As always, the cafe is abuzz with customers from all walks of life. Some are on their lunch break from some nearby office building. There were also teenagers that were on their way back home after a long day at school, couples on romantic dates, and families having a happy outing. I would honestly like to be here with my boyfriend like we were on New Year's but instead; I'm with my big brother.

My older brother is in casual clothes, a t-shirt, jeans, and a red leather jacket. He waits for the waitress to arrive with our drinks before he chooses to communicate what's on his mind. "So… You're going to graduate college next year," Takuya states, taking a sip from his coffee.

"Yup," I nod. I know exactly what he wants to say to me. And it kills me that he won't just spit it out. "And I'm turning twenty-one in three months."

A grin tugs at Takuya's face but he's not about to let our shared sense of humor derail him from the task that our parents probably set him up to. "Have you started job hunting yet?" nii-san asks. "After all, you can't keep mooching off of Tomoki forever, you know."

Of course, I know that. I also know that if I were to ask, Tomoki would be willing to let me live off of him for the rest of our lives. But I love him too much to be a burden to him and to solely depend on him to be the breadwinner between us, I can't do that. I've got to pull my weight around somehow. But the truth is, I don't know what it is that I want to do.

"Can't I be a homemaker for my hubby?" I inquire.

Takuya chokes on his drink so he sets the glass back down on the table before addressing me once more. "Mom and Dad are really worried about you."

"I know," I huff. "But I've still got time before I have to worry too much about it, right?"

"You're completing your third year of college," he reminds me.

I place my elbow on the table, resting my chin on my palm. "Uh-huh, so I'm told."

Tomoki sure is lucky. Not only does he know exactly what he wants to do, but he's already got an internship in the very building he wants to work at. They'll see his mad skills when it comes to storyline creation and character animation, and hire him full-time for sure.

As for myself, I'm at a total loss for words when it comes to figuring out my future. The only reason I even chose to go to Taiyo University was because it was close enough to home so I could visit whenever and it was the same college Tomoki wanted to go to.

Maybe, if it had been several months earlier, I could've chosen to become a gay male prostitute since sex seemed to be the only thing I was good at. But I had promised my boyfriend that I would stop sleeping with random men. That was an old lifestyle of mine that I'm happy to have left behind. So what if I don't get many chances to have sex anymore nowadays since Tomoki is almost always busy doing something? You know what; fuck my impossibly high sex drive.

"I can just do a couple of odd jobs at first, gain some experience, and decide later on, can't I?" I suggest.

Takuya sighs and crosses his arms, leaning back in his seat. "Is there really nothing you want to do with your life?" He picks up his crepe and takes a bite out of it. I could see him resisting the urge to release porn star moans when he felt the chocolate, whipped cream, and berries practically melt in his mouth. "Oh God, this is… I mean! Shinya, I really don't want to pressure you into making such an important decision so soon. But you should think about."

"I've got the break between school years and summer vacation," I reply.

Takuya finally relented and I could tell that part of it was because he really wanted to dig into the delicious food. Now that we had that out of the way, I wanted to focus on a very real problem that is afflicting me like a curse. But… I'll wait until after he's eaten.

"So, how's the newest Sentai?" Takuya asks in between bites. "I haven't had the chance to catch up since episode one came out."

I finish off the last of my waffles. "Takaharu is a huge idiot and honestly, he annoys me a lot. We haven't had a serious Red since Hiromu of Go-Busters and that was like… three years ago! But I always love the ninja theme so I'll probably be sticking around."

"Hey, Right of ToQger wasn't bad," Takuya laughs. "Sure, he wasn't serious. But I loved his character."

"True, not to mention, Hikari has to be one of the prettiest Greens so far," I say. I decide to take this as my chance to bring up the subject of my personal issue since he seems to have finished his food. "I haven't had sex in weeks."

My older brother's eyes widen because we're in a public dining facility as he begins babbling nonsense. "What does this have to do Super Sentai?"

"Nothing," I shrug. "I'm just wondering if you know of a way to convince Tomoki to undress for me."

Takuya is alternating between pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation and resisting the urge to slam his palm into the table for my excessively forward and lewd behavior. I am grinning from ear to ear because I was able to make this guy lose his calm so easily. It's fun having that kind of power over your own brother.

"Shinya, there is more to life than just sex," Takuya finally sighs.

I lick my lips and swirl my milkshake with my straw. "I have never heard of this fantastical world you speak of."

My brother rolls his eyes in response. "Listen, I don't want to get involved in your sex life." I can feel the 'not anymore' hanging on the tip of his tongue but we both agreed never to broach that confusing and unnecessary part of our lives. "Anyway, I should get going." He hailed down the waitress so that we could get the check. "Think about what I said."

It's hard not to.

-X-

"I'm home!"

I was able to do some tidying up around the house but not much. There's a reason why I can't be a homemaker. I lack all the vital and basic life skills of cooking, laundry, and even cleaning. I blame it on my laziness and my parents' inability to teach me these skills. But I know it's mostly laziness.

I go over to the front door to greet my adorable boyfriend, Tomoki Himi, with a quick peck on the lips. The smile on his face can only last for so long when he notices the smell of Chinese food in the kitchen and the taste of egg rolls on my breath.

"How was work?" I ask as I take his hand in mine.

"Fine," he answers, glancing over at the white plastic bags on the kitchen counter. "You ordered takeout?"

I nod. "Yeah, I figured you'd be too tired to cook dinner after work and you probably don't want to miss the Shuriken Sentai Ninninger VS Kamen Rider Drive crossover special tonight, right? Don't worry, I used my allowance and got all your favorites."

Tomoki smiles and pulls me in for another kiss, deeper this time, before helping me bring the food over to the little wooden coffee table in front of the television set. We plop down onto the rather ugly couch with its black and white diamond pattern but every time we're sitting down there together, it feels like the most romantic spot in the entire apartment. Even when we tune into a show about adults in colorful spandex, I still find this moment between us to be enchanting.

"I still think it's too early for a crossover between them," Tomoki remarks. "Ninninger is only five episodes in."

"Hey, it's a great way to get Kamen Rider fans to watch Super Sentai and vice versa," I grin.

He nods. "Can't deny that. We never would've even been interested in Kamen Rider until that one crossover episode in Shinkenger."

When it comes time for commercial, I decide that it would be the perfect chance for a quick makeout session since it's only been about seventeen minutes since that kiss at the door. So the moment Tomoki comes back from his bathroom break, I attack him on the couch. After months of dating, he's used to my spontaneous bursts of physical affection and he lets me.

At some point, we find our hands roaming each other's bodies, brushing up our shirts to caress bare skin. I can feel his body shiver underneath me as I tweak his nipples. In an instant, my dick is putting up a tent in my jeans.

But when my hand reaches for the zipper of his pants, we hear the unmistakable sound of the show coming back. I know Tomoki doesn't want to be rude or to cut my shameless desire short, but he pushes me off of him anyway.

"Sorry," we both say to each other.

"I know it's not a good time to be doing that," I chuckle. "Guess I got carried away."

"So did I," Tomoki mutters. "Let's just… focus on the show."

I feel a little stupid. But I can't really help it. Ever since we confessed our love to each other, I've wanted to devote every second demonstrating that love to him. I know it can't be perfect, but this is my first serious relationship. Being idealistic and wishing for that fairy tale ending is just something that would come naturally, right?

Perfect is far from what we have right now though. I know that after the show is over, he's going to want to go take a shower and then head right to sleep. The guy is balancing school, his internship, housework, his personal life, and his relationship with me all at once. I, on the other hand, can't even keep my balance on my feet.

"How do you do it?" I inquire when the next commercial break comes.

Tomoki blinks, clearly puzzled by this random ass question. "Do what?"

"Everything?" I clarify. "There is so much shit going on in your life and yet you brush it off like it's nothing. How do you do that?" I pick up my complimentary fortune cookie as I speak. "If I were you, I'd be stressed, 24/7. So I'm just wondering if there's some secret."

There's a brief pause as he considers this. "No, no secret that I know of," he states. "Though I will say, running for your life in the Digital World at the age of eight is something I often find myself compare my current life to. It's what I do to remind myself that things could be worse. At least there isn't some dark entity out to destroy the whole fucking world."

That explains it. My brother, my best friends, and everyone else who's a Chosen Child not only got to go on the adventure of the lifetime, but now they don't worry about everyday human world stress as much because it's nothing compared to back then.

I break open my cookie and take a look at my fortune as I crunch on the edible parts. "We write our own destiny. We become what we do." Great, so I guess this means I have writer's block. "Fan-fucking-tastic advice, Mr. Cookie."

"Are you okay?" Tomoki frowns. "You seem on edge."

I take a deep breath and press my forehead into his shoulder. "Sorry, I am. I didn't mean to take it out on you… or my fortune"

He kisses me again, giving my hand a squeeze to let me know that I can talk to him about anything if I ever need to. I already know this, but it's helpful to be reminded of the fact. We let a few seconds of silence pass between us, we don't even notice that the show has returned.

"What did you and Takuya talk about today?" Tomoki finally asks.

There it is. "Tomoki, I've got no skills and I'm the laziest piece of shit in the world. If I ask you, I know you'd be willing to take care of me but I don't want that. I want to be able to do something with my life. I just don't know what."

"That's explains your reaction to your fortune," he murmurs. I toss the slip of paper onto the table before asking him what his says. There is quite the pause before he starts reading it out loud, "You will be a great success both in the business world and society."

Are you fucking kidding me? "You've got to be shitting me," I groan.

Tomoki suddenly takes my hand and presses his lips to the back of it, surprising me. It leaves that spot a little moist, pink, and tingling before he starts speaking again. "How about this? I'll spend this weekend teaching you how to take care of yourself and this apartment. I'll teach you all the basic life skills you lack. It's not much, but it'll be a start."

"I really love you," I sigh.

Tomoki plants a kiss on my lips. "I love you too."

The show ends and as I predicted, Tomoki goes to take a shower. I'd go with him but I know he's not in the mood for anything sexual tonight. I could tell he was tired and needed a break even though I'm horny and needed a blowjob. Still, I had to respect his boundaries or else I'd get a frying pan to the face.

"See you in bed," I call. It's not flirtatious or seductive; we just literally sleep in the same bed. I think that's also one of the reasons for my constant state of horniness.

"See you," he yawns in response.

Sitting alone in the living room with the infomercials blasting in my face, I can't help feeling lonely. After moving in with Tomoki, I never thought I'd feel that way again. But he's not here half the time when I am and the living space looks a lot bigger when you're by yourself. I wonder if this is how it's supposed to feel like after the honeymoon phase of a relationship.

I bounce my leg up and down as I rub my hands together, unable to keep myself still. When I hear the shower running, I raise my hands to my face. "Things are supposed to be perfect now," I mumble into my palms. "So…"

Why doesn't it feel that way?