"It was deliberate." She explained as they made their way down to the street, "I had it done when I moved in, and that's partly why I chose such a small place. The only disadvantage is that I lost access to all the lower cupboard s.p.a.ces, but raising the floor puts everything else within easy reach and makes it so I don't have to use the chair except to go outside."

The limousine pulled into the same s.p.a.ce that the laundry truck usually used, and the driver hopped out with a worried expression, but s.h.i.+nichi waved him off and he only held the door for them as s.h.i.+nichi lifted her out of her chair for the first time. Danika tried not to laugh when he wobbled.

She knew that she was heavier than he'd expected. But he was careful with her and neither dropped her, nor banged her head against the opening or the roof inside the car. She was surprised again when he located the subtly hidden seatbelts and fastened hers theatrically. She wasn't sure why he made such a production out of it, but she thought that on her own, she might have a.s.sumed that the limo didn't have seatbelts.

By the time they were seated at the restaurant, a more accessible but even fancier place than her aunt had chosen, Danika had realized that s.h.i.+nichi was obviously trying to show off for her. It didn't annoy her though, it just made the famous pop star who made their server's eyes widen, seem like an ordinary guy. She found it amusing and rea.s.suring.

The things he did without thinking much about them told her more about him than his attempts to show off though. The way he'd known where to find the seatbelts in the limo, the way that even though he didn't pretend that he could read the menu at the restaurant any better than she could, he asked about the descriptions of ones he thought were interesting as though it was a matter of course. All those little details showed that he really was familiar with such environments and made her aware that his career was a real thing, even more than the whispers and avid gazes of the other people in the restaurant who recognized him.

But she could tell that at some point someone had told him, "Use the silverware from the outside edge and work your way in," because while he didn't follow that advice strictly, he obviously didn't understand the a.s.signed purpose of some of his eating implements. She didn't laugh at him or make any attempt to explain them though. The bent b.u.t.ter knife beside her own plate made her feel nostalgic about breakfasts as a child at her grandparents place halfway across the world.

They talked lightly of the foods they liked, and their favorite colors, and when their birthdays were. After awhile Danika asked s.h.i.+nichi teasingly, "Is this the dinner where we're going to talk about why Shrubbery's mother's VR-medi pod was sent from Aichi s.h.i.+nichi instead of Kobayas.h.i.+ s.h.i.+nichi?"

"Sure," he agreed cheerfully, "I don't mind telling my girlfriend about my complicated finances and future prospects."

She wrinkled her nose at him and complained, "That sounds like the girlfriend could be anybody."

s.h.i.+nichi winced and said firmly, "I don't mind telling you Danika. It is a little complicated though."

"It's ok, we have time?" Danika replied quickly.

"So, I already told you a little about how Underneath started when I was 17?" he said questioningly, and she nodded. "And how my dad almost refused to let me sign, and we fought. But once he agreed to it, he really pulled strings to get our new contract adjusted to something more reasonable."

Danika wasn't certain how the details of Underneath's first professional contract related to the VR-medi pod at first, but it explained Saaki's comment about how they were going to be rich in the future, as s.h.i.+nichi told her, "We each get a small personal allowance. And we did really well for the five years we had under the contract, so the invested amount is enough to say that we're rich, but it won't start paying anything out until I'm 27. And our new contract won't pay anything until the end of the year so I had to put it through as a professional expense."

She questioned, "How is Shrubbery's mom getting counted as a professional expense? Do you advertise it as a charitable donation?"

s.h.i.+nichi shook his head and explained, "I got them to count the VR system as a piece of musical equipment. It's not totally a lie," he added quickly, "and I can use the VR system I got in exchange that way. There are already VR studios where you can use any instrument you can think of and even have them play themselves according to the score you write!"

Danika chuckled and asked, "If you guys start doing VR concerts does that mean they'll get you each a full VR system?"

He shrugged. "That's not too likely. The few VR concerts I've heard of, they used scanning systems on a real performance, like the way they scanned us when they created our avatars for the games. Publis.h.i.+ng to VR basically, instead of playing from within it."

They discussed the possibility of concerts within "Living Jade Empire", and Danika told him about the library she'd visited.

"Players can actually publish books within the game," she said with amazement.

s.h.i.+nichi laughed and pointed out, "The internet is full of webnovels, so what's so amazing about that?"

She waved her hands helplessly and replied, "I don't know how to explain it, but sometime you have to visit the library in the human capital."

He winked at her and said, "I've already got a library card. It's a valuable resource for an a.s.sa.s.sin who travels the entire Empire. I agree that it's cool, but I don't quite understand why you're so excited about it?"

When she pouted at him, he laughed.

He asked her more about her new job, and she asked more about what his band did. She learned that concerts and recordings were actually only a very small part of their schedules. He explained that activities, interviews, and events that increased Underneath's publicity took up most of their schedules. Except when they were on a concert tour, and then they did a concert almost every day, and sometimes more than one a day.

The serious subjects were interspersed with delicious foods and silly topics, like the most ridiculous half races they could imagine for ZipZing to collect essence materials from.

--

When s.h.i.+nichi returned Danika to her apartment a few hours later, he crawled onto the raised floor beside her, looked around her room again, and said ruefully, "This is actually a lot more complicated than I thought."

She froze. The whole evening had felt enchanting, but his words brought everything to a halt, and she took a deep breath and said, "You don't have to force yourself if it's too much."

He turned back to her and said firmly, "Stop that. You are way too cute and oblivious you know? You obviously have no idea what I'm talking about."

She protested, "I am not! What am I supposed to think when you suddenly say that this is complicated?"

He placed his hand on the floor beside her hip and leaned in close, and kissed the tip of her nose. It was the same and yet completely different from when he kissed ZipZing on the nose in VR. Her heart rate skyrocketed again.

"You thought I meant because you can't walk," he pointed out dryly.

She couldn't do anything but shrug. He kissed her on the mouth. And then he pulled back and grinned wryly at her. She wasn't sure what to make of his expression.

"You aren't limited by that. You let me carry you tonight like it was a gift. You didn't need me to," he told her quietly.

She stared at him with a puzzled expression. "Then what do you mean?" she asked finally.

He glanced around her room again and asked, "Can you make room for me in your life? You have everything set up so that you're comfortable and independent."

Danika glanced around and then asked hesitantly, "Are you asking me to get a bigger place?"

He grinned at her and reached out like he was going to pinch her cheek, but he stroked it instead. "Well, it's true that I was a little taken aback by the fact that there's not even a couch or a bed," he said with amus.e.m.e.nt, "but no." He asked seriously, "I mean, will it be ok if I make your life difficult?"

"You mean because we're dating and you're famous and everyone will stare at us like they did at the restaurant?" she questioned dryly.

"Well," he agreed, "there's that too. But I just meant in general?" He withdrew from her and lowered his feet back onto the floor at the bottom of her entryway and stood.

Looking up into his face was such a familiar feeling, but she wondered if it was strange to him, since she was usually a cute little dragon when she was looking at him like this. "What if I'm the one who makes your life more complicated?" she questioned.

He was so tall too, but he leaned forward when she scooted to the edge and reached up to him. She slid her hands over his shoulders and he grinned as he leaned closer. "Are you going to invite me to stay over?" he asked teasingly.

"No!" she replied swiftly.

"But I'd love to deal with the complications of staying over until breakfast," he teased.

"Ais.h.i.+n," she began, and then blushed and corrected herself quickly, "s.h.i.+nichi. I really like you. I won't stop liking you just because real life is complicated?"

He froze and she could see his pulse jump in his throat again. "Me too," he replied seriously after a moment.

She was certain that her wings would have been scarlet if they'd been playing. She only pulled on his shoulders very lightly but he bent and kissed her again with an almost instant response.

"We'll have breakfast together someday, but not right after our first date?" she suggested questioningly.

"Definitely," he agreed quietly.

He examined her face intently, like he was looking for something, and she felt like he could probably see how her own heartbeat felt like it was shaking her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, but he just smiled at her affectionately, and kissed her again before he left.

She sat there for a long time, grinning at the blank surface of her own door.