In the evening, at Hakuto's house, around the dining table.
Ginko and Nao sat side by side, while Hakuto sat across from them.
It was mentioned a long time ago that Nao is the only person Ginko recognizes and acknowledges, so she moved into Hakuto's house quite early.
So now, having dinner together at the same table wasn't strange at all.
What? You say Hakuto's house isn't big enough? Well, that's not a problem... just move to a bigger place.
Because of Otosaka Shunsuke's presence, Hakuto had his first real sense of how something that seemed so out of reach for others could be easily within his grasp.
Looking at Nao and Ginko across the table, Hakuto wanted to raise his hand but decided against it.
(;一_一)... so troublesome.
After dinner, Hakuto sat on the sofa, with Nao and Ginko resting against him, watching a variety show on TV.
Perhaps because of mutual recognition, Nao and Ginko surprisingly got along well. At least, there was no bickering or any sense of disharmony.
"Hakuto..." Nao, leaning on Hakuto, suddenly called his name.
"What's wrong?"
"Your hands are sweating..." she said, lifting the hand that was intertwined with Hakuto's.
Under the indoor lighting, the two hands glinted slightly, clearly due to the sweat.
Hakuto let go of Nao's hand, allowing the sweat to evaporate faster.
Seeing Hakuto's seemingly casual expression, Nao shook her head and said, "Otosaka Shunsuke just called me..."
As soon as Nao spoke, Hakuto's face immediately froze, swallowing nervously, he cautiously asked, "You know about it, President?"
Before Nao could speak, Ginko, who was sitting nearby, chimed in, "With that heavy look on your face, how could we not notice?"
Ginko reached into Hakuto's pocket, pulled out his phone, and unlocked it with ease, then brought up a series of messages.
That series of messages revealed a first-class airplane ticket.
"The flight at 4 a.m. tomorrow... could you not choose such an inconvenient time..." Ginko looked at the information on the phone, her face showing an unreadable expression.
"Finland, huh..." Ginko muttered while gazing at the destination on the ticket, "It's quite far..."
"Sorry, Ginko..."
"There's nothing to apologize for. I knew this day would come eventually. I've been mentally preparing for almost a year now."
Ginko put on a casual expression, and at that moment, she didn't ask Hakuto whether he absolutely had to go. If she asked again, it would seem a bit pretentious.
"Ever since you turned down the King title match last week, I had a feeling this day was coming."
The title of King can only be held permanently after multiple successful reigns, but clearly, Hakuto couldn't pursue that path.
It wasn't that his abilities didn't allow it, but rather that time didn't permit it.
So, even though Hakuto won the King title, all he could do was give someone else a lucky chance in the next title match.
Ginko sighed. It seemed her boyfriend's Shogi career was about to be put on hold...
She handed Hakuto his phone back and asked, "Have you packed your things?"
Hakuto nodded. There wasn't much to bring—some developed medicine, a bank card... the essentials were just these few things.
Apart from that, there were some other things, like the portable music player that Nao had given him...
Ginko pretended not to notice and nodded casually, her eyes lingering on the car keys on the coffee table, a brief moment of hesitation in her expression.
However, that hesitation quickly disappeared, replaced by words that seemed like an attempt to avoid something.
"I'm going to take a shower."
Seeing this, Hakuto grabbed Ginko's hand, wanting to say a lot of things, but most of those words had already been spoken over the past year.
Looking at Ginko's back as she walked away, Hakuto took a deep breath.
There was no long-winded speech, no outpouring of deep emotions—just a few simple words.
"Ginko... wait for me to come back..."
"If you don't come back, I'll kill you... decapitate you, commit seppuku..."
Ginko's voice was very soft, almost too faint to hear.
Watching Ginko walk into the bathroom, Hakuto didn't say anything more. No matter how much he said, it wouldn't be more important than her coming back safely.
With Nao's company, Hakuto packed his things, changed clothes, grabbed the car keys, and headed down to the parking garage on the first basement floor.
Although the journey was short, the two of them didn't speak at all, or perhaps they didn't know what to say.
During the year of living together, they had already spoken about everything. In this short time, it seemed there was nothing left to say.
Hakuto, sitting on the motorcycle, wore black standard clothes and a purple-black helmet.
Through the visor of the helmet, he looked at Nao standing beside him.
She seemed to understand his thoughts and said, almost to herself, "If you don't come back, I'll come find you. I've told you that a long time ago..."
"Take your phone, and when you have time, call me. If you miss me, just look at the earrings I gave you or listen to the portable music player..."
"If you can't hold on, take a break, even if it's just for a little while..."
Nao spoke more and more. It was strange, really. She hadn't planned to say much...
Hakuto silently listened and then nodded.
"Got it."
The sound of the motorcycle's engine roared to life, and it felt as though it created a line that separated him from Nao, who remained standing still.
Nao watched Hakuto get further away, her back leaning against the wall.
"How strange... I didn't want to say anything at all. I just wanted to quietly send him off..."
"How strange... I've been mentally prepared for so long, but why am I still crying..."