Me and Ai

Chapter 74: Under Your Wings

Chapter 74: Under Your Wings

"Syo-chan! I'm sure that Ori-chan and Ai-chan will love these cake slices!"

"Haha. I'm sure they will! The free samples were enough to convince me to buy some!"

Syo opens the door to their room.

"Ai-senpai, Natsuki and I got some—EH?! W-what the?!"

"Eh? Welcome back, you two." Ai said while he was holding a small box.

Syo and Natsuki became surprised to see that the half of the room that belongs to Ai was suddenly empty.

"What is going on here?!"

"Ai-chan, where did all of your stuff go?!"

"You two already know about me and Kaori, right? I heard it from Saotome."

"A-ah...yeah. It was an accident though! We're really sorry about that, Ai-senpai!"

"It's alright. What's done is done. Anyway, I'm moving out of the dorm; I'll be living in an apartment from now on."

"Ai-chan?! You're moving out?!"

"Today?!"

"Please tone down your voices; you're both too loud. Yes, I will be moving into my apartment today. I already had my furniture transferred this morning when you all were out for work. I just came back to get a few things that were left behind."

Ai then picks up another box and goes towards the door.

"I'll be on my way now. I may be staying in my apartment but I will still be here at the dorm during the day to supervise both of you."

"Ai-chan, does Kaori know about this?!"

Ai suddenly stops walking and turns to Syo and Natsuki.

"She doesn't know about this; I don't want you two to tell her yet."

"But why?"

"Because...I'm going to ask her to live with me." Ai lets out a small smile.

"EHHHHH?!"

Syo and Natsuki blushed and looked at each other.

"G-good luck then, Ai-senpai!"

"I'm sure Ori-chan will be happy!"

Ai smiles at them and goes on his way out and back to his apartment to unload a few more boxes of his things. After fixing his belongings, he did some last minute cleaning and rearranged some furniture; he wanted everything to be comfortable and perfect.

He then cleans himself up and changed his clothes after cleaning every inch of the apartment. Before leaving, he took one last look at the place; he smiles unconsciously.

"From today onward, I'll be living here in this place with her; living here will be quite lively once she moves in. I never thought that I would be doing something like this. My past self would have been surprised indeed to see the present me. I used to live to fulfill the expectations that everyone had for me but now, I'm living for myself and the person that I've grown to be fond of; I've gained the ability to have dreams and aspirations that were born from my own will. No amount of data would have been able to predict this."

Ai leaves his apartment and as he walked, a reoccurring thought entered his mind; he smiles.

"This is a step closer to one of my dreams. Seeing her in a beautiful white dress won't be an unreachable dream anymore; it will happen one day for sure. The thought alone is enough to make me feel happy inside. Just a few more obstacles to go and we'll be truly free to love to our heart's content."