The Future

“Yuasa-chan! And Shiotani-chan! Have you two come to visit me?” She beamed brightly.

“Saki wanted to. If I can help it, I don’t want to see you,” Yuasa coldy replied.

“Aw, grumpy pants as usual. Isn’t it great how consistent he is?” Akemi asked me.

I thought about all of his actions thus far. “He really is…”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said.

“Anyway, thanks for coming to meet me, Shiotani-chan! Can I call you Saki-chan? I want to be friends.” She made her intentions obvious… She really did want to be friends like Kishi said…

“Um… Sure…” I nodded.

“You’ve barely met. Why do you get to call her by her first name?” Yuasa broke into the conversation.

“Is the grumpy pants jealous? Don’t worry, I won’t steal Saki-chan away from you. Unless she wants to be stolen by me, that is.” She suddenly hugged me to tease Yuasa further.

His irritated expression was funny. I’m not sure if I’ve seen him make that exact expression before…

“Can I call you Akemi-san…?” I asked her.

She smiled. “Of course! You can call me whatever you want!”

“You’re her upperclassman and the student council president, she’s supposed to use your name with some respect.” Yuasa’s irritated expression faded into annoyance.

“Is that why you won’t call me by my first name without honorifics…? Because I’m the student council president…? You’re so mean!”

“And I’d rather keep somewhat of a distance from you.”

“I know he’s your boyfriend, Saki-chan, but isn’t he too cold…?”

I looked at Yuasa. Then I smiled. “He can be warm and kind.”

“Wow! You’re really in love!”

I blushed. In love… Am I…? I’ve only said I like him, not that I love him… That seems like a big step if I were to say that…

Yuasa suddenly pulled me away from Akemi, holding my arm. “That’s enough. We’ve greeted you, you two have become friends or something, we’re going to leave now.”

“Aw… Can’t you two stay a bit longer?” Akemi pouted.

“We’re missing our club… Shouldn't you be enforcing attendance?”

“I’ll let it slide this one time!”

“You’re an awful member of the student council. Let’s go, Saki.”

He led me to the door. At that moment, the door opened and in walked Shoji. We all blinked at each other in surprise.

“Kitahashi-kun? Shiotani-chan?” he asked.

“We were just leaving,” Yuasa replied.

“Don’t let them leave, Shoji!” Akemi called out.

“Huh?” He looked between us and her. “Huh?”

“Move aside or else,” Yuasa glared.

“Shoji!!” Akemi begged.

Shoji hesitated. Then he put his arms out to stop us. Yuasa sighed.

“Let’s all hang out a little longer!” Akemi hugged my arm that Yuasa wasn’t holding onto. “Right, I still need your number, Saki-chan!”

“You have no right to keep us here when we want to leave,” Yuasa said.

“But you didn’t ask Saki-chan if she wanted to leave!”

“...do you want to leave, Saki?”

Everyone was looking at me. I wasn’t expecting to be bombarded like this… Maybe I should have listened to Yuasa earlier…

“Fine, you can leave, but on one condition,” Akemi said, letting go of my arm. Shoji put his arms down. “Give me your number so we can talk later!”

My number… That’s easy enough. Shoji will realize, but now there won’t be any more secrets. Yuasa let go of me too so I could tell Akemi my number and we could leave. After she had it programmed into her phone, she said she’d text me later.

“Shiotani-chan…? That number…” Shoji said, letting us pass by him.

I smiled awkwardly. “Sorry, Iwasaki-san. Now you know.”

He seemed to be speechless because we left without him saying another word.

Later that day, Akemi texted me as promised. We talked and began our new friendship. Shoji also texted me.

“Rose, or should I say, Shiotani-chan… I’m a bit surprised to learn your identity. But I hope by you revealing yourself, that means you’re alright with deepening our relationship. I hope we can be friends, all four of us.”

“Sorry that I didn't tell you, Iwasaki-san. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to or not. But at that moment, I decided it would be alright. And sure, we can all be friends.”

“That’s alright. I look forward to getting to know you more.”

“Me too.”

I guess this is the way it has turned out… I became friends with the four hotties, and the person who coined that phrase, Akemi Tamura. It seems like with them, my life will be a lot more interesting from now on.

Many other things began to happen. While I had Yuasa over at my house to do homework together, I had my first kiss. He hinted at it in a strange way.

“You have quite the collection of plushies.” He had one in his hands, turning it over to look at it.

“Yeah… I just like them… Now give it back.”

“Why? I can’t play with it?”

“I didn’t think you were the type to play with plushies…”

“Then maybe you haven’t learned enough about me yet.”

I’m speechless… Is he being serious? After a moment, he cracked a smile and I knew he was teasing me. Then he bopped the stuffed bear’s face on my nose.

“I’m joking,” he said. Then he looked at me for a moment. He moved the bear down and gently put it on my mouth. “Chu…”

I blinked. Then I blushed a deep red. I grabbed the bear, pulled it out of his hand, and put it back where it was.

“Why are you embarrassed? Because a bear stole your first kiss?”

“No, it’s because…!” It’s because of him… I wasn’t expecting that at all… I turned around and he was right there, stopping me from going anywhere.

“Because?”

I blushed even more as he leaned down. I put my hands on his chest.

“Yuasa…”

“Should I stop?”

I was quiet. I’m not sure what I want… He caressed my cheek with his thumb.

“Would you rather have me than a bear?”

“...do you want to kiss me?” I asked.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a while…”

“Why haven’t you…?”

“I wanted to make sure you wanted it too.”

I hesitated.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” he asked.

I hesitated even more. I focused on my hands on his chest. It was warm and firm. Then I looked up at his face. I noticed that he had delicate eyelashes. His blue eyes looked back at me, waiting for my response.

“...yes…”

“I can?” he asked again.

“Yes, you can…”

He smiled. Then he tilted my chin up. He gently kissed me. I felt warm and fuzzy inside. My first kiss… definitely isn’t bad…

After that, we became closer than ever. When we went on dates, he would hold my hand and kiss me by the end of it. We were both really happy.

Kishi almost seemed jealous.

“You guys make me want to confess to Miya-san already!” he said.

“Then do it,” Yuasa said.

“Whenever you’re ready,” I added.

“I’m nervous… What if he doesn’t accept my feelings…” Kishi deflated on the table in the library.

“Then you move on,” Yuasa said. “Miya-kun isn’t the only person on this planet.”

“But I really like him…”

“You’ll eventually get over it. If Saki wasn’t going to accept my feelings, I would have moved on and got over it.”

“You weren’t going to fight for me?” I teased.

Yuasa eyed me. “...would you have wanted me to?”

“Hm… I’m not sure.”

“That’s why I would have had to let you go…”

“But I did accept your feelings and we’re together now,” I grabbed his hand.

“That’s right…” he smiled.

“I want what you guys have…” Kishi said.

“You should take a chance with Miya-san then,” I said. “I’ll be there for you no matter what outcome. And if it’s a negative outcome, I’m sure there’s someone else out there who will love and appreciate you. You just have to find them.”

“Thanks, Saki… I’ll try to work up the courage to talk to him.”

“Good luck,” Yuasa and I said.

Within the next week, Kishi told us that he finally told him. It was a lukewarm response, Yorikane said that he needed time to think on his feelings. He said he liked Kishi as a friend but didn’t consider anything further than that. Kishi already felt rejected. I tried to cheer him up, saying there was still a possibility that he’d return his feelings. The answer took quite some time to come.

In the meantime, October arrived and with it, two birthdays. Shoji invited the four of us friends to his party at his house. I learned that he lived with his mother and younger brother. Even though it was his birthday, he was stuck doing dishes and cleaning the house. I heard he even made his own birthday cake. His mother got work off but was so tired that she was barely there. It seems like an interesting family dynamic…

Akemi’s personality filled in any awkwardness and we played many board games and party games. Shoji’s younger brother joined us and was very good at charades. He could almost guess every word that each of us were acting out. It was still a fun party.

When it came to Yuasa’s birthday, he only invited me to his house. It was a mansion with hired help to clean the whole place and even prepare meals. I’ve never seen anything like this before… Maybe on TV, but never in real life…

Yuasa mentioned that he didn’t like relying on the hired help too much. But he was very kind to them and appreciated whatever they did for him or his parents. I briefly met his parents who looked like stern and cold businessmen.

“Is that genetic?” his mother asked, referring to the scars on my face. I was taken back by the question.

“That’s it, we’re going to my room,” Yuasa said, taking my hand.

“I’m just concerned for my future grandkids.”

“Your question was utterly rude. I ask that you apologize to my girlfriend.”

“I was just wondering–”

“Of course you won’t because you only care about yourself. I feel ashamed to have you as a parent.”

“That’s no way to speak to your mother–” his father chimed in.

“You both know how I feel about you. I wish I didn’t have to reiterate my feelings all the time. Don’t talk to Saki again.”

Yuasa pulled me away from him. I followed him without looking back. I felt too embarrassed to look back. When we got to his room, he apologized to me.

“It’s alright…” I said.

“It’s not. I’m sorry that my parents are awful.”

“It’s… alright…”

“Hey.” He raised my chin. “I love you. I don’t need my parents' approval for that, and neither do you.”

I felt like crying for some reason. I nodded. “I love you too…”

He wrapped me in a hug and I enjoyed the warmth.

As we moved past that, I noticed that his room was very large. It had a desk, a TV, a large bed, and even a couch. We sat on the couch and turned on the TV to find something to watch together. He then left to go to the kitchen to prepare something to eat and celebrate his birthday with cake.

After we celebrated together, I fell asleep on his shoulder. When I woke up next, I realized how late it was and had to hurry home so my father wouldn’t worry.

October passed and November arrived. The culture festival began. My class voted to have a cafe. It was a cafe combined with a haunted house. We wore scary costumes and the ambiance of the cafe was dark and spooky. We got a lot of customers. I wore a mask, a little nervous to have my face exposed to strangers who stopped by our cafe.

Kishi’s class did a haunted house. He stood outside the classroom and greeted customers as he let them into the room. I wonder if they chose him because of his cute face… When he got a break, I walked around the festival with him. Yuasa joined us for a bit too. He was doing a cafe as well and looked annoyed having to wear an apron. The culture festival was fun.

Near the end of November, it was Yorikane’s birthday. It seemed like everyone in the school knew it was his birthday and gave presents to him and talked with him. He invited me to his big party after school but I thought that would be overwhelming so I said I had other plans. Kishi went though.

When winter break came around, Kishi told us that Yorikane wanted to talk to him. We all figured it was finally his response to his confession. It turned out that Yorikane was willing to try going out with him. That was enough for Kishi to be happy and I congratulated him. They spent time during winter break to try their relationship.

I celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with friends and family. When the new year began, I felt happy. This year is going to be a lot different. I’m going to make the most of it.

When Kishi and Yorikane began dating, I found out that Akemi and Shoji began dating as well. It seems like there’s love in the air… I wished both couples well.

Time continued without stopping. Soon it was the end of the school year. Yuasa was able to get into the college he wanted to and so did Shoji and Akemi. I was moving up to my third year with Yorikane. Kishi was behind us in his second year. We were all growing up even more.

I’m not hiding behind cloudy glasses anymore… Nor am I hiding behind dark bangs that cover most of my face… But I’m standing proud. It’s thanks to those around me and my own self pushing through. I am proud of myself. I will allow my trauma to heal and look back at the incident only to remember it as a strange and awful dream…

I know that life isn’t always happy and fun. I know that too well from my personal experiences. But in the end, I think it’ll be alright. I’ll find a way to be happy again. As long as I’ve got my family, friends, and boyfriend, I can get through any hard patches ahead. I will look to my future and be excited about what’s to come.