We are free at any time as well, this won't work, one of us should set a date for it.

[Laughing, otherwise they are going to end being "whenever is fine with me" forever.]

It was an absolute success indeed and I got to spend New Year with my lovely girlfriend. She was the prettiest as we watched fireworks together. She even said she wouldn't mind taking in my last name if it ever came to that!

[He pulled out all the stops so much that there's already a bit of marriage talk, aren't you proud?]

Sounds good with me. Let's see how we manage this weekened and if something happens push it to the next one. From experience new feathers will probably keep arriving during the whole month so it's not as if we can expect them to be done after a set date.

In fact maaaybe things will be manageable enough this weekend and get crazier next weekend. Sometimes it's not really at the start of the month when they start popping around for real.

[As funny as the idea is, it's as if it takes time to get them into the enclosure. Who knows, maybe the Malnosso pick them up and then perform tests and what not to see if they are acceptable for the enclosure?]

Well, it's not always that easy, is it? I mean, she could have played hard to get or something. Or as I said I could have not been the right one for her? That can happen I suppose... Though after I told her even if she had rejected me I would have known she was lying, it was all in her eyes at that moment, the prettiest blue eyes I've ever seen.

[Laughing a bit. He's a happy man.]

I remember we have even got some New Feathers even when the new cycle is about to start... At least now it's easier on things, before we got new people in constantly, basically every month. Now it's harder for that to happen, most of them come bimonthly.

[Except for a few strays as he mentioned.]

I'm glad, I'm really glad. Though in some sense there has been a chase indeed, it's just that I may have bulldozed my way through it. So either she gave in or punched me in the face, fortunately it wasn't the later.

[Sheepish laugh here.]

Have you got used to feel that way with Gracia-san?

[If he calls them both "Hughes-san" it would be confusing after all.]

Probably for the same reason the experiments seem to fall on the last days of the month. At least they generally have enough common sense to not let experiments last long enough to catch on New Feathers unless it's some of those "late to the party" ones. It would be awful, specially when it's experiments that affect our memories and such.

[Like that experiment in which they all thought they were from Luceti since always. In fact the Malnosso had made a comment about how they had at first thought of letting it last longer and affect New Feathers, or something, hadn't they?]

Really? I had thought you would say something like "actually I'm still falling in love with her everyday", though I suppose that with the experience you have there's nothing you both don't know of the other that could cause that... How long have you two been married if you don't mind me asking?

The last one wasn't too bad, at least for me. Though it had me start smoking and my best friend got angry with me for it.

[He sighs, he gets Minato's concern but really, with how long they have been there why can't he just let things be and complain and such once the experiment ends if he keeps doing it? But no, the moment there's an experiment and they notice it it has to be stopped and has no value or worth or anything at all.]

Five years, huh? Sounds like a good number, how long did you wait before having Elicia-chan?

[He knows how old Elicia was when she arrived, but he doesn't know how long it had been since Hughed died for her and he certainly doesn't want to ask about that in that way.]

It wasn't, but it had good things too. It gave me the push I needed to stop sitting on my hands and start to woo Ange. Before that I was busy trying to ignore it and doubting myself.

[But the horoscope made him "follow his heart", which is also why his feelings didn't change once the experiment was over. Something to be thankful for, he guesses.]

I see... Actually I almost expected you to say just one, but I guess that it's also good to enjoy some time with just your wife and yourself before adding people to the house. Things change a lot with kids, don't they?

[It makes him wonder how would his parents be if he's not around... But thinking that brings also bad memories and thoughts so he quickly pushes those away.]

You're the type of guy that if given the chance would have had at least four kids before being happy with it.

[He chuckles at the memory.]

Getting the best out of what you are given... If we don't do that living here will be even worse than it is. Like worrying about people being sent back, it's horrible and it happens... Pretty often too, but it's not different from living in a country with a high death rate. Except that we actually can have hope to see them again, even if they don't remember us.

[Even if it hurts. He wonders, though, if it's better than not seeing them ever again once they leave. Hope can be a great thing, but it can also lock people in a position they can't get away from and only causes them more pain.

He smiles a bit, chuckling even at the comment, though it's a sad one.]

And when they got older and got their own wives and husbands and children, the house would get full of even more kids. And for family dinners you would have to book a whole restaurant just for your family. And when going around the street people would be calling strangers Hughes, because with how many there would be chances are they would be a member of the family. The Hughes clan.

[He can't help to chuckle again at the image.]

It's not the same... But I think your house is now quite full, isn't it?

[He has learned and matured a lot in Luceti, more than he already had in Hinamizawa. And it was people like Hughes who taught him those things directly or not.]

But nothing is ever permanent, is it? There are people who can claim to have more chances to have a full live, but there are many others who can't. Not even age matters, you can be an old policeman about to retire in a matter of months and still die, by natural causes or by being murdered. But even with a seemingly peaceful lifestyle there's no warranty. You can be just a small kid that gets murdered by a psycho before you get even your first crush.

At least... Things not being permanent also affects bad things. Nothing bad lasts eternally.

[At least not most of the things.

Keiichi smiles again, right, that's Hughes for sure. Even if he shouldn't be surprised or take notice of it, he still does. Maybe he still hasn't got over it after all and is afraid of suddenly finding out that there's something different, as tiny as it may be... Or maybe it's because, even if he doesn't want to, if the girls from his world came here he would have to be ready for something to be different between them.]

That's right. It doesn't really matter if there are blood ties, families are more than that. If a kid loses both his parents and gets adopted by a couple of loving parents, they will still be a family. So even if you won't have more kids of your own, I'm sure the Hughes clan can still spread. Everyone who knows you three loves you, after all. If you presented Elicia-chan for Luceti president she would win without sweating!

[He laughs a bit, quietly, but it dies soon. He wouldn't mind having him in his family? Hughes has no idea how happy those words make him, just as when he once asked if he could call him dad. But that was basically in another life, it's not fair to push things, is it? Even if he wants to.]

You barely know me. Even if I know you, isn't it soon to think something like that?

[Keiichi smiles again, he has a point, he seems to be good with that from what he has seen.]

Thanks, Hughes-san. It means a lot to me.