“That’swhatordinarypeopledowhentheyaredating。”repliedRin。
“Butwearenularpeople,right?Iamaninpletesoulandyouaretheswordthatbearsmyexistenthisworld。Ishouldbewithyouallthetime!”
“Isteagthatbad?”RinputacherrytomatofromtheappetizersintoHitomi’smouth,andHitomikissedRin’sfingers。“Youwaohaveahighschoolexperiehleisureanddidnottakecalculus,andsoyouareuojustbeaphysicistinanoffice。”
“That’snotwhathappened。Ididhaveaveryenjoyablehighschoolexperience,withwo,choir,band,visualart。。。”
Hitomilaidsomecutsofbeefontothenow-heatedgrill。“ButIstillgotintouytomajorinphysics。”
“ByapplyingtotheFacultyofArts,thenswitgyourmajorafteryougotadmission!Traitor!”RinpinchedHitomi’scheeksandyankedandpulled。
HitomilightlyslappedRin’shandsoff。“Icouldn’tbeaphysicsmajorbecausesedyearuymathematicscoursesdidn’tmakeseome,andsoIhadtostoptakingmath。Nomath,nophysics。”
“YoustillgotanA-inmathematicseventhoughyoucouldn’tuandit。Ifyoutookonfewercoursesandhadmoretimetospendptheceptsanddoingpracticequestions,youwouldhavedonewell。Noteverysemesterhastobefilledwithfivecourses,youknow。YouwenttouyonTuesdaysandThursdaysfrom9amto9pmduringyoursedyear,andworkedfoursecutivedaysfromFridaytoMondaywitheighthourshifts。WithonlyWednesdaytostudyonyourown,it’samiraclethatyouhadanA-averagethatyear。”
Rintinuedherlecturing。“Don’tblamethesupposed‘inpletesoul’forthebreakdowniionshipthatwehad。Youstuffedyourlifewithworkandstudy,leavinglittlespaceforustobetogether。Maybethe‘somethingmissing’wasinfactarefleofyourlackofsideration。”
“。。。sorry。。。Oneesama。。。”
“Eitherway,ourlivesarebeingseparatedagain。Wehavetodosomething”,wasRin’sclusionastheystartedenjoyingtheirmealtogether。
“Shouldwemoveintogether?”Hitomisuggestedafterthemeal,nowwaitingfordesserttoarrive。
“Mineismorespacious。”SmiledRin。
“Minehasamorevelocation。”RetortedHitomi。
“Willyoubetheonecooking?”
“Ofcourse!”RepliedHitomi。
“Yourapartment,then。AndyoukneelbythedoorwhenIehome。”Rinsmiled。
“Howtraditional。。。”HitomibroughtaspoonfulofhergreenteaicecreamtoRin’smouth,whotookabiteandheld-ontothespoonafterwardwithhermouthandwouldn’tletgoforafewseds。
“Well。。。”Rinfinallyletgoofthespoon,“speakingofbeingtraditional,youshouldcallme‘Lord’afterwelivetogether。”
“。。。。。。”Hitomi’sfacewasveryredduetoembarrassment。
“Sodowesiderourselvesreadytobeofficiallymarried?”askedHitomi。
“Afterbothofusaredohourstudies,thetimewouldfeelmoresuitabletome,butherofuswantstowaitthatlong。Tohaveyoucallme‘Lord’makesmefeelveryjoyful,butIdoenjoyyoucallihhonorifics。”Rinenjoyedbeingcalled‘Oneesama’verymuch。
“IfI’mgoingtofeelembarrassedcallingyou‘主人’,Imightaswellgoallthewayandactuallycallyou‘御主人様’ifthat’swhatsatisfiesyou。”MutteredHitomi。
“Eveer。IamexceedinglypleasedwithmydearlittleHitomi-。”
Afterthemeal,RinandHitomitookastrolldowntown。“Dowegetawedding?”AskedHitomi。
“Noshrinewouldallowit,norwedoitinachapel。Thebestwemanagewouldberentingagardenfromaphotographyfirmainga‘partnershipcertificate’fromthemunicipallevel。”
“ShouldwetraveloverseastoEuropeoradaanddoitthere?”
“Sothatwegetmarriedinaychurch?”
“No。Thatwouldfeelawkward。”Hitomisoundeddispirited。“Thatwouldfeellikeweareeloping。”
“Sodowebeeofficiallytogetherfirstandthenmoveintogether?”
“Soundsabht。Partinthem,schoolandwork。Iehome,cookdinner。Youehome:weeat。Idolessonplanningandmarking,andyouwashdishesanddochores。Thenit’slateandit’sbedtime。”Hitomithoughtabouthoicaldaywouldunfold。“Stillsoundsdepressing,butinabmiddle-aged-couplesortofway。”
“It’srareinJapantohavebothpeoplew,probably,atleastpartially,forthatreason。”
“Solet’splanthingsoutbeforewemoveintogether。Wedon’twantittobea‘trialrun’。Itshouldbeamilestoneinourlifelongitment。”
Rinnoddedinagreement。
IntheendHitomifoundteagtobetoomuyway。Duringherpracticum,studentsdidn’tlistenwell,andweresurprisedattheamountofnotesontheboardduringthereviewlessonsbeforeexams,asiftheywereseeingtheceptsforthefirsttime。
“Idon’tblamethem。”SighedHitomi,“Japanesehighschoolstudentsusuallyhavelatenighttutsessions,whichmakesthemtiredduringtheday,andthusneedingmoretuttocatchup。”Hitomisaidwithheronherleftwrist。