Oneshot: Are You Okay!

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Translator: Soafp

Read this story first before reading this oneshot!

The Story of a Couple

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How blessed could my life possibly be?

Kind parents, a slightly cheeky but secretly spoiled little sister.

And my beloved boyfriend, Yusuke Saito.

To be living such a fulfilling life—I can only assume I must've done something good in my past life.

I first met Yusuke three years ago.

Back then, my parents were worried because I was terrible at studying in fourth grade, so they forced me to attend a cram school.

That was where I met my destiny.

That day too, I couldn't keep up with class and was half-crying as I tried to run home from the cram school—only to bump into Yusuke, who was coming in.

“Ah, sorry, are you okay?”

“…I love you.”

“…Eh?”

Even now, I blush remembering it. It was love at first sight.

After that, I started attending cram school seriously four times a week.

Of course, just to see Yusuke.

Maybe it was for a shallow reason, but since we went to different elementary schools, that was the only way I could meet him.

Yusuke was smart, and I was… not. So we were placed in different classes and couldn't take lessons together.

That's why the self-study room was the only place where I could see him.

I would finish my class early and then wait in the self-study room for Yusuke to arrive.

“Hello…”

“Oh, we meet again.”

It took me a whole month just to manage that much conversation. How shy I was back then.

Once we could talk, that was progress.

We couldn't really chat in the self-study room, and if we just wasted time, we'd be told to leave.

So I pretended to ask Yusuke for help with my studies, using that as a way to talk to him more.

Gradually, the atmosphere between us became more natural. I learned more about him, and my feelings for him only deepened.

“Yusuke, which middle school are you going to?”

One day in fifth grade, I asked him.

He was in the private middle school prep course.

My grades had also improved, so I thought about applying to the same school as Yusuke.

“Jinsei Middle School.”

“…O-oh, I see.”

I felt dizzy.

Jinsei Middle was one of the most prestigious schools around—its name was known everywhere.

“Mom, I'm going to study harder.”

“Miai?”

“Please, I'm begging you!”

With firm determination, I asked my mother to get me a private tutor.

It was a heavy burden for our ordinary household, but this was non-negotiable.

After all, I had to make sure I could bring home a wonderful husband in the future.

Thanks to my efforts, by sixth grade, I was able to move into the same advanced course class as Yusuke.

“So you're Yusuke-kun?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Please take care of our daughter.”

By then, even my parents had realized that all my actions revolved around Yusuke, and they had exchanged words with him a few times.

My mock test scores finally reached the passing range, and I thought my future was secure. But then—

“Th-the pamphlet for the Special Advancement Class?”

“Yeah, my teacher recommended I take a look at the Jinsei Special Advancement Program, so I just glanced through it.”

“Wow… that's amazing.”

While studying at my house together one day, I saw that pamphlet peeking out of his bag.

The moment I saw it, I felt faint.

The Jinsei Special Advancement Class had an academic level over 70.

Just when I thought I had climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji, I realized Yusuke was already on Mt. Everest—it was despairing.

“…I'm going too.”

I couldn't give up. I muttered those words.

“Miai-chan, don't push yourself. As long as we can go to Jinsei together, I'll be happy.”

“…No.”

If I gave up now, I wouldn't be worthy as a woman.

If I wanted to stand next to Yusuke, I had to keep going.

“…Alright. Let's both do our best.”

And so began my desperate studying.

“I don't need anything else. Nothing except a future with Yusuke…”

Apparently, I used to mumble that in my sleep. That's how serious I was.

“There it is!”

“We did it! I got in too!”

And then came exam day—the results were announced.

Together at Yusuke's house, we screamed at the computer screen when we saw we both passed.

“Yusuke, I love you!”

“Huh? Eh, Miai-chan?”

Ah, the terrifying power of post-exam excitement—I blurted out my confession before realizing it.

“…Yeah, if you're okay with someone like me.”

“Yes! Yes, yes!!”

Even now, that remains the happiest day of my life.

Half a year later—today, we're studying together again in Yusuke's room.

Jinsei Middle is an integrated junior and senior high, but if your grades drop, you can't advance internally.

And in the Special Advancement Class, if your grades fall, you get demoted to the regular class.

Unlike Yusuke, who's naturally brilliant, I was only holding on thanks to sheer willpower fueled by love.

I usually hover around the middle of the class rankings, while Yusuke is always among the top.

Without his help tutoring me, I wouldn't even be maintaining this level.

“Miai, let's take a short break.”

“Okay.”

Yusuke stretched his arms high.

He's grown taller over the past three years, now easily towering over me.

He was handsome to begin with, but he's only getting better.

His calm personality hasn't changed either—he's truly cool.

In fact, Yusuke is one of the most popular boys in class.

There are still plenty of girls who admire him, even though he already has me. Those girls… honestly…

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Oh no. I can't be jealous.

Jealous girls get hated, and if Yusuke ever hated me, I'd die inside—and then probably for real.

That's how much I love him.

The fact that we're only thirteen, or that we've only been dating for six months—it doesn't matter.

It just means we get to spend that much more of our lives together.

“Wait here a second.”

While I was lost in my daydream, Yusuke left the room.

He's probably gone to make tea. He's always so thoughtful.

“…I love you.”

I dove onto Yusuke's bed.

His scent filled my nose—pure bliss.

Sorry, everyone. This is the privilege of being his girlfriend.

“Fufufu…”

I buried my face in his pillow.

I almost squealed, but restrained myself.

If I messed up the sheets, he'd notice right away.

“Welcome, Miai-chan.”

“O-oh, thank you for having me.”

A knock startled me, and I quickly sat upright at the side of the bed.

It was Yusuke's grandmother, carrying a tray with delicious-looking tea sweets.

“Studying hard, dear? Keep it up.”

“Y-y-yes!”

I hurried to clear the study materials off the living room table as she smiled gently and arranged the sweets.

“Yusuke's making tea, so please wait a bit.”

“O-of course, ma'am.”

“Fufu.”

She softly touched my hair.

“Your hair's a little messy.”

“Eh…”

Was that because of the bed? Oh no… how embarrassing.

“There, all fixed.”

She gently smoothed my hair and smiled.

I'm sure she knew. What a blunder on my part…

“Th-thank you.”

“Don't worry, dear. First love is a privilege of the young.”

With a playful wink, she left the room.

What a stylish lady.

My grandmother, who lives out in the countryside, is always wrestling and quarreling with her pet cat — what a difference from his grandmother.

A true lady… that's exactly what someone like her is.

“You kept me waiting.”

“Ah… yeah.”

Next, Yusuke came in carrying a tea set. For some reason, my head felt hazy.

“She's amazing.”

“What is?”

“Your grandmother. She's so elegant.”

Oops, I said that out loud.

“Well, yeah. I'm proud of her.”

Yusuke is really close to his grandparents. He lives with both his grandmother and grandfather.

His mother lives in another town, but I've never met her. As for his father — ever since his parents divorced eight years ago, he hasn't seen him once.

“But I'm kind of jealous of you, Miai.”

“Of me?”

What could he possibly be jealous of?

“You have your mom and dad… and Misaki-chan too.”

“Hmm.”

Mom and Dad, sure — but why bring up Misaki? Ever since the first time Yusuke came over to our house, that girl's been completely smitten with him.

“When is Yusuke Onii-chan coming next?”— she keeps asking, over and over. So annoying.

“Thanks for today.”

“No, thank you.”

As much as I didn't want to, that was the end of today's study session. Even though we'd see each other again tomorrow, I still felt lonely.

“See you.”

“…Bye.”

Yusuke's grandfather chuckled as I left.

Did his grandmother tell him about what happened earlier?

I was too embarrassed to lift my head.

“It's alright, dear.”

His grandmother smiled kindly.

“Miai-chan, you really are such a good girl. You're welcome anytime.”

“Yes!”

Thank goodness.

Of course she wouldn't tell on me like that — she's too classy for that!

I hopped on my bike, pedaling home lightly.

“I'm home!”

“…Welcome back, Onee-chan.”

Misaki greeted me, but she looked a little lonely.

“Where's Mom?”

“She said she's working overtime.”

“Again?”

Dad being late is normal — he never gets home before nine.

But Mom used to always be home by six, and lately she's been working late almost every day. Even now, the clock was already past seven.

“…I'm hungry.”

“Wait a bit, I'll make you something.”

At least I could make something simple for Misaki to eat.

“It's yummy!”

“I'm glad.”

She happily munched on her sandwich — my cute little sister, one year younger than me.

“I'm home! Sorry I'm so late.”

Mom rushed in, sounding flustered.

She was holding some ready-made food she must've bought from the supermarket.

“You're late.”

“I know, I'm sorry. I got asked to help with materials for tomorrow's meeting.”

“By who?”

“Section Chief Yamaguchi. He really needed an extra hand.”

“Huh…”

Four years ago, Mom started working at her current company as a temp.

Two years ago, she got hired full-time — thanks, she said, to that same Section Chief Yamaguchi, who recognized her hard work.

Somehow… that made me feel uneasy.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Even if I said it out loud, no one would take me seriously.

Feeling a strange unease in my chest, I went up to my room.

“So that's what happened…”

The next day at school, I told my friends what had been going on.

Of course, I couldn't talk about that with Yusuke — it was just me venting, not something to share with my boyfriend.

“That sounds suspicious!”

“Miai, you should warn your mom.”

Of course they'd jump on it.

Girls love this kind of story — me included.

“Hey, tell us the details.”

“Yusuke?”

Suddenly, Yusuke appeared and joined the conversation.

“Uh, it's nothing… I was just saying I felt lonely, that's all.”

“Yeah… I figured as much.”

Once Yusuke showed up, the mood among my friends changed completely.

Noticing that, he gave me a small look and walked off.

“Miai.”

“…Yusuke.”

On our way home from school. Usually, we'd be chatting and laughing, but today the air was heavy.

“Can we stop by somewhere?”

“Where?”

“My place.”

“Again today?”

Was it okay to visit so often?

“Please.”

“…Alright.”

With that serious look on his face, there was no way I could say no — not that I planned to anyway.

“Oh, hello, Miai-chan.”

“Good afternoon.”

When we arrived at Yusuke's house, his grandmother greeted us with her usual warm smile.

“What's the matter today?”

Seeing Yusuke's unusually serious expression, she looked a little worried too.

We all gathered in the living room.

It was only 5 p.m., so his grandfather, who was still at work, wasn't home yet.

The air felt tense.

“Can I tell Grandma about what we were talking about earlier?”

“Yeah.”

Yusuke began explaining what I had told him earlier.

His grandmother listened quietly.

But as he went on, her expression gradually turned grim.

“If I recall correctly, Miai-chan's mother works for A-Dalty Trading Company, doesn't she?”

“Yes, that's right.”

She remembered where my mom worked.

Our families had interacted a lot, but for her to recall such a small detail…

“Grandma…”

Yusuke also looked worried about Grandma's condition.

“Miai-chan, could you ask your mother to come here today?”

“My mother?”

“Yes. I hope I'm just imagining things, but still…”

“Understood.”

Overwhelmed by Grandma's intensity, I sent a message to my mom.

After a short while, she replied.

Maybe because I wrote, ‘Yusuke's grandmother has something important to talk about', her response came faster than I expected.

“She said she'll come after she finishes overtime.”

“Working overtime again… really…”

Grandma muttered softly.

“Leave the rest to us. From here on, it's adult time. It'll be fine, I promise.”

She said it firmly.

I didn't quite understand what she meant, but I decided to trust her.

Yusuke held my hand and nodded firmly.

When I got home, my little sister ran up and hugged me.

“What's wrong?”

“J–just now… D–Dad…”

“What about Dad?”

It was only a little past six — not the time he usually comes home.

“He came home looking really angry… then went out again…”

“I see… so even Dad…”

Things were getting serious.

But I decided to believe in Yusuke's grandma's words: ‘It'll be fine.'

A few hours later, a message came from Mom.

It said, ‘I'll be late today, so please just order takeout for dinner.'

I didn't feel like eating at all.

My sister started crying, and honestly, I felt like crying too.

Then—

The doorbell rang.

On the monitor screen—

“…Yusuke.”

He was standing there.

“What's going on?”

When I opened the door, Yusuke smiled softly.

But it wasn't his usual smile — it was a heavy, burdened one.

“I called your phone.”

“Oh…”

I had left my phone on the table.

I was too scared to answer, not knowing what kind of message might come next.

“I figured Miai would be worried… and besides, I wouldn't be any help over there anyway.”

“I see…”

He came because he was worried about me.

Yusuke really is kind…

“Misaki-chan, it's okay now.”

“Yusuke Onii-chan…”

When Misaki saw him, she finally stopped crying.

“What exactly happened?”

“We'll talk later. First, let's eat something.”

So we'd talk after eating, huh.

I decided to listen to him.

“I'll cook something.”

“M–me too!”

Misaki went to her room and came back with her apron.

The two of us stood side by side in the kitchen.

Seeing her smile somehow calmed my heart.

We finished a simple meal.

I didn't have much appetite, but somehow managed to eat a bit.

Misaki clung to Yusuke the whole time — normally that would annoy me, but not today.

“It looks like they've reached some kind of understanding. Now they're talking about what comes next.”

“What comes next?”

I didn't know what kind of “understanding” he meant, nor what “next” referred to.

“It's alright… Miai-chan's mom isn't like my mom.”

“I see…”

I felt that was something I shouldn't pry into — for his sake.

“Your dad's really great, you know.”

“He is?”

“Yeah. He truly loves both you and Misaki.”

He looked a little sad.

“My mom was… well…”

“It's okay. You don't have to talk about it if it hurts.”

“Yeah, if it makes you sad, Yusuke Onii-chan, I won't ask,” Misaki added.

“Thanks…”

I did want to know, honestly. But I didn't want to force him to talk about something painful. It seemed like things were complicated with his parents. Maybe too complicated for me to understand — and I didn't want to see that sad face again.

Late at night, our parents came home. As soon as she got in, Mom hugged Misaki and me tightly and started crying.

“I'm sorry, Miai… Misaki…”

“It's okay.”

“We're fine.”

We smiled at her.

A few hours earlier, I probably would've cried too — but thanks to Yusuke, I could smile instead.

“Yusuke.”

“Uncle.”

“Thank you… thanks to you, it wasn't too late.”

“I'm glad.”

Dad hugged Yusuke tightly. Yusuke looked embarrassed, but I could tell he felt relieved.

A few days passed after that. Mom had some gloomy days for a while, but she eventually returned to her usual self.

Dad started coming home from work earlier, staying close to Mom. It really made me happy to see that.

“Morning!”

“Morning, Miai.”

We walked to school together. Months had passed, and Yusuke hadn't really changed. But I could tell he always cared about me. After all, ever since that day, he'd been coming to pick me up every morning.

My parents were doing well together again — and I realized for sure, that because of all this, I'd come to love Yusuke even more.

“Hard to believe we'll be second-years soon…”

“Yeah.”

Before I knew it, our first year of middle school was almost over. The past few months felt long… no, these too would become precious memories.

“Wait for me, you two!”

The voice from behind—was that… Misaki?

“What's wrong?”

“I'm going to the same school as Yusuke Onii-chan!”

“Huh?”

That's the first I've heard of this. Well, Misaki has always been smart, and Jinsei Middle School was well within her reach, but still…

“I've decided not to give up.”

“Give up on what, Misaki-chan?”

“That's a secret for now! But, Onee-chan—this is a challenge!”

Misaki pointed straight at me with determination. As expected of my little sister—what a look she had on her face.

“I'll take you on!”

I put my hands on my hips and puffed out my chest. Don't underestimate your big sister's pride.

And just like that, the curtain rose on a battle neither of us could back down from.

“Get ready, Yusuke.”

“That's right, Yusuke Onii-chan!”

Yusuke watched us with a calm, gentle smile, as if he didn't quite understand but was happy nonetheless.

“…We love you.”

My sister and I whispered it together.