Dreams of the Future

It was seven in the afternoon. The thunderous beats reverberated through his ears. Completely immersed in the sound blasting in his ears, Kazuyuki was completely oblivious to the sound of someone entering the room. He heard a faint voice calling his name.

“Sano-kun!”

He opened his eyes to see Ami’s bright face hovering over him. He jolted out of bed and took off his headphones. “Ichikawa-Senpai? What are you doing here?”

“I came to drop these off.” She showed him the plastic bag of books.

“Ah. Thank you.”

Ami noticed the manuscript on the desk. She picked it up. Kazuyuki freaked out when he saw her reading it. Leaping towards her, he tried to grab the manuscript from her, but she managed to dodge the attack. When he tried to take it from her, she simply held it up in the air since she was taller than Kazuyuki.

“Give it back!”

He managed to snatch it away from her.

“Took you long enough.” This was clearly a joke about his height.

“I know I’m short, okay!”

“What is it anyway?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It looked like a manuscript for a book.” She noticed how he reacted to what she said. “Am I right?” She nudged him. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“No!”

“Is it a love letter?”

“No!”

“So I was right the first time.”

Kazuyuki sighed and sat on his bed. “It’s nothing special.”

Ami sat next to him. “If it’s nothing special, then why are you hiding it from me?”

Kazuyuki stayed quiet. Ami sighed and leaned back onto the bed.

“Never mind. You don’t need to tell me.”

The room fell silent. Kazuyuki got up from the bed, walked up to the desk, and placed the manuscript down.

“Can I ask you something, Ichikawa-Senpai?”

Ami sat up. “What is it?”

“Do you ever think about the future?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, do you have any plans for the future?”

“Hmm. Well, I plan to go to college after I graduate high school.”

“Besides college, do you have anything else you want to do in the future?”

“Of course I do. But why are you asking me this?”

“I had a conversation with one of my senseis, and he asked me what I wanted to do with my future. But I couldn’t answer him properly at the time.”

Sensing something was bothering him, Ami gently gestured for Kazuyuki to sit next to them on the bed.

The soft, golden moonlight illuminated the dark room. Kazuyuki sat beside his friend, who was visibly concerned. Kazuyuki’s shoulders slumped under the weight of his emotions. He took a deep breath. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind recently. Sometimes I’m not sure where I’m supposed to be running to.”

“Dreams have a way of becoming reality when we put the time and effort into them. You’ve still got a whole life ahead of you. You have plenty of time to decide who you want to be in the future.”

Kazuyuki’s shoulders slightly relaxed after hearing those words. Ami, with a gentle smile, reached out to her friend and placed her hand on his head. She began to caress it like how an older sister would treat their younger sibling. “There, there. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“I’m not a kid, Senpai!”

“I know. I just like doing this.”

“Stop it!” Kazuyuki tried to get her hand off of him, but she continued to mess around with him.

Ami got up from the bed. “Say, Sano-kun. Do you want to walk to school together tomorrow?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s been a while since we last walked to school together.”

“Okay.”

“Cool.” Her smile made Kazuyuki’s heart warm.

“Well, I’ll go now.”

“I’ll walk you home.”

“Thanks.”

At the front door, Kazuyuki’s mother noticed them putting on their shoes.

“Are you leaving already?”

“Yes, Sano-san.”

“I’m going to walk her home.”

“Alright. Take care.”

“Will do.”

“Thank you for having me.” The two left the house.

The next school day arrived. Kazuyuki was waiting outside Ami’s house in the freezing cold weather when he heard the distant sounds of voices and the door opening.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Take care!”

Ami exited her house and found Kazuyuki shivering in front of the gate. As she hurried towards him, she suddenly lost her footing, her legs flailing helplessly as she slipped on the icy path. Luckily, Kazuyuki caught her just before she could hit the ground.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. Kazuyuki helped her regain her balance.

“Thank you.”

“No worries. Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

The two began to walk to school. Together, they trudged through the picturesque landscape. With each step, the crunch of snow beneath their boots accompanied their laughter and joy. Kazuyuki looked at Ami’s rosy cheeks and smiled, remembering the conversation they had last night. He was satisfied with their friendship; he wanted nothing else from her.

When they arrived at the school gates, Kaede and Ichiro greeted them, having also just arrived

“Kazuyuki-kun, Ichikawa-Senpai!”

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. Ichikawa-Senapi, it’s been a while. It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too, Hara-chan.”

“Did you two walk to school together?” Ichiro looked at them as if they had committed a serious crime.

“Yes, we did.”

“Ooo, how romantic.”

“Stop it, Ichiro!” Kaede said, hitting him on the shoulder.

“Why do you always hit the shoulder?”

“Do you want me to hit you in the face instead?”

“No! Not the face! You can’t hit your boyfriend’s beautiful face.”

“Your face is average at best.”

Ichiro held his chest as if he had been shot through the heart.

“It’s okay, Kaede. We’re used to people joking about us already.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Shall we head inside? It’s freezing out here.”

“Yeah. Let’s go in.”

Unbeknownst to them, Fuyumi had been watching them from a distance, specifically paying close attention to Kazuyuki, who seemed to be enjoying himself. She gripped the strap of her bag as she encountered a new and foreign sensation. What was this feeling?