Chapter 41 Fulfilling Days and the Future

Fulfilling Days and the Future

Even after the winter break ended and classes began, we continued to spend time together as we had during the winter break.

With classes on weekdays and final exams coming up, we always attended classes seriously. Except for the days when I had a part-time job after class, we were always together.

Iroha-san gave me a spare key to her room and said, “Feel free to come over anytime,” so I gave her a key to my room as well. We started spending every weekend at each other’s place.

And Iroha-san became very active.

Now it’s often Iroha-san who holds my hand or hugs me. Even when we’re at home, she used to sit across from me, but now she sits next to me and often asks for kisses.

Times have really changed.

I mean, the serious and studious Iroha-san gives me these eyes that say, “Kiss me.”?

Every time I kiss her, she has the blissful “mufufu” expression, and it’s the cutest thing.

But on campus, she’s always so serious.

It’s amazing.

I guess that is the power of love.

No, I think it’s definitely because we started having s🬀x.

Since we communicate about s🬀x without any shame, it’s natural that holding hands or kissing is less of a hurdle.

Also, I think we’ve both gotten over the issues we had.

We’re still learning about s🬀x together, so sometimes Iroha-san gets distracted and starts studying, which creates a weird atmosphere. But when I see her like that, I realize that I don’t have to be nervous and I can enjoy s🬀x.

However, Iroha-san still dresses plainly when she goes to university so as not to stand out.

I agree with that.

I was really happy that she tried to look pretty for me by dressing up and wearing makeup, but I thought her greatest charm was her personality, not her appearance. So I didn’t think she needed to do that every day, and I thought it was exciting that she made an extra effort for our occasional dates. To be honest, I was so possessive that I didn’t want others to admire her appearance.

Both Iroha-san and I managed to balance our love life and studies well, and we enjoyed a fulfilling college life. Before we knew it, the finals were over, and our first tumultuous year of college was over.

I left my hometown and started living alone in a distant place. I met Iroha-san at the university, became her beloved lover, and together we overcame our traumas and deepened our bond as lovers.

Looking back on that year, I can only say, “It was really good that I studied hard to get into a national university.”

That’s all that matters.

If I had stayed in my hometown, I feel that I wouldn’t have been able to overcome my shameful past, and most importantly, I wouldn’t have met Iroha-san.

I deeply feel that my decision in the summer of my third year of high school was not wrong.

And then university life entered its second year.

The second year was even busier than the first.

The classes were more specialized, there were more practicums, and the number of reports to be submitted increased significantly.

I was the kind of person who got into university by sheer determination, and I wasn’t good at academics, so I had to work harder than Iroha-san and my friends. But I still enjoyed it.

It was very different from studying for exams.

There’s a big difference between studying to escape the painful feelings of shame and studying for your future dreams. And now I have a lover and friends who study with me instead of studying alone.

So I studied hard in college.

I listened attentively in class so that I wouldn’t be left behind by Iroha-san and my friends, and I submitted my assignments and reports properly.

Most importantly, in my second year, my goal of becoming a teacher became more realistic, which increased my motivation.

I became a diligent student, no less diligent than Iroha-san, and I began to think about the future.

First, there’s the matter of teaching certification.

Since it’s elementary education, the main thing is to get an elementary school teaching certificate, but I thought about getting a middle school teaching certificate as well. I thought about it because of Iroha-san’s influence. At first, I didn’t think I had the ability, but Iroha-san told me, “Since you have the opportunity to get both,” so I decided to give it a try.

And then there’s the question of where to work after graduation.

Where should I take the teacher certification exam?

This was my biggest dilemma.

To be honest, I don’t want to be separated from Iroha-san, so I’m struggling with this decision.

Iroha-san was struggling with it too, and we started discussing it more and more together.

As for options.

We both went back to our hometowns and took the certification exams there.

Me taking the certification exam in Iroha-san’s hometown.

Iroha-san taking the certification exam in my hometown.

Both of us taking the certification exam in the city where we currently live.

Those were the four options.

We both agreed that we didn’t want to be separated, and I was also thinking about getting married in the future.

So the first option wasn’t an option, and Iroha-san seemed open to the idea of moving to my hometown, but I was okay with any of them.

However, the fourth option, staying in this city, has a very high competition rate for the certification exam, so it’s not very promising. That leaves one of our hometowns.

Although it was a dilemma, it was still a matter for the future. We were busy with our daily studies and part-time jobs, and whenever we were together, we couldn’t help but feel affectionate toward each other. So we put our worries aside and continued to enjoy our time together as always, even in our second year.

Also, unlike our first year, we were more used to living alone and attending university, so we started going out more.

During the summer vacation, we had a barbecue with friends from college, and we also went on a hot spring trip together, just Iroha-san and myself.

Iroha-san planned the hot spring trip, and it was a three-night, four-day trip to the countryside of the neighboring prefecture. We traveled by train and city bus to the local hot springs. We even got lost and had to walk several kilometers, and there was no changing room at one of the hot springs we found, so it was a challenge to get undressed and dressed again. Despite all the mishaps, it was a lot of fun.

Most of all, I was happy that we could finally take a bath together.

We had spent every weekend together but always bathed separately. This trip was the first time we took a bath together.

Most of the hot springs we found weren’t frequented by locals, so there were many mixed baths that weren’t separated by gender. At first, I wondered if it was okay to bathe together, but Iroha-san, who had planned the trip, seemed to know from the beginning. She confidently undressed in front of me, leading the way, and I was a little moved by her. However, Iroha-san takes off her glasses when she enters the hot springs, so she often tripped and fell while walking on the uneven ground of the open-air baths. I couldn’t help but laugh, but it was nice to see the clumsy side of Iroha-san, who is usually so capable. It was a very memorable and fun trip for both of us, including all the little things.

And then summer ended, fall came, and a year had passed since Iroha-san and I had started dating. We were still together, doing well, and we both turned twenty without returning to our hometowns. Winter passed, and we successfully entered our third year of university.