After dinner, we sat in the living room watching a baseball game. Sana was sitting next to me on the couch, leaned on me, his head on my shoulder. He was quietly watching, finally able to watch a game like this. It was a milestone that I wasn't taking lightly. My papa would look over at us periodically and talk to him about this or that with the game. Sana would give his opinion, and my papa would look back at the TV, satisfied. I had no idea what they were talking about. Someone's predicted batting average for the season, lifetime something or other. But, Sana was happy. That was the main thing.

Ever since I'd spoken to my mom about my gender, things were different. It was calmer, I wasn't as scared, I found. My papa had come home, and I jumped when the door opened, but I looked at her and she was unmovable. She greeted him, taking his suit jacket that was slung over his arm. Just like every day. Like nothing had happened. We sat down to a dinner of pork, vegetables, and rice. A simple meal. He talked about work, something to do with accounting and a difficult case.

It was so normal that it was jarring. He spoke to Sana about there being a baseball game on, and Sana had smiled at him about it. Their teams weren't playing, so they could watch it without rivalry. When they were talking, I realized I hadn't told Sana about the talk I'd had with my mom. It filled me with a surge of nervousness, but this time from another place, one of perhaps glee. So different than how I'd been feeling all day. Would he be proud of me? How would he react? I wanted him to be proud of me. See that smile, his excitement, as I told him of my mom's response.

Now, we held hands as he contently gazed at the TV, keeping track of the game. I admit, I didn't know much about what was going on. I was trying to learn, but my mind kept going back to the conversation with my mom. I knew, without a doubt, that it had been one of the best moments of my life. I wanted to remember every bit of it.

I looked over at my mom from time to time. She was reading a magazine, not paying attention to the game. She'd flip a page, licking her finger to get it to stick. It occurred to me that all of the magazines in the house probably had her DNA on them like this.

A big roar went up on the TV, and I snapped back to it. My papa was leaned forward in his chair, gripping the armrests. I looked at Sana by chance, and his mouth was open cutely. In an instant, the crowd on the TV roared and the ball went into the stands. My papa's arms went up in the air.

"Home run!" He shouted, adjusting himself in his seat to see the TV better.

"Yay," Sana said quietly, smiling. He was adorable.

"Who scored?" I asked him just as quietly.

"The Dragons," he told me, glancing up at me with that cute smile.

"Ohh-" I jumped, as my pocket started vibrating. My hand dove into it, and I got my phone out. "Huh? Yami?" I asked, staring at it quizzically. I looked up at my parents. "Is it okay if I take a quick phone call?"

My mom nodded at me. My papa was too involved in the game, and maybe didn't notice. I pressed the answer button and lifted it to my ear.

"Hello-"

"CHECK YOUR MAILBOX!" Yami practically screamed. I thrust the phone away from my ear, my eyes wide in shock at his volume. Sana's eyes were wide, too, having heard him also.

"What?" He asked, his voice full of shocked wonder.

"What? Can you repeat that?" I asked.

"CHECK IT! CHECK IT NOW!"

"Why?" Sana asked him, getting close to my phone.

"I JUST GOT A CHECK FROM FLEETING WORLD FOR TWO MILLION YEN! DID YOU GET ONE, TOO?!" He let out a scream, a nonsensical hollering into the air.

"Whaaat?!" I gasped, my mouth absolutely wide open.

"Why would they send this?!" He practically shrieked. "What is this?!"

"Call Keitaro! I'm going to go see if we got one," I said quickly. I looked at Sana. His expression was the same as mine, his mouth wide open in disbelief.

"Is this real?!" Yami babbled on. "Is this MONEY?! MY MONEY?!"

Sana laughed. "I don't get it."

"There wasn't any explanation? Just a check? Did you get anything else with it?" I asked.

"There's nothing else! I checked, the only other stuff I got with it were my bills. Oh wait, I can pay my bills with this?!"

Sana giggled. "It's a shame you have to wait to cash it."

"Wait, no, I don't! I have online banking! But, you can't mobile cash a check like this... Can you?!"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't. Go to your bank in the morning. They may want to verify that it's real or something."

"Okay! Holy shit, am I dreaming?!"

We both laughed at that. "I'll go check to see if we got anything. I'm handing my phone to Sana now." I gave my phone to him, and he held it to his ear, tilting his head a little bit, cutely, smiling. I got up, not wanting to leave, but I had to go see. What was waiting in our mailbox if it were true?

I made my way outside, and went to the mailbox. Flipping it open, there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary in there. I took out the few envelopes inside, and under the streetlight, looked at them. My parents' names were there only. I pursed my lips, a little disappointed. I shrugged, and went back inside.

Once back in the living room, I handed the mail to my papa. He took them without fanfare, looking them over seriously and going through them.

I sat back down. Sana was talking to Yami about the check.

"I bet Keitaro might know more," he was saying, so smart. "Maybe he knows the story. But, he's been with us. I don't know." He smiled at me. I rose my hands up, showing I had nothing in them. "Ah, Tetsu's back. There's no checks for us. Why did you get a check, and we didn't?"

He nodded, listening to Yami. Watching him be on the phone. It was such a rare thing.

"Yeah. I don't know, either. It's a mystery. I'm just happy you got paid. Uh huh. That's true. But, don't be hasty. Do you really want to quit your job?"

This was getting serious. I took his hand, squeezing it. He smiled at me, and I felt a slight blush at his quick glance.

"Yeah, I know. This is my dream, too. But don't- Uh huh. I know. Trust me, I know." His expression changed to one of concern. What was Yami saying? "Maybe you should talk to your mom. She just went through similar. She quit her job, too. Maybe she'll have some advice. This is a big thing to jump into."

As he was talking, I realized something significant. I began rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb, so proud of him. I'd realized, he was talking about band related things with such a level head. Where had that come from?

"I know. I don't mean to be a downer. Ugh, Yami. Yami."

My eyebrow went up. What was Yami saying to get that kind of response?

"Okay. Call your mom. No, I promise she won't try to take your money... Okay, fine, she probably will. But, she'll have some good advice, I'm sure of it. We'll call Keitaro in the morning and maybe he'll have some answers for us. What do you think? Call Nobu and Masaki and ask if they got checks, too. I wonder if Shizue did? Or Hikaru? They're together, so maybe we can find out."

He nodded, closing his eyes in sincerity. They opened again. "Okay, good night. I know it's exciting. I want to know the full story. The check's from Fleeting World, so it must be okay to cash. But, why did you get one? So weird. Okay, bye."

He hung up and handed me back my phone, smiling still. It turned into a grin and chuckle, and all of a sudden, surreality clicked in. Those eyes and that smile. It was like I was looking at him from back in October, the same energy level, the same way of speaking, the alertness in his face.

I wanted to cry for the millionth time today. This energy level. It was the same as in Okinawa. He still had it. He'd perked up from that phone call, getting happy. It made me think again, there had to be some connection with being happy and his energy level. It couldn't be coincidence.

He settled back against me, his head on my shoulder again. My arm went behind him, and he adjusted himself for this. He looked up at me, his eyes so big. I looked at him, and he was smiling still. He let out a chuckle, like nothing at all was transpiring. Did he even realize how well he was doing?

"He's so excited," he told me, settling in. "He kept screaming. He wants to quit his job tomorrow, just tell his boss on the spot. But, I don't think that's wise. What if this money is all he gets? It's a lot of money, but it isn't a full year's worth of pay. I'm cautious. I know we'll do well, I have every confidence, because you're with us, but..."

I nodded, trying to ignore my thoughts. My shock at him. "I'll try my hardest so that this isn't the only check."

He rubbed his cheek into my shoulder, smiling so much. His eyes closed briefly, and opened to be half lidded. My eyes closed too, taking him in, and I breathed a long breath.

I noticed my parents were staring at us. My lips went into my mouth.

"Are you going to tell us?" My papa asked, a curiosity on his face.

A nervousness went up inside me. His attention on me, after today. I clenched Sana's hand a little too tight, and then released it, realizing. "Uh... Our friend Yami just got a large check from Fleeting World. It might be for the tour or the mini-album, or both. We're not sure yet. But, it's assumed that we'll receive similar checks."

"Ohh, he got paid. That's wonderful," my mom said, smiling at us.

"Yeah. It is. I hope we do soon, too. It'll be nice to know there's income coming in again. I've been pretty...insecure about that lately." It felt nice to admit that.

"Sounds like some kind of advance. What did your contracts say? I'd like to take a look at them, if you have copies. Are they sound, as contracts? Is there something in there about an advance?" My papa asked.

The contracts. Internally, I gasped. It all made sense now.

"Papa, I think you just said it. I think I know why we didn't get paid, and he did."

"Huh?" Sana asked, adjusting to look up at me.

I gazed at him as he became more alert again. "Yami signed his contract the day we got them, didn't he? I wonder if there's something in the contracts about this. Maybe we didn't get paid, because we having signed them yet? Oh- oh, we need to get this done as soon as possible! The tour! We can't do anything if the contracts aren't signed! We've been so distracted... We have to do this as soon as possible!"

He gasped. "Do you have a lawyer who looks over your contracts? Should we give them to that office?"

"I don't know if there's time. The tour is so close. Keitaro said he trusts the contracts, that he helped draw them up himself. He has our best interests in mind, and he knows Fleeting World. Maybe we should trust his judgment. If the mini-album goes well, we'll have a different contract to sign afterward. Now that I think about it, there should be a separate contract to sign for the tour. Shouldn't there? So, the check Yami got must be for the mini-album."

My papa made a grumble in the back of his throat, clearly in thought. "Hearing you say these things. Does that mean you haven't read them? I should look them over. Where are they? At least from an accounting perspective, I can give advice."

He was right. I nodded to him. "I'll go get them. One minute."

Sana lifted himself off my side, and I was again surprised at his strength. Was he aware of how much he was doing? It was incredible. But, I hardly had time to think about it. I got up, and went to our bedroom. Our contracts were in a drawer in my nightstand, safe and secure. I retrieved them, and went back to the living room.

My papa took them from me, and began reading them over immediately.

What followed was an hour of silence. The baseball game ended, but he was no longer paying attention. I was waiting eagerly for him to finish. His expression betrayed nothing, always having the most expert poker face on the planet.

Finally he looked up. His eyebrow raised, in a rare show of emotion. He gestured them to me, and I got up and took them from him. I went back to the couch, and Sana settled on me again, so lovely.

He cleared his throat. "So, here's what I found out." We all leaned in. "There are advances in there, for two million yen each. That's confirmed. It sounds like your friend didn't read his contract, either. I advise the reading of it in the future. On the other hand, are you therefore not aware that it states you will be having a European tour?"

Said so seriously and without humor.

Our jaws dropped.

"Europe?!" My mom gasped. "Do you get to go to Paris?! Oh, Te-chan, you love Paris!"

We paused for a second. In the next, we dove into our contracts, frantically flipping pages. "Papa, where does it say Europe?!" I asked, my eyes scanning quicker than they ever had.

"Near the last page."

Was it true, or was he messing with me? No... This was my papa. He would never do that. So, it had to be-

"EUROPE!" Sana yelled, but then his hand went over his mouth, his eyes darting all over the room. He'd been louder than he intended. He pointed at the page we were on, his finger under a particular word...

I swear to god I almost fainted.