I didn't hear an alarm go off.

Despite the AC being at 25 degrees it somehow feels warmer than it is which inevitably woke me up. And beside me is a concerning sight of Kyupi lying on his back, sleeping right above Rin's face.

As much as I'm glad to know that Kyu feels safer now that he has been in this house for three months, he has grown a bit, and I don't think lying on a surface that is not flat is good for him, more so on a face. On the other hand, I immediately moved the kibby to the bed and felt a huge relief that Rin could still breathe well after that.

Maybe I'm finally living in paradise. A fantastical assumption that I immediately got pulled away from when I looked at the clock saying 9:15 in the morning.

As early as this in the summer, anyone would say that they would be in hell with how hot it can already be.

And as much as I want to wake up Rin, I think she earned sleeping in.

It's been, what, a few days ever since she graduated and she's been following her plan of taking a breather for a few months before she return full-time to her workplace, which is Claude.

I would say that it is such a heaven-sent that Rin got herself a fine first job even before she graduated. Compared to Giotto's, his benefits are a lot more loaded, that is not to say that Hiro and Sean are not good at handling human resources. If they were, then we wouldn't have a branch in Japan.

It's just that Claude is on another level, and it's probably a perk of getting into a specialized school. Rin had also expressed her disinterest with working with us in Giotto's despite having helped us a lot. It's just a matter of preferring to work outside the family and expanding her experience, which I would be a fool if I were to be offended with it.

She has a life of her own… but it appears that we are slowly starting to have our lives shared with each other, now that I keep getting reminded that we are now engaged.

Every time that crosses my mind, it's like I turn into a maiden who can't keep her wits straight from sheer happiness.

In preparation for that proposal, I regularly went to the underground base to learn how to work with metals to make a custom designed ring, and also got myself a crash course in chemistry. That said, I never even bothered to make one for myself, so I am making do with the one I got from Japan and have it be on my left hand instead of just wearing it as a necklace like I've always done. With that, I learned another skill on my belt.

But has anything changed with the two of us? Not really, or maybe? I guess in just a few days we became a lot more open with talking not just about our individual futures but also our prospects transitioning to a life together. More than two hundred chapters, if I were to include the prequel, it's always been a joke that we look so much like a married couple, but it's starting to sound more like "where is my invitation?" is going to replace that.

Fifteen minutes later, Rin finally came downstairs while I was checking Witter.

"Finally up? How was your mimir?"

"It was a good ten hours of eep… Eaten yet, Potato…?"

"I haven't. I feel like just eating cereal so I didn't make anything, though."

"I'm down with that…"

It's funny how the difference in the size of the bowls we choose are so drastic, and this is one of those times where I am glad I'm not lactose intolerant.

"Oh, right. Nacchi still lives here. Is he awake yet?"

"He hasn't tweeted, so probably not. It's interesting to watch closely how someone's sleep schedule devolve into a hot mess.

Wait, did you forget he's here?"

"For a second. My brain's just not working these days…"

So she says as her head plops on the dining table with tepid eyes most likely peering beyond galaxies.

"Say… have I literally done nothing these past few days?" and so she realized.

"Took you long enough."

"So I've just been going back and forth our house and here… waking up, eating, and ended up sleeping…"

"Hey, it's nice to chill down once in a while. You don't have to think about studying anymore and there's no job-hunting for you to worry about.

But you'll have waaaaaay more things to worry about down the line now that you're in the workforce."

"Gee, thanks for the reality check…

But even if you say that, I still have nothing to do."

"There's one in front of you. You have a cereal bowl to finish."

"If I'm really grasping at straws, maybe I should just clean the house or something."

"Or you can draw?"

"I feel like moving around…"

Then once again, she went back to her galaxy-peering gaze.

"Maybe I was supposed to say 'I should clean our house?'"

"Well, no, but yes. Honestly, the only thing you haven't done here is move in completely."

"Should I?"

"Uncle Shuu would cry.

Or maybe I should now say father-in-law?"

After a pause, we synchronously pointed and looked at each other.

"Eeeeeeyyyyyy~"

"Eeeeeeyyyyyy~"

"But really, just give them your time while we're not married yet."

"I know, I know. But that doesn't stop me from cleaning our house, okay? You're especially lazy when it comes to changing your curtains."

"Blankets and curtains are a paaaaain…"

"You say that but you still wind up doing them."

"What's next after we do the chores, though?"

"Oh no…" she hasn't even started anything and she's already depressed.

Rin is somehow already acting funny not even half into the day, but I get these times where I just watch her reaction because they're interesting.

"Should we go for an evening jog later?"

"Eh, no way. It's way too hot. Maybe you should buy a treadmill for times like this."

"I'll consider it if you're willing to split the payment with me."

"So we're now at the point where we have to think about budgeting together?"

"I told you, you'll have way more things to worry about. While you're still staying with your parents, you'll think less about this too."

"Ugh…"

Anyway, I'll be a failure of a househusband if I couldn't even help her in cleaning the house. As for Nagi's office, he'll have to deal with that himself.

~ ~ ~

"Gin, do you have a moment?"

While we were taking a break after lunch, I suddenly found my dad entering my house on a bit of a hurry with an envelope and a laptop on his hand.

"Yes?"

Immediately, he sat beside me and opened his computer.

As Rin happened to be with me, she awkwardly asked, "Should I step out for a bit, Uncle…?"

"Hm, it's fine. You can listen to us. It's not exactly that private of a talk… or there's no point not telling you about it, I guess? Screw the formalities, you're basically with us now."

Rin blushed hearing what would be a heartfelt thing to say, but done so in Dad's usually neutral tone.

"What do you even mean by that, Dad."

"Anyway, big news: I think we have a buyer for the house."

"Wait, seriously? Like, there's actually someone insane to be interested?"

"Even I'm surprised myself."

A few months ago, we have greenlit the move of our family house to a new lot by using the money that Yohan Mizuno donated to us, as a reparation I suppose, a year ago. We had two options with one being selling the house and the other is getting it demolished, as it was still clear in our plan that the house to be built would be as identical as we could get, with the only difference of it having more than one floor instead of a bungalow. That plan would save us some money as there will be less area in terms of square meters that we have to acquire compared to the one our current house has.

The main problem however, as already said many times, is the value of the area where we are. I had honestly given up on the thought that we could actually sell the house due to the condition of the street that we live at. Just the other day when we were stranded and there was a low-pressure area raining down on the entirety of Orio, the street had quickly been flooded to the point where no vehicles could pass.

Depreciated in value and price as it may be, my family thought to ourselves, who would even want to move in this area? But it seems that I am yet to get an answer on that.

"Someone saw the posting that we are looking for potential buyers for the house and I got in contact via email and it turns out that he is a civil engineer.

I looked up the person and I found his L*nkedIn profile and he even sent me a CV for some reason just to prove that he's not some fraud.

Go and look at our chain of conversations."

Based on the sequence of emails and looking through their profile, it seems that this person is working on a private firm and directly on construction sites with ample experience on his belt despite just being 31. That said, the reason why he is interested is because he personally wants to study the one downside of our street together with areas across the country sharing the same situation, and the area was ideal as it is very close to the highway and commercial districts. It also showed up that he was initially interested with a house nearby at around eight years ago as it was a way better find, and even getting to look at it… until it was purchased at around September 2017.

Well… the house number was #275, so sorry, I'm not sorry.

I instantly realized that this process of getting a buyer would probably be a little easier if we were to have consulted the real estate man Kanbe Hachido, who was the agent that sold us this very house. But if the author has completely forgotten about him until he was writing this paragraph, then we can't do anything about that anymore.

Anyway, it does not seem like he is affiliated with the government, but it does appear that he has some interests as his emails had the sound like he wants the division of government that is in charge of public works to look into the serious flooding issue of the street, and his motive is to get at the heart of the issue and see a way to prevent it rather than to mitigate it.

If this deal is to go through, it would appear that it has more merits than we could have thought of, that is if his words are to be true.

"Maybe we should have a lawyer on standby just in case."

"Yeah, I've also been considering that. Don't worry.

Also, there's something I've been thinking about since I've started talking to him—why don't we get him as an engineer for when we start construction?"

"Don't we have an Exile that we have already talked about this?"

"Of course it's not for the entire project. It would raise suspicion that we don't have an engineer registered in the construction and we could get grilled about this in the time of declaring the taxes in its entirety. We would have already been employing the Exiles' help in terms of labor as it is. I for one know that you're tired of someone or something having eyes not just on you, but also us."

"I… didn't consider that. It would've been nice if we also have Kei here to get his say."

"We'll have this talk again. I just need your opinion."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

This truly is an opportunity hard to pass up. The area's value has already depreciated even lower than it already is a few years back. On one hand, a buyer would have acquired the house and the land at a lower price, but they would have to suffer its long-term issues. It's not everyday that you will get to encounter someone that has an unconventional viewpoint that they would be willing to go through that trade-off.

And the faster we get to sell the property, the quicker we will be to start the project before the deadline we took upon ourselves, as we are already eyeing a plot nearby and make significant progress before winter arrives, especially since the walls will pretty much be concrete and we don't want the cold to affect the curing of them.

See, I learned some things from the Exiles.

"I say we talk to him for a few meals first, Dad. If you move to this house sooner, the less you, Mom, and Anna would have to deal with flooding."

"Ahahaha. I know I got your back."

"We're still not out of it, though. If push comes to shove, I would have to personally confirm whether the buyer is conning us or not."

"As usual, you're very cautious. Oh, well. We'll talk about this again once things are clearer."

Dad stepped out of the house somehow wearing a satisfied and a giddy look.

If there's anything I learned growing up, men have an inherent fascination on building things. I have already once found myself being late to my shift because I was too entranced watching an excavator hammer down large beams to the ground. There's also the time in the mountains where the five of us simply enjoyed digging holes… but that example may be kind of messed up since we buried animal bones and carcass that we cannot eat. I'm not sure if that excitement is the same as what I apparently was feeling, but I like to think that I'm close.

"You almost sounded like a different person earlier."

"What…"

"You're speaking a language I'm not fluent with. Adulting, that is."

"Ahh, so that's how it was."

"Even I still have a hard time dealing with my taxes, you know."

"You haven't even been working for a year. The moment you see your net income tax at full view is when you'll truly know pain.

In my case, I'm closely involved with selling our property so I'm bound to feel even more suffering. Ahaha… haha… ha…"

"Ugh…

But Uncle seemed very happy about all of this."

"If I get to his age, I would also probably feel the same way."

"I could totally see that," all of sudden, Rin leaned closer for a few moments and caught me by surprise as I felt her lips on my cheek for a second until she stood up.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"You just caught me off guard… is all."

"Still?"

"It happens sometimes. Like you're any different."

"Ehehe~"

▪ ▪ ▪

"You could take it easy, you know, Gin-kun? You've been in and out of the kitchen cooking and waitering for an hour now."

"Sorry, Chef Yuzu. I'm just waiting for a guest."

"They're not going to be here in another 15 minutes, Gin. I heard from Yu about it," said Hiroomi as though he knew what was running inside Gin's mind.

"You really should have just stayed home with Sis, you know."

"At least let me work twice a week. You go start with your guest's reservation, though."

"After this order."

After a heads-up from a waiter that the person that has reserved a table has arrived, Gin prompted to call his father to come to the restaurant while he tends to the order.

And just in time with finishing up the first set of dishes, Amano and Kei had joined the table while Gin stepped out to bring the orders.

"We got this from here, Gin-kun."

"Thanks a bunch. Sorry I'm having my lunch in advance."

Into the diner, he saw the reserved table with a man with a laptop in front of him closing as he saw the food coming.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Gin," he reached out his hand after gingerly putting the dishes into a table.

Needless to say, the man looked at him in confusion and then at Amano.

"He's my second son. He's working here as a chef."

"A-Ah, I see…

Yuma Nishina. Nice to meet you two."

The first meeting into the sale of the house where Gin and his siblings grew up has finally begun.

"Thank you for coming today, and for also accommodating me despite a busy hour in the restaurant."

"It's no problem. We've handled worse."

"Of course that's the extent of how much he can talk about," Amano and his eldest son both thought of, seeing that his sociability has remained the same.

"If anything, you probably had quite a commute here, Mr. Nishina," thus Kei interjected.

"Ahaha, Capital's traffic is as hilarious as ever. It's good that the country is taking a step further to better public transportation, but we need to stop building more than enough elevated highways.

Anyway, I'm really aiming to move to a closer office of our company, and I suppose you could call it surveying the areas by picking this restaurant."

"I hope our food will suit your taste."

"That being said, you briefly spoke about giving light to the flooding issue in our street, which makes you more interested to move here?"

"Honestly… it's nothing noble like wanting to help find a solution to a common problem… but challenging myself to help solve a problem of this scale.

Was that maybe confusing to hear?"

"I kind of understand," Gin said as he thought how weird it is to eat something in their restaurant that he literally just made, and paid by someone. "I guess people get those kinds of goals too."

What Gin get from him is that this challenging issue serves to satisfy something in him perhaps for self-validation rather than for a selfless cause, but his first impression of him is that he isn't a bad person.

Regardless, he picked an issue that's really hard to tackle, let alone resolve.

"It'd really help us a lot if you succeed in it, Mr. Nishina. It's been a lifelong problem for us."

"Well, I want to start observing White Street first and it would serve as a sample size if I produce some results.

"Anyway…" Kei butted in as he pulled out a tablet, "We'd like you to review this rough 3D representation of our house and the floor plan. We're sorry that we can't give you an in-person viewing of it as of the moment."

"Was this drawn by an architect?" Mr. Nishina asked while he navigated on the live 3D view of the house.

"Ah, no, Gin just whipped up something bare-bones for you to see."

"There are even measurements and other placements on the plate. I'd say this is well done, Mr. Gin."

"Ahaha… I tried my best to measure the walls, windows, doors, and even the holes for air conditioning. That's as far as I can do though since I don't have a lot of knowledge in electrical wiring. At least in that house."

"Are you really just a chef, Mr. Gin? It looks like you have knack for this."

"I don't really plan on studying anymore. I think I've settled with my job and illustrating. I'm probably more suited being a jack of all trades with my autodidact nature."

The problem with Gin is that he likes and dislikes science at the same time. He very much understand the significance of statistics, the relevance of accuracy in anything especially since he cooks for a living, and the science behind things. But curiosity and superficial knowledge is as far as he could go since it really isn't in him to have the motivation to study it for a few years. That said, he is willing to learn if it really interests him, which is why he dabbled on the behavior of AMM, solar energy, and the properties of metals at the latest. Basically, the Exiles are now his teachers.

"Hm. I've scouted the area many times… but can I ask for the actual 3D file of it rather than just a preview?"

"For what reason, Mr. Nishina?"

"I'd like to map out the entire lot with a photo scan and do some fluid simulation with it."

"I wish I had an iPh*ne for something like that. Playing around with LiDAR sounds fun."

"So you have an idea about it."

"Just an idea.

But I'd only give the files if we reach an agreement."

"Ahh, I understand. Maybe we could set up another date?"

"We'd welcome it. I think it would be good if you can inspect the place too. I hope the renovations we did would be satisfactory for you."

"Thank you very much.

My goals really sound like a tall order, but it wasn't impossible. Someone really amazing pushed me to study engineering and take on a difficult task that may look impossible, since he's doing it right now in the medical field researching to cure his blindness."

Hearing that, both Gin and his father looked at each father.

"Going by your surname, are you perhaps related to Dr. Hātori Nishina?"

"He's a cousin of my dad although our age gap isn't that large. Do you know him?"

"I guess you could say he's a friend and that he saved my fiancee's life. Despite his condition since childhood, he really is amazing."

"I'm glad you get me. He's pretty much my life inspiration."

"Oh, right… He lives in Queen Street, which isn't far from our home."

"Then it's all the more reason to consider your offer."

From business talks, the lunch meeting had turned into getting to know each other. The three of them however decided not to bring up the plan of hiring Yuma Nishina as an engineer to the construction project that they are planning until whether the transaction agreement goes through or not, but all that being said, the first meeting ended in favorable terms for both sides.

▪ ▪ ▪

Right at the start of June, Gin and Rin were found walking along the Queen Street on the afternoon and briefly stopping by a bench that cast a shadow of tragedy to take a seat from the heat of the summer.

"Hahh…And this is also why I took a break from work at this time of the year…"

With the complaint of the heat, Rin tapped her cap on her knee that she used to cover the majority of her hair that is still white.

"Your car's AC blasts some good cool air, you know," just for the sake of it, Gin argued.

"Geez… running errands at around 1-4pm stings on the skin no matter what I do. If only it's feasible to live in Antarctica…"

"That would be nice, but I feel like we'd be complaining about the cold the same way we do on the heat three days in."

"Then, I'd rather we get a constant 20 degrees all year long just like the Room."

"I'm not even going to be pragmatic about that; I just want that to be the reality. Well, maybe we should still get winters."

"…Now that I think about it, you didn't visit this place last year."

"I didn't really see a reason to do so. I'd rather this be the last time I visit here before I turn that exact day and memory into a good one, if you get what I'm trying to say."

Rin chuckled, "What if it's on a weekday?"

"I don't want a lot of guests anyway. Your opinion, Rin?"

"Yeah, let's keep it small."

"Planning is off to a good start, then."

"Let's just make sure we don't get on a really bad fight and we end up breaking up."

"I think that's the least of our concern unless it's literally a life or death situation."

"Aren't you confident, Gin~?"

"Spare me this moment. I'm glad we have this much confidence in our relationship."

"Love to hear that."

~ ~ ~

Approaching the front of the Nishina household, the couple met with a young man entering the house.

"Tatsu, it's been a while."

"Yuka Gin… and Ane Ringo?"

"Don't mind the hair. It's the same old me~"

"Good afternoon."

"Just came back from college? Oh, I never asked you the last time we met since I was a total wreck, but where did you decide to study?"

"I'm currently at IIAT. I'm studying graphic design.

But should we go inside first? It's quite hot today."

"Thanks for having us, then."

Right on their entrance to the house, Gin slowly walked behind Rin at the sight of the dog of the household, as it seems he is still uncomfortable with them despite saying that he is fine with calm dogs. Unrealistically, he is wishing for dogs to be very much cat-like.

Nonetheless, he steeled himself as they waited for the doctor in the living room.

"Sorry for making you wait," with a cane, Hātori walked into the living room while his son followed.

"No, we should be sorry for visiting on short notice."

"I appreciate you coming today, regardless. How has it been for the two of you?"

Rin leaned forward, "We only briefly met after I recovered, but I would like to thank you again for helping with the cure, Dr. Nishina."

At that moment, Tatsu's eyes widened as he shifted his look at Rin.

"I… probably shouldn't be listening to this…?"

"Don't worry about that. You've grown enough to be able to know these things. Besides, you've always known my past. So sit down with us."

"A-After I get the guests something to drink…"

"Thanks, Tatsu.

Anyway, I think I've met with your relative. His name is Yuma."

"Yuma… Oh. How did you meet him? I'm pretty sure he's working in the Capital right now."

"Seems like he'd like to move nearby, and it just so happened that we're selling our property and he seems interested. We met the other day and found out that you are related."

"I see… I recall he's an engineer now."

"He was talking about analyzing the flooding behavior of our street. It would be quite an achievement if he were to rid the area of that, though.

By the way… we haven't visited in a while, but how is your work doing?"

Knowing what the vagueness meant, Hātori could not help himself but let out a wide smile that infected Gin as he got the chills.

Then, he pointed to his right eye, "Eight months ago… even for a just a literal second, I woke up seeing my wife's face."

"W-Wait, isn't that a really huge thing?!"

"Well… it was so new to me that I couldn't forget it. I don't really know the concept of brightness, but it was really dark, and the 'outlines' I see were overlapping so it wasn't a clear image. But still, what matters was that I was able to see my wife for the first time."

"Did something change… or you added something to your tests?"

"I guess I should tell them in order.

After I learned that the cure produced from the virus that you only have had basically solved the BEF-1 problem, I became very hopeful. Because of that, I asked Dr. Snetr if he could help me procure a sample for myself."

"Well, I could only guess that it was now easy for him to do so after getting the credit for the cure that he deserved."

"I conducted a few trials with the same potency used for the first cure. With the decades of data that I have, we managed to restore a volunteer's vision partially."

"Okay, now this is really turning into a huge thing."

"It was all thanks to your contribution… but that was as far as I could go with it."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. We have no control over what we don't have sufficient knowledge of, after all.

My hypothesis was that the virus in you attacks any substance hostile to the body, but maybe so many years have passed that my condition had become a normal part of me. If that virus were to be known when I was still a child, maybe I could have been saved.

But besides, I was still able to see, like I said."

"How did that happen, then?"

"I took a page on what happened last year and employed the help of Taketo."

"So you're saying-" the couple uttered in sync, seemingly aligning things with just those few words.

"One thing I remember from our unfortunate stint in that program was that in all of one year, all of the children were given samples equally, unlike the program a decade ago where it was more of a survival of the fittest with their approaches.

Just like you, back then, Taketo had to take a lot more of the brunt of everything when he was the only child that could still see, and somehow even after all of these years, he never showed any signs of blindness.

I got a sample of his blood analyzed in the same way yours was. We identified some irregularities in his sample, and long story short, it became the key for me to reach a breakthrough."

"If it means that you were able to see, then that just means that you have performed trials on yourself?"

"I waited until it was as safe as possible to do so. But because of the advanced equipment brought to Mykes, the wait was shortened."

"Well, I hope that it only gets better from here. If there is anything that I can help with, just give me a call."

"I appreciate it… but it seems like I wasn't invited to your wedding?"

Hātori Nishina may be rid of sight, but faint outlines that he perceives of his close surroundings was able to catch the difference in Rin's left hand.

"Ahh… more like we're not yet ready to give out invitations. We'll be sure to send you one when the time comes, whenever it is.

I wish that by that time you'll see the world with us."

"C-Congratulations on your engagement…" Tatsu expressed his well wishes.

"The world you see, huh…

While for you, it may seem like it is a cruel place, even that could feel like a beautiful world for me since I've been blind for so long. I've completely forgotten how exactly the world looks like, so I'm taking anything even if they're just crumbs."

"Saying that you're settling for just crumbs kind of goes against what you've been doing all this time, Dr. Nishina. The first time you told me about your goals, you didn't strike as someone to settle for less.

Sure, there are those fellow Medical Children that would benefit to what you're doing, but first and foremost, you also need to see your son."

"Ahaha, you got me there, Gin."

"Also, how was it seeing your wife for the first time?"

Hātori's head lowered in deep thought hearing the question, then emerged a smile layered with sadness.

"Now I feel kind of sad that I can't wrap my head around how to describe it…"

"I trust that you'll get there soon enough.

But maybe I should take a leave from work and wear a blindfold for the rest of that day…

Ouch."

With a slap on his back, Gin was pulled out from thinking aloud.

Even if she wanted to, Rin could not even deny that Gin would do something like putting himself on the doctor's shoe, with how much he has wanted to learn new things. But most importantly, he empathizes with those that came from unpleasant pasts and is on a mission to prevent any emergence of cognitive distortion to the people that he knows. Rin had long realized that he had the tendency of wanting to live the experiences of the people he cares about.

While she might act dismissive of it, Rin had gotten used to the irregular things that have happened either to him or to her surroundings that she could already imagine how she would want to deal with some thought that may have seemed idiotic but could bear fruit unconventionally.

"That could be a good test whether you can be able to see the way I do. I've been dying to find if there's someone that can do the same since my fellows couldn't."

"Now don't put too much of your hopes on me, doc. I don't believe I can do something like that ever if I were to cover my eyes for a month or something."

"It's nice to get the upper hand when the power goes out in the middle of the night, though."

"That's a really niche application, but that could really be neat to see in the dark."

"Uhh, sorry about my dad, Ane Ringo," Tatsu whispered, "He tends to have whims like this when someone is as enthusiastic as him. Even my mom just sighs when he thinks of some outrageous things."

"Well, I'm glad that your dad is in high spirits despite that.

Maybe I should ask Mrs. Nishina for some advice on how to be a wife to an interesting husband…"