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Their Future – Chapter 7

Deciding to stay behind for a while after school to do some work, I get home a little late. Shizune’s already back, watching television. She smiles at me as I came in, and asks about my day.

[Not bad. Students are still students, teaching’s still teaching. Misha was kinda weird at lunch, though. Asked about us marrying and having kids.]

A look of what appears to be annoyance flashes across her face, before it’s replaced by a more neutral expression.

[Well, I’m sure it’s nothing. You know her, after all. She’s strange.]

[Yeah…]

The evening, and the rest of the week, passes by without event. I didn’t see too much of Misha, and nothing more of our strange conversation is mentioned. Soon it’s Sunday, and I find myself on the bus into the city, to meet with Emi.

I take a glance at my phone to check the address again, and within a few minutes, I’m outside the restaurant. I see Emi sitting at a table on the patio, and she waves me over. She’s not wearing her tracksuit this time, instead having a far more casual look, with a green short-sleeved t-shirt, tan shorts and her blonde hair tied in twintails by red ribbons. She grins at me as I walk to her.

“Heya Hisao! What’s up?”

“The sky.”

“Booooooooooooooooooooooooo”

I take a seat, smirking at my own stupid joke. The waiter walks over to take our orders. We both choose a sandwich and a glass of water, as it’s quite hot today.

“So, Emi, how are things going for you?”

“They’re pretty good! Like I said, the team’s pretty hard work, but it’s really good fun too! Finally got a day off today! Anyway, how is it, teaching at Yamaku?”

“It’s kinda weird, but it also feels good. Like I’m making a difference, or something like that. To be honest, I just like being back at the place. It feels comfortable. It’s a stroke of luck that we managed to find a house in the town, too. It’s so close to both Yamaku and Shizune’s office.”

At the mention of my girlfriend Emi, who has been silently nodding along while I’ve been speaking, suddenly speaks.

“Oh yeah! How’s it going with you two?”

“We’re pretty good, actually. Fallen into a pretty comfortable routine. Haven’t managed a date night since Valentine’s Day, for… several reasons.” I shudder when I remember our disastrous Valentine’s celebration, which ended in the hospital. “Anyway, yeah, things have been going pretty well for us. Had a weird lunch with Misha earlier in the week, but that’s all fine now.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Whaddya mean?”

“Eh, well I had lunch with Misha a few days ago, and she asked about me marrying Shizune and having kids and stuff. It was really quite random.”

“Well, d’you want to have all that?”

I think about this for a while. I love Shizune, I really do. I couldn’t imagine my life, or my future without her. And marriage is…
I’m snapped back to reality by the waiter putting down our food and drinks. We thank him, and sit in silence as we enjoy the beautiful day. Birds fly far above us, and people hurry to and fro to complete whatever tasks they have today. I imagine marrying Shizune on a day like this, her wearing a beautiful white wedding dress as she walks up the aisle. Then again, weddings are expensive, and we already know we love each other anyway. Why would we need a piece of paper to prove that?

And as for kids, well, that’s a whole other thing I’d have to think about. And anyway, who’s to say Shizune even wants them? It’s her body, after all. It’s a good thing she’s been on the pill; too many surprises aren’t good for my heart. But raising a child together, bringing new life into the world – isn’t that the greatest sign of love, or meant to be, at least? Although, who’s to say my heart could even cope with the stress of having kids?

“Uhh, Hisao? You doing okay there?” I shake my head, clearing my clouded mind.

“Yeah, sorry Emi. Just lost in thought.”

We move on to more lighter topics, talking the hours away and ordering more drinks and sandwiches every now and then. We talk about the news, get into an argument about the ending to a certain television show, and while the hours away. Finally, the restaurant closes, and we go our separate ways, promising to meet up again soon. On the bus back to town, I slip back into my thoughts from earlier. Marriage…
That’s a thought to continue another day. For now, though, I just want to enjoy the relationship I have with Shizune, without worrying about the future. Our future.

I step out of the bus, and walk towards our house, ready to see my beautiful girlfriend again.

Okay, now Hisao has done a complete 180 from the last chapter...
Then he ran away from his friend Misha when she brought up the topic of marriage and children, and more or less internally vowed to avoid the problem for as long as possible, and in this chapter he proactively breaches that same topic with both Shizune and Emi whom he hasn't seen in years...
It doesn't make much sense and feels as if there are two different Hisaos... (If that's a surprise twist you're setting up, then kudos for foreshadowing!)

I was also a bit surprised that Shizune wasn't attending that dinner with Emi. Sure, it's always possible that she couldn't make it because of work, but it wasn't mentioned at all, which makes it seem as if Hisao didn't invite her...

Their Future – Chapter 8

After my lunch with Emi, days fly by with little incident. I go to work, teach, come home, and spend time with Shizune. Occasionally I have lunch with Emi, and we enjoy ourselves, talking about our lives and television and stuff. Those days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and pretty soon it’s December. School is out, and I have more time around the house. I catch up on television that I’ve missed, and read a lot of the books I’ve had lying around for a while. I also, of course, buy presents for Shizune, Emi, Misha and my parents, as well as a few things for my co-workers. Two days before Christmas, Shizune is done with work until the New Year, but not before her work’s Christmas do.

We arrive at the venue, an empty hall not far from her work. I look over at her; while I’ve put on an old tux I managed to find – she berated me for ten minutes for not buying a new one - she’s wearing a ruby red dress that compliments her dark hair and eyes perfectly. She looks so beautiful in the moonlight, and I can’t resist giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. We smile at each other, and lock arms before entering.

The hall is large and well-lit, and there are only a few people around, as Shizune insisted we arrive five minutes early. There’s a buffet-style food station set up on one wall, but neither of us are hungry yet, so we stand to one side.

[There’s practically no one here! Are you sure we’re five minutes early, not fifty?]

Shizune looks unamused [Yes, we’re exactly on time. Other people, however, are not quite as considerate as us.]

We stop signing as we notice a woman approaching us. She’s middle height, slender, with long black hair and thin wireframe glasses. She’s wearing a business suit, making her stand out in comparison to the other guests. Shizune appears to recognise her, and smiles pleasantly. I prepare to sign our conversation, but the woman surprises me by signing herself.

[Hello, Miss Hakamichi. It is a pleasure to see you again. I assume this is your boyfriend?]

[Yes. Hello, I’m Hisao Nakai. As you already know, I’m Shizune’s boyfriend.]

[Of course. I’m Akari Watanabe. I’m a representative of the Togami Corporation. Mr Togami wished to be here himself, but he suddenly had an urgent matter to attend to – something about an old school friend - and so sends his apologies.] At this, Shizune simply nods.
[Anyway, enough business talk. This is a celebration, after all! What plans do you two have for the holidays?]

[I think we just want to relax a little, spend some time with each other and some friends, unless Shizune has a surprise in store?] I glance over to her in mock-hopefulness, and she responds by smirking.

[If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?] We chuckle silently, before turning back to Akari.

[Anyway, what plans do you have?]

[Oh, just work. I’m one of the “lucky” few who work at Togami Corporation year-round. I suppose the company needs to keep things ticking over, after all.]

I frown. [Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Do you enjoy your work?]

She nods. [Oh of course. It’s arduous, but rewarding. It’s funny, but I applied because I thought I’d be having face to face meetings with Mr Togami. I’ve heard a lot of very positive things about him.] It looks like she’s going to continue, but her phone begins to buzz in her pocket. She looks at it, and sighs.

[My apologies, but duty calls! It’s been nice seeing you again, Miss Hakamichi, and nice meeting you, Mr Nakai.] She leaves in a hurry, evidently to carry on working.

[Poor girl; I couldn’t imagine working all year.] Shizune silently nods in agreement.

By now, more people have started to trickle in, and the do is starting to get into full swing. We wander over to the food station, grabbing a few things to sate our growing hungers. After that, the music began to play, a nice, classical waltz, and a thought struck me. I take her hand, and lead her across the floor, where other couples are also beginning to dance.

I slide my arm around her waist, and think back to the dancing lessons we took a year ago. We begin slowly, and awkwardly, and it’s clear she’s struggling to remember as well. But as we continue with the motions, our muscle memory kicks in, and we pick up the pace a little, feeling more comfortable.

As we dance, we’re looking into each other’s eyes. I see myself reflected in those deep, dark, beautiful pools. We whirl around the floor, focused only on each other.

In this moment, like a bolt of lightning, I’m struck by a sudden realisation:

I want to marry her.

I’d been deliberating over it for months, worrying about expenses and the future, when all I needed was to see her, in my arms, looking as beautiful as ever. I imagine us at our wedding, dancing to this very same song, her in a gorgeous white dress, and I wonder how it was even a dilemma in the first place.

The song draws to a close, and I finish off our dance with a kiss, deep and loving. More and more people have come into the hall now, but in this moment, there is only the two of us.

The rest of the night is spent talking to Shizune’s co-workers about their work and holiday plans, eating every so often, and dancing the night away. It’s almost midnight by the time we get away.

We walk down the empty streets of the city, towards the bus stop to catch the final bus of the day. We hold hands the whole way there, making no attempt to communicate. The moonlight shines upon my girlfriend, making her look like an angel. Tomorrow, I decide, I’ll start planning the proposal. I’ll text Emi and Misha to ask for help and advice. For tonight, though, I just want to spend time with my only love.

After the bus, we walk home, shower, and get into bed. I make sure to let Shizune know of my feelings.

[I love you, so much.]

She smiles, and kisses me.

Nice to see some updates here. Though I have to agree with Mirage again though, look at this:

“No, no, no! Hicchan, this simply won’t do! This kind of thing requires planning!”

“What if we don’t want to get married, or have kids?”

“Wahahaha~! Are you sure you know Shicchan? She may be a career woman, but she’s still human!”

I start to stand up. “Hm, suddenly I don’t feel hungry anymore. See ya Misha.” I walk away, and she shouts after me, eliciting a few curious looks from students.

In this moment, like a bolt of lightning, I’m struck by a sudden realisation:

I want to marry her.

I think this could have done with a bit more of a a gap between these moments. I'm also still unsure where the story is going, but that's not a bad thing. Just an observation

It's not bad. The story has a lot of energy to it and it flows well, but i think it could stand a few more quiet moments.

Right now you've set up a whole lot and I really hope that it all pays off.
The idea of Nurse working along Hisao and Misha is interesting if nothing else.

Misha does feel a bit immature though. I would have expected her to have grown and calmed down a bit since highschool.

I also really think we should spend a bit more time with Hisao's students. There is a ton of potential for stories there and so far we haven't even gotten any vague descriptions.