Zero called Yoko and let her know to come down to the lobby with Nova in 30 minutes as he cooked the meal. With the lobby cleared out Zero had an easy time arranging things to set a nice mood. While he was cooking he used his telekinesis to arrange the table and chairs. A few minutes before 9 p.m. Hikaru brought an elegantly dressed Mrs. Kimura down to the lobby.
Zero looked at Mrs. Kimura momentarily before turning to face Hikaru and said, “You chose a nice dress. Thank you, Hikaru.”
“No problem but next time try to remember people’s birthdays so you don’t have to scramble like this.” said Hikaru
Zero smirked and said, “Truthfully even if I had remembered and planned for this I’m sure we would have still ended up here. I learned in the castle that I suck at plans so I’m going to work on that.”
“Well, I don’t believe your terrible at making plans I however do believe you make plans on short notice. Your plans aren’t bad it's just that they have no breathing room in between and they don’t handle change very well. When I make plans they don’t always work out the way I planned but thanks to capable subordinates who I trust to alter my plans. You need to start trusting the people around you and stop putting everything on your shoulders.” said Hikaru as she walked over and held Zero’s shoulder
Zero listened to Hikaru and nodded at her advice. He did think that maybe if he had shared his plans as soon as he thought of them he might not have faced death so many times. Luckily Zero had taken his soul out of his body or he would have died 4 times over in the span of a week. After the battle with Sophia, he had gone to check on his soul crystal only to find multiple cracks on the crystal surface. Even now it still shocks him how close he came to death without knowing it.
Hikaru smiled and said, “Well I’ll leave you guy to handle everything now. Let me know if it goes well okay.”
Hikaru walked over to the elevator leaving Mrs. Kimura who had a confused look on her face as she listened to their conversation. When she noticed Zero look at her she was startled and looked down to avoid eye contact. As she kept looking down she suddenly heard Zero say, “Relax I only need you to play the piano. Just do your best to relax and do your best.”
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Mrs. Kimura slowly looked up to look Zero in the eye. She saw that Zero looked at her with a calm expression and that worried her. She worried that if she couldn’t perform well then Zero might take back his miracle. Zero looked as if he could tell what was on her mind when he sighed after her thoughts.
Mrs. Kimura shook her head and walked over to the longe piano. She began to play a simple song to adjust to the feeling of her new fingers. Her nerves were on high alert because she felt that if she failed to give a satisfactory result Zero would send her back to the hospital.
Moments later the elevator descended and out came Yoko holding Nova. They were both dressed elegantly with Yoko in her true form with the exception of her wings. Yoko looked stunning as the dim lighting illuminated her beauty. Zero was momentarily stunned as he looked at Yoko but quickly regained his calm.
Walking over Yoko smiled and said, “Wow it looks like you really didn’t plan all this last minute. Thank you for remembering my birthday Zero.”
Zero felt guilty for not really remembering her birthday but nevertheless, he still played the part he had chosen. Zero led Yoko to a beautifully decorated table near the piano and like a gentleman pulled out the chairs for Yoko and Nova. When the 2 were seated Zero walked into the kitchen and wheeled out a cart filled with some food. Setting the dishes down on the table Zero glanced at Mrs. Kimura as a signal for her to begin playing.
Yoko looked at the magnificent meal spread before her and then looked at Zero and asked, “You cooked this by yourself?”
“Yes how did you know?” asked Zero
“I can sense faint traces of your mana embedded within the food. You also have that bad habit of releasing mana whenever you’re focused on certain things.” answered Yoko
Zero gave an embarrassed smiled and motioned for them to start eating. The atmosphere was quite good with Mrs. Kimura playing Waltz E-minor No. 14. The slightly dim lighting also improved the atmosphere and allowed for the pseudo-family of 3 to chat with ease. After an hour Nova began to feel sleepy and started to nod off when Zero stood up and grabbed her before she could fall off her chair. With the sleeping Nova in his arms, Zero opened a dimensional portal and Mrs. Kimura suddenly stopped her playing only to continue a few seconds later. Zero paying it no mind simply walked through the portal and laid the sleeping girl on the bed. When Nova touched the bed her beautiful dress shifted into pajamas instantly.
Zero exited the room and found Yoko smiling at him. Zero smiled back and returned to his seat as the portal closed and within a few seconds, a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling juice cocktail and 2 glasses floated from the kitchen arranging themselves neatly on the table. Zero was unaware if alcohol could hurt the child in Yoko’s stomach since it had no effect on them but he decided to play it safe just in case.
The bottle float in the air and poured into their glasses before returning to its original spot. Zero then lifted his glass and they clinked their glasses before taking a sip. The 2 continued to talk throughout the night but lucky for Mrs. Kimura that Zero released her so they could chat in private.