Soon, the wheelchair slowed to a stop at the bottom of the hill, and he placed both his feet back on the ground. They were in a small space between it and a familiar forest.

"Kyousuke... Can we...?" She pointed into the thicket.

He hummed. "There's no path for the chair."

"Ah... That's true..." But just as she dropped her head, his back appeared in front of her. "Huh?"

"I said there's none for the chair. If we go on foot, we should be fine."

"Are you alright with carrying me the whole way?"

"I'm offering."

That got a small chuckle out of her. "Right. Then..."

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck before letting her body fall forward. His hands went below her thighs, holding her up on his back as he stood up.

"It still impresses me how strong you are despite looking so skinny. Like your muscles aren't that visible even though you do have them―"

"One more word and I'll drop you."

"You're too nice to do that."

"Oh, shut up."

She held onto him the whole way, making sure to move as little as possible to make things easier for him. It was already annoying enough that he had to duck under branches and jump over boulders every so often, he didn't need to deal with her being difficult on top of it.

When they finally reached the clearing, he crouched to put her down before flinging her arm over his shoulders, holding her up. "Where do you wanna go?"

"Just to the front." She pointed at a small pile of rocks by the large pile of burnt wood. "See the thing over there? That's the 'grave' we made."

With a nod, he helped her limp over to it. He sat her down in front of it before moving back a few steps to give her space.

"Hiya, papa. I'm back from the past!" She began, rather cheerfully. "When I got there, Masato-nii and Yuuka-nee said they were in the middle of dealing with aliens. I know we have some kind of 'united space federation' in this era, but I didn't know we first encountered them in their timeline! It was kind of funny because Shuuya-nii dealt with fake aliens when he was around my age, so he didn't believe it until this alien named Ozrock destroyed the moon."

Oh, right... How was that fixed?

"Oh! But don't worry! Professor Aruno did some time-thing and apparently saved it right as it disappeared. He made it reappear after we won Grand Celestia Galaxy, so everything's fine!"

Ah.

"Papa... Actually, I didn't think I'd be here today, so I didn't bring anything to show you this time. But since I was in the area, I thought maybe now is as good of a time as any to let you know." She took a deep breath. "I decided that, when I'm all better, I'll go to the past and stay there. I'll live the rest of my life as Gouenji Kimiko... That is, as Gouenji Masato's sister, Gouenji Shuuya and Yuuka's cousin, and Kyou's best friend― Oh, yeah!"

Seeing her turn to him, he raised an eyebrow. "What?"

She smiled at him before turning back to the stone. "Papa, this is Kyousuke. He's the first friend I've ever made since Zanark sent me to the past. I told you this already, but because the Gouenji family is really overprotective of me, they wouldn't let me go to school when they found out I had powers. I met Kyou when he was playing with his brother in the park once, and long story short, I ended up teaching him to play soccer. He's way better at it than I am now, though."

He rolled his eyes. "That's not true. We're still even. You proved that in the Lost Galaxy."

She chuckled. "Kyou's really kind even if he doesn't seem like it. He acts cool, but he really cares about people. He wasn't always like this, but it's not a bad change, so I won't complain."

"But you do complain..."

"He's showing his compassionate side more often now though! It's really refreshing! I hope he'll keep being this nice from now on!"

He sweatdropped. "Can you say that to my face instead of telling it to your dad like I'm not right behind you?"

"No." She stuck her tongue out at him and faced the stone again. "Papa, Kyousuke's actually the one who convinced me to stay. He made me realize what I really wanted to do with myself, so you don't have to worry about me. He always takes good care of me... Better than the Gouenji family does, actually. B-But don't tell them I said that!"

A small smile made its way back to his face.

"And anyway! I think you noticed that I needed a lot of help getting here this time... That's because I just finished the treatment last night. My powers are completely gone now, which means that I'm gonna live longer! The cure finally worked! But because of some other stuff, well... In any case, I'll be fine in a few days. That's when I'll leave too, so I'll be sure to come visit you again before then!" She looked up at him and nodded.

He went over and lifted her up in his arms. She held onto his shoulders to stay steady and gave him a look.

"It'll be easier to put you down on the chair later."

"Ah... Alright."

An arm flung around the back of his neck while the other around his front. She rested her head against him and kept as still as she could, much like when he carried her in.

He placed her down once they were back to the wheelchair, and he began to push her up the hill. By then, the sun had set, and there were only small garden lamps to light their way.

"Where to next?" He asked when they reached the top.

Before she could reply, a grumbling noise echoed from her stomach. "Ahaha... Dinner? We can buy something with the silver credits in my watch."

"So currencies change too, huh?"

"Well, it has been 200 years."

"True." He nodded. "Okay, what do you want to eat?"

"There's one place I really like. It's just across the bridge, to the right."

"Got it."

~~~~~

Though they had only meant to get dinner, they ended up spending a lot of time in the area. Snacks, drinks, shops. They approached everything that caught their eyes.

Before they knew it, it was almost curfew.

"Even though I can't move, today was the best day ever..." She said, trying to hold back a yawn. "I don't want to let it end..."

"You're gonna have to if you don't want to wake up cranky tomorrow." He pointed out, pushing her in the direction of El Dorado's building.

"True... But I still don't like it."

"Like and dislike has nothing to do with it."

She pouted, knowing he had a point, but when they entered the gardens, she wondered if they'd slow down. They had. He was taking his time making their way through, as if prolonging the end of their day.

He doesn't want it to end either... She smiled a little. "Hey, Kyou."

"Hm?"

"It's really been a while since the last time we hung out with just the two of us, huh?"

"Yeah..."

"How was it for you? I know you've just been helping me get to places I want to go to, but... Well, are you at least satisfied with today?"

"'Satisfied', huh..." She heard him chuckle. "No."

"Eh―"

"I think 'happy' would be more accurate." Looking up, she saw him smiling without facing her. "What was it you said earlier? 'I only ever have this much fun when I'm with you'? It should be obvious without saying... It's the same for me. The three― or well, four months without you around... There's always this empty feeling inside me that just... exists everyday... But when I found out you're back, it just went away completely."

Kyousuke...

"Then, we started spending everyday like 'usual' again... Days like that... really are my greatest happiness."

She felt her eyes widen. Her gaze dropped as a single word came to mind. "... Gross."

He choked, stopping in his tracks, which in extension meant she stopped as well. She felt a hand pushing her head down once again. "You little...! Here I am being nice and honest like you wanted, and yet...!"

"Ack―! W-Well, I mean... It's just not like you! It's just the first thing that came to mind for some reason!"

"You...! Fine then, if that's how you're gonna react, then I'll never do it again!"

"No, no, no! I don't mean anything bad, I swear! Don't―" A snicker escaped her. "D-Don't―" She suddenly burst out laughing.

"Great, now you're going insane." Though he said so, his smile had returned to his face.

"I-I just― Haha! I don't know― Hahaha!" She decided to finish her laughing before taking a deep breath. "God... Sorry, I just... I had the strangest feeling that we might've had this conversation before..."

"Did we?"

She blinked up at him. "You sound like you know exactly when."

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Your face says you do!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

"You're smirking! What else am I supposed to believe?!"

They kept going back and forth, until eventually she gave up when they reached the building's elevator. They headed straight for her room, reaching it just a few minutes before the curfew.

He lifted her up, pushing the wheelchair into the corner with a foot and putting her down on the bed. But before he could fully pull away, she reached up and pecked her lips to his cheek.

She couldn't help giggling at his bewildered expression. "Consider that as a thank you for today. I'll treat you to ice cream when we get back to our timeline."

"... Stupid, don't just do that out of nowhere!" He turned away, but she could still see the tips of his ears turning red.

Because of that, she refused to let him go. Instead, she pulled him closer with a small smile. "Then, since you know now, it wouldn't be out of nowhere if I do it again, right?"

"Wha―" He froze as he felt something lightly grazing his lips. In the last moment though, it went to his jaw instead.

She chuckled, her voice right in his ear. "Sorry. Maybe next time."

He felt his heart leaping out of his chest. "T-There's going to be a next time?"

"If you want."

Is she just teasing? His embarrassment faded at the thought and was quickly replaced with annoyance. "You little―"

He moved his head to face her directly, but then stopped. Amber eyes went wide as purple ones were caught in equal surprise.

Their lips met.