Chapter 122 The One: He and she finally became...
After meeting both sets of parents, Risa took on a luxury goods advertisement and became very busy.
Yukimura seemed to be secretly preparing something as well, and the two began a routine of leaving early and returning late. By day, they were glamorous and dignified in their respective fields, but by night, they shed their veils and became intimate in bed.
This went on for nearly two months.
On March 5th, Yukimura Seiichi's 25th birthday, Risa specially cleared her entire day to celebrate with him.
But the night before, after a fierce battle of passion, Risa lay on his sweat-dampened chest and heard a deep voice above her head: "Tomorrow, can you come with me somewhere?"
"Hmm?" She looked up, her unfocused eyes sharpening. "Where to?"
Yukimura chuckled, his fingertips twirling a strand of her hair with a mischievous glint in his eyes: "It's a secret. You'll find out when you get there."
The following evening, the setting sun cast a warm golden filter across the sky.
Risa stood in front of the familiar and imposing gates of Rikkai University Affiliated High School, blinked, and turned to look at the person beside her in surprise.
"So," she said with a hint of helplessness and indulgence, "why did you have to come all the way to your alma mater to 'take pictures' on your birthday, Mr. Birthday Boy?"
Yukimura turned his head to look at her, a smile as gentle as could be in his eyes, "Because there is a scene that can only be perfectly reproduced by the light at this moment today."
He took her hand and walked into the campus.
"Moreover, being able to invite a former Oscar-winning actress to serve as my artistic advisor is the most precious gift I have received today."
Risa gave a soft hum.
She would never admit that she actually falls for that!
The first "filming location" was the art studio.
Yukimura pushed open the door, feigning mystery: "Actually, I have a painting here that I've never finished. I think it might be what you're looking for..."
Before she could finish speaking, Risa was frozen in place by the sight before her.
The setting sun bathed the studio in gold, but even more dazzling than the sunlight were the oil paintings covering the walls—all of them of her!
“These, these are…” Risa felt her heart rate soar.
“It’s the most precious, non-public collection about Risa from the ‘Child of God’ secret database.” Yukimura gently wrapped his arms around her from behind, his voice tinged with amusement. “The one right in the middle. Open it and take a look.”
In the center was a painting on a size 100 canvas, covered by a pristine white curtain. Risa stepped forward, her fingertips trembling slightly as she slowly pulled back the curtain.
White flowers and green leaves instantly came into view—a vast, silent sea of blooming white jasmine. She lay in the center of the flowers, as if lost in a peaceful dream, a smile playing on her lips, her eyelashes casting soft shadows.
“This painting, ‘Jasmine,’ is eight years late.” Yukimura walked to her side, his gaze falling on the painting. “But thankfully, the person who finally sees it is still you.”
Risa stared at the painting, her pupils trembling slightly.
At that time, their relationship wasn't very good. The first time he invited her to the art studio, he asked her what kind of flower she liked. She answered white jasmine.
In the end, however, he painted deep blue cornflowers. When she questioned him, his answer was—he liked them.
It turns out he had always remembered this incident.
“Let’s go.” Yukimura took her hand. “We’ll go to the next filming location.”
Walking on campus, the paths are decorated with various miniature scenes—all depicting her glorious achievements over the years, with each scene accompanied by a string of "R×S" labels that resemble a password.
"Is this another riddle?" Risa raised an eyebrow.
“It’s the key to happiness.” Yukimura’s smile held a hint of slyness. “And the key to unlocking it… is on the tennis court.”
As we approached the tennis court, it was getting dark.
As the two stepped onto the tennis court, several searchlights suddenly lit up with a "snap".
Risa was startled.
Wait! Something's not right! Risa instinctively tried to back away, but Yukimura grabbed her waist and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"Don't go," he whispered in her ear.
The stadium's big screen suddenly started playing a video.
She secretly poured willow sap into Niou's water jug; then Niou's scream rang out.
She hid behind Yagyu and used the mirror to interfere with her opponent's serve; after being discovered, she made a quick getaway, leaving only Yagyu's hand, which was pushing up his glasses, trembling slightly.
She was bickering with Atobe, yelling at him, "Can I borrow your racket tape?!" The voiceover was: "...You think you can use my racket tape?! Huh?"
Risa stared, digging her toes into the ground: "Why does something like this even exist in the world?!"
At the end of the video, lines of subtitles appeared:
"It was only after meeting you that I found meaning in this imperfect world for the first time."
"Your very existence is the final stroke I've always wanted to add to the canvas of my life."
These characters, as if possessing a life of their own, gently dispersed and pulsated, eventually arranging themselves into the trajectory of an electrocardiogram, as if implying to her that she was the culprit behind his uncontrolled heartbeat.
Risa covered her face, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
She turned to her boyfriend and asked, "...What's going on with this ECG? Did I cause your heart to beat irregularly?"
Yukimura nodded gently: "Yes, my heart has never been beating normally since the first day I met you."
Risa: "......"
What I fear most is the sudden silence in the air, and the cheesy, sweet talk suddenly uttered by an old married couple.
Just then, the electrocardiogram on the screen pulsed again, like flowing code, or like petals blown by the wind. Pure white, light, fluttering down.
They pulsed, recombine, and finally coalesced into a clear request:
"MARRY ME"
The pure white petals seemed to have escaped the screen, quietly falling.
Risa subconsciously reached out her hand, and a small, fragrant jasmine blossom landed in her palm.
She looked up in surprise and saw a shower of petals falling all over the tennis court, pure white jasmine and fragrant white roses intertwining and dancing, like a dream.
Amidst the swirling rain of petals, colorful light and shadow art characters emerge, like vows floating in the clouds:
"MARRY ME, Risa"
After a long while, Risa slowly withdrew her gaze from the dazzling words in the air. As she lowered her eyes, she saw Yukimura kneeling on one knee, opening a velvet box—
Inside wasn't a diamond ring, but a French Open commemorative coin engraved with the date of their first date.
“Risa,” Yukimura gazed at her, his eyes burning, but his voice was so gentle it could melt spring snow, “you are like a bird soaring in the sky, free and dazzling, the light I have spent my whole life chasing.”
He paused slightly, each word clear and solemn:
"And I long to be the only scenery you'd be willing to fold your wings for, to linger for. Would you be willing?"
Risa froze for a few seconds, then subconsciously looked around. There were blurry but familiar figures gathered in the stands.
She suddenly understood everything. All that he had been mysteriously busy with these past few days was actually part of this grand "premeditated plan."
Being proposed to for the first time should have been an incredibly moving moment, but instead, her mind was filled with countless complaints:
Who wrote this script?! Yagyu? Or Yagyu Renji? It couldn't possibly be the romance novelist Yuushi Oshitari, could it? The dialogue is so cheesy it makes me want to dig my toes into the ground!
Why a commemorative coin as a proposal gift? Is the world champion so poor he can't afford a diamond ring?! And this compilation of embarrassing past events... Did they hire a middleman to make a profit?!
The most outrageous thing is that Sanada didn't even yell "You're too lax!" from the sidelines?!
As if hearing her inner monologue, the searchlights shone brightly on the audience, illuminating Sanada, who was covering his face and couldn't bear to look, Niou, whose shoulders were shaking from trying to suppress his laughter, and Atobe, who stood at the highest point with a look that said, "My ideas are indeed the most gorgeous."
Risa looked at this group of glittering "accomplices" and suddenly burst out laughing, her eyes welling up with tears: "Seriously... ever since high school, I've been completely controlled by you guys."
She took the commemorative coin and helped Yukimura, who was kneeling on one knee, to his feet. Amidst the whistles and cheers of her friends and family, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
After they parted, she leaned close to his ear, her voice tinged with embarrassment and barely concealed joy:
"...Proposing in this way, Yukimura Seiichi, you've gone to extremes."
"But... considering how hard you've worked—"
"This director approves."
In this wonderful moment, Kirihara Akaya in the stands suddenly slapped his forehead: "Wait! Yukimura-senpai's professional match schedule is so full, when did he draw so many pictures?! This is completely illogical!"
Sanada's eyebrows twitched, and he said in a deep voice, "...too lax."
Niou tilted his head and smiled, his tone playful: "Puri~"
Only Renji Yanagi calmly answered the question: "Data shows that even after becoming a professional player, Yukimura still dedicates 1 to 2 hours a week to painting. In addition, his representative work, 'The Melancholy Transfer Student,' will be exhibited next weekend at the 'Young Artists Group Exhibition' at the National Art Center, Tokyo."
Yagyu pushed up his glasses, concealing his achievements and fame: "The most cunning confession of an artist is to hide his true feelings where the audience cannot find them."
Marui Bunta blew a big bubble: "Now Yukimura has finally collected all the most important grand slams of his life!"
Asuka, Chinatsu, and Jackal Kuwabara, who were standing to the side, were already moved to tears: "That's wonderful...they finally got together!"
Jieyue's eyes were wet, but she still had to hand tissues to the three crying babies first.
Keigo Atobe snapped his fingers elegantly: "Heh, the rose petal rain I suggested is indeed quite magnificent."
Standing behind the two, Mitsuya Akutsu and Ootori Chotaro exchanged a smile.
Inside the stadium, Risa nestled in Yukimura's arms, wiped her eyes, and whispered, "So, this is the birthday present you wanted?"
Yukimura nodded and whispered in her ear, "Hearing Risa say 'I do' is more precious than any gift."
“…So cheesy.” Risa blushed and punched him.
She looked up at the pure white petals fluttering in the air, and suddenly remembered that summer when she was 17, when he forcefully blindfolded her and confessed his love to her as if making a vow:
"Risa, I won't be able to be by your side every moment for the next few years. But I promise you, within seven or eight years, I will definitely fulfill your wish."
“I will prove to you that my feelings for you are never just a passing fancy. From holding hands to getting married, I will take every step seriously and solemnly. I will fulfill all your fantasies about your ‘husband’.”
And now, he has truly done it.
"Risa." Yukimura's deep, magnetic voice reached my ears again, "From today onwards, I have truly caught up with you, both in body and soul."
Yes, he's 25 years old.
And she, whether in her past life or this one, is stuck at the age of 25.
They finally became true peers.
Pure white petals fluttered in the air.
The two smiled at each other, their gazes passing over one another to the indispensable companions in their lives.
“Look, none of us have gotten separated, everyone is still here.” Yukimura withdrew his gaze and looked deeply into her eyes.
Risa smiled and nodded, her vision blurring again from the moisture.
The story never ends with the prince and princess living happily ever after.
Instead—
A group of once-shining young men and women, after each going their separate ways to fulfill their youthful promises, are still able to reunite under the original starry sky, smiling as they witness each other's fulfillment.
How fortunate we are to have not missed all of this, transcending time and space.
Seventeen-year-old Risa and twenty-five-year-old Risa gaze at each other across the distance, both raising an incredibly relieved and radiant smile.
—She finally directed the life she wanted most.
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The next morning.
A sliver of light filtered through the gauze curtains, and Risa awoke in Yukimura's arms.
She raised her hand and saw a diamond ring on her ring finger. The main diamond shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight, pure and dazzling.
It is The One.
She paused slightly, turned her head, and looked at the sleeping man beside her.
His breathing was steady, his eyes gentle, and his gaze seemed to last a lifetime.
Risa curved her lips into a smile, clenched her fingers, and felt the cool touch and weight of his body. Then, as if hiding a secret known only to the two of them, she nestled back into his arms and closed her eyes.
Outside the window, the first rays of dawn fell upon the sparkling light on her fingers and upon the peaceful sleeping faces of the two people.
Time flows gently, and life flourishes.
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Author's Note: The ceremony is complete! Hooray! Everyone here is a guest. [Hugs]
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