Chapter Thirty-Seven: Bonding
"That wasn't what I expected at all," I said as we left my childhood home. "Of course, seeing how he is now…"
"Maybe he looks different because you've changed," Yukine suggested. "You're not the man you used to be."
I sighed heavily. "Yeah, you're probably right," I admitted. "I've been through a lot since moving out."
"I don't know how this is going to sound…" Yukine said hesitantly, "…but I'm really proud of you."
I felt my face grow hot. "Th-Thanks, Yukine; that means a lot to me."
"I'm glad that I met you, I'm glad to have been your girlfriend…"
"What do you mean, 'have been'?" I exclaimed.
She giggled as she spun to stand in front of me, her hands behind her back, bringing us to a halt. "…and I'll be glad to be your wife."
In spite of the dimming sunlight, the world exploded with color and brightness, and the sun no longer shone from the sky but from Yukine's heart; her radiance was almost blinding. "Yu-Yukine…" I breathed in wonder at what my mind's eye was showing me.
She giggled again before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around me. "Thank you for coming to the Reference Room, Okazaki Tomoya; I love you so much."
"Thank you for being there," I replied through a constricted throat. "You've brought so much happiness to my life, it's…too much." I gave her a squeeze and let the moisture stream from my eyes. "I never thought that two people could ever be this close."
"Me too," she confessed in a shuddering tone. "I liked being there for people, b-but I was afraid that I would always be alone, and then…"
"God, we're a couple of mush-heads, aren't we?" I choked through the tears.
"Is that bad?" she sputtered through tears of her own.
"I don't know," I managed to say, and pulled her away to place my hands on either side of her tear-stained face and gently kiss her forehead. "L-Let's go home."
She nodded with a sniff as she took my arm and we quietly headed back home.
"You have my permission," Rentarou said, greeting us at the door.
It took a full five seconds to collect my jaw from the floor. "S-Sir?"
"I give you permission to marry my daughter," he said simply.
"D-Dad…?" Apparently Yukine couldn't believe what she was hearing, either.
"You just turned seventeen, so you'll need special permission to marry," he said to his daughter. "Your mother and I will take care of it, so feel free to plan the festivities." He then turned to me. "I-"
"Wait a minute, please," I interrupted as politely as I could. "You told me a week. Did something change?"
He burst into laughter. "I said 'within a week', and I'm sure you've already realized my 'slip-up' from earlier?" he asked between chuckles.
"Yes, sir," I said with a smile spreading across my face. "I let my dad know."
"Good, good…" He reached out and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Tomoya, I've seen the kind of man you are, how you pushed yourself to improve so you could rescue my daughter as well as mature just in general." He crossed his arms, smile still in place. "I'd be a fool to give her to anyone else."
"D-Daddy…"
Rentarou looked over to his daughter, and his face fell. "Yuki-chan…what's wrong?"
I looked over to find Yukine in her mother's arms, repeatedly rubbing at her eyes. "Thank you, Daddy; I'm *sniff* so happy!" she cried as she melted into a puddle of tears, and I found myself smiling even as I swallowed a lump of my own.
"It's really happening…"
"Yeah…"
"And I'm not even a third-year yet…"
"Yeah…are you okay with that?"
She gave me another squeeze as we snuggled on the sofa. "I can't imagine being with anyone else."
"Are your friends going to miss you?"
"Probably," she said quietly.
"I'm not trying to take you away from them, you know."
"I know," she sniffled, then wiped at her delicate nose. "You're a good man, Tomoya." She then growled softly. "I am not going to start crying again."
"Go ahead and cry if you need to," I told her. "Crying just means that you feel something really deeply. The tears are like…liquid emotion."
"I never thought of it that way," she sniffled again. "Thank you. May I lay my head in your lap?"
"Hey, we haven't done that in a long time! Yeah, go ahead," I said as we untangled ourselves, and she carefully rested her head in my lap. "One pampering, coming up."
"You're so silly," she giggled as she gave my leg a gentle whack, then she rolled onto her back and looked up at me. "Are you really happy with me? I'm not strong like Sakagami-san or smart like Ichinose-senpai."
"They're nice girls, yeah…but…I'm not sure how to explain it…" Finding myself at a loss for words I simply looked into her eyes. "I love you; that's my explanation."
She said nothing, but reached up to link her fingers behind my neck, and I carefully helped her sit up just enough to bring our lips together. I heard her take a deep breath as she started to tighten her grip, so I gently pulled away. "Easy there, beautiful; it's not time to get worked up yet."
"Sorry," she said as we lowered her back into my lap. "My heart got so big."
"Your big heart is one of the things I love about you," I said tenderly.
To avoid another Reference Room incident, we decided to watch a movie. Her dad was a big fan of space programs, so we ended up watching an American movie based on the Apollo 13 mission.
"Wow," I breathed as Apollo 13 started to lift off, "the special effects are amazing."
Yukine pointed at the screen as it showed the wives of two of the astronauts reacting to the launch; one of them had started crying. "That's how I feel when you leave for a mission," she said quietly.
I pulled her to me and gave her kiss on the cheek. "But those men went home to their wives…and so will I."