That night, after finishing dinner with her parents, Mizuki called Sora. He didn't answer right away, and she wondered if he'd already gone to bed, but he called her back a few minutes later.
She didn't know how to bring up his parents, so she didn't mention it, but she did ask, "When is your birthday Sora?"
"May 15th?" he answered with surprise. Before she even responded he asked a little uncomfortably, "What day was yours?"
"August 22nd," she answered with a grin, and added, "you better mark it down so you don't miss it next year."
"I won't miss it again," he promised.
She didn't want it to sound like the question had been the only reason for her call, so she scrambled to find another topic. The conversation drifted a little sporadically, but she couldn't help smiling about the fact that she was finally allowed to just call him, that they were finally together even when they weren't together.
After they'd talked for a little while, Sora asked, "Can we not talk on the phone too often Mizuki?" She stared at his image on her phone and drew in a sharp breath, while he quickly tried to explain, "Talking like this is making me miss you like crazy." He looked away from the screen and she could see the color that heated his cheeks.
Mizuki's lips parted as she sucked in another deep breath, and tried to calm her heart. He hadn't been objecting because he didn't like talking to her. After a moment she asked, "Do you want to communicate mostly by messages when you're not with me, like we did on the island?"
He covered his face with a hand, instead of simply turning the phone away, and asked, "Would you hate that? I don't want to tell you that you can't call me when we're dating."
After a moment that she was afraid she'd let go on for too long when he dropped his hand to look at her, she admitted, "I love talking to you like this Sora, but I don't want to make you sorry that you've agreed to date me. If messages would make you happier about keeping in contact, we can use them instead."
He just looked at her for a moment, long enough to make her review her words for anything she'd said wrong, but finally he explained reluctantly, "I've never tried to maintain a long distance relationship before. Could we try it for a little while?"
She felt like she must have wheezed as her relief allowed her nervously indrawn breath to escape, but she immediately nodded.
Sora added quickly, "But don't be afraid to tell me if it's making you unhappy Mizuki, I want you to be happy that we're dating too."
Mizuki couldn't help the way she grinned at him suddenly, as she assured him, "I'm really happy that we're dating Sora."
He curled his fingers up in front of his mouth and looked at her for a long minute before telling her a little roughly, "I want you so much right now."
She blushed as she admitted shyly, "Me too." The way his smile escaped the boundaries of his fingers cleared away her embarrassment, even though he looked away from her again. "But if talking like this is making you uncomfortable," she asked hesitantly, "do you want me to say goodnight now?"
"If I tell you what I want right now, you'll either hang up on me anyway, or this will turn into something too intimate for a phone call and that is not what I want," Sora replied in a rush.
Mizuki blushed again as she assured him quickly, "I love you Sora, and I wouldn't hang up on you, but let's just say goodnight for now."
"Goodnight Mizuki," he said quickly before she ended the call.
She wondered guiltily if it counted as hanging up on him anyway, despite saying that she wouldn't, and sat staring at her phone, blushing now and then, for a while after the call was closed.
--
Sora groaned and buried his face in his pillow afterwards and then asked out loud, "Why the hell am I so freaking embarrassed by wanting you so much Mizuki? This is like being thirteen all over again."
--
Sora's grandmother called the next afternoon, within minutes of the end of his shift. Unusually for her, the call was already limited to voice, and she asked directly, "When's the wedding?"
"Whose wedding?" he asked warily. "Takumi got married over a month ago, and you should have gotten an invitation."
"Did he? Sorry I missed it, but I meant yours," she replied rather sharply.
Sora felt his cheeks warm, and was glad it was voice only, as he protested, "We've only just started dating."
His grandmother chuckled. "If you're already talking with her parents, and she's got you thinking about family connections, it won't be very long," she informed him.
"It won't be for years yet, she's only just turned eighteen," he objected.
Haruko went silent for a moment, and then replied finally just as he opened his mouth, "I guess that explains why her parents are already quizzing you."
Sora realized he hadn't told her that he'd moved and said so abruptly, "I moved back right before Takumi got married. We should meet up, it's been ages since I've seen you."
She replied with exasperation, "You could have called before now! Really, sometimes you're the most exasperating grandchild, you don't call for months at a time!"
He pointed out with amusement, "You don't call me very often either."
"I've been busy," she said a little defensively.
He grinned. "So will you take time out of your busy schedule, meet up and then make a day trip with me, so I can introduce you to Mizuki?" he asked.
"I'll come visit when I get back, but it'll be at least another six weeks. I really want to meet her, but I'm in Norway," she replied.
"Norway?" he asked a little incredulously.
Haruko explained what she was doing there and then brought up the subjects he'd left on her voicemail. "I'm not sure how to describe your father's job. He didn't have one, exactly, he owned several companies and spent most of his work time in meetings as far as I could tell."
"Oh?" Sora asked with surprise, "What happened to the companies?"
His grandmother hesitated before asking, "Do you really not remember his other children? Even though I wasn't able to attend, they did their best to keep me informed about your parents funeral arrangements. I'm fairly certain that all of your siblings attended? I know most of them did at least."
He froze in shock for a moment, and then denied it, "There weren't any children besides me and Takumi at the funeral."
After a long moment she replied, "You're the one who told me about how they argued over what to do with you?"
"Those people were all adults and only said they were my father's relatives!" he protested incredulously.
"I'm sorry Sora," she apologized rather sorrowfully. "I always assumed you knew who they were. Although they divided the business assets among themselves, and no one wanted to take responsibility for you, they weren't especially stingy about the amount of money set aside for you. Do you want to meet them again?"
After a moment he ran his hand through his hair and told her more calmly, "It doesn't matter. I don't want to meet them. They knew who I was, and none of them have ever tried to contact me."
They talked a little about other things and then said their goodbyes. Mizuki's first message that night cheered him up more than he expected, and he sent her a silly reply.