Graduation came upon them suddenly. Hikaru wondered how that was even possible when it had been creeping closer for so long. Miraculously, she passed within the very bottom of the top 20% and didn't have to pay the other half of her tuition.

Mirage had taken two weeks off and Yukito had turned down all her solo offers while she, Risa and Shizuoka had crammed frantically for their final tests. She hadn't even played Sundays at her uncle's restaurant.

When she'd mentioned to Kiri that taking that much time off was probably costing almost as much in lost earnings as paying her tuition, he asked her searchingly, "Have you changed your mind about applying to a college?"

She'd shaken her head and he'd said quietly, "Then just worry about finishing with the best grade you can Hikaru, in case you decide to go to one in the future. Even if you're just job hunting someday it may help. Don't worry about the money."

--

Yuki and his friend turned boyfriend came for Hikaru's graduation ceremony.

Shizuoka who had only met Yuki a couple of times whispered to Hikaru, "I always forget how hot you'd be as a guy."

Risa overheard and giggled. "I used to have a crush on Yuki-nii-san," she admitted.

Hikaru stared at her in shock.

Risa looked at her expression with surprise and asked, "You didn't know?"

Hikaru replied, "I don't remember you ever saying anything?"

Risa laughed and replied with embarrassment, "Well there was no point was there? He's always treated me like I'm even younger than you are, despite me being almost a year older, and he's always had girlfriends." She added, "I think his boyfriend suits him, which surprises me."

--

Miri also attended of course, though her children asked worriedly if she was really OK a dozen times. She just laughed and rubbed her back while assuring them that she was fine. Her belly was enormous and she was due the week after Hikaru's graduation trip.

Izumi didn't take the day off, at Hikaru's request.

When they'd had lunch on Sunday he'd brought it up. She'd told him firmly, "You don't need to do that. Izumi-san, you don't need to think of yourself as one of my parents. If I were my mother's sister instead of her daughter, would you feel like you had to attend my graduation?"

He'd looked at Miri and then answered, "Only if she wanted me to."

They'd discussed it for awhile and agreed that Izumi should save his days off for after the baby arrived.

--

Kiri also attended her graduation. While he waited with her family, he asked Miri suddenly, "Why aren't you rich? Why is your family struggling with things like tuitions when Akira's songs are still being published?"

Miri blushed and said, "Because at the time of the accident, we didn't even know if the band could continue without Akira, and with Hikaru in the hospital and me never having held a job before, I decided to take the buyout offer the company gave me. It let me finish paying off the house Akira had bought for us and take care of everything my children needed until I could learn to support myself."

"Oh, that hadn't occurred to me, I don't know why not. It was a really good deal for that company in the end," Kiri replied after a moment.

Miri laughed and admitted, "Because of that Taka-chan keeps trying to give me gifts all the time and offered to pay for my children's college tuitions." She glanced at her son who blushed, and added, "But Yuki refused to take it."

--

After Hikaru had endured the ceremony and a great deal of unaccustomed socialization with classmates who rarely spoke with her, Kiri touched her empty collar and teasingly said, "I'd hoped to claim your first button."

He laughed when she seriously withdrew a button from her pocket and whispered, "Of course I saved it for you."

--

When he took her to meet Risa and Shizuoka at the train station that evening, Kiri clung to her for a long time. Finally Hikaru said uncomfortably, "Stop acting like this is goodbye, you've been on longer trips."

He laughed and kissed her and replied, "Call me."

"I will," she promised.

When she followed her friends onto the train, Risa commented, "I'm jealous."

"Me too," agreed Shizuoka.

"Why?," Hikaru asked.

They both turned and gave her a disgusted look.

Risa replied first, "Because Makoto had to work this evening, and couldn't come see me off."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Hikaru replied.

Shizuoka spoke after they'd settled in, "I'm jealous, and I hate that I'm jealous because you seem to have everything I wish for."

Her friends looked at her in surprise and she explained, "You have a good looking older man with a good job, and he's going to marry you in a few months."

Hikaru blushed.

Risa protested, "Then why aren't you jealous of Makoto and I?"

Hikaru and Shizuoka asked in unison, "Are you engaged?"

Risa blushed and replied, "No, not yet."

Shizuoka answered, "I'm a little jealous of how well the two of you get along Risa, but Makoto-kun is still just a kid too. He doesn't have a career, or much in the way of resources." She looked at Risa and added quickly, "I'm not saying he won't in the future, he's a good guy."

Hikaru said dubiously, "I don't love Kiri for his job."

Shizuoka laughed a little bitterly and replied, "I know, you don't care, and you've got your own career that you're already working on. I just find it ironic that you have what I wanted."

They were silent for a little while and then Hikaru asked, "Don't you have almost as much of a career going as I do Shizuoka?"

"Right," agreed Risa quickly, "with your modeling jobs, you got to do that catalogue last fall?"

Shizuoka looked at them soberly and asked, "You remember when I did that first job with that weird guy making calendars?"

"Of course," they both answered, and Hikaru added, "He's filmed 5 of our music videos."

Shizuoka stared at her disbelievingly, and distracted, asked, "Really?"

Hikaru nodded.

Risa said, "When we accompanied you to that first photo shoot, it seemed like it was such a scam. Some guy giving cards to highschool girls on the street, and then the address was an apartment in that run down building. I was sure he was going to be some creep who was going to take pictures of you naked."

Shizuoka said uncomfortably, "I was afraid he was, that's why I asked Hikaru to go along. I thought he'd mistake her as my boyfriend."

Hikaru laughed and pointed out, "Instead he was like Rin, and knew I was a girl from the start."

Risa said, "I still have the photo he took of all three of us at the end."

"Anyway," Shizuoka continued, "what he said about photographing girls and capturing the moment while they're young, I've been thinking about it a lot."

"Why?" asked Hikaru.

Shizuoka pinched her cheek and asked, "How do you get through life so obliviously?"

Risa laughed and said teasingly, "Shizuoka thinks now that we've graduated she's getting old."

Hikaru protested, "It will be years before you're too old Shizuoka!"

Shizuoka sighed and sat back and replied, "Not that many years. And I haven't found the right guy, I'm not going to wind up happily married any time soon. I need to decide what I'm going to do." Embarrassed she muttered, "I was kind of thinking maybe I should study to be a teacher, because I like kids."

Risa exclaimed in shock, "A teacher?"

Hikaru said encouragingly, "That sounds like a great idea! You could still do it even when you're really old and you'd get to be part of raising children, even if they aren't yours."

Shizuoka looked at her and Hikaru added, "I'm proud of you for coming up with it, I've always wondered why it seemed like you were looking for someone who could support you?"

Risa nodded.

Shizuoka put an arm around each of them and said, "I love you guys. And I have been looking for someone who would support me, because that was my dream, a happy picture book family."

Risa and Hikaru looked at her unhappily at that.

Shizuoka said cheerfully, "I'm not giving that dream up, but I've got amazing friends now, who show me that there's room for more than one dream, so I'll just add a few."

They laughed and hugged her back.

--

Their first hotel was amazing. Hikaru stared at the twinkling cityscape view with the dark water of the bay in the distance and whispered, "Are you sure they gave us the right room? Are they going to charge us more later?"

Risa laughed and replied, "We're fine, but I'm sure we were only able to get something like this because we booked it almost at the beginning of the school year."

Hikaru almost regretted the time they spent out touring the dilapidated temple away from that amazing view the next day.

--

The next couple of places they stayed were more ordinary, but the sights were much better. She loved the historic castle they visited, even though Risa muttered, "It's so fake, everything is so polished and touristy it's worse than a movie set."

--

Risa and Shizuoka were thrilled with the hot spring. Hikaru could see what Kiri had meant about it being bland and touristy, and she didn't enjoy soaking in public as much as Risa and Shizuoka did, but she still enjoyed it. There were many other recreational activities available in and around the site, and the food was decent.

On their way home, they promised to meet up a minimum of once a month. Hikaru asked, "Just once a month?"

Risa replied, "We can meet up more often than that, but I want you to promise at least once a month."

Shizuoka told Hikaru laughingly, "You're the one who will be most likely to not meet up, with your band and your husband!"

Hikaru promised, "I'll make time."

Risa and Shizuoka laughed and hugged her.

--

Kiri didn't meet her at the train, but when she got home she found him waiting. He'd obviously been cooking for awhile. He grinned and pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly, then whispered, "Welcome home."

"I'm home," she replied, and kissed him again.

They ate at the table, cuddled up together, and taking turns feeding each other.

After taking another bite, Kiri laughed and commented, "It doesn't embarrass you anymore."

Hikaru shrugged, then asked, "Are you disappointed?"

"Hell no," he answered with a grin. "I love this. I love you. It's perfect."

She grinned and kissed him again.

After a little while, she asked suddenly, "Kiri are you still counting the weeks until something?"

He blinked, and then laughed, and replied mysteriously, "It's already done, but I'm saving it for our wedding."

"OK," she replied and relaxed against his side.

"Why?" he asked.

She bit her lip and replied hesitantly, "I just realized that I forgot to ask if you wanted to do something special at three months, I'd thought maybe that was it, and then I got busy and forgot."

He grinned and replied, "I thought about asking you if you wanted to, but you were working so hard, I didn't dare." He kissed her and whispered, "I'm really proud of you if I forgot to say that."

After they'd finished eating he pulled her into the bathroom instead of the bedroom. He looked at her expression and asked, "Do you want sex first?"

She blushed and shrugged.

He pulled her up against him and said seriously, "Hikaru."

Embarrassed, she said, "I'm just a little surprised."

"Why?" he asked quietly.

She blushed and looked away before explaining, "I don't know, um I sort of thought we were going to do it before we ate, and now we're taking a bath first." She shrugged, then added, "I don't mind."

He touched his fingers to her chin and lifted her face to look at him and asked, "Do you want me to tell you why?"

She nodded.

And he ran his hands down her back and kissed her again. Then he said quietly, "Because you're being so passive. Usually you respond more and initiate more. Tonight I feel like you're being shy, so I've been going slower."

Startled, she stared at him for a moment. He just held her and waited. After a moment she nodded and agreed, "Maybe I have been feeling a little shy, I'm not used to being the one who just got home." Then grinned and leaned in to kiss him. "I love you Kiri," she whispered as she started to undo his shirt.

He grinned back and slid his hands under her shirt and unfastened her bra.

She looked at him seriously and said, "Let's have sex first."

"Yes", he agreed, and pulled her backwards into the bedroom.