Dancing in the Moonlight with you

Inside the spacecraft named Soaring Kirin, facing a shiny metal panel that acts as a mirror and trying his best not to flinch in pain from the deep wound on his chest, Hiroshi was sewing close the wound with Chiyo patiently and carefully wiping away the smudges of blood on his chest.

"Loose droplet."

"R-Right."

One drop of blood floated out of his wound which Chiyo carefully took from the air using a micro-fiber cloth. After which, she took a syringe and sucked it inside to make sure it won't fly out anymore.

"Can you thread in another surgical needle?"

"I will. Just hold on."

Strapped on a space bed filled with belts and straps that is meant to secure an astronaut's body and limbs, so they won't flail and float around in space, Hiroshi operated on his own self, removing the metal that struck him and closing up any internal injuries that he sustained.

It was already difficult to perform it with his limited resources and tools inside the spacecraft's medical kit and what made it worse is that fact that he is in space and the lack of gravity is making the surgery harder than it should be.

 "A-Are you going to be alright?

"I… I'll be fine. My suit and my sternum stopped the panel from piercing my body and I don't feel like there's anything else damaged in my body… I just need to eat and rest this off."

"If you want, I'll handle the work here."

"No, no. It's fine. There's still some mess left in this ship and since we've become the new target of the nanomachines, our navigations might face some interference and I have to eyeball our trajectory."

"…"

"…Don't be sad like that, I'm not saying that you can't help me. I just don't want you to overexert yourself?"

"A-Are you worried for me?"

"Kind of… Ever since I saw how you acted down there and heard what you want from me, I've been worried that I have been too ungrateful to you and the others."

After tying up the bandages on his chest, with the help of Chiyo, Hiroshi put on his shirt and undid his bindings to head back to the cockpit of the spacecraft.

"Be careful now."

"Right."

Once they both got back to their seats there, Hiroshi noticed an alert on the screen.

"Well, that's reassuring…"

"What?"

"Look there. It seems like our blunder from earlier managed to help out earth a bit."

On the monitor, a constant green blip lighted and sounded from the behind the ship. Given their current trajectory, it came from earth and the rhythmic pattern showed that it was from a machine.

"A-Are they trying to communicate with us?"

"No, they're just tracking us by looking at where the radio broadcasts from the moon is now directed. Given the precision and who can do this… it must be Dori-kun."

"Can we talk with them then?"

"No, the antenna array is useless and we're now the ones constantly being bombarded by radio waves. While we're safe inside the spacecraft, that means that we can't communicate with earth… and we can't send the kill code to the moon either."

"I see… wait, what?!"

"We have no choice than to land there and give the nanomachines the code by ourselves."

The news that they now need to perform a lunar landing shocked Chiyo. After a few moments, she calmed down and thought about it more deeply.

"So… you mean to say that we really need to land on the moon?"

"Yeah. Luckily for us, we haven't detached the second stage rockets yet and just like the first stage rockets, it has several landing legs. There's also our space suits that can be modified for a moon walk."

"And how are we going to modify it? Did you look this far off that you even prepared for that?"

"Hey, we need to prepare for everything once we're up here. Although to be honest, I only thought of this in case of a situation just like what just happened to me where my suit was damaged."

Hiroshi typed the word "Item #3921" on the computer, and it showed which compartment in the cabin contained what he is looking for.

"This is an extra-vehicular mobility suit modifier. We basically have to add it on our suits like another layer of clothing. It is completely smooth, so we don't have to worry about being weighed down by dense moon dust and it won't affect our mobility and flexibility too much. Just follow the instructions on it."

"Alright, leave it to me."

"Mm. Take care, Chiyo."

After looking at where to find it, Chiyo moved out of the cockpit of the spacecraft and went to tend to their suits. For Hiroshi, he ran the diagnostics program across all of the spacecraft's systems and found out that save for the totaled communications array, everything was going well.

"Alrighty then… Time to make the Mirai computer earn its keep of work."

Activating the full power of the supercomputer aboard the ship, Hiroshi made it run a slew of programs and computations to make sure that they are on a good track to orbit and eventually land on the moon.

"Speed is good, and trajectory can be minutely corrected… It's good that there is nothing more here that's a problem."

Slowly, he corrected the bearing of the ship, correcting its trajectory to the computed angle and the speed to which it can orbit the moon to slow down and attempt a landing.

"Only a day and a bit left… then this can finally end."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Back on earth, the main military harbor of Sagiri was buzzing with action reminiscent of the days during the war.

"Load all cargo and supplies! We will be leaving by sunset!"

"Come on, double time! We don't have the luxury of going on a snail's pace!"

Winning over the House of Lords and Commons, as well as most of the senior military officers of Kiko, General Himeji Kotori assembled a naval force whose aim is to permanently cripple the growing European naval power in this side of the world.

"This is madness… I can't believe that they let Operation Tenka get greenlit."

"Hey, at least she didn't force everyone into this. I still have the prefectural defense corps and you still have the entire non-conventional forces."

Inside the office of the prefectural governor, Nobisuke and Takeo were talking to each other as they are watching the ordered commotion down in Sagiri harbor.

"Right… it's only because Ryuusui negotiated his cooperation with his command over the submarine force that Kotori gave up on taking the nuclear launch command from me. I'd have to buy him some premium Akebono red wine or high-quality Suiketsu Sake once he gets back."

"…About that, I still wonder how she won over the assemblies."

"That's because she's giving them answers and results… something that I can't give them anymore now that I am holding the position of an interim Daimyo. When you think about it, I guess this is the reason why Iwasawa-sama kept a lot of secrets from even us. Because he knows the importance of keeping those under him in the dark for things that we are not prepared for."

"You're right about that."

After a series of knocks, a man entered the room that the two immediately recognized before they realized that he is catching his breath.

"T-Tatsu-dono…"

"What happened to you? Why are you out of breath?"

After a few moments of breathing properly, Tatsu gave a sharp jab of news to Nobisuke.

"The Shogunate! The Shogunate just called and they're joining Operation Tenka!"

"W-What?!"

"Kh! Takeo! Lock the door!"

"Y-Yeah…"

Quickly dialing the number to the Shogunate's office, Nobisuke can barely contain his nervousness because of the news. Shortly after, the other side picked up the call.

["I already know why you called, General Shimura."]

"Commander Kawasaki, explain what is happening right now."

["It's simple, General Shimura. We were contacted by General Himeji who asked for our aid in a number of landing operations. Given that she's in command of Operation Tenka, I judged that there is no need to ask nor inform you about this."]

"She might be in command of Operation Tenka, but I am still the commander-in-chief of Kiko's forces! This is a blatant disregard of the chain of command!"

["Haah… I'll face the court martial later if you want to, but we will be going ahead. Also, please do note that the Shogun and his family has nothing to do with this. I am performing this action by my own sole decision and with the forces provided for me. Whatever happens, leave Sora-senpai and his family out of this. Toddle-ooo!"]

"W-wait! You--- Argh!"

In his frustration, Nobisuke threw the cordless telephone to the wall, breaking it to pieces.

"W-What shall we do, Shimura-dono?"

"…I don't know. I don't know anymore… If I stop her, I'll be the enemy of everyone who's fearing for the safety of their family and if I don't, I'll let her damage our reputation in the west more than ever."

For a while, the room was silent until Nobisuke spoke something about a certain order.

"…If things grow out of proportion, we may have to start another civil war."

"W-what?!"

"What do you mean by that, Shimura-dono?"

Nobisuke kept his silence as he looked out of the window before answering the two.

"Hiroshi-sama… he said that in case he cannot come back from the space launch, I have to stop Kotori…"

And his words made the two to shudder in fear.

"…no matter what it takes."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Another day on earth passed and both Hiroshi and Chiyo are preparing to land on the moon.

"Does it feel snug and comfortable?"

"Y-Yes."

"Move your arms and hands. Try to grasp this pen and write on the air."

"O-Okay… I'm ready."

Hiroshi tossed a pen towards Chiyo and even with the thick and slightly rigid suit, she managed to catch it and hold it on her hand properly. She then wrote on the air before tossing back the pen to Hiroshi who caught it in its weightless flight.

"Good. Now, let's test how good it works in the vacuum. Let's-"

"Hold on, Hiro-kun."

Hiroshi was about to float away from Chiyo when she held him by the wrist and stopped him.

"I want to tell you something that I wasn't able to do back down there."

"Ah… w-what is it?"

Hiroshi didn't know if it was simply because of the tinted helmet visor of her suit or she was really flushed a shade darker on her cheeks, but seeing her bashful expression made him blush as well too.

"We're alone here now… no one to overhear anything or make up stories about seeing us together."

"R-Right… that's true."

"Say… can we postpone testing the suits later?"

Knowing what she was trying to say beneath those words, Hiroshi gulped nervously before agreeing to her request.

After taking off the suit and setting it aside along with Hiroshi's new spacesuit, Chiyo and Hiroshi floated back to the main spacecraft where they ate their share of flavorful yet unpleasantly textured space food. This time, it was pizza and pasta, the same food that they once cooked together back in their early days.

"H-hey, do you wanna…?"

"Y-yes. Thanks."

Hiroshi took a bite from Chiyo's forkful of pasta and she looked happy with it. Afterwards, the two exchanged food in a way that would be considered as "indirect kisses".

"What I was talking about earlier… I want to ask it now."

"Okay. I'll answer it as best as I can."

After heaving out a breath, Chiyo finally asked him what it was that she wanted to hear from him.

"I want to know what I truly am to you, Hiro-kun."

"That…"

"Enough of your memories has been returned for you to know what we are in the past world and what brought us back together in the present world… I believe that I can finally get an answer from you after such a long time."

Hiroshi was reminded of the last time that they met prior to his return to Naka castle to propose the creation of the space mission. It was the funeral of Aoyama Takeshi where he came as Iwasawa Hiroshi, the Kirin Lord and the deceased's son-in-law, at least in paper.

"Back then, you asked me the same question and I just said sorry and ran away."

"Yeah, that wasn't very nice of you."

"I know, I'm sorry about doing something selfish like that."

"It wasn't really selfish… I'd say that it was partially my fault too for pressuring you to answer that during a time when you're confused about all kinds of things."

"No. It's my fault. I was pretty clear in the head back then already… I just didn't have the courage to tell you the answer and yet stay away from you."

Hiroshi reached for Chiyo's shoulder and pulled her close to him. He can feel her heart pounding wildly which made his own heart to do the same. However, he kept a straight face, hiding his nervousness.

"To me, you're the only woman that I loved in my past life to the point that I broke my directive to lead a normal life with my family just to save you from that crooked place that you were brought into… While I admit that I did have some dalliances here and there and kept the door open on some romantic prospects once I got here, when I learned about who you are I didn't think twice about who I should end up with anymore."

"Now that you've said that… you did make Kyoko, Mitsuhide and Kotori cry because of it. You should apologize to them on dogeza because of it."

"I-I don't think they'd like to see that from me."

"Right, it wouldn't be Hiro-kun-like, I should say."

Chiyo leaned her head on his chest, finally confirming her suspicion about his racing heartbeat. Once she gave a sly gaze, silently telling him that she caught his bluff, Hiroshi sighed and placed a hand over her head.

"To answer your question about what you are to me, I guess I can say that I want you to be the person whom I would spend the rest of my days with… the one that I would celebrate my greatest victories with, and I can entrust with my deepest weaknesses."

"Hiro…"

Feeling as if it was the right time to say it, Hiroshi opened his mouth to tell her what he truly felt from the bottom of his heart.

"C-Chiyo, I-"

However, the alarm in the cockpit blared loudly and cut their moment abruptly as both of them scrambled to head to their consoles.

"W-What's going on?!"

"We just entered the moon's gravitational field, we're on a decaying orbit and heading to the dark side of the moon."

"Should we reignite the engines?"

"Yeah. We need the secondary engines to correct our course… Ignite the engines, I'll handle the rest."

"Alright… I'll handle watching over the cameras. Let's find the nanomachines!"

Slowly, they readjusted their orbital course to get to safely land on the moon.

"I-I have a question, Hiroshi."

"I know you're keen to hear it because we were interrupted but Chiyo, we're-"

"No, no. This isn't about that… I just want to ask if we can actually land on the moon. If I remember right, we aren't meant to get near into a low orbit with the moon, much less land on it."

"You're right with that. The Soaring Kirin isn't meant to land on the moon. In the first place, we just had to fly by and send the kill code."

"Then how…?"

"Don't worry, I repurposed the second stage to act as a buffer zone by the time we land."

"And by "buffer zone", you mean what, exactly?"

"It's going to expend what little remains of its fuel to slow our descent down and after it's empty, it will crumple like a tin can where a heavy rock was dropped."

"Is that safe?"

"It's the safest way to land right now… our other alternatives are a belly-first crash landing which would end up having us stranded here, and having one of us drop down to the surface by riding the second stage which would end up with only one of us getting home."

"T-Then…"

"You get it now, do you? I have no plans on dying here or living a life without you… Be it the deep sea or high hell, I don't plan on letting you go anymore."

Hiroshi grasped Chiyo's hand as he took manual override of the ship's controls and slowly brought the spacecraft to a circular orbit around the moon.

"I'll slow us down enough so you can see the surface on the screen. Take note of whether they've assembled into one place, or they're spread around."

"Got it… I'll take care of it."

It took them six hours to get into an orbit where they can land safely and two more hours to reorient the vessel so that the second stage would be the first to make contact and act as the landing buffer.

"Alright… It's now or never, Chiyo. Are you ready?"

"…Mm. Let's do this."

Hiroshi pressed a series of buttons and strapped his seatbelts tight afterwards. Once the computer has processed his commands, the spaceship once again rumbled as it entered the outer rung of the moon's gravitational pull.

"Refiring engines! On three! Two! One! Khh-!"

This was followed by the engine restarting and rumbling the interior of the spaceship.

"Thirty thousand meters! …Twenty! Fifteen!"

"We're slowing down enough!"

Slowly, the ship began to descend in both speed and altitude on the surface of the moon. The spacecraft creaked and screeched in all kinds of corners, creating a series of echoing noises that continued until the sight of the lunar surface was within sight.

"B-Brace for impact!"

As soon as he shouted that, the lights in the cockpit turned off as the deafening noise of crumpling metal and small explosions sounded and even if they tried to keep it in, both Hiroshi and Chiyo muttered whimpers and prayers, wishing that Hiroshi's calculations are correct, and they can survive.

"I-Is it over?"

"…Let me reboot everything first so we can be sure."

Hiroshi switched on the computer, and it lit up responsively. After a few minutes, the results of the diagnostic scan were complete and it showed that the landing was successful although it did render the entire second stage rockets unusable.

"Is the main spacecraft alright?"

"…Yeah. The upper fairing section is not damaged so we can just unlatch off it and launch out later on.

"Haah… thank goodness, we managed to survive from that."

"Yeah. It's quite the miracle, I should say."

Hiroshi and Chiyo, who finally managed to land on the moon, took out a few objects that they made during their free time in the past few days.

"This… this, and this…"

For Hiroshi, it was a few improvised scientific instruments that he scrounged and repurposed to be of help to the furthering of the study of celestial bodies. The smallest among the three things was a small solar-powered radio beacon that is pointed to earth and can be used to predict natural events affected by lunar activity. The second object was a camera that he repurposed from the spare parts of the surveillance array and connected the radio beacon to transmit pictures from the moon and back to earth. Lastly, there is a shiny metal plate 2 meters in diameter that will be pointed towards earth, this is for the future when the first two items are no longer operational and measuring the distance of the moon can be done by pointing high-precision lasers from earth to this dish.

For Chiyo, it is simple yet meaningful things. First, there are three flags that she sewed from cloth that were either used to package or line fragile equipment. These flags are the Kirin Lord's Banner, the flag of the Southern Quartet Alliance and the flag of Japan. Next, there is a metal medallion where she etched her and Hiroshi's names as well as the date today when they landed. Lastly, there was a metal bottle where she placed a letter that she'll leave for the next people who would be landing on the moon in the far future.

"Alright… this is it, Chiyo. Are you ready?"

"Mm. Let's do this."

After suiting up, taking the necessary equipment and confirming where the nanomachines are located, Hiroshi and Chiyo opened the door leading out of their spacecraft and saw the white, dusty expanse of the lunar surface.

"Wooow…"

"Even I can't believe that we're here now…"

After taking in the breathtaking view, the two held the others' hands as they hopped off together down to the surface, an arrangement they agreed on so that both of them can claim the first step on the moon in this new world.

"Look Hiroshi! It's so fun here!"

"Hey! Be careful, will you? You may end up flying out."

"What are you talking about? Come on and let's enjoy this for a while!"

"H-Hey!"

Chiyo grabbed Hiroshi by the arm and both of them floated above the moon's surface, doing somersaults and even holding each other as if dancing gracefully as they floated out and about just above the surface.

Soon, they had their fill of fun and Hiroshi insisted that they continue with their work.

"Let's set up our stuff first before we head to Serenity."

"Mm. I'll take this spot here since you need that area where earth can always be seen."

While Hiroshi was installing the scientific equipment, Chiyo raised the three flags as well as leaving on the ground the two other objects she brought out. After which, Hiroshi collected a sack of moon dust weighing 10 kilograms while Chiyo took an equal weigh of moon rocks, both of which they would be bringing back for research purposes.

"Is it secured there now?"

"Yep. It's nice that gravity isn't that strong or else, I could never have lifted both sacks back to the craft. In any case, should we head to Serenity now?"

"U-huh! I'm ready."

Hopping across the lunar surface side-by-side, the two headed for the Sea of Serenity, an area on the moon where they detected the most concentrated radio transmissions.

"It's not just the Serenity where the nanomachines are concentrated, I pored over the radiographs for a few nights and saw that all of them seem to be located in the other seas and canyons… as if they're avoiding sticking out on the surface."

"Hmm… Perhaps they are trying to avoid radiation from the sun?"

"That's a good theory. Given that they've been here for so long, they must've made that decision for the sake of self-preservation."

After a few minutes, they arrived at the Sea of Serenity where they went down through a shallow slope to the bottom of the area that is stained by a moving sea of black mass.

"H-Hiro-kun…"

"Right… it's them."

Taking the lead, Hiroshi took a step into the sea of moving nanomachines that parted away from where he landed his foot.

"Come on, it seems safe."

Hand in hand, the two stepped deeper into the place where the nanomachines crawled out from every nook and cranny like a sea of conscious ink. Although the nanomachines gave way to them and didn't reclaim the trail they left, the two are still nervous.

["Vi-"]

"Hm? Did you say something, Chi-chan?"

"Huh? N-No, I didn't say anything at all."

"Then who-"

["It is us, Visitor human."]

"!"

Surprised with the reply he received from the radio, Hiroshi turned around and saw that the nanomachines has formed a humanoid figure whose face was very similar to his'.

In fact, it was uncannily similar.

"Y-You are…"

["My name… No, our name is P-093-KLEW-12/90-64&51… But if it would make our interactions easier, you may call as simply as "Pandora". A name that was given to us by a certain someone from the very distant past.]

"A certain someone…"

Hiroshi wondered who this "certain someone" could be and given the location and the fact that these nanomachines was sent here before he was even born in the past world before the beginning of the third world war, there was only one person who entered his mind.

"If I may ask… is this someone that you speak of named… Rai?"

["You have judged correctly. It is indeed that person. He came here eons ago… just before the world of yore was destroyed and was reborn to what it is now."]

The figure walked around Hiroshi and Chiyo without breaking eye contact with them as if wanting to both size them up and intimidate them.

["If we may ask, are you the representatives of the new world? The ones we were instructed to wait for?"]

"Representatives?"

["The individual we spoke about came to us back then and removed the limitations of our programming… and instead of having us split apart by the nationalities of the countries that sent us here to preserve their memories, contributions and ideals, united us under one hive mind that we may assist each other in the very long time that we have to endure whilst waiting for your arrival."]

The nanomachines around Hiroshi and Chiyo extended a hand-shaped appendage and after Chiyo extended her hand, the nanomachines poured out black grains that landed on her hand before dissipating away.

"Just… how long have you been waiting for us?"

["Millions… perhaps hundreds of millions of years… While the universe around this new earth remained locked in stasis until mankind returned to tread the surface of their planet, we were never given such a luxury. We remained here, surviving off the solar power that the panels that came with us gave… and when that method has expired, we turned to synthesizing energy using the chemical reactions of moondust and the other elements present in the moon's surface… and yet, we were never able to thrive, and can barely survive."]

"And yet, you still endured."

["Indeed."]

From behind the figure, a massive wave of nanomachines came out like a rushing tidal wave but stopped all of sudden before climbing up the cliffs around them and forming tall, black pillars.

["When we gained consciousness and were united into one hive mind, we were an innumerable mass that if we willed it, could cover the surface of the moon… now, we're still a venerable ten million, yet we have lost so many kindred as well as the data they have carried."]

"Is that the reason why you have begun to bombard earth with radio waves?"

["Correct… Sensing that we may end up failing our task, we continued the directive we were given by our original nations, but now, back to earth which was the only place where we have detected signs of life and radio waves."]

"And now, we are here."

["Right, you have arrived to relieve us of our prime directive."]

Hiroshi took out the glass diskette where the kill code was etched onto by Dori the AI. The robot said that even if there are definitely better methods to store the kill code, the possibility of solar radiation piercing that digital storage and rendering it useless is a vulnerability that it didn't want to risk with. Thus, it etched the kill code into a glass diskette record.

["T-This is…"]

"I'm sorry. A whole lot of things happened between our launch and our trip towards here. This is what remains of that kill code."

Hiroshi apologized after handing the diskette to the nanomachine that brought it closer to the figure.

["No, no. This is understandable. We can definitely use this somehow."]

The figure pointed for the tall pillars to take the diskette and form something out of their bodies that can read and use the data implanted on it.

["Now that we have completed our directive and you have given us our long-awaited cessation of operation, I believe it's only proper that we hand mankind back everything that they have entrusted us in the past world."]

The figure directed its fellow nanomachines to hand something to Chiyo who took it and was surprised with what she saw.

"T-This is…"

["A special storage drive where we have stored everything that we believe mankind can use to further its technological and cultural prowess…]

"And you judged what would be good for mankind… how?"

["We removed every trace of ideals and means for warfare from these data. It is simply a collection of data and knowledge of mankind… knowing what happened in your world, we made it a point to not hand you any more means to repeat the tragedy that happened in your previous world."]

Hearing that, Hiroshi seemed unsettled yet understood what it meant to these machines who even after being given consciousness and freedom, still chose to await the end that was promised for them.

["Songs, poems, books, knowledge and proverbs… all that it contains are things such as that which bear our wishes for mankind to never continue down the same path that ended your race before. Can you two promise us that you would tell humanity these words?"]

"…I cannot. One day, the two of us will disappear and we don't know if our descendants would bear our will and understand things the way we do."

Hearing Hiroshi's reply, the nanomachine figure seemed disappointed with his unfortunate yet truthful reply.

"But we can try… we will tell your story… how you endured for the sake of giving back to us the message from the past world, and your wish for mankind to not destroy itself anymore."

As the other nanomachines shook and fell down one by one like dark grains of sand, the figure showed a slight smile before uttering the last words of the entire cluster.

["Thank you, friend of the Challenger. May his wishes and ours be fulfilled by your own hands."]

And with that, the figure crumbled and fell down to the ground into a pile of dark dust, ending the directive and thus, the "lives" of these machines who has awaited it for so long.

"Hiro-kun…"

"It's finished now… we've done it."

Hiroshi took Chiyo's hand and grasped it tightly, and even though they were wearing thick gloves, Chiyo felt his hold to be warm.

"I get it now…"

"What?"

"What Rai-kun wanted me to do and how he wanted me to live…"

As the two hopped back to their spaceship, there was silence and yet, Chiyo sensed that after that conversation, Hiroshi no longer seem burdened anymore.

"Hiro-kun. We still have some oxygen left, so do you mind staying here for a while longer?"

"…Alright."

At a shallow crater near their landing site, Chiyo and Hiroshi sat down side by side and watched the earth above.

"Years ago, we would be doing this while watching the moon… and now, we're watching earth."

"Quite the reversal, isn't it?"

"Hehehe~! Yes… yes, it is."

Chiyo leaned her head on Hiroshi's shoulder as they continued to watch the earth and the stars above. They were silent but they didn't need words to tell what they want to say to the other.

"Say, Chi-chan…"

"Yeah?"

"Once we get back, let's make it official."

"H-Huh?"

"For the past four years, we are only legally married on paper which let you take over my work."

Hearing those words, Chiyo can't help but have tears of joy form around her eyes.

"So I was thinking that once we get back to earth, let's make it official. Y'know, let's invite everyone and throw a party that would go down in history."

"I-Idiot…"

"H-Huh…?"

After hearing her reply from the radio, Hiroshi panicked and looked at Chiyo who was covering her helmet visor using her hands.

"C-Chiyo… w-what was-"

"If you're going to say something like that, you should've done it when we're inside the spaceship! How am I supposed to express my joy when we're wearing these suits!"

"S-Sorry…"

"Muu! Idiot!"

Although she was expressing her disappointment, Chiyo was shedding tears of joy that due to the moon's lower gravity, was stuck in her helmet and is starting to get stuck on the visor.

"Let's get in now."

"Mm… let's get in so I can get back at you."

"Ah-hehehe…"

And so, the couple launched out from the moon to their return trip back to earth.