Chapter 67: The Couple's First Night
Both of them were panting a little after they finally parted, staring at each other in the darkness where only the sound of their hurried breathing could be heard.
Hikaru suddenly felt an unrealistic sensation, as if he were trapped inside a dream.
Just like that, he was together with Ai? Without having to claw through insurmountable obstacles or survive heart-pounding adventures, they had simply become a couple?
He had originally assumed he would need to put in far more effort to truly move Ai's heart—that he would have to use time, little by little, to make her understand that he and Hikaru Kamiki were entirely different souls. He thought they might encounter heavy resistance along the way, but they would ultimately overcome it all.
That was how he had pictured it in his head.
But the reality of the situation was... they were officially a couple right now.
"This feels a little unreal," Hikaru said softly.
"What's unreal about it?" Ai asked, tilting her head.
"It feels like I'm dreaming, and the second I wake up, you'll be gone."
Ai gently wrapped her arms around Hikaru. "Does this make it feel real?"
Hikaru wrapped his arms around her waist in return, burying his face in her hair. *Her hair smells so good. I wonder what brand of shampoo she uses,* his mind drifted aimlessly.
"By the way, this dialogue makes it sound like we're acting in a TV drama."
Ai rested her head against Hikaru's shoulder. "It kinda does."
"Yeah, I said it on purpose," Hikaru admitted flatly. "I just really wanted to hold you."
"You're terrible," Ai murmured, her warm breath brushing against his ear. "You can hold me for as long as you want."
Right at that moment, a rustling sound came from the nearby bushes as two little heads popped out.
"Are you two planning to stand here hugging all night?" Aqua asked, his face entirely expressionless.
Hikaru stared back at Aqua in sheer awkwardness. *Don't tell me these two kids were hiding there watching us the entire time?*
He and the twins engaged in a silent staring contest, a deeply subtle awkwardness thick in the air.
After a moment, Hikaru couldn't take the suffocating atmosphere anymore and cleared his throat. "It's getting incredibly late. How about you guys just crash at my place tonight?"
"Precisely what I was thinking," Aqua nodded solemnly.
Ruby nodded rapidly in agreement as well, so the four of them headed up to Hikaru's apartment together. Hikaru's place was on a middle floor; he held Ai's hand the entire way as he guided the twins into the elevator.
The fifty-square-meter, one-bedroom apartment was laid out in a sleek, modern design. The dark interior style gave off a slightly cool, sophisticated vibe, with floor-to-ceiling windows showing off a gorgeous view of the Tokyo night sky. The living room featured a black leather sofa paired with a low coffee table, giving the entire space a minimalist, urban aesthetic.
The three of them looked around the apartment with curious eyes. Ai had always known Hikaru's address, but she had never actually stepped foot inside before.
Aqua walked into the study. A laptop sat on the desk alongside a scattering of stray documents and several sheets of draft paper covered in dense handwriting. He turned around to look at the bookshelf, which was neatly lined with all sorts of literature. Aqua casually pulled out a book titled *The Art of Language*; his mouth twitched slightly before he shoved it back, then got on his tiptoes to sit on the desk, checking out the very bottom shelf.
*Nihilism and Hedonism*, *The Meaning of Life*, *No Longer Human*...
"Your taste... is pretty unique," Aqua reviewed.
Hikaru immediately distanced himself from the collection. "Those books were already sitting there when I woke up with amnesia. I haven't even touched them."
"Then your past self had pretty unique taste," Aqua corrected, scanning the room. "This place couldn't have been cheap, right?"
"It's just the location is premium. Honestly, I think I overpaid," Hikaru said. "I'm actually considering whether I should put it on the market."
"Huh? Is Hikaru getting a new place?" Ai walked into the study, asking curiously.
Ruby huddled over to join them a second later. Aqua stayed silent for a brief moment before speaking up, "You aren't planning to... move into our place, are you?"
Ruby's expression gradually shifted from total cluelessness to sheer horror.
Hikaru simply maintained his smile, staring back at Aqua in absolute silence.
Aqua let out a heavy sigh. "I'm not necessarily against it, I just feel like the pacing is a bit too fast."
*Didn't you two literally just become a couple?* he desperately wanted to yell in his head. Though technically, this brand-new couple already had two kids running around.
Ai didn't see anything wrong with the idea. "My house is pretty big anyway. If you're tired, you can just head right to sleep."
Leaving the study, they walked back out into the living room. Aqua poked his head into the bedroom to check it out, walking back with a look of pure disapproval. "So, how are we supposed to sleep tonight?"
Hikaru only had one bed, though it was a massive king-sized one.
"How about I sleep on the couch?" Aqua suggested.
Hikaru sighed. "You don't have to try and reverse-psychology me. I'll take the couch. The three of you can sleep in the bedroom. There are spare sheets and blanket covers at the bottom of my wardrobe."
And so, the very first night after accepting Ai's confession and officially becoming a couple passed in an incredibly uneventful fashion.
Throughout the night, Hikaru curled up on the sofa, staring blankly at the bedroom door. Even though it was the dead of winter, he felt entirely flushed and restless. He couldn't stop playing the evening's events over in his head—replaying Ai's confession, and naturally, recalling the exact sensation of her lips against his. He would probably never forget that feeling for the rest of his life.
For the first time in ages, Hikaru suffered from a terrible bout of insomnia.
The next morning was Christmas Day, and all four of them woke up early. Hikaru noticed that Ai had prominent dark circles under her eyes as well; it looked like she hadn't slept a wink either.
*I really hope it wasn't an issue with my bed.*
Hikaru opened the fridge and pulled a pack of frozen, store-bought wontons out of the freezer, setting them on the induction stove to boil. Instead of using the highly artificial, processed seasoning packet that came with the food, he mixed his own soup base at the bottom of the bowls, scalded it with hot water, and then scooped the cooked wontons right in.
"Do you usually eat stuff like this, Hikaru?" Ai found the whole process fascinating.
"Yeah, every now and then," Hikaru said. "It's just breakfast, so I don't usually spend too much energy on it. It's just something quick to fuel up."
Ruby chimed in, "You call this quick?"
Aqua took a bite to taste it. "Is this a dumpling? It doesn't really look like one."
"It's a wonton. It uses a much thinner wrapper to hold a smaller amount of filling; that's basically the gist of it," Hikaru thought about it for a second. "Just think of it as a close cousin to the dumpling."
"It's really good. Though eating something this heavy first thing in the morning feels a bit too extravagant," Aqua reviewed.
"We have a whole long day ahead of us, what's wrong with eating a bit more?" Hikaru thought back to his past life when he had traveled to Pengcheng and tasted the local breakfast options. The breakfast spread in that region was unbelievably heavy—Sha soup, pan-fried pork buns, pan-fried mutton dumplings... eating high-calorie carbs first thing in the morning made you feel full for the entire day.
He low-key wished he could go back and have another meal there.
He wiped his mouth. "This is barely any oil. If we get the chance, I'll take you to try something way more substantial."
Once they finished breakfast, Ai naturally took hold of Hikaru's hand and asked, "Where do you want to go for our date, Hikaru? Don't worry about me, just pick wherever you like best."
She looked straight into his eyes. "I want to learn more about your hobbies."
"Am I really allowed to pick wherever I actually want to go?" Hikaru double-checked.
Ruby raised her hand high into the air. "Can I come along too?"
"Not really," Hikaru answered. "If the four of us go walking around the streets together, it'll be way too eye-catching. It'll be too easy for pedestrians to recognize us."
Ruby pouted. "Being a celebrity is such a pain."
"Regular celebrities usually aren't under such strict restrictions," Hikaru laughed. "Even if they get spotted, they can usually just wave and make a run for it. But Ai is an idol, and I don't plan on exposing our relationship just yet, so we're stuck playing the stealth game for a while."
Ai let out a sigh of her own. "Being an idol is such a pain."
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