Houtarou sighed as he sat down underneath the fading glory of the cherry tree. He had forgotten that the last time he was by the sturdy trunk, it was unusual for it to be blossoming in the first place. Now most of the flowers had fallen, and what was left was brown and greying in decay.
"What a pain," he muttered.
He figured it would be a waste of energy to ask Eru to come another day. Not to mention that he wasn't sure if either of them could do another day. Anyway, if he had come all this way and done all the prep time for nothing, it'd be wasteful regardless. He had to tell her today. Pulling at his bangs, he practiced his lines for the five-hundredth time.
He checked his cell phone for the sixth time in ten minutes to see if she had messaged him since that afternoon. Nope. All that was in his inbox was her last note, two hours ago.
"See you tonigt by the tree! (~￣▽￣)~ "
Houtarou smiled in spite of himself. "Seriously...you're an adult, but you insist on using those weird faces still?"
College had been rough. He made it through with okay grades, but sometimes he wondered if it was only because his sister had given him any cheat sheets she had used at the same university. Meanwhile, Eru ended up going to the university in the next prefecture, so she visited him often to ask about her own homework issues – usually without any fruition. Houtarou had never been good at sciences ("Why do you think I chose humanities?!" was a common phrase he had to insist to her), and unless it was interesting or immediately useful to him, it was usually too much effort to solve her equations and agriculture questions.
But sometimes she'd offer things that were most definitely...interesting and useful to him. As sheltered as Eru was as a teenager, she did have some idea as to how to get her boyfriend to do what she wanted.
Bzzt. Bzzzt. Houtarou flipped his phone open to check his messages.
"Sorry! Im on my way. Mother needed my help."
Sighing, Houtarou closed his phone. He hoped her mother hadn't said anything in the meantime. But then again, it probably wasn't easy for Eru's mother to run the family farm by herself, and genuinely needed help.
Eru's father passed away shortly after they came home from university going into their final year. Houtarou winced at the thought of her amethyst eyes screwing up and bubbling over with hot tears, her mother telling her that they didn't want to discourage her from going back to school by telling her about her father's cancer treatments, Eru's screams that she rather she knew and cherished her time with her father more...
He looked up, and down the road he could spot a different Eru walking towards him. Instead of dark clothes in mourning, she was wearing a bright floral dress. It was modest, but still allowed her curves to visible in the fabric. Her stance was more demure in her hometown than anywhere else. Even so, there was a speed to her walk that spoke volumes about her excitement toward her destination. Her beaming smile was another giveaway.
Houtarou waved at her, cracking just the hint of a smile. "Hey, Eru." He stood, and allowed her to give him a hug around the waist. He lightly hugged her back, unusually responsive. "How have you been?"
Eru looked up at him and pulled away from the hug, smiling up at him. Houtarou couldn't help but gaze into her violet eyes for a moment as she spoke. "I'm good! Mother told me to run over when I told her I was meeting you though."
Houtarou quickly looked away in embarrassment, hoping that he wasn't blushing to give himself away. "...well. I do have something important to ask you."
He didn't have to look back to tell that her eyes sparkled with intrigue with his statement. "What!? Really? What is it? I'm curious!"
Houtarou was made more aware of his steadily rising blush and the increasing volume of his heartbeat. "Well...it's something about your family business, Eru."
Her head tilted to the side. "About the business?"
"Yeah. See, uh..." He took a deep breath. He didn't practice this with Tomoe for weeks on end for nothing. He exhaled and gave it his all to look at her directly. "I want to help you with the family business, Eru. If you take care of the science side of things, I'll take care of the business side so you don't have to worry." He tried to avoid biting his tongue as he continued. "...it'll take a lot of energy to take care of you, but it can't be helped."
The performance was wooden, but heartfelt.
Eru's cheeks became increasingly pink. "Um...Houtarou...are you asking me what I think you are?"
Houtarou could feel the world spinning around him as he burned red. "Yes, Eru. W-Will...will you be my wife?" He choked out the final word with less gravitas than he wanted, but he got it out.
"Yes!" She shouted, almost immediately, disregarding any previous act of demure prim and properness she was putting on earlier. "Yes, Houtarou, I will!" She slammed herself back into him in another hug, knocking him over against the tree trunk and into a pile together. Forgetting herself, she pressed her mouth against his, tangling her fingers in his messy hair. Embarrassed but pleased, Houtarou responded by pressing her back toward him, not even pretending to not enjoy the feeling of her chest against his. As if in response to his uncouth thoughts, she pulled away, blushing furiously, and looked around herself before allowing herself to give him a peck on the lips, giggling.
Houtarou sighed in relief, actually smiling in full. "Th...thank you, Eru. I already spoke to your mother about it, so it's taken care of."
Eru had a permanent grin as she laughed, trying to cover her mouth in an attempt to be graceful. "That's why she was so eager to get me out of the house!"
Houtarou brushed the hair out of her face, a gentle smile still on his lips. "I...I do have something for you. Tomoe insisted."
He sat up and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small white cardboard box. He opened it to reveal a sparkling rose gold ring, with tiny gems glittering across the top of the band. "I know it's...a little less traditional than your family usually permits, but Tomoe thought you'd like a ring. She got it for you when she was traveling last year." Here's hoping she didn't steal this one.
Eru's eyes seemed to sparkle and shimmer with the gems, her mouth agape behind her hand. "It's...it's so beautiful, Houtarou." She delicately extended her hand, an expectant look towards her fiance.
Houtarou's hands shook slightly as he pulled the ring out of its meager box and slipped it onto Eru's slim, white finger. He tried to avoid thinking about how much work and planning would be coming after this. "Thank you, Eru."