Hanako’s eyes widened as they focused on the small black box, “Wh-why d-do y-you-?”
Grinning stupidly, I replied, “Well, there was this antique shop.”
Hanako managed a weak laugh, but it died quickly as I got down on one knee.
Now, there were a lot of things I could have said. How much I loved her and stuff like that. But we both knew all that, and had already said it more times than I wanted to count. I was working on the fly, but I think what I came up with was pretty decent:
“…You know, I wasn’t in a very good place mentally when we first met. Neither were you, really. But, getting to know you, being with you, has made me a better person –a stronger person. If you want, I’d like to keep becoming better and stronger, with you by my side getting better and stronger, too. Not because you need me, or I need you, but because we need each other, and more importantly, want and love each other. So, Hanako Ikezawa, will you-”
“Y-yes,” Hanako mumbled, her eyes locked with mine with an intensity I rarely saw, but always enjoyed witnessing.
I paused, not expecting the interjection, “Huh?”
Hanako, smiling broadly and flushing brightly, inhaled, exhaled, and replied, “Yes, Hisao Nakai, I’ll marry you.”
Hanako tentatively moved her hand forward, as if afraid the ring box might bite her. Smiling so widely my face was starting to hurt, I opened the box and carefully placed the silver ring on her finger.
“Kenji knew your ring size,” I babbled, “Not sure how, don’t wanna know how.”
Hanako chuckled once, examining the ring for a moment. Her eyes lit up when she saw the design, and mine lit up when I saw how happy she was.
I moved to get up, but didn’t get far as Hanako dropped down to wrap me in a fierce hug, “I love you, and thank you, for everything.”
I returned the hug, “You’re welcome, I love you, too, and thanks for everything, too.”
I’m not sure how long we were wrapped in each other’s arms like that, but eventually I heard a high pitched sneeze and a mewl. Raising an eyebrow and glancing behind me, I saw something moving from behind one of the parking structure’s larger concrete pillars.
“You can come out now,” I stated.
“Sure you don’t want five minutes in the car? OW!” Emi snapped as a thud echoed in the structure.
“We’re good,” I replied, getting a confirming nod from Hanako. Whispering in her ear, I added, “Besides, the dorms are basically abandoned now.”
Blushing brightly, Hanako slowly stood back up, me doing the same. As we did so, the rest of our little farce of an adventuring party revealed themselves from behind the pillar. Lilly was still holding Miki –the two seemed to have become rather attached- and Emi was rubbing the back of her own head as she glared at Kenji.
Turning her glare from Kenji, she grinned and asked, “You get a ring?”
Still blushing, Hanako lifted her hand to show the ring. Emi shrieked in delight and bolted forward, grabbing Hanako’s hand to examine it closely.
After a few moments of silent scrutiny, she asked, “Silver, huh? Different. The design looks great, though.”
“I l-like it, too,” Hanako stated.
“So,” Kenji said as he guided Lilly forward, Kwan on her other side and looking somewhat confused, “You proposed?”
It took me a second to realize the question was both confirmation and for the benefit of Lilly and Kwan, “Twice, it seems.”
“Never hurts to be thorough,” Kenji stated.
“Congratulations,” Lilly said, also smiling widely, “May I examine the ring?”
“O-of c-course!” Hanako replied, still somewhat wound up.
“When’s the wedding?” Emi asked.
I glanced at Hanako as Lilly slowly felt the ring on her finger, “I figure sometime after we graduate.”
“You’re gonna wait that long?” Emi asked.
“Just cuz you wanna be the flower girl is no reason to rush them,” Kenji quipped.
Emi growled and stuck her tongue out at Kenji, her terrier impression earning her a startled hiss from Miki.
“Makes sense, really,” Kwan interjected, “Gives you a chance to focus on school first, then getting your lives sorted out following graduation.”
“That was my thinking,” I concurred.
“I guess that makes sense,” Emi conceded. Elbowing Kwan lightly in the side, she added, “You know you’re gonna have to top this if you’re serious about getting serious, right?”
Kwan raised an eyebrow at Emi, then glanced at me and mouthed, Is she serious?
My response was a smirk and a shrug.
“It’s a lovely ring,” Lilly stated to Hanako; I had almost forgotten she was still examining it, “Wherever did you find it, Hisao?”
“Well,” I replied, “There was this antique shop run by a Vietnam war vet…”
Lilly smirked and tilted her head slightly, “Really? How interesting….”
“One of the mysteries for the ages,” Kenji grunted, examining his large watch a mere centimeter from his face as he brought us back to the matter at hand, “As touching as this all is, I believe Emi’s mother needs to pick up her kid, and to do that, said kid must be in Sendai to be picked up.”
“Way to kill the mood,” Emi muttered, but she darted off for the car all the same.
“We should probably visit a car wash, too,” Kwan mused as he followed his girlfriend, “Get that dried blood off the car.”
“I took care of that when I last checked on Miki,” Kenji stated, “Hanako, you got first hour of driving, okay?”
“Aye, aye, Commissar,” Hanako replied, snapping off a precise salute that made me snort in amusement.
Kenji led Lilly to the back seat as Hanako came over to me. She gave me a kiss on the cheek before wandering over to the driver’s seat, her blue jeans revealing interesting hip movements along the way.
So that’s the story of our summer road trip to Tokyo. There were more cats and animal attacks than I had expected, we got lost a few times, Kwan almost fucked things up with Emi, Misha nearly died of liver failure, and Hanako started what was to prove a very passionate and expensive hobby. Oh, and I got engaged to the love of my life; that’s an important part, too, I think.
We had a ton of fun and a great time, though, so I consider it well worth it. Although Hanako still doesn’t like monkeys.
THE END.
+++
Wo-oh, we’re halfway there.
Whoa-oh! Liviin’ on a - huh? Oh, right. Sorry.
Ahem.
Well, there you go. I gave you an Epic Road Trip, an Epic Concert, and a quirky proposal. Because if you’re going to end with a cliché, you may as well have fun with it
.I thank all of you who have read this and commented, and hope you enjoyed the experience. As for my next work, well, you’ll see. You’ll all see…. In the meantime, I have to apply to every History adjunct position in the Great Lakes region, and work on a certain special for a certain pumpkin based holiday.
Until next time, then, /smokebomb.
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