“Landlord-san... you're crying again”
A large hand wiped away the tears on her cheeks.
Now that I think about it, dad's hand was like this...
Shizuka accepted the sensation of fullness and security that was transmitted to her through that large hand.
“... Fufufu... dad, mom, Aika-san, and everyone too... I have a lot to worry about...”
Shizuka entrusted herself to the feelings inside and to the passing of time. As she did, everything she had bottled up, all of her frozen feelings slowly melted and were swept away somewhere. Shizuka had regained the innocent and calm mind that she had when she was with her parents.
Dad, mom... don't worry about me. I have Satomi-kun and everyone else with me. I'm fine. I am happy now...
Shizuka now understood who she should be with to be happy. Where the place she belonged to was. They were things that Shizuka had been looking for ever since she lost her parents.
“Landlord-san”
“W...What?”
While entrusting herself to the happiness she had finally found, Shizuka looked up at Koutarou with a hazy glance. At first, the boy was just supposed to be another tenant. But before she knew it, he had taken up a position in the middle of what she treasured.
“This is just hypothetical, but... if we paid several decades of rent in advance, and landlord-san could live like a normal girl again, would you be able to smile?”
“...Satomi-kun...”
And now that boy was trying to guide Shizuka herself into that center. He was saying that there was no need to just watch.
I see... so that's what this is...
Up until now, Shizuka had wondered: ‘Why did she fall in love with Koutarou?’ But she could understand now. Koutarou filled up the empty place in Shizuka's heart. And she could fill up the empty place in his. Everyone was attracted to one another because they believed that they needed each other. So in a word, everyone wanted a place where they belonged.
“Fufu, Satomi-kun, let me tell you something good”
“Eh?”
“There's an easier and cheaper method to paying rent upfront”
“And that is?”
“I can't tell you the method. That's something you have to realize yourself, or there won't be any point... fufufu...”
Shizuka smiled and leaned on Koutarou's shoulder.
She had her own pride.
That method was something Koutarou had to find for himself.