"Like I said… You really didn't have to pick me up. We could have just met at the station or something."

"At least give me this. I'm still feeling very sorry that we haven't had a date in so long.

Alright, shall we go?"

"Yeah."

In front of Yui Akina's house, Ginji waited for her significant other to come out wearing a flustered look for being fetched from her home to a long overdue date. In the growing cold, he took the lady's hand as they walked.

Upon taking a look at her lover, Yui noticed that beyond the nice sweater and overall great outfit, and his usual demeanor, she also felt in her eyes that Ginji appears to be a lot more confident in some way or another.

Nonetheless, the momentary touch on the cloth of the sweater naturally attracted her to inch closer to feel the comfort of the nice cloth and the warmth.

"What's with her… Cute."

"You're looking livelier," Yui started.

"Well, yeah. I've been getting a lot more sleep these days. Because of working from home, I basically have to wake up really early for only two days when I'm in the office. Now I can oversleep a bit unless I have an online meeting.

But enough of that. I shouldn't be talking about work right now. I'm with you."

"Thank you for all the hard work~"

"Likewise."

"What have you been to these days?"

"Honestly, just catching up? I was too focused on college but now I get to let loose a bit. We've somehow made Gin's house a place of retreat so maybe we I can bring you if you're free."

"That sounds fun. I want to catch up with Ringo too. I still haven't met with her all this time."

"Just come to her place if you have the time. Although Gin's still living with her family."

"I heard. Where are we going first?"

"There's an exhibit going on where the artist is displaying plush toys as the pieces. And they also have a pool of stuffed toys where you can just jump on them or something for 30 minutes if you pay.

I don't really know a lot of places to go, and a usual art exhibit is starting to sound boring to me.

I also found an interesting planetarium. It's like a manga cafe but bigger, and it's like a personal planetarium. I went ahead and rented a room for the rest of the day since it's our last place."

"Can we touch the plushies?"

"Of course, but not the displays. I'm also curious how it feels like to lay down on a bed of stuffed toys. It just sounds so comfy in my head.

But well… my aim honestly is just to have a chill day. I really don't want us to move around much so I picked those places. Who am I kidding, it's a date but I just want to laze around with you."

"You say that, but it sounds like an expensive lazing around."

"Please let me go all out today, okay? Don't worry about me. I think we equally just want to have a good time today."

"…

Then next time let's just have a home date. I'll make you your favorite dish then maybe we could watch a movie or two."

"That sounds great."

Three stations away from home, they arrived at the museum where the exhibit is being held. The artist that was holding the exhibit is a Japanese craftsman known for having a company being one of the leading producers of stuffed toys and nuigurumi in the country. He also makes his own designs completely by hand, and he would sell his handmade works on a limited amount with exclusive identification before they reach mass production and be sold at a more affordable price.

To their surprise, the craftsman was present in the exhibit on that day with an interpreter, thus letting Ginji and Yui meet him in person with the former conversing with limited Japanese which made the artist delighted for he hasn't yet met someone that he can talk to in his mother tongue.

Thereafter, they toured around the exhibit and took pictures for the better part of half an hour with Ginji actively stopping her significant other from touching the exhibit displays. As there were not a lot of people in the exhibit at that time of the day, they took the advantage and got a ticket to enjoy the part of the exhibit where they can go into a pit brimming with stuffed toys.

"Ahh… this is heaven…"

Obviously delighted and fawning, Yui let herself fall to the sea of softness and embraced a long plushie as soon as she caught one. With an invitation, Ginji followed and let his back free fall just the same.

"Oh, wow. It's unreal how soft they got them unlike others. It feels like I'll sink if I'm not careful."

"Right~? And we have this for half an hour to ourselves…"

What stood out in the attraction is that all the stuffed toys are unique and there were no identical designs whatsoever. There was an information board saying that in the pit are all the designs that the artist and his apprentices have designed for their company from the oldest to the latest, minus the ones where they do not hold the intellectual property. They are however replicas that are included in the mass-produced sets as the genuine articles are in display.

Thus, it became a game for the couple to see if they can find all the unique designs… but they chose to give up halfway and idly laid down on the bed of stuffed toys once more, with Yui finding anew the long plushie where she made it stand on her stomach and shook it as it flails around.

"Having too much fun, I see."

"Ahaha, can't help it~"

"Well, that's goo-"

Ginji was stopped on his words as he only watched the back of the long plushie's head fall right in front of his face, but even before he could move it away, he suddenly felt a softness on his shoulder and an arm wrapping over him.

Unsurprisingly, at this point, he glanced at Yui who is now clinging close on his left with an embrace as though he replaced the plushie that fell on his face.

Stolen story; please report.

"What's up with your sweater? The fabric feels so nice…"

"What are you doing?" he asked blankly.

"What else? It's not like anyone can see us from here," to which she cheekily replied.

"For sure the security is watching us through the cameras, but I shouldn't be too much of a realist, so I'll let this pass."

Suddenly, Yui asked how long they still have in the pit.

"Six minutes."

"Aahhh, I might just pass out from the bliss so wake me up when the time is up."

"Now don't do that."

~ ~ ~

With their time in the exhibit finally up, the man of the date led the lady who was reluctant on leaving after having a time of her life to lunch.

"A Korean restaurant?"

"This might surprise you, but I haven't had any Korean food at all so I immediately reserved a table for us once I found it."

He says a table, but it was a private room.

"Is your wallet doing well, Ginji…?"

"Like I said, don't worry about it.

I've learned my lesson when I was in Mykes. I can't let myself get pushed around everywhere so any request I got in IIAT comes with a price."

"And honestly, I've only been working for a few months and my savings from my salary are taking a blow.

But if the exhibit was any indication, this is worth it down to the cent."

"I recently watched a K-drama-"

"That's news, you really did?"

"Why do you sound so surprised… Anyway, the show was adapted from a manhwa I read, and I think they're both good, but I still prefer scrolling. Haha."

"If there's anything you have in common with Gin, it would be that you two get addicted to reading manga or manhwa in this case when you find a good title. Don't tell me I'm wrong?"

"Ahahaha, busted. I've had nights when I slept at 4am to finish a title… and then you look up the name of the author and they have more works."

"My goodness…" the maiden facepalmed in disappointment.

In the midst of savoring the sumptuous lunch in front of them, Ginji made use of the opportunity and privacy to discuss with Yui his prior plans to move in a safer place, in which her lover wholly understood.

"I don't really know how long it'll take me and my sister to reach that point, but in my case, this is my priority so that I can plan ahead further in the future."

"I see…"

While it seems that Yui understood his goals, it was unclear if she caught on to what Ginji meant with "further in the future."

"I really wish you and your family all the best. I can't imagine living 21 years like that. If it ever gets hard, you can always come to me."

"I now have the time so I'll gladly take you up on your offer next time.

Oh, also…"

From his bag, Ginji took out a silk pouch and slid it onto the table towards Yui.

"What's this…?"

"Just a small present. You can open it."

Feeling the thump of her heart, Yui silently pulled open the pouch to find a long cord made from braided threads making a pattern made from different shades of magenta.

"Took me two years to finally make a really good one. I guess learning kumihimo was worth it after all."

"Wait, this is handmade?!"

"Sure is. You can use it however you want—a bracelet, a hair tie, or anything you can think of."

Without a second thought, she untied her unruly high ponytail right then and there, and loosely tied her hair over her shoulders in such a way that the braided cord would be visible.

Ginji could feel the increasing warmth on his face as a smile so bright and sweet beamed in front of him like the sun.

"This is what I worked hard for…"

"Hahh… that's very pretty."

~ ~ ~

At around 2:30pm, they arrived at the building where the personal planetariums are located. With a few more minutes to spare before Ginji's booked time, they looked at the dioramas of planets and outer space in the place.

But while the dioramas were indeed amazing in terms of how creatively they were made, the one that amazed Yui the most was the person together with him suddenly with a pair of eyeglasses over his eyes. The almost visible sparkle in her eyes and fascination were however replaced with curiosity.

"I didn't know you wear glasses now?"

"Ah, yeah. Among many things, I also got my eyes checked and came out with diplopia."

"Diplopia? Explain like I'm five?"

"I basically see double vision. Take for example this globe—I can see a faint image misaligned vertically.

It's like how I moved up a 15% transparency duplicate layer by 20 pixels."

"That's more like explain like I'm 15 but I can imagine it. Is it serious?"

"It can be corrected with the lenses I got. It's not so bad that I can't see without them"

"But you should have just worn it way earlier in the first place."

"Sorry."

She scolded, but once more, Yui took a glance of her partner from his head to toe and certainly noticed that Ginji now looks a little different from how he was two years ago.

As her face and ears warmed up, she slid in front of Ginji and moved the glasses up from his eyes, then back to the bridge of his nose.

"I really didn't notice it since we didn't see each other a lot, but you really look a lot better now."

"Huh?"

"It's like you're more of a man now, I guess?"

Back in their first year in college, Ginji would always be seen wearing the same color of shirts like it was a uniform, his posture was a bit improper, and he was only bordering a normal body mass index.

Seeing him now, however, he has learned how to dress better, his fixed posture gives an impression that he is taller, his body seems to now have more mass, and he now carries himself more confidently and more mature.

That was the eyes of Yui Akina caught. Still, aside from the large scar hidden in his clothing, she could still see the new scars that came from stopping Gin's rampage.

"Hey now. Maybe you should just wear that hair style in this sort of season. Aren't you cold with your hair tied up?"

"I guess. And you seem to like staring at the hair tie you gave me~"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't have to be shy, ahaha.

Ah, it's almost 3."

One of the staff in the reception then led the couple to a square room that is around the area of 25 square meters with a slightly domed ceiling. The room has four seats with a large cushioned mat on the floor in front of the chairs, hence them prompted to remove the shoes.

Once the tour was over, they left them on their own in the room prompting Yui to approach a side of the room where the entire wall is a bookshelf.

"Ginji? You told me this is like a manga cafe!"

Confused as she already is, the twist just added to it.

"Neat, isn't it? This was such a good find. You get a mini planetarium show and a manga cafe all at once. This is why I booked it for several hours."

"I should have asked…"

With another half an hour until the display starts, Ginji guided Yui to a few titles he recommended to her and lazed around on the mat reading the books they got from themselves.

The room was in the perfect temperature, and lying down on a quality mat just added to the comfort of reading and being at ease. It was comfortable enough that Ginji had to make sure that he would not be seen when he let out several yawns over an interval of several pages in the volume he is reading.

Then, the countdown to the show hit zero which rushed them to turn off the lights as the projection has started.

Instead of enjoying the show on the equally comfortable seats, the two opted to just lie down on the very center of the room together. In the dark, the stars finally faded in. The luster of the stars became brighter, galaxies appeared, and abstract clouds of colors panned giving one the disbelief if such a thing really exists somewhere billions of miles away from the Earth.

"Hm?"

At around half of the 30-minute show, Yui realized that the man beside her had completely gone silent while she tries to get a reaction from him from time to time.

Under the illumination of the space's projection that ever changes, Yui peered at Ginji's sleeping face.

"…"

Instead of waking him up, she chose to take off his glasses and placed them near his bag.

There, Yui noticed that all these years, she never realized how long Ginji's eyelashes were. She thought to herself—perhaps seeing these details were made possible all because of the year Ginji sheared from his education. From his accounts, he claims that he has now more time—an opportunity opened up by the hard work that caused him to be able to plan his next steps ahead, thinking about the possibilities enabled by the benefits he received.

She also realized that perhaps he sacrificed a short two years of enduring the distress that he had gone through, all for a time subsequent where it would make things easier for him and for the people around him.

With a feeling welling up inside her, Yui withdrew from looking at his lover's face and laid back down, once again clinging closer to Ginji.

"How nice would it be if we can do this under real stars.

…

I wonder if you're dreaming something right about now, Ginji…"

Her emotions subsided, and slowly, Yui likewise faded to sleep.

Suddenly, I see myself floating around in space with the stars twinkling on the silent void. But as I helplessly flailed around, I caught the sight of sun. Even here, the sun was just as blinding as ever.

As I opened my eyes back, all I saw was a hazy sight of an unknown home. I was bringing food to the dining table, and I was helped by a woman whose face I can't see. Still, as we sat, I could see her smile and her hair tie stood out as the cord was braided in different shades of magenta-dyed threads.

How I wish I could see the left hand of the woman right now.

…

Since the beginning, I couldn't feel anything but the warmth growing from my heart just now. I began to make sense of what could be this scene that I am seeing in front of me.

All I could think from that point was…

"This… This is what I worked hard for."