Tezuka Kunimitsu sat at the grand piano on the school stage during his lunch hour with the house lights off, preventing him from seeing the empty audience chairs. Echizen Ryoma sat on top of the black piano, smiling at his team captain and boyfriend. Tezuka lifted his hands to the keys, and began to play. After several measures, Ryoma began to sing.
"Hikaru nagareteru
Amagumo wa tooku natte."
(The rain clouds that were passing by low
became distant.)
Tezuka then finished the verse before letting Ryoma take the second one on his own, smiling softly at Ryoma's gentle, slightly feminine voice.
"Machi wa sukoshizutsu
Ochitsuki wo torimodoshiteku."
(And the town gradually
regains its tranquility.)
"Toki ga sugite
Wakattekita koto
Sukoshi wa aru keredo
Mada-mada itsudatte
Katae wo sagashiteiru."
(Time has passed,
and there's a few things
I'm come to understand but
I'm still always
searching for a response.)
The two smiled at each other and began to sing a complicated duet that was mesmerizing for an observer to hear. Ryoma began to sing the first line, Tezuka joining in at a faster pace a word end, finishing the first half of the phrase before Ryoma even though he began to sing last. After pausing for Ryoma to catch up, they finished the first line of the chorus together. Then, Ryoma sang the first part of the next line, with Tezuka joining in on the second part. They sang the third line in the same style as the first, and then Ryoma finished the last two lines of the chorus on his own.
"Kitto Umaku yareru kara Shinpai nai sa
Kitto Umaku yareru sa Shinpai nai sa
Sonna koe ga kikoetekisou de.
Soba ni Iru to Sunao ni narenai kedo
Soba ni Iru to Sunaoni naranai kedo
Itsuka kitto Iitain'da
Arigatou."
(Surely I can do it well, so no worries.
Surely you can do it well, I'm not worried.
It's like I can hear your voice.
When you're by my side, I can't remain unaffected but
When you're by my side, I can't remain unaffected but
Surely someday I want to say to you
thank you.')
Both singers dropped out, allowing Tezuka to play another short piano solo before the song continued. They sang the next three verses in the same style as the previous three; Ryoma, Tezuka, Ryoma, and then a duet.
"Kaze ga yuruyaka ni
Kisetsu wo hakondekite
Minna sukoshizutsu
Kokoro wa mitei no mama
(The wind, carefree,
carried in the season.
Gradually, everybody's
hearts began to stir up.)
Kyou ichinichi
Are mo kore mo shiyou!
Maiasa Omotte mo
Naka-naka genjitsu wa
Yotei wa mitei no mama.
(Today,
Let's do that and this!
I think that every morning but
the truth is really
future plans aren't fixed in place.)
Motto Umaku yareru kara Mondai nai sa
Sou sa Umaku yareru sa Mondai nai sa
Nantonaku wa Konashiteru kedo
Hanareteru to Sunao ni nareru ki ga shita
Hanareteru to Sunao ni naranai kedo
Itsuka kitto Iitain'da
Arigatou
(I can do it better, so there's no problem.
That's right, you can do it well, so there's no problem.
Somehow I'm handling it easy but
when we were parted, I felt like I could be unaffected, but
Even if we're parted, I can't be unaffected, but
Surely someday, I want to say to you
Thank you.)
Then, to finish the song the two boys worked weeks on together to perfect, Ryoma sang one more verse on his own, followed by a repeat of the song's first duet.
Toki ga sugite
Wakattekita koto
Sukoshi wa aru keredo
Mada-mada itsudatte
Kotae wo sagashiteru.
(Time has passed,
and there's a few things
I've come to understand but
I'm still always searching for a response.)
Kitto Umaku yareru sa Shinpai nai sa
Sonna koe ga kikoetekisou de.
Soba ni Iru to Sunao ni narenai kedo
Soba ni Iru to Sunaoni naranai kedo
Itsuka kitto Iitain'da
Arigatou."
(Surely I can do it well, so no worries.
Surely you can do it well, I'm not worried.
It's like I can hear your voice.
When you're by my side, I can't remain unaffected but
When you're by my side, I can't remain unaffected but
Surely someday I want to say to you
thank you.')
The song ended, and Ryoma and Tezuka grinned, Ryoma pulling his guitar over his head and laying it down on the piano, jumping down to sit next to his boyfriend on the piano bench.
"It's about time we finished that song," Ryoma mumbled, laying his head down on Tezuka's shoulder peacefully. Tezuka nodded, reaching into his pocket to grab a small black velvet box before turning to face the boy with greenish black hair.
"Ryo, we've been together for three years, right?" At Ryoma's confused nod, he continued. "Ryo, I've never doubted my love for you, and I'm afraid that with me going off to college we're going to drift apart-"
He was cut off by Ryoma's protests. "We are NOT going to drift apart, Hika, we've been together so long!"
Tezuka laughed. "Ryo, I wasn't finished! I don't think we will either, but I can't help being afraid, so I decided to do something about it."
"What… do you mean?"
Tezuka opened the box in his hand, showing it to the petite freshman. "Ryoma, will you marry me?" Inside the box lay a small golden band with a simple inlaid round diamond, surrounded by engravings of 'Aishiteru.'
"You aren't doing this just to make sure we don't drift apart, are you?" Ryoma asked specifically.
"No! The only influence my nonsensical fear had on this decision is when. I was planning to wait until you were out of high school to ask, but I can't wait. I can wait to marry, but I wanted to ask. I want everyone to know you're mine," Tezuka whispered the last part into the boy's ear huskily.
Ryoma smiled, holding out his hand. "Well, are you going to put it on or what?"
Tezuka's eyes lit up in wonder. "Is that a yes?" he asked cautiously.
"Mada mada dane," Ryoma rolled his eyes, "duh."
Smiling, Tezuka pulled the ring out of it's case and placed it gently on Ryoma's left ring finger, where it would stay until the day they both died of old age exactly eighty years later.
I'm not one hundred percent sure of the translation in Japanese, though I'm pretty sure it's the same, but 国光, which is the characters for Kunimitsu, means Kingdom of Light in Chinese. I'm assuming it's the same. 光 is pronounced Hikari in Japanese, so why it's pronounced mitsu in the name I'm not sure since I'm not taking Japanese, but I figure it's something to do with where it's used.
I love you.