Epilogue
Editing and Proofreading: LordVTP and Marv
Part 1
"Hey, Kazuma is going to propose to me today, that's what's going on, right?"
Aqua and Darkness froze as I straightforwardly asked my question.
"W-What gives Megumin that idea?! Ah, your makeup needs a bit of touch up. Here, let me fix that for you."
"..."
A well-dressed Darkness said as she took out her makeup kit for the tenth time since we arrived in this fancy cafe.
...They were too obvious.
Kazuma has been acting pretty weird for the last week or so.
I've had my suspicions, and given the behavior of these two, it's obvious.
Well…
Considering how long we've been dating and how our respective careers are starting to stabilize…
It would be the perfect time for such a thing.
As for how the current situation developed...
Just an hour ago, these two came to our condo and forced me into an expensive looking dress.
Aqua even brought in her professional makeup crew and her hairdresser.
Then they brought me to this fancy cafe and have been restlessly fidgeting and glancing around.
No doubt, they're waiting for Kazuma to arrive.
"If it's not a proposal, then what are we here for?"
"W-We're just hanging out, isn't that what we said?! We haven't had a lot of time to hang out with just us ladies, isn't that right, Aqua?!"
"E-Exactly! Now, Megumin, why don't you have some of this cheesecake?"
"Mmmph!"
I almost choked as Aqua shoved some cheesecake down my mouth.
...They were way too obvious.
My family has also been acting strangely the last few days.
My mother would look at me coyly and go 'fufufu' for no reason.
My father was the most suspicious of all. I'd catch him staring at me for long periods of time only to burst out crying.
As for Komekko… Well, it was hard to get anything out of that unpredictable girl.
Speaking of Komekko…
"Aqua, I hope that my little sister isn't causing the agency too much trouble."
As soon as I mentioned Komekko, Aqua's face turned sour.
"Che! That sneaky devil has already seduced the staff with her girlish charms! I used to be the number one idol in their hearts, but doesn't it seem like everyone is forgetting about me now?!"
"Well, I'm glad to hear that my little sister is doing fine. I'm happy."
"Oi! That little sister of yours is trying to steal my job! Even though she's just a rookie, that impudent little brat is…!"
It seems like this washed up idol resents my little sister a fair bit.
I sipped on the milk tea I ordered.
Suddenly, I got a bit nervous.
It's not like Kazuma and I haven't talked about getting engaged and all...
But it's not like we've talked too extensively about the subject either.
I don't have any doubts about how I feel about Kazuma.
Yet, still… I can't help but get increasingly nervous.
…It feels like it was just yesterday when I met Kazuma.
I can still picture him in that ratty tracksuit of his, with bags under his eyes.
He looked like a textbook example of a NEET.
And wasn't I going around wearing an eye patch and colored lenses all those years ago?
"Pffft!"
I couldn't help but giggle as I reminisced about that time.
"Hm, what's Megumin laughing about?"
Aqua asked as I covered my mouth after laughing.
"Hey, Kazuma as he is… What do you guys think about him? As a man, I mean."
Aqua and Darkness looked at each other.
"H-He's the perfect guy! Any girl would be lucky to have him! A perfect marriage candidate for sure!"
"Y-Yeah! Like, say if Kazuma is planning to propose to Megumin or something, I think that Megumin shouldn't have any doubts and just say 'yes'!"
...That reaction pretty much confirms that Kazuma is going to propose today.
"Hmm… I guess it's been a while, so you guys are used to Kazuma as he is now. Well, even when you met him, he was already out of the NEET stage, huh? But there was a time when Kazuma had no appeal whatsoever, you know?"
They looked at each worriedly.
"What is Megumin saying?! Oi, we've been planning for this for so long, so don't… Hmmmph!"
"Don't listen to Aqua, Megumin! I know, I'll order another cake set for us! Waiter!"
It was quite amusing seeing these two freak out.
…
…
A bit later...
"Sorry I'm late, everyone."
Kazuma apologized as he took his seat.
"Brr…! It's cold outside, isn't it?!"
He took off his gloves and stuffed them in the pockets of his coat.
But, when he pulled his hand out of his pocket…
...A small black box fell out.
"..." x 4.
He put it back.
"A-Ah, I heard the cheesecake here is good."
"Y-Yeah, try this one, Kazuma! I propose that you order this one. I mean, not propose!"
They were actually pretending as if nothing happened!
Those three were frantically glancing at each other.
I wish they'd make it less obvious.
"S-So how's work, Kazuma?"
"...Why is Aqua asking me that? I work for you."
"O-Oh, that's right! Haha…"
Could they just drop the act already?
"Ah, h-hey, Aqua! Maybe we should go to the bathroom, or something?!"
"Why? I don't need to pee right now."
"Just come!"
Perhaps sensing that they were getting in the way, Darkness dragged Aqua off to the bathroom.
Once we were left alone, I said to Kazuma,
"So… Got anything to say to me?"
He flinched.
"That obvious, huh?"
"...I literally saw the box fall out of your pocket."
"Sorry… I planned for this to go a bit smoother…"
I giggled as he groaned in frustration.
"I don't really care if it's perfect or not. Can I see it?"
"See what?"
"The ring."
"I feel like we're skipping a bunch of steps here."
"Since when have we ever done this whole relationship thing properly? May I see it?"
He hesitated for a moment, but took out the box and handed it to me anyways.
I opened it and looked inside.
"...It's beautiful."
"Well, I've been saving up."
"How much did you spend on this?"
"Why is that the first thing that comes to Megumin's mind every time?"
"I'm just kidding. Thanks, I love it."
I closed the box and gave it back to him.
"Well, I guess I ruined the opportunity to propose now."
"You can try again later after this first failure. That's Kazuma's style anyways, right?"
"What is Megumin saying… Hehe."
We started laughing together.
"Hey, why don't you say we leave those two with the bill and get out of here?"
"Yeah, I don't think I can afford to pay for a fancy place like this after buying that ring… Wait, I don't think I was supposed to say that. Why are you looking at me like that, Megumin?! I threw away the receipt already so don't even think about returning it!"
He read my mind perfectly.
We left the store and walked into the cold streets. The ground was covered with a thin layer of frost.
I was wearing my coat, but the cold still percolated inside.
Wanting warmth, I held Kazuma's arm to leech off his body heat.
"Where are we going?"
Kazuma asked while shivering.
"I'm still hungry since they only served cakes and tea back there. Let's go to a burger joint or something."
"Now that you mention it, I'm hungry, too. For what it was worth, that cheesecake wasn't filling at all."
We went to the closest burger joint, which was only a block away.
"Ahhh…" x 2.
We sighed in relief as we entered the heated building.
"I'll go and order. Megumin should choose a table for us to sit by."
I didn't pick a table by the windows even though those spots were my favorite, as we were trying to avoid the cold as much as possible.
I chose a table closest to the kitchen, where it was warm from all the cooking.
Kazuma soon arrived with our food.
He placed the tray down on the table. He ordered two cheese burgers, a large order of fries to share between us, a coffee for himself, and a hot cocoa for me.
"Hm… I can't help but feel nostalgic for some reason."
I said as I sipped on the hot cocoa.
"Now that I think about it… Isn't this place kind of familiar?"
Kazuma said while chewing on a fry.
"We did go to a lot of junk food joints over the years, especially around this area."
"I know. Even when we were still getting to know each other, when I was helping Megumin with her high school entrance exams… Wait, I think I remember now! Wow, what a coincidence! I even got Megumin some hot cocoa that time, remember?"
It clicked for me.
"That's right… After we first met in that internet cafe, Kazuma took me to a burger joint and treated me to a meal. This is the place, huh?"
"Yeah, so it seems…"
We looked around the restaurant.
"No wonder I didn't recognize it. Everything about this place seems so different," I said, looking around.
"Speaking of that internet cafe, we haven't visited that place in forever."
"Maybe we should go take a look."
After we finished eating, we ordered two more hot cocoas for the road.
We stuck close together and sipped on the hot cocoas to stay warm.
When we made it to the internet cafe, we were surprised to see that almost nothing had changed.
"Say, wasn't Megumin quite friendly with the owner of this place? He'd give Megumin discounts so she could afford to rent a computer for the night even with her meager allowance…"
Kazuma said as we went inside.
"A lot of older men were kind to me back then, for some reason. Remember Kazuma's old boss in that convenience store he used to work at? He'd always treat me and Komekko with the store merchandise, even paying out of his own pocket."
"Oh, that's right. How could I have forgotten? This town is full of lolicons."
Kazuma said with a blank look in his eyes.
We didn't see the old owner around. Apparently his son had taken over the business.
We booked a booth for a couple of hours.
"It's surprising to me how that game is still online even after all this time. For such a shitty game, it has a surprisingly strong fanbase."
Kazuma said as we both logged on that game we always played back then.
"Oh, look. Kazuto-kun and the others are online."
"Shouldn't they have classes right now? Don't tell me they're skipping?!"
"I don't think the Kazuma who ditched school for all those years should have the right to get mad over this."
"D-Damn it!"
Speaking of Kazuto-kun and the others…
"I heard that Kazuto-kun and my little sister is actually…"
"I don't want to hear it! I refuse to believe that my cute Komekko-chan is actually dating that unruly brother of mine! That damn delinquent!"
"Again, I don't think Kazuma, the former NEET, should have any right to judge."
I said sternly to the older brother who was currently dissing his little brother.
"Oh, look. They all went offline as soon as we went online. I'll have to give them a talking to later. I bet it was that delinquent brother of mine who convinced them to skip classes in the first place!"
"Kazuma's really blaming everything on Kazuto-kun, huh? Knowing Komekko-chan, she's probably the ringleader of this operation."
After playing around for a bit, we left the internet cafe and went back into the cold streets.
We didn't have a specific place to go, so we just wandered around.
There were already Christmas decorations out in the street.
Christmas lights were strewn around lamp posts, while department stores went all out with the festive decorations.
"I didn't really think much of it before, but the streets are always beautiful around this time, huh?"
Kazuma glanced around. "Back when I was a NEET, I hated this time of year. A bunch of couples walking around like they own the place, obnoxious lights and decorations everywhere… Hey, Megumin, do you ever think sometimes that you're betraying your old self?"
He brought this strange topic out of nowhere.
"How so?"
"For example, didn't Megumin used to go around wearing a wearing a chuunibyou outfit? Fingerless gloves, a choker, an eyepatch… And she used to say things like 'I am Megumin! Wielder of Explo…!"
"Gah, stop it! Why is Kazuma bringing that up?!"
I hurriedly intervened before he could say any more about that time of my life.
He chuckled. "I'm just saying… Maybe sometimes it's OK to go back to the way we used to act when we were kids, you know? It would be kind of sad to completely abandon our past, no matter how embarrassing it is. There was a time when we were resolutely determined to stay the way we were. Saying things like: 'I won't ever change'. Certainly, back then, we would have scoffed at all these normies walking around and enjoying their youth, yet, here we are joining them! Well, I don't know where I'm going with this, haha…"
"Kazuma's saying weird stuff again… Are you going through your midlife crisis?"
"I'm not even at that point in my life yet!"
As a result of Kazuma putting weird thoughts into my head, I got to thinking. What would the me from the past say about my present self?
Should that even matter? The purpose of growing up was to eventually grow out of those embarrassing stages, right?
"Even if Kazuma says all that, I don't think you can go back to acting like a NEET and I don't think I can go back to my chuunibyou days…"
"I'm not saying that I want to go back to being a NEET! Geez, nevermind. Just a thought."
"Could it be that Kazuma is just reminiscing about doing all sorts of things to the young me?"
"N-No, of course not!"
He glanced away suspiciously.
Still...
The way I was before…
That got me thinking to how I was before I met Kazuma.
My family was always poor, so I was used to a life of poverty since a young age.
I didn't view it as a misfortune as it was 'daily life' for me.
Even with these circumstances, I was able to grow up without any problems.
When Komekko was born, I began to see things differently.
The reality of my situation was only apparent to me once I had a little sister to look after.
I didn't want Komekko to grow up in the poor living conditions that I once considered normal.
But what could a child like me do?
The only thing I could do was become a strong onee-chan to this newly born little sister.
I wanted to be strong enough for Komekko to depend on.
Even if I had to pretend to be something I wasn't.
...Well, maybe I got a bit too carried away with the whole 'pretend' part.
Somehow, in my attempts to be a dependable onee-chan, I started getting wrapped up in my own delusions and became a bit of a chuunibyou.
Wearing ridiculous outfits, coming up with cool catch phrases to say, adopting a stray cat from the street to use as my familiar, and roleplaying as a powerful, busty mage who uses Explosion magic in the MMO I was playing...
Gah! Make those painful memories go away!
"Megumin? You alright? Maybe we should start heading home now. We've been walking around for a while."
Kazuma said as I grabbed my head in pain after relieving those memories.
"Shouldn't we go back to Aqua and Darkness at that cafe?"
I almost forgot about those two. Whoops.
"I already texted them a while ago… Well, they think that I already proposed, so let's just keep the matter of me chickening out a secret, OK?"
"We could try this another day."
"How about we consider ourselves engaged and I can just give you the ring right now?"
"Even if I'm a pragmatic girl, I still appreciate romantic gestures."
"Yeah, yeah…"
…
...
When we got back home, we saw four pairs of shoes that weren't ours on the shoe rack.
"Those problem children skipping class are using our love nest as a delinquent hang out…"
"Don't call our condo a 'love nest'. And it's Kazuma's fault for making a gaming PC room for those kids and giving them spare keys for our condo. You're spoiling them too much."
"I don't want to hear that from this #1 siscon over here."
After taking off our shoes and coats, we snuck into the gaming room.
Those kids are making a lot of noise even while intruding into someone else's love nest… I mean, home.
"GTFO skrub! Take this…! Ah."
"Damn it! How is Iris always kicking my ass…?! I demand a rematch…! Ah."
Kazuto-kun and Iris had been playing some sort of fighting game on a console.
A new console.
"Oi…"
I looked to this fat-wallet uncle who likes to spoil the kids whenever possible.
"I-It was on sale! Anyways, explain yourselves! And the two girls hiding over there should come out!"
"We've been caught…"
"As expected of Kazuma-san…"
My sister and a white haired girl emerged from their hiding spots.
It seems they sensed our approach and hid themselves.
Seeing those two come out, Kazuto said,
"Oi, Komekko-chan and Rorisa-san knew that we'd get busted but they didn't even try to warn us?! You were using us as scapegoats, weren't you?!"
"That's not the problem here. You're all in so much trouble! Do you always hang out here to skip classes?!"
"Yeah, that's right, nii-san. So maybe next time you and Megu-nee should be cleaning this place regularly so we wouldn't find so much evidence of your nightly lovemaking sessions!"
"..." x 2.
We'd normally clean the place if we had friends over, but due to our busy schedules…
We blushingly picked up the stray pieces of lingerie and other 'bedroom items' that were littered around.
"Wait, why are we the ones being scolded. It's you kids who are skipping classes right now!"
"Urk!"
As the most mature of the group, Rorisa stepped up and bowed in apology to us.
"Please forgive me. I actually have a school holiday right now. The others didn't want me to get lonely when I had the day off to myself and volunteered to keep me company…"
"I'm pretty sure those three are just using you as an excuse to goof off."
"That can't be! My friends have good intentions! ...Right?"
The other three looked away.
Kazuma proceeded to lecture the guilty party.
"We're sorry… We won't do it again."
The kids apologized, but they weren't being very convincing.
After Kazuma's lecture…
"I should head home now. Pardon my intrusion."
Rorisa politely said while bowing to Kazuma and I.
"Hm… It's starting to snow pretty hard outside, so I'll go home with you, Rorisa-san. I'd offer you a ride but my limo had to be sent to the shop to get new winter tires."
Iris said after peeking out of the curtains and seeing the worsening weather outside.
"Well, good luck with that. I'll just stay here and play some games…"
"Oi, you're coming with us. What kind of man are you to let two ladies walk home by themselves?"
Kazuto sneered. "Well, I guess it would be rude to Rorisa-san if I don't walk her home. Ouch! Sorry, Iris!"
Iris left with a huff, followed by Rorisa and Kazuto.
We both looked at Komekko who was making herself comfortable on the couch.
She was laying on it with the remote control in her hand. She turned on the TV.
Kazuma snatched the control away from her.
"Oi! Don't think you're getting off so easily, young lady! Come to think of it, why did we let the others go? I should have lectured them more!"
Komekko stared blankly at Kazuma.
Then she took out another remote control from behind her back.
Kazuma sighed. "I'll go make some tea."
This guy, for all his talk, also has a soft spot for this little one.
Komekko was flipping through the channels.
She settled on a variety show that featured an idol group playing a Christmas song guessing game.
Wait a minute…
"Isn't that Komekko?!"
I pointed to the screen where a girl who was clearly Komekko was dressed in an idol outfit among other similarly dressed girls.
"Why is nee-chan so surprised? The great Komekko is already doing gigs like this."
"I can see the great Komekko's panties on TV."
"Where?! They should have edited it out?! …Very funny, nee-chan."
I playfully ruffled her hair.
"Hey, nee-chan, did nii-chan propose yet?"
I averted my eyes.
"The plan was to propose at the cafe."
"I-I know."
"Don't tell me onii-chan chickened out?"
"It's not that he chickened out, it's just that he kind of failed many important steps."
"Somehow, I saw this coming."
This child was always the first to say 'I told you so'.
"Hey, nee-chan."
"Hm, what is it, mischievous little sister of mine?"
"Well, as you can see, I'm a pretty darn successful idol now. I'm the rising star of Japan."
"...Komekko should learn to have some humility."
"I have a group of friends who are very fun to hang out with, too. And, er, with Kazuto-kun, er…"
She blushed. So there were even moments when the mighty Komekko could blush, huh?
"All I'm saying is I don't need nee-chan anymore! So… So in terms of looking after me and stuff, um…!"
Ah.
That's what she meant.
"Alright, I get it."
"You do? Good. Because these kinds of talks are embarrassing."
"Even for the great Komekko?"
"Especially for the great Komekko."
…
...
"Eh? Did Komekko just leave?"
Kazuma finally came back with tea and a bunch of cakes and snacks.
This guy really loves to spoil Komekko.
"Is she going home by herself? In this weather?"
"Seems like she's getting a ride from Cecily-san."
"Hah… If she was getting a ride anyways, why didn't she offer to give the others a ride, too?"
I blushed. She probably did that to have some time alone to talk to me.
"Well, let's not let Komekko's sacrifice be in vain. Kazuma, you should propose now."
"Eh?! Saying 'you should propose now'... Does Megumin really understand how this works?!"
"Kazuma did prepare a speech or something, didn't he?"
"I did, but I don't really know if it's good or not."
"It doesn't matter. I don't expect very much, anyways."
"Megumin is setting me up to fail."
"You already failed once to begin with."
"Urk!"
He drank some tea to clear his nerves.
"Well, I'm thinking maybe I should propose in two parts."
"Why two parts?"
"Well… Hang on a sec…"
He went into our bedroom.
When he came back…
"...Why is Kazuma wearing that old tracksuit?"
"This… This is the first part of the proposal! A proposal straight out of the me from my NEET period!"
"Why is this even important? I have a feeling Kazuma is just stalling."
"It's important for me, OK?! Megumin is the one who's forcing me to propose right now, so just put up with it!"
"Actually, you were planning to propose today anyways, but do go on."
He stood in front of me with his hands in his pockets.
I never really thought about how much taller Kazuma had grown over the years until I now see him wearing his old tracksuit.
"Um… Well, as Megumin knows, I was in a bit of a rough spot before we met. I don't know if I told Megumin this before, but one of the reasons why I shut myself off from the outside world was due to a bad experience with my childhood friend. This childhood friend and I promised to marry once we grew up. However, we started growing apart, and then, when we were in Junior High, I saw her riding in the back of a bike with a delinquent upperclassman. Well, I actually met this same childhood friend a while ago and…"
"I… I suppose I can forgive this one instance of adultery. But just this once!"
"That's not where I'm heading with this! This is supposed to be a proposal, remember?! Stop interrupting!"
I couldn't help but tease him.
"A… Anyways. After I met with this childhood friend, I realized that I never really had any deep feelings for her at all and that I was just using that one event as a justification to run away from the harsh realities of life. I didn't want to go to school and study hard only to go on to University and study some more, with the only thing to look forward to was a lifetime of slaving away for a company… Such a daunting outlook of the future frightened me. I just didn't realize that, all those things, the arduous grind of daily life, it isn't so difficult to get through if you have someone you love at your side. So… I'm glad I met you Megumin."
He smiled.
…
…
Kazuma came back wearing the outfit he was wearing before he put on the tracksuit.
"This is a rather elaborate proposal, isn't it?"
"Wasn't Megumin obsessed with dramatic stuff like this in the past? Anyways, this is the proposal of the adult me."
He took out a stack of paper and placed it on the coffee table before me.
"...This is an actual proposal. Like, an actual business proposal."
"Don't glare at me like that! It's not some twisted joke! What this is, is my plan for the next ten years. Including building a family, how to balance family life and our careers, as well as back up plans for any setbacks we might come across the way."
I briefly glanced through. When I flipped through to the last page…
I recognized a familiar document.
"Aren't these the marriage papers your mother made when our families first met?"
"Yep. Remember, my family was offering you all their assets and stuff in case we ever divorce, and all these ridiculous conditions. Oh, they also offered to pay for your schooling, too, which ended up happening."
In fact, Kazuma's family did end up paying for my schooling.
Looking at this document…
"Wait, they actually signed it that night?! I thought that they were just joking around with that arranged marriage thing?!"
"Yep, and my family held up their side of the deal by paying for your schooling. So, technically, we've been engaged since then."
Unbelievable…
When I set the papers down, I saw that Kazuma was on one knee.
"Megumin, will you marry me?"
He offered me the ring.
"..."
...The night we first met, I was feeling pretty lonely.
Like Kazuma, I couldn't see where I'd be in the future.
Like my small, cramped apartment, I felt like my ceiling was limited.
It wasn't hard for me to figure out all that I was because I didn't have much to begin with.
I was merely glad to have someone to share my small, contained world with, but being with Kazuma…
I felt as if the whole world was ours for the taking.
"Fufufu… Fufufufu!"
I rose from my seat and struck a pose.
"Eh? Megumin?"
Still on one knee, Kazuma looked at me with wide eyes as I showed him a nostalgic sight.
"The seal has been broken! The past and the present has connected! By putting on this ring of power… We will make a crimson path to the future!"
I took the ring and wore it.
"With this, we are one! One in body, mind and spirit! What do you say to that, Kazuma?!"
"Uh… S-Sure!"
He stood up and smiled.
"Then let's celebrate this occasion! And what better way than to celebrate than…! O, the twelve sealed taboos, with the seven forbidden arts I summon thee, one is all, and all is one, with that principle, render all to dust! EX… PLOOOOSIOOOON!"
While I was getting carried away, I chanted that 'spell' that was so important to me during my chuuni days.
As soon as those words left my mouth.
"Eh?"
A strangely familiar sensation went through me.
It was familiar, but it felt as if I shouldn't be experiencing this sensation at all.
Suddenly the ring started glowing.
"Eh? Eh? Ehhh?! Kazuma, what's happening?! Gah…"
I collapsed on the floor.
Suddenly…
Boom…!
There was a loud crashing noise outside.
Kazuma headed to the window.
"What?! The billboard that was advertising that MMO we play, the one on top of that building across from us… It was suddenly blown up in half?!"
"Eh? Could it be…?!"
Megumin was looking in awe at her new ring.
"I-I don't know! But maybe we should evacuate the building!"
"For… For some reason I can't move!"
"I'll carry you! Let's just leave first!"
Part 2
After I carried Megumin in a piggyback downstairs, we grouped up with the other condo tenants in the emergency area.
Later on, some firefighters came to explain the situation.
Not like they knew what happened.
It was being reported as a natural disaster of some sort, but I wasn't so sure about that.
Meanwhile...
"I swear, I'm the one who caused that explosion! My new ring of power started glowing and an unknown power from another world manifested before me! It's true, it's true!"
"Whatever you say, miss…"
...Megumin went back to being a full blown chuunibyou despite having a no nonsense, career woman attitude these last few years.
Why did she regress back to this troublesome stage?
Still, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss this side of her.
The commotion was taken care off without any hindrances.
When we got back to our condo, I returned the documents back in the folder I received from my mother.
Megumin was in the living room, striking some very nostalgic poses. She kept admiring her ring, which looked very pretty on her.
"Nyaa~! Nyaa~!"
Chomusuke, who had usually been spending her days sleeping and lazing around, recently, surprised me when she got up and started moving around excitedly.
"Come here, my familiar!"
Chomusuke leaped into Megumin's arms, who twirled the cat around.
I went to the kitchen while Megumin was playing with the unusually active Chomusuke.
I took out some ingredients from the fridge and started preparing for dinner.
"Hey, Kazuma."
Megumin called out from the living room.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think about a shotgun wedding?"
"I think that's a terrible idea."
"Why do you think it's such a bad idea? I think it's cool."
"Megumin really has returned back to her chuuni tendencies, huh? As for why it's a bad idea, weddings take a long time to prepare and there's matters of scheduling…"
"We don't need to invite a bunch of people. We could just have a small gathering somewhere nice and have a picnic afterwards."
I tasted the food and added some soy sauce in. "It's not like I want a big wedding, too. But why is Megumin in such a hurry, anyway?"
"I just don't see the point of waiting for the sake of waiting. I got to thinking about what Kazuma said earlier. About what our past selves would think about our current selves, about how much we changed over the years. If I marry Kazuma next week, it'd be a different Megumin whose marrying Kazuma from the Megumin who exists now. Now, imagine if we dilly dally around for a few more months…"
I had those random words I said earlier thrown back at me.
"Well, I suppose it's something to consider…"
We left it at that and then I served dinner.
After we finished our dinner, we watched a bit of T.V. We decided to turn in early.
We went through our nightly routine, brushing our teeth together and taking turns washing our faces.
We had a queen sized bed but there were some nights when we felt like using the futons, and this was one of those nights.
As we were laying down, both of us eventually gravitating into a cuddle, I said to the sleepy Megumin,
"...Um, I can't predict what kind of Kazuma I will be ten years from now, but I'll be in Megumin's care until then."
She looked up at me as I held her in my arms, eyes widening a little. She giggled then nuzzled against my chest.
"I remember Kazuma promising that we'll be together for all our future lifetimes. It's our Crimson Bond!"
"I made such a promise, huh?"
"Yep. I may forget a lot of things but I remember all of Kazuma's promises."
She looked at me meaningfully.
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
She had been using my arm as a pillow and fell asleep that way.
What an uncomfortable position…
As I watched her sleep, I thought about my life until this point.
I've come a long way, and I had Megumin to thank.
A shotgun wedding, huh?
I failed today's surprise but maybe I can try again tomorrow.
...
The End
...
A/N: I find it really funny how this story expanded from a one-shot lewd fic I wrote for a friend, into a multi-chapter story, one that would take me the better part of a year to complete. I'd like to thank LordVTP and Marv for their help in proofreading, editing, and helping me when I was stuck in a creative rut. I'd also like to thank those who continued to read this story even when the narrative started to shift away from the sexual elements, and began to take on a more character driven tone. Thank you to those who took the time to offer their thoughts and criticisms by reviewing. I try to respond to all the reviews and messages sent my way, but I realize that I'm not the most diligent when it comes to interacting with my readership. To those I unintentionally neglected, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I don't know if I will write another romance focused story like this one, as this genre isn't really my specialty. But I hope that you will all check it out if I decide to write another one.
Best regards,
BB