ch341-ch360 · 347-ch347
Chapter 347: I'm Sure You'll Fall for Me Again
What should I do about Christmas......
The story is that Watanabe-san and I are lovers, so naturally we ought to do something like a Christmas date.
As someone for whom Christmas has always been a distant thing, my question starts at: WHEN is Christmas, exactly?
I looked it up, and apparently Christmas runs from sunset on the 24th to sunset on the 25th.
So if you ask when the date should be, it seems like it'd be during the day on the 25th—but apparently the normal thing is to date on the night of the 24th.
Night......
Unlike my old self, the current me and Watanabe-san haven't even started a healthy, proper relationship yet.
The best you could call the two of us right now is tutor and student.
Inviting her straight to a nighttime date in this situation is a hurdle far too high.
What to do......
"Hey, Haruki-kun. We're doing a Christmas party—want to come?"
At the Goddess's call after school, the whole classroom's air changed in an instant.
A Christmas party—so THAT was the move......
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"A Christmas party? My apologies. I'm happy to be invited, but I can't leave the branch on the Eve. The other staff will be working, and it wouldn't do for me—the one who manages the shifts—to be absent......"
"Ah, okay."
Shot down......
"What about lunch on the 25th? There's a place I want to go."
Me or your work—which matters more...... Hmm?
"A place you want to go? Then may I leave the plan entirely to you?"
"Yes! I'm looking forward to it!"
She said it with a HUGE smile......
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"So? Let's hear your excuse."
Christmas Day itself, and FURIOUS Aikawa-san.
There was no way I could bring Watanabe-san to the class Christmas party, so I had Soushi and Aikawa cancel their plans, and we decided to hold a Christmas party in the dungeon instead.
My own schedule had cleared up, so we went ahead and borrowed Mia-san's shop and threw the party......
Aikawa-san, however, is cross: "If Watanabe-san wasn't coming, the two of US could have gone out and played, you know?"
"Oh, it's fine, isn't it. Thanks to you, I got to have some cake too."
"Right, right. They told us not to come to the shop-manager side's party anyway—too much drinking."
The participants were the three of us plus the shop's two part-timers—five in all.
Incidentally, Miyako-san and the others' Christmas party—the women adventurers' one—was being held outside the dungeon.
It apparently gets completely wild every year, so maybe it was the right call not to attend?
'Hey, cake coming up! Take it to table one!'
Since Association staff kept dropping by the shop under the pretense of a "break" and snacking away the food, it felt less like a Christmas party and more like we were running a food stall, with all the shopping and running around.
But Watanabe-san did stop by to see us, so maybe it was worth doing after all?
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Yesterday, after the closing ceremony, we held the Christmas party in the dungeon—so from today, it's winter break.
"There are so many people up top too...... But why here?"
A date with Watanabe-san.
We've come to Tokyo Tower.
We skipped the Eve, and even though it's only noon, the crowds are unbelievable.
We finally managed to make it up to the observation deck.
"This place is a place of memories for the two of us......"
Ah—one of THOSE, huh......
"Was your first date here or something?"
"Our first date? I suppose our first date would be Mia-san's old shop at headquarters. There's a park near the shop, and......"
Somehow Watanabe-san's atmosphere feels softer today.
Is it because we're outside the dungeon?
Come to think of it, we never meet outside the dungeon, do we.
She does welcome me at the branch entrance every day, but the two of us alone, talking outside—maybe that never actually happened......
Even inside the dungeon, it was nothing but study talk......
Maybe we should have been doing this much sooner.
"Thank you for yesterday. Christmas gets busy every year, and the staff always grumble, but this year, far from grumbling, there were voices saying if next year goes this well too, they wouldn't mind working Christmas."
Well, they all believe it's free, after all.
For the staff left broke by that whole betting affair, it must have been a blessing.
They have no idea they were eating and drinking on their own money.
"That one's thanks to Soushi."
More than anything, the shop was packed thanks to Soushi's unexpected talent—his cooking.
To think he even baked the cake himself.
And I should thank Aikawa too, or she'll be mad.
"Yes. But also to you, Haruki-san, for planning it. You were invited to the school's Christmas party as well, weren't you? You gave that up to hold that party for us. I have nothing but gratitude."
Hm?
You know an awful lot, don't you.
Aikawa, was it?
She was angry, so maybe she complained to Watanabe-san.
"No, actually I'd planned to be on a date with Kasumi-san like this yesterday, so my schedule was free."
"Just hearing that makes me happy!"
Another huge smile.
If only I could make her smile like this all the time.
But it's all right—the dungeon closes tomorrow afternoon, so the treatment to restore my memory happens tomorrow too.
After that, I can leave it to the old me.
But still, if......
"What if, tomorrow, my memory doesn't......"
Tomorrow—no, from here on out......
The anxiety I'd been turning over forever spills out of my mouth.
"It's all right, it's all right. Even if your memory never returns, you are you, Haruki-san. No—you WERE you, Haruki-san."
"Huh?"
Watanabe-san denies the words I'd half-said.
"I understood it during that match with the 【Sword Saint】. That was the usual Haruki-san. The Haruki-san from before he lost his memory. The thrust that dove in without a thought for defense, even though you'd been told over and over to stop doing that, and never corrected it. Without a doubt, that was Haruki-san."
Oof—so that's the "bad habit," huh.
A habit that shows itself even with the memories gone......
"I can only apologize for that......"
They call it a habit BECAUSE being told to fix it doesn't fix it.
So all I can do is apologize.
"No, it's quite all right. You arrived there, Haruki-san. After thinking about how you could beat a 【Sword Saint】, you decided on a full-power thrust—didn't you? That is who you are. You are the Haruki-san I love so very much. That's what I finally understood."
She takes my hand and says it, smiling.
(This person just said she loves me, didn't she?)
Not the me from before I lost my memory?
"So it's all right. I'm sure you'll fall for me all over again. Because that's who you are, Haruki-san!"
"That's quite the confidence you have......"
"I do. Do you remember what the 【Sword Saint】 said before? 'That little brat seems to have lost to you, Haruki-san.' You've simply forgotten—you're someone who could beat a 【Sword Saint】 right now, this instant, if you put your mind to it. So have some confidence, Haruki-san!"
Did she actually say that?
"To 'Sword Saint-chan'—me? All I remember is being told I was hopeless......"
"She hasn't realized that the opponent she lost to was you, Haruki-san. Right now she's off searching under the assumption that it was Miko-san. The fifth member those people are searching for so desperately is actually you, Haruki-san."
"Whaat!"
I blurted it out loud and drew everyone's attention, but only for a moment.
Everyone is absorbed in their own business.
Too busy doting on their own partners to even look at the scenery.
The stares went right back to where they came from.
"Fufu. This isn't a story I'd like spread around, so let's end it here, shall we? ......Yesterday you held a Christmas party in the dungeon for my sake, didn't you? That became my confidence. I'm no longer afraid of anything......"
Even without looking, the area is nothing but couples.
The atmosphere improves all on its own.
"Ah......"
Chu—a kiss, for the single instant our lips barely, barely touched.
"That's the second time I've kissed you here. It felt too long last time, so I made this one short."
"Um...... for me, that was the first. ......The first kiss, too."
Hawahhwa—flustered, I blurt out things I didn't need to say.
"Oh my, is that so? Then I've taken two kisses now. I've made a profit."
My heart pounds at that bewitching smile.
Maybe she's right.
Surely I'll fall for this person all over again......
Even without my memories, that will be the proof that I am me.