Me and Ai

Chapter 89: Marriage

"Hm?" The announcer looks at me.

"It's true that majority of Quartet Night is single however, I'm part of the minority."

"W-What?!" The announcer is surprised by my remark.

The audience starts getting a bit noisy in surprise. I can see Kaori looking up at me with an expression I can't read; it's like she's both worried and happy. She probably doesn't know what to feel or do at the moment.

"Mikaze-san, does that mean that you're seeing someone at the moment?!"

"Yes, I'm seeing someone; we've been seeing each other for quite some time now to be honest."

"Really?! What a shocking surprise!"

The audience becomes noisier.

"Actually, she's right here today; she's in the crowd."

"Really?! Where?!" The announcer seems to be interested.

I smile and look at Kaori who looks flustered at the moment.

"I'd like her to come up here on stage with me. I'd be happy to introduce her."

Kaori is surprised by my request and seems like she doesn't know what to do; how cute. I can see Masato and Haruka dragging Kaori from the crowd to the side of the stage.

"There she is right now." I go down the steps of the side of the stage and firmly take Kaori's hand.

"A-Ai! Uhm..."

She's shaking a little. I can feel it from her hand; she must be nervous.

"Don't worry."

"But—"

"I don't want to keep it a secret anymore. I want everyone to know that the one I love is you."

"Me too but..."

I kiss her forehead in attempt to calm her down. "It's okay, I'm right here with you. I will always be there for you."

She nods and finally agrees to go up the stage with me. When we reach the top and onto the stage, everyone becomes noisy. The announcer takes a good look at her and then realizes.

"Wait a minute! Isn't she Yamashita-san?! Yamashita Kaori?!"

"Yes, that's right." I smile at Kaori. "She's Yamashita Kaori, the one I'm currently showering with my love."

The crowd reacts in surprise and so does the announcer. The media present at the event have become lively at the sudden news.

Reiji comes over to me and I whisper to him. "The announcer is pretty good at acting surprised."

He chuckles and whispers to me, "That's because he genuinely doesn't know, Ai. We never told him or the crew the details. We just told him that you were going to announce something later on during the talk about the performance; they don't know about the proposal."

He smiles and pats my back.

"The two of you have been seeing each other?! That's quite a surprise! The common knowledge is that the two of you are just good friends! I'm personally surprised!"

"Well, we did our best to hide our relationship so your reaction is definitely to be expected."

"Mikaze-san, if the two of you were hiding your relationship for so long, why are you two revealing it now?"

"Kaori didn't know that I was going to reveal our relationship today; this is all on my own."

The announcer looks at Kaori who nods at him.