「So there really is no leeway for you, huh?」 Yuko sighed, peering up at Hiro’s strained frown. Her fingers traced the petals of a hydrangea. They would always be her favorite flower, she decided ever since her first rainy walk alone with Hiro. 「You’re brilliant, Hiro, there’s no reason for your father to be worried about you finding a job!」

She added a little giggle for extra flattery. Normally her stomach churned whenever she had to stroke the ego of a man in distress, but Hiro was an exception.

「You know it’s not that simple.」 Hiro sighed, his determined eyes always darting straight ahead as they made their way through the dusky streets. 「I’m the only one my father trusts to carry on his business. You know what it’s like, Yuko - being the only hope your family has.」

「Oh my, could it be that you’re blackmailing me into marriage?」 Yuko smirked. Hiro’s knowledge of Yuko’s desperate situation regarding marriage was, surprisingly, a point of humor between the two of them rather than resentment.

「What!?」 Hiro stuttered with a reddened face. 「To think that you would even consider-」

「Oh please, calm yourself before you have an early heart attack.」 Yuko felt his pulse as her hand brushed against his wrist. 「I know you would never.」

They continued their walk in silence, their only company along the road being another couple every now and then, some with a baby balanced on a mother’s breast or a father’s shoulders.

Before Hiro had any ideas, Yuko quickly steered the conversation towards his ever-present turmoil, and his favorite topic to complain about.

「In other news, any interesting happenings with your friends out at sea?」 Yuko bit her lip as Hiro’s face puckered into a mixture of frustration and disdain. It was so hard for her to hold back her laughter whenever Hiro allowed himself the luxury of a rant about his two closest childhood friends.

「It’s a miracle they can outsmart a fish.」 He would always say with a rehearsed scoff, but Yuko could always uncover the loving grin hiding beneath his forced frown.

Kazu and Touma had been at Hiro’s side ever since the three of them were young boys. Although Yuko wasn’t there herself, Hiro had recounted the story so many times to her that she could practically recite the tale as if it was her own. Years ago, what had started as a day out making the rounds with his father near the Kitamae shipping port turned into a terrifying experience for Hiro, a boy who only knew the polished mannerisms of the the uppity middle class. He was suddenly separated from his father and lost among the gritty seaside streets. Thankfully, two mischievous shanty boys took him by his trembling hands. After an hour or so of ragtag games and many laughs, Hiro was yanked back to his furious father’s side before he could even give his new friends a proper thanks.

「No child from this town will ever be your friend.」 His father’s words cut through Hiro like a machete into a fish, and at the tender age of seven, Hiro plainly decided that he and his father were as different as could be.

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「One of them is actually doing surprisingly well as an apprentice.」 Hiro’s lip twitched into a grin. 「He had the whole world against him, and now-」

Yuko stopped in her tracks beside Hiro. She felt the light wind from the east ruffle her hair. 「And now?」

「He’s making more than I’ll ever see in a lifetime!」 Hiro shook his head with a groan, but Yuko knew he was more than happy for his friend’s success. Underneath his woolen vest, leather shoes, silver glasses, and all the other pomp and circumstance separating him from the masses, Hiro was nothing short of a bleeding heart.

「Money isn’t everything, Hiro.」 Yuko sang, her fingers clutching around his arm just enough for a blush to dust his ears.

「Technically speaking it isn’t everything, but it sure as hell supports it-」 Hiro bit his tongue as Yuko gave him an empty, defeated stare. 「Ah, what I meant to say is, aren’t the hydrangeas just lovely!」

「Shut up.」 Yuko chuckled and slapped her hand on Hiro’s shoulder. 「You’re happy for him, aren’t you? At least now, you don’t have to worry about what others might think should you see him.」

The pair stopped at a bench, a shady retreat from the beaming Osaka sun.

「It’s better for you now, right?」 Yuko studied her nail beds. 「What I mean to say is, you don't have to be ashamed of hanging around him anymore.」

「I was never ashamed!」 Hiro's shoulders nearly rose to his ears, and soon enough he resembled more of a startled cat than a man. 「If I was I would have cut those two out of my life years ago, no questions asked!」

「I hope you know I'm not trying to fight you about anything.」 Yuko placed a hand on Hiro's bobbing knee. 「You weren't ashamed. That's great! That's more than most in your position would give.」

Yuko loved Hiro. Yes, she said to herself over and over, she was in love. Over and over, she said she was complacent in her future to be the woman behind him.

But secretly, Yuko's soul was jealous - it was a jealousy that Yuko consciously shoved down inside of her, this envy that Hiro had the freedom to befriend who he wanted, go where he wanted, marry who he wanted despite his parents’ protests. What could they do? After all, Hiro had value, Hiro had their future.

Hiro was a man, and Yuko his accessory.

And at the end of the day, so what if he chose a crazy professor's aging daughter? He would make enough money to where his wife's value didn't matter.

「You do have a point there.」 Hiro sighed and rubbed at his chin. Yuko’s eyes had become glassy, glazed over in some kind of reverie as her fingers curled around her pearls.

「Enough about that. How is your father doing?」

Oh why must he bring him up?

Yuko shifted in her seat, dropping her necklace back against her neck.

「As good as a man can be when his world comes crashing down and he barely remembers it.」

「I’m sorry for bringing him up, my parents were curious after what they heard about Mister Moore taking the position.」 Hiro scratched the back of his head. 「I don’t care - I mean, it’s not that I don’t care I just-」

「He’s fine, Hiro, let’s just leave it at that for your parents no matter how far from the truth it is.」

They endured the silence between them, Yuko’s pretty hands folded in her lap while Hiro desperately searched his pocket for a cigarette that wasn’t there.

Yuko would wait until Hiro suggested they move on, here, on the bench, with her pretty hands folded while her anguished heart screamed.