Two Year Later At A Certain Place

Written by the GoodAznBoi

Inspired by u/ArkFord

"Geez, Taki nii-chan, you're overthinking this!"

"But it has to be perfect. Tessie didn't have much trouble asking Sayaka. It's as if everyone knew from the beginning that they would end up together."

"Nee-chan did always tease them about that," Yotsuha says as she takes a sip of freshly brewed tea.

"Tsukasa's a goof, but that idiot somehow charmed his way into Okudera-senpai's heart," Taki says as his pencil makes a silent, but audible rhythm. "Honestly, who hides a wedding ring in someone's dessert after their date? She could've choked on it had she not noticed."

"It seemed to work. I think she likes that he's so silly."

"He could've just told me that they were married at the cafe?"

"You were unemployed, with no girlfriend, and didn't open up to them about it. Maybe he saw that you needed a little femine advice."

"Maybe…,"

Utter silence filled the room, but you could feel an uneasiness. Taki may have been keeping his thoughts to himself, but his frustration was leaking throughout the confines of the apartment walls. Yotsuha sips more of her tea, so as to not feel this tension, but almost spills her drink when she hears a loud slam from the table. Hands red, but firmly planted on the tabletop, Taki forcibly gets up from his chair. He crumples the lists of ideas (and a couple of doodles) and throws the wad behind him. He tousles his messy hair in frustration. His head muddled with uncertainty.

"AHHHH why can't I do this!."

The ball of ideas hits Yotsuha in the head. Trying to relax in the couch, she couldn't tolerate to see her older sister's boyfriend give himself such unnecessary stress.

"He's been at this for hours, idiot," she thought to herself.

She knew that the brainstorming had to come to an end, and that she had to intervene. She takes a deep breath, walks over to the table and sets her tea down on a coaster. She then approaches Taki, the distance between their faces was uncomfortably small, but she had to do it in order for sister's boyfriend to understand. Her fingers darted at Taki like how a mother scolds her troublesome child.

"Nii-chan, I like you. Oba-chan likes you. At least two-thirds of the Miyamizu girls likes you. Can't you rest easy at night knowing that we already accept you, idiot and all?" she asks as she nudges Taki on the torso with her elbow.

"Ugh, not funny Yotsuha!"

"Why are you so worried? You know she's gonna say yes."

Taki slowly sits back down, "I know, but it has to be perfect. Wouldn't she feel like we're moving too fast?"

"Ahh you're so dumb, it's been two years already!"

Yotsuha leaves the room in frustration.

"Honestly, you two we're meant to be stupid together!" She slams her bedroom door.

However, Taki couldn't help but agree with her. Though it's never really brought up, Taki is dating a girl who is turning 28 in a couple of months. Most peers her age have already been married, some are even raising children. He twirls his pencil around between his finger, deep in thought.

"What am I gonna do?," he says as he fold his arms and rests on the tabletop.

He wondered why it was so difficult for him to plan his proposal to his girlfriend. Asking her out seemed more intuitive. He seemed rather fortunate that day. As far as he was concerned, that was his first time meeting her, but felt they were connected in some way; the tears they shared reflected that feeling. Time passed and he got to know her better. Cautious at first, Tessie and Sayaka welcomed him with open arms. Okudera-senpai took a great liking to her; Tsukasa always teased Taki that she could easily steal her away from him, and he was the only one who can prevent that from happening. They shared stories with each other. Mitsuha told him all about her mundane life in the countryside: how the train passed every two hours, how there seemed to be two pubs, but no dental care, and how she and Tessie sawed logs by the local vending machine in order to remedy the lack of a town cafe. Interestingly, that last story really stuck with Taki for some reason. He could vividly picture from his point of view sawing the logs with Tessie, breaking a sweat working under the sun, teasing him about his crush on Sayaka. It felt weird, but he remembered a time when he was fascinated about the tragedy that befell Mitsuha's home ten years ago. He knew he spent his days in library reading, drawing diagrams of the town, but he could never figure out what caused his fixation.

Taki raises his head, drool spilled all over his forearm. He hadn't realized that he dozed off planning his itinerary. The lights turn on and Mistuha's grandmother comes in the living room holding a blanket in her arm.

"Oh, I see you woke up. You fell asleep on the table, and I thought you might be cold. What's wrong? Proposing to my granddaughter can't be that daunting for you, Taki-kun?"

Taki grabs the blanket from her as he sets a cup of tea on the table "Sort of. I wanted to do it in a way that showed her how much she meant to me." Suddenly he thought of an idea.

"Oba-chan. Mitsuha told me that you three visit a family shrine high up in the mountains."

"Yes we did, but since these old bones can no longer bear my weight I let Mitsuha and Yotsuha go without me. We may have been forced out of our land, but we must keep our tradition alive," she says as she gulps down the hot leaf juice.

"What if I take her there? I'm pretty sure she'll like that. I even know about Musubi, and how the braid she wears represents the flow of time."

Oba-chan smiles and laughs "Goodness, I don't need to hear that. I've spent my whole life learning that, but I'm glad that the future of my people will be remembered by you two. Go. The trip to Itomori is long."

Taki hugs her in gratitude. Taki dashes towards his bedroom. The sounds were murmured, but you could hear someone eagerly waking up his girlfriend, and momentarily the sounds of said someone being hit by a pillow for rudely interrupting their girlfriend's peaceful slumber.

"Oh I envy the young, don't you Futaba?" She looks up at a picture of her daughter on the wall, as she sips some more of her tea.