When Sora messaged Mizuki a week later, he couldn't help smiling. In response to his text that he'd be a couple hours late, and wouldn't be able to pick her up from school Friday afternoon, she sent back a simple, 'OK'.

When he went to pick up Takumi's bike, Takumi commented, "You look really happy."

"I am," Sora replied happily. "Mizuki is the best girlfriend I've ever had." He sobered a moment as he glanced at the message history on his phone while reconnecting it to the motorcycle, and added, "Apart from her age."

Takumi chuckled as he pointed out, "Well she can't help that!" He added a little smugly, "I'm glad. I told you it seemed like she was good for you."

Sora asked curiously, "Why did you think that? You didn't know anything about her?"

Takumi grinned at his friend, gave a little shrug and pointed out, "She gave you good advice that you didn't hesitate to take."

"I just messed different things up," Sora pointed out.

"Even then, you didn't just go back to drinking when you were miserable," Takumi replied thoughtfully.

Sora admitted a little unhappily, "I promised her I'd eat well and not drink too much when I left her."

Takumi clapped his hand on Sora's shoulder and demanded, "See?"

Sora couldn't help laughing again as he left.

--

Mizuki's family was already eating dinner when he arrived. They paused to greet him as he entered, but no one got up, or acted as though a guest had arrived.

Oddly, it made him feel accepted rather than ignored, and the feeling was reinforced by the way Mizuki looked up at him and exclaimed, "Wow Sora, you look hot!"

His cheeks heated up as he unzipped his new riding jacket, and attached his helmet to the belt she'd hung up to hold hers on the little coat rack by the door.

Junshiro asked, "New gear?"

Sora explained, "Yeah. I'd been borrowing my friend's gear as well as his bike, but it wasn't entirely comfortable and I'm looking for a new bike. I may have found one, I'll find out for sure this week."

"Cool," Mizuki commented cheerfully and offered him a plate.

He checked the time and asked, "Should I just wait until after I've dropped you off?"

She frowned at the clock and argued, "If you're hungry, I can run out now and grab the bus?"

He ate a bite off her plate and insisted laughingly, without pointing out that if she took the bus he might as well have arrived when she got off work, "I'm hungry, but I'll live for another half hour Mizuki."

--

Her parents were welcoming when Sora returned. He ate the food they'd saved for him, and then helped out with odds and ends, willingly enough, until it was time to go pick Mizuki up after her shift. She was so tired out that they didn't get to talk much before sleeping, but he slept more contentedly with her tucked up against him.

The next morning, Mizuki woke up and slid mischievously under the covers.

Sora woke all the way up after a moment and groaned. When she surfaced again, he threw the blankets off the bed, pulled her up, and kissed her. When he released her mouth he worked his way lower.

Afterward they got up, instead of lingering in bed, and surprised her father by showing up at the table before he called them.

--

At the theatre, Sora hesitated before buying the tickets.

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Mizuki laughed at his reluctance, and assured him, "We don't have to watch this Sora. I don't mind if we choose something else?"

He looked down at her, and then firmly selected the Pokemon movie without replying. When they entered the theatre he was surprised by the age range of people who'd come out on a Saturday morning to see it.

When he commented, Mizuki smirked as she reminded him, "I told you that Pikachu is older than you are." She admitted after a moment, "When the movie has been out longer it will be mostly kids."

--

When the movie was finally over, Mizuki looked up at Sora, laughed, and patted his arm. "Sora, you don't have to come watch any more anime with me if you don't want to," she told him comfortingly.

"I don't mind that it was an anime so much," he insisted swiftly, "but why did they make it so cliché?"

He complained about the plot and jokes for a few minutes before she grinned at him and explained, "It's like that because it's a classic character. They tried to change things a few times and everyone complained. Pikachu's human pet, Ash, would be like fifty years old if they had any kind of actual timeline going."

"But would eternal youth normally result in stagnation of their character development?" he argued with a sigh.

She offered, "We can just rent whatever you'd like to see from home next time? We don't have to stick to what's in theatres in the morning."

"I was trying to think of things we could do for dates out," he protested.

She grinned up at him, and said with amazement, "Wow Sora, you really haven't been on as many dates as I imagined?"

"I bet it's still a lot more than you have," he replied uncomfortably.

"I haven't been on many," she admitted, "but I've helped plan lots!"

He grinned at her and challenged, "I leave our next one to you then."

"Okay," she agreed. "Tomorrow or next weekend?"

"Tomorrow?" he suggested. "We could try taking turns?"

"That sounds fun," she agreed cheerfully.

He bent and kissed her before driving her to her workplace. Her ten hour shift left him with what felt like an entire day to waste, while the person he wanted to spend it with labored without him.

--

When she got off work Mizuki was exhausted again. When they climbed into bed she asked hesitantly, "Sora? Would you mind rubbing my feet very much?"

"I wouldn't mind at all?" Sora responded with surprise.

He sat up, scooped her into his lap, and rubbed her feet for a little while. She gave a little moan of pleasure after a couple minutes, and he laughed at her.

After a bit he asked, "Do you really need to work so hard Mizuki?"

She asked with amusement, "Are you offering to support me Sora?"

He blinked at her and after a minute replied, "Sure."

She sat up and protested, "Sora!"

"What?" he asked.

"Seriously?" she questioned.

"I'd get to spend more time with you," he pointed out.

She fell back onto her elbows and stared at him. After a minute he said, "I think I could afford to, although it would slow things down. I don't have much savings left."

"Why not?" Mizuki asked curiously.

He was embarrassed to admit, "After I got the new job, I gave most of what I had left to Takumi and Eri as a wedding present."

"Oh," she commented blankly.

He added quickly, "They probably didn't need it, but I wanted to give them enough that Takumi can spoil her a little, and still be comfortable when the baby arrives."

She grinned as she assured him, "I'm not going to scold you for giving your friends a wedding present Sora."

He rubbed her feet a little longer and then pulled her up for a kiss. "So? Can I take care of you instead of having you work all the time?" he asked.

She gazed into his face seriously for a moment before answering. "I don't know Sora. I promised to work through the winter holidays already though."

"Oh," he replied with disappointment.

She kissed him again and then told him, "But if you're really serious, I'll think about it?"

"I'm serious," he assured her.

She kissed him again.

--

The next morning after breakfast, for her date idea, Mizuki took Sora to an arcade. They played a dozen different games together before she had to be at work.

Sora kissed her enthusiastically when they left, and told her, "That was surprisingly fun."

"A little expensive though, compared to playing things at home," she pointed out hesitantly.

Sora asked with surprise, "Do you have a game system?"

"Doesn't everybody?" Mizuki quizzed.

He laughed and asked, "Which one? Can we play together on the net when I'm not here?"

It didn't take long to reveal that they had different consoles. Sora had a system that mostly catered to action games, while Mizuki had chosen one that mostly featured role playing games.

As she passed him her helmet, she suggested, "Maybe instead of getting each other Christmas presents, we could go in together on a pair of one of the handheld systems? Then you could bring it with you and we could play here too?"

He kissed her one last time, and agreed, "I'd like that."