Still holding out hope for a dedicated following.

With a night to sleep on everything that transpired thus far, Luna was trying to make sense of what she saw from Yusei while she dozed. His personality hadn't changed much in eight years. There were the glasses, the flashy car, and palatial house that threw her off. Maybe being the city's top scientist paid well. When there was time, the girl would definitely ask.

The hometown girl slept peacefully past sunrise and into mid-morning. She was feeling like a child in summer again, getting to sleep in and all. Her schedule at college didn't give her that luxury. Yusei, on the other hand, had arisen not long after the sun did.

"She must still be sleeping," the young scientist hypothesized when seeing Luna's door was closed. "Can't blame her though. She'll be down soon." Ever so slightly, Yusei creaked away hoping the floor wouldn't wake the girl. There was one thing he didn't count on: Luna having sensitive hearing.

"He must be nearby," she yawned and opened her eyes. "Maybe Yusei has something up for today." The college girl rolled out of bed, showered, polished her teeth, smoothed out her face, and fluffed her hair up.

She pranced down to the kitchen to find Yusei in a somewhat articulate position. Before entering, she saw that her "roommate" was casting a shadow from sunrays shining through a window over the sink. Two things were noticeable: the shadow accentuated his muscles and stature like a cutout silhouette. Secondly, the light portrayed Yusei in a majestic form, like he was an art statue.

"He looks so...perfect," she mouthed to herself. "He glows too." Luna instantly covered her mouth at her last statement since she said at her normal tone.

"Look who's awake," the scientist greeted his female charge. "Sleep well?" Still in awe of finding one of her closest friends in a graceful light, Luna was only able to mutter some semi-intelligible gibberish.

"I assume that means yes," Yusei guessed. "If you're hungry, I left some chocolate muffins in the microwave. If that's not your taste, feel free to thumb around for anything you want. For the next year, this is your house as well." The man cracked his knuckles a few times before heading towards the garage.

"Where are you going?" she wanted to know.

"Working on the runner," he vocally gestured while closing the door behind him.

"Just like he used to do back then," the girl reminisced. "Why do I feel so different around him now? Could it be that when I've interacted with other guys after leaving the city that I want them to be like him?" Now she had a dilemma on her hands: would her view of Yusei change for better or worse while she was home? Luna always admired him when she knew him. Now that she had matured into a young woman, her mind was toying with the notion that maybe it was time to take that chance at Yusei. She had yet to find proof that he was interested in someone else. The only logical interest would be Akiza, but she was most likely still in medical school. But maybe they had already spoken after going their separate ways. Luna was going to sort this out, one way or another.

She had settled on finishing off the chocolate muffins Yusei told her about. Even though she was trying to keep a trim figure, it was hard for Luna to say "no" to chocolate. Plus, the fact that it was in muffin form was metaphorical icing on the cake. She nibbled away on her third muffin while going through her phone, looking for something to read. It just so happened that her horoscope popped up, ready to predict her upcoming fortune.

"You've suddenly reached an impasse in your life," it read. "Your best option to solving it is to take it slow, but drop hints every now and again. Hopefully someone picks up your hints and offers their input." So many times with horoscopes is that one has to take their validity with a grain of salt. Even so, it's hard not to when the writing is like it came from the future or something.

"I thought these things were supposed to be for entertainment, but this just hits me on the head," Luna sighed. "Should I wing it or follow it?" The girl nibbled her muffin away and decided to roll with it.

"Is it okay if I join you out here?" she called out in the garage. "It's lonely inside the house."

"No one's saying that you can't and I'm not," Yusei chuckled. "Besides, it'd be nice to have someone to talk to."

"Yay," she squeaked, pirouetting to the other side of his car. "Your runner is still the same as it was."

"Exactly," the scientist sided with her.

"I thought you'd still use this thing to get around instead of your car," the girl wondered. "What gives?"

"It may seem kind of ridiculous, but I got this thing at an auction a while back," Yusei explained. "I wasn't a car guy to begin with, but how many other opportunities will I have to own something almost as sleek as my runner?"

"No other rationale behind it?" Luna asked.

"Believe what you want, but what's done is done," the young scientist retorted.

"Turning to something else, have you spoken to Akiza at all after we left?" she inquired.

"A few times," he confirmed. "Anytime her schooling lightened up, we talked when we could."

"What about recently?" Luna added.

"Afraid not," Yusei replied. "The last time we did talk, she mentioned that she was close to receiving her doctorate in medicine. I think that was….close to ten months ago."

"Did you two toy with the idea of taking your bond to a deeper level?" she blurted out.

"We considered it," he placated. "But we realized that both of us had our callings right where we wanted them and didn't want to give them up. Besides, long-distance relationships have a low rate of working out."

"I see," the college girl sighed. "What about your love life in general? Any luck with that?"

"I've had a few dates, but nothing significant yet," Yusei summarized. "Anything could happen, I guess."

"So he and Akiza loved each other enough to let the other pursue their calling," she theorized. "Let's hope I have a chance with Yusei."

Akiza has been mentioned in this story, but I'm not sure if or when it would be appropriate to have her appear. As for Leo, I have an idea where he can come in. Did the horoscope fit in well? I might consider having it appear a few more times. I'm sticking with the "1 to 10" scale thing, and back it up with how I pulled things off. Every chapter's not going to be perfect for everyone, but I try to make it plausible. Review if you wish.