61 Haruto and Mahiru

"I'll be right back."

"Alright, I'll just wait near the bench over here."

Haruto replied as he watched Mahiru go into the girl's locker room to grab her sweater. However before entering she paused for a bit and peeked over at him who looked confused seeing her stare.

"Did you need me to get something?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you won't get hounded by girls once I leave your side."

"....."

Haruto held a dumb face as he tried to process what Mahiru said.

"Don't worry I won't get hounded."

"Hmmm."

Mahiru hummed to herself hearing his response before sticking out her tongue and disappearing into the locker rooms. He shook his head at her cute actions and took a seat on the bench he told her about.

Leaning against the headboard, he looked up at the fading sunset and saw how it was slowly transitioning into night.

'Today's been really fun.'

Haruto gave a small smile as he looked back on his eventful trip to the beach. From the water fights to the beach volleyball and even the small bit of fireworks at the end, it brought many new memories for him.

Especially ones that contained the image of the person he held strong affection for.

"That swimsuit reveal almost activated all my neurons."

Haruto gave a small chuckle remembering the cute moments that he had with Mahiru today. The one that stood out the most was where he saw her face blow up with redness as he whispered closely into her ear.

He thought of a time when he wouldn't have dared to imagine that the school's "Angel" could create a face like that after seeing her expression.

"I'm back!"

Mahiru came out of the locker room wearing her white sweater and gave out a sigh of relief seeing that Haruto wasn't being pestered by girls.

Seeing her approach with a carefree smile on her lips, Haruto thought that she shined way brighter compared to the past.

"What's wrong, is there something on my face?"

"No, I just thought you looked way more charming compared to before."

"???"

Mahiru felt confused with the sudden attack and just looked at him with cheeks that were tinted crimson.

"Did you do something bad while I was gone?"

"Why would you even think that."

"That complement felt kinda suspicious."

Mahiru narrowed her eyes and Haruto just shrugged his shoulders while giving a cheeky smirk. He placed his hand over her head and ruffled her hair to distract her and made their way to the shore.

The shore was lit up by the fading orange sunset and was halfway gone. The sky was painted with various colors of orange, pink and gold making for a very picturesque scene.

"Haruto, let's take a picture together with the sun facing towards us."

Mahiru quickly suggested and took out the phone that she kept in her sweater's pocket. Haruto didn't mind as they had done this many times before. Leaning her body towards him, Mahiru raised her arm and took a photo of them together.

"Another one to the collection."

"Oh? You keep track of all the photos you take?"

"Yeah, I enjoy keeping track of all the details so I can occasionally look back on them. Here, I could show you some."

Mahiru showed Haruto some of the pictures she had by scrolling through her photo album. One image displayed a high view of the densely packed city, complete with its numerous buildings and tiny rivers.

Another one showed an image of him and Mahiru sitting down at a table. She was giving a wide grin while Haruto looked like he was caught off guard as he had icing on his cheek.

"Didn't we take another photo where I had no icing on my face?…"

"Well I liked this one better soo~"

Mahiru gave a playful smile as she scrolled through more of her photos in an attempt to recall more of these moments.

As they continued to discuss the images, they stopped on one specific photo that made them turn silent.

It was a picture of them standing awkwardly beside each other with a beautiful pale pink glow illuminating behind them. The glow that came off the cherry blossom in the background made for a stunning photo despite the awkward stances of the two.

"This picture does bring back memories."

"It really does. Haah how lucky I was to have such a nice date with the angel of the school."

Haruto gave an exaggerated sigh and Mahiru rolled her eyes at his statement. She kept on looking at the photo and a surge of happiness appeared in her chest realizing that she might have fallen deeply for him way earlier than she had thought.

'I should take a physical souvenir from here just like what I did with the petal.'

Mahiru thought in her head and scanned the beach's shore for any shells or corals she could take.

"Can we take a look around for some shells? I want to bring one home as a souvenir."

Mahiru looked towards Haruto and he nodded his head saying that it was no big deal. Feeling happy with his agreement, Mahiru went up ahead and quickly searched for some to bring home.

Haruto followed slowly behind and watched her golden hair dance as she moved around in search of some shells.

"Ohh this looks like a good one!"

Near the border where the last wave reached, there was a big pointy shell that looked too perfect not to get.

As Mahiru went up to pick it up, it suddenly exposed tiny legs and ran across the sand. She yelped out loud, getting surprised by the appearance of legs and watched how it quickly disappeared into the sea.

"The shell…"

"Too bad it looks like the crab already claimed it first."

Haruto said with a straight face as he tried to hold back a grin from forming on his lips. He watched as she continued to walk through the dry and wet sand letting the water reach her feet.

Her sweet laughter echoed across the air as she once again felt the cold water touch her body.

"Ah! Look, the sun's changing colors again!"

Seeing the small shift in colors change, Mahiru gazed towards the sun which reflected more gold and pinkish hues creating a beautiful sight.

Haruto felt enthralled by the scene in front of him as the gentle colors illuminated her silhouette and her golden strands of hair flew through the air. Tucking in her strands behind her ear she suddenly turned her gaze towards him, making Haruto take a deep breath.

She slowly approached him and reached the area near his feet making him snap out of his daze.

"Look I found two good ones at the same time!"

Mahiru held two white curved shaped shells that were adorned with various stripes and spots. It had a golden color to it and Haruto thought it perfectly matched Mahiru's image.

"Here you can have the other one. Now we're matching."

Mahiru placed the shell in Haruto's hand and gave a captivating smile as she liked the thought of the two of them having items that matched.

Haruto looked at the shell in his hand for a quick second before returning his eyes back to Mahiru's visage. Her delicate golden eyes and sun kissed cheeks were further highlighted by the sun's glow making his heart beat fast.

Watching her smile at him filled his chest up with so much tenderness, the thought of seeing her cry just like that one rainy day made his conviction to stay with her even stronger.

Seeing his feelings for the person in front of him grow even more than it already was, made him stop his thinking and decided to follow what his heart has been saying for a long time.

"Mahiru, I love you."

A single sentence was said but it felt like the area around them had stopped for a moment. The wind that blew around them or the waves crashing were nothing compared to the one sentence that contained his true feelings.

Mahiru who heard Haruto's words felt her heart beat out of chest while her white skin quickly turned into a deep shade of red. She replayed the words she heard in her head a million times, trying to make sure she heard it right.

"H-Haruto can y-you say it again."

Mahiru began to fumble her words as this moment felt like a dream. Haruto saw her appearance and chuckled softly before walking towards Mahiru and cupping her soft face.

"Mahiru from the moment I met you my life has been way brighter than you could ever imagine."

Haruto gazed into her golden eyes and thought back to the precious moments he had with her.

"When I wake up I look forward to seeing you greet me with a warm smile whenever I come home. I look forward to sharing my dinner table with you as we eat the food you have cooked. I look forward to every moment where we talk about our day, to the most meaningless stuff to even the most heaviest topics."

Haruto watched as Mahiru listened carefully to what he's saying and steadily gazed at his face.

"As we got together more, I learned more about you. Like how you prefer your tea to be slightly stronger than usual, or like how you prefer to use the cushion on your lap so it helps your arms be comfortable when you read."

"Like how you don't want to depend on others and would rather accomplish everything on your own. Or how you can't help but lend a hand to your neighbor when you see them be hopeless with taking care of themselves."

"As I learned more about you. I keep falling more and more in love with you."

"You have provided me with so much warmth and kindness that I want to do the same for you. I want to protect your genuine smile from being broken just like what happened on that one day. I wish to be by your side and be the sort of comfort that you could go to whenever you feel at your lowest."

"I wish to cherish you and treasure you with my entire being and…. I want to make you happy.

Haruto kept on telling her his honest feelings not wanting to leave a single detail on how much she means to him. Taking a deep breath as he prepared himself to push their relationship onto a new path.

He took his hand off her face and gently grasped her hands into his.

"Mahiru I am hopelessly in love with you. Would you be my girlfriend?"

After finishing his sentence, Haruto gave her a heart-to-heart glance. Mahiru, who was paying close attention, noticed that her eyes were becoming wet as she looked back into his sapphire blue eyes.

Feeling his fingers shaking slightly showed how nervous he was and that made Mahiru feel happy that he was taking this very seriously.

"Yes… Yes! A hundred times yes! I would love to be your girlfriend!"

Mahiru cried out as she flew herself into Haruto's arms. He braced himself for the impact and wrapped his arms around her tightly not wanting to let go.

"I've been dreaming for this moment to finally happen."

"Sorry for making you wait."

Mahiru buried herself in his chest, which she adored. The sound of his heart beating quickly filled her with joy as she buried her ear on his chest. She raised her head and turned to face Haruto while remaining in his arms for a little while longer.

"Haruto, I love you way more than you could ever imagine. You have provided me with so many different experiences and allowed me to meet so many kind people who I wouldn't have imagined meeting when I first came to the school."

"You proved to me that someone would still like me even if I don't wear the perfect mask everywhere I go, compared to what I used to think of before."

"That someone will still be there to support me even if no one else is looking."

Mahiru remembered his promise towards her and the smile she had, grew even more than it already was.

"So thank you for falling in love with the Mahiru who hid behind the mask that so wished to hide from others."

Mahiru felt her feelings overflow as her dewy eyes started to tear up. Small tears started to roll down her cheeks but it was different from the ones she had shed in the past.

Instead of bitter and sad feelings, these ones contained joy, glee and overwhelming love for the person who accepted her for herself.

"You are way too charming for me not to. I will be in your care in the future."

"I will also be in your care. I just hope you won't be a bigger headache than you are right now."

Haruto laughed at her words as he attempted to wipe the tears that were rolling down her face.

"Come let's go back before people start wondering where we went."

"Yeah if we're gone for too long Akane will start to get suspicious but… can we stay like this for a bit longer.."

Mahiru timidly said as she tightened her arms around Haruto. He nodded his head and also held onto her, feeling the warm shine of the sunset rest on his face.

Taking a few silent minutes together he reached out his hands he held onto Mahiru's slender fingers and they began to walk back.

They didn't say a single thing on the way back but just enjoyed the presence of each other's company.

"Hey! Did something happen on the way back? You guys took so long that some people already started to light up the sparklers they bought."

Akane asked them as she waved around the stick in her hands.

"Hmm~, Mahiru do you think something happened on our way back?"

"Who knows~"

The two of them looked at each other before bursting into laughter, making Akane confused by their act.

"You guys are acting weird… whatever just grab the sparklers I saved up for you."

Akane narrowed her eyes but decided to just let it go and gestured to follow her. Haruto and Mahiru followed slowly behind her while watching the lights that flickered around them

Walking towards the group of people, they took steps together, not just as neighbors or as close friends.

But as boyfriend and girlfriend, starting a new chapter in their relationship together.

***

They are finally together!! It was difficult to make the confession come out as natural but I hope I made it flow well. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as I liked how it turned out. Peacu