With you Forever (3)

Lovers' Bridge stretched across a shallow stream, a spot famous for couples. It was where they came to snap pictures and attach locks or paper to the railings. These locks, clinging to the metal, were supposed to be symbols of commitment. The view wasn't bad either — rolling hills surrounded the town, making the place feel like something out of a postcard.

But it was a bit too much. Yasushi and Jingliu had never been here before, and it felt blown out of proportion. The bridge wasn't even that far away — it only took them a few minutes to reach it. They strolled along, passing couples who were taking their time, soaking up the scenery. Most of them were slow-walking, arm in arm, savoring the peaceful vibe.

Yasushi and Jingliu, though, weren't looking to linger around. They had a day to make the most of, and they didn't want to waste any more of it. The bridge came into view, and a few pairs were already there, locked in each other's arms, all that lovey-dovey stuff.

"This is starting to feel like one of those movie scenes," Yasushi muttered, shaking his head, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

Jingliu gave a small laugh beside him. "Yeah, I know. But some girls are into all this cheesy stuff. C'mon, let's just do it." She tugged at his arm, pulling him forward towards the bridge.

He let her lead him, their steps slowing as they neared the bridge. Yasushi noticed Jingliu pulling something from her bag — two sheets of paper, two pens. She handed him one of each, not saying much beyond, "Write something and put it on the railing."

Yasushi stared at the blank paper for a while, unsure. The hell was he supposed to write? He had never been one for sappy words. But after a moment, he figured he'd just write what was in his head. It didn't need to be fancy or dramatic. Just real.

"I want to stay with her forever, along with my friends and everyone else I care about," he scribbled down. It wasn't deep or poetic, but it felt right. Standing there, surrounded by that view and the soft sounds of the water below, he didn't need anything else. The words matched how he felt — simple but true.

When he was done, he glanced at Jingliu. She hadn't moved much, still staring at her own paper like she was trying to figure it out. After a couple of minutes, she finally seemed to know what she wanted, quickly jotting down her own thoughts.

Once her pen stopped, they folded their papers together, walking to the railing. Without a word, they attached their notes, side by side.

"What did you put down?" Yasushi asked, looking at Jingliu.

She held her hands in front of her face, hiding behind her gloves for a moment, then closed her eyes and smiled. "It's a secret," she said. "Unless you feel like telling me what you wrote."

Yasushi tilted his head, glancing at the view stretched out before them. His eyes shifted back to her. "I'll tell you later, before we head home. Feels like it'll fit better then."

Jingliu nodded quickly, not pushing for more. They lingered by the railing, both quiet, just letting the moment sit between them. The cold breeze drifted through every now and then, cutting through the silence. They didn't say much after that, just stayed there, side by side, soaking in the view and the chill in the air. The minutes stretched on, unhurried, as they both seemed content to let time pass without rushing.

+-+

Their next stop on the Valentine's Day date was the clock tower, a familiar landmark. It wasn't anything particularly special, but it stood tall in the town, one of the more noticeable buildings around. The locals had gone all out with decorations, heart-shaped ornaments and flowers draping the tower like a festive blanket.

Yasushi's eyes swept over the display. "It's kinda weird… seeing it all dressed up like this," he muttered, his gaze staying on the decorations. It felt strange for a building to be adorned with so much flair.

Jingliu didn't miss a beat. "Weirder is calling a building 'dressed up,'" she replied, the quip making them both laugh.

They wandered through the small crowd gathered around the tower, passing shops that were selling pocket watches, little figures of the clock tower itself, along with food stalls offering treats for the couples in the area. But something else caught Yasushi's eye.

It was the mascot, a small character with a clock for a head, dressed up in a formal outfit, complete with a hat. Yasushi recognized it instantly. The figure reminded him of Clockie from Honkai Star Rail. He had already known the connection; after all, Jingliu's look came from the same game, and seeing the mascot just reinforced that familiar link.

"That's funny," she muttered, stepping over to the little figure and picking it up, turning it in her hands. "What's its name?" Her gaze shifted to the seller, who froze.

"Uh... it's... uh..." he stammered, blinking at the question, clearly caught off guard like he hadn't thought this part through.

"Clockie," Yasushi said, the word slipping out before he even thought about it. Both their heads turned toward him.

The seller nodded quickly, desperate to recover, "Yeah, that's it! Clockie. Exactly."

Jingliu glanced at her boyfriend, raising an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Alright, I'll take Clockie." The transaction went fast, the seller eager to seal the deal. Jingliu held the little thing close as they walked away, her arms wrapped around it protectively.

"How'd you know the name? Or did you just pull that out of thin air?" she asked, glancing over at Yasushi, curious.

He scratched the back of his neck, a bit sheepish. "Yeah, I made it up. It just kinda felt right, y'know? I'm more shocked that guy didn't have a name for it. It looked like he'd put some real effort into making it."

She laughed softly, her eyes lingering on him before they kept moving. They reached a spot where a few artisans were working — some with textiles, others focused on jewelry, pottery, and woodcraft. A decent-sized crowd stood nearby, watching them work, while others sat at tables, hands-on, trying their hand at sculpting or working the clay into shape.

"I wonder if we could make another Clockie..." Jingliu mumbled, her attention shifting to the people shaping wood and clay, guided by the artisans at the workshop tables.

Yasushi glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "Clockie's pretty tricky to pull off. You'd need to know what you're doing. But if you really wanna give it a shot, we could start with something simple. Or go all in if you're that set on it." He shrugged, letting her decide.

She stayed quiet for a second, her eyes still on the tools and wood at the table. "I think I wanna try," she finally said. "Making something from wood sounds like fun. I want to see what I can do."

Yasushi nodded, not needing more convincing. They both walked toward the workshop area, where wood and tools lay out, waiting for anyone eager enough to take a seat and get their hands busy.

"How can I help you two? Oh? Pretty young, huh... Alright then, what are you looking to make?" the man asked as they settled into their seats.

Jingliu raised Clockie, placing it on the table. "I want to try recreating this. But if that's too tough, I'll just make something else. What should I use? Wood or clay?" Her tone showed she was open, curious about where to start.

The man folded his arms, eyes going between Clockie and her. "So, you've never done this kind of thing before, huh?" he asked, and she nodded.

He turned toward Yasushi. "What about you?"

Yasushi gave a small shrug. "I've done some woodworking, but nothing fancy. Mostly just cutting planks for stuff like frames and foundations. Never tried sculpting or carving figures like that."

The man chuckled. "Helping your dad out back home with projects?"

Yasushi nodded. It wasn't the truth, but that didn't matter here. His woodworking days were a hustle from another life, earning what he could, but none of that needed saying.

"Alright," the man said after a bit. "I'll grab something simple to start. Clay's easier to handle for first-timers, so we'll go with that. You both can mess around with it."

He disappeared for a moment and returned with two thick lumps of clay, dropping them on the table with a bowl of water. "Go for it. Make whatever comes to mind. You've probably done this back in school, right? Art classes and all that... Anyway, I'll check back in a bit and give you some advice if you need it. Just mess around and see what happens."

Then he wandered off again, leaving Yasushi and Jingliu to their clay.

Jingliu looked at her chunk, gave a quick glance at Clockie, and nodded to herself. "I'll try something simple this time," she muttered before pressing her hands into the soft material, shaping it into something completely different.

Yasushi, though, just stared at his. He remembered his old art classes back in his other life, how they forced him into this stuff during secondary school when he picked art by mistake. He tried to mold something decent back then, but it always ended up looking like shit. Art wasn't his thing — never had been — but the clay sat there, waiting for him to do something with it.

Eventually, Yasushi gave in and started shaping his chunk of clay. He figured he'd keep it simple, so he aimed for a dog, or at least something resembling one. As he worked the water into the clay, his hands slowly formed a basic shape — head, body, legs, and a tail. But by the time he finished, it looked wrong. Really wrong.

What he had in front of him didn't look like any dog he'd ever seen. It resembled some bizarre alien thing, limbs all uneven and the face too distorted to call it a dog. He stared at it for a second, feeling the disappointment creep in. He sighed, knowing full well that no matter what he did, it wouldn't come out right. Giving up, he dropped his hands and just let the clay sit there.

Curious, he glanced over at Jingliu's creation. What he saw made him stop. It wasn't much better than his mess. She had tried to make a bird — or something she thought looked like a bird. But it ended up looking more like a hairless, deformed creature, far from anything natural.

Before he could stop himself, laughter burst out of him.

Jingliu's face turned red when she noticed him looking, and then she glanced at his creation. Her lips curled, and soon she joined in, laughing just as hard. People around them started to turn, giving them puzzled looks. But when they caught sight of the sad excuses for sculptures the two had made, a few of them snickered too, shaking their heads in amusement.

The noise caught the attention of the man who had handed them the clay earlier. He wandered over, eyes scanning the table, and when he saw their creations, he let out a low chuckle. "Looks like you two are real artists in the making," he said, clearly amused by the sad, lopsided figures.

Yasushi smirked, shrugging, "Yeah, a real power couple in the art world, huh?"

That got a fresh round of laughs from them both. The man nodded, then gave a few tips on how to handle the clay, showing them how to get smoother shapes and more control over what they were making.

They started over, and this time, the creatures they molded came out a little less terrible. They were still far from masterpieces, but at least they looked like something recognizably alive. They kept laughing through it, not caring much about how it turned out. What mattered was the fun they were having, and by the time they finished and stood to leave, both of them were in high spirits, grinning and feeling good about their little disaster of an art session.

+-+

Time dragged on, but in the quiet, easy way it often did on days like this. The couple found themselves nearing the end of their date. They had stood out among the older crowd, younger by decades, and the older couples had noticed.

Despite this, the two were welcomed warmly. It didn't take long for them to exchange smiles and small talk with a few of them. This was the kind of place where everyone fit in, no matter who they were.

As they moved through the day, they had bumped into a few tourists as well, other people passing through, here for a quick vacation. But now the sky had turned dark, and eight o'clock edged closer. Their steps led them toward the parking lot, where Yasushi's bike sat waiting.

"I thought you wanted to take me somewhere special before we headed back?" Yasushi asked, watching the lot come into view, the air carrying the faint bite of the coming winter night.

Jingliu kept her eyes ahead, her hand holding the bag she carried with her. "I changed my mind. We can do it here at the parking lot. The view's not bad from here. That other spot's a little far, and this works just as well."

Yasushi frowned a little, unsure. "You're sure about that?"

She gave a small nod. "Yeah, I'm sure."

They reached the bike, which thankfully hadn't been buried under a fresh layer of snow, though the cold was settling in around them.

Jingliu moved over to his bike, her steps slow, deliberate, and placed her bag on the seat before she wandered to the railing, the city stretched below them. The only light came from four street lamps scattered around, casting enough glow to cut through the dark.

Yasushi followed, closing the distance between them, but stopped when Jingliu raised her hand, just inches away from his chest, signaling him to stay back. He stood there, watching her, waiting, the view of the city sprawled out beneath them as a quiet backdrop.

She took in a deep breath, holding it for a moment before finally looking at him. "I've been thinking, Yasushi. A lot. Especially after what the gods said…about you. About everything," her voice came out steady, not shaking, just heavy with thoughts she had clearly been sitting on. "You've been through a lot, haven't you? Since that meeting with them?"

He nodded, unsure of where she was leading this, but her tone kept him focused.

"You've helped people. Your friends, classmates, random strangers even, like you're trying to make up for something. And I've seen you trying — really trying — to get on my parents' good side, making sure Bhaqui and Alicia see you differently. But, even if we haven't run into any of the ones those gods mentioned, I know you've noticed them. You know something about them." She paused then, her eyes locking on his, not breaking for even a second, waiting for him to react, to say something.

"Well... yeah, I don't want to die again. I actually enjoy my life here. I love you, and everyone else I've got now," Yasushi said, the words coming out simple and raw. There wasn't much else he could say, his feelings laid bare in front of her.

Jingliu smiled, stepping closer until she reached out and grabbed his hands. She pressed her face into them, her breath soft against his skin. "That's why..." she said, pausing for a second before meeting his eyes. "No matter what happens in that next meeting, I'm going with you."

"Going with me...?" he repeated, thrown off by the weight of what she said. But the silence stretched for a few moments as the words sank in, and suddenly it hit him.

"I'm not planning on letting that happen. I'm going to live," he said, his voice steady.

She didn't answer right away, just let go of his hands, leaning her head onto his chest. "I know you'll try your best, but... if the worst happens, I'll stay with you. No matter what." The way she said it, quiet but firm, left no room for him to argue or push back.

Yasushi closed his eyes, pulling Jingliu into an embrace. "Alright… we're in this together," he muttered. They stayed like that for a while, the quiet settling between them. Neither said much after that. They eventually climbed onto his bike, the silence continuing as they began the ride back home.

Jingliu's determination weighed heavy on his mind. Yasushi knew he couldn't slip up anymore, couldn't afford to be careless. His future now held more weight. The meeting loomed ahead, along with everything else that had yet to unfold. He had to give it all he had but also needed to avoid draining himself completely.

He couldn't let himself burn out, not now. This was his time.