With the days proceedings done, Kyouma dropped the four of us back off at the train station near my home and returned to Hajime Manor, leaving Saki and Mai to wait for the next train home. She could have just dropped us back to our individual houses, but I took her aside and asked her to drop us together instead. There was another port of call that had yet to be answered.

“Hey, Mai?”

“Yeah?”

“I was thinking… now that we’re alone with Nao and Saki, should we tell them? Y’know… about…”

I didn’t finish the sentence, but Mai’s face lit up like a Christmas tree as she understood what I meant.

“Hey, guys, mind listening in a second?” She barely contained her excitement as she spoke. Nao and Saki turned to look at the two of us, a slightly confused look on their faces.

“We have something we wanna tell you about. I know it’s really sudden, and we’re probably rushing into this way too quickly, but we wanted the two of you to be the first to know: once all this business is over, Mai and I have made the decision to get married.”

We watched as their expressions changed immediately to shock then again to happiness, before they both ran forwards and embraced us in a hug.

“I’m so happy for you guys! Can I be best man? Please?” Said Saki excitedly.

“…don’t you mean maid of honour?” I replied.

“Nah, let Nao be maid of honour. I wanna show off how good I look in a tux.”

“Please don’t outclass me at my own wedding, I have a terrible feeling that look would suit you better than it would me.”

While Saki was jumping the gun on trying to be in the wedding, Nao was asking the question we had actually expected to answer.

“W-why so soon? You guys have only been together a month or so, right?”

“Under different circumstances, we definitely wouldn’t be jumping into this so quickly. But with how crazy things have been recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about the future and where it’s gonna lead us. Even since before we were together, Mai has been my rock, the one who made the bright days brighter and the shitty days less shitty. I proposed because I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wanted to spend the rest of my life by her side.”

“I didn’t always believe in the existence of soulmates, but deep down I believe that Shin and I belong together. He’s the love of my life, and I his. He’s irreplaceable to me.”

Though I obviously knew how Mai felt about me, every time she said it out loud it made my heart flutter.

“I guess sometimes you just know, right? And I always had a feeling you two would end up in it for the long run. But, Shin, how’s a wedding gonna work? What with… y’know… you being two different people and all that.” Saki asked a reasonable question, and it was one that Mai and I had already sought to answer.

“We’re gonna split the wedding between the ceremony and the reception, with only you guys and our families invited to the ceremony and everyone else invited to the reception. The ceremony will be the wedding of Amai Sugi and Shin Nomimoto. The reception will be celebrating the marriage of Amai Sugi and Sora Goto.” I explained.

“That way we can have a real wedding with no lies or secrets with the people we truly care about, while still having fun and celebrating with our other friends and family. It’s not perfect, but it’s what we want.” I was glad Mai was fully on board with the idea. I couldn’t just reveal my real identity to everyone we knew, but I also didn’t want to get married while keeping up a facade. This was the best compromise we could find.

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“Seriously, I couldn't be happier for you guys. This is such great news to hear.” Saki gave us both a genuine warm smile as she spoke.

“I-It means a lot to me that you’d include us in the real ceremony.” Nao blushed slightly as she spoke, scratching her cheek and avoiding eye contact but smiling all the same.

“Aw, come on, Naochan, after everything we’ve been through together there’s no way I’d let you get away with not coming. My maid of honour has to be at the ceremony after all.” Nao looked up as Mai spoke, before embracing her in a tight hug.

“I-I won’t let you down. Thank you.” Nao sounded on the verge of tears, but they were happy tears.

“So if Nao is definitely gonna be the Maid of Honour…” Saki shot me a smirk, to which I rolled my eyes.

“Your tux better not look cooler than mine, Ms Best Man.”

“Yes! You won’t regret this, I promise.”

“I know I won’t.” Saki and I bumped fists, and she gave me a toothy grin.

As if god himself wanted to spoil the mood, the train to Saki and Nao’s homes began pulling into the station. As the locomotive loudly came to a halt, Nao released her grip on Mai and she and Saki prepared to board the train.

“Mai, as soon as the war ends, we’re taking you out wedding dress shopping. Save the date!” Said Saki, just as the doors closed in her face. A few seconds later, the train began to move and our companions left our sight.

“It’s already getting pretty late. You staying at my place again tonight?”

“If you’ve still got some stamina left, the answer will always be yes.”

“‘Healthy adolescent sex drive’ my ass.”

The moment we were alone, Mai and I unhesitatingly went straight back to our usual banter. Despite everything that was happening, this one constant in my life was enough to keep me sane.

Still, one thing played on my mind.

“Hey, Mai? Can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm? Of course.”

“Do you think we’re rushing into this whole marriage thing way too quickly?”

“Of course. I thought we were already in agreement on that.”

“No, I mean… man, I don’t know how to put it.”

“You having second thoughts already?”

“No, I’m still certain that I want to marry you. I can think of no other way to spend the rest of my life other than with you. It’s just… we’re about to go to war with an enemy we can’t even really comprehend. The entire world as we know it is at stake. And the aftermath of the Director’s actions has left three hundred kids who were already in a rough spot to become soldiers in a war they should rightfully have no place in. Is now the right time to be thinking about a wedding?”

Mai didn’t respond immediately, instead pondering the question deeply. In truth, this was something I truly loved about her. Instead of caring about the flow of conversation and saying whatever came to her mind, she always thought out her answers and delivered them clearly and concisely. Her thinking expression was also devilishly cute.

“Shin, what do you think we’ve been fighting for until now?”

“Uhh… to stop the Director? To save innocent people?”

“No, not what we’ve been fighting to achieve. What we’ve been fighting for. In a broader sense.”

“Hmm… well at first it was revenge against the people who hurt us?”

“True, but revenge only takes you so far. We already stopped the director’s operation and beat him man-to-man, and yet we’re continuing to shoulder more and more responsibility. Our reason to fight isn’t revenge for the past anymore. It’s hope for the future. Hope that, despite all the bad that wants to destroy our way of life, we’ll have the strength to protect it. Hope that, when all of this is over and done with, we’ll have a bright future to go back to. One where you and I can really live out our lives together. One where we pursue our careers and find our dreams. One where we move into a new place and make it our own. One where we have kids of our own, and hopefully get to raise them in a world less harsh than the one we’ve been exposed to. And… one where we’re married. That’s why now is the right time to be thinking of marriage. It’s not just us declaring our love for one another. It’s a promise for the future. A brighter future, where we don’t have to fight just to make sure we don’t lose the things we love. The future we’re fighting for right now. Because that’s the future that’s truly worth fighting for.”

For several seconds, replying wasn’t even a factor in my mind. I let myself get lost in Mai’s words. In the picture she painted of our future together. The image was one that made me feel warm, one that I wanted to grab and keep hold of as long as I possibly could.

“A future worth fighting for… I think that’s an idea I can get behind.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Now hurry up and get home so you can get behind me.” Mai said, stepping in front of me and making a show of quickening her pace.

“God dammit, must you ruin every nice moment?”

“Yep.” She turned back to me and stuck her tongue out. I swore in my mind that I would marry this woman even if it killed me.

A future worth fighting for.

One with Mai at my side.

That was something I knew I could dedicate my whole soul to.