The rain was still heavy, but neither intended to stop kissing.
It was her first kiss, yet it tasted more wonderful than she had thought. Even though it was slightly salty from her tears, the feeling which came from connecting with the lips of the person she loved was more than a mere carnal desire. This feeling was impossible to describe in mere words, and she just wanted their kiss to last forever.
They kept kissing as long as they could before they parted, yet they were still connected by pressing their foreheads against each other.
"...did you get hard?"
"It's something inevitable, okay?"
She let out a helpless sigh since the situation was really different from what she had imagined. She thought they would fight, cry, or say many words that would come out of a romance novel, yet strangely enough, everything was so natural. It felt like this was how they should be. As she escaped from her cage, she soared freely, dancing and playing with him as much as they wanted.
It was wonderful, yet could they continue like this?
Still, she hid the fact that her panties were slightly wet.
However, no matter how awkward their situation was, neither planned to move away from the other since it had been a while since they met each other.
"I miss you."
"Me too. I have been thinking about you every day since we parted that day." She hugged him tightly, afraid to part away from him again.
"I am not going anywhere. I am going to be with you now."
"I know. Even if you don't say anything, I will stay with you." She had thought of herself as his woman, especially after she had fought her family's wish. Whatever the consequences were in the future, she would be with him, but she wondered whether he was ready.
"But are you ready?"
"Ready?"
"I have a fiance. You should know this, right? While I want to be with you, my engagement has been settled. If you take me here and now, you will face many problems, whether it is the anger of my family or my fiance's family. You might be disowned by your family because of me."
Her gaze was full of worry, thinking about the reality between them.
"Do you think I am afraid?"
Hearing him, who could answer her question without a long thought, she smiled, but at the same time, she wondered whether she understood their current situation.
"Do you understand our situation? Our path isn't a smooth paved road where we can walk calmly and happily. The path we have taken is a ragged pier, which ends someplace where the sea begins."
If they decide to be together, their path naturally wouldn't be smooth. If they were together, many problems might arise. While she didn't think that all of his girlfriends would come for him for money, without money, it would cause many inconveniences. After all, she had always thought that all the things he had were supported by his family.
If he lost the support of his family and was disowned, would he hate her?
Such a thought frightened her, and she didn't want to make his life painful.
He held her hand firmly and said, "It's you who doesn't understand. I know that you have a fiance and knowing that, I still hold your hand, kiss you, and confess my feelings toward you. I know the consequences all along, and I am ready to bear them. The only problem is you. Are you ready to be with me?"
Whether it was Yukinoshita's or her fiance's family, he had never considered them an obstacle to their relationship. The only problem was whether she was ready to be with him since by staying with him, she would lose the support of her family, and she might even be disowned. He also wasn't single-minded and only loved her alone, so being with him for an entire life was something one needed to think through.
"Don't underestimate me." She stared into his eyes, strong, unwavering, showing her determination. "Since I have decided to accept your kiss, you should know what my answer is."
"Oh? What is your answer?"
"...guess it, dummy!"
"I don't know! I don't know! If you don't tell me, I don't know!"
"...."
She was speechless since this guy repeated what she had said before. She blushed shyly, but since he had told her his feelings, she felt she also should do the same.
"I love you. Isn't that clear? Even if you have a lot of women, I want to be with you. As long as I am with you, I am okay with anything, even if my family disowns me, but I am afraid..."
"What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that my family might disown me or anything?"
"Un..."
"Then, you don't need to worry. They won't get angry. Instead, they might praise me for bringing back such a cute daughter-in-law like you."
She blushed again and lightly hit his chest. "You're too optimistic!"
"How can I not be that optimistic?" He looked into her eyes, clearly showing how much she meant to him. "Being with me means that you have to sacrifice a lot of things. It definitely isn't something easy. It is hard, but you dare to do it for me, so I have to do the same, and to answer your feelings, I will make you happy, so how can I not be optimistic."
Her expression was gentle before she shook her head. "As I have said before, I have decided to be with you. I don't care what our future is. I only want to be with you, but even if it's hard, as long as we are together, I am alright with it."
"You have such a blind devotion toward me?"
"Yes." She caressed him gently. "Even if you become poor, fat, or ugly because your face is burnt or something, I believe that I will still be with you and love you."
"...I am not going to become like that in the future." He was speechless, but he was moved.
"Yes, I know you won't become like that in the future. I know you'll make me smile and do your best to make me happy, but I want to do the same. I also want to make you smile, and I will do my best to make you happy."
She kissed his lips again and said, "I love you."
"I love you too."
He hugged her tightly and definitely wouldn't let go of this girl, no matter what. She had to be with him, and no one else could have her but him. He knew he was selfish and the worst kind of man, especially when he had a lot of women. She dared to cast everything away from him, whether it was her family, status, money, or even dream, so she could be with him.
If he let her go, he definitely wasn't a man.
Once they confirmed their feelings, there was nothing that stopped them anymore. The two smiled and sat under the arbor, talking, flirting, and sometimes kissing.
"I have never asked you this, but don't you have other things to do except for coming to this party?" Yukinoshita asked curiously.
He slapped his forehead and said, "I almost forgot."
"What?"
"I am going to meet my fiancee too."
"...what?"
"Wait! Wait! Stop! Stop! Don't pinch my waist!"
"Why didn't you tell me anything?!" She was furious, wondering why he didn't say something so important.
"Well, I plan to reject this engagement. I am not planning to marry someone that I don't know, and after meeting you in this place, how can I think about such a trivial thing?"
This was his true feeling since, compared to Yukinoshita, his fiancee was nothing.
Yukinoshita nodded and thought that this was how he usually was since if he didn't have an interest in someone, he would ignore them.
"But I wonder who your fiancee is..." She couldn't help but feel curious.
"Well, I am also curious... Cough! Cough! But what about your fiance? Have your parents told you anything?"
Yukinoshita pursed her lips and thought that this guy had dodged her question, but she shook her head. "No, I don't know anything about him, and I don't have an interest in him."
"Me too. I also feel the same toward my fiancee."
"Really?"
"Of course! Believe me!"
She let out a long sigh and started to wonder whether her decision to throw away everything for him was correct. However, who made her love him so much?
"When you meet her, reject her without hesitation, okay?"
"Okay." He nodded. "How about you?"
"I will kiss you in front of him to show our relationship later." Anyway, she decided to cast everything away for him, she didn't care about anything, but him, so it was better to make everything clear, so she could be with him faster.
"...you're going to make your fiance furious."
He could imagine how humiliated Yukinoshita's fiance was when he saw her fiancee kissed with another man.
"I just want to show him that it is impossible between us since I have you now."
"Senpai, you have become cuter now."
"Right?"
"...."
He rolled his eyes and thought that Yukinoshita was as narcissistic as ever.
The two talked for a while before they saw the rain stop.
"The rain has stopped."
"Should we go back?"
"Alright."
He stood up and held her hand firmly to reassure her that everything was alright.
She looked at him with a smile and thought that she definitely wouldn't regret her decision to be with him.
The two were ready to return to the party, but they didn't expect to meet Haruno.
"Hey, where have you two been?! We have been searching for you!"
Haruno couldn't control her emotion when she saw the two.
"Nee-san?"
"Haruno-san?"
But she didn't care about their surprise, took their hands, and pulled them toward the venue. "Anyway, let's go back! Everyone has been waiting!"
"Huh?" 2x
The two were confused, but then they saw their parents talking to each other with a smile.
"Oh, they're here."
"It seems that their relationship is closer than we thought."
"Yeah." Takumi was speechless, then asked, "Did you sneak out to seduce Yukinoshita's daughter?"
"How could you say something like that to your son?" He was frightened by his father's words since he realized that Yukinoshita's parents were in front of him.
"Hahaha, isn't that fine? You two are engaged, after all," Yukinoshita's father said with a bright smile.
"...what?" 2x
The two were in a daze for a moment. They looked at each other for a while before they looked at their parents.
"Are we engaged to each other?" 2x