My hand swept through Tetsu's wet hair as he attempted to dry me off from the shower. He was giggling, and I was smiling due to my strength being back for now. It was taking longer for his hair to dry these days due to the length. It was more wavy when wet, and I was playing with that now. I sat on the closed toilet as he rubbed me down with the towel. He'd soon be drying his hair with a blow dryer, so I was taking advantage.

"You're all dry now," he announced, dropping the towel on the floor. "Let's go get dressed. I saw some pieces in our suitcase that look like they could match. Matching outfits would be cute."

Matching outfits! My hand, damp from his hair, went over my mouth in merriment. "Ooh, I want that," I said happily.

"Yeah?" He asked, a sneaky look in his eye. It made me blush. Combined with his wet hair and nakedness, that look...

I blushed more, turning my face in it, my smile too wide.

"What?" He laughed.

"You."

"Me?" His arms went around me, and before I could figure out what he was doing, I was in the air being held. He held me close to his body, still steamy from our shower. My head went to his neck, closing my eyes in his hot touch. Like this, he glided us to the main part of our hotel room.

In moments, I found myself on the bed, and he descended to the chest of drawers in front of it. I admired him as he leaned over, the blush in my cheeks increasing. Dare I say anything?

I was thinking about my energy. Last night, it was clear to me that I'd depleted it completely, beyond what my body could tolerate. That's where the shaking had come from, I was sure of it. What Yokohara-sensei had said about adrenaline was another part of it, but I knew I'd been tired and ignoring it. I'd been tired all day, then went through all that excitement. It was one of the greatest nights of my life, but I'd overdone it.

I was feeling a lot better now that we'd had about seven hours of sleep, but there was the ever present idea of my energy meter. I had to think of it this way. What sorts of activities could I afford? We were going to be meeting up with the others for brunch, then we were going shopping in downtown Sapporo. I didn't want to miss that. I especially didn't want Tetsu to miss that. If I got too tired, he'd want to stay with me at the hotel.

Last night was making me think differently about how my body used energy. Trying to form theories about why I got so tired. I had to, because last night made me realize the tour was coming. It was arriving so fast, and if I got tired like that every night... I couldn't bear to think about it. If my body had shaken that much after one day, how tired would I be after a month and a half of touring?

My lips pressed together, and I tried to control myself. Staring at his exposed backside, but ignoring my feelings. If we had sex, then that would mean less energy for today. It only made sense.

But, still. My hands gripped our bed covers as I tried with everything I had to think about something else.

"Oh, I found it. Yes. I didn't know you had this. A black and white striped dress? How perfect. I have a black and white pin-striped shirt here. I can wear these khaki pants. I think that offsets the dark colors. Let me see..." He rummaged some more, leaning down even worse.

That was it. My body rolled up, and I got on my hands and knees on the bed. I crawled silently towards him.

"Ah, here's some white stockings. I bet there's my socks in here, too-"

My mouth met him in a very sensitive place and I felt him fall over a little bit. My hands gripped his waist as my lips and tongue set to work. His slow moans told me that I'd made the right choice.

A few hours later, we were going down the street. It had a long, arched white roof with many colorful draperies and banners hanging down. Constant announcements and advertisements were being piped through a loud speaker, as well as music. It was very noisy here, but not so bad that we couldn't hear each other. Being a weekday, it wasn't crowded. There were a variety of shops, some with promotions outside such as gacha machines and things like that.

Earlier, we'd had brunch with everyone. We were late, but made excuses. They were understanding of our fake reasons, and we nervously looked at each other. Tetsu was still blushing slightly, most likely thinking about what I'd done to him. It had been all about him this time, and I'd teasingly brushed his hands away from me as I answered his dreams. He'd let me sleep for a little bit afterward, and when I woke up, it was my turn. What a wonderful turn it was.

After brunch, we'd split up into groups. Most of Lyra went off with Tatara and Davy, off to find somewhere to hang out and drink and play pool. There was a slight argument that it was too early for this kind of activity, but good points were brought up about bonding with Yellow Lizard. We'd be on tour together soon after all, so the better we knew each other, the better off we were. Shizue and Hikaru went off together alone, wanting to have a romantic couples' day. Right after brunch, Fumi looked at his watch and said he was heading to the airport. Solo activities again. However, he didn't seem too upset by it. He casually went off.

That had left me, Tetsu, Keitaro, Sawai-san, and Natsuko. We'd decided to go shopping as scheduled. Keitaro was talking about finding souvenirs for his son and wife. I noticed that he was thinking about them whenever we went shopping together. It was true even the first time, when we'd simply been in Costco. It made me know again how kind his heart is.

Now, we were exploring. We'd passed many interesting shops, including a guitar store. We'd peeked inside, but quickly I was learning that though the main shopping street was pretty wide, the interiors of these shops might be a challenge. They were very narrow, and some of the racks outside of the shops made for narrow entrances, too. Tetsu was being polite about this, getting interested in shops and then saying, "oh- no, no, that's okay" then carrying on past. It made my shoulders go up a bit, embarrassed.

This was a problem I hadn't thought of. We hadn't encountered it before, even in Okinawa. The shops here were mostly pretty small, crowded inside with wares. It made sense from a selling perspective, but there wouldn't be room inside for me to turn around in a wheelchair. I might get stuck. Blush was filling my cheeks for a different reason. I was resisting feeling ashamed, but it was so hard.

What would it be like in America? I'd never been to the mainland before. There were bound to be small shops like this. Would I be limiting everyone?

"Ahh," Tetsu said suddenly, bringing my wheelchair to a stop. I looked up and jumped, my eyes going wide. How I missed this, I didn't know. Too involved in my thoughts. His hand reached out to a big bear that was towering over us, its face in attack mode. It was a real bear, and next to it was its friend. "Oh, I'd better not touch it," he said to himself, retracting his fingers.

Keitaro came up behind us, followed by Sawai-san and Natsuko. "Oh, you found a good one. I know Hokkaido is famous for bears, but this is something else," he said, his mouth wide as he looked up at it from behind us.

We all were there together, admiring the bears. We stayed for a while, staring at them.

"I wonder where they got these," Keitaro was saying, discussing them with Tetsu. "Must have been hard. Imagine having these in your living room?"

"Scary," Tetsu said, his voice in awe of them. "I'd round the corner at night and scream."

"I bet I could prank Karin with this. Imagine if I brought one home? She'd think I was crazy."

"Anyone would think you were crazy."

They started laughing together. After a while, we continued on. It became more about admiring what was outside of the shops, rather than in them. We waited for Natsuko and Sawai-san a few times as they explored inside shops. Outside one such shop, there were a lot of men's t-shirts on racks. Tetsu and Keitaro glanced through them, absorbed in choosing.

"Oh- this one has the night sky. Wow, it's so pretty..." Tetsu said, admiring a white shirt stylized with a wood block print of the sky. It was obvious that it must be from a local artist, the landscape resembling Hokkaido more than anywhere else. He removed the shirt from the rack, making a clinking sound. Before I knew it, he was pressing the back of it to me, his face so serious.

"Huh? For me?" I asked. It made me pause. I realized I hadn't spoken for much of the afternoon, my voice unfamiliar in my throat.

He nodded, pursing his lips a little in his seriousness. But, he was smiling the next second. "It's a little big. Maybe it would be good for pajamas? What do you think?" He brought it back up to himself, holding it by the hanger and straightening it out with his hand at the bottom, studying it again.

Immediately I got a starry, glittery feeling in my heart. Dazzled and breezy, happiness. Such a lightness. It was so unlike what I'd been feeling all afternoon. All this negativity piling up, being upset that I was preventing us from going into stores.

"I want it, because you chose it." I knew that in my heart. He was trying so hard. We were still having a good time, because he was trying so hard.

His smile met me, that grin I love. He looked at the shirt again, and then at me. "I'll get it," he said, going for my purse, which was hanging from his shoulder. Keitaro came up behind him. He jumped and made a cute noise, his hand going over his mouth as he laughed. Keitaro snatched the shirt away from him.

"I'll get it," he said. "No worries." He admired it himself, holding it now. "Ohh, this is nice. Where did you find this one? Is there more?"

"Yes, there's more. Must be from a local artist. There's no tag, see?" Tetsu's finger went into the neck of the shirt, showing him.

"Ohh, I see. I'll go buy this and then look. What a perfect souvenir."

"Thank you." The smile Tetsu was giving him was warming my heart. So sincere and beautiful. His head was tilted a little bit, demure.

"No worries," Keitaro repeated, smiling himself.

He disappeared into the store, and we were momentarily left alone. The sound of the announcements from up above, the music. The banners from the roof were waving a little, and some shop owners were outside talking about their wares. My hand went into a fist on the skirt of my dress, as I breathed out and tried to steady myself. My other hand drifted up, and went to a familiar place.

"Hm?" Tetsu made a startled noise and looked down at me.

My finger was securely in the loop of his khakis.

I wanted to apologize, from the conflicting feelings inside. I was happier now, but there was still only what I could describe as guilt. But, I didn't want to ruin it with an apology, either. He was happy, despite not being able to go into the shops. He was making the most of it, and I knew that now. I wanted to make the most if it, too, but I wanted to go into shops. I wanted that freedom with him, not being limited to what was outside. It wasn't fair.

I sighed a long breath as his palm met my cheek. The most gentle of touches. He was leaned over, his other hand on his knee. My finger tightened in his belt loop. I felt like a child.

His fingers swept down to my chin, cupping there with the tips. Magically, he drew me in as his lips met mine. My eyes closed, and the only feeling I had was of roses and sweet things. It overloaded what I'd been thinking about just now, just like that.

As we kissed, it tried to make everything go away. These negative things, these sad regrets. As he parted from me, I stared at his large eyes. His eyelashes. Taking him in, these unfamiliar surroundings as a backdrop.

What was I doing? As he smiled again, I could only think of his beauty. How hard he was trying, what he was doing. He was enjoying himself, despite any limitations. I should enjoy myself, too. With him here with me, what was there to be upset about?

"Hmm. I'm a little hungry. Want to go get a snack?" He asked, still so close to my face.

How in the world could I say no? This pretty person in front of me. A small smile was coming out, unable to control myself. I nodded rapidly, willing to go anywhere with him.

"We'll go," he said, eyeing to the side. He stood up fully, taking my finger out of his belt loop and holding it instead, so warm. "It's good to cool down, anyway. I like that we're in shade, but I think we should take a break." He pushed his head forward at the shop's door. "If those shopaholics ever come outside," he said a little louder in mock accusation. My hand went over my mouth, giggling with him. He let out a loud laugh, and I was left admiring that grin that I loved.

He started swinging my hand gently back and forth to the rhythm of the music from up above. He looked up at the ceiling, watching the draperies. I was struck with his beauty again, staring at his profile as his eyes pointed to the ceiling. Adoring everything about him.