“Who was that?”

“Just a co-worker, let me think for a second Hoshi.” Taiyo said while shoo-ing her away.

“Another co-worker? He must be really popular at work” thought Hoshi.

Taiyo stood in the corner of his apartment to figure out how this would work.

“Ok, so if me and Hoshi get to the station…she can get on the train with me. I’ll just tell Tsuki I’m late…and book the seats in totally different cars so we don’t bump into each other. Then once we get to Osaka, I’ll tell Hoshi to meet me at the arcade while I set up some….some…romantic lunch date for us or something. So Hoshi leaves the train…me and Tsuki waste a little time at the station…then we get to the arcade after Hoshi.”

His imagination was running wild, almost too fast for him to realize that this plan was flawed.

“Once we’re at the arcade, I’ll tell Tsuki to wait outside…wait I’ll have to tell Hoshi to wait inside…yeah that makes sense. So Hoshi is inside, Tsuki is outside, and somehow I get Hoshi to go back into the machine and spend the rest of the day with Tsuki. Perfect plan.” 

As much as Taiyo felt a connection with Hoshi, he knew that keeping her in the real world wasn’t sustainable. Marrying her, even moreso. The best plan he could come up with was just tricking her to go back into the arcade machine and leaving her in Osaka, far far away from his apartment. He didn’t think of this idea to be cruel, only realistic. The only problem was that Hoshi’s feelings were also realistic. She approached Taiyo as he was lost in thought planning her eventual exit from his life.

“Taiyo, about the marriage question…”

“Huh? Oh yeah…Well Hoshi, the truth is…”

Another knock on Taiyo’s door startled them both.

“Who is it this time.” Taiyo exclaimed.

Opening the door to his shock, it was Subaru.