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“You should go. You have friends from playing basketball, right? Takafumi-san will be happy you’ve made friends.”
One hand on the receiver, Komori used the other to rub his head. He should explain that those guys were just casual acquaintances. That might mean disappointing both her and Wakaouji-sensei. He has to stop himself from gripping the strands between his fingers—time for another haircut.
“Takkun?”
He took too long to respond again. He blurts out the first thing he could think of, dodging the topic of Hanegasaki’s end-of-year party, “Will you really be here for New Year’s?”
“Absolutely! You’re graduating soon, we have to greet the new year properly.”
He’s blessed, really, to have her support. Her and sensei.
“You know, I was thinking… we should invite Sensei to the shrine on that day.”
Silence.
“Really?”
“You can’t make it to the party… but I’m sure he wants to see you too.”
Sensei took on a distant look in his eyes when their outings, without fail, ended under the glow of a sunset, the sound of waves crashing nearby. Something compelled sensei’s mind to go back to the moment he chose to stop climbing the lighthouse stairs. Komori remembered it and Sensei’s smile as he waved him over and mouthed the words “she’s here.”
“You’re both so kind to me. And you both care a lot for each other.” Komori took in a breath. “So I want us to embrace our present together.”
“Mm. Presents are meant to be shared.”