Minami looks up at me from her parfait with large, mud green eyes. Even though she's changed a lot, the eyes are exactly like I remember them.

"So, Kinoshita-san," she starts to say. I wince at the formal addressing.

"Hey, what happened to just "Hideyoshi?" I joke.

She looks down, embarrased.

"Boy," I scratch the back of my neck in a nervous gesture, "we have a LOT of wrinkles to iron out."

"Haha, YEAH." The scarlet-haired girl laughs, genuinely so. "Ano...what do you want to know?"

"Well, why did you leave to Germany. It was because of Aki, wasn't it?"

"Believe it or not," she replies, "it actually wasn't, or at least most of it wasn't. Life in Japan was impossible with my grades so low. They skyrocketed when I got back to Munich."

"Yeah, you're the smartie in my heartie. Um, oops." That part wasn't meant to slip out.

She laughs again, closing her eyes and banging her fist on the table. "Oh God...that look on your face just now. The..."I'm SOOO embarrased look" you just gave me, it was hilarious..." she managed to gasp out in between giggles.

"Anyway," she says, straightening up again, "Himeji and Akihisa were meant for each other. It wasn't your fault at all. I guess I couldn't just see it at the time. I'm really sorry. I left without a goodbye." She smiles ruefully.

"Oh, don't worry about it at all." I smile warmly at her and slowly, our faces tilt towards each other.

And then we bump noses.

"Ouch!" "Oof!"

"How about we try again?" And we draw closer. Miraculously, we don't bump noses again and no one interrupts us. It is the perfect, perfect kiss. It feels...right. Like it was, and forgive me for using the cliched term, meant to be.

Just like we are meant to be.

Our marriage is meant to be.

Our two children, twins, with strawberry hair and blue-green eyes like a swimming pool.

And the next one, a baby, who always wears a floppy yellow bow.

And our fiftieth anniversary, where I gift my wife with a ruby ring.

The baby's graduation, where she is hand in hand with the cotton-candy haired sweet son of Himeji and Aki, and the purple-haired, violent boy of Yuuji and Shouko, and the perverted, blue haired, yet mischievous daughter of the pervert and the flirt.

But that is all meant to be, and this is just right now.

Strolling on the moonlit street, with the girl of my dreams hanging off of my arm and holding my hand, I, for the first time, in a long time, am perfectly happy. The only way I can be happy. With Minami by my side.