“Yuito — look out the window. Very Kyoto.”
“Let’s photograph it.”
We pulled into Kyoto and saw a five-story pagoda. We got off.
“Inside the station building there’s something I want to see — come with.”
“Anything special in the station?”
“A monument called The Prière of Departure.”
“Let’s check it out.”
(Prière — I couldn’t picture it.) Crowded — like Tokyo Station. Mid-summer break.
“Glass ceiling at Kyoto Station.”
“Modeled on the Heian-kyo street grid.”
“Detailed.”
“Let’s hit Prière of Departure — should be in the East Plaza.”
We headed east. Around me — Kansai-ben everywhere. The intonation was completely different from standard Tokyo speech.
”…The intonation gap is intense.”
“Sahoda has Kansai students; I’m used to it. You’ll adapt when you enroll.”
“Enrollment is a long way off — and my grades say I might not make it.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you in.”
”…How?”
“Tutor you intensively. Big-sister-power, all-in — not actually difficult.”
(Reasonable!) “And to optimize commute, we live together — so you’d move into mine.”
”…Not reasonable.”
“It’s a great idea!”
A bell-shaped monument came into view.
“Is that it?”
“Yes — Prière means prayer in French. It’s a bell to bless newly-married couples.”
“That’s why everyone here looks like a couple.”
A bunch of couples were selfie-ing.
“Let’s selfie together.”
“People will misunderstand.”
“You’d mind being misunderstood with me?”
She looked up at me — we’re only 4 cm apart in height — but slightly crouched, looking up. The upward-glance was brutally effective.
“N-not mind.”
“Knew you’d say that.”
She pressed against me and we shot the selfie with the monument behind us. Pure couple shot.
“Can you ring the bell?”
“I was curious too — apparently not.”
There was a sign in Japanese and English: Please do not ring without permission.
“Wanted to.”
“Oh — you didn’t ring the bless-newly-marrieds bell with me? Is that a roundabout proposal?”
“I always want to ring bells in general — you know that about me.”
She knew. (Not unwelcome, honestly. Married might be too fast, but couple with Kano — I’d take it.)
(I’d been feeling for a while now: my feelings for Kano vs my feelings for Suzuno are different in kind.)
“You went quiet.”
“Sorry.”
I refocused — but the question kept nagging me. Set it aside for now.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
Author’s note: a manga adaptation of this work has been confirmed. Thanks to your bookmarks and ratings, the work reached the #1 quarter-yearly ranking. Label and artist details will be announced once permissions clear. (As of writing, there’s no light-novel publishing deal — if any publisher is reading, please consider it!)