Chapter 63

I want to be with you forever.

Translated by Dawn

I want to be with you forever.

Lately, I’ve been feeling sleepy during class.

I knew the reason why.

It was because I stay up late knitting a muffler.

I remembered that Aizawa’s birthday was on November 13th before the second semester started.

Since Aizawa’s name was Akito, his birthday must be in autumn.

When that thought suddenly crossed my mind, I started to feel restless.

After all, on my boyfriend’s birthday, I had to prepare a birthday present.

Even though it started as a fake boyfriend, now it was like a real relationship.

And Aizawa probably thought the same way, even though he didn’t say it.

So even if I prepared a gift, I didn’t think it would be a burden… probably.

After much deliberation, I decided to prepare a birthday present. The exact date of his birthday was written in the note we exchanged when Aizawa took on the role of my boyfriend.

At that time, I was thinking about various things to avoid suspicion from those around us.

Looking at the note, I felt a little nostalgic.

Now that I knew his birthday, the next step was to decide what to give him.

I thought about various things, but considering that his birthday was in mid-November, just before entering winter, I decided to make a muffler. And not just any muffler, but a hand-knitted one.

Aizawa would wear the muffler I gave him throughout the winter.

And I would see him wearing it every day. Yes, there was nothing happier than that.

So, starting from the end of October, I gradually started knitting the muffler.

However, there was one unexpected thing.

I was more clumsy than I thought.

I decided to make a patterned and beautiful muffler.

Because I raised the bar for myself as a beginner, it took much more time than I had planned. But with school and piano practice during the day, I couldn’t find much time. As a result, I ended up knitting the muffler at night.

As a result, my sleep time was reduced, and it started to affect my daytime activities.

I pricked my fingers with the needle several times, and it was a more patient task than I had anticipated.

But strangely, I never thought of giving up.

It was enjoyable to see the muffler gradually taking shape, and above all, I wanted to see his expression when I gave it to Aizawa.

However, that would end today.

On the day before his birthday, I finally finished knitting the muffler.

I gazed at the completed muffler and immersed myself in a sense of accomplishment while thinking:

…I wonder if Aizawa will be happy. I hope he’ll be happy.

***

The next day, in the early afternoon, I stood in front of Aizawa’s house.

Except for Aizawa, I had informed Mai-chan beforehand that I would be visiting.

According to Mai-chan, Aizawa would be at home all day today.

For me, that was very convenient.

The day before, I had told Aizawa on LIME that I had something to do tomorrow.

I received a simple reply of “Understood” from Aizawa. Since we couldn’t meet on my day off, I wanted him to give a more disappointed response.

…Honestly, I was a little nervous. When I decided to surprise him, I was filled with excitement, but now I wondered why. Maybe it was because I didn’t have any certainty that Aizawa would be happy.

But I couldn’t turn back now that I’d come this far.

And it was strange that a girlfriend didn’t celebrate her boyfriend’s birthday.

Gathering my determination, I rang the intercom.

After a while, the door opened with a click. Aizawa peered out.

It seems that he didn’t expect to see me. The moment he saw my face, Aizawa’s expression froze.

“Why…?”

He muttered a single word.

I started to feel anxious, thinking maybe he didn’t welcome me. Unconsciously, my expression became tense.

“Happy birthday.”

I said, pulling out a party cracker from my pocket and pulling the string.

The tape inside shot out and landed on Aizawa’s head.

Still wearing the tape on his head, Aizawa blinked and said.

“Thank you.”

I wonder… how is this?

I hope he was happy. Though it didn’t seem like he disliked it.

While greeting and saying, “I’m sorry for intruding,” I tried to step into Aizawa’s house.

But at that moment, Aizawa suddenly exclaimed, “Wait a minute!”

I flinched and trembled, startled.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t expect Mizutani to come… let me tidy up the room a bit.”

Aizawa said, then rushed back into his room like a gust of wind.

I could hear the sound of chaos coming from his room. Perhaps wondering about the noise, Aizawa’s mother came out of the living room.

When she noticed my presence at the entrance,

“Oh, welcome, Karin-chan. Thank you for coming to celebrate my son’s birthday.”

She smiled at me.

“No… I just came because I wanted to celebrate. It’s nothing special.”

I replied, waving my hand in front of my face, making her smile deepen.

It was kind of embarrassing.

I wanted Aizawa to come back soon, and just then, he came out of his room.

The tape that was on his hair had already been removed.

“Go ahead. It’s not completely tidy, but it should be better than before.”

“Well then, I’ll take you up on your offer.”

I nodded in response to Aizawa’s words and bowed to his mother before heading into his room.

His mother mentioned that she would prepare tea and cake and then went to the living room, leaving us alone.

As soon as I entered Aizawa’s room, I looked around.

“Hmm…”

“Wh-What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing. I just thought you were in a hurry to clean up because you were hiding something naughty.”

“There’s no way!”

Aizawa denied it vehemently. It seemed I hit the mark with that one.

It was often said that people hide those kinds of things under their beds, so I needed to search when the opportunity arises.

I was a little curious about what kind of things Aizawa liked.

After Aizawa’s mother brought us tea and cake, we engaged in idle chitchat for a while. Throughout the conversation, I kept anticipating the moment to give him the muffler. Thanks to that, I couldn’t relax.

Eventually, Aizawa said he needed to use the restroom and left the room.

As we continued chatting, it seemed that his initial caution subsided.

Seizing the opportunity, I began searching under the bed.

As expected, my hand came into contact with something that felt like a book.

Is this an erotic book?

I thought it would be thicker than this, but I pulled out the book from under the bed.

Looking at the cover of the book, I was speechless.

“An Easy Guide to French for Even Monkeys to Understand.”

That was the title written on the cover.

Flipping through the pages and examining the contents, it was indeed an introductory book to learning French.

It was not like the cover was a disguise for something else.

Aizawa was secretly studying French.

I was not so foolish as to not realize his intentions, I understood that much.

A warm feeling spread from my chest as if it was gradually expanding.

When I was with Aizawa, I sometimes experience this feeling of understanding.

I used to think it was just my imagination, but… this was probably genuine.

I could faintly hear the sound of water running from the bathroom next to Aizawa’s room.

Quickly hiding the French book under the bed, I waited for Aizawa to return.

If he intended to hide it from me, it was better for me to pretend I didn’t know.

…Ah, but I just came up with a good idea.

“Sorry, it took a while… What’s with that expression on your face?”

“Huh?”

“You look happy for some reason.”

“Is, is that so?”

I quickly composed myself in response to Aizawa’s remark.

Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out the muffler I had made specifically for this day and handed it to Aizawa.

“Here, this is for you.”

“Huh… a muffler?”

“Yeah. I actually knitted it myself.”

“…No wonder.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

Aizawa looked at my fingers briefly and shook his head.

I took the muffler from Aizawa’s hand and wrapped it around his neck.

During that moment, Aizawa stood still, waiting with a stiff posture.

Once I finished wrapping the muffler, I grabbed one end and gently pulled Aizawa closer.

Whispering in his ear,

“Je veux rester avec toi pour toujours.”

“…Sorry, I don’t really understand French.”

“I know. That’s why I said it.”

“…Right.”

Aizawa seemed relieved and had a slightly blushing expression.

He didn’t seem to think that I’d caught onto his lie at all.

But I knew.

I knew that he was studying French.

I knew that his ears turned slightly red when I whispered those words.

This was my revenge on Aizawa for keeping something important from me.

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