After making sure that we’ve locked all the doors and the windows, Umi and I headed to a plaza near the station where we planned to gather.
The time was currently 5 pm. There were still a few hours until the festival started, 7 pm, but we didn’t want to deal with the crowds during rush hour, that was why we came a little earlier. For the same reason, we planned to go back home a little later.
Along the way, we caught up with Riku-san’s group and we went to the station together. At the station, Nozomu and Nitta-san were already waiting for us.
“Right on time, Maki, Asanagi.”
“Heya, the Maehara couple finally came~”
Nozomu was in his casual outfit; a shirt and a pair of jeans, meanwhile Nitta-san was wearing a light green yukata, as planned, giving out a ‘cool’ impression.
Like usual, I ignored their teasing.
“Thanks for waiting, you two. It seems Amami-san is going to be late, after all…”
“Yeah, about that… I’ve called Yuuchin before coming here and she said that she’d be late, so we can just go on ahead. On the bright side, Rocky will be alright, so that’s worth something.”
In fact, before we got here, I received a text from Amami-san that said, ‘Since it’s the weekend, the vet is filled with people! Sorry, I’ll be late!’ Since that was the case, we decided to hop on the train without her.Although it was the first time that Nozomu and Nitta-san met Riku-san’s group, thanks to the two’s excellent social skills, they got along quickly. Well, except for Reiji-kun, due to how shy he was. He kept hiding behind either Shizuku-san or me, though he still answered all of their questions properly.
…Those two were so different compared to me, huh?
The train was crowded, probably due to the festival. It was to the point that there were barely any open seats around. Besides Umi and Nitta-san, there were other people wearing yukatas too. I could also hear people talking about the festival here and there.
“There are more people coming… Shizuku, there’s an empty seat over there, so sit down with Reiji-kun. I’ll stand in front of you.”
“Thank you, Rikkun. Reiji, come here.”
“…I don’t mind standing.”
“I know, but more people will come, it will get more crowded and the space will get more cramped. You don’t want to trouble the big brothers and big sisters, right?”
“Reiji-kun, can you do it for m-my— n-no, for U-Uncle’s sake…?”
“Pfft! U-Uncle… Bahaha!”
“S-Shut up, Umi!”
Riku-san’s unexpected words made Umi burst out in laughter.
He was still in his late twenties, so in my eyes, I could still consider him as an ‘older brother,’ but I guess for Reiji-kun, he was an ‘uncle,’ huh?
Because of Umi, I let out a snicker unintentionally even though I tried my hardest to hold it back.
“Maki, you too…?”
“S-Sorry, I-I can’t… I-I understand your feelings, but I still can’t…”
“By the way, how old is your brother again, Umi? Twenty seven? Twenty eight? He’s pretty much an old man then. I mean, rather than calling him ‘a man in his late twenties,’ he’s basically a few steps away from being in his thirties, no?”
“Nitta, you… Well, in any case, we’ll be like him in ten years and ten years pass pretty quickly, you know? I swear it feels like yesterday that I was still in grade school.”
“Hm, I don’t know about that. I gave birth to Reiji-kun right after I graduated from the university, so, I don’t think you’ll need to wait for ten years to become a ‘grown up.’”
When Shizuku-san, someone who was the same age as Riku-san, and had already experienced pregnancy, childbirth and divorce, said those words, it sounded extremely persuasive.
We were mostly still in our seventeen and next year we could be legally considered as adults. Some of us might start working as soon as they graduate from high school, so they could be considered ‘grown up’ by then.
I turned my gaze toward Shizuku-san and Reiji-kun.
In about five or six years, we’d reach the age when Shizuku-san gave birth to Reiji-kun… That meant, there was a possibility that Umi and I would have a child not long after that…
“Hm? What’s wrong, Maki-kun? You can’t stare at me like that, you know? Your girlfriend is right beside you~”
“No, I’m not— Ow!”
“What’s wrong, Big Brother?”
“Huh? N-Nothing…”
I felt a sharp pain on my side, but I couldn’t exactly scream out because we were still on a train.
When I glanced in that direction, I saw Umi giving me a death glare.
“…Maki?”
“I-It’s a misunderstanding! I might be staring at her, but I was thinking about you, you know? Like, I was thinking, soon you’ll become as mature as her, something like that!”
“M-Me…?”
Umi then shifted her gaze from me to Reiji-kun.
After a short pause, her cheeks turned bright red.
Not long after, she pinched my side again.
“Ow!”
“You dummy! It’s a public place!”
“S-Sorry! My mind kept wandering somewhere on a quiet train like this. It’s a habit, okay?”
Since we were similar at our cores, we ended up thinking about the same thing despite reacting to it differently.
In any case, that future we were imagining was still a long way off, but I knew that we would reach it one day. And I’d do my best so that Umi wouldn’t end up like Shizuku-san.
“I’m not saying that thinking about that kind of thing is bad. It’s just, do it when we’re alone!”
“I know… Sorry…”
“As long as you understand. Also, stop giving us that stare, everyone!”
Seeing Shizuku-san’s grin and Nozomu’s, Nitta-san’s and Riku-san’s disgusted look, Umi averted her gaze in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Reiji-kun was staring at us with a blank look.
“Oh my, it seems like those two will become ‘grown ups’ faster than the rest of you~ By the way, you can go to ‘Shimizu’ for your wedding reception, so don’t hesitate to contact us, okay~?”
“…As an employee, no comment.”
““Can you two pipe down your flirting? We’re still on the train.””
“I don’t understand, but everything will be okay, Big Brother.”
“Ah, thank you for always being by my side, Reiji-kun.”
“?”
I patted Reiji-kun’s head, who gave me a puzzled look in response. The rather rowdy atmosphere didn’t stop the train from steadily approaching a station near the venue where the fireworks festival would be held.
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