One Year Later...
As the summer sun shone overhead, I was walking hand-in-hand with Mari, enjoying a day just to ourselves, Mari having been in a pretty busy period of her work recently. While I've been writing full time and have pretty flexible hours as long as I can get my work done by the deadline, Mari has been much more busy lately, acting as the branch manager overseeing all hotel's of her family's company within the Shizuoka prefecture, and hasn't had quite as much time free since she needs to be able to watch out for problems. Maybe she isn't exactly in an entry level position and there might have been some nepotism, but with running the hotel on Awashima at the same time as acting as chairwoman of Uranohoshi High and attending classes there, even back when we first met she wasn't exactly lacking in experience.
But for today, we agreed to just forget about work and enjoy ourselves and each other. Our plans were at first to spend the afternoon out of the house, going out for lunch and maybe seeing a movie.
"So, do you have any ideas for where exactly we should go to eat?" I said "I mean I'm happy going on a walk through town with my wife and all, but maybe we should figure something out."
Mari winked and said "I'm way ahead of you there. Since you're not too picky, I've been trying to subtly lead you to where I had in mind."
Has she? I mean I guess I've been following her as we walk. I paused for a moment to figure out where exactly we were and what's nearby, when I smiled at her and said "Ah, I know where we're headed now."
Ever since me and Mari were in High School there's been one cafe we've occasionally gone to on our dates. It was where we went after we saw a concert together on the first date after high school graduation, we went there on our last date before we went overseas, and there have been plenty of other occasions. The place has good food, and there's just good memories attached.
As we got there and were led to our seats, I couldn't help but smile a bit as I said "It's been a while since we were last here."
"True, we haven't gotten the chance to be here for a while." Mari said
"Hey, remember how before the owner sold it, we apparently came by frequently enough that he recognized us one time?" I said, smiling
Mari giggled and said "Oh yeah. He seemed like a good guy."
As we talked and reminisced about things, I felt the smile on my face growing. Mari and I have known each other for six years now, and while it's not exactly impressive sounding, we've been together for a quarter of our lives so far. We ended up having all sorts of encounters and adventures in our time together, and I know that the two of us are going to go to great places in the future together.
The two of us spent our time there enjoying our lunch, talking about whatever, and honestly we ended up flirting somewhat. But sometimes Mari's teasing just makes the conversation end up flowing that way. And while six months ago I could've just chalked it up to people as us being newlyweds, I don't know how much that still fits when our anniversary was two months ago.
"Hey, a buddy of mine told me about a metal concert in Shimizu. Want me to get some tickets?" I asked
"Of course! There's not much as shiny and exciting as a live concert." Mari said
"Alright, sounds like we've got our next day out figured out then." I said, smiling at her. With how busy she's been with work recently, I've been worried for her. I can tell when she's trying to cover up her stress or worries to not worry anyone by acting normal, and thankfully I can tell that's not the case right now. She's fine, and with her work calming down some I hopefully won't need to worry about her overworking for a while.
After lunch, we ended up heading to a nearby movie theater and watching an action movie that caught our interest. It wasn't anything particularly mindblowing, but it was fun, and was made even more so by looking at Mari's reactions.
When the movie came to an end, and we headed back outside, with the evening starting to arrive, I looked at Mari, who had her arm wrapped around mine as we walked and said "So hey, anything else you wanna do while we're out?"
"Not really, I say the two of us head home and have some time just the two of us." Mari said
"I'm not gonna argue with that." I said, following her lead as we walked
As we walked home, as we reached an empty stretch of road, I heard Mari say "Hey, I've had a great time today. With work being how it has been lately, I've been dealing with some stress, and this is exactly what I needed."
I pulled her closer as I said "Oh I noticed, and I'm here to give you whatever support you need, even if you don't say it out loud. I'm your husband after all."
Mari hugged me and said "I love you Dear."
"I love you too." I said
As we walked home that evening, I smiled, looking forward to whatever will happen in the future. I know it won't always be perfect, but when those times come, we're going to be there for each other, and there's nobody I'd rather have there for me than her.
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A/n: Sorry about there only being one chapter last week, been dealing with writer's block, and I wasn't happy with how it was turning out, and with how happy I've been with this project I don't want to mess up at the end. Still, with one chapter left, I hope you all will join me on Friday when I release the finale of Everlasting Shine.
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Love Live! Everlasting Shine (Mari Ohara x Male Reader)
RomanceY/n has always been a more shy and quiet person, but when he's feeling excited and passionate, a confidence not really found otherwise appears in him. This hasn't really been something he could take any advantage of, but one day at a concert he runs...
