In the evening, Tetsu was on the bed with me again. He was holding my hand, and he was giving an update about us on his blog. We'd seen people asking if we were okay after the earthquake. Tetsu hadn't posted about our marriage, and that was okay with me. I didn't know how he felt about posting about it, but he didn't mention it in the post he was currently writing.

Hello, hello! How is everyone? Sana and I are currently at the hospital. He had very high blood sugar last night due to accidentally eating a lot of sugar! He is doing much better, and we are thankful to the doctors and nurses and everyone who is working hard to take care of him. We were eating lunch when the earthquake hit. A picture frame fell from the wall, but that's all that happened to us. We expect to be going home soon. Thank you to everyone who were concerned. We received a lot of nice messages asking about us. I promise we are okay!

He read the post to me. I nodded in approval and squeezed his hand a little.

"Post," he said, pressing the button.

"I noticed you didn't say anything about us getting married."

"Did you want me to?" He was smiling at me. He seemed to be in a better mood since the earthquake happened. I wasn't sure why, but I was relieved to see it. I shook my head slightly, all I could muster.

"I don't know what we should say about that yet. I'm happy to just be married to you." My eyes closed, and my head dropped down. Oops.

"Are you tired?" He asked. He shifted on the bed, moving my body a little by the waist, trying to make me comfortable. I enjoyed his sure and confident hands.

"Yeah," I breathed. It had come on all of a sudden. I was doing a lot better, though. My symptoms had improved a lot since the mid-afternoon. I was able to move a little bit now, slight movements. But, my body was just so spent. If I did move, I was trembling. The doctor said the trembling was just because my body was so drained, and that it should go away. I could only trust what he was saying was true.

My eyelids were sticky again. Tetsu shifted my body once more, this time laying me down over his lap, my body bent at the waist as if I were sitting laying down. He put the side of my head on his lap, and put his hand in my hair. He began to play with my hair gently. The blanket was already halfway up my body, so I was warm enough.

"Go to sleep," he said, gently. "Is this position comfortable?"

"Yeah," I whispered.

He stroked my hair, and my breath became slow.

Some time while I was sleeping, Natsuko had arrived to take us home. My counts were back to normal, though Tetsu was concerned about my physical state. Their papa had arrived to an empty house, and had discovered a note on the table explaining that their mom was at Natsuko's. She'd come back home after he called her, freeing Natsuko to come get us when the doctor released me. Natsuko had gathered up our things as I slept on.

I woke up in the car, my head on Tetsu's lap again, my eyes still so heavy. He and Natsuko were being silent, and the streetlights were casting their light into the car as we passed under them. My eyes were open only briefly, but Tetsu saw them. I caught his smile before they closed again, and I smiled, too.

His thumb found my lips, and I puckered them. It went into my mouth, and I sucked on it. My eyes opened, and I could tell he was clearly enjoying this. I smiled, in a half chuckle. I kept it in my mouth as I closed my eyes again, rolling it around with my tongue, as Natsuko began to speak.

"Your fans know you are married, somehow. Did you know that?"

My eyes opened again, lazily.

"Huh?" Tetsu was alarmed. He tried to take his thumb out of my mouth, but I gently put my teeth on it. He looked down at me and grinned, covering his mouth. When the next streetlight passed over us, I could see pink on his cheeks.

"Yeah. They're on Mermaid Orchestra's general info page going nuts. It's highly entertaining. You didn't see it? Do you check that page anymore? I know you didn't say anything about being married on your blog. I read your post. I wonder if someone from the party said something."

Oh. That was a factor I hadn't considered.

"If they're on Mermaid Orchestra's page, it has to be someone affiliated with me. That narrows it down a little. Ah, I guess it doesn't matter who said it." Tetsu smiled down at me, and I let his thumb go, smiling back. "I guess the cat's out of the bag."

"I'm strangely okay with that."

"Yeah?" He looked hopeful. I wanted to reach up and touch his face.

"Huh? Why wouldn't you want people to know you're married? Did you want to keep it private for a while or something?" Natsuko asked.

"Well, there's an issue," Tetsu said, still looking at me. His hand went to my cheek, and I pressed into it.

"I can't imagine there being an issue. You two are so happy together. Everyone is overjoyed. You should read the messages. They're so, so happy for you two."

"Well," I sighed. "The issue is my fans." My fingers started to twitch. Too tired. "Ah. I feel tired. Can you tell her?"

Tetsu nodded, and I smiled gratefully. I closed my eyes again. His hand went to my chest, making a comforting weight. "Well," he said, sounding unsure. "Sana's fans started a rumor about him being a girl. There's no justifying why. I think it's incredibly rude, but regardless of my opinion, it's there. Sana was worried that if they find out we're legally married, that they'll assume Sana is a girl. And he's not a girl, regardless of what his birth certificate says. However, he doesn't think they'll be understanding, and from what I've heard about this situation, I don't think they will be either."

I jumped as Natsuko yelled. "Well, screw them!" She cried out. "Ugh, I can't believe people! That's really nasty! Who would start a rumor like that?!"

"I don't know. I've tried to justify it over the years. I can definitely see where they'd think that. But, that doesn't make it right." I could hear the tiredness in my own voice.

"That's so wrong, though. I can't believe it."

"Well, that's the situation," Tetsu said. He rubbed my hair, and I sighed.

"To make you hesitant to announce your marriage, such a joyous thing... If I see anyone questioning you, I'll shut them down. I know I remain pretty private, but it makes me so mad... I'll do it! I'll yell at them! How can they call themselves a fan? That's so rude."

"But, the thing is... Ah, maybe I'm too tired to think about it clearly. I'm sorry." My breath was slowing for sleep. As much as I wanted to talk about this, I couldn't. I was losing my place in the conversation, forgetting the context.

"No, don't be sorry. I'm glad to know what's going on. Now I can defend you two. I was so happy to see everyone congratulating you, but to know now that Lyra has fans like that? I'll be on the lookout. If anyone tries to start a rumor like that again, I'll tell them to cut it out! I'll even tell them who I am, so they really get it. I'll say they're acting like they know you and that's too familiar, and that I actually know you two and that they're being disgusting."

"Natsuko, that's a little harsh."

"'Harsh', nothing. They deserve it."

"Well, I think if fans know already, I should make it official. I can make an announcement post. Wow, I can't believe how excited saying that just made me." Tetsu chuckled, making my heart fill with butterflies.

"You should do it. Natsuko is right. I can't let rumors come between us and happiness."

He was stroking my hair again in long movements, making my eyes roll to the back of my head behind my eyelids in pleasure. "Not without you. When you're feeling better, we'll sit down and write it," he said, such a sweetness in his voice.

"Can I be there, too? I want to see it." Natsuko sounded absolutely overjoyed, almost like she could jump up and down in her seat in her excitement.

"Yeah. Actually, maybe we can do this as a family. It's a very big deal. I'd be so happy if all of you were involved." Ah, Tetsu sounded so content. It made me so happy, I had no words for it.

"Yeah, I want that, too," I assured. His nails found my scalp, and I let out a small moan.

"What are you doing back there?" Natsuko laughed, hearing me.

"I'm scratching his head," Tetsu laughed with her. "I like when he does that to me, so I thought he'd like it, too, and I was right."

"I love it," I sighed deeply.

Natsuko was laughing even more. "I want Haru to scratch my head! That sounds heavenly."

"Make him do it," Tetsu said, clearly smiling so much. He made a kissing sound to me. "Go to sleep. It's okay. We don't have to talk about this now. You're so tired. Don't fight it."

"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry, Sana. Go to sleep, okay? I got too excited. We'll talk about this later. Maybe we can all gather later and talk about this more when you're feeling better."

"Okay," I breathed. Tetsu renewed his effort to scratch my head, his individual fingers almost making a rhythm just behind my bangs, making a gentle scratching motion over and over. My body was like jello at this. The warmth of his hand, the slight and familiar weight of his palm. I focused on this, and that just made it even better.

I couldn't remember what there had been to worry about in the first place. It was like a blank slate, just focusing on his hand and the sweetness of him doing this for me. I fell asleep like this, so relaxed and happy.