I rested my hand on his gently. We were sitting on his couch together, like usual, Yuu's TV playing some soap that neither of us were really paying attention to. Our cleaned off plates sat on the coffee table. Mine with scattered pieces of rice, Yuu's completely cleaned off just the way he liked it. Yep, Yuu was one of a kind all right. He was perfect, and I was… a mess. I took another sip of the wine in my left hand.
"You ought to be careful with that," Yuu looked at me, a kind look crossing into his beautiful amber eyes. "You know you have a tendency to drink a little too much."
I did my best to smile at him. "Please, this is my first glass," I lied. I kept my eyes glued to the screen. I had to ask him, I just didn't know how.
Yuu put two fingers on the side of my cheek and turned my face towards his gently. He was always so gentle. "Yukari-chan, something's wrong." He stared into my eyes, and I suddenly felt like I was a child caught stealing from the cookie jar. He always knew when something was upsetting me.
I turned my glance away from him and down. He had on a pale-blue button-up shirt and long tan-khaki pants. I loved the color on him, but I'd never tell him. In fact, there were a lot of things I didn't want to tell Yuu. Like about Easter's job offer. Yuu was always the innocent and positive one, the person that could always cheer me up with his gentle kindness. Somehow, bringing him into the world of Easter seemed… wrong. Almost corrupting. Like getting a beautiful pure-white vase dirty. I couldn't do it.
And yet… did I want to marry a teacher? A man that could only afford this small apartment? No. If he joined Easter, and helped me attain the embryo, we could have enough money to live happily together forever. Right? I took a breath and spoke.
"Sorry, I'm just worrying about things," Honestly, Yukari. He hasn't even proposed. We might not even get married.
But… if he didn't propose… could I handle spending my entire life without him?
Suddenly, Yuu pressed his lips gently against mine, and then pulled back tenderly. "'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, and that's why they call it the present.'" He smiled his beautiful smile, satisfied with his usage of the saying. "Do you like quotes, Yukari?"
I smiled in spite of myself. "When they come from your lips," I reached up and kissed his lips gently. Yuu smiled at me.
"I love you. You can tell me anything that's going on, right?" He searched my eyes again, and I knew I couldn't keep it from him forever.
I nodded. "Well, it's kind of complicated."
Yuu looked at me encouragingly. "Hey, I'm a teacher, right? With a full-on teaching license. I can handle complicated." He grinned at his own cleverness.
I smiled. He was always so positive. "Well… remember what you told me about you being able to see the heart's egg of a child going through an intense emotion?"
Yuu's smile flattened out, and his eyes lost their grin, but he nodded me on. Yuu had always been sensitive about anything that had to do with hearts' eggs. I had never asked him why. It had always seemed to be none of my business.
"Well, I told one of my coworkers at Easter, and they seemed kind of interested," Without Yuu's smile across his face, I almost felt fearful. What if he hated the idea, and hated me for bringing it up? But I took a breath and continued. "They seemed… interested. I think they want you to come work for them."
"Work at Easter?" His tone was neither confident nor condemning. Just curious.
"Yeah. See, you've heard of the Embryo Theory, right?" I felt his grip on my hand lessen.
"You told me about it, Yukari," He didn't sound upset, but the way he didn't put a sweet tone on my name saddened me. Of course I told him about it. Why didn't I remember?
I continued. "Yes. Well, they think that if you drew out the heart's egg of a powerful child, such as a prodigy with a big dream, and turned it into an X-egg, that it could become the embryo." Yuu was quiet for a moment.
"Wouldn't that destroy the egg?" For once, he refused to make eye contact with me.
I tightened my grip on his hand without thinking about it. "Well, I suppose so…" I didn't want to admit that I did this every day with Hoshina Utau. He didn't need to know… yet.
Suddenly the look in his eyes hardened. "Hearts eggs are a waste of time." His voice was suddenly deep, with a strange monotone added to it. I was strange. I had never seen Yuu speak like this. I suddenly felt like I had crossed into forbidden territory, but he continued. "Destroying them makes the child devote their life to the pursuit of becoming a beneficial member of society, instead of chasing after foolish dreams that can never be achieved." He paused and took a breath, and the stone-cold look in his eyes disappeared. For a moment, I had almost felt fear towards this man that I loved so much. But… why was he acting so different now?
When Yuu turned back towards me and looked into my eyes, his kind and gentle side had come back over him as he spoke to me. "Do you want me to take the job?"
I paused. Of course I did. All I wanted was for Yuu to work beside me and make as much money as I did. Everything would be better if he came to Easter. But if just thinking about hearts' eggs made him act like this, what would happen if he got a job all about hearts' eggs?
I responded quietly. "Yes."
Yuu grabbed the remote and shut off the TV. "It is the end of the school year, so I suppose if I was going to switch to a better paying job, it would be now. I suppose I'd make more money working for Easter, but…" He paused, and then let out a breath. "Well, I'll think about it, Yukari-chan."
I frowned and picked up the bottle of wine. Yuu reached out and lowered my arm. "That's enough now."
I frowned, but nodded. Yuu reached his arms around me and pulled me into a soft kiss. I felt my skin tingle as locks of his curly caramel hair fell against my face. I reached my arms around him and let him stroke my hair gently and lovingly. I was so in love with this man, and I knew he cared for me more than anyone had ever cared for me before. I never wanted to lose Yuu, my beacon of light. Though what I didn't realize was that today, I began pulling him into my dark world.