Divine Revelation (Ei[Raiden Shogun] x Fem Reader)

Chapter 19

[Y/n's PoV]

Makoto, having learned that decorative light were prettiest right at the moment that they were turned on, she said that we should line up an hour before the illumination, but we didn't listen.

Even if we did line up, before the lights were turned on, this was just a normal street.

There were cars coming and going, so of course we couldn't line up in the roadway itself.

But people gathered gradually, people who were hoping, like Makoto, to see the lights right as they were turned on.

Inevitably, people filled the sidewalks, until they were teeming almost dangerously.

The police officers controlling traffic blocked off the roads earlier than planned, and the people gathered spilled into the road and formed lines.

"Look at this crowd!"

Makoto seemed delighted.

She loved everything that was lively, so for her, big crowds meant wonderful things.

"There are too many people."

In contrast, Ei who wasn't good with large crowds, was already looking worn out.

I wasn't that good with crowds either, but when I came with Makoto the first time, Makoto had insisted on meeting an hour beforehand, so I had been prepared for the possibility that it might happen this time too.

The presence or absence of that presentation, would have a massive impact on the result.

"Hey, Ei, let's switch places. I think I might have a more comfortable spot."

I let Ei moved into my slightly more open space.

"...Thank you."

Ei looked like she was smiling slightly as she expressed her honest thanks.

I decided to ignore Makoto and Sasayuri, who were watching our exchange with smirks on their faces.

Everybody eagerly awaited the Illumination of the lights.

The enthusiasm and quiet excitement of the gathered crowd filled the whole area, and even though it was winter, I actually started sweating a little.

I couldn't help feeling that some of the people here must have been watching those same fireworks during the summer.

I suddenly found myself wondering what all those people had been doing during the six months since then.

Had that guy who was rumbling on loudly about nothing been turned down by the girl he was obviously after?

Had any couples developed among that group looking at the photo?

As for me, in half a year, I had safely seen my wife and my best friend start a relationship, with my own eyes.

There were so many people living in this world, and they all had their own daily dramas.

This crowd was overflowing with those dramas.

Just as I was realizing how magnificent, how precious, how irreplaceable this obvious fact of life was, the chimes of bells rang out.

The next moment, an arch of electric lights, beginning in front of us and reaching deeper in, started to lit up.

It was dazzlingly beautiful, as though a bridge of light from here to the heavens had appeared.

The cheers and shouts of the people around mounted up into a resounding roar.

"They're so pretty..." Makoto beamed, full of surprise and joy at the sight of the lights.

And she grabbed Sasayuri's hand, conveying something to him through her state of excitement.

All of the sightseers began to walk at once, as though bewitched by the glittering radiance.

I too was pressed all along, step by step.

Maybe this was how small insects felt guided by light.

Makoto and Sasayuri walked a little way in front of us, their hands tightly connected.

Watching the two of them, I couldn't help remembering the time I came and saw the lights before with Makoto.

"Back then..."

I was unconsciously starting to submerge myself in memories of Makoto again.

But just as I had started my journey into the world of memory, somebody grabbed my hand.

The present moment, which had been on the verge of vanishing, rapidly reconstructed itself.

"Y/n, you look like someone who's been called to heaven."

It was Ei who had pulled me back.

"Ei..."

"You're spacing out. If you're my girlfriend, you should be walking next to me." She said.

I squeezed Ei's hand back.

She was right.

I had forgotten to act like her girlfriend.

If I let myself get too distant from her, Makoto and Sasayuri might start to suspect us.

In this way, having the constantly calm, precisely-minded Ei on my side really was a blessing.

"Sorry..." I apologize.

This was my first time holding Ei's hand, and it was surprisingly small, dainty and chilly as though it had absorbed the cold winter air.

As I was trying to figure out how tightly to hold, Makoto suddenly looked back at us.

And when she saw that Ei and I were holding hands, she smiled teasingly at us.

But I didn't let go.

I would show my wife that this is my girlfriend.

So Makoto could be happy with Sasayuri, without any worry.

Ei squeezed my hand tightly, encouraging me while I was wavering, and I was happy and grateful.

We passed under many illuminated arches.

Everyone here was smiling.

The groups who had stopped to take commemorative photos, the group of foreign tourists following tour guides— they all had smile on their faces.

At the edges of the street, there were volunteers soliciting donations to keep this illustration running.

The event had been in peril this year thanks to a lack of funds, and people had said over and over that this might be the last year, but I alone out of all these people knew that it was still going to ten years into the future.

Even knowing these, I dropped some money into the collection box, and the student volunteer thanked me and grinned.

There, in front me, my wife and and my best friend looked like they were in the climatic scene of a romantic movie.

Seeing them from behind, I didn't feel pain, or sadness for some reason. I felt at ease, as though a burden had been lifted from my shoulders.

It was my first time feeling this way since I had begun reliving my life.

Makoto was steadily detaching from my life.

<Chapter 19 End.>