19 - My Life (updated version!)

Well, our little crazy run had resulted in an intense cold for me, and a wrist sprain on Rika-san's side of things. On her dominant hand, nonetheless! During our frantic run, she slipped and fell—despite my efforts in catching her on time, one of her hands had made contact with the concrete ground. She had insisted it didn't hurt and she was alright at that moment, but the truth had come out when she tried to hold a pencil the next day. Thankfully, it was very light and it'd recover with a short rest period.

As for me… Well, I was totally sick. I had to take a leave from work for some time… Needless to say, I didn't disclose the reason to my boss, but I was the target of teasing by my friends.

Yes, I was a fool in love! I admit it!! It made me do crazy things like running under a heavy thunderstorm!!!

I didn't regret it, though. So didn't Rika-san.

Not that I wasn't guilty about not being able to catch her properly… We had our contest to work on and both of us were totally out of the game! We had zero intention to drop out, though—we would fully commit to this through all mishappenings.

So we did.

Now, listing all the events of that period of time would take an entire novel to recollect and I don't intend to put you through that! A general summary would do all of us good, so here goes: well, obviously we had our initial recovery period.

However, because of our inability to work, once we could, we held on to our project with even more passion. I'd write, she'd draw—even if other things came up, we always showed up to finish one more page at least. As the pages multiplied, so did our meetings. Frankly, I didn't know if I could exactly call them that anymore—most of it just looked like a regular hanging out with a friend kind of situation. Eating, shopping, going to the movies, to the beach and even to an idol group's concert: we had done it all. Since one of the idol group's members happened to be Mayu's cousin, she had arranged all of us the tickets and thus, my childhood friends got to meet Rika as well. They had clicked so naturally together that Rika had lightly scolded me, asking me why the hell I didn't make them meet sooner!

Rika-san, go easy on me… That wasn't easy on my nerves, since those two always started grinning and teasing me about you every single time you were the topic…!

But how would she know that? Of course she wouldn't!

My two best friends kept on insisting that I confess to her already, but I wouldn't want to do it before our project was done! Imagine how awkward it would be if she declined while we were still working! It'd be difficult for her to focus… It was better if she didn't know for now…!

Not to mention, being the perfectionist hopeless romantic that I am, a plain and simple confession just wouldn't do! It'd need to be something special, something to become a precious memory even in the case of rejection! But… yeah. We had our manga to handle first. Since Rika was giving her all for the intricate details, the drawings took a lot of time and dedication. I wished I had even a drop of talent so I could at least help with some minor elements… but all I could do was to offer her my support (and hug services as she liked to call them, of course!).

I would sometimes go to her house so I could be a source of support in person. Honestly, I was a big fan of her family as well… They were all such sweet people, sometimes even her grandma would come for a visit! Rika had told me that she had lived at different places before, but in the end she had missed the lively atmosphere of her family home, so she was back. Not to mention, since she was a student now, the financial support was rather appreciated before she could work at an agency or pursue a possible freelancer career in art.

…and for the curious, it was true: yes, her parents were very lovey dovey. As a fan of romance, I had no complaints—even if the displays of affection made Rika roll her eyes.

With her dedicated efforts, she was able to finish all the pages two days before the final deadline. She threw herself from her working desk onto her bed. "Pheeww~ Finally done." She pointed at her tablet, suggesting that I take the first look at the final result, as a whole.

Of course, I had seen all of the pages countless times, but seeing it from start to finish made me feel rather… emotional. The wandering hero stumbling upon the princess' hidden castle in the forest, him offering to take her outside for an adventure with the promise of bringing her safely back to her castle. The timid princess agreeing without knowing herself, how she could trust a stranger like this…? Their various encounters with the magic of the forest, surviving even the most dangerous creatures with their teamwork. Their sweet confession scene by the magical grand lake. The royal guards finding their camp, sent by the kingdom who had been notified of her escape. The princess refusing to go back, despite the insisting of the guards; despite their threats that she'd be disowned by the kingdom for good if she didn't go back, and her replying "Oh, that? That has happened a long time ago. Good riddance!" The guards resorting to force to take her back, and the two of them fighting and escaping together for good… Despite both of them being shunned away from the Kingdom, all they needed were each other…

I sighed. How beautiful it had all turned out to be. Rika's drawings were absolutely spectacular. Perhaps winning the contest wasn't just a dream with this…? When I voiced my comment, she simply laid down on her bed and looked at the ceiling, stretching her arms upwards. "Meeeh, that's up to the judges to decide. All I care about is finally being fi-nish-eddd~" She let out a deep breath and sat up on her bed with a spring.

"Hey, Yuuma!"

"Yes, Rika?" We had dropped the honorifics at this point. I looked at her eyes to show that I was listening intently, but she somehow couldn't meet my eyes.

"Uhh… Now that's out of the way… Ya wanna go on a date or something?"

Huh? I stared confused at her sentence. Did I hear it wrong?

"Y'know, like… like a date? As in couples do, as celebration, or something…" Seeing that I wasn't answering her, she waved her hands, as if to cancel her words. She told me to just forget it—but I burst out laughing. "Rika… You…" Her eyebrows lifted up in concern. "What?! You'd hate it that bad or something?!"

"No-no!!" I did my best to cease my laughter, and stood up to sit down next to her. "It's just… I spent a heck long time considering how to confess and you just…" My laughter came back as a second wave. "You just… haha… went and asked for a date, just like that~!" Hearing my words, I could see that she was greatly relieved inside. She lightly joined in my laughter. "Jeez, you got me real worried for a sec. Sorry to steal your thunder, but sometimes you just gotta do things as they come up into your mind, yeah? Like this." She leaned forward and gave me a peck on the lips. Startled, I immediately pulled myself back without wanting to.

I softly cursed myself. "Dammit, I just went and ruined that, too…" My first kiss had barely lasted a moment—great!

"Though…" I gently held her hardworking and talented left hand in mine. "Do you mind if I take your advice for a moment?"

"The doing things as they come up in your mind? Go ahead~" This time, I was the one to initiate the kiss: a proper, long one. It felt so sweet, warm and perfect. So much for my frantic planning and need to prepare an ideal situation! This was all I could ask for, in its natural spontaneity. Even the approaching footsteps outside, and the opening of Rika's bedroom door added to the experience, rather than taking from it.

We let go of the kiss, but kept on holding hands. Rika's younger brother stood by the door, shocked. "Rika, can you come here for a bit—Woah!" Seeing us sitting close like that, he immediately got flustered. "I, uh– I'm sorry for interrupting?!" He laughed. "Oi, since when do you two have such a relationship?"

I was the one to answer, courageous from the feeling of euphoric love. "Well, ever since a few minutes ago, I suppose?" I felt Rika move close to my ear. With a low whispering tone, she said "Wrong. It's ever since I found my princess."