

‘Together forever.’

‘Let’s stay together forever.’

Stepping out of the rental shop and looking at it again, the embarrassment hits hard.

This must be a page of youth, but having to blush every time I look back on it—

Does youth secretly take some mental stamina or something?

“…Ehehe.”

“Umi, you look happy.”

“Yeah. ’Cause there’s so much to look forward to. Golden Week, sure, but also that trip just the two of us, right?”

“It’s not set yet… but I’d love to go soon.”

“Let’s go. That’ll definitely be more fun.”

“…Yeah. So, where do you wanna go, Umi?”

“Overseas! Somewhere with a gorgeous ocean!”

“That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Hehe, yeah, I know. What about you, Maki?”

“Hmm… Theme parks are too crowded… Maybe, uh, a hot spring?”

“…Pervert.”

“Not like I meant co-ed or wanting to see you naked or anything.”

“…You don’t want to?”

“…I didn’t say that much.”

“See?”

“Ugh.”

We’ll need to hash out the destination later, but timing-wise, maybe summer break?

Including getting Mom’s permission, we might need to plan that during Golden Week too.

Budget, destination, transportation, lodging—

No guarantee we can pull off a trip for two, but just planning it’s no issue.

Even talking about it lets Umi and me share a fun moment.

I hope our days ahead stay bright and fun like this, with some embarrassing bits too.

Feeling my lover’s warmth through our tightly entwined fingers, praying we’re never apart, I think just that.