Forever and Always, My Childhood Friend is the Cutest Girl in the World Chapter 54: Thank You

Chapter 54: Thank You

Link to Original Chapter: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5894gb/54/

It's the first Saturday of the new school term and today is the day I promised to meet Rin at her house to eat her homemade cooking. I finished the current chapter of a modern romance story I’m reading on Syosetu and was going to get ready when... 

"You have one new administration message." 

The moment that red text flashes in my eyes, my heart leaps from my chest. The hell? What did I do wrong? I have no other reason to doubt that. Regardless, I timidly click on the message. 

-----!? 

"Contact for Novel Publication." 

With a jolt and a yell, my whole body hardens up. It's the first time I ever felt like this. I mull over that one phrase over and over in my head. It doesn't feel real at all, despite the fact that my retinas are transferring this info to my brain. It feels like I'm in a dream, but I click to check the contents of the message to confirm the actual message and then I leap out of my house. 

I start running. 

Where? 

To Rin's house, of course. 

This is the fastest I'm going on a road I haven't even walked down that many times. That familiar two storey house comes into my view, and I press the intercom right away. With a clank, the door opens. 

"You came awfully early, Tohru-kun..." 

From inside, Rin comes out and looks at me. 

"D-did something happen?" 

I'm shaking with excitement as I'm asked that, so I'm unable to answer. I normally don't exercise much, so I'm gasping heavily for air due to my all out sprint. My heart is pounding so hard, it feels like it could explode. 

"A-anyways, you can come in." 

"W-wait." 

Even though I'm all a mess, I manage to stick out my hand to show Rin. 

"It came..." 

I have to do it here and now, as quickly as possible. 

"A publisher... contacted me... my childhood friend story... it'll definitely... became a story..." 

All the things I wanted to tell Rin. 

"----Ha" 

With both her hands covering her mouth, Rin is at a lost for words. Her eyes are open as wide as they can, she’s probably really shocked as well. It doesn’t take long for Rin to understand the meaning of my words. Some time before, I was just the same as her, eyeing that message. 

"It really is... a miracle." 

Having finally caught my breath, I utter those cautious words. It really is a miracle. Trying to target readers wasn't my goal at all. I was writing this for my own satisfaction. Hence, I didn't get a lot of views or bookmarks, so I truly believed that it wasn't good enough at all. 

"...It's not a miracle at all." 

Rin gently denies my statement as she looks directly into my eyes and with her face full of conviction she speaks up again. 

"Your story was able to touch someone's heart. That's what happened, nothing more, nothing less." 

Ahh... she's right. With a thump, a warm feeling descends down on my chest. 

"I put my all into writing this." 

My eyes start to burn from all the heat I can feel within. 

"It really happened..." 

It really, really did. 

"It's good that I didn't give up..." 

One by one, memories of the past start resurfacing in my mind. A bunch of hiragana start to assemble, not even building a story anymore. Little by little, bit by bit, it starts to take form. After such a long, long time, I've finally reached the ever-coveted goal. It really is suffocating, filling me up all inside my body. 

"Tohru-kun." 

I hear Rin's voice. 

"I can't take it anymore... I just..." 

While her voice is gentle, she's taken aback. 

"Wh-what are you saying...?" 

Rin's hand finds itself on my cheek. I notice the sensation on that part of my face. I can feel both my eyes, the source of all my emotions, starting to well up 

"Is it alright... if I cry...?" 

As if she could completely read my heart, Rin pulls the final trigger. 

"Go ahead." 

With those words, I crumble. The barriers holding me back have finally burst. I'm not able to hold it any longer. Rin embraces me, as the tears start to overflow, not once stopping. I bury my face in her neck, as I continue crying like a baby. Thoughts of me being shameful and uncool don't even surface. But this is the first time I'm crying in front of Rin. 

Before, I didn't want to be seen crying and I would feel guilty making Rin sad too, so I was able to bury my emotions. When I was going through tough times, I was able to hold out with my reason. 

But this time, it's different. I'm happy and completely satisfied, there isn't an ounce of regret within me. However, I really did believe I would be rewarded for writing everyday for five years. Plus,this story is the one that I've put all my heart and soul into. Because of that, I'm just really really happy. That's why I can't hold myself anymore. That's why I'm crying. Rin told me it's alright, that I can cry. In the end, I couldn't hold it in any longer. 

"You did your best... you always did your best." 

It's a soft, kind voice. She pats my back as if I were a baby as she makes more soothing remarks. Her kindness only triggers my tears even more. 

"You really did... do your best all these years." 

My tears keep coming as I listen to those warm, kind sympathetic words, One after another, I'm flooded with a torrent of emotions. I feel warmth, what is it? My tears? Rin's body heat? 

My ability to think is all but gone due to my emotional outburst. However, the smallest bit of my reasoning starts to stir up within me. Everything that happened, the fruits of my labour, it isn't just my victory alone. I was able to see the result through because of Rin. 

It was because of Rin that I wanted to become an author. 

If it wasn't for Rin, I probably would have lost interest during grade four. 

It's because of Rin that I kept writing. 

If it wasn't for Rin, I would have stopped uploading stories on Syosetu after a month. 

Rin and I, we're joined at the hip. Whenever I would lose my way, she would bring in a sense of calmness, whenever I would run on ahead, she would chide me and whenever I would break, she would be there to console me with kind words. She was always there, supporting me every step of the way. She's by my side, forever and always, I really am so grateful. 

Thank you, 

Thank you, 

Thank you. 

No matter how many times I say it, it won't be enough. But really... 

"Tha- thank you... so mu-much... than..." 

I try to convey my gratitude, but no words come out, only miserable tears. Rin, with a happy expression on her face, nods countless times. And then... 

"Me too... I'm really, really..." 

We both have the same words for each other. However... 

"Tha...nk you... so mu...ch..." 

Her words stop there. Was it because of my tears or there is another reason why she's welling up with emotion? She puts her arms around my back as she begins crying too. She tries to stifle her crying, but in the end it’s too much and we both end up crying like children. Her wailing is the result of finally releasing all the energy from keeping a calm composure all the time. 

Standing in front of the Asakura household, the two of us hug each other as we cry away. Our long, long has finally ended, as the very symbol of joy has blessed the two of us. 

We cried for a long time, until it took a huge strain on our bodies, so we stopped and calmed down. Naturally, we separate from each other, as we look at each other's faces. We then started speaking. 

"Your face is a mess." 

"Yours too." 

We both start laughing. Once our tears are sorted out, we start laughing from the bottom of our hearts. We surrender ourselves to our emotions as we continue laughing hysterically. 

"The charms." 

That suddenly popped into my head, as I say that in between my laughs. 

"Both of our prayers get answered." 

"Yeah, I guess we don't have to hold onto them anymore." 

Laughing happily, I can still see remnants of tears floating in her eyes. It's such a cute smile. Being able to see that smile after all the years of hard work makes it all worth it. It's the smile I love the most, after all. I hug Rin again. I don't let my emotions get the better of me as I treat her with care, my precious treasure. Rin hugs back too, as our bodies are glued closely to one another. 

There isn't any distance between us anymore. 

As we indulge ourselves in each other's heart, we look at each other again. Looking up at me with a hint of embarrassment, Rin speaks up, as I can hear the spring in her voice. 

"Anyways, how about we throw a party today." 

I'm sure compared to all the other times Rin has cooked for me, this feast will be the most delicious. 

Chapter 53

Chapter 55

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Author’s Comments

Afterword; From here on now: 

The title of this chapter is as much Tohru-kun conveying his thoughts to Rin-chan as it is me conveying my thoughts to everyone reading this afterword. People may find this part redundant, but this is the most important theme I wanted to convey in this story, so I appreciate your kind understanding. 

So anyways thanks to all of you who read "Forever and Always, My Childhood Friend is the Cutest Girl in the World”! This is the end of Tohru-kun and Nira... no, Rin-chan's story. I thought about continuing for about a few more chapters, but I managed to convey the main theme of the story, so I think this spot is the best place to conclude. 

Looking back on this work, about a month ago, the top ranked stories for modern romance stories where childhood revenge stories. I felt my chest hurt, which gave birth to something. Seeing so many unlucky childhood friends one after another, there wasn't one childhood friend who was able to be happy... So after one night thinking about it, I started writing this working without any plot or plan in mind. And the result of this work is something I will never forget for the rest of my life. 

It's the one work that helped me grow the most. I had so much fun writing this from the beginning to the very end. Updating every day. without once taking a break and I was able to meet so many readers who followed along with my rampage. That made me really happy. 

I'm really thankful to all the readers that left bookmarks, rating, comments and reviews. It's thanks to everyone's support that I was able to keep on writing despite all the fatigue from overtime and hangovers. To all of you reading this right now, each one of you are my Nira-san. I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks to all of you. Thank you so much! 

Let's see, from now on... I think the future for the two of them is still on my mind.... If I continue writing beyond this point, it'll also help with my own growth, so that's a good opportunity... 

How about I write a sequel!!!! 

There are still some loose ends that need to be tied up with some characters like Yuumin, Hiyori-chan, Ishikawa-kun, Ishikawa-kun and did I mention Ishikawa-kun? (I'm afraid that the expectations for Ishikawa-kun will skyrocket even though I haven't even shown him once). 

Well anyways, that part in chapter one where they say "I love you" to each other hasn’t even happened yet, so I guess I have to write a sequel now orz. 

Now that the two of them are openly lovers, the story will be even more sweet. Holding hands, headpatting, hugging of course sleepovers. Maybe K I S S E S too (I have to restrain myself lol) 

So, make sure to bookmark, so you'll receive an alert when it happens! 

That being said, it might be awhile before I update anything. The organization, events, themes and so on haven't been decided at all yet, but when I started writing this story and it started seeing success, I stopped paying attention to my previous work. My previous work is about 30,000 characters long. I stopped updating it, so I'd like to start updating it soon.

By the way, Hiyorin, who Rin's friend in this story, is the main heroine for my previous story (She's quite the lively character). The class president, Yuumin, also makes an appearance (both are pretty prominent characters). That's my first story, but compared to this story it’s pretty out there. 

Compared to this story, the composition is ten times more messy and it's pretty robust. If you haven’t read it yet, the sequel is done, so I'd be really happy if you checked it out (While Rin is cute, Hiyorin is also really cute, it's the truth!). 

I took my time to conclude my previous work, but the sequel for this story will update frequently when it does happen. I'll be able to announce the new story I'm working on soon. Well, at least I have that planned out. It'll be another sweet and sentimental story, I want to surround all my readers with syrup as quickly as possible! 

That being said, I don't want to write something that is just a sweet story, I want to write something that can leave a ripple on the reader's heart after they are done. Well then, I soaked myself long enough in the lingering feeling of finishing a work for the first time in my life. 

Finally, I have a request for all my readers. After reading this, please tell me "This is interesting", "Good job!" and "I'll be waiting for the sequel!" and I'd be happy if you give this five stars. I'd appreciate thoughts and reviews too! It will be a great reference for the next work that I'm making in the future. 

And last but not least! 

AHHHH! 

That was fun! 

Until next time, I'll meet you in the sea of syrup. 

Thank you all very much! I'm grateful to every single of you that read this. 

April 10th, 2020 

Aoki Fuyu

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Translator's Comment:

And that’s the end of that. 

First things first, the author wrote this before the sequel came out, but now he’s working on it, in fact he started about five days ago at the time of me writing this. 

I want to make things clear, I won’t start on it right away. I want to take a break first and concentrate on other stuff before I go back on the grind. Who knows how long it will be, but I will come back eventually, mark my word!

As for the story I was previously translating: https://www.novelupdates.com/series/im-sick-and-tired-of-my-childhood-friends-now-girlfriends-constant-abuse-so-i-broke-up-with-her/, the author still hasn’t updated any new chapters so I’m waiting on that. Though apparently it will get some sort of LN/manga adaptation so that’s something to look forward to. Comparing the two stories is basically like night and day. Still, both are fun in their own ways.

As for this story, I really resonated with this one a lot for some reason. Reading a pure romance is just so sweet and refreshing. Not a lot out there nowadays that’s like this. 

I also didn’t realize that the author also has another work, that shocked me when he mentioned it in his afterword. I might have to check it out, but no guarantees on actually translating it lol. Hiyorin does seem like an interesting character, but she’s not Rin and Rin is vastly superior, OF COURSE. Still, the sequel to this story has a larger priority than his previous work for me. 

Regardless, it’s been a fun ride and I think I’ve really grown as a translator. Being on the TL grind is definitely an interesting one and is basically a testament to my mental discipline that I was able to keep going. It feels great to actually finish something, and even though there is a sequel, the main portion of the story is finished. I’m thankful to all of you guys that stuck around for the whole ride and read the whole thing, it really means a lot to me. 

I think that’s all from me, until next time, stay safe o7

Chapter 53

Chapter 55