Looking To The Future

Inaba didn't seem all that happy today. She was slouched over the table in the clubroom, grumbling as she skimmed over some kind of document that was laid out in front of her. I knew better than to push someone's buttons when they were feeling frustrated, so I quietly slinked past her and took a seat next to Nakamura. Unfortunately, not everyone present shared the same level of tact as me.

“What's got you down?”

Shinohara peered over Inaba's shoulder at the sheet of paper.

“Ugh,” she groaned, “it's something my homeroom teacher was handing out to us all to fill out. It’s about my plans for after I graduate.”

“Yeah, that can't be an easy decision to make,” Shinohara agreed, crossing his arms in thought.

“Well, what about music?” Iwasaki chimed in, overhearing their conversation.

“Hmm, I'm not sure. I like music and all, and I love playing with you guys, but when I think about actually pursuing it as a career… I just don't know.”

I knew exactly how Inaba was feeling with that one. As much as I enjoyed writing, I doubted whether I was actually good enough to be able to make a career out of it. But then, exactly what was it that I should be striving towards instead? It was only a year away before I'd be in the same position that Inaba was now in. I had no plans for the future whatsoever, and the thought of it terrified me.

“Well, what else interests you?” Nakamura asked Inaba, joining in on the discussion.

“Hmm. I do enjoy cooking, I suppose.” replied Inaba.

“Oh yeah!” Iwasaki beamed, “you always make your own lunches don't you, Inaba-senpai?”

“It certainly suits you,” Nakamura agreed.

“Really, you think so?”

Inaba fell silent for a while, deep in thought, before nodding to herself and writing it down.

“Done,” she smiled.

“It's funny to think that one of us is going to be becoming an adult soon,” Iwasaki mused, “I wonder if we'll all still stay in touch when we're older?”

“Course we will,” Inaba reassured her, “we may not see each other every day like we do now, but we'll still be friends no matter what. That's a promise, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Maybe we should all take a trip together before then, while we're all still in the club?” I suggested.

“Ooo, that's a great idea, Tachi-kun!”

“I wonder where the best place for us to go would be?” Inaba pondered.

It had only been a spur of the moment suggestion, but everyone seemed really into my idea. The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing various places we could visit, where would be the easiest to travel to, or how much of a budget we had between us.

At some point, Shinohara had sidled over towards me, with a strange grin plastered across his face.

“Are you sure you want to go on a trip with all of us,” Shinohara teased, “wouldn't you rather go somewhere with just the two of you?”

Shinohara motioned towards Nakamura. I tensed up once I realised what he was getting at.

“T-thats….um…”

I stammered over my words and Shinohara’s face grew dark as he put two and two together.

“Wait, don't tell me you two haven't even done anything as a couple yet?”

I glanced towards Nakamura, whose face had turned a deep shade of crimson.

“Kissing? Hugging? What about going on dates?”

Nakamura looked like she'd rather be anywhere other than right here. I cleared my throat rather loudly so that they all turned their attention away from her and focused on me instead.

“W-we decided that we wanted to take things slow.”

“Dude, there's slow, and then there's slow. How long have you been together now, almost a month, yeah?”

“Around about I guess…”

“And you haven't even started calling each other by your given names?”

“Well, erm...”

Seeing my distress, Iwasaki hopped on over to pull Shinohara away.

“Oh, just drop it, Shino-kun. Can't you see they don't want to talk about it? Let them figure these things out by themselves.”

“Okay, okay,” he threw his hands up, “I was only teasing, man.”

As Shinohara backed off and returned to his seat, I gave Iwasaki my silent thanks for coming to the rescue. She nodded back in return.

“Really though,” Shinohara added, turning back to me, “you two should make the most of it and go and enjoy yourselves every now and then.”

Once the club had ended for the day, Nakamura and I started to walk back home together. It had become something of a daily routine for us since we started dating. One of the few things that had changed between us. It wasn't like I was unsatisfied with how things were between us or anything, but I couldn't deny that Shinohara had been on to something. Maybe it was time for us to take things a step further.

We were halfway down the road when I stopped.

“Hey, I was thinking…”

“Hmm?” Nakamura eyed me curiously.

“...About what Shinohara was saying before. Maybe we should….you know.”

Nakamura's eyes lit up in surprise when she understood what I was trying to say.

“What I mean is…um, would you like to go out sometime? On a date, that is…”

She flashed me a warm smile.

“Yeah, I'd love to!”

“Oh, great!”

That had been easier than I expected. For some reason, I didn't feel nervous at all. If anything, I was starting to feel a little excited.

“It's a date then,” Nakamura said with a wink.