Hi there, Bastion here.
Before I started this chapter, I'll give any of you angry readers 5 minutes to imaginatively kill me for the the super late update again.
...
Okay. Time's up. Now, the story.
This will be the last chapter of "A Walk to Remember", meaning there's no more updates for this story (+1 for stating the obvious).
I don't know, but I cant really say that I'm really happy with this. The first half is alright, but there seems to be inconsistency near the end of this chapter, and unfortunately, my mind doesn't want to cooperate with me to make a better ending than this one, even though I'm sure I could've pulled this off better, so sorry if I dissapointed you guys.
Enough talk. Let the fic begin.
A Walk to Remember
~Epilogue chapter, last half~
Summer has almost come to an end. My 40 days of peace and laziness is about to close its curtains for this year. There were only about 4 days left until school starts, so usually I starts to prepare all my school books and stationery at this time around every year.
And somehow, this year, that routine is no longer valid.
Instead of preparing the books and enjoying the rest of the summer while it lasts, I was laying defenseless on the bed, blanket pulled up to cover my whole body, my face's red, a wet towel on my forehead, and I'm sweating a lot.
Not to mention there's someone beside my bed since...a few hours ago, I think. I didn't count, so it's a shot in the dark.
"How do you feel, Houtarou-kun?"
"Better...I think.."
Just in case you're wondering who I'm talking too, it's Eru. Since it was Saturday, she had voluntarily came to my house after my sister called her on purpose to let her know about my illness. She also said that she'll take care of me for the rest of the day, or at least until my sister came back from work.
"That's good to hear that." The soft smile she added at the end of her sentence makes her look a lot prettier and succesfully made me blush a bit, but I don't think she noticed that because my face is literally red from the fever right now.
Done with the 'how pretty Eru's smile is' thought, I moved on to the next thing in my mind: Just how pathetic I'm.
Maybe we need to turn the clock back a few days in order to know what caused my pathetic situation I've gotten myself into.
"So, how is it, Satoshi?"
The now drenched figure in front of me responded immidiately, "Whew, the rain is pouring very hard! It poured just as if there's no tomorrow!"
"I've warned you. And why don't you just wait there until the sky cleared up?" I'm not lying. I already told him that it will rain anytime soon and that it would be a hard one, yet he is still so persistent to buy the club needs from the store 5 minutes away from school.
"I thought that the rain would only last for some minutes, so I chose to ran through the rain. And I also thought I've run fast enough to arrive at school before it gets even bigger." You've lost since the moment you started running, Satoshi. No one can win against mothernature. "At least I managed to keep the things we need from getting wet."
"I'll praise you for that one." I mean, he's completely drenched, yet the things inside the plastic bags remains dry. That's an acheivement. I took the bag from his hand and put it on the table.
"Where's Chitanda and Mayaka?"
"They said that they need some books from the library, so they're looking for it right now."
"And you just sat here, reading your novel the entire time while your girlfriend and her friend are looking for some particular books among the sea of books called the library?"
"Pretty much."
"What a helpful boyfriend you got here, Chitanda-san."
"I've offered her my help, but she told me to stay here and wait for you to come back. I'm only following what she said to me."
"That changes everything. What an obidient boyfriend you got here, Chitanda-san."
"You made me sound like a pet." He only chuckled at my comment on his words. I turned my attention back the book in my hand, because watching my friend trying to dry his drenched clothes with a small handkerchief seems to be pointless.
Not long after that, the other two members of Classical Literature Club finally came back from the library with books in their hands. "Oh my, Fukube-san! You're drenched!"
"Hehe, the results of impatience."
"You could've just wait there and give us a call. That way, we could meet there and continue our work tomorrow." The brown haired girl commented on his situation in a similar way as me. Although her comments sounds stoic, I could sense a bit of worriness in her sentence.
"I left my phone here."
"Really...do something about your forgetfulness already!"
The chattering lasted for about another 5 minutes before we started on our research on the book Eru and Mayaka got from the library and. Unfortunately, I can't stay here for too long.
"I need to do some errands at home, so I'll go back first."
And that's when all of a sudden they all gasped.
"...what?"
"Did I missheard something? Houtarou? Errands? Both of them just don't mix!"
"Are you really doing an errand, Houtarou-kun?"
"Something's wrong with you, Oreki."
"If my sister had not forced me to do it, then I would prefer staying here and doing the research since it's less energy consuming. Besides, my angry sister is the last person I'll want to handle." All of them responded with an 'oh, I see' and somewhat relieved expression. Was it that weird for me to some errands, really?
"Okay, then I'll be on my way then." I headed out from the clubroom towards the main entrance. I opened my umbrella and walked into the rain. Although the wind still helped the droplets to wet a bit, the umbrella did managed to block a considerable amout of water that was supposed to be pouring on my body.
And after 15 minutes of walking, I noticed something.
"Crap, I forgot to put back my keys that I put on the table when I looked for my novel back at the class." What an idiot I am. Just how could I possibly forgot something important? Without that I can't even enter my house, not even talking about doing the errand.
Which means I need to go back to school to pick my keys. Great. Just great. There goes some of my energy supply for today.
I walked my way back to school, still grumbling at myself for wasting more energy than I should be.
Upon reaching the school gate, I saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance to the school building. A way too familiar figure.
"Eh? Houtarou-kun? I thought yo-"
"I forgot something in the classroom, so I'm here to pick it up. And what're you doing here? I thought you're still doing the research with Mayaka and Satoshi."
"My mom suddenly called me and asked me to go home immediately since she needs my help, so I was about to head back when I..."
"When you...?"
"I-I forgot to bring my umbrella, and I cannot head back."
Somehow I'm not very surprised with that. "I see. Then want to share an umbrella with me? Mine's big enough to cover both of us."
"Eh? Can I?"
"Why not? Here, hold this for while. I'll take my stuff that I left in the classroom."
I climbed up stairs, walked to my classroom, take my keys, and walked back down to the entarance, all under 5 minutes. Hey, that's a new record for me.
"Shall we?" I said as I took my umbrella from her hand and started to walk into the rain. Again.
"A-Ah, okay." She startled a bit at the start, but she managed to match my pace eventually.
But along the way back, there's only the four of us.
An embarassed me, a shy Eru, a wet umbrella, and an awkward silence.
I know, I was the one who offered her to share the umbrella together, but I never thought it would be this embarassing to do this with your girlfriend. Not to mention she's acting a bit shy, which just add more awkwardness between us.
Eventually, we stayed silent until we had to part ways at an intersection.
"I guess will have to part ways here. Thanks for sharing an umbrella with me, Houtarou-kun."
"Don't mention it. But how will you continue the rest of your walk? You didn't bring an umbrella with you. You'll get wet."
"Maybe I'll just have to run through the rain, then."
I shouldn't be surprised, knowing what kind of person Eru is. If I'm still the old me, I would just responded with an 'um' and let her get drenched in the rain.
"See you tomorrow, Houtarou-kun."
At that time, I was having a battle with myself in my mind.
So that's it? You're going to let your girlfriend get wet?
So what am I supposed to do? Gave her my umbrella?
What else could it be?
But I might get wet.
You're not a cat. You're not supposed to be scared with water or with the idea of getting wet.
What if I get sick?
You sounded like a little girl.
Man, that protective boyfriend side of me is really persistent. It's the exact opposite of my lazy self.
By the time I finished my battle of thoughts with myself, she had started to ran through the rain, but luckily my boyfriend side managed to take over my mind and grabed her hands just right before she became drenched.
"Wait, Eru."
"What is it?"
"Use this."
"Eh?" She stared at me an awe,"But what about you, Houtarou-kun? You'll get wet."
"I'll manage with that somehow. I don't want you to get sick."
"But I-
"I insist, Eru." I handed the umbrella to her. "And besides.." I could feel a blush crept to my face. "...A boyfriend's duty is to make sure his girlfriend okay, right?"
Lost for words and blushing from my words, she kept silent for a few moments before she finally take the umbrella from my hand. Took her long enough to do that.
"Remember to return it tomorrow, though."
"Umm, Houtarou-kun?"
I turned my head to face her direction.
"Thanks for lending me the umbrella...and take care." She said that with a little tint of pink on her cheeks, and somehow that that makes her cuter.
I put on a small smile, a really small one that usually would go unnoticed, at the sight before me. "I will." With that, I entered the downpour and started running home in the midst of the rain.
Being a boyfriend is not easy at all.
That's the gist of what had happened. And just a day after my self-proclaimed heroic attempt to save Eru from getting sick, it was me instead that got sick, just like what I thought. Talk about having a very fragile body. Sometimes I hate this weak part of me.
On the bright side, Eru had been seeing me everyday after school, and even accompany me for the whole day like now. I won't say this out loud, but I'm delighted to have her to come and see me everyday.
"Uhm, Houtarou-kun... I'm sorry for making you to go through this."
"Eru, that's the fourth time you've said that today..."
"But it was my mistake th-"
"And for the fourth time, I'll say that it's not your fault that I got sick."
Afterwards, she diverted her attention to the floor, looking down at it with a tint of sadness on her face. "Even if you say that... I don't think you can let myself get away just like that..."
That's very like her.
I let out a small sigh. "So what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to at least give me a punishment."
...Wha?
"Wait, we're not living in the age where punishments are given for every mistakes, you know."
"But if you don't give me one, I will feel bad about it!"
No, don't give me that teary expression, Eru! I won't be able to refuse that! But what kind of boyfriend punishes his girlfriend over something small like this? Ahh, my mind's going to broke!
I need to calm my mind first.
"So...I only need to give you a punishment, right?"
She nodded, looking down.
"Any kind of punishment?"
She nodded again, still looking down.
I sighed yet again as I readied myself to give her the punishment. "Close your eyes, Eru."
As she did what I told her...
*THUD*
"..eh?"
"Done. That's your punishment."
"B-But, that's-"
"You asked for any kind of punishment. So I did. Your punishment is a light hit on your head."
"And that's it?"
"I can't possibly hit the girl who've been taking care of me when I was sick, can I?"
She takes a little time to digest what I was saying before she finally got it and blushed as her reactions to my sentence.
Suddenly, she buried her face on my shoulder, and mumbled something."...-ot"
"Did you just say something?"
"...You don't need to said it that clearly, idiot."
I raised my eyebrows hearing that. "...What's with that tsundere-like attitude?"
She didn't say a thing, and instead, she tighten her grip on my arm and buried her face even deeper onto my shoulder.
Well, looks like I have to stay in this position for a little while longer.
"-rou."
Uh, shut up. I'm still sleepy here.
"Houtarou."
Eh? That voice...Aneki?
"Wake up, Houtarou. It's morning already."
I tried my best to open my eyes to see aneki beside me. "So, how do you feel now, Houtarou?"
"Better, I guess. I think the fever is gone now."
"Great. Wait right here, I'll make you breakfast. Do you want anything in particular?"
"Up to you, Aneki."
"Okay then. Oh, and don't make too much noise or movements. You don't want to wake her up, do you?"
...Her? Now that's she said it, I could feel some weight on my right hand. I decided to take a look at this so-called weight, which turned out to be...a sleeping girl's head.
"Eh? Eru?!" I let out a surprised shriek at my discovery, and tried to keep it as low as possible so it won't wake her up. "What is she doing here so early in the morning, Aneki?"
"What do you mean early in the morning? She had been there since last night."
"Eh?"
"You don't know? Oh yeah, you we're asleep last night. I came home pretty late last night, you were already fast asleep, but she's still looking after you even when you're asleep. And when I told her to go home..."
"...She asked you to let her to stay here for the night." I said that while looking at here peaceful sleeping face on my hand. "Just how stubborn could she be..."
"As expected of her boyfriend. You do know her really well." She said those words in a teasing manner, but I didn't give a thing about that and brushed it off.
"It would be weird if she didn't asked that. She's the epitome of stubborness afterall. By the way, did she informed her family about staying here?"
"Don't worry, she had told them last night. Well then, I'm heading to the kitchen. I'll leave her to you, Houtarou."
"Wait, Aneki."
"What is it?"
"Why did she go through all this trouble to look after me? I only caught a little cold, that's all."
She stayed silent before finally chuckled at my my question. "What's so funny about it, Aneki?"
"You know what, Houtarou? Frankly, I asked her the same thing last night."
"And her answer was?"
"She said 'I just wanted to do that' or something along that line."
As Aneki made her silent exit, I was still keeping my eyes focused on her face. She did this for my sake? Just because I got a light cold? Was she really that worried about me? All of those questions keeps popping in my mind.
She's not the type of person whose actions are understandable. She's more like a classical literature, only some people can really understand her.
And I'm not that person who really understand her.
I might be her boyfriend, but that doesn't mean I've come to the point where I could understand her fully. I still found some of her actions weird. Those actions are somehow hard to understand, like this one for instance.
But maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to understand the reason behind her actions.
She just wanted to do that.
She's not a liar. She's a super honest person. All of her actions are the results of her honesty. She doesn't lie to herself. What she wants to do, she'll do it without hesitations. When other people keeps on resisting themselves from doing something because they're afraid about what the others might be thinking, she on the other hand doesn't care about what others might be thinking of her.
That's also the reason why she didn't want to go home last night.
She wants to stay by my side. She doesn't care what others, in this case myself, Aneki and her family, might think about that. She wanted to stay by me, so she stayed by me.
And the best thing about that?
She doesn't feel bothered by that.
At this point, I just cannot avert my eyes from her. She went through the trouble of staying up late just so she could keep her eyes on me. She really cared about me. Moreover, she did all that without feeling bothered. It's her own will.
I know that all of this is only my own conclusions of her behavior, but still...I'm at a loss for words.
"Um.."
Huh? Did she mumbled something?
"Don't worry...I'm here..Houtarou..-kun.."
...
So her honesty keeps following her even in her sleep.
This time, I scratched my head and chuckled at her words. "Really..."
I moved my hands and stroked her hair for a bit. Then, I moved my hands to her cheek and caressed it ever so lightly that she won't wake up. Lastly, I gave her a pat on her head.
"I'm really glad that I have you as my girlfriend..."
~END~
Ah, glad this finally finished. Took me forever to get this done. I even add a bonus of a Tsundere Eru (only for 1 line, though :p)
Anyway, huge thanks for those who went through the trouble to write me a review. I really appreciate that. I hope this last chapter will live up to your expectations.
Lastly, I just cannot thank you guys enough for reading this story. Thanks a lot guys.
'Till next time!
~Bastion~