"Let's go.", she says.
"Yeah."
Tachibana and I go inside the house. As I start going upstairs she stops me.
"Where are you going?", she asks.
"To sleep."
"Huh? What about what you said?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know."
"What?"
"Marriage you dummy.", Tachibana blushes.
"Oh yeah, uh, you want to do it now?"
"Of course I want to do it now."
"Alright, what about wedding rings and stuffs."
"Wait right here."
"Oh, ok."
She goes upstairs and brings two boxes of ornaments.
"What are these?", I ask.
"It's my mom and dad's. They don't allow metallic things due to safety reasons. So, they kept it here. Safe and sound. So, even if they died.... They could live on...", Tachibana stops herself from crying.
"Do you think they will be fine with us wearing it?"
"I don't know. But...", she stops.
I pat her head, "I'm sure they'll be happy you used it. Think of it as, they are living among us."
She looks at me and smiles while tears run down her cheek.
"Well, what are you waiting for?", she asks, "Here.", she gives me one of the rings.
I kneel down, she gives me her hand. I put the ring on her finger. Then she puts the other ring on my finger as well.
Boy, what war can't bring!
"Wake up Dense!"
"I'm up.", I get off the bed as Tachibana wakes me up and turns the alerm off.
She is still sleeping. Well it's 4 am in the morning afterall. Time to do some work out. I go to the gym I gathered together in the last 3 years of staying in this house. Yes, it's been 3 whole years since we lost Aiko and Kai and moved here to the hills. That makes us a grown up adults now. Some people moved up here. So, we have neighbors now. The gym is just by our house. It's not a private gym, some of our neighbors come here to exercise as well. So, basically I'm a gym guru now. It earns me enough to make through the month properly. Not too rich, yet, I'm happy.
"Hey there my man!!", Mr. Yashiro hops on me.
"Easy there cowboy!", I say to him as I smack him on the floor.
"Ow man, I lost again!"
Mr. Yashiro lives just by our house. He was the one who helped me build up this gym. He is a Mediocre bodybuilder with a height of 5 feet 9 inches (1.7 meters) and a weight of about 117 kilograms (257 lbs). His goal is to catch me by surprise and smack me on the floor. But I throw the "Reverse UNO card" on table each time.
"Come on bud, let's get inside.", I lend him a hand.
"Uh, here comes our guru.", says Mr. Kamado.
"Welcome back guru!", says his son, kaneki.
"Hey Kaneki! How are you doing?", I ask.
"I'm fine. Can I start weightlifting today?", Kaneki asks.
Kaneki is really passionate about exercise. His goal is to become stronger than me eventually. But he is only 10. So, I can't let him do bodybuilding now.
"Umm... just a few more days, you are getting there.", I try to smile at him.
"Ow come on!! How many more days!", He goes back to the treadmill and starts running again.
He never gets dejected. He is really a hard worker I must say.
"Yo, bud!", Here comes our jumbo jet, Mr. Alison. His main attraction is the big lump of soft squishy fat over his belly. The rest of his body is almost fit, which makes it stand out even more.
"Heyoo jumbo jet!" I hug him and pinch his belly.
"Come on man, stop teasing that that guy!", says Mr. Yashiro.
"My tummy is my reserve. It's like a bag which carries food for me on the long run. Stop being jealous of it."
"Yeah, we are jealous.", Mr. Yashiro starts laughing. Everyone laughs as well.
"Alright people. Time to do some workout.", I say.
"Yeah, alright!!", the guys say together.
I wonder what would it be like if Kai and Aiko was here. Keep her safe buddy.