Coming downstairs with Maki, Haruto appeared happier than ever. More people looked with utter confusion. During their math test, they sat beside each other. Pencils, rulers, and erasers, there was no end to their sharing. They even did so with protractors.

The teacher gazed at them. “Hey!” she smacked her ruler on Haruto’s desk. “You two may have ridden the boat with cupids flying over your heads. But once I catch you sharing tests, you’ll be star-crossed forever!”

A student behind them raised his hand. “Isn’t that a good thing…!?”

“No, ignoramus! It means everyone is against their love. Read a book.” She whacked his head with a ruler.

“Ow….”

Maki giggled and let Haruto on with a secret. He blushed beyond belief.

From afar, her friends sat beside each other. The one who gave Haruto bento was the first to react to their newfound relationship.

Her eyes widened. “Are you kidding me!? The delicate flower Morning Dew Maki swooning over the tragic wolf White Delinquent? Didn’t he bite off your stem?

She prayed with closed eyes. “Oh, Maki… May every pantheon have mercy on your soul.”

Suddenly, to the left, she hear chuckling. Her friend’s face was peak lust. She wrote in her notebook at unnatural speeds.

“What are you doing…?” she squinted.

“Oh… I’m just taking notes for my new mang— I mean, my biology test. Very specific biology.…” She chuckled again and wrote even faster.

A vein popped within the other friend. “Quit ogling at them, you pervert!” She took her notebook away.

“Aaaaaaah! My drafts! Give it back!”

They pulled the book back and forth with no clear victor. Then, the teacher walked in for a double whammy. They held her heads in pain.

The teacher lowered her lower and walked. “Fangirls….”

After the exams, Haruto and Maki held hands in the hallway. The former still had a shinai behind his back, so everyone stood confused further.

During P.E., they saw the three bullies still accompanying their sulking friend. The coach tried endlessly to talk him out of his misery.

With Maki nodding from behind, he gave him the bento box in his backpack. The bully had never known how his smile looked like.

His reward was a light kiss and a giggle. Cheeks reddened again, he hurriedly suggested they only do it in private.

Back in the hallway, a student ran to them. “Haruto! It’s the principal. You see, um, he bought his Subaru yesterday, and….”

Suddenly, they heard footsteps from behind. “You’re not clean either, young man…” the superintendent crossed her arms.

The student turned. “What? What’re ya talkin’ ‘bout, ma’am? I’ve been squeaky clean ever since!”

“Well, then explain these.” She shwoed them numerous sticks of fireworks stuffed inside a bento box. “To think anyone would view that warlord as an idol is beyond me.” She pointed at them. “You three. Office. Now.”

Maki held Haruto’s hand again. He had witnessed the principal bawling his eyes out.

“Oh, what am I gonna do! I’m now forced to ride the subs again! The seats are so cramped!” He continued on her chest.

The superintendent rubbed his back. “It’s okay, honey. I can always lend you some of my earnings. Don’t worry. We’ll have another eventually.” She turned to the new couple. “We couldn’t pull out the dummy. But we salvaged the rest.”

Haruto put his Straw Hat Pirates figurines in his bag and carried the shinais with one arm. He looked at the principal. “Sir, I don’t know what to say. I can’t even forgive myself—”

“Oh, just go…” he shooed him off. “Don’t ruin my sorrow….”

As they exited, the other student slowly walked.

“Not you!” pointed the principal. He dried his eyes and glared at him down. “You need some special re-education.”

“W-What...?” He sweated bullets.

Outside on a sidewalk, Haruto walked behind. “I’ve been thinking, Maki. I wanna stay in your place for a change. How about it?”

She gasped and cupped her cheeks. “W-What? Oh, no. I wouldn’t if I were you.” She shook her head and smiled nervously. “It’s pretty run down. The radiator’s a bit clunky. And…” her eyes drooped, “…my godparents aren’t always home.”

He saw her gloomy demeanor and chuckled. “That just means I have to go. I don’t want you to be lonely for the night.” He wrapped his arm around her.

She sighed and rested her head on him. “Okay…” she cracked a smile.

Haruto called his foster parents. They agreed as long as he knew the way back. Maki took him via transit and arrived minutes later. It was beyond the suburbs.

Just as she described, her house would make any real estate agent pass out. Though, from some angles, it still looked hospitable.

In the living room, bits of wallpaper had rolled. A television got left on a news channel. Haruto looked at the report closely.

The CEO of OpenOcean died in South Korea’s Jeju Island. Investigators traced it to a pipe bomb mailed to him three days prior. With his demise, every “Drowsy Duramas” NFTs got pulled from the digital market.

Maki turned off the television. “So… what do you want for dinner?”

He scratched the back of his head and laughed faintly. “Don’t worry about that. I can cook for myself.”

An idea popped in her. “Wait, that’s it! We can do it together!” She held his shoulders.

He chuckled. “Alright. There’s something I wanted to try.”

They cooked for almost thrity minutes. Sometimes, the stoves bursted into bright orange flames. One managed to burn a quarter of Haruto’s right brow. Still, the couple had fun.

They prepared a huge bowl of udon on the electric blanket table. Hands clasped, they said the traditional Japanese phrase before eating.

Maki complained of his slurping. The latter put down his bowl. “Well, um… that’s the thing. My genes don’t allow me to eat quietly….” He smiled nervously. What he did not expect was another daring move and a giggle.

After dinner, they returned to the living room. Maki showed him Blu-ray sets of Disney movies, from classics all the way to the recently released.

She pulled up a disc. “My godfather always loved watching a lot of Western stuff. This one always made him cry. If you want, you can watch all night. I have some things to do.”

Haruto noticed her walking to a drawer filled with stacks of paper. They turned out to be mortgage documents. She sat back at the table.

His eyes widened. “M-Maki, what are you doing?”

She moved her hand about. “Oh, it’s nothing. I always do my part in keeping a roof over my head. It’s why I sell bento in my club.” She began filling spaces.

Haruto sighed and turned to the television. By order, he watched Peter Pan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid.

Maki wrote for five hours. Luckily, it went lights out after the last paper. More hours later, she slowly opened her eyes. She heard a mellow tune and saw a little boy: troubled, vulnerable, and lost. Tears flowed out of him, and he could not turn it off.

With a magic device, the scene he witnessed would be redone over and over. The little boy cried even more. The scene etched on his mind showed a little fox.

The fox played on the automobile as a kind elderly woman drove it to the forest. Getting out, it would play more with her.

She walked with him further deep into the woods. Then, she returned to the automobile without the fox. It followed her in confusion, but she wagged her finger. Her face told a thousand miseries.

The little boy’s heart ached the most here. The elderly woman had looked back at the little fox once more with a single tear. He would hear the beautiful yet somber lyrics for the rest of his days:

Goodbye may seem forever

Farewell is like the end

But in my heart’s a memory

And there, you’ll always be

Haruto thought of the last time he saw his mother, and his father’s frown. He paused the movie and sobbed harder.

Maki kneeled and held him close. “There, there… Are you lost? No need for tears now. I’m here.” She rubbed his back.

He dried his eyes and sniffled. “I’m sorry… if I showed my misery again. I just can’t help it. Every night in bed, no matter what love I feel now, I kept asking myself: ‘Why did they have to go?’

“Was I not a good boy? Tell me, Maki. Please tell me….” He bawled on her chest.

She comforted him further. “Oh no, no, no… Don’t ever think that way. We can never control the world. When misfortune comes, all we can do is act within it.

“But when fortune comes, we never forget. So yes, Haruto. You were a good boy. The kindest there was….” She looked at the paused screen and saw a sad fox. It curled up as Autumn leaves flowed with the wind.

Years went by. The couple’s relationship began mimicking movies: endless teasing, nonstop giggles, and perpetual hugging. Lips would fasten when the room was clear, and even when it was not.

Cable car after another, the lips touched even deeper. Between them, it would feel like summertime permeated the ride. Their searing skin had touched everywhere. The relationship had now mimicked a peculiar medium.

“N-No, wait!” She pushed him away. “Not yet. Not yet……” she said softly, panting and red cheeks.

Haruto helped her put her clothes back. “Sorry. I got too excited.”

She turned. “We have to be patient. We can’t do it here.”

He sat down and sighed. “I don’t think we can at all. These urges are getting out of hand.”

Maki fastened her buttons and looked over the horizon. She saw a flock of cranes, and it gave her a revelation. “That’s it…!” She held Haruto’s shoulders. “Let’s do it. There’s no need to ask from them.”

March 21, 2027. Springtime. The church bells rang. Hymns were sung. Prayers were said. Verses were read. Benedictions were told. Vows were exchanged. Rings were worn.

With all that, the priest closed his bible. “You may kiss the bride.”

Within seconds, the said bride made the first move. Nineteen and eighteen, Haruto and Maki Minagawa were officially wed. Parents on both sides cheered while Maki’s two friends failed to hold back tears.

After the party, the couple rode the transit at night. The lovers’ paradise was next. A “do not disturb” tag hung outside the hotel door. For the newlyweds, it felt like summertime again.

The heat radiated by the second, and sheer passion bolstered the intensity. The bedsprings could break at any moment, but the wife demanded more. Their skin became scalding and slippery, yet their brief noises went louder.

One hour of exchanging pure ecstasy had now passed. Now unbearable, they called out their names. “Do it!,” shouted Maki.

Haruto complied, and they both grunted, holding breaths with clenched teeth. After his deed, they exhaled loudly. In the aftermath, the newlyweds’ backs looked like it a wild animal clawed it to shreds; blood seeped out on some parts.

Lying down, Haruto and Maki held hands. “You did it…” she looked at her husband, smiling.

“Yeah… Urgh!” He clutched his chest, eyes lit up.

March 21, 2034. Springtime. Haruto’s eyes slowly opened, hearing an alarm. Yawning and stretching, his wife was nowhere in bed.

He sweated bullets and looked around the house. He checked the living room, dining room, kitchen, but to no avail. “Maki? Maki, where are you!” He double-checked, but it was futile. He hyperventilated and went to the front lawn. He even walked barefoot on the sidewalk. “Maki!!”

Now looking desperate, all was left was to check the backyard. Haruto sprinted and cried her name again. He opened the glass door, and before he knew it, Super Soakers greeted his face.

He shielded himself and heard laughter. It was of Nisemono, Shōmei, and of course, Maki. Another laughed as well.

Nisemono smiled. “Whaddaya think, sport? Kendo’s no match for the mighty agua at all….”

Shōmei giggled. “Oh, Haruto. I can’t believe you still look like your younger self. I’m so jealous.”

Maki dropped her water gun. “So… who do you think aimed better?” She smirked, hand on her waist.

“I did, Mommy! Of course, I did!” A seven-year-old Yumi (皆川由美) ran to him for a big hug. “Happy birthday, Dad!” Her smile widened.