As time moved on, I realized how lucky I was to have Kyoko. We had started to spend our weekends together. We also did not study as much since university was not as much work as high school was. As a result, we were doing a lot more things that couples at our age did. I think at this point I really got to know Kyoko as a person.

Despite this, we were not as romantic as I had wished. I often searched for opportunities to say, "I love you, Kyoko," but that chance never came. Kyoko never said anything truly romantic to me either. In our very own Japanese way of communicating, we left so many things unsaid. I think we both deeply cared for each other but we were like two small islands that could be easily reached by a boat but too far apart to build a bridge. I do not recall if we ever committed our love for each other or talked about a lifelong relationship though it did not surprise me that after I accepted an offer to work for a construction company in Nagoya after graduation, a few weeks later, Kyoko informed me of her decision to join an insurance firm there. There were times when I wished that our relationship would end if we would just end up working in different locations but it was clear that Kyoko had another plan.

~

When we both started to work in Nagoya in April, I was glad that Kyoko was there too. It was just hard to make good friends in Nagoya and the work was very demanding. So it was a relief to spend some time with Kyoko during the weekends, or if we could get lucky some times during the week to join each other for dinner. In a large city it was good to know that there was someone familiar. When I went to visit my family in fall, Mother mentioned about the visit by Kyoko's parents and talks about our wedding. 

Though not unexpected, I was surprised that Kyoko and I did not talk about it first. We were never formally engaged but I guess Kyoko had assumed that I would marry her even if I had not formally proposed to her. In fact we did not talk about it even when I returned to Nagoya. It was only a few weeks later that after a night of passionate lovemaking, I woke up next to Kyoko on Sunday morning. She made me some coffee and then pulled out a few brochures about a wedding location in Mie-ken (Wedding beauty). I still recall that I talked about my wedding as if it was someone else's and simply agreed to whatever Kyoko had suggested.

Continued: Changes in married life