"How are you feeling today, Mr. Klausch?"

"Oh, uh... Definitely much better, feel that my blood is circulating even more properly today." I reply to the doctor beside me as he nods.

"Good, good. Seems your leg could be saved, the severing of it wasn't too severe, so it could easily be reattached by our surgeons."

It's been a few days since my ranking battle, and the UAA was kind enough surprisingly to send me to the local hospital in Shinjuku so they could immediately perform replantation on my severed left leg that Shinobu Jacobs managed to slice off before she succumbed to her fatal wound I had delivered on her in our rather short fight.

I have feeling that going against an assassin's wishes in a ranking battle can get you in trouble, but hell if I care, I could give zero shit at this point what the UAA want to do with me-

Oh no wait, I actually rather not die, I don't want to live in an afterlife knowing that I will never see my girlfriend again... But still, I intend to actually put a stop to the UAA, when the time is right, that is.

For now, I have waited almost a whole week for me to get the okay to finally leave the hospital, as all the results are perfect and successful. I do not enjoy sitting in a bed several days, and Touko hasn't even been allowed to visit me due to the hospital personnel saying I need all the rest I could get during what was more than one week, such bullshit... Well, I know where I am heading as soon as I get out of here at least.

Later in the afternoon, the doctor from earlier in the morning walks in and tells me I can at last leave. Luckily I have done some training with walking two days ago, so I know it can still sting a little where my leg was stitched at, but it'll be fine.

"Remember now, aspirin for three weeks at least in order to prevent blood clot at the anastomosis where the blood vessels have been put back together."

"No clue what that all was, but alright, aspirin for three weeks, gotchu." I reply to the doctor before I get to put on some clothes that fits me well enough, but they don't really look that good to be honest. Ah well, doesn't matter, I can just change when I get home, but not until I visit someone very special to me.

As I begin walking, I limp at times due to the stinging pain I feel in my leg, but I fight to the best of my ability and try my best walking normally. Nothing will stop me, not when it comes to Touko..!

Continuing on, I begin feeling the pain less and less, so I don't limp as much anymore as I finally arrive at the kimono shop, which is connected to Touko's home. I decide to just go to the side of it this time, which Touko had showed me some time ago is the door to the actual home part of it, and considering that I know her family well enough, I am more than allowed to go here.

Ringing the doorbell, I kind of get butterflies in my stomach, as cliché as it is, but it's been days since I last saw Touko in person, so finally being able to meet her again will be amazing. The door finally opens, and there in front of me I see a certain wavy blonde haired girl with her light brown eyes looking right at me with a look that quickly goes from a small smile to shock, before she bursts into tears and tackles me into a hug, which I greatly return.

"Oh my god, I-I don't know what to say, I'm just-!"

"Ssh, it's okay my beloved, I am here now."

"I know it was just a week or so, but I've missed you too much!" Touko tearfully tells me as she keeps on clinging onto me with her hug. "I actually thought I had lost you when I got the news about your recent battle, and just- I'm amazed that they managed to get it back on, it's just-!"

"I've missed you immensely as well, Touko. But now I am finally here, alive and running as ever, with my leg being reattached to me and healing like I am god damn Ethan Winters!"

I wipe away the tears running down Touko's cheeks, before she does a wide smile at me and laughs, very happy over my return and my general wellness. And I am as happy finally getting to see her again after all this time...

Without saying anything more, we share a passionate kiss at spot, once again being able to feel the warmth of each other that we have longed for feeling again.

Touko invites me inside after the kiss, as she wants to talk with me about something, though I might know what this will be about, Muni kinda spoiled a week ago for me when I spoke with her for the first time.

"I think you have probably heard, but next week there will a huge school festival that has all the high schools in Tokyo be able to participate in!" she tells me as she sits next to me and shows me info about it all on her phone. "There will be renowned DJs performing there and some of those rather recently formed DJ groups will also be performing, so we will be able to party to the max~!"

"Oh, DJ groups, huh? I actually met some girls at my own school that turned out to be in DJ groups, specifically Happy Around, Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden."

"Ooh, I think those last two you mentioned will actually be some of the one's performing!" Touko says as she shows me the logos, and yep, that is those groups alright. Albeit I only got to know about Ibuki personally when it came to Photon Maiden and I have not met the other three yet in person, but I guess that will happen eventually.

"I am quite looking forward to this myself now as well. It'll be great to put my mind elsewhere for sometime." I tell Touko as she inches close to me and rubs her cheek against mine, cheering me up even more.

"And it'll be even greater because you will be there~!"

"Nah, it will be amazing because you will be there."

"Oh stop it you~" Touko replies as she giggles before she looks at me and inches away some. "Hey, let's try something~"

Touko has her legs together as she pats on her lap, smiling at me and inviting me to lay down on there. I blush from this invitation, but with no further hesitation lay down on her lap, having eye contact with her the whole time as we both smile at each other.

Slowly caressing my hair, she takes her time to have me fully calm down, as I am admittedly still kind of tensed up from everything that has happened.

"Please calm down fully Stephan, I know you are still feeling tense, but please calm down." she calmly tells me as I take some deep breaths before closing my eyes.

"I know, but... with you, I have already begun feeling much more calm." I tell Touko as I reach out my arm and touch her cheek with my hand. "I might've said this many times, over and over, but I love you so much Touko..."

"And I love you forever and ever, Stephy~" she says as she fumbles a little in her pockets and takes out something familiar. It's the chains we bought the day when me and her went with Chiyu to watch Godzilla vs. Kong, and we two decided to stick around for a little longer, hence us finding those chains and buying them.

Touko puts on the chain that has the half saying "Together", with her soon helping me put on the chain with the "Forever" half. "Together Forever", that's what I certainly want to be with Touko Kirigaya, my beloved.

I end up napping on Touko's lap, but she doesn't mind it as she keeps on caressing my hair before deciding to rest a little herself. Our happiness probably overwhelmed us, so we take the time and calm down and let the relief that we are both okay sink in.

We wake up an hour later from the doorbell ringing, so we both soon get up to check who it is, and turns out to be everyone else in Morfonica, most likely wanting to check up on their guitarist how she is holding up. But they spot me and almost instantly knew that this meant Touko is definitely much happier now once again.

"Good to see you all well again, Stephan!" Tsukushi says to me as Mashiro, Nanami and Rui nods, all smiling to a certain degree. "Oh yeah... Say, do you know about the upcoming school festival?"

"Yup he does, I told him before we took a nap~!" Touko tells her band mates as she clings onto me and once again rubs her cheek against mine, which causes me to blush.

"It's very good to see that you two still are together!" Mashiro says as she smiles her usual cute smile. "I can't help but finding that so romantic..."

"At least Kirigaya seems to take things a little bit more serious after you came into her life, Stephan, so I appreciate that really." Rui says as we all can just laugh in reply.

"Well then, we better start preparing ourselves, the festival is just next week on Wednesday after all." I tell the band girls as they all nod, before the four in Morfonica says their goodbyes to me and Touko. "Well, I perhaps should head home as well for the day-"

"Wait, maybe you can... stay for the night? If you want to of course..." Touko asks me as I become a little surprised over this sudden invitation, but I smile at her and soon nod.

"But of course, as long as your parents will be okay with someone sleeping over at yours, then it shouldn't hurt!"

"Yay! Let's watch some movies like when you first were here~!"

"Sounds good to me!" I reply as we make our way to the kitchen to fetch some snacks for the coming movie night we will have before sleeping. It's Sunday tomorrow either way, so we don't have to worry about waking up late or something.

And I really need to get home tomorrow as well and put on more comfortable clothes, this shirt over cardigan fit just doesn't suit me..!

As expected, our movie night became pretty long like last time, Touko's parents even arriving after having been out the whole day and having had the kimono shop closed. Of course they decided to not disturb us or anything and just let us be as we watched away, this time Touko having asked me to pick movies that I personally liked, which is, of course, Godzilla movies!

It soon gets so late that we can't muster more kaiju fighting, so we decide to pause the movie and turn off the TV, before we head to Touko's room and prepare ourselves. Luckily the Kirigayas have a toothbrush ready especially for me, as they know I am frequent visitor here after all.

Touko changes into her pajamas, but she does it in front of me without any hesitation, actually showing way more of her than I have ever seen before.

"I don't need to find it shameful to strip down my clothing in front of my boyfriend after all~" she teasingly tells me as she can clearly tell I am getting a little bit flustered and relied up, but in the good way, upon seeing her undergarments in full view.

"Y-yeah, true that..!" I reply back as she giggles before putting on her pajamas, which has a nice zebra like pattern to it, and it's also all black of it in general. Fits perfectly for someone like Touko~

"Also, sorry if the scar and stitches where my leg was reattached bothers you-"

"Stephy, do you really think I will stop loving you just because you have a spot on your body that doesn't seem 'perfect'?" Touko asks me, sitting next to me as I were sitting on her bed already with most of my clothes off.

"I... Well, not really, or maybe..." I say, unsure how to reply, but Touko just hugs me.

"As I've said, I love you because it's you!" she says as she smiles again at me and gives me a kiss on my cheek. "No matter what, it's always you I am in love with."

"Same goes here, I love you for who you are. You are as beautiful inside as you are outside."

"Not fair, don't reply back with an even cuter comment~!" Touko says in a joking manner as she laughs. "That's it, your punishment is a five minute long smoothering~!"

And without anything else to be added or said, I soon get pinned down on the bed and have Touko's lips once again "assault" my face like good ol' times, and hey, I am not complaining at all~

The next morning, I slowly open my eyes and see Touko laying with her head on my chest, smiling.

Reaching for my phone that I put next to bed, I pick it up, though in it's black, reflective screen, I see myself, and I can't help letting out a small chuckle from seeing me once again having kissmarks all over my face, which is to be expected at this point whenever Touko gets extra affectionate with me.

She soon wakes up as well and gives me yet another kiss as a good morning, before giggling.

Man, a romantic sleepover can't get better than this... or can it?

After cleaning up a little and getting served breakfast, I say my goodbyes to Touko and her parents as I make my way home.

When I arrive, I see someone standing in front of the apartment complex entrance, which is none other than Chiyu.

"Took your darn time! I heard that you got to leave yesterday, but you didn't come here, where were you?"

"Oh, well I right away visited Touko, and she proposed a sleepover. So yeah, that's why I am one day late."

"Aah, sleepover with Touko Kirigaya, eh? Did you two have se-"

"And that's where you stop saying what you are about to say." I say, interrupting her in her words.

I mean... it's not wrong that I would want to bang Touko, but for now, no. Someday, but not today, wholesome love comes first always and is the best, after all.

"Anyways, I suppose you've heard about the school festival at this point, and my band will be performing on it!" Chiyu proudly says while also showing how proud she is feeling.

"That's cool. Anyways, I have to get inside so I can change into better clothes." I tell Chiyu as she steps aside so I can go inside and up to my apartment. "Back in here again, huh?"

I soon find a box inside my room, and opening it, it contains my assassin outfit, cleaned up as best as possible, albeit the pants' left leg remains cut off, having been left untouched and not sewed back on or anything.

"I think I will try sewing it later myself. Won't look as good, but might as well do it so I can continue using them."

I decide to just play games for the rest of the day, as there is not much else I can do for the day, and I still need to take it easy after all.

The days pass by, and I also meet the rest of the girls in Photon Maiden, so at this point, I know all the twelve girls at Yoba Academy that are in DJ units.

The day before the festival, Muni asks for some extra opinions on her banner in a general survey, and it seems she kept the design relatively the same from all the votes, which was already good.

"So what will you do then at the festival tomorrow?" Maho asks me as I am currently sitting with her and the rest of Happy Around at the cafeteria.

"Well, I will obviously be with my girlfriend and hang around on it."

"Ugh, Maho, that was such an obvious question!" Muni replies as she looks at me with a smug look. "Will you and Touko run of somewhere else, or~?"

"I- No, we already decided together that we would only be present at the festival and have a good time there!"

"Of course you two are, I am just joking." she replies before looking at her drawing tablet. "Hmm, hey Stephan? What would you say about that I did a portrait of you and Touko together?"

"That maybe would be something she would love seeing. She takes so many selfies together with me that I'm sure something like a portrait would be much favorable on her part!"

"On one condition though!" Muni says, which makes my mood go down, as I thought she would be nice to just provide a portrait just like that...

"And what's that?" I reluctantly ask her, which makes her snicker and bring out her phone.

"Add me on Steam, PSN and Nintendo Switch!"

"Wait what the... I thought you were going to suggest something like payment, this is way too easy to do!" I reply upon hearing Muni's condition, which makes her laugh, the three other girls giggling a little as well.

"Got you good, eh? Anyways, yeah, I will for sure do that portrait."

"I'm curious though how you two act with each other. I can only imagine Touko gets treated like a princess by you, so romantic..!"

"Rei, I really don't think I do it like that, but we do give each other a lot of attention and care, sooo... Maybe?" I reply to Rei, making her think a little more.

"Oh, I almost forgot, but won't LAYER from Raise A Suilen be on the festival as well?" she asks as I nod, as I had been told by Chiyu that no high school is an exception for this, so the Rei I am more familiar with will definitely be around.

Albeit this means that Reona won't be able to participate due to her still just going in middle school and only be around once Raise A Suilen are going to play, poor girl...

"Good luck on meeting her though in the immense crowd we'll be having."

"Hmm, I don't really have the intention on meeting her yet, but it will definitely be fun to tell her we have the same name!" Rei says as she happily nods, but she soon looks at me again. "Sorry for going back on a topic, but about you treating Touko like a princess... Do you ever dream about marrying her?"

"Rei, why all these kinda questions..." I ask her in a very flustered tone. "But honestly, yes, both me and her have acknowledged the possibility of marrying each other one beautiful day, though a day with a beauty that somehow rivals Touko's is impossible, so that day will have to make do with what it has."

"Each day I realize how cheesy love can be at times..." Muni says before looking at the time. "Well, guess it's time for us all to head home, we have a big day in front of us tomorrow."

As I make my way home, I look at my social medias and see just how many of the students anticipate this festival. I definitely can't deny I am looking forward to it as well, but some does go a little overboard with that they might find the person of their dreams here.

Well, all I can say is that I wish them luck, because it will definitely be a crowded festival with all of Tokyo's high schools participating in it. Finding your "soulmate" in a crowd like that will be hard, but again, I wish them luck.

Continuing scrolling through, I can see that even third years are excited about this festival, albeit I can imagine people like Yukina won't be fully on board with it, but she probably will be participating with Lisa and the others in Roselia either way.

Can't just pass on things that doesn't happen very often after all, am I right?

Considering that I do not need to wake up on the usual early time, I might just play some games for the rest of the day, oh and add Muni on the gaming platforms she told me earlier on the day.

I end up not playing too much, and soon head to bed, me and Touko exchanging a good night over messages as tomorrow we will have quite fun for sure!

The next day I am up early, though I decide to just do some smaller stuff before eventually the clock hits 10:30 am, which is when I would meet up with Touko and the rest to then walk to the school were the festival is being held at.

Later, it's finally time to head off, so I do the last things, and exit my apartment, dressed up in casual clothes as we only need our ID with us to prove we are high schoolers that can participate in the festival.

As expected, I first meet Raise A Suilen, minus Reona for now that is, as she is still just in middle school and cannot participate, but again, she will come once it's their turn to play at the festival.

I converse some with Chiyu at most, before we head to CiRCLE, which the rest will be waiting at.

"And arrived!" I exclaim as we arrive in front of CiRCLE where the band girls are waiting at, catching the attention of everyone, which makes me get hellos and waves, and big wet kiss from Touko as she almost tackles me with her hug.

"Let's go then everyone~!" Touko exclaims as we all begin moving towards the festival, and it certainly isn't hard to figure out if we are on the right way!

"Well then, shall we all split up and go however we want?" I ask the band girls as they all nod and seemingly already group themselves.

"Stephan and Touko are going to have so much fun together!" Kasumi cheerfully exclaims as some of the band girls suddenly begin blushing. Don't tell me they think I am going to bang Touko at the school festival out of all places..?

Regardless, we all had soon split up and begun exploring what the festival has, and it's quite a lot, even more than I had expected!

"Wow, this is really a huge school festival!" Touko says while holding onto my arm as we continue on walking around the booths. "Ooh, look at that, Stephan, a photo booth~!"

"Hm, I guess they have a photo booth here so friends or couples can take photos to remember this day." I replied to her upon seeing the booth as well.

"Why not try it out~?" she asks me as she let's go of my arm and walks up to the currently vacant photo booth. "Come on then Stephy~!"

"Heh, I'm coming, I'm coming~" I chuckle as I walk towards Touko, before she enters the photo booth, the long curtains hiding her. "What the... Wait for me at least..!"

People have already begun queuing as soon as we two went up to the booth, so I open the curtain a little to see Touko sitting inside there, jokingly doing a shocked expression as if she is surprised I looked inside.

"Oops, you found me! Guess I have to find a better hiding spot next time~" she says as she inserts some coins into a smaller slot in front of her for the camera to start while still having eye contact with me, even licking her lips a little.

"Hah, aren't you one sneaky bunny, eh- OOP!"

Before I could say more, I get quickly pulled inside the booth by Touko, before she begins kissing and smothering me with her absolutely beautiful love..!

Meanwhile, other high schoolers outside the booth can only be flustered upon hearing giggling and the rather loud sounds of lips smacking against someone's face. They didn't even need to imagine how the scene looked like as soon enough the long strip of photos getting printed out outside the booth tell enough what is going on behind the curtains, hehe~

As me and Touko finally walk out from behind the curtains, my beloved gets extra clingy on me like usual while I have received the good ol' covering of my face with a ton of marks from Touko's pink lipstick.

"Think I did a new record this time, even kissing you on your eyelids and your neck!" Touko says as she still holds onto me. "And the way you react when I kiss your neck! Ahh, it's just so adorable~!"

"It just tickles so much, but damn if it doesn't feel great when you kiss there..!" I reply back to her as we both laugh and soon continue on with what the festival has to offer.

"Oh look, a snack bar over there!"

"Hmm, I could do with some popcorn to be honest. After all, popcorn tastes the best when you get it at festivals or theaters."

"Oh yeah, I remember that you ate up most of the popcorn when you, me and Chiyu were at the theaters! My adorable popcorn loving boyfriend~"

"T-Touko, we don't need to say that in front of a ton of people..."

"I were wondering where you were!"

Me and Touko turn to the one suddenly talking to us, and it turns out to be Daiki, my classmate and friend I've spoken a lot with in the latest time.

"Amazing that you recovered, heard you were in some kind of accident, so I prayed for your wellness, and here you are now! Oh yeah have some time doing some guy talk?"

"Alright, sure." I reply as I look to Touko. "I will just stay here and talk a little bit with my classmate, okay?"

"Of course, I will be waiting at the snack bar~!" Touko tells me as she gives me a kiss on my lips before walking away in the direction of her destination.

"Wow man, still unreal that you out of all people got someone like Touko Kirigaya basically be head over heels for you..!" Daiki, tells me as he smirks at me. "She seems like a real national treasure, I can only assume the moments you two have are great."

"Well, you could certainly say that is the case..." I tell Daiki as I chuckle. "You know, I gotta apologize for lashing out like that the other day, about when you said I was lucky to be with Touko."

"O-oh, how come?"

"Well, I met up with Touko not long after school had ended that day, and she kinda made me open my eyes on the situation much more." I say as I begin thinking about my next words. "I realized that in a way, I am lucky, because had I not begun part time at CiRCLE, I would have never met her."

"Oh yeah true, that on it's own is quite lucky. And I also referred to just how she had eyes on you, and only you, as I am pretty sure she has seen a ton of other guys in person and on SNS, but no love interest in them whatsoever."

"Yes, and she did tell me she felt very lucky to have met me. I am quite, or rather, very important to her as she is to me."

"That's great man, I wish that you two have the greatest love life together!"

"Well, we did promise each other to remain together forever after all." I tell Daiki as we both chuckle.

"Also hey, another thing: Naozumi seems to be actively avoiding you, and I spot him sometimes glaring at you with one hell of a hateful glare."

"Ah, Naozumi, eh? Well, in all fairness, I am the cause of that because I brought him with me to the talent agency where Pastel Palettes are at."

"What happened next then? He can't be acting like that after that visit, he's always that guy that says that band is the very best."

"Well, I made him fess up about what his true intentions were right in front of the band, so yeah, they gave him one hell of a whooping."

Daiki laughs after he gets told this, as he begins understanding the picture over why Naozumi is often hostile in my presence.

"Hmm, speaking of, I haven't seen him around-"

But as Daiki says that, I spot a familiar green haired guy making his way to the snack bar, approaching... Touko..!

"God damn it, what is he going to try doing with my beloved..?! It was fun talking with you Daiki, but I got to go!"

"Oh crap, of course, don't worry about me! Naozumi might try something, so you better be fast..!"

Meanwhile, at the snack bar, Naozumi has gone up to Touko, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"Eh? Oh, I am not in the queue, I am just waiting for my boyfriend-!"

"Ah, boyfriend huh? You look honestly more single than you actually are in a relationship, heh..."

"Excuse me..?!" Touko replies with a very irritated tone upon hearing this. "What in the world makes you say?"

"Whoever your boyfriend is, he probably just have you as his 'girlfriend' to show some status or take advantage of you-"

"What the- Shut up, don't say that about my Stephy!"

"Wait, Stephy..?" Naozumi suddenly says as he thinks before greeting his teeth. "Oh great, you are his girlfriend."

"Yeah, and what about it?" Touko says as she crosses her arms, giving him a very angry look.

"You are an absolute lost cause being with him! What a waste, a gal like you, together with a sore loser-"

"And if I might ask, what the fuck kind of shit are you telling my Touko?"

Naozumi flinches a little before turning around and seeing me behind him, which makes him freeze up.

"Stephan..!" Touko exclaims as she runs past Naozumi and up to me as she embraces me in a hug. "He's saying such awful and fake things about you, I just can't handle having people bad mouth someone like you..!"

"It's okay Touko, sometimes these kinda things get to you, so it's okay." I reassure her as I caress her hair, before we soon let go of the hug and both look at Naozumi. "You however, you vile pervert, shouldn't even dare saying Touko is nothing more than someone you 'use'! Say that straight to my face next time and see what happens."

"Damn it..!" he replies before running away from the snack bar, while giving me the finger as he runs away.

"Huh, coward." I calmly say as I turn to Touko again. "Goes to show just how weird some people can be of them at times."

"Yeah, quite so... Also, he seemed to have history with you?"

"Yes, I basically had Pastel Palettes beat him up after he had mistakenly admitted his true intentions to why he wanted to pay a visit to them."

"So he's been a pervert through and through, no wonder he acted like that with me..." Touko says as she shivers a little. "I am just so happy that you are with me for who I am, like how I am with you for who you are!"

"That is quite correct, I want to be with you because you are you, and no other girl with your name is like you or will ever be like you."

"Hehe, sounds familiar, but I am not complaining~" she tells me as she hugs me again, before we decide to stand in the queue to finally get some popcorn to share on.

Doing some more walking, we can see some people getting up on the stage placed in the middle of it all and one of them eventually picking up one of the microphones, to announce the DJ units and bands that will be playing.

"Hope they play some of the usual genres you tend to hear from bigger DJs, those are quite nifty to dance to after all."

"Raise A Suilen I know has some elements of it, but I have heard Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden will definitely be offering that kind of music you like~!"

"That's quite reassuring to hear!" I reply as I wrap my left arm around Touko's waist, making her let out a giggle, a quite flirty sounding one almost, which sounded very cute.

"Alright, everybody! Late afternoon has struck on the clock, which means that finally the highly anticipated live will begin in just a moment!" The announcer on stage says loud and clear with the microphone in hand as everyone let's out applause and cheers. "We have a few big names here with us today including Raise A Suilen, Peaky P-Key and Photon Maiden! So, enjoy the show everyone!"

The first ones up on stage are Photon Maiden, all four presenting themselves before they prepare by standing in position.

"Put your hands up everyone!" the girl at the table, which I know is Saki Izumo from when I met her the other day alongside Noa and Towa, says in a quite good English as she does a small smirk before the music finally begins.

"Hell yeah, Discover Universe!" one of the students exclaims as the rest begins cheering even louder. This must be a quite popular song of theirs if the fanfare is this big.

I can't lie though, it actually does have that kinda genre I like at times, so I can definitely see why they like it a lot!

As I begin slightly moving my body, which I tend to do whenever I listen to music I like, Touko notices it and giggles a little before joining in with doing smaller dance moves.

"I am not a professional at dancing by any means, but shaking on your body with some music is always great~!" she tells me as she begins moving even more than me. "Whoohoo!"

"Even when dancing you look absolutely gorgeous." I tell Touko as she laughs while keeping on dancing, which I follow with dancing even more myself.

At that point, everyone are having the time of their life, dancing with their friends and partners. This really is a quite great festival!

Touko suddenly goes for laying her arms over my shoulders and look at me deep into my eyes while smiling that as always beautiful smile of hers.

"It's great to see you so happy again~"

"Well, I am happy because I am here with you, my beloved."

"Same for me, I'm the happiest when I'm with Stephan~" she replies as we both laugh and soon inch our faces closer to each other before we both tilt our heads a little to share a deep and passionate kiss.

We keep on going as we can hear the music keeping on playing, but it somehow makes this moment we are sharing even more so fantastic.

"Whoa, those two are really going at it!"

"Touko is so happy with her boyfriend, it shows even more now!"

No one can stop us from loving each other as much as we do, and I never want to stop loving Touko. I might go on and on with how much I love her, but I just can't get enough of the girl that for once put my mind at ease and in general made me so much happier.

As we let go of our kiss after around 2 minutes at least, we once again look at each other in the eyes while smiling, showing each other our ever as great happiness we feel from each other.

Touko is definitely a national treasure for a girl, heck, even greater than any treasure in existence solely due to her being priceless and irreplacable.

"Thinking about me again~?"

"Heh, always." I reply to Touko's question as I embrace her in a hug which she quickly returns.

You are so much on my mind after all that even beyond death, I would never forget you...

The live continues on as Peaky P-Key goes onto stage and begins playing their music, which I must admit sounds great as well despite me not being such a big fan of the genre they are going for.

I soon spot Muni walking up to us two, carefully avoiding bumping into the partying students.

"Hey you two lovebirds, finally I've found you!" she says as she brings out a touch pen. "As promised, the portrait."

"Oh my god, are you going to draw me and Stephy together? That's awesome~!" Touko cheers out as she holds onto me again. "Just tell us which pose we should be in~"

"Definitely not 69, that's for sure." Muni says as she snickers, causing both me and Touko to blush from the sudden comment she did. "Anyways, how you two are standing like right now will be great!"

Muni begins at once with sketching down our appearance, making sure to get down the details for now.

"Alright, seeing as this is just a sketch, it's by no means finished, but here you two go with how it looks thus far!" she says as she shows us the sketch, and wow, it actually looks great!

"Wow, it looks amazing for just being a sketch..! And you perfectly captured how adorable Stephy is~!" Touko cheerfully says as Muni nods, seemingly satisfied with her work while I just blush from Touko's comment.

"I will work on finishing this one over the next couple of days then. I'll send it to you senpai, if that's okay?" Muni asks me, which I reply to with a nod. "Great! Well then, have fun for the rest of the festival you two."

After Peaky P-Key are done, Raise A Suilen are up next, and I can see Reona, which means she made it safely here luckily enough, because you never know around these hours what creeps lurks about.

At this point, me and Touko are kinda exhausted from all the dancing, so we sit down at a nearby bench to rest a little.

"I'm so glad you recovered before the school festival began, because I have no idea how I would've liked it if you weren't here..."

"Hey Touko, it's no worries anymore, right? I am here, alive and well."

"I just hope you didn't push yourself just to go here with me."

"Oh no, not at all... But you were still on my mind even when I were recovering."

After I say that, I look to my beloved and hold her hands gently while smiling at her, that genuine smile I can only have whenever I am with her.

"Your existence is what made me regain the strength even after an incident like that. You are my reason for actually liking life for once, and for that, I'm just ever so grateful over meeting you."

"Stephan..."

"I want to always be with you Touko, and I might be crazy about you due to that, but..." I begin as I inch closer to Touko and lay my forehead against her's. "The love you gave me to feel for once is amazing, and I will forever cherish you."

Touko just doesn't know what to say at this point, albeit I can see her lips slightly quivering, so I go for giving her a hug, with me feeling that I feel ready to cry at any moment as well. But we both got to remain strong, after all.

"No crying until the end, Touko. We have so much ahead of us ready to be experienced when you and I are together."

"Hehe, you're right..." Touko replies, still somewhat strained in her voice after almost crying, but I convinced her and myself to hold back those tears for another day.

"Oh my, the festival is wrapping up soon." she soon says as we hear that Chiyu's band will play one last song before that's it.

"Let's buy some more popcorn then before the festival is over!" I exclaim as both me and Touko stands up, still holding each other's hand.

Touko nods and begins smiling again, soon bursting into a whole grin before she giggles, most likely from everything I've told her.

And it's all very true that she is essentially my will and life force in this cruel world that I will do my utmost to protect everyone I am close with, especially my beloved.

After fetching some more popcorn and seeing the last of RAS' live, it's time for everyone to head home.

"Hey Stephan, I know it wasn't too long ago since we had a sleepover, but I were wondering if I can be at your apartment tonight..?"

"But of course, never hesitate to ask me about sleepovers, my beloved." I tell Touko as she smiles more as we decided to go by her home to fetch any essentials.

"Sorry that it was sudden, but I want to be with you, and... talk about things I really don't want my parents to hear."

Talk..? Oh no wait, she can't mean... that, now..? Nah, no way.

I just nod and keep myself together though, not wanting to show I possibly assumed that wrong for a moment, because I have a feeling this could be serious, and I rather not make Touko sad with assuming wrong and have her think I only think with my dick.

Well, sure, she does know how turned on I get by her, but she very much knows I love her for way more than just her appearance.

As we had picked up what we needed at Touko's home and went back to my apartment, I decide to fix my bed a little, just so it looks good once we two head to sleep.

But as I finish up, I can suddenly feel Touko hugging me from behind, a tight hug at that, even laying her head against the backside of my head.

We stay silent for a couple of seconds, as I let her go on with embracing me, before she soon let go and she walks in front of me and sits on my bed, still looking at me.

"...I have heard how my mom thinks you and I won't be a couple for much longer..."

"W-what..?" I ask from the sudden thing Touko tells me as I already see her getting teary eyed.

"Dad keeps on trying to convince her, but she insists that you are not a good boyfriend to me, a-and she even said it straight to me while you were at the hospital..!"

"I- I am speechless, I just don't know what to say..."

"I refuse to listen to my mom every time she tries mention other guys she considers are 'better' for me to be in love with..."

"Touko..."

"S-sorry Stephan, I know it was sudden, but I had to vent it out somehow..." she tells me as she wipes away her tears and gives me a bright smile again. "But I know that I will always be with you, my darling~"

"D-darling?! I mean, I don't mind that, but wow..!"

"Or honey even; Hi honey~" Touko says afterwards as I begin blushing even more. "That's some words a wife and husband share between them, right?"

"A-ah, wife and husband..?" I ask before I realize what this is meaning. "Wait her a second, Touko!"

I rush out of my room and to the living room and begin roaming the dresser, before I find what I were looking: my grandmother's wedding ring.

Rushing back as fast, I collect myself a little bit, before going down on one knee like people usually do when they propose, but I accidentally fall over.

"Darn it, I-I'm so sorry!" I tell Touko as I begin blushing even more.

"Oh no, take your time please, Stephy~" Touko tells me as she smiles at me, before I compose myself once again and go down on one knee, and soon hold up the wedding ring, that once belonged to my grandma, in front of her.

"Touko, I know this might be too early, and I have no clue how we should do, b-but do you want to... marry me..?" I begin as I fumble a little with the ring. "I-I know this isn't too much at all, and I so wanted a diamond ring for you, but yeah..!"

"Stephy, you know I would never be bothered over the ring's value when it comes to you~" Touko says as she spreads out her arms. "And yes, as many yes as I possibly can say, I want to marry you, Stephan!"

I almost shoot up from my position into Touko's arms as we both hug each other tightly. Letting go of the hug afterwards, I put the ring on Touko's finger, with her looking at it, telling me how pretty it is and how important it already is for her due to it bsically being a part from my family tree.

"I know this won't be official for a long time, but if we can see ourselves as engaged for now, I am sure everything will be alright."

"Mhm, outside I will still call you my boyfriend, but between us two, you are the most amazing fiancé a woman could ever ask for~!"

"And you are my priceless treasure for an amazing fiancée." I reply back as we both let out a giggle and chuckle respectively.

"Hmm, considering that we do see this as a smaller marriage as well, we are missing the rice throwing among other, if we go after weddings you have in your country..."

"Oh, I maybe I can search up some tips- Oh great..." I say as I see a certain message once again.

"Your next target is Destroyman. Make sure to pay the entry fee as soon as possible."

I just shake my head and ignore the message before continuing searching, as this is mine and Touko's time, and nothing shall disturb us.

"Ahem, anyways, not much cheaper or two people things exists for weddings sadly. Though perhaps if our friends could help..."

"Hmm, perhaps, but then they would have to be very silent about it all~!" Touko says before she thinks herself before smirking. "Hmm, maybe instead of a rice shower, perhaps a kiss shower for now will do~"

"Oh, that's a thing- WHOA!"

*MWAH, CHU*

"OOH, TOUKO, TOUKO..!"

To be continued :*