"Ready to go, Renko ?"

Maribel stood at the door of our apartment, holding it ajar, smiling back at me. I was still struggling with my bag. Backpacks aren't designed for these kinds of clothes.

"In a second, Merry !"

I wasn't used to wearing a kimono, but Maribel had insisted on it, so I made an effort in order to please her.

After all, today was our graduation ceremony.

...

It was a warm, sunny day that greeted us as we left our apartment. The very opposite of that other special day... It felt strange, walking down the same street we traversed every day, yet wearing such flashy attire. I felt an odd sense of pride as we made our way to the bus stop, radiant in our happiness together, turning the heads of some passers-by and I strutted down the street hand in hand. Maribel had only grown more beautiful, more mature-looking, over the last two years, which only made we want to broadcast our relationship even more. Yes, it probably isn't particularly polite. But I don't care. She's mine. A small giggle of joy escaped my lips; today was a special day, and I was enjoying it to the fullest.

It had definitely brightened up my days to be able to do my whole morning commute with her, right from our apartment to the gates of the university. No longer was there the grey, lightless period that lasted from when I woke up until I got to Maribel's stop. Nowadays, I'd wake up to a burst of colour as Maribel roused me from my sleep with a light kiss on my forehead.

We had started sharing an apartment roughly two years ago. Thinking back to it, it seems almost unreal how everything managed to fit into place, bringing us to the present day. Our relationship feels like a blur of happiness, which all started almost by accident.

...

I still remember the day it had started perfectly. It was a freezing cold winter morning, as we took the bus like usual. The warmth of our breaths had misted up the windows of the bus, isolating us as if we were in our own little world. Maribel had snuggled up to me. For the warmth, of course, I had thought. I looked down at her, and saw her lovely little smile as she rested her head against me, her eyes closed.

Then the words escaped from my mouth, as if on their own accord.

"Merry, I love you."

I was just as surprised as her to hear myself say that. I hadn't planned it at all. Of course, I had wanted to say it for a long time, but since when did I actually have the courage to say what I meant ?

After a brief instant of surprise, she smiled.

"I love you too, Renko."

And just like that, it had begun.

...

A few years had passed since then. It had been a little strange at first : we weren't quite sure how we should act after going from friends to lovers. It wasn't like I had any experience at all... In the end, though, nothing changed too dramatically. We still stayed up unto the early hours of the morning, talking about anything and everything. Except now, it was in each other's arms. And the talking was sometimes interrupted by... other things.

We also still took part in outings as the Sealing Club on regular occasions. In fact, they had only gotten more exciting.

This is because of a change that Maribel had revealed to me soon after we started going out.

...

"You know the visions I have when I'm sleeping ?"

"Of course. What about them ?"

"I no longer only have them when I'm sleeping."

...

I had been worried for her at first, worried that she'd end up losing the ability to tell reality from her visions. It could be dangerous. She could hurt herself. She reassured me, though.

"If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that I know you're real, Renko. As long as you're with me, I'll always have something anchoring me to reality."

And so, I became her fixed point of reality, the one thing that never changed, the one thing she could count on. She could always count on me. I'd always protect her, wouldn't I ? I didn't mind my role. Sure, it was worrying, knowing that your girlfriend, looking through the same window on the same bus as you, could be staring into another world, or a whole other era. But whenever she seemed to gaze off into the distance, staring, I'm sure, at something that wasn't there, she'd eventually shake her head, turn towards me, and reward me with a smile.

Her smile made everything worth it.

The bus was almost too hot for us as we were driven down this familiar path for the last time. Usually Maribel would be leaning against me, but with the heat, I didn't object to her staying a bit further apart. I almost miss the cold... As familiar as it was, today, it still felt very different. I felt a certain air of superiority to the students from lower years as they poured in at the various stops along the way.

"See, to them, this is just a normal day. But for us... Merry ?"

Maribel was spacing out again. I called her name a few times before she finally reacted.

"Oh, sorry, Renko... Did you want something ?"

"Just to know if you're all right. Was it her again ?" She nodded.

Soon after telling me about her increase in powers, she told me something else that worried me a fair bit.

"Sometimes, when I'm not really listening to anything in particular, I sort of... tune out, you know ? And that's when it happens. I can't actually hear any words being said, but I feel like... I feel like someone's calling me. Reminding me they're there. Waiting for me."

I didn't know what to say. Even now, I don't really know what to think of it. In a way, with everything she's seen over these last few years, hearing a voice didn't sound too dramatic. Yet it was the insistence with which she said it was called her, the way the voice was filled with purpose as it apparently reminded her that it was waiting, that was what worried me.

...

"Still, nothing has happened yet, right ? And even if someone does come for you, there's no way I'd ever let them take you away !" I had said that half-jokingly, and sure enough, Maribel had laughed. As I said it, though, I had a strange feeling of déjà-vu. Like I had already gone through this before, and that, maybe, it wasn't such a joke after all.

...

Nah, I must just be thinking of that dream I had where we went to Gensokyo together.

...

I wish I remembered it in more detail.