Clusterhug

2

"Hey, Terukoko!" Aiura was hastily tucking her books into her bag and running up behind Teruhashi. "Hey, can we talk for a bit?"

"Oh! Sure! Was there something you needed?"

"Not exactly," she said, walking by her side. "There was just a few things I wanted to go over that I think you'd like to talk about too."

"Alright."

She can't already be suspecting something, right? I mean, was it that obvious? Was it because I said it in front of everyone? Is she mad? It can't be so fast, right-

"Just wanted to be absolutely sure– we're dating now...?"

Is that all? Good. Wait, are we dating?

"Um... I think so."

"Really? So we're like... girlfriends now...?"

Aiura was holding as much of a straight face as she could, but a slight smile threatened to peek through.

Too late to turn back now.

"Yeah... I think so."

"Ahh! Okay, okay!" Aiura cleared her throat. "So, since we're actually girlfriends now, I thought we should talk about how the whole thing's going to work out."

Did she have some sort of plan for this? I wasn't prepared!

"Ooh, wait! I have a better idea– how about me and you go to a cafe after school to talk?" Aiura leaned in and pointed to both of them. "Y'know... Our first official date...?"

"You seem awfully excited about this," said Teruhashi, laughing politely behind a gentle hand.

"I am, okay? Are you not excited?" Aiura made a playful attempt at appearing offended. "Because we don't have to go on a date. I mean, I can't think of any other way to show off the fact I am no longer single."

"Aiura-san!" Teruhashi tried her best to keep a straight face, but she ended up laughing right along with Aiura, albeit muffled by her hand.

"Hey! About that! You don't have to call me by my last name anymore."

"Oh?"

"Actually, I always thought it was too stuffy-sounding whenever you used 'san' and everything. Like, come on, You can loosen up at least a little!"

"Is there something you'd rather I called you?"

"Hmm... Well, not Aiura-san for sure... I mean, I'd been calling you Terukoko this whole time, even before we were dating, so..."

Even before we were dating. Huh.

No matter how many times the sort of romantic language was thrown around by either of them, Teruhashi couldn't seem to get used to it. The idea of dating and romance had been discussed so frequently by her peers; even so to the point that she grew rather tired of hearing the arguments between students and the near-tear testimonies of girls that had previously claimed to hold no interest in such immature topics.

And though it'd often been portrayed as a turbulent mess for all parties involved, including the random passersby that had to suffer broken-hearted complaints from in earshot, it still seemed like something to one day experience.

There was of course the golden image of a rich husband and children; a family. Everyone expected her to one day get married and have children, but they couldn't possibly fathom the impurity that a husband or even a boyfriend would bring.

It had only been a day, and there was still time for everything to completely fall apart. Especially because Aiura had been put into the picture. Now, if she followed through with her plan, she could've made it out just fine and continued with it. After all, every person had a fling or two in high school, right?