Mirai and Ryosuke had picked up Natsu from daycare and were walking home. She had Natsu in her arms, and Ryosuke carried his duffel bag and was the loud idiot on the street because he was celebrating the team's victory from the baseball game.

“Let’s hope you guys will have the same luck for the actual game,” she said.

“We will,” said a confident Ryosuke. “We’ll win this year’s games like the years before.”

She smiled. It was this kind of confidence and optimism she loved about him.

“Wanna know why we won today?”

“Teamwork.”

He shook his head, smiling.

“Strength?”

He shook his head again, and his smile got wider.

“Your training?”

He flashed his teeth. “Nope! ‘cause of this!” He swiped out a bat from his bag, the bat she had bought for him. “Thanks to this, I made five home runs.”

“I don’t think so,” she said, laughing. She stopped walking, and he did too. She looked around and then said, “It’s not the bat. It’s something else.”

“What?” he challenged.

She one-handedly unfolded the top of her pants down to show him what she was wearing underneath. It wasn’t her underwear, however. It was black stockings.

He became red, realizing he had peeked at a site of her body. More so than that, it was because she was wearing the stockings he had bought for her.

“I wanted to wear it for the first game, but I was too impatient, so I’m wearing it today.”

He didn’t look at her.

“What’s wrong?”

He cleared his throat. “They aren’t pretty on you like they were on the mannequin.”

“As if you looked as good as a professional baseball player.” She walked away, slightly angry, although knowing that he was messing with her.

He caught up to her and wrapped a hand over her shoulders. “Hey, don’t get mad. All I said was the truth.”

She growled at him.

He laughed louder. “Fine. I’ll admit it. You look good in it.”

“There you go again. Your sweet words won’t work on me.”

“They’re honest words.”

They continued to bicker even when they got home.

She put Natsu on the bouncer and scurried to the kitchen to make a bottle, and a realization came to her. “What about Natsu?”

Ryosuke, who had sat down, heard her. “He’s here.”

“I mean what about him when we help Coach this weekend?”

Ryosuke stood up, grasping the situation. “Shoot. We can’t take him. But we also can’t leave him. We can’t drop him off at daycare because we won’t come back in time for him.”

“I’ll stay behind. Coach said it’s your training.”

“But I need you! I need to boss you once a day.”

She playfully rolled her eyes and walked back to him. “Well, we can’t take him unless we tell Coach, and I don’t think he'll like our story. Or worse, everything could fall apart if we do tell him.” She looked at her son. “I also don’t want to lie to him too.” She looked back at Ryosuke with a soft smile. “You go, okay?”

He thought to himself. “Maybe my brother can do something for us.” He pulled out his phone and called his brother.

“Wait. Ryosuke—”

He moved away, not letting her stop him, and she smiled at the side, giving up.

*

Upstairs, Mirai had taken a bath and gotten dressed. She exited her bedroom, walked down the stairs, heard a crashing sound of the plates from in the kitchen, so she skipped to the kitchen and saw Ryosuke hissing at himself. At a distance away was Natsu in his bouncer, playing with a cup.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I was cleaning, but they slipped out of my hands.” Ryosuke gathered all the dishes, even the one from Natsu, so Natsu cried. Ryosuke froze and panted because he had made the baby bawl.

She came and picked up the baby and rocked him back and forth.

Ryosuke was relieved. “Thanks.”

“You know, he’s not gonna attack you when he cries, and it’s not always going to be because of you. What happens if I’m not there and he starts crying? What are you going to do?”

He snickered. “Ha, that’s never gonna happen. We’ll never be alone.”

She played with Natsu and spoke to him in a baby voice, “Aww, little fella. Your daddy’s scared of you.”

Ryosuke frowned. “Seriously, don’t speak to him like that. It creeps him out.”

“You mean it creeps you out.”

“Not me. Natsu.”

A loud hissing sound from a kettle at the stove got their attention.

“Oh, it’s ready,” said a happy Ryosuke, running to turn the stove off.

“What’re you making?”

He tilted the kettle’s spout to a mug. “Hot chocolate.” When he was finished, he grabbed the mug and a coaster and placed them together at the table. “It was cold today, and I forgot to give you my jacket.” He poured himself one and then escorted her with Natsu to the table. He pulled out the chair for her to sit and told her to put Natsu in the bouncer, and she did.

“Actually, thanks to your stockings, I was quite warm.” She showed him the other pair she was wearing under her shorts. This time, she could show him how she actually looked with the stockings because she wasn’t wearing it under some long pants.

He choked on his breath. “Can we not talk about that now?”

She innocently raised her brows even though she knew he was embarrassed. “Why can’t we talk about it?” She stood up, walked to his side, and strutted around the kitchen. “They too y on me?” She posed and batted her eyes.

He, who saw her modeled while trying to casually sip his drink, coughed again and almost spilled his drink and burned his tongue and legs. He didn’t think she’d ever say those words. He questioned himself, “Why did I buy them for you?”

“‘cause you knew they’d be pretty on me.”

He became redder, proving her words to be true.

She got what she wanted—his cute reaction—so she was satisfied. “Fine. I won’t say anything anymore, big baby. Take him, and you guys go watch TV or something. I’m gonna make lunch for us tomorrow.”

He looked at the baby in the bouncer. “I-I have the drink. I can’t take him.”

She sighed at her scaredy-cat friend and decided to do the job for him. She picked up the bouncer with Natsu and put him in the living room. “I did that for you, so go watch him out there.”

Ryosuke smiled, pleased. He took her by the waist and said, “I didn’t get to eat anything you made today, so you have to make a lot for me tomorrow.”

“You might get a stomachache,” she teased.

“It’s worth it.”

“Okay. Not my fault if anything happens.”

He shot his fists into the air, then he turned serious. “Go, slave. Make food for your master.”

She shoved him, and they went to do their own thing.

He sat down on the couch and was about to turn on the TV but saw her reflection. The warm fuzzy feeling of them being a real family kicked in. He watched her reflection from the TV set of her putting on the apron, tying her hair into a ponytail, taking out a knife, and doing her business. Watching her was better than watching anything on the TV.

And he watched her with much concentration.

And adoration.

So much that he felt aroused.

He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and finally the TV.

As for Mirai, she stood in front of the opened fridge, contemplating what to make for tomorrow. As she thought to herself, a reminder for her to cook for an extra person—Yuta—made her stiff.

She couldn’t tell if she was excited or afraid.

*

It was the next morning, and Ryosuke went to school without Mirai and Natsu. Today was a Thursday, and Thursday and Friday meant no morning practice, so he could walk with Mirai and Natsu, but he chose not to. He had rushed out the door and didn’t bother to bid her goodbye properly.

He couldn’t do so, not after his thoughts about her last night.

He had thought it was a joke his mind was playing on him, but the throb from below proved him wrong. Luckily, it didn’t get to the point where he needed to relieve himself privately in the bathroom.

“She knows something’s up!” he groaned. “What am I gonna say to her when she asks me?” He crouched to the ground in the middle of the sidewalk and had his hands at his head. “Why in the freakin’ world did I think that?!”

*

Mirai got to school and found it a surprise that Ryosuke hadn’t arrived since he had left first, so she asked their friends about him.

“Haven’t seen him either,” said Haruka. “Thought today was your guys’ day to walk together.”

Mirai shook her head. “He left me.”

“Oh, speak of the devil,” said Haruka, “he’s here now.” She pointed to the gate.

Mirai looked and saw him walking through the gates as slow as a tortoise. “Ryosuke.”

He perked up at his name and locked eyes with her and then looked away.

She scowled, disappointed that she had been rejected.

*

Kota stepped out of a phone store with a new phone in hand. His old one had dropped into a pond of mud, so he had to find transportation to the nearest city. It took him almost a week to find someone available because no one in the countryside had time to help a stranger when they had ranches or farms to care for. Fortunately, a young boy around his brother’s age helped him around town.

“Everything okay?” asked the young boy, who had waited outside the shop.

Kota nodded. “Yes. Thanks for the ride.”

They walked to the silver truck parked at the side. The young boy’s grandfather was in the driver’s seat, and he started the engine.

“No problem,” said the younger boy once he and Kota settled into the truck. “Glad to help a fellow city boy. Besides, we don’t get many city folks here often ‘cause it’s usually just a bunch of land and cattle. So, what’s a guy like you doing here in the countryside? Definitely not for work, right, ‘cause you ain’t got the build, man.”

Kota didn’t want to say much because the last time he had mentioned that he was here on a search for someone, one of the locals had assumed he was a person with bad intentions to the person he wanted to find. Since then, he knew best to stay quiet because the locals were protective of their small community.

The young boy asked, “So, where you stayin’ at?”

“At this inn, but that was miles away. I took a bus here, but I had to get off because it was the last stop before it did a round trip. Do you know of any close inns or motels around here?”

“The closest one’s back that way,” said the grandpa, driving. “Probably the same one you were at.”

Kota looked out the window. The sun was long gone already.

“You can spend the night at our place.”

“Won’t I be intruding?”

“We’d love to have a guest like you. It’s been quite some time since we have had company.”

“Thank you. I’ll take your offer if you don’t mind.” Kota then his new phone and synced his old information onto it. He saw that he had six missed calls, nine text messages, and eighteen e-mails. He checked them all and came upon his brother’s texts, asking him for a favor regarding Natsu. Once he read them all, he responded.

“Data and wifi working?” asked the young boy as he looked back to Kota sitting in the back seat.

Kota glanced up with a smile. “Yes. You know about wifi and data?”

“My grandson used to live in Tokyo,” said the grandpa. “But he won’t go back no matter what I or his grandma says.”

“What about school?” Kota knew that it may be a sensitive and personal question, but he wanted to get an idea of the kind strangers—not that they weren’t trustworthy but that they were interesting.

“He attends the local school,” answered the grandpa. “But my wife and I can’t complain. He helps us with the business, but we’d still like him to get an education in the city, you know.”

Kota nodded and noticed that the young boy had stayed silent.

The forty-something-minute drive was filled with small talk between the grandpa and Kota because the young boy never spoke again.

*

It was lunchtime, and Mirai’s heart throbbed like crazy.

The time was here.

The time to give Yuta her prepared lunch.

Throughout the entire day, she had imagined countless ways of how to give him the lunch she had made. She ped her backpack to take out his lunch but saw Ryosuke’s on top. She grabbed it, looked at Ryosuke, and was about to call him, but he had walked out of the classroom. She gave it to Haruka. “Can you give this to the big brat when he returns?”

Haruka accepted it and sneered gleefully. “Oh, yeah. Today’s your lunch date with Senpai.”

“I’m only dropping it off, so It’s not a lunch date.”

“He said he wanted to eat with you.”

“No, he said he’d like for me to make him lunch.”

Haruka sighed. “So, you’re gonna come back to join us?”

Mirai nodded. She was determined to follow through.

*

Ryosuke entered the boys' bathroom and went to the sink. He splashed cold water on his face, then grabbed some paper towels, and dried his face. As he headed toward the door, he saw Yuta enter. Confused, he asked, “Senpai, what are you doing here?”

First-year, second-year, and third-year students had their own floor and their own bathrooms, so it was usually rare to see a student from another year be on a floor that wasn't their year's floor.

“For Shida-san,” answered Yuta, casually.

“Shida? Mi-chan?”

Yuta nodded. “Is she here today?”

“Yeah. Need her or something?”

“No, I thought she might’ve flaked out on me.”

“On what?”

“I told her to make me lunch, and I think she wasn’t ready for that.”

“Whoa, when did this happen?”

“At the practice game.” Yuta inhaled. “I’m not getting in the way, right?”

“Of?”

“You and her…”

“Nope. We-we’re not like that. Did Coach say something about us again?”

Yuta laughed. “Even if Coach or anyone didn’t say anything about you guys, anyone would think you two were a couple.”

Ryosuke gagged. “She’s a good girl to hang around with, but she’s not girlfriend material.”

“You think so, but I don’t think so.”

Ryosuke was taken aback.

“She’s cheerful, thoughtful, and careful. She has this way of making the people around her feel comfortable.”

“You praised her too much.”

“I know you guys say that you two won’t have a relationship other than being friends, but every time I see you with her, there’s this thing that tells me you two are more than that.”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause I’ve known her since middle school and we’ve been close ever since.”

“But she’s more of herself when she’s with you than when she’s with anyone.” He pursed his lips and sighed. “I want her to be like that around me.”

Ryosuke didn’t know what to say.

“See you.” Yuta left the bathroom.

Ryosuke waited for a few seconds before leaving. When he finally did leave, he saw Yuta walking from the adjacent hallway with Mirai holding a lunchbox in her hand, so he quickly pressed himself onto the wall to avoid being seen as they walked by. “She made him lunch.” He took a breather. “As if I care.”

*

“We can eat here? It’s allowed?” asked Mirai. She had followed Yuta to the baseball field, and there was no one present, so she feared that it was off-limits unless there was prior approval.

“Yeah, but no one really knows ‘cause the school wants it that way, or else there’d be garbage lying around.” He pointed to a bench. “Let’s sit here.” He sat down and prompted her to do the same.

She paused. Sitting would mean that she intended or agreed to have lunch with him, but she had no plans on doing so. But if she didn’t sit when he asked, wouldn’t that offend him? She’d rather take the less risky route of the two, so she sat on the bench and handed him the lunchbox. “Here’s to make up for it.”

“It’s okay. I’m glad it happened.”

“Because of your diet?”

He shook his head. “I can eat lunch with you.”

*

The gang without Mirai munched on their lunch except for Ryosuke, who kept his eyes above the heads of his friends, looking left and right.

“Not hungry?” asked Juri to him.

“I’m waiting,” answered Ryosuke.

“For what?”

“My slave.”

Haruka smirked. “You shouldn’t. That girl ain’t coming.”

“Why?”

“She’s having a lunch date with Tamamori-senpai.”

“I thought she only made him food and will come back.”

“Oh, you know? Aren’t they the cutest?”