A/N: Prologue's too short to upload on it's own! Here's the actual first chapter.


[Chapter 01]: Invitation


Yuri never understood her predilection for Key coffee—where it came from, why it had such a familiar taste—but she never questioned it. And she sure as hell would never question waking up to the smell of it in the morning.

"You are a saint," she sighed as she sat down at the table and a steaming mug of it was placed in front of her.

"Saint. God. Whatever you want to call me." Ayato looked pleased as he sat down with his own cup—of tea, actually, he'd never been a coffee person. "I figured you'd need it."

He knew as well as she did that caffeine was necessary when it came to her work schedule. Or functioning in general at seven in the morning. She'd need that bubbly coffee-induced personality to deal with impatient customers—especially the phone call ones she couldn't hang up on.

"Besides," he said with a light smile, warming his hands around the tea mug, "you should enjoy it while you can."

Yuri harrumphed. "Hey—you know, I've looked into it, and it would be okay for me to have coffee in moderation." She took a hearty sip for good measure.

It'd been a little over two weeks since their anniversary, and despite what they'd told each other that night, there had been talk since then. Talk of change. Except, more like growth.

"Is that true for everyone?" Ayato asked, pensive concern creasing his forehead. "It would be your first, so we don't want to take any chances…"

"Well, I'm not pregnant yet, so…" Another gulp, this time maintaining dominant eye contact.

Ayato merely laughed into his mug and tilted his head at her. "You sure about that?"

His smugness made her snort, but she'd found his eagerness as of late kind of adorable. She suspected it stemmed from a deep-seated desire to excel at a field his father never could. Earlier on in their marriage, he'd shied away from the subject since he worried his dad's parenting skills might have rubbed off on him. His sudden change of heart suggested that something must have given him a new confidence.

"I'll take a test later tonight," she promised, getting to her feet and lifting his chin with a finger to plant a kiss on his lips. He stood up as well to continue the contact. "And if it's negative… well, that just means we'll have to try again."

"Or we could try again now."

Yuri laughed; he hadn't even missed a beat. "Tempting, but I'm going to be late."

"Yes, that is the goal." Ayato nipped playfully at her jawline, then her throat.

"Aren't you the clever one this morning?" The affectionate one too, not that she was complaining. "You have work too, you know." He started to grumble in protest, but she silenced him with her lips. "I'll see you tonight."

Fortunately for him, he'd quit working with his father in the pottery business not long after they started dating. Just before they got engaged, he'd distanced himself even more from his father by moving to Mizuzaka. His job here was more enjoyable, and his boss was appreciably less abusive, so it didn't pain him as much to give in and let go.

Besides, they'd had the same problem yesterday—and Yuri had had to remind him that if he got himself fired then they wouldn't be able to afford a kid.

"Fine," he said, toying with the locket around her neck. The smirk on his face matched the predatory gleam in his eye. "But tonight you're mine, Nakamura."

On any other day she might've playfully corrected him with her married name—but she was running late so she gave him a coy little grin to rival his. "Looking forward to it."

And then she was out the door, the promise of a date and an unspoken "I love you" still on her lips.


It couldn't wait until later tonight. Turned out she was admittedly just as eager as Ayato when it came to this.

She had the test with her in her purse. It was her lunch break, so she figured what the hell. Taking a deep breath, she fished it out and made her way towards the restroom.

"Yuri!"

A flash of lavender intercepted her in the breakroom, and Yuri had to hide a wince as well as her test. Ryou Fujibayashi was a sweet girl, but as an introvert, if you had one long conversation with her and made her feel welcome, she'd trust you with everything forever.

"Yeah, Ryou—?" Yuri started, hiding both hands behind her back.

"Um, have you ever heard of Masami Iwasawa?" Ryou burst out, wide-eyed and wringing her hands as if sharing a deep secret of the universe.

The name rang a few bells, no doubt about it. Maybe Ryou had brought it up before in one of her fangirlish ramblings. "The name sounds familiar," Yuri admitted. "Is she famous or something?"

"She's on her way!" said Ryou, beaming with pride. "My friend Nagisa knows her from the restaurant they both used to work at. She's a singer, songwriter, and guitar-player. She's so talented—!"

"Cool, so should I look up one of her songs…?" Yuri asked, scratching her head with her free hand.

"That's just it!" Ryou cried, and Yuri made a mental note to ask her what brand of coffee she was drinking, because somehow it contained twelve times more caffeine than Key coffee. "She's finally doing a big concert tonight; if you want to go see her, I've got an extra ticket!"

This girl spoke fluently in exclamation marks but Yuri couldn't help but feel a rush of appreciation for her generous little heart.

"I'd really love to, Ryou," she said honestly, "but I have plans with Ayato tonight."

"Oh, I under-" The other girl paused, giving her that infamous doe-eyed head-tilt. "Wait, Yuri, what are you hiding behind your back?"

In a moment of boldness, she grasped Yuri's arms and brought them to the front. Her already abnormally-sized eyes bulged in realization when she recognized the object in her coworker's hand.

"Oh!" Ryou gasped. "Oh my gosh, congratula-"

Yuri quickly grabbed Ryou, pulling her in by her elbows, and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Shh!" she hissed, while Ryou squeaked feebly through her hand. "I haven't taken it yet. There's nothing to congratulate. Keep it down, okay? Just between us."

When Ryou nodded, Yuri released her, and both girls relaxed.

"Well, like I was saying, I understand," Ryou said with a warm smile. "I understand even better now. You have fun with Ayato—" Yuri wasn't sure if the girl realized the innuendo there, "—and you can still catch Iwasawa on TV tonight if you want."

"Thanks, Ryou." In truth, she kind of reminded Yuri of her little sister. There was just something sweet and childlike about her. Even the bubbly excitement wasn't so bad once she got used to it. Yuri grinned as a thought occurred to her. "Hey, why don't you give that extra ticket to Sunohara? Have you tried asking him yet?"

"Youhei…?" For a moment, Yuri thought Ryou was actually going to go silent as she processed this, but then the girl turned full-on crimson and squeaked again. "I—I don't know! I don't know about that!" Yuri tapped her foot expectantly, which made Ryou tense up and flush again. "But what if it sounds too much like a date?"

"Then if Sunohara is the same guy who came here on Valentine's Day to see you, I'm sure he'll be thrilled," Yuri said dryly.

Ryou yelped and covered her face in her hands. Rolling her eyes, Yuri covered up an amused snort. Her coworker was twenty-something and still acted like a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl.

"Hey," Yuri said, in an attempt to distract her in a moment of mercy, "Ryou, you want to go to lunch?"

Ryou looked surprised at her—and then elated.

"Sure!" she said. Then her royal blue eyes flicked to Yuri's hands again. "But what about the-"

"I'll take it when I get home," Yuri assured her. Besides, that way, Ayato would be the first to know.

They linked arms and headed out the door into an overcast afternoon, Ryou chattering excitedly about her plans for the concert tonight all the way to the sushi place down the block.

In all fairness, this Iwasawa girl sounded pretty cool.


Preview:

"THANK YOU! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Have you taken the test yet?"

"Hey, our first kiss was in the rain."

"You're worth waiting for."

"Looks like we caught her between songs."

"Are we really going to stop in the middle of this for—?"

[Chapter 02]: Memories.