Let me start by saying that I feel awful for making you all wait for nearly a year for the next chapter. Please forgive me. I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out, though! I hope you all like it! Side note: I can't believe it's been a little over three years since I initially published this story.

I hope all is well and you all are staying safe during this crazy time.

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Padfoot Starfyre: I like to think he's settling in well too. I mean, according to the timeline I've come up with, they've been engaged for about two months already. With everything I've put them through, I hope that's achieved something lol.

Suzume was out of the shower, dressed, and in the process of drying her hair when there was a knock on the bedroom door. Turning the hairdryer off, she quickly walked out of the bathroom toward the door. Standing on the other side of the door was Hanako with a bright smile plastered on her face.

"Good morning, dear. Sorry to catch you in the middle of getting ready. I heard that you and Tora have plans, so I'm here to take my grandson off of your hands for the day."

The statement caused the young mother to pause. "You don't have to do that."

Hanako waved her hand in dismissal. "Nonsense. I love watching Kei and Tashiro is finally taking time away from the company today. I thought he could use a little time with his grandson too. Besides, you and Tora should use this time to talk to each other without worrying about taking care of Kei."

With just a smidge of reluctance, Suzume agreed before smiling back and thanking her. She motioned for her future mother-in-law to come into the room and went back to drying her hair. If nothing else beneficial came from her impending marriage, she's glad that she'll have such a great mother-in-law.

"We're going to have so much fun today!" Suzume heard from the bedroom. Glancing behind her using the bathroom mirror, she caught a glimpse of Hanako holding Kei while peppering him with kisses as the two walked past the open bathroom door. Kei was smiling like crazy and leaned into his grandmother. Refocusing her gaze, Suzume began to style her hair for the day.

Tora adjusted the sleeves of his button-up shirt that stopped halfway down his forearm. The sun shone in through the wall of windows in his home office, not a storm cloud in sight like the past few days. He picked the right day to make these plans for him and his fiancée. Taking in a deep breath, he stood in front of the windows for a moment before finally leaving the room to see if Suzume was ready to go.

When he entered their bedroom, he found her attempting to fasten the clasp of a pendant necklace. It appeared as though she had been struggling with it for a while because there was a look of frustration on her face and she started letting out huffs of annoyance.

Smirking, he walked up behind her and closed his hands over her own. "Let me." Not saying a word of response, she allowed him to take the silver chain from her. She let a hand rest at her side while she pulled her hair away from her neck so it wouldn't get caught. With the clasp closed, he laid it against her neck and his fingers lightly brushed her skin.

A tingling sensation ran down her spine at the contact. It took her a moment before she brushed it off and faced him. "So… what, exactly, are we doing today?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Okay…" she slowly and quietly let out, her eyebrows furrowing at his secrecy.

Suzume had no idea where they were going. Every time she thought she knew where they were going to end up, the driver would go the opposite direction. Eventually, she just gave up. There's no way Tora would tell her either if he was so secretive about it in the beginning.

The car finally came to a stop and the driver got out to open the door for them. Stepping out first, Tora made sure to offer his arm to Suzume. Being in public, she showed little hesitation in placing her hand in the crook of his arm. She took a look at their surroundings and a confused look crossed over her face.

"What are we doing here?" she questioned. Why would he bring her to a garden of all places?

He kept facing forward as he gave his answer and guided her towards the entrance. "I seem to recall you saying during the session with the wedding planner that you would like an outdoor ceremony. I thought we could look at a couple of traditional gardens."

Her confusion turned into surprise and her cheeks became flushed. "Oh." She hadn't expected him to act on something she'd said in passing.

"That's it? Just 'oh'?" he retorted, finally looking her way and coming to a halt.

"I don't know what else to say. This was unexpected is all." Biting her lip, she tried to avoid his gaze.

Tora stared at her for a moment. Something within him felt odd. His eyes studied her face, zeroing in on her lips as she bit down on the lower one. That strange feeling. It was attraction. Right now, all he wanted was for her to look at him. From what he did remember of her in high school, her eyes were easy to read. He wondered if they still were…

Curiosity piquing, he placed a hand under her chin and turned her head to face him. The sudden movement made her release her lip and caused her breath to hitch. Their eyes met and he could tell that her mind was running a mile a minute. Oh yeah, her eyes were definitely easy to read. He leaned in closer to her and her heart rate sped up.

Suzume was frozen in place. She didn't know what to do. Last time she'd been this close to him, it was what she thought to be the last time she'd ever see him.

Hovering a few seconds longer, he decided to just do it. His lips met hers and it wasn't too long before her hands came up to gently press against his chest. Tora's free arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"That was unexpected as well…" she quietly commented, trying as hard as she could to look anywhere but his eyes after they pulled away from each other.

It was silent between the two of them for a couple of moments before he finally broke it by clearing his throat. "We should get going." He took her hand and put it back where it had been before they stopped. A part of him was glad that she was avoiding looking at him. This was unfamiliar territory for him, and he just knew that the tips of his ears were turning red.

One of the property managers greeted them at the entrance, causing Suzume to swap her dazed look for a polite smile. "Mr. Igarashi, Miss Asai, it's an honor for you to consider us for your wedding venue. I have a few spots to show you that could work for the ceremony."

The man continued to rattle on with the history of the garden as he guided them to the spots he had in mind. He explained how they could set up each area, how many guests it could accommodate, and so on. When he had nothing remaining to inform them of, he left the couple to roam the garden on their own.

They walked around in silence until they halted on a bridge, looking out across the water beneath them. A small smile appearing on her face, Suzume let out a content hum as she closed her eyes and tilted her head up slightly to bask in the sunshine. She returned to her original position only after a few seconds, the smile not leaving her face.

"It's so beautiful…" she commented.

Tora focused his attention on her and remained silent for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the scenery. "That it is."

After they left the garden, he took her to visit one more before they ended up at a restaurant. The hostess seated them and said that their waiter would be out shortly. While looking over the menu, Suzume bit the inside of her cheek and took a few glances over her menu at her fiancé.

"If you keep looking at me instead of the menu, you'll be scrambling to order when the waiter gets here." He didn't even stop reading his own menu to speak.

Just before she ducked to hide her blush behind her menu, she had spotted his lips beginning to form a smirk. It was more of the playful variety than arrogant – which she recalled being more frequent in her days at Miyabigaoka. Him showing a playful side, she decided, had to be because he was starting to become more comfortable around her. She liked the idea. If nothing else, she hoped that they could establish some sort of friendship. It would make married life much less miserable.

Not too long after she decided what to eat, the waiter showed up at their table with a pitcher of water and prepared to take down their choices. Before the man could slip away to put their order in, Tora made sure to request a bottle of wine.

Searching for something to say, Suzume spoke once she finally came up with something. "I didn't say this earlier, so I will now. Thank you for today."

Tora shifted forward in his seat. "You're welcome. I hope you enjoyed yourself?"

"I did. Very much," she replied with a soft smile, her eyes twinkling.

"I'm glad the gardens were so enjoyable, then." He didn't know how to feel with the way she was looking at him, so he just tried to brush it off. Usually, he wasn't like this – he's never been like this.

"The gardens were only a small part of why I enjoyed myself." Her heart rate sped up at what she was about to say. "You planning it and being there with me was the main reason."

What was he supposed to say to that? This is entirely new territory. He'd never had this kind of conversation with anyone before. "Then I suppose our first date is a success so far."

A shocked expression formed on her face and the blush from earlier reappeared. Safe to say she was not prepared to hear him call this their first date. That one response was enough to get Tora back into familiar territory. Teasing he could do. His playful smirk came back.

"I didn't realize it was so easy to leave you speechless."

Her mouth opened to reply, but she had no idea what the words should be. Luckily, the waiter came by with the wine and redirected the attention from her to himself by pouring the grape-based drink into glasses.

Reaching out for her glass, she took a sip and cleared her throat as she put it back on the table. "Your mother mentioned to me this morning that this would be a good time for us to talk… In hindsight, we haven't really had a chance to speak much about our situation with each other."

"You're right, we haven't," he sighed and looked her in the eyes. "I want you to know that everything I've said concerning you and Kei, I meant it all. I want to be there for the two of you to the best of my ability. It's my fault we're in this position."

Disagreement on her face, she quickly came to his defense. "Don't single yourself out. I'm partially to blame too. Things happen and we have to deal with the consequences."

"Still, I'm sorry. You weren't even able to finish high school at Miyabigaoka." Seeing the gentle look in her eyes and her light smile, he raised an eyebrow.

"You've certainly grown from being the philandering student council president." Suzume paused, thinking back to her time at Miyabigaoka. "Gosh, that seems so long ago. They couldn't show it, but I just know all the guys secretly hated you," she laughed.

He laughed along with her. "Yes, I'm sure."

Their conversation from that point forward was lighthearted. They knew that this dinner was something that the two of them needed.