"Without all the tradition the rest of the world has, Ringo Tanashi, will you marry me?"
Ringo glances up at Hikaru, who looked nervous. He looked just as nervous as she felt. She didn't want to say no, but she knew she needed to, which would break Hikaru's heart. Taking a shaky breath, Ringo tried to answer as best as she could.
"H-Hikaru, I love you so so much." Ringo started, stuttering. Hikaru had a hopeful look on his face, which made this so much harder for Ringo. Tightening her grip on his hands, Ringo closed her eyes and spoke again. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I-I can't." Ringo could feel Hikaru try to pull his hands away. "Hikaru, listen. It's not that I don't want to, I do, so much. But.." Ringo it her lip trying to think of a way to put him down gently. "There are reasons I can't. Plus we're still really young. We might mess up and hate each other forever, and I don't want that. can we wait? At least another year or two, I'm just not ready yet." Ringo asked, finally opening her eyes.
Hikaru sighed, pulling her closer to him. "Yeah we'll wait. Until you're ready, promise." Hikaru nodded, hugging her tightly. Then a flash went off and rustling could be heard not so far away. Hikaru muttered a few curses, and pulled Ringo back to his car. The rest of their date had been ruined by some stupid photographer.
The ride back to Ringo's house had been completely silent. As they arrived Ringo turned to look at Hikaru. "Hika-"
"I know you're sorry, you don't have to say it again. We'll wait just as you asked. I didn't mean to rush things." He said, not turning to face her. Ringo sighed before getting out of he car, murmuring a quick goodbye. She quickly made her way into the house, quietly checking on her mother and siblings before going into her own room. She took off her shoes and pulled out her phone and called Hauhi.
"Hello?" Haruhi said sleepily when she answered the phone.
"Haruhi... Hikaru proposed." Ringo said quietly. This immediately caught her attention, and she was fully awake.
"He what?" she asked.
"Proposed. He took me to the park and proposed." Ringo told her friend.
"I thought you said you wanted your family's approval before he got engaged?" Haruhi asked.
"That's why I said no. Was that the right thing to do though?" she asked.
"Go with what you believe. If you want to wait for your family's approval go for it. I mean, you said you wanted Hikaru to meet your dad first right? Well, take him to meet your dad, help him gain your family's approval and then if that doesn't work, either marry him without that consent or it wasn't meant to be." Haruhi replied.
"I'll think on it a little longer. But I'm not sure about taking him to see my father. I'll talk to you later Haruhi." Ringo said waiting for Haruhi to say bye, before hanging up herself.
'Should I though?' Ringo thought, picking up a notebook and writing down a few random things she loved about Hikaru.
Yes, I know this took forever, but I wrote it and then lost it. Like poof, gone. Where'd my paper go? I don't know, but Ringo's answer was supposed to be a little longer than what it is, and it kinda made me cry, so yeah. And sorry about how short it is. After I lost what I wrote I lost total inspiration for what I had planned and changed everything. Be prepared.