A/N: Hello! I hope everyone is doing well! Life's been pretty busy for me lately but also pretty great. Expect me to start updating my stories again because I think I finally have time to sit down and write.
In honor of me getting an acceptance letter from my first choice university.
Future
"Would you please just open your letter?"
"Have you heard of dramatic effect?"
"Have you heard this place closes at ten?"
The three best friends had been stuck in the café for the better half of an hour building up the nerve to open their university admissions letters. They'd each received their letters a day or two apart yet they all remained unopened. With the fear of the future steadily building inside all of them, they chose to find solace in their typical team dynamic. They would all open their letters together.
"Tai, we're going to have to open these eventually." Matt wiggled his letter between his fingers. "Let's do it now and quick like ripping off a band aid."
Matt had received his letter first and although he had sworn to Tai and Sora that he'd wait to open it, he couldn't stop looking at it, like maybe if he stared long enough it would burn a whole straight through the envelope. He just wanted to know at this point; he wouldn't be upset or disappointed if he didn't get in as long as he knew.
Tai bit his lip and winced while fiddling with his own letter. He then stretched his arms across the table so they were mere inches from his friends' unopened envelopes. "If one of us doesn't get in—because if one of us doesn't get in it's going to be me—we need to agree that none of us are going there, alright?"
Sora watched Tai's hand then her gaze shifted to the letter beneath it. The idea that a school could actually take only a fraction of them hadn't occurred to her; it was all or nothing with them. Ever since they were eleven they'd stuck together, sometimes out of choice but usually out of necessity. None of their friends were capable of understanding their adventures that summer and how they had shaped them. They'd learned to rely on each other and the other five before anyone else, so in situations like this one—that dealt with something as terrifying and vast as the future—they had no choice but to move forward together.
"Agreed," she said. Matt nodded.
Once again, they each picked up a letter.
"Wait," Sora said causing Matt to sigh so loudly it nearly knocked him off of his seat. "Let's open each other's letters."
"Why?" Tai asked.
She shrugged. Her eyes followed the cars passing by the windows as she replied. "I just don't want to open mine. It's easier this way."
Matt wordlessly passed his letter to Sora. She in turn handed hers to Tai who allowed Matt to reach across the table to grab his letter. "No more waiting," Matt said. He took a deep breath; it hitched as he was letting it out. "On the count of three."
Both he and Sora looked to Tai. The old leader counted down, "One… two… three."
Each tore into the envelope they held then fished out and unfolded the letter inside. Nothing on the paper was important to them right now besides the very first line.
"Congratualtions, Yagami Taichi…"
"Ishida Yamato…"
"Takenouchi Sora…"
"…you have been accepted!"
Thank you for reading :)