DEAR FUTURE ME, Ten Years From Now:
Nice to see you again. For me it’s summer break—what about you? Do you have the day off from work today?
Do you remember writing this letter? I think you probably do. I can’t imagine what sort of person you are now, but regardless, I have a feeling you still remember this letter. Sorry if I’m wrong about that.
Are you
Three days had passed since I stopped writing mid-sentence. Somehow, I just couldn’t think of anything else to write.
Though it was a Saturday during summer break, and I had no supplementary lessons to attend, we third-years still had important business to take care of. Thus, I resigned myself to yet another day at the library.
When I arrived early that morning, I found I wasn’t the only one here to prep for entrance exams. In the study room, I spotted an empty four-person table and sat there. Then, after about two hours of concentrated math practice, I decided to take a break from it and pulled out my letter. Surely today I would think of something else to write. I sat there for ten minutes, pen in hand…but nothing came to mind.
It was hard to write a letter to myself (especially my future self) when I’d never even written any to a friend. I didn’t even know what colleges I wanted to apply to a few months from now—how was I supposed to know what my life would look like in ten years? Nevertheless, I only had a week left to write this letter and turn it in…
Right as I contemplated what to do about it, I saw a hand grab the chair across the table from mine.
“Oh, good morning, Kyou-kun,” I whispered.
“Good morning, Miyazato-san,” he whispered back. Then he sat down opposite me, unpacked his bookbag, and started studying.
In the months since our third year of high school began, we had met up at the library almost every weekend. These days, we skipped the small talk. I put my letter away, then decided to switch gears and study history for a while. No way could I possibly write anything with an audience present.
Another two hours of concentrated study passed, interspersed with the occasional bathroom break or sipping of a drink. Looking at the clock, it was now almost 1 PM. After a hushed conversation with Kyou-kun, the two of us decided to leave the library to grab lunch together—our reward for being early birds this morning. Again, this was nothing new, so we didn’t dwell on it very long.
As we stepped outside, we were assaulted by everything the library walls had blocked out: namely, the heat and the wail of the cicadas. I could feel it all rushing over my exposed skin. My heart raced, and I stretched my arms out wide.
Every time we went out for lunch, we always went to the same place: the food court at the local supermarket, just a five-minute walk from the library. They had a McDonald’s, a takoyaki stand, an udon stand, and…that was about it, but it was still enough variety to keep us coming back twice a week. And since we were just here last weekend, the menu hadn’t changed at all.
If anything had changed, it was…this.
“Ack! I’m sorry!”
Kyou-kun seemed to be lost in thought; he went to take his change back from the McDonald’s cashier and ended up dropping his coins all over the floor. I watched him from a distance as I stood in line at the udon stand. This had been happening a lot lately, and I was starting to wonder if something was going on. Did something happen between him and Mickey? Whenever I noticed him acting unstable, that was usually the reason behind it.
While his French fries were still frying, I received my kitsune udon and sat down at a table to wait for him. A few moments later, he walked over with a sheepish smile on his face, carrying his combo meal.
“Well, that was embarrassing.”
Yeah, I could tell.
“What’s going on, Kyou-kun? This keeps happening to you lately,” I commented without cushioning my words. He was unaware that I knew who he had a crush on.
“Uhhh…it’s nothing,” he replied evasively.
“Oh, so it’s a secret.”
“No, seriously, it’s nothing.”
“Okay, so it’s a secret. Got it.”
He frowned at me. Lately I’d discovered how much fun it could be to bully him. (But just him. At least, for now.) As I looked at him with a smirk on my face, he hastily changed the subject.
“Oh yeah, I was wondering: that letter you were writing at the library—is that the one for the time capsule?”
“Yup, you guessed it. But I can’t think of anything to write, so I haven’t made any progress. Did you finish yours?”
“No, not yet. It’s really hard to picture what I’ll be like ten years from now.”
“Same! I can’t even picture what I’ll be like at twenty. Maybe I’ll be in love with someone. What about you?”
“Wha? Uhh…hmmm…”
He was terrible at playing it cool.
For a moment, I considered telling him outright that I knew. That way, he’d have someone he could vent to. Maybe then I could help him with his problems, and he wouldn’t force the poor McDonald’s lady to watch him pick up every single loose coin off the floor. Yeah…it wasn’t good for us college hopefuls to have other problems distracting us from our studies.
But right as I went to name Kyou’s crush—the one I had spent the past several months pretending I didn’t know about—out of nowhere, he glanced over my shoulder. Then an arrow shot out of his body and straight through me.
Ah, we’ve got company.
“What is it?” I asked, turning to look.
Sure enough, it was Mickey and Looney, on their way out of the supermarket, each of them carrying an ice cream bar. I wasn’t good at shouting, but I waved at them aggressively. Looney was the first to notice me, and she raised her hand in return. There was an arrow shooting out of her, too.
Then Mickey finally noticed what Looney was looking at. She waved at me eagerly. At the same time, an arrow fired out of her and straight through me, skewering me like one of those eel kebabs they showed on the cooking channel yesterday. Unlike the eels, however, I was fine. I gestured to a nearby vacant four-person table, and the two of us moved our stuff over there.
Kyou-kun and I sat across from each other. Then Mickey jogged up and sat down next to me. “Goooood morning!”
A beat later, Looney walked up, nibbling on her watermelon pop. She sat down next to Kyou-kun. “I see the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” she announced spontaneously, in lieu of a proper greeting.
At this, Kyou-kun and Mickey both gave her a look that said What are you talking about? In Mickey’s case, she literally said it out loud, too. “What are you talking about?”
As for me, I could kind of see what Looney was getting at, but I wasn’t entirely confident I had it right. Nevertheless, I decided to wager a guess:
“Are you saying…the watermelon pop tastes like watermelon?”
“I should have known you would understand me, Miyazato-chan. As for the rest of you, you need to start paying attention. Honestly, you’re both a couple of morons. You should hook up.”
I was relieved to know I had guessed right, but also startled by how far she took the joke. The other two must have gotten even more flustered than me, because they both started to panic and change the subject with a “That reminds me.” This caused the conversation to come to a standstill.
Smirking, Looney looked at me. Our eyes met, and I giggled.
As my two friends continued to be adorably nervous, I decided to eat my kitsune udon before the noodles got soggy.
After lunch, we stayed at the library until 6 PM. Looney left on foot, since she lived in the neighborhood, while Mickey headed eastward on her bike. And with that, it was just me and Kyou-kun again. Our houses were in the same direction, so whenever we met up at the library, we’d always walk home together afterwards.
Once we were alone, Kyou-kun let out a small breath. It always made me a teensy bit giddy to know that he was comfortable enough to let his guard down around me. Likewise, whenever it was just the two of us, I could feel myself relax…but I could never admit it out loud, of course, since it’d be awkward.
“Mickey was her usual rowdy self today, wasn’t she?”
“Yep. Rain or shine, she’s always full of energy.”
And rain or shine, whenever I mentioned Mickey, Kyou-kun always responded eagerly. In a way, I was sincerely impressed. I’d never crushed that hard in all my life.
Oh, that’s right. Before they showed up, I was going to tell him I know about his crush. Almost forgot… Yeah, I guess I should go ahead and tell him now.
With that decision made, I looked over at him.
“So…”