Love Live! Everlasting Shine (Mari Ohara x Male Reader)

Chapter 18 - Together Once and For All

Four Months Later...

With tomorrow being the day of Mari's flight back to Japan, I sit at my desk in my room, smiling as I try to come up with something I can do to make Mari's first day back special. However, with nothing coming to mind, I let out a sigh and lean back in my seat.

"I really can't wait to see her..." I muttered to myself

I've been getting by only seeing her over video calls up until now, but with the possibility of being able to touch her and embrace her so soon, seeing her over a video call just doesn't feel like anywhere near good enough. I just want to see her and love her, and maybe we can start figuring things out for moving into a place together and for a wedding in a year or two.

She should be packing for her flight right now, so I should at least be able to talk to her right now, and so I pulled out my phone to call her and even just hear her voice.

The dial rang a couple times before I heard on the other side "Yes my beloved Y/n?"

I smiled a bit at her answer, and with a smile said "Hey Mari. I was just calling because... well with you getting back tomorrow I just can't help but want to hear your voice and talk to you. And it just doesn't feel like video calls are enough anymore, you know?"

I hear Mari giggle as she said "I was thinking the exact same thing recently, and that's why..."

As Mari went silent, I heard the doorbell to my home ring, wait that timing is way too perfect!

I rushed to the front door and opened it, half expecting to end up looking like a clown in a rush to some delivery dude, only to instead see Mari with her luggage behind her, as she smiled and she said "And that's why I got myself an earlier flight."

I felt my heart skip a beat as I rushed over her, wrapping my arms around her in a hug, and as I embraced her, I said "Welcome home Mari, I love you."

"I love you too Y/n." Mari said, her voice going directly into my ear as we held each other.

When we stopped hugging, I said "I wasn't able to come up with anything fancy to celebrate your return yet, but at the very least we can hang out in my place for the time being."

"Sounds great." Mari said

I took her luggage in for her and we headed into the living room. I'm still living with my parents since I didn't see the point of putting myself through the hassle of moving one extra time before finding a place with Mari, but since it's my parent's anniversary and they'll be out all day, me and Mari have the place all to ourselves.

As Mari sat down on the couch, I said "Want me to get anything?"

Mari paused for a moment before she winked and said "Nope, nothing besides some attention from you."

I smiled softly and sat down beside her on the couch, wrapping my arm around her and pulling her in. It was always nice when I was able to visit her, but it was never quite the same as being able to hold her and love her, knowing that we won't be needing to say goodbye.

The two of us caught up on what we've been doing and what we've been through recently, only partially really focusing on that and more so on the fact we'll be able to move forward with our future.

"Hey Mari, I'd really love to move in and live together somewhere with you. I'm not exactly rich like you, but I'm earning enough from my last book that I'll at least be able to help get a nice place together." I said

Mari smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek before she enthusiastically said "I'm really looking forward to it too Y/n. So just leave finding a place to me and we'll be living together in no time."

I let out a small chuckle as I realize that Mari was probably already planning to start the search for our place. "I'll leave setting everything up to you since you've always been good at that, but let's figure out where exactly together."

Mari stuck her tongue out in a playful way as she said "That's what I had been planning on silly."

As I looked at the time I saw that it was evening and I said "Hey, I'm gonna go put together something to eat for dinner."

"Oh really? Before I left you weren't much of a cook, but you seem pretty confident now." Mari said teasingly

I shrugged as I headed to the kitchen which was connected to the living room and said "What can I say? I don't want to be dead weight when we're living together so I made sure to read up on some of the things I'm less than self-sufficient at. Plus cooking isn't as bad as I thought." I ended up realizing that the relatively simple steps and preparations are a nice time to just zone out and enter my own world while I cook, but most importantly of all, I want to see Mari's face enjoying the food I made.

As I worked in the kitchen, Mari and I had a conversation since the kitchen is connected to the dining room and living room. I remember always hearing about putting love into cooking, and I don't know how I could add more than at the same time enjoying the presence of my special someone.

Eventually I finished and brought our plates to the living room where she was, and as Mari took her first bite, I saw her smile widen and her eyes shine that little bit more "Wow, you really did improve your cooking while I was away, this is good."

I smile and say "And as to be expected all of my love for you went into that."

Mari leaned her head against me as she said "I hope not all of it, after all I want plenty of it for myself too."

After we ate, we laid together for a while longer before I said "Hey, do you maybe want to stay over the night? I don't know if I want to go our separate ways yet."

Mari buried her head closer against my shoulder as she said "I don't want to yet either."

As I smiled at the wonderful beside me, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her in, counting my blessings for the thousandth time since I met her, and looking forward to our future: to finding a home together, to getting married, and to whatever comes after. I love Mari, and being beside her like this, I can't help but feel a bit more optimistic