Work Text:
Yousuke shoved the “Future Career Plans” worksheet into his backpack, mentally dubbing it a problem to be dealt with later, and turned in his seat to face his girlfriend.
“Tabata, what are you going to write?”
She looked up at him from her own worksheet, her eyes widening a little.
“No pressure if you don’t know yet, I was just curious,” he said.
That earned him a tentative smile.
“Well…” she said. “I think… something to do with gardening or… or maybe botany would be nice. But then again…” She hesitated, fiddling with her pencil.
He smiled encouragingly at her and waited.
“My dad says if you turn your passions into a career, you’ll end up starting to hate them. It’s better to keep them as hobbies.”
“Huh.” Yousuke rested his elbow on Tabata’s desk and propped his chin in his hand. “I never thought of that. But maybe he’s right.” Even putting aside the fact that it was his habit to be quite deferential to Tabata senior, it was a valid point. “I mean, you don’t want to end up working for some soul-sucking florist chain that cares about the bottom line more than the actual flowers and customers.”
“Yes, that’s true.” Tabata started to nibble on the end of her pencil in thought, then stopped herself, blushing a little as Yousuke’s gaze stayed fixed on her face. “But at the same time, work takes up such a large chunk of your life… so it seems better to do something you enjoy at least a little bit.”
“Hm, yeah.” Yousuke leaned in a touch closer. “So what do you think of this—you could open a small flower shop, or a plant nursery. If you’re the owner-operator like Kanda-san, you’d have complete control and wouldn’t have to slave away for a soulless boss. You could make your own priorities. And while you handle the plants and the accounting stuff, I’ll handle the customers.” He flashed her a winning smile. “Since you’re better at math. Although, I guess I could try to learn some accounting so you wouldn’t have too much on your shoulders…”
A rosy blush spread across her face. “Ueno-kun, you can’t just play a support role to me. What about what you want to do?”
He frowned. “What if I want to play a support role?”
“B-but…” She was getting flustered, as witnessed by her hands coming up to gesticulate somewhat chaotically. He caught her right hand with his left and interlaced their fingers. Her blush deepened, but she didn’t pull away. “You must have your own dreams for the future, right?”
Dreams for the future, huh? He pictured Tabata in a wedding dress, carrying a lavish bouquet, then imagined her tending to a flower garden outside a small house just for the two of them—no, wait, they’d have kids eventually, three… or maybe four. So the house would have to be big enough for that. And a dog? Maybe a dog first. As long as it didn’t eat the flowers.
“Ueno-kun?”
He’d been zoning out. His eyes refocused on Tabata’s slightly worried expression, and he considered telling her what had just been occupying his mind, but—not yet. He’d already made her blush enough for one day.
“Well…” He had to get his mind back on track. Careers. Work. “I like my job at the restaurant. Not specifically being a waiter but… I guess I just like working with people. And talking to them. So customer service seems right up my alley.”
She nodded eagerly. “You’re definitely good with people. And easy to talk to. Any employer would be lucky to have you!”
He laughed, and squeezed her hand. “That’s good to hear.” Assuming that includes you.
He wondered how their homeroom teacher would respond if he filled out his top career choice as “Customer service at my wife’s flower shop”.
Well, it was impossible to know where the future might take them. Maybe they would branch out, open a restaurant with garden-grown vegetables instead. Or maybe she’d become a professor of botany, or some sort of scientist developing new plant cultivars. He smiled at the thought. Or maybe she’d keep gardening as just a hobby, something the two of them could enjoy together during their time off, and he'd find some sort of decently-paid customer service or HR gig. As long as he was at Tabata’s side, he’d figure it out.
He stood up as the bell rang, never letting go of Tabata’s hand. “Let’s walk home together,” he said. “And tomorrow, too.”
“Okay,” she said, and added shyly, “And the day after that?”
“Yeah. All the days after that.” He grinned. “Let’s go.”