Himawari and her husband came to visit next weekend.

Even thought Watanuki had the date circled three times on the calendar, the Yuuko incident must have distorted his whole perception of time, because he didn't remember Himawari and her husband were visiting till she called to remind him about it a few days before.

"Oh my god!" Watanuki shouted, running into the living room with the phone in a death grip. Himawari had disconnected a few moments earlier, and he had tried to keep up with her conversation while trying not to hyperventilate. "We have to go to the grocery store!"

"Hm?" Doumeki looked up. "Why?"

"Don't ask stupid questions!" Watanuki said and made shooing motions, hoping they would make Doumeki move faster. They didn't. "Himawari-chan is visiting for the weekend."

"Yes?" Doumeki looked confused. "So?"

"Wait!" Watanuki said, because it wasn't possible. "Wait, wait. You knew about this? And you didn't bother telling me?"

"I thought you had remembered," Doumeki replied.

"You- you thought I…ah." Now Watanuki felt embarrassed. He really should have remembered. He shook his head and waved his arms again. "Get your coat! Come on, I have to go buy ingredients for dinner!"

"How many dinners?" Doumeki asked drily, but got up from his work to do as he was told.

"Enough!" Watanuki said and almost tripped down the stairs in his hurry to get to the entryway. "I'll start the car."

Even though Doumeki assured him Himawari had not invited the entire standing army of Japan with her (Doumeki really had to work on his sarcasm), Watanuki still made sure the fridge was still filled to its capacity by the time he was done cooking. Filled to capacity for him meant the stacks of dishes were packed so tightly that Doumeki couldn't take them out of the fridge and munch on something when Watanuki wasn't looking. And Doumeki thought he was stupid. Someone in Doumeki's department even volunteered a mini-fridge for the weekend.

"Women," the professor said to Doumeki knowingly. "Here, take it. It's been sitting in my office holding my empty soda bottles for weeks."

"I'm standing right here, you know," Watanuki shouted, but they took the fridge, which was currently storing all the desserts for the weekend.

He didn't get to cook for company often, and he remembered some of Himawari's favourite dishes fondly. He didn't know Kazuki as well, but Himawari had assured him that Kazuki usually devoured everything Watanuki sent them.

"He's allergic to shellfish, though," she had said in embarrassment on the phone. And then in a lower giggly whisper, "Please make something with shellfish so I can eat all of it, Watanuki-kun."

The doorbell rang as Watanuki was re-straightening the dish towels in the kitchen. "I'll get it!" he shouted and ran downstairs, but Doumeki grabbed him by the back of the shirt and hauled him back just as he was about to reach the door.

"Idiot, what do you think Kazuki will see if you open the door?"

"I…I don't know," Watanuki said, struggling. "I don't know what people see when they look at me. Maybe he'll think…the door opened from the wind."

"Uh huh," Doumeki said, unimpressed, and let him go before opening the door himself.

Watanuki saw a nervous-looking man in a nice jacket standing next to a lovely woman with curly shoulder-length—

"Himawari-chan!" Watanuki exclaimed. "I almost didn't recognise you!"

"Watanuki-kun! You look wonderful!" she said and rushed forward to press his hands. From the depths of her curls Tanpopo let out a tiny musical chirrup. He came up to the tip of her ear now. Himawari turned to beam at Doumeki. "And Doumeki-kun too!"

Doumeki extended a hand to her too, almost formally as if he was an old gentleman asking her for a dance, but he clasped her hand warmly. "It's good to see you, Kunogi." He turned and bowed his head slightly. "Kazuki."

"Doumeki," Kazuki replied and ducked his head in reply. "Thank you for having us here."

"We're glad to have you," Doumeki replied politely.

"Oh my god," Watanuki said, almost hopping up and down. "Just let them in already! That suitcase Kazuki's carrying must be heavy, and they must be hungry."

Himawari laughed. "I'm always hungry if it's Watanuki-kun's food."

"Hmm?" Kazuki turned his head. "What was that about Watanuki's food?"

Himawari looked at him fondly, and Watanuki saw the way her face lit up; it would have made him jealous once. Sometimes it still made him jealous because Kazuki could be with her whenever he wanted, while he and Doumeki only spoke with her a few times a year.

"It's Pavlovian," she joked. "Come on, Hiroshi, let's go in—oh, you've made some improvements, haven't you? I remember the old pictures of the house Watanuki sent when you moved in." She looked wonderingly at the hall. "It looks brighter."

"We painted the walls a lighter colour," Doumeki said. The idea had been all well and good till they had actually bought the brushes and the painter's tape and collected all the old newspaper for the floor. It should have been a nice project for them to do together. Instead, it had been one of their more spectacular fights. Doumeki had ended up with half the paint in his hair, and Watanuki had crept down in the dead of night and done the whole job himself because he learned he and Doumeki had two different painting styles—correct and horribly wrong, respectively.

"I would like to thank Watanuki for taking the time to send us his cooking," Kazuki said as he followed Doumeki to the spare room to put down the suitcase. "And the chrysanthemum wine was delicious. Where is he?"

Watanuki exchanged pleased glances with Doumeki. One of the first things they had liked about Kazuki had been how earnestly polite he was to everyone. They had liked many things about him. Kazuki probably had no idea he had been vetted so rigorously before they had permitted his marriage to Himawari; they had been like the forbidding in-laws every man was afraid of. Watanuki stared at the back of Doumeki's head and suppressed a laugh thinking of him as a terrifying mother-in-law.

Doumeki nodded and accepted the compliment on Watanuki's behalf. "Unfortunately, he has to be away for business. He regrets not being able to meet you."

"Business consulting like me?" Kazuki joked.

Himawari laughed. "Yes, something like that. Isn't that so, Watanuki-kun?" she asked clandestinely, and they shared a grin.

"This is the spare room," Doumeki said and slid open the doors. They used it mostly to store Doumeki's textbooks and computer now, so there was a bookcase and a desk, but it was still a reasonably sized room for two people.

"Ah," Kazuki said. He put down the suitcase, picked it back up, and put it back down again. "I...I wouldn't want to intrude."

"It's fine. We don't use this room," Doumeki replied.

"But then…" Kazuki looked confused. "Where does Watanuki sleep?"

There was a pause.

"Uh," Doumeki replied articulately.

"Say something!" Watanuki shouted. "Say anything."

"In the next room," Doumeki began, but Watanuki waved his arms frantically.

"No! Not that! Not that."

"May I use the phone in here?" Himawari asked suddenly, and Watanuki could have kissed her. "Sorry, I was going to call my parents."

"Sure," Doumeki replied.

"Oh, yes yes. Of course you would want to call your parents." Kazuki made vaguely apologetic hand motions that were oddly reminiscent of Watanuki's characteristic arm-flailing. "I'll leave you to it, Himawari."

"Kimihiro prepared some snacks," Doumeki contributed. "They're upstairs."

Kazuki's eyes widened at the use of Watanuki's first name, but he took it all in stride. "Watanuki is very generous," he said cheerfully and followed Doumeki out the door.

Pavlovian, Himawari mouthed to Watanuki and smiled. "Please stay for a moment, Watanuki-kun," she whispered as he started leaving with Doumeki and Kazuki.

Watanuki nodded. "Oy, freak," he called fondly, and Doumeki turned. "See if you can reach the good plates in the shelves above the sink. Call me if you need help."

"Hn," Doumeki said flatly, but Watanuki could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'll be up in a few minutes," Himawari said and shut the door apologetically. She made a show of picking up the phone and dialling and then disconnected after a few seconds. "How are you, Watanuki-kun?" she whispered over.

Watanuki beamed. "I'm doing fine. You look very beautiful, Himawari-chan."

She really did. She had part of her hair up in a simple gold clip, and she was wearing a touch of make-up that brought out her lovely eyes. Much like Kohane, age had agreed with her natural beauty.

Himawari smiled at him, the corners of her eyes crinkling up. "It's very confusing talking to you when Hiroshi is around. I'm not sure what he's hearing me say. I thought I would talk to you alone for a minute without him and Doumeki-kun."

"Yes,that guy is always around, isn't he?" Watanuki muttered.

Himawari replaced the phone in its cradle. "How is it living with him?"

"It's…" Watanuki thought about Doumeki asking for seconds at every meal and coming home smelling like chalk dust and his broad strong shoulders. "He's not as annoying as he used to be."

Himawari laughed a little dry laugh and gave him a look, and Watanuki suddenly realised that she had grown up somewhere along the way, that she was a woman now with secrets of her own. "You two always were very close."

Watanuki stood there with his mouth flapping open, and she took pity on him. "Don't be embarrassed," she said kindly. "He's happy. I can tell. You're very good for him."

"He's good for me," Watanuki mumbled, looking away and feeling his face turn pink.

Himawari laughed again, the bright tinkling laugh he remembered from long ago. She hugged him suddenly, and he smelled the fresh clean scent of her hair. "I'm happy for you," she murmured. "You deserve to be happy."

"I'm glad you're happy too, Himawari-chan," Watanuki replied and hugged her back.

She suddenly pulled away to inspect his face at arm's length. "How long have you…"

"Have we kept it a secret?" Watanuki joked, but he saw she was slightly hurt that they had never told her. He thought about it and blinked in surprise. "Oh. Years. Back when he was getting his PhD, I think. I can't remember." Had it really been that long? He shook his head. "I'm sorry, it just…it never came up. And we never knew how to…"

"I see," Himawari replied seriously, but the twinkle was back in her eye.

Watanuki cleared his throat. He still felt embarrassed talking about it. "Er, how is—"

As if on command, Tanpopo hopped down her arm and onto his wrist. He could feel the bird's tiny feet. Tanpopo twittered, shuffled up to settle next awkwardly on his shoulder, and tugged gently at his earlobe.

Himawari laughed. "That means food."

"I know," Watanuki said drily. "He's got quite the appetite for such a little bird, but I'm used to feeding voids of the universe after working for—Oh." He blinked. "I should…well, I'm not sure if I…"

"What is it, Watanuki-kun?"

"Yuuko-san." Watanuki swallowed. It was one thing confiding it to Doumeki, but it was another thing entirely to tell Himawari. "I think I saw Yuuko-san at the station."

Himawari's hands went to her mouth. "You did? She's back? Oh, but that's wonderful! What did she look like?"

"I don't know," Watanuki replied and rubbed his eyes irritably because it was so stupid to not remember something like that. Tanpopo nuzzled his cheek soothingly. "I don't know what she looked like. But I think…if it is Yuuko-san, then—"

"People will see you again," Himawari finished breathlessly. "You'll be able to live in the normal world."

"We'll be able to see her again," Watanuki corrected helplessly. "I…I don't want to be…"

"You never think about yourself," Himawari chastised. "You never have. Please, at least let the rest of us do it. For your sake, I hope it is her. For your sake." She smiled suddenly. "And for Doumeki-kun's sake too. He can't show you off."

Watanuki scoffed. "Show me off?"

"Yes," Himawari said firmly. "You don't think I show off Hiroshi too? I make sure he comes to every single office party so I can show everyone how lucky I am."

"He's the lucky one," Watanuki replied and squeezed her arm. "Because he has such a good wife."

"Doumeki-kun too." Himawari grinned as Watanuki sputtered. "But judging from all the desperate phone-calls I get about your meddling neighbours, I think keeping up the charade of being single is tiring him out."

"He makes desperate phone-calls?" Watanuki repeated incredulously.

"Oh yes." She suddenly looked grave. "He was really worried when you disappeared, you know. I've never heard him sound so scared."

"Yes," Watanuki said soberly. He looked at his feet. "I didn't realise he…"

"Please take care of him," Himawari said softly. "He cares for you very much."

"Urk." Watanuki could feel his face heating up again.

Himawari laughed merrily and pulled him out of the room. "Come on. We should join the others before Hiroshi eats all of your food!"

"So you work in finance now, Himawari-chan," Watanuki said. They had all settled down in the living room with cups of coffee after dinner. Kazuki kept patting his stomach gingerly like he thought it would explode at any moment. "Do you like it?"

"Very much," Himawari said, smiling. "And the office is right beside one of the most beautiful temples in Kyoto. It's very nice walking to work every day. It's such a pretty view."

Watanuki understood the nuance behind her words. She had chosen that particular office on purpose so the temple would negate her bad luck around her co-workers. Not for the first time, Watanuki thought it really was a stroke of luck that Kazuki lived in Kyoto, but it really hadn't been luck, had it? It had all been hitsuzen.

"Oh! Speaking of view, I was going to ask you about this." Kazuki pointed to the kitchen skylight they had installed after Watanuki had complained that he never got enough natural light. "Did you have this put in?"

Doumeki nodded.

"We're going to remodel some of our house too," Kazuki said. "Please give us some advice. We don't know what to do!"

"Yes, it will be more crowded with three of you, won't it?" Watanuki said casually.

Himawari gasped and put her hands to her face. "Watanuki-kun! How did you know?"

"Do you know the gender yet?" Watanuki asked, smiling.

Himawari shook her head. "No, it's only been a few weeks."

"Yes, well, make sure to put padding around the corner of the stairs. She'll always fall down right there when she's learning to walk."

"Watanuki-kun!" Himawari was laughing now, and he could tell she was pleased. He knew she had always wanted a daughter. "Stop spoiling all the surprises!"

"Send pictures of the house," Doumeki told Kazuki. "We can ask around."

"We were thinking about converting one of the spare rooms," Kazuki said and turned to press Himawari's hand excitedly. "We're expecting a child."

"Congratulations," Doumeki replied dutifully. He turned to raise an eyebrow at Watanuki.

Watanuki shrugged and grinned. "Surprise," he offered. Sometimes it was ridiculously redundant not having Kazuki in the loop with the rest of them.

"Hn," Doumeki replied.

Himawari laughed again. "Doumeki-kun—oh." She stifled a yawn. "I'm sorry."

"Please." Doumeki rose to stand. "You must be tired from the train ride. I'll go put out the futons." He gave Watanuki a meaningful look as he collected the dishes and put them in the sink.

"What?" Watanuki asked absently, but Doumeki left the room without a word. "What?"

"That Doumeki is a quiet one, isn't he?" Kazuki said after a moment, and Watanuki realised he should have left the room too.

"In my experience," Himawari said cheerfully. "Doumeki-kun says exactly what needs to be said."

"That's true," Kazuki agreed. "Hey." His voice dropped down to a whisper, and Watanuki really should have left the room with Doumeki, because now he felt like he was spying. "Are Doumeki and Watanuki…you know…"

Himawari looked uncertainly over at Watanuki, who shrugged and then nodded. It wasn't as if Kazuki would think less of them, and the secret was already out.

Himawari followed his nod carefully. "Y-es. They've been together for many years." Her eyes twinkled suddenly. "You could say they were high-school sweethearts."

"We most certainly were not!" Watanuki protested. Himawari's shoulders were shaking in barely repressed laughter.

"Yes we were," Doumeki said, suddenly poking his annoying face into the room. "You were just too stupid to notice."

"Well excuse me for not picking up on our whirlwind teenage romance," Watanuki shot back.

"It's fine," Doumeki replied matter-of-factly. "Stop eavesdropping and help me put out the futons."

"I was not eavesdropping," Watanuki told him haughtily and stalked out of the room. He was pretty sure Himawari was laughing outright now. Kazuki was laughing helplessly with her and demanding to be let in on the joke.

Watanuki followed him downstairs to help carry the bedding into the spare room. He looked over at Doumeki while they were laying out the blankets and spreading out the sheets in airy white billows. Doumeki was carrying a few pillows under one arm. "I wasn't stupid, you know," he said. "I was just…I was scared. I had never—I didn't recognise—"

"I know," Doumeki replied. He leaned in close till their noses were touching. Watanuki could feel the tickle of his eyelashes. "But you were still pretty stupid," Doumeki continued softly.

"I was—wait, what?" Watanuki's eyes darted down towards Doumeki's mouth, which was crooked up in a smirk. "Jerk," he muttered affectionately. He stole one of Doumeki's pillows and hit him with it.

By the time Himawari came down to see what the commotion was about, Doumeki had launched a counter-strike involving a complex set of short precise moves that made Watanuki think Doumeki had once studied pillow-fighting as a martial art. God only knew what priests did in their spare time. Nevertheless, Watanuki was sure he was a few moves away from wining, but then he was almost knocked off-balance when a third pillow connected with his head. He turned around with his glasses askew and saw a half-blurry Himawari giggling and brandishing her own pillow.

"No, I can't hit a girl," Watanuki said nobly and threw down his pillow.

"How kind," Himawari replied with her innocent smile and proceeded to give him a thorough beating. Doumeki joined her with several methodical blows to Watanuki's head.

"Mercy!" Watanuki finally shouted, laughing. He lowered his arms. They were all slightly out of breath. Himawari was flushed and laughing. "Honestly, with friends like you two…"

"Friends," Himawari echoed, smiling softly. She dropped her pillow. "Did you ever think ten years ago that we would be here doing this? Did you ever dream any of this, all of this would happen to us?"

"No," Watanuki replied. "But…I'm glad it did." He glanced at Doumeki, who was wearing a thoughtful expression, and at Himawari, who reached out and took both of their hands. Watanuki squeezed back. "I'm glad it did."