Epilogue 4: Photo Finish

PART 1 (Emi)

I have some downtime because one of the students who had an appointment today didn't show up. Just as I'm trying to decide what to do with the extra time, my cell phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out, see my mother is calling and I consider not answering. But I have already ignored her calls enough this week. I take a deep breath to prepare myself, and then answer the call.

"Hi mom."

"Hello dear, I hope everything is going well."

"Yep things are good. How-"

"So, is Hisao any closer to proposing?" she asks hopefully.

She has been asking this quite a lot lately. It's a major reason I haven't been answering her calls.

"Really, that's the first thing you want to talk about? Before even letting me ask you how things are for you?"

"Well, yes. You are getting close to 40, dear. I won't dare mention my own age, but I'd like to see a grandchild while I am still on this earth. Thank goodness you two will be adopting, otherwise I wouldn't like your chances."

I sigh in frustration.

"I don't know if he's any closer. I guess technically every moment that passes he is getting closer to asking, but I don't have any timeline. He told me about a year and a half ago that it wouldn't be years and years, and that's still pretty much all I know."

She scoffs.

"I like Hisao quite a lot, but this is getting ridiculous. He needs to stop dragging his feet."

I scoff right back.

"That's not very fair, mom. He loves me, he is committed to me, he supports me in every way, and we live together in a house we own. He promised me we will get married one day in the not-too-distant future. That's enough for me. Why isn't it enough for you?"

"I don't know. I just want it to happen really badly, I guess. It isn't bothering you at all?"

"...I guess maybe a tiny bit. I really want to be able to call him my husband, or at least fiancé. 'Boyfriend' doesn't really cut it anymore. We use 'partner' sometimes, which is better, but still doesn't feel like enough for me. I also wouldn't hate it if we could start looking more seriously into adoption and getting the ball rolling there. But he has always been slow with stuff and it has always been worth it to wait. So, I'm waiting."

"I have no idea who you got this patience from. It certainly wasn't me or your father."

I laugh, "I'm not really sure either. I don't really think I am patient about anything other than Hisao."

"Yes, I suppose that's true. You certainly have no patience with me. What makes him so special?"

"Probably the fact that I love him, mom. And yes, before you say it, I love you too, but it's different. Anyway, wasn't Sho quite patient with you?"

"... don't change the subject dear."

"Okay well, why don't I give him a call and ask him myself?"

She sighs, defeated, and she quietly says "Yes, he was quite patient with me."

"And you were slow for the same reasons! So, maybe cut him a little slack. And stop pestering your daughter about it so much."

"Fine. I will try my best."

This will probably last a week at the most.

"Good."

"Oh, there was one other reason I called. Would you and Hisao be able to come over for dinner this Saturday?"

"We should be able to. I will check with him to make sure. But so help me God, if you pressure Hisao about this at all, we will never come over for dinner again. And you won't be invited to the wedding. And you will never know your grandchild."

"Goodness, Emi, calm down. That wasn't what I was planning. We'd just like to see you two."

"That's good. We'd like to see you and Sho too."

"Great. See you Saturday. Love you, Emi."

"Love you too, mom."

—-

Part 2 (Hisao)

"So, when will his races be?"

"It shouldn't be too long. I don't know exactly. Luckily all the sprints are pretty short. We get to enjoy a bunch of running either way, so stop complaining."

"Who's complaining? I was just wondering when we would see him."

Emi is not in a great mood, mostly because she is incredibly anxious. We are in Tokyo, at the Paralympic qualifier for Japan, and Aoki will be trying to qualify for the 600- and 800-meter sprints. She just left him after giving him some final pointers and encouragement, and now she's sitting next to me in the bleachers and fidgeting.

"He is pretty much a lock to make it for the 800 meters, right? Ow!"

My question is answered by a swift punch in the arm, which is more painful than Emi's usual playful violence.

"Don't jinx him, Hisao. Jeez, it's like you don't want him to make it."

Well, I do already know the answer to the question. So, it serves me right, I guess. His times in the 800 meter have been great the last few months. Good enough to make the podium at the last Paralympics. His 600 times haven't been quite as good, but he is still likely to qualify.

"Okay, clearly I'm not allowed to talk about running right now. Is there anything I can do to help? Or is it best if I just sit here quietly?"

Emi thinks about it for a moment, and then scoots closer to me and encourages me to put my arm around her.

"Just sit quietly. I don't need words. I'll just use your body for comfort." She giggles.

I nod. She might sort of be joking, but I think she would really like for me to be quiet right now. There's plenty going on for me to be entertained, and I'm happy to have my arm around her, so it's not all bad.

It is amazing watching all these disabled athletes. I'm always kind of in awe of them. I guess it makes sense that I fell in love with one. Heck, a big part of my relationship with Saki involved athletics too. She never would have described herself as an athlete, though.

Eventually, it comes time for Aoki's first heat for the 600 meters. Emi stands up, so I do too. I give her my hand, which she clutches tightly.

Aoki looks confident and surprisingly at home even under all this pressure.

The gun fires, and as usual his start makes it look like he has no chance. But over the latter half of the race he makes up enough ground to finish in third, which is good enough for him to make it to the next stage.

Emi's grip on my hand became increasingly tight throughout the race and she was cheering like a maniac at the end. It is amazing that someone with such tiny hands can squeeze so hard. She lets go and I shake my hand to relieve it of the pain.

She looks up at me bashfully. "Oops. Sorry."

I laugh "It's okay. So now he has two more races for the 600?"

She nods. "Yep. He has to finish in the top 3 in the next heat. And then in the top 2 of the final one to make it."

After a few more 600-meter heats, it is time for Aoki's next one. We stand again and I decide to give Emi my hand again, against my better judgment. This heat is surprisingly similar to the first, with Aoki making a mad dash at the end to finish in third.

Once it is time for the final, Emi is freaking out a bit. She is pacing back and forth in the bleachers, and is high energy, even for her. While the bleachers aren't crowded, the other people around us are definitely staring.

"If he finishes well here, he is going to be in the FREAKING PARALYMPICS, Hisao!"

"Yep! I hope he makes it."

Luckily Aoki looks far more composed than she does. I give Emi my hand again as the race begins. Aoki has a better start this time, managing to stay in the middle of the pack. However, he can't make up as much ground in the second half of the race. He doesn't seem to have the same speed advantage he had in earlier heats. He simply can't catch two of the other runners, and he finishes in third.

Emi looks surprisingly calm given the outcome. She is definitely disappointed but it's less than I would have expected. She mostly looks concerned as she watches how Aoki reacts.

"That's too bad. He almost did it. I think I need to go talk to him and get him out of his own head."

He looked composed at the start of the race, but he isn't now. His shoulders are slumped, and he looks like he is cursing at himself. If he had on prosthetics that would let him kick something, he probably would.

I nod. "Take your time."

Emi returns after about 20 minutes.

"How is he doing?"

"He's okay. Disappointed for sure, but I told him to just forget about it now and focus on what's still in front of him and got him psyched up. I don't think it will affect him too much in the 800."

"That's good. I'm a little surprised you don't seem more disappointed."

"I'm definitely disappointed, but his 600 times weren't good enough for me to have incredibly high hopes. So, it doesn't hurt too bad."

She turns to me.

"If he doesn't qualify for the 800 though…"

She doesn't need to finish the sentence. I am sure it would crush them both. They have put so much into this.

Before long, Aoki is back out there to run his first 800-meter heat. I switch sides from earlier and give Emi my other hand.

She laughs, "Is your other hand okay?"

"It'll be alright. But I don't think it would be if I gave it to you again."

She sticks her tongue out at me and takes my hand, and the race begins. Luckily, this one isn't very dramatic. Aoki quickly takes the lead and then expands on it. The less dramatic race is good news for my hand.

Emi pumps her fist excitedly. "If he does that for the next two there's no way he doesn't make it."

The second heat goes the same way.

For the third and final heat, Emi is the most elevated I have seen her so far. She is rocking back and forth on her feet and wringing her hands together. She probably wishes she had her blades on so she could jump up and down. She is also very sweaty. Even her hands are sweaty.

Just before the gun fires, she clutches my hand.

Unlike the first two heats, Aoki doesn't start the race from the front. He was a little slow getting off the blocks. But he has plenty of time to take advantage of his long legs and he just manages to finish in second.

After nearly crushing every bone in my hand, Emi steps up on the bleachers and jumps up and down while yelling victoriously. I think there are words in there, but I can't quite make them out.

I'm excited too, but next to Emi you would never be able to tell. Eventually, her excitement transforms into tears of joy. She is still saying something, but it is still unintelligible. She hugs me and buries her head in my chest as she cries. I stroke her hair.

"He did really great. You did really great, Emi. This is amazing. Congratulations."

She looks up at me with a moist face and a broad smile.

"I *sniffle* guess we should go see him."

She dries her tears on my shirt and takes my hand, and we go to see Aoki.

When we find him, he is surrounded by many happy people. I know his girlfriend, Shimizu, who politely waves. I don't recognize the rest of his entourage immediately, but based on their height and features, I surmise it must be his family.

He sees me and Emi and waves with a big smile on his face. He leaves the gaggle of people to come out and talk to Emi.

"You did great Aoki, I am so proud of you."

"Thank you. I wouldn't have done it without all your help. I want you to come meet my parents."

He looks at me.

"Both of you. Come on."

He leads the way back into his group and positions us before his parents. His father is even taller than he is, and his mother is a few centimeters taller than me. They both have graying black hair and brown eyes.

"Mom, dad, I want you to meet my two teachers. This is Ibarazaki, the track club teacher, and this is Nakai, my homeroom and science teacher."

They both smile at us, and especially at Emi. His mother speaks first.

"Thank you for mentoring him and teaching him to run. We are very proud of him today. We never would have thought of this path for him…so thank you very much for helping him find this passion."

Emi blushes, "I was happy to do it. Your son is a great kid. I have enjoyed every minute of it."

His father speaks up now.

"He has been so much happier since he started running. It has been really great for us to see. So really, we can't thank you enough, Ibarazaki."

Now his eyes shift to me.

"You are quite the dedicated teacher to be at this. I knew the school was doing wonders for our son, and this must prove it really is great."

Maybe I should just let them think that I'm that great and so is Yamaku, but I should probably be honest.

"Oh…uh, well, part of the reason I am here is because of her." I point to Emi with my thumb. "We're…a couple."

His mother's face lights up.

"Oh, that's right. He told us about you two now that you mention it. Well, it is nice that both of you are looking out for our son. Thank you both."

I smile at her. "No problem. Like Emi said, he's a great kid. That makes it easy."

"Well, I think we will be going. Congratulations Aoki."

"It was nice meeting you both. We will see you at graduation I suppose?"

"Yes, we should both be there. It was nice meeting you too."

We leave the stadium. Emi is still wearing a huge smile from the day's events.

—-

We are at Chisato and Mitsuru's, where we are staying for the night after Emi's victorious day at the qualifiers.

Mitsuru is especially excited about Aoki's achievement.

"So, he's going to be in the Paralympics, huh? That's amazing. Has anyone from Yamaku ever done that?"

Emi nods. "I looked into that myself. It has happened, but not since like a decade before we were all there. That's pretty much ancient history at this point. So, it is a pretty big deal."

Mitsuru smiles. "That's amazing. Congratulations."

Mitsuru turns to me. "Well, Hisao, should we go pick up the food?"

"Oh…you need me to come along?"

"Yeah man, we need some time alone, just us men." He winks at me.

"Um…okay. Yeah, I don't mind helping."

—-

Part 3 (Emi)

Hisao and Mitsuru just went out the door, and feel like I was left alone with Chisato for a reason. Hisao and Mitsuru's exchange was more than a little weird before they left, it really seemed like Mitsuru dragged him out the door. It feels a little bit like when we were at the beach several years ago. Mitsuru took Hisao off somewhere so Chisato could grill me about our relationship.

I look over at Chisato who has a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, confirming my suspicions.

"You planned this didn't you? Going to interrogate me about something like that day at the beach?"

She smiles so broadly that she looks a little unhinged, and she comes to sit right next to me. She puts her hands on my shoulders and shakes me.

"I HAVE GINORMOUS NEWS!"

"Whoa, calm down. Is it so big that you need to yell and assault me?"

"YES, I THINK IT IS. HISAO IS GOING TO PROPOSE SOON."

I look at her closely, waiting for her to say this is a joke. But I quickly realize she is serious. Now I grab her by the shoulders and shake her right back.

"WHAT?"

"HE IS GOING TO SURPRISE YOU WITH A TRIP TO OKINAWA OVER SPRING VACATION. HE IS GOING TO PROPOSE THERE!"

"DID HE TELL YOU THIS?"

"YEP!" She looks a little ashamed and lowers her voice. "I promised not to tell you, but I was too overwhelmed with excitement to honor a silly promise like that."

"Wow…this is…I'm so HAPPY." I start tearing up. "I'm *sniffle* so excited. I've wanted this for a long time. I'm so happy he's ready. This is *sniffle* probably the best day of my life between this and Aoki."

She hugs me.

"Yeah, I thought you needed to know. You've been so patient for so long. He's such a silly slowpoke. Anyway, early congratulations to you. I'm so happy for both of you." She breaks the hug and smiles. "Just remember who made this whole thing happen."

I laugh and roll my eyes, "Yes, Chisato, you won't ever let us forget. Are you going to make us name a kid after you or something?"

"Hmm…you know that's not a bad idea…"

"Well whatever. We'll do whatever you want. I don't care. I'm just so excited. Thanks for telling me."

"No problem. Don't be too obvious about knowing though! Act surprised and everything."

"Yeah, yeah I will."

The front door starts to open.

"Shit. They're back. Act natural."

I do my best to wipe the goofy smile and happy tears from my face, and Hisao is none the wiser.

—-

It's the first day of the Spring holidays. Chisato was right, Hisao told me a few days after our talk that we were going on a trip to Okinawa. We leave in a few days. I can't wait. Now that Chisato was right about that, I am certain we will return from that trip engaged and I'm incredibly happy about that. I knew it was coming at some point, but I had convinced myself he wouldn't be ready for a while longer.

We're on our usual morning run. I can't help but have a stupid smile on my face every time I look at him, though I do my best to make sure he doesn't see me. I kind of wish Chisato hadn't told me, so I would be surprised, but it's nice to know that this man I love so much is going to propose so soon. I'll be his wife soon, and that thought makes me want to explode with excitement. It has been very hard not to be too obvious about this.

As usual, Hisao is on the bleachers by the time I finish. Once I'm done, he gets up to get something out of his bag, and he drops his water bottle, which rolls behind me.

"Oh, can you get that for me?"

I turn around to pick up the water bottle he dropped, and when I turn back towards him, Hisao has a broad smile on his face that is more than just a little mischievous.

"Emi, I think you've been patient with me long enough. We don't need to wait until Okinawa for this."

He gets down on one knee. And pulls out a jewelry box. I gasp and leave my mouth hanging wide open.

Is this really happening now? Here? WHAT?!

"I know a track isn't the usual place where someone proposes. I know we are wearing our workout clothes and we're all sweaty and stuff. But we became friends here. You made me healthy here. We fell in love here. I realized I loved you while I was watching you run your sprints right over there. So, it seemed like a great place for you and me to take that next step. Emi, I love you so much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to raise a child with you. I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?"

He reveals a beautiful gold ring with a single large diamond.

I'm rendered speechless for a moment, with my mouth still hanging wide open. Luckily, Hisao doesn't look too nervous. It probably helps that he knows I'm going to say yes.

After several moments, I overcome my shock enough to respond. I close my mouth and smile down at him while I feel a few happy tears making their way down my face.

"I…yes, I want to marry you, Hisao. More than I have ever wanted anything."

He smiles up at me and slides the ring on my finger. I get impatient and pull him up so I can kiss him. We enjoy a tender kiss for several seconds until I pull away. Luckily it is the spring holidays, and no one is around. Although, even if there was someone, I think we would get a pass given the circumstances.

"I…had no idea this was going to happen today. I thought you were waiting for Okinawa. That's…um, what Chisato told me."

I probably shouldn't have told him that.

"Um…Don't be too mad at her for breaking that promise."

He laughs. "I wanted to find a way to surprise you, even though you knew it was going to happen. Chisato and Mitsuru were in on it. I asked her to tell you that night. Sorry for the deception, but I'm glad it worked so I could surprise you. And now we can go to Okinawa engaged. It can be sort of a pre-honeymoon I guess."

I should be mad at them for tricking me, but I'm too happy for that right now.

I nod, put my arms around him and put my head on his chest as I start to tear up. "I'm so happy you want me to be your wife. I know this is a big step, an extra big step for you. So, it means a lot."

He strokes my hair, "I'm happy you want to be my wife. I'm happy you stuck with me all this time, as slow as I was about…well…everything."

I look up at him and smile. "As I've told you before, you're easy to stick around for. You're just…an amazing man, Hisao. I love you so much. Now then, with that sappy part out of the way, let's go home. I want you really badly now and we need to get off this campus or I'm going to be tempted to do something very risky."

My eyes wander towards the old track shed. It's been a long time since I fooled around in there, but right now it is a special occasion. Am I actually considering this seriously?

He sees my eyes and laughs, "We aren't going to use the shed like you did when you were a student. That seems like a very bad idea for two employees of the school, don't you think? So, let's get home quick! How about a race?"

"You're on!" I grab my bag and bolt towards the campus entrance.

"Hey, that's not fair, you're getting a head start!"

I turn around and run backwards so I can stick my tongue out at him. "We both know you wouldn't have won anyway. But you better hurry!"

I turn back around and take off at full speed down the hill, with a huge smile on my face with my future husband trailing behind me. He may never be as fast as I am, but even when I get somewhere before him, he's worth waiting for.