Chapter 10: Proposal

It had been five months since Minene and Nishijima got together. The two were very happy, especially Minene because she didn't have to hide her feelings for him anymore, making her feel more comfortable around him. Yes, of course they sometimes argued too, but they were always able to make it up in the end.

It was a peaceful Sunday night. Minene and Nishijima were going for a walk on the streets. Minene was complaining about something and Nishijima was just listening to her until something caught his eyes.

Behind a glass window of a wedding studio were two mannequins, one had a figure of a man and other had a figure of a woman. The male one was wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath a white vest, a black tie and black dress shoes. The female one had curly wig with a flower headpiece. The dress it was wearing was a white sleeveless one with flowers attached from the top until the waist, long white gloves and a long white veil that touched the floor.

Nishijima suddenly stopped in his track, bringing his eyes from his girlfriend to the mannequins. Minene was still complaining until she noticed he no longer listened. Calling out his name didn't work, so she held his arm and shook it.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned back to her.

"Uh- Minene?"

"I called you but you didn't hear me. Where were you, you idiot? Up on the cloud?" She said in annoyance.

He scratched the back of his head. "Oh, really? Sorry Minene, I got… uh… carried away… maybe?" He chuckled, making her roll her eyes.

"I don't know what distracted you but… whatever."

And with that said, she continued her complaining while he just chuckling and listening. Despite that, he still couldn't take his previous thoughts out of his head.

"Welcome home, Nishijima!"

"Thanks, Minene." He smiled while taking off his shoes and jacket. "I came home a little late because I was busy buying something."

Hearing him saying that, she noticed the package in his hand. "Really? What is it?"

He cursed his mouth for saying that for no reason since this was supposed to be a secret.

"Ah… uh… it's nothing special Minene. Just… um… a little gift for my… uh… boss!"

"Huh?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Y- yeah, for my boss!" He stuttered, trying not to sound suspicious. "M- my salary just g- got increased, so I- I bought him a little gift to thank him!"

Only the part where his salary got increased was true.

"Strange, I rarely see anyone that buys their boss gift for having their salary put up."

He immediately changed subject. "A- anyway, is dinner ready?"

"Yeah, it's still hot, so you better come in." She did notice him changing subject suspiciously, but she ignored it anyway.

"Minene, are you free at the moment?"

Hearing Nishijima's question, Minene, who was reading a book in the living room, turned around to face him. "Um… Yeah, I guess. Do you need anything?"

"Come here please."

She raised her eyebrow in confusion, but decided to stand up and walk up to him afterward. He immediately tied a blindfold around her head.

"Hey! What is with this blindfold?!" She raised one hand, attempting to take it off. But he quickly held her hand, preventing her from doing it.

"Come with me. I'll take it off once we're there."

"Where the hell is 'there'?!"

"You'll know soon."

"Okay, you can look now." Nishijima said while taking off her blindfold.

"Finally! It was so annoyi-"

She cut herself off when she saw the sight before her. They were on top of a hill near their house. The sky above was a dark shade of blue. The stars were twinkling while the moon was shining gently down the ground beneath. A cold breeze passed by, making the green leaves on the tree and the grass under their feet rustle a peaceful and pleasant sound. Looking down, she saw the entire city with lights shining from the windows of the buildings.

"Well, what do you think?" He asked.

"It's…" She said quietly. "It's beautiful… and it reminded me of something from before…"

A pair of arm suddenly wrapped around her, starling her a little. Turning her head around, she saw him smiling down at her. "It's like the night when I proposed to you in the second world, right?"

"Yeah…"

After a short silence, he pulled his arms back and spoke up. "Minene, turn around."

"Um… okay?"

She did as what he told her to, and she was surprised by him kneeling down in front of her. Before she could even do something, he took her hand in his and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Minene, I've always enjoyed every moment we spent together, even when we argue over a smallest thing. When I'm with you, I feel your love that warms up my heart. I love you very much, and I will always do."

She said nothing as he continued.

"Did you remember when I proposed to you in the second world? I was so happy that I could finally be able to show my love to you, although I didn't know if you were going to accept me or not. But then, the cruel world took me away from you and the only thing I could do was protecting you one last time before I let out my last breath. But now, we're together again, so I want to start over."

He opened a velvet box, revealing a ring with a small sparkling diamond attached to it.

"Minene, will you marry me?"

Another silence came across them, and Nishijima waited patiently for her answer. But suddenly, he saw tears shed from the corners of her eyes. He quickly stood up, panicking.

"W- what's wrong, Minene?! Did I s- say something wrong?"

Again, unexpectedly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder. "Y- yes…" She said between her sobbing. "Yes, of course I will, Nishijima… You idiot, d- do you really need to ask me that? I've been waiting for this moment for so damn long…"

Surprised, he just stood there still while she continued crying, soaking his shirt with her tears. Smiling, he put one hand on her back while the other stroked her hair.

"I'm so happy to hear you say that."