The day before Nozomi and Eli moved into their dorm room, they managed to snatch an opportunity to go out on a date.

Eli had been the one to suggest it, to Nozomi's utter surprise. He had revealed that because Alisa was spending the day at the Kousaka household and the Ayase parents worked, Eli had the house to himself. Although he would have preferred that they'd spent the day alone in his house, he knew it would be the best opportunity for him to leave and return undetected, and with his binder on. He hadn't many options when it came to clothes and ultimately decided to go with jeans and a plain white short-sleeved button-up shirt, and the black vest and tie that were part of the costume of the Love Wing Bell performance. He decided to tie up his hair and stuff it into a fedora, and pray for the best.

Nozomi was absolutely ecstatic and erratic as she tried to decide what to wear on their date. Her boyfriend had texted her about his wardrobe choice and she wanted to match his semi-casual style. She finally decided on a light summer dress, which was white with purple flowers and reached just past her knees. Hopefully, they would look like any other couple on an end-of-the-summer-break date. Nozomi decided not to tell Eli that she suspected Yukiho and Alisa had a similar idea.

Eli began the ten minute walk to Nozomi's apartment, which felt like an eternity. Although he rationally understood that every single passerby on the street couldn't possibly be staring at him, he felt the gaze of the world on him regardless. Did he pass? Did he look strange because almost all of his hair was hidden in a hat? Was his chest flat enough in the cheap binder made not for trans men but butch lesbians? What would the waitress at the café think of him? What if he had to use the bathroom while they were there?

When Nozomi opened the door, a handsome boy with a single rose in hand and the weight of the world clearly on his shoulders stood glaring at the welcome mat. He didn't even seem to notice the door had been opened. Nozomi leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek. His head tilted upwards so quickly he felt it could have flown off his neck, and he barely caught the smirk on Nozomi's lips before she grabbed the rose and turned to walk back into her apartment. He watched as she placed the flower in a vase on her kitchen table and returned to the door, smirk still present, perhaps even having grown. Eli felt his cheeks burning, but at least the source of his embarrassment wasn't his appearance.

"You look stunning, Nozomi."

Eli wasn't the kind to smirk easily, but if he was, he would have at the sight of Nozomi's blush.

"You look very handsome, Eli-kun."

Eli wasn't very good at fighting off incoming frowns, and Nozomi frowned sadly in return, predicting what must have been going on in his head. Nozomi stepped forward and took hold of Eli's arm, hooking her own onto it. She was glad Eli was the tallest in Muse and slightly taller than Nozomi herself, and she hoped that fact was a source of gender euphoria for him. She gave him her biggest smile, and he smiled in return.

"Why don't we head out now?"

The café was in Akiba and not a very long walk, and so they headed out on foot. The couple enjoyed being able to talk together, although Nozomi found it difficult to adjust to the sound of Eli lowering his voice as much as he could. She was unsure if it would be more supportive to let him know that it sounded forced or to allow him to do whatever made him feel better. She eventually decided on the latter, and for the sake of avoiding stares, she made sure to do most of the talking. It wasn't unusual for them, and so she hoped Eli wouldn't find it suspicious.

When they arrived at the store that stood before the café, Eli paused and stared ahead at the door as if it were an insurmountable obstacle. Nozomi stood at his side patiently, slightly squeezing his arm to show her support. He turned to meet her gaze as if searching for a way to garner strength from her turquoise eyes. He seemed to find it, for he flashed the genuine and joyful smile that had sent Nozomi's heart racing many times before. He stepped into the establishment with all the confidence he could muster, and as a waitress greeted them and led them to a table, Eli managed to hold on to the smile. Although his right leg began to shake immediately upon seating himself, he focused on Nozomi's eyes.

"Are we going to have the usual?" Eli asked, referring to a single chocolate (absolutely no caramel) topped parfait they usually shared, and Nozomi smiled at the sound of a voice not forced to its lowest point. Nozomi nodded as she took hold of one of Eli's hands with her own, and his shaking leg slowed just slightly.

"What can I get for you... two?"

Nozomi resisted frowning as the waitress looked between the two, evidently unsure of Eli's gender and remaining vague, though without any tact. Eli opened his mouth, a defeated look on his face, but Nozomi stepped in.

"My boyfriend and I would like to share a chocolate-topped parfait."

The waitress smiled weakly. She had noticed the way Eli was dressed, but the duo were regulars at the place, so she was well aware of who they were. She had seen the two in their school uniforms many times, and was confused as to how Nozomi could be calling Eli a boy. Was that what lesbians were doing now? Was Nozomi ashamed of dating a girl and trying to pass her girlfriend off as a boyfriend? The waitress didn't want to risk the ire of two regulars and, after hesitating for a moment in her thoughts, simply bowed and walked away.

Nozomi was no mind reader, but there was really no way to miss the confusion and discomfort in the smile of the waitress. Still, Eli hadn't been looking at the waitress, so she assumed that all he knew was that the waitress had not questioned that he was her boyfriend. It was with that in mind that she turned back to Eli with a smile.

"Are you excited for move-in day?"

"Sort of?" Eli replied with a shrug. "College is exciting, of course, but since I need my family's help to move in..."

Nozomi nodded in understanding as Eli trailed off. "You know, if you told the rest of Muse, the nine of us would be more than enough to move all ours and Nico's stuff."

"No way," Eli said with a shake of her head, "My parents and Alisa aren't going to want to pass up helping me move in. I'm their... little girl. And older sister. So they're going to want to, you know, take a lot of pictures, and my dad will introduce himself to everyone on our floor..."

He trailed off again, and Nozomi simply nodded once more. At that moment, the waitress returned with their order. She took note of their sad expressions and wondered if Eli had gotten mad at being called Nozomi's boyfriend. She bowed and left quickly, not wanting to be the one to deal with it if the couple starting shouting at each other and disturbing the other customers.

"Are you afraid that if you move in looking like a girl, no one will take you seriously as a guy?"

Eli nodded silently. Nozomi sighed. She hadn't expected their date to start with such a sad conversation, and Nozomi couldn't think anything to say that would make Eli feel better. He couldn't come out to μ's, he couldn't come out to his family, and he couldn't avoid moving into their dorm room with them. Nozomi wracked her brain for something she could say to cheer him up until she decided that while she thought about that, it would be a shame to leave their parfait untouched.

Nozomi picked up one of the spoons the waitress had brought them and scooped up some cream and chocolate. She looked up from the glass and realize Eli was staring at the table. Nozomi cleared her throat and Eli looked up, a small smile gracing his face as he spotted the spoon. He opened his mouth and Nozomi fed him the treat, gaining a satisfied smile as Eli savored the chocolaty taste.

"I'm really glad we came here," Eli said as he picked up his spoon, preparing to return the favor. Nozomi gladly accepted the spoonful, humming before replying.

"Missed going out with me or missed the chocolate?" she asked teasingly.

"N-Nozomi!" Eli whined, pout deepening as Nozomi giggled.

"Have another spoonful, you adorable little baby."

Eli took the treat without further complaint, fully aware of the futility of such pursuits when it came to Nozomi.

"Oh, I have something very important to ask you," Nozomi said in a cheery voice.

Eli titled his head and scrunched his eyebrows but soon nodded for her to continue.

"Nicocchi asked me if, and I quote, one of you had proposed already."

Eli couldn't hold back a chuckle. "I wasn't aware she had realized we liked each other before either of us even confessed."

"I'm sorry to inform you of this, Eli-kun, but most of Muse assumed we were dating when they met us."

Eli nearly choked on the chocolate sauce and vanilla cream he had been swallowing when he heard that statement. As he coughed, he wondered if that was really true or just something Nozomi believed.

"Oh, is that right?"

Nozomi wondered if it would be appropriate to reveal the nicknames Nozomama and Papachika that both the fans and their fellow Muse members used, or remind Eli that no one protested the lyrics to Garden of Glass, or that Umi and Maki had worked together to create that song for them, or Honoka and Kotori's reactions to Nozomi's statement of "I would like to see Elichi in a sexy dress." Nico had even secretly praised Nozomi for Eli and her's "commitment to the fans in providing a lot of yuri vibes during lives". Nico had also been shocked to hear Nozomi and Eli would be living in the dorms instead of renting an apartment for themselves.

"That is right. Nico feels like quite the third wheel around us."

"Oh, that isn't good. But I haven't seen her all summer, so thankfully she hadn't had to feel that way recently. Next time we all hang out we must not let her feel that way."

Nozomi nodded, keeping a small smile as she prepared to ask the question she had been trying to lead up to.

"When do you think I'll be able to tell the girls that we're dating?"

Eli stopped, hand in midair as he had been reaching for more parfait to feed Nozomi. He felt waves of dread and shame wash over him and his mind bombarded him with negative thoughts.

'Nozomi deserves better than this. Of course she wants to be able to tell everyone that she's got a boyfriend. Who wouldn't? You know you'd shout that you love Nozomi from the rooftops if you could. But Nozomi has no reason to feel that way about you, you trans mess.'

Eli slowly lowered his arm and glared down at the table as his thoughts spiraled out of control. Nozomi saw tears pool at the corners of his eyes and immediately began to panic. She had just been so selfish, hadn't she? Here she was, on a date with her trans boyfriend who had only come out to her two weeks ago, and who had only started dating her two weeks ago, and now she was trying to push him into telling everyone they were dating. Hadn't he insisted he didn't want anyone to see him as a lesbian? Didn't she promise to not pressure him into anything?

"Oh my gods, Eli! I'm so, so sorry!"

"No, Nozomi," Eli said fiercely enough that some of the patrons felt tempted to turn their heads to see what the commotion was about, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I barely even scrounged up enough courage to come out here with you. I barely managed to find the courage to come out to you. I know you deserve better treatment and I'm sorry I can't offer you that!"

Eli leaped onto his feet and power walked towards the exit, Nozomi hot on his heels. She wasn't even aware that people had begun to stare at them in the parfait shop. All she wanted was to catch up to Eli and comfort him, but he didn't make it easy as he broke into a sprint.

Nozomi cursed herself under her breath for not wearing a sports bra before calling out to him. This only succeeded in making him more anxious, as he feared someone he knew would hear her calling him by his new name. The tears fell freely as he ran all the way home, fumbling to remove his keys from his pocket. His distressed, clumsy movements gave a huffing Nozomi enough time to catch up to him as he threw open the door. All he wanted to do was run up the stairs and throw himself onto his bed to cry himself into exhaustion. It became clear to him that it would be impossible as Nozomi hugged him tightly around his stomach. He almost struggled to breathe with how tightly she was squeezing him.

"Please," Nozomi managed through her heavy panting, "wait."

Nozomi used her upper body to push Eli inside the house and towards the couch. She turned around quickly and locked the front door before dragging Eli down to sit on the couch next to her. She was finally starting to catch her breath when her boyfriend broke the silence. Tears were still freely flowing from his eyes and he struggled to choke out his words.

"Nozomi, y-you don't need to g-go through this. You d-don't d-deserve to have to go th-through this. I'm a big mess of dysphoria a-and low self-esteem and—" Eli took a deep breath to calm himself and swallowed hard before continuing, "—I'd make a horrible boyfriend if I tried to make you deal with all of that. You-you can get yourself a real man who can—"

A hand flew towards Eli and tightly clamped over his mouth, startling him out of his tunnel-visioned speech. He noticed for the first time that Nozomi was crying as well, granted in a much more quiet way.

"Don't say stuff like that. You're a real man, Eli. Even if I didn't know that until recently. Even if no one in the world knew it. You're my boyfriend, and nothing that you say will convince me to abandon you. Until the day you break up with me—" Eli's eyebrows scrunched in protest and Nozomi smiled "—which I hope never happens, you're going to be stuck with me."

Eli lifted a hand and removed Nozomi's from his mouth, holding hers in his own.

"I've never been stuck with you. I've been blessed by you."

Eli smirked as Nozomi's face redden considerably, and he thanked the gods Nozomi believed in so faithfully for guiding him to her.

"Always the charmer, Eli-kun."

Nozomi removed her hand from Eli's grasp and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't you dare leave me, Eli. Don't try to decide what's good for me, either. I'm a big girl. I can decide for myself who I want to be with. And I choose you."

The warmth in Nozomi's eyes combined with the sincerity in her voice couldn't have possibly allowed him to resist the temptation of pulling Nozomi towards him and kissing her with all the gusto he could muster. He felt a passion burning inside of him that only ballet and live performance with Muse had ever stirred in him. No, this flame burned much hotter. His head was spinning. His mood had been lifted above the clouds. His heart was beating hard enough to explode in his chest.

'I'm in love,' he realized, and kissed Nozomi even harder.

Nozomi, for her part, felt as if she were soaring through the skies. She felt just as light headed and she struggled to do her part in the kiss since she felt she would melt like a puddle. The kiss only became more eager, more passionate and more desperate, as if they both had something to prove. The kiss deepened endlessly, hands moving up and down each other's bodies with the speed and carelessness only two teenagers falling in love for the first time could possess. They were competing to see who could pack the most love into this make out session, and they were both winning. The sound of the two taking deep breaths through their noses to avoid having to separate filled the living room and could have been heard by occupants in other rooms.

After a small eternity, the young couple separated and stared at each other. Panting, hair sticking out in a million directions, dress wrinkled and riding up, eyes filled with love and desire; Nozomi looked like a goddess in Eli's eyes. Fedora long knocked onto the floor, messy bun falling apart, vest and shirt pushed up, panting hard and blue eyes shining; Eli looked like a puppy in heat, somehow simultaneously adorable and sexy. It took all of her willpower not to rip the bottoms of his vest and shirt, all her strength not to press a million kisses on his neck.

After his breathing evened out—and after a full minute of Nozomi lying on top of Eli—the young man gave her a dazzling smile and proclaimed, "We never paid for our parfait!"

Eli giggled as Nozomi's eyes widened in panic and she scrambled off of him and started straightening herself out. He followed her example, fixing his bun and firmly replacing the fedora onto his head. He then held a hand out for Nozomi to take.

"Come on. It'll be my treat since I'm the one who ran away. Then we can take a walk in the park. After that emotional rollercoaster, I just want to enjoy this beautiful day with my beautiful girlfriend."

Equal parts flustered and elated, Nozomi took his hand and the two headed back out to face the world together.