Like The Movies

Proposed

And like that you weren't quite feeling on top of the world anymore, yet got closer to it. Who knows how many thousands of feet up in the air you are, on a flight back to Japan, because California officially kicked you out. Well, not exactly. You all just had to get back in time for school.

You tried to sleep but there was something pressing on your mind.

"Hitoshi?"

"Hmm?"

"Remember our talk about moving in together?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Can we make that pros and cons list now?"

"We have nothing better to do, so yeah, if you wanna."

For about 45 minutes you used your phone to make a note solely for the purpose of the list. Many bullet points later you reached the end of your list of ideas.

"I think that's everything. And I'm not entirely sure that helped at all. It's pretty evenly split to be honest."

"Okay, how many bullets are on the pros?" Hitoshi asked and you counted.

"17."

"And how many cons?"

"Umm...16."

"Damn they really are even."

"Yeah..."

"Love, I didn't want to bring this up but, do you think the fact that we are making a list in the first place is a con? I know how much we would like to have our own place but there are a lot of major factors working against us."

"I know that, that's why I wanted to do this in the first place though. Would the cost of it all, and the commute, and the need to work, be worth the benefits? We would get a kitchen, washer and dryer, even our own bathroom. And don't even start with the privacy, that in itself is a front runner for doing it." A bead of silence took to your conversation as Hitoshi was thinking of what to say next.

"Okay, I might be crazy, but here me out." He finally spoke after about a minute.

"Okay?" Apprehension took to your voice, you had no clue what he was about to say and that concerned you.

"What if we moved into marriage housing?"

"Excuse me?"

"Here me out, the marriage quarters are built like small apartments but are on campus. What if we did a quick fake marriage and filed for one of them. Since it's campus property they may include it in our scholarship, and if not they would do some type of discount right?"

You froze. You don't think he knew what he was saying and you didn't entirely know either. He proposed? But not exactly, but he thought about it and is up for the idea. You've barely been dating for 7 months and he's thought about marrying you. But you have thought about it too? The idea of him being your husband, what the hell did you get yourself into?

"Darling? Are you okay? Was the idea too much?" Hitoshi shook your shoulder, you hadn't realized you zoned out.

"Umm...Hitoshi?"

"Hmm."

"Do you realize that you just indirectly proposed to me?" He looked at you in the eyes and you saw the realization hit. The color seemed to drain from his face and his mouth gapped.

"Oh...shit. I did that, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah kinda." You can't recall the last time awkward air lingered around the two of you, but it was back now.

"I love you, I do. And I mean, I've thought about it hypothetically. You know...marrying you, but I'm not ready for that. I want to, in the future, but we haven't even dated a year. At least wait until we've finished school to propose."

"So what I'm hearing is it was the right question, wrong time, with terrible context." You pondered on what he said for a moment.

"Yeah that's about right. So basically that's a no on the marriage housing. I'm not half assing our engagement."

"But it wouldn't be a no if I did ask at some point? At least as of right now." You sighed and let out a soft laugh.

"You haven't done anything fucked up to me in this relationship for the past 7 months. So yeah, my answer in theory would be yes."

"That's good enough for me. And believe me, I'm not planning on on fucking anything but you."

"Hitoshi Shinsou, that is not what I said!" You yelled in a whisper as to not disturb the other passengers on the plane.

"I know I'm just messing with you. And as amazing as this conversation is going, we still haven't figured out the problem at hand." You almost forgot what you had started talking about before getting into the banter about matrimony.

"Oh, right. I don't think we should do it. Not yet. It just would take too much money, effort, and time. And you said yourself, you don't want to depend on your parents' money all that much, so I say we live in the dorms for now. And if our stance changes by the second semester we'll think about moving out again."

"You're right. You know if you weren't so good at this film thing I would say you should have become a lawyer. You are very persuasive."

"Yeah, that's not the first time I've heard that one. I'm good at arguing when I need to be."

"And even if you weren't, I think you're hot enough that the power of seduction would work."

"Hitoshi!"

"What it's true!"

You both were shushed by the middle aged man in front of you. Accidentally letting your volume rise a little more than you should have. Simply laughing it off, you decided to watch a downloaded movie on Hitoshi's laptop.

The rest of the flight went smoothly. Falling between sleep and conversation. Gossip and games. You finally processed something that you should have before.

"Omg Hitoshi, I think I'm one of the slowest people I know." He looked at you concerned, and a little confused.

"How so, may I ask?"

"Mina isn't sitting alone anymore. I think my theory about her finding someone wasn't too bad, though my timeline was a little off." Diagonally right of you, Mina had the audacity to be sleeping on Tokoyami's shoulder. And he used the top of her head as a pillow. The two of them were purely content with each other's presence.

"Yeah, I'm happy for her. I hung out with the guys a bit on the trip, more than I usually do. And he seems like a good one, not to mention he is a mean guitarist too."

"Yeah she loves a good band nerd."