The Future - Why Don’t We Just Move In Together?
“Hey, isn’t your skincare collection getting bigger again?”
Asami-san, coming back a little late from overtime, washes her hands at the sink and asks it with a wry laugh.
“You think?”
“The sink’s completely packed with your stuff at this point.”
“Well, when a new product comes out, I want to try all the variations, don’t I?”
“I don’t know about that logic. Anyway, keep it at your own place. Why bring it all here—”
Muttering that while taking off her coat, I lie sprawled on the sofa, scrolling my phone, not really listening.
By now, I realize, I’m coming to Asami-san’s place five days a week.
At first I’d bring skincare and shampoo along each time I stayed over — but somewhere along the way, that got to be too much of a hassle, and I just started leaving it all here.
“You could just use my shampoo and conditioner too, you know. There’s no room left in the bath for yours.”
“Your shampoo wrecks my cuticles, Asami-san.”
“…Excuse me? Are you saying my shampoo’s cheap?”
“Didn’t say that.”
“You totally said that. Definitely said that.”
Our usual back-and-forth, somewhere between bickering and flirting, neither one quite winning.
About halfway through dinner, I set down my chopsticks and said, out of nowhere:
“…Hey. I’ve been thinking about something.”
“Mm, what?”
*
“Why don’t we just move in together?”
“…Fweh.”
Asami-san made a dumbfounded sound, then froze, eyes wide. After about three seconds of silence—
“Guh! Ngg! Cough, cough-cough-cough!”
She choked spectacularly on the rice in her mouth.
Watching her face contort as she coughed, I couldn’t help bursting out laughing.
“That surprising?”
“No… I mean… that was really out of nowhere.”
“I’m here five days a week. We’re basically already living together.”
“…W-well, I can’t really argue with that…”
Still coughing, Asami-san thought it over for a moment, then said quietly, “I was thinking of moving somewhere bigger soon anyway. Guess this is good timing.”
That one line settled it easily, and by the following weekend, the two of us were touring apartments together.
Five minutes’ walk from the station, three years old, a supermarket nearby. We found a 2LDK with great conditions within budget, and signed the lease right away.
Neither of our existing furniture or appliances felt like enough on their own, so we decided to buy everything fresh for the new place.
“Curtains should be white, right? It’ll brighten the whole room.”
“No way, white shows dirt so easily. Wouldn’t something in this color lift the mood better?”
What Asami-san picked up was — how to put it — curtains in a color and pattern loud enough to hurt your eyes. At least, nowhere near my taste.
“…Ehh, no. Tacky.”
“Eh!? Seriously!? Wait, this is tacky!?”
“I genuinely can’t trust your color sense, Asami-san. Same as that underwear color on the business trip—”
“We do not need to bring that up right now!!”
In the end, the curtains ended up white. My complete victory.
“Next, where do we look for a rug?”
“Do we even need a carpet? Cleaning’s a hassle.”
“Absolutely need one. My feet are more sensitive than yours, Asami-san.”
“Rude. Just get some fuzzy socks and deal with it.”
Bickering our way through the store, we ended up arguing about something else before we knew it.
Next, the bedding section.
Asami-san stood in front of a single bed, checking the price tag.
“We don’t need to buy a bed. We can just bring our own singles.”
“…Eh? Not a double?”
“Eh? We’re splitting the bedrooms, right?”
“Eh, why would we split them?”
“I mean, we sleep at different times, and wouldn’t the noise wake one of us up?”
“You’d get used to that fast.”
Asami-san thought about it for a second, then smirked slightly.
“…Hm? You want to sleep tangled up together that badly?”
“Th-that’s not it…! It’s just, wouldn’t separate bedrooms be a waste? We’ve barely got enough rooms as it is.”
“Yeah, yeah, got it. Guess I’ll sleep with you, then.”
“What’s with the ‘guess I’ll’? Genuinely infuriating.”
Asami-san grinned to herself for a while, then laughed and said “guess it can’t be helped,” and picked out a double bed.
Even after buying the bed, we argued over the sheet design, and had another small dispute over the lighting color.
Neither of us backing down each time, we both wore ourselves out and eventually found some middle ground.
Leaving the store just before closing, walking through the parking lot, Asami-san said quietly.
“You know… we really don’t agree on anything, do we.”
Hearing that, I couldn’t help bursting out laughing.
“Seriously. It’s almost funny how much.”
“…Living together might mean even more fights, you know? Since we’ll be together all the time.”
Asami-san said it, eyes narrowing as she looked my way. Half-joking, half-testing.
“…Somehow, I’m happy about that too.”
“Eh?”
“If we fight, that just means I get to learn more about what you don’t like, Asami-san. I want to know everything, what you like, what you hate, all of it.”
A stretch of silence, and then—
“…Eh, what was that.”
“What.”
“That was way too cute.”
“Huh? I’m being serious here. Be quiet already.”
I gave her a light poke, and Asami-san just laughed. That smile was cute, and it made my chest ache.
The night wind in the parking lot was a little cold, but that felt just right.
—Together, always.
From now on, I get to come home every day to a house with Asami-san in it.
Eating dinner together every day.
Saying goodnight to each other every day.
Waking up in the same place every morning.
Thinking that, a warmth slowly seeped through, all the way from somewhere deep in my chest.