Naturally, when it was discovered just what it meant that I had a pocket reality with a time dilation factor of a hundred, I was obliged to make further use of it, taking all of my Sekirei- as well as Uzume, Chiho, and, oddly enough, Kazehana- out for another day at the beach.

If I'm being honest, I don't actually like the beach all that much. Call me Anakin all you want, but I don't like sand. Plus, well, you can probably gather by now that I'm not exactly a fan of the outdoors; the only real time Matsu and I spent out at the beach, besides the one singular hour we spent doing normal beach stuff like building a sandcastle, had been spent either recruiting beach babes for group sex or at that event where there was free food, and also a wet t-shirt contest.

(There had, at first, been an extended debate on the ethics of sleeping with the people of this galaxy, the people I'd created, but that had been resolved with a single thumbtack to my ego. Turned out that, aside from the Warehouse Staff, a small group of people who beheld themselves to my will and did as I required- and them mainly because they couldn't think of anything else to do with their time- very few people in this galaxy even knew who I was, let alone cared. Every bit of "preferential treatment" I thought I'd received in here turned out to just be a post-scarcity society's standards of polite indulgence to strangers. Thus, any action I got would be purely on the grounds of my own charisma- the fact that I could grow tentacles was due to my Body Mod, and thus, in a society where having the Body Mod was the foundation of personhood, not terribly unique.)

But, well. I was an adult, and I was more-or-less immortal. I could tolerate having a day wasted, especially since everyone else- well, except Matsu, who was about as done with the beach as I was- was having a good time.

"Really," Matsu began, rubbing lotion on Akitsu's back. There wasn't that much point; aside from Sekirei resiliency having been proven in a lab to prevent sunburn, the laws of physics were just a touch askew here, and nobody could get a sunburn here, no matter how little sunscreen they wore.

But, well, tradition was tradition, especially when you were Matsu and really wanted to rub your hands all over another woman's oiled-up body. Akitsu, thankfully, was proving to be a very good sport.

"You should be thanking me," Matsu continued. "Now you and Rose know from the start that you can have as much time alone together as you want for your date."

"Indeed," Akitsu said. "I think I want... a month."

"Oh, wow," Matsu said. "That is a long vacation together. But hey! You deserve it! We can stand to lose you for... what would it be, seven or eight hours, our time?"

"No," Akitsu said. "A month out there."

Matsu coughed and spluttered, and I grinned.

"By my math, that'd be just about eight or so years in here," I said. "You really want to go on a date with me that lasts eight years?"

"We have limited time," Akitsu said. "I'm willing to settle for eight years."

"Heh, well." I shrugged. "Maybe sometime after we've finished our work back in Tokyo. Speaking of which, I had an idea while I was in here that you might like."

"Was it about winging me?" Akitsu asked.

"It is!" I confirmed. "See, MBI thinks it's just flatly impossible to wing you, right? Well, if I do manage to wing you, then MBI is going to want to see that in the lab, and we can use that as our distraction! Go into the lab, make out inside an MRI, and while all the eggheads are watching that, Musubi's going to have way more latitude to move around without being noticed!"

"I see," Akitsu said, nodding. "And so... you are now committed to winging me."

"Mhm," I said, nodding back. "I mean, you do retain the option to say no-"

"Like I'll use that."

"-but now, I've got both you wanting this and the mission needing this balancing against my fear of being wrong about what's going on, so..." I leaned back a bit further in my beach chair, enjoying the shade. I was never a huge fan of how hot it was at the beach, either. "Well, seven hours out there, a month in here? If you can wait that long... I'll wing you once we're out, if that's what you want."

"It is," Akitsu said firmly.

"Alright," Matsu said, raising herself up from where she'd been straddling Akitsu's hips. "I'm all done on this side. Roll over so I can get the other."

----------------------------------------

Once evening had come, and everyone else had left- Matsu having required a few kisses goodbye from myself, Akitsu, Uzume, Kazehana, and the surfing tutor before being willing to leave- it was just myself and Akitsu, watching the sun set on the beach.

"Now," I said. "It is a damn good thing you said a month, because right now, I have... no idea where to take you. I got no idea what your interests are. But, well..." I shrugged. "I am willing to bet that, whatever your interests end up being, they might not involve the beach?"

"They might not," Akitsu said, nodding.

"Well," I continued, humming and tapping my chin. "...What do you want to do?"

Akitsu considered the question carefully, before sighing. "I... I don't know."

"Well..." I patted her on the shoulder. "I think I just might have an idea."

"Oh?" Akitsu asked, turning to look up at me.

----------------------------------------

I carried Akitsu in my arms over the threshold of our home for the next month, gave her a quick peck on the lips, and then set us both down on the couch in the living room- the house had come pre-furnished, in the event that interior design wasn't one of her interests, because it most definitely was not one of mine. At least, not in a way most people would appreciate; I had a fondness for a few books on furniture from the 70s that posed a completely different perspective on furniture and living structures that I found absolutely fascinating, but which other people might find "living in a bunch of weird cubes."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

So, instead, I went for a way more normal house.

"Alright, so," I said, continuing to cradle Akitsu in my arms like a particularly patient housecat, as Akitsu continued to make no move to escape it. "Here's my idea, Akitsu. Starting tomorrow, we're going to attend this week-long program that'll throw all sorts of wildly varied activities at us both, for eight hours a day. Even if we don't find something you love doing in that time, I'm sure it'll point us in the right direction. And, well." I shrugged, realizing halfway through that I was holding Akitsu in my arms, but oh well, she didn't seem to mind. "It'll also mean meeting a bunch of new people and maybe even making some friends."

"I see," Akitsu said, nodding. "And... these new friends I make. Will they be going with you when you leave, at the end of your year?"

I winced.

"You know," I said, "I'm a little surprised you remembered that well enough to bring it up. You're doing better than Matsu, who needed to be reminded right before this awkward part of the evening."

"You are leaving, in ten months," Akitsu said. "Eleven months, now, for me, but..."

"Yeah," I said. "It's..." I sighed. "Well. Here's the thing, Akitsu: I can bring people with me. I could bring everyone in Izumo Inn with me, if they all wanted to go. But. That's the snag, isn't it? They have to want to come with me." I stretched a finger up to brush a lock of hair behind her ear. "And, after all of the hard work to come, of building a better world for the Sekirei?"

"I see," Akitsu said, nodding.

"Matsu won't be coming with me," I said. "I'm going to miss her, when I leave, but... Well. For all things there is a season. And you, Akitsu..." I shrugged. "Perhaps you will come with me. Perhaps you won't. The sad thing is... I don't think either of us knows you well enough to tell, just yet."

"You think I would stay behind?" Akitsu asked. "That I would leave your side? Rose. I have always, for as long as I've known you, wanted nothing more than to be there, with you."

"And if I'm being honest, that's not healthy," I said.

Akitsu blinked.

"It's been two months," I said. "That is, I think, long enough to have built up a stable enough rapport to have this conversation and not go to bed angry."

"What?" Akitsu asked.

"I came to understand you very early on," I said. "Who you were, what you wanted... But, well. That's because you just weren't very complicated. You were a lab rat, barely given any room to form a concrete identity beyond being a Sekirei, before an experiment went too far, and suddenly you felt alienated from even that. When I met you, Akitsu, all you wanted was to be desired, even in spite of your nature as 'damaged goods.' That's why what Musubi said gave you hope. That's why how I treated you gave you joy."

I sighed, then continued.

"I want to make something clear to you, Akitsu- I desire you greatly. You've developed a sharp wit that I've mentioned I'm fond of. But, Akitsu... more than wanting you by my side or in my bed, I want you to be happy and fulfilled, in ways that aren't tied to how much I want to fuck you. I want you to find things you love that might have absolutely nothing to do with me. I want you to be able to meet people and make friends without my impetus.

"I want you to be able to live a full, happy life on your own, Akitsu. So that, if you decide to stay by my side, it's not because you need me to have that life, but rather, because you simply want to share it with me."

"Ah," Akitsu said. It was an interesting and distressing effect, looking at her eyes. She must've been misting up, and then her ice powers flared just enough to freeze them into her lashes.

"This isn't goodbye," I promised her. "We still have the whole month of just you and me to look forward to, and then ten months with the others, before the day of choosing comes."

"I understand," Akitsu whispered.

"And," I added. "While now may not be the, ah... best time for it... I would like to note that, for the duration of this month... we aren't in Izumo Inn, or subject to any of its rules."

"Ah?" Akitsu blinked, then blushed. "Ah. Ah."

"Precisely," I said, nodding. "I don't really get tired, so, really, it's up to you when you want to go to bed."

"Now is fine," Akitsu said, trying and failing to sound casual about it, not just because I could feel her rubbing her thighs together.

"Very well."

----------------------------------------

Not every instructor in this pocket reality had the supernatural ability to transfer a Master's Degree worth of skill into someone with only two hours of teaching time. Still, we did pick up the activities at the... what was, really, a day camp for young adults, a lot quicker than was reasonable, just... only enough to avoid getting frustrated by beginner mistakes, and skip past that to the part where you can actually enjoy what you're doing. I found I rather liked playing the piano, once I got past the hurdle of being able to read sheet music and constantly fumbling with my fingers.

Akitsu, meanwhile, was learning all sorts of interesting things about herself: she enjoyed painting, but only landscapes, and portraiture could fuck right off. Baking was fun, but not if it was a recipe you had to be super fussy about exact measurements with; her bread was good, and meringue cookies were pretty much impossible to fuck up if you didn't care about the aesthetics, but she had neither enjoyed making nor eating her entremet. Sculpture, funnily enough, she took to like a duck to water; she couldn't articulate why she liked sculpting clay into the shape of a person, whereas painting a person wasn't her cup of tea, but it was fine. I'd just tease her about it a lot.

And one extracurricular we'd set up with some of the other attendees- organized primarily by a couple consisting of a tall, curvaceous elf with floral tattoos and a demon girl who, save for her red skin and burning eyes and curly horns, looked exactly like an ordinary and unremarkable human woman- that had originally been more of a hard-nosed skill-building exercise, but which Akitsu had gotten really into, was roleplaying.

Oh, sure, our new group would play a tabletop rpg twice a week, but the other five evenings were more devoted to improv games- apparently the tattooed elf and the plain-looking demon were both theater kids.

"Heeeey, sorry about the imposition," Jenny said as she showed up to the twenty fifth evening's get-together.

But of course, Akitsu's greatest interest, coming away from our month spent exploring all of these options, wasn't acting, or roleplaying, or anything like that.

"My sitter canceled," Jenny said, looking down at the swaddled bundle in her arms. "But hey, little Amy here'll behave herself just fine, won't she? Pluuuus, I know someone here wants to hold her. Who's first?"

Unfortunately.

"May I?" Akitsu asked.

"You may!"