My New Life

Chapter 62: At The Ship's Bow

Kushida POV:

I stood silently at the bow of the ship, looking out towards the sea, while a small breeze blew against me.

My silence and composure were left unaffected by the butterflies in my stomach, a feeling of anticipation washing over me.

It was finally happening.

It was about a half hour ago.

I'd been talking with a couple of my friends when I got a text from Shizukana.

"If you can, meet me at the bow of the ship in thirty minutes. I need to talk with you about something."

That was all it said, but it was easy to guess what he was implying.

The bow of the ship became popular as a place to ask out other people, obviously he would only ask me here if he was going to confess his feelings to me.

I felt excited just thinking about it, but also a bit embarrassed.

How do I respond? What do I do?

Do I just run up and hug him?

Or something else?

I lifted a hand up to my chest, curling my fingers.

What do I say?

What should I say?

What would he want to hear?

I only felt more nervous as the seconds ticked on, and on, and on.

Then, suddenly, as though a calming wave had suddenly washed over me, I didn't feel nervous anymore.

I knew he was here.

I only ever felt like this around him.

I turned, looking at him, with the sparkling sea at my back.

And there he was, standing with the same reassuring smile he always had.

"Tensai, hi."

"Hello, Kikyo."

My heart fluttered as I heard my name roll off his tongue, and saw him shift, as though nervous.

This was it.

"Um, I've given this much thought. Who I wanted to spend my life with, I realized that b-between the two of you, I would have to kill a part of me to pick just one."

The explanation before the proposal.

Both of my hands were clenched tight as they hovered over my heart.

"And that's what I ended up doing, I've thought hard about everything, but t-the main two reasons I came to the decision I did was based off of simple things. How much I can make e-either of you two happy, and how I personally feel when I'm with you."

Nobody can make me happy the way you have.

"And then I came across a crossroads, how I feel about both of you, it's t-the same, but also different. I learned I care about you both equally."

Which means, you love me.

He glanced down, as thought guilty.

Right?

"Kikyo... I, the decision I made, my feelings for you are real, but I can't go out with you, I'm sorry."

A crack.

"Huh?"

I saw him wince at my voice, as though he hated himself for hearing me speak with such a broken tone.