We were almost to Costco. I know, because Sana and I used to go there. I'd given Natsuko the directions to go there. It was a long way away from the hospital, and had been a long way away from Sana's apartment. But, he said he'd often make the long trek on the train due to the rare ingredients he could get there. In particular, he was interested in cooking wines and cheeses. 

My mind was wandering as my hand was in Sana's sweet blonde hair. He was sleeping peacefully, and the streetlights were winding over us, as if lazy. The radio was on, and Natsuko and I had been listening quietly. But, a different song started up in my head, sung by a familiar voice. Sana's voice, from a time that seemed so long ago.

By mid-November, I'd gotten to know Lyra pretty well. I was getting along well with Nobu in particular. We have similar personalities. That early evening, we were at Sana's apartment. It was a Friday, and I'd gotten there around 4pm. Lyra was there, enjoying dinner before their weekly Friday live performance. They had been given a chance to play at a local cafe, a place with an older atmosphere. It was full of golden color, which was the mood lighting the cafe chose. There were tables set up for parties of four, and a bar with a kitchen behind it. It was a small, hole in the wall kind of place. But, they had live jazz on a small stage, and an excellent sound system. Lyra was well known at the cafe, called Cafe Black Cat. They sometimes played on Saturday nights as well, if the cafe couldn't find anyone else. 

I hadn't seen them perform live yet. Friday night was usually a busy one for me. My band played live a lot also, and most of the time on Friday nights I'd be asked to go out with everyone after a meeting or a rehearsal or something promotional. Sometimes, a staff member or one of my band members or several wanted to go out with me to discuss something. I was always so busy. And when my boss asked us to go out, we couldn't say no. It's just not something we could do. 

So, I was very excited this Friday night. Earlier in the week, Sana and I had prepared lots of dumplings. We used a spinning round plate at the center of the table to pass them to each other. I had been secretly watching Sana as he carefully made them. He'd take a bit of pork or chicken mixture with a teaspoon, then take a little of the shredded vegetable mixture from another bowl, and then rub these together in a ball. He'd place them carefully in the middle of a gyoza skin, and then place it like a holy object on the plate and spin it to me. I'd then take it on my plate and carefully close it using the pleating pinching motions he'd taught me, using a little egg to seal them. We'd had quite a pile going. I was careful to separate the pork ones from the chicken ones, because I knew Sana could only eat the chicken ones. I didn't want to accidentally mix a pork one in with the chicken ones, because he'd get sick. After we were done, we'd put them into plastic bags and froze them for tonight.

I'd watched him steam them earlier, bamboo steamers in stacks. It was like magic. Sometimes, he'd open one of the steamers and all this steam would come up and flood around his face. I was enchanted. 

The members of Lyra were sitting at their customary positions at the table. Masaki was at one end, Yami at the other. Nobu was sitting opposite Sana, and I was sitting next to Sana. They were discussing what they would be doing that night. Another friend was going to join them on saxophone, a guest performer I hadn't met yet. Yami was talking about the backing track they'd be using, which covered most of the brass and piano. Sana made a low, sad sound, wishing they could recruit brass members for their band, to fill out their sound, so they didn't have to use a backing track at all. Yami had laughed at this, asking if Sana thought about the size of the stage before saying that. They'd laughed at that.

I was about to put another gyoza and rice in my mouth, when Sana gasped.

"Look at the time! I have to get dressed!" He jumped up. I looked at my phone. It was almost five thirty. I knew they usually started to perform at six, which was peak time for the dinner patrons at the cafe. 

I jumped up with him. "I'll help you! It'll go faster if I help you." He looked at me with a small, shocked smile. So grateful. 

We ran to his bedroom, and Sana grabbed the black dress off his bed. I grabbed the platinum blonde wig off the wig stand he'd put out. I opened a drawer and took out a hair straightener and a wig brush. It was a special brush, best for wig fibers of this type. Less static. I also grabbed the red rose hair decoration he'd put out on his dresser, and the bobby pin kit next to it. 

He was in the bathroom, tucking his hair in under a wig cap. He clipped the cap to his hair, and hurriedly started to apply his foundation. I took this as my cue. I appeared behind him in the mirror, and slipped the wig onto his head, making sure to keep the fibers away from his still wet makeup. I used the straightener with long, clean strokes. I brushed as I did this, making all the static go away, and creating a smooth look that this wig needed with its bone straight hair. I used the straightener to curl in the bottom of the wig, creating an old style. 

He was applying his eye makeup, carefully putting his lashes on. I wanted to pause to admire this, but there was no time. I picked up his dress from the bathroom counter, and opened the zipper. It was a flowy kind of dress, tight around the thighs, but flared out to the floor, kind of a trumpet shape. It had loose, short sleeves, and a cowl sort of low neckline, which gave the hint of breasts when there were none. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he stepped into the dress as I held it from below. We'd done this sort of thing a lot before, as he got dressed for a casual day. It was like clockwork now, and I was grateful for this. 

We stopped to look at him in the mirror. He looked critically at his nails. They looked good to me, a pink color that I admired. "It would be better if they were red," he criticized at himself. 

I put a bobby pin at the edge of my mouth, and twisted a lock of his hair up to the side of his head. I touched the rose piece to his head, and took the bobby pin out of my mouth. "I think they look lovely," I said, smiling to him, as I secured the rose in place with a few bobby pins. 

He looked at me, suddenly shy. His eyes taking on a cute quality. 

"What?" I chuckled. 

"That bobby pin was in your mouth. Your saliva is in my hair." His hands rubbed together, a shy habit of his, I'd noticed. He looked down at his hands, a small, bashful smile on his face. 

"Oh, is it?" I gave him a sneaky look. 

He went to say something else, but before he could, I kissed him on the cheek. He let out a tiny squeal, and I started laughing. His hands were on his cheeks, and his eyes were closed, a grin on his face. He was the most adorable person in the world. I kissed him again, and his hands found my face. We were kissing, just forgetting everything. Forgetting what time it was. 

"It's 5:40! We have to go, Sana!" Yami was calling. 

"Oh no, I have to put away the rest of the dumplings. What am I going to do?" Sana's face looked panicked. 

"They'll be okay for a few hours. I'm going to eat some more when we come back, anyway. It's okay," I assured him. He was always so concerned about his food. 

He nodded, that small smile back on his face. It filled my heart with warmth to see. 

Everyone gathered their instruments from the living room. I had Sana's violin on my shoulder. We raced out the door. Sana was holding his skirt, and I was watching to see that he didn't trip. He'd be changing his shoes at the cafe, to some satiny black slingback heels, which he was carrying in his hands.

They'd be playing for two hours. I couldn't wait. 

At the cafe, they went up to the stage. The restaurant patrons started stirring, talking, watching. Lyra's instruments were already ready to go. Still, Sana checked his violin quickly, doing a customary check with his hearing, which I'd come to find familiar. They were so used to the set up of the stage that they needed little preparation. They handed the audio engineer the CD's they'd be using for the backing tracks. I saw someone making their way up the middle aisle, a saxophone around his neck. He looked a lot older than the rest of Lyra. He had on a gray fedora and had white and gray stubble. 

"Yamato-san!" Sana squealed. "I'm so glad you made it!" 

"I'm glad you made it!" He laughed, embracing him. "Where were you? You're almost late! But you look so pretty, as always!" He went to swipe at Sana's bangs, and I cringed a little bit. My hard work! 

"Ah! Don't touch my hair!" Sana laughed joyously. I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat down at a table near the stage. They laughed together. Sana replaced his shoes, and Yamato-san gave them to the sound engineer to place off stage quickly. 

At exactly 6pm, the lighting of the cafe faded down. Golden lights filled the stage. 

"Good evening, welcome to Cafe Black Cat. We're Lyra. Please enjoy an evening of jazz," Sana announced, using a silky voice. He launched into Takako Mamiya's song, "Midnight Joke" and I was taken to another world. A world full of slow dreaming. A slow, sparkling, intimate universe of stars and summer evenings. Of warm breezes, and lazy, almost yearning wishing. Of memories long forgotten, but never had to begin with, making us believe they were real. Making us believe we existed in that enchanting, drifting, romantic, nighttime world of stars with Lyra. 

A waitress came to ask if I'd like to order anything, and I ordered a whiskey. But, it went untouched. I couldn't take my eyes off of Sana. 

Lyra moved from one song to the next smoothly. They played Orange Pekoe's "Beautiful Thing", with Sana going into a much lower pitch than I'd ever heard. They played Anri's "Last Summer Whisper", with Sana singing it sweetly. I noticed they seemed to be putting in familiar Japanese songs in their set, working with their audience's tastes. They played some smooth jazz for a while with Sana on violin, ending with "Autumn Leaves". My hand went over my mouth as Sana surprised us all with a fast solo of Cajun fiddling, a big smile on his face, playing a song I didn't know. This perfectly transitioned to Sana singing in French, the band joining him in a French version of "Besame Mucho". They played "Moonlight Serenade", and Sana sang this enchantingly in English. They played "My Life" by Noriko Miyamoto, and I was a goner. My mouth was open. They moved on to some Norah Jones, and more American jazz. Another surprise, and they played "Sabor a Mi" by Eydie Gorme. They then transitioned perfectly into a fusion of bossa nova jazz for a while, with Nobu at the forefront with Lily, his jazz guitar.

As Sana sang "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, I sighed and was so relaxed that I felt like jello. It was as if I'd just gotten a thousand massages. Just caught in his world. It was then I noticed him looking at me, and my heart filled with butterflies. He had that small smile. He winked at me, a slow wink. The song gave the feeling of being on a boat on a river, laid there looking at the endless stars, lazily drifting in a summer night with fireflies all around. I couldn't name this feeling, but it was the most beautiful, contented feeling in the world. I never wanted it to end. I was utterly his.

But, it had to end. They dreamily ended with "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald. I wanted to hold Sana close and never let go. I wanted to slow dance with him to this. I knew this song could be a duet. I wanted to sing with him. My heart ached to sing it with him.

Sana announced they were finished, and the band bowed to the audience. The audience stood up and clapped politely for them. I hadn't even noticed their reaction all around me. I had forgotten hardly to breathe. My eyes had never left Sana, the whole time. 

He descended from the stage, holding his violin. He was a little sweaty from the heat of the lights, his bangs sticking to his face a little. I took a napkin and dabbed his face gently. He tilted his head a little as I did this, and gave me that same small smile. Such a happy little thing. I breathed deeply, sighing. I was so in love, I didn't know what to do with myself. 

"Shall we go home, or do you want to go out with the rest of Lyra?" He asked me so casually. I wanted nothing but to take him home and spend the rest of the evening with him.

"Let's go home," I said, bringing my face closer to him. He went the rest of the distance, and kissed me slowly. I felt tears wet my eyes, so in emotion, so taken with him. 

We walked home hand in hand, enjoying the evening. He was holding the tail end of his skirt in his other hand, so careful. I looked up at the sky, feeling the chill in the air. Saw the wires above us trying to block out the stars. I stopped, and pointed up. He stopped with me, and I saw his face look up. 

"Which constellation is that? What is that big star?" I asked. 

He thought for a moment, and I watched his curious eyes. He smiled up at the sky. 

"That's Neptune," he said, starting to grin. I joined in on his grin, so happy to know this. He pointed up, showing me the various constellations around it, how it was attempting to interfere with them. He spoke of them like they were big creatures up there, trying to avoid a firefly as if afraid. 

We stood there for a while, just standing on the sidewalk hand in hand, admiring the stars above us. So in awe. We listened to the sounds of the night, on this back street. It felt like it was only us two in this whole section of the city. 

Finally, I looked at him. He was still admiring the stars. So taken with him, I pulled him to me. He gave a look of surprise, and he looked so beautiful. I kissed his red lipsticked lips. A full, powerful kiss. I held the back of his head, and leaned him back a little, my other hand securely at the small of his back. He relaxed in this, his whole body sighing. 

The car stopped, and I was shocked back to reality. Almost rudely shocked. I felt his slow breaths on me, as he laid on me. My sister turned off the radio, and I looked up. I was almost confused, I'd been so in my memory. 

I wiggled Sana a little bit, to wake him. I didn't want to wake him. He'd been sleeping so peacefully. His eyes opened lazily, and he gazed up at me. My sister opened her door and got out of the car. 

"We're here," I said to him, smoothing down his bangs. His eyes went up a little bit in the pleasure of this. 

"Where are we?" He asked.

"Costco," I said, giving him a gentle look. 

"Oh," he said, not moving from his spot. He looked comfortable, and to be honest, I was, too. I heard the trunk open, and the sound of Natsuko taking Sana's wheelchair out. A rude awakening. So noisy. "I guess we'd better go," he said, almost to himself. But, I saw that look on his face. A shy shame, just a flash of it, but there before he composed himself. Was he ashamed of the noise we'd just heard, as he'd been before? Or was it something else?

Before he could feel any more sadness, I lifted his chin with my finger. His sleepy eyes looked up at me fully. I was lost in them. Even in the harsh light of the parking lot, he was beautiful. The most beautiful person to me.

I kissed him deeply on the lips. He made a small noise, and kissed me back. We kissed for only a few seconds, but it felt much longer. At the end of it, he smiled, a happy little smile. I saw a blush form on his cheeks. My finger played on one of his cheeks, and he made another small noise of happiness, a tiny, cute squeak. I giggled a little at this, I couldn't help myself.

"Let's go, my darling," I told him sweetly. He nodded, that same small smile not leaving his face.