Sora asked Mizuki to let him help with breakfast, although he added with embarrassment, "You'll have to give me things to chop and stir. I really haven't cooked much, although Takumi's father did try to teach me a few times."

"The cake must have been a project," Mizuki commented laughingly with a glance at the covered plate that still sat on the counter.

"Your mom seems used to teaching people to cook. It was mostly stirring, and she made it seem easier than I expected," he told her a bit sheepishly.

"It's okay Sora, I don't hate cooking. You don't even have to help if you don't want to," she assured him comfortingly.

"I want to help you," he insisted.

She smiled as she handed him a large onion, and agreed, "Okay. Can you dice this? Do I need to explain?"

"Lots of pieces about a centimeter wide," he replied promptly.

"Preferably no wider than a centimeter," she agreed.

"I did take home economics with Takumi, I just didn't care about it," he explained.

"You should have made cake before then?" Mizuki questioned as she climbed onto the counter and opened an upper cabinet.

Sora looked at her, and asked a little sharply, "What are you doing Mizuki?"

"Getting a bowl?" she answered with surprise.

"I'm right here," he complained. She gave him a blank look and he covered his eyes for a moment and then demanded, "Ask me to get you things you can't reach!"

She blushed as she set down the bowl. "I didn't even think about that," she admitted. Sora reached out and touched her shoulder lightly and after a moment she added, "But there are so many things I can't reach without climbing on something that it could get really annoying."

"I don't care if you climb on the counter," he admitted. "I just feel annoyed that it didn't even occur to you to ask. Your mother asked me for things last night."

Mizuki bit her lip, and then winced as the pressure informed her of the existing wound where she'd broken the skin earlier.

Sora immediately went over to the freezer, got out an ice chip, then turned back and demanded plaintively , "Suck on this for a minute." She accepted the ice, and he lifted her off of the counter. "Mizuki…"

Minori asked hesitantly from the hall, "Should we wait for you two to call us before we come out for breakfast?"

Mizuki blushed and protested, "We are not doing that kind of thing."

Sora quickly set her on the floor, and glanced toward the hall where her mother was peeking shyly around the corner.

Her father chuckled and replied over her mother's shoulder, "But you didn't have any question about what kind of thing she was asking about."

Mizuki covered her face. Sora hugged her for a moment longer, and then turned away and asked, "What's next after the bowl and the onion?"

"Eggs and milk," she told him, then turned and asked her parents, "Do you want to eat the cake later or should I fix fruit and cream too?"

"I'm planning to take your mother out to lunch," Junshiro replied quickly.

"Really Jun?" Minori asked with pleased surprise.

He hugged her affectionately as he explained, "I was thinking that we could start going out every couple of weeks as a regular thing, if Mizuki is going to be busy most weekends anyway."

Mizuki objected, "You could have been doing it as a regular thing even with me here!"

"Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons have been our family time with the kids for so long that it hadn't really occurred to me until now, even though you've been working Sunday afternoons for weeks," he admitted.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Minori blushed and assured him, "Me either."

Mizuki rolled her eyes, but then she grinned at her parents and declared, "We should definitely have the cake then."

--

After breakfast Mizuki and Sora went out first.

"This helmet really is too tight," Mizuki complained as she pulled it on again.

Sora looked her over and then asked seriously, "Would you rather have me get a bike or a car?"

She gazed up at him for a minute, and then insisted, "Whichever you'd prefer is fine Sora?"

"Then let's go buy a helmet next, and I'll start looking for a bike of my own again," he proposed cheerfully.

"You said you sold your car before, what happened to your motorcycle?" she asked while Sora donned his own helmet.

"I sold it my second year up north. It seemed silly to pay for storage for the half a year when I couldn't drive it due to weather. I've kind of regretted doing that ever since though," he explained.

"Oh." The short reply seemed insufficient, so she stepped forward to hug him. He bent and kissed her for a minute, and the heat of his kiss reminded her what they'd originally come out to go buy.

Sora straightened and then asked before mounting, "Any idea where to go shopping for a helmet here?"

Mizuki mentally switched targets, and thought about it for a minute before replying, "Maybe? I think there's a shop near the west side bakery? I'm not sure we have time though?"

Sora called up a map on the bike's screen, and searched for a minute before informing her, "There's a closer shop, about eight blocks from where you're working. Should we go look there for today?"

"Okay," she agreed.

--

Sora looked at the fiercely yellow helmet dubiously when Mizuki picked it out.

Mizuki looked at his face and sighed. "You're thinking Pikachu is a children's thing again aren't you?"

He turned and pointed to the children's jackets which had various anime characters on them as he protested, "I'm obviously not the only one?"

Mizuki looked at them, then shrugged as she asked, "You do realize that I'm probably stuck with wearing things from that selection for life, so I might as well like something about it?"

"Women's gear comes in really small sizes?" he protested doubtfully.

"If you're thin," she agreed.

He covered his eyes and asked, "Am I going to have to repeat that you're not fat for the rest of my life?"

"Well, I'd like that, but you don't have to," she told him with a sudden grin.

"You're not fat," he insisted laughingly.

"I'll try some of them on for you Sora," she said agreeably.

After she'd tried on several of the smaller women's jackets he let her try on one of the children's jackets and asked in a somewhat baffled and angry tone, "Why on Earth would anyone think that a small woman is going to be thinner than a child? They have breasts!"

Mizuki shrugged again as she informed him, "All sports gear is like this, except for swimsuits. Although one piece suits are like this too sometimes." After a moment she offered quietly, "But if having your girlfriend dressed in Pikachu stuff is embarrassing, I'll pick something else?"

"It's okay Mizuki," he insisted quickly. "Pikachu yellow is a good colour for safety anyway. But when I replace my gear I think I'll switch to green so that they're at least complementary colours."

"Oh," she said with sudden realization, "the red is Takumi-san's? What colour did you wear?"

"Sky blue," he replied. She stared at him open mouthed for a moment and he asked, "What? Too silly?"

She shook her head and replied quickly, "Of course not! It suits you perfectly. Would you rather I choose green stuff?"

He bent and kissed her, before replying, "We don't have time to change what you're getting if we're doing this today, and I really don't mind."

"We could wait until you've got your own bike," she pointed out.

"Takumi said I can borrow his every weekend if I want. He's getting a car soon because it's safer for Eri-chan as she gets more pregnant and they'll need it when the baby arrives anyway," Sora explained as he led her to the checkout. "He'll mostly just ride to and from work from now on."

--

When Sora dropped her off at work Mizuki clung to him until he whispered, "Not that I want to let go of you, but you're going to be late Mizuki."

"We should have made time to do it before you left," she complained. "And we still didn't buy those."

He grinned at her suddenly and promised, "I'll get them." He stroked her cheek affectionately and added, "And I'm kind of glad we didn't."

"Why?" she asked doubtfully.

"Because part of the reason I was afraid to be with you was that we've never spent a day together without doing it before," he explained ruefully.

Mizuki stared up at him as an unsuspected regret stabbed at her. She asked a little tearfully, "If I hadn't gone to the hotel with you, would you have been able to date me sooner Sora?"

Sora gazed down at her with a startled expression. "I don't know for sure, but I had never intended to date anyone so young, and just got stuck on that idea. I was really afraid that I'd be bad for you if I couldn't hold back. I'm really sorry Mizuki, don't cry?" he begged.

She scrubbed at her face and demanded, "Kiss me again and then I'll go in, but message when you're home safe?"

He kissed her hard and then promised, "I will."

He watched her go inside before he went back to her parent's to get his stuff.