This chapter was too good to wait till 4/20 to post! Enjoy!
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"Why does the sun look so different from other stars?" Ruby tilted her head back to stare at Toshiro, her neck cramping from the angle.
Toshiro knelt beside her in front of the massive solar system display. Tiny planets rotated around a glowing yellow orb, casting long shadows across his face. The soft light caught in his eyelashes, making them look pretty.
"That's a great question." He pointed to the miniature sun. "The sun seems different because it's much closer to us than other stars. It's actually pretty average-sized compared to other stars in the galaxy."
Ruby nodded, absorbing this information while clutching her plush star against her chest. Other children raced around the science center, their shouts echoing off the high ceilings, but Ruby stayed rooted to this spot. Something about the spinning planets made her feel small yet important all at once.
"Were you good at science when you were little?" She reached out to touch the glass barrier protecting the display.
"Not really." Toshiro laughed, the sound warm like honey. "I was more interested in music and stories."
"Me too!" Ruby bounced on her toes. "Ai tells the best stories at bedtime. Sometimes she makes up songs too."
Across the room, Ai stood with Aqua by the gravity well exhibit, her hand on his shoulder as he dropped coins into the funnel. Her disguise wasn't much – just the beanie and sunglasses – but somehow people's eyes slid past her. Ruby wondered if grown-ups were just bad at seeing what was right in front of them.
"Do you know any stories about stars?" Ruby asked, tugging on Toshiro's sleeve.
"I know a few." He sat on the bench near the display, patting the space beside him. "Want to hear one?"
Ruby climbed up, settling her plush star in her lap. "Yes, please!"
"Well, there's one about how the stars got into the sky." Toshiro leaned back, his eyes scanning the ceiling as if seeing constellations there. "Long ago, the night sky was empty and dark. People were afraid of the darkness. So a brave young girl decided to help."
"What was her name?" Ruby scooted closer.
"Hmm." Toshiro tapped his chin. "What do you think her name was?"
"Ruby!" she declared without hesitation.
"Perfect." His smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. "So brave Ruby collected tiny pieces of light during the day. She gathered them in her pockets, in her hair, even under her fingernails."
Ruby examined her own fingernails, imagining them glowing with captured sunlight.
"When night came, Ruby climbed the tallest mountain she could find. She reached into her pockets and threw handfuls of light into the sky. Each piece stuck like a tiny lantern, becoming the stars we see today."
"Is that true?" Ruby asked, though she already knew the answer.
"It could be." Toshiro winked. "Sometimes stories tell us different kinds of truth."
That made sense to Ruby in a way she couldn't quite explain. She'd always felt like she understood things that other children her age didn't – like she'd known them before but forgotten. Sometimes she thought about her life before, being sick in a hospital bed with machines beeping around her. Those dreams always left her sad and clingy with Ai in the morning.
"Do you like working with my momm—" Ruby caught herself, remembering the game. "With Ai-chan?"
Toshiro's expression softened. "I do. She's pretty amazing."
"She is," Ruby agreed fervently. "She's the prettiest and smartest and best singer ever."
"Hard to argue with that assessment." Toshiro glanced over at Ai, his gaze lingering. Something passed across his face – a look Ruby recognized from when Ai watched old movies where people kissed.
"Do you have kids?" Ruby asked, switching topics with the lightning speed only toddlers could manage.
Toshiro shook his head. "No, I don't."
"Why not?"
"Well..." He seemed to consider his answer carefully. "I guess I haven't found the right person to have a family with yet."
Ruby nodded sagely. "You need a mommy and a daddy to make a family."
"Not always," Toshiro said gently. "Families come in all different shapes. Some kids have two moms or two dads. Some have grandparents who raise them. Some have just one parent.
Ruby frowned. She hadn't expected that answer. In their practice sessions, Aqua had told her to stick to the story that their daddy was Ichigo and their mommy was Miyako, and Ai was just their babysitter. But Toshiro made it sound like having just a mommy was normal too.
Before she could ask another question, Aqua and Ai approached, Aqua clutching a handful of pamphlets about the exhibits.
"Having fun?" Ai asked, brushing Ruby's bangs from her forehead.
"Toshiro was telling me a story about a girl who made the stars!" Ruby pointed at her plush toy. "Her name was Ruby too!"
"What a coincidence," Ai said, her eyes meeting Toshiro's over Ruby's head.
"Did you know," Aqua interjected, holding up one of his pamphlets, "that stars aren't actually star-shaped? They only look that way because of how light travels through our atmosphere."
"Is that true?" Ruby asked Toshiro, suddenly concerned for her star-shaped plushie.
"It is," he confirmed. "But the star shape we draw is still special. It helps us remember how beautiful real stars are."
Ruby examined her plushie with renewed appreciation. "I'm hungry."
"Perfect timing," Ai said. "The café here has lunch boxes for kids. Should we eat before the planetarium show?"
"Yes!" Ruby slid off the bench, then paused, looking up at Toshiro. Her legs felt tired from all the walking they'd done that morning. At home, when she got tired, Ai would carry her. But Toshiro wasn't Ai.
Still, something about him made her brave.
"Can I..." She twisted the hem of her dress. "Can I have a piggyback ride?"
Toshiro blinked, then smiled. "Of course you can, Captain Ruby. Every space explorer needs a transport vehicle sometimes."
He crouched down, and with Ai's help, Ruby climbed onto his back. His shoulders were broader than Ai's, and she had to stretch her arms to link them around his neck.
"Not too tight," Ai cautioned. "Remember, he needs to breathe."
"I'm okay," Toshiro assured her, securing Ruby's legs with his arms. "Ready for takeoff?"
"Ready!" Ruby giggled as he stood, the ground suddenly much farther away. She could see over the displays now, like a giant. "Aqua, look how tall I am!"
"Very impressive," Aqua said dryly, but his lips quirked up.
As they walked toward the café, Ruby rested her chin on Toshiro's shoulder. His hair smelled like apples and something else she couldn't name. Clean, like fresh laundry maybe.
"What's your favorite food?" she asked, right into his ear.
"Hmm." He adjusted his grip on her legs. "I really love ramen. The good kind with lots of toppings."
"I love hamburger steak!" Ruby declared. "It's Ai's favorite too!"
"We have it for special occasions," Ai said.
"Is today a special occasion?" Ruby asked innocently.
Ai's cheeks turned pink behind her sunglasses. "Every day we get to do fun things together is special."
"Smooth recovery," Toshiro murmured, just loud enough for Ruby to hear. She wasn't sure what that meant, but it made Ai's face turn pinker.
In the café, Toshiro carefully set Ruby down at a table near the window. The space was designed for children, with colorful chairs and tables low to the ground. Most were occupied by families – mothers and fathers with their children, all eating together.
Ruby watched them as Ai ordered their food. In some families, the parents barely spoke to each other or their kids, everyone staring at phones or eating in silence. But some families laughed and talked, parents helping little ones open juice boxes or cut food into manageable pieces.
When she was sick, her parents had stopped talking to her. They'd come to the hospital less and less. The doctors and nurses became her real family, but they were always changing shifts, never staying. Even Gorou had to leave eventually.
"Ruby? What kind of juice would you like?" Toshiro's voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Apple, please." She straightened in her seat, pushing the sad feelings away.
When the food arrived, Toshiro and Ai worked together like a team. Ai opened Ruby's lunch box while Toshiro helped Aqua with his juice.
"Aqua, what was your favorite exhibit so far?" Toshiro asked, unwrapping his own sandwich.
Aqua considered the question with his usual seriousness. "The one about black holes. Did you know they're not actually holes? They're incredibly dense objects with gravity so strong that nothing can escape, not even light."
"I did know that," Toshiro said, "but I've never heard it explained so clearly. You'd make a good teacher."
Aqua's ears turned red at the compliment. He ducked his head, focusing intently on separating the components of his lunch box.
"What about you, Ruby?" Ai asked, passing her a napkin. "What did you like best?"
"The planets!" Ruby bit into her sandwich. "And Toshiro's story about the stars."
"What story was this?" Ai asked, turning to Toshiro with curiosity.
As Toshiro recounted the tale, embellishing it further for Aqua's benefit, Ruby watched them all. Ai laughed at Toshiro's dramatic hand gestures. Aqua corrected some of the scientific inaccuracies but seemed to enjoy the story anyway. Toshiro listened to Aqua's corrections with genuine interest, incorporating them into the narrative.
They looked like a family. A real one, like in the movies Ai sometimes let them watch.
"Are you excited for the planetarium?" Toshiro asked Ruby, pulling her from her observations.
"Yes!" She bounced in her seat, nearly knocking over her juice. "Will it be dark?"
"Pretty dark," he confirmed. "But not scary-dark. More like magical-dark, so we can see the stars better."
"I don't like the dark," Ruby admitted, picking at her sandwich crust.
"Me neither, actually," Toshiro said, surprising her. "At least, not completely dark."
"Really?" Ruby stared at him. Grown-ups weren't supposed to be afraid of things.
"Really." He nodded solemnly. "That's why I have a small light that stays on in my room at night."
"Like a night light?" Ruby had one shaped like a moon.
"Exactly like that." Toshiro smiled. "Everyone needs a little light sometimes."
"I have a moon light," Ruby told him proudly. "Ai got it for me."
"That sounds perfect for a space explorer like you."
As they finished lunch, Ruby noticed how Toshiro kept finding ways to include Aqua in the conversation. He asked him questions about books and science, things Aqua knew a lot about. And he didn't talk down to him like most adults did. He talked to Aqua like his answers mattered.
He did the same with Ruby, listening to her stories about her toys and the games she played with Ai as if they were the most interesting things he'd ever heard.
By the time they headed toward the planetarium, Ruby had decided something important: she liked Toshiro. Really liked him. Not just because he gave her a plushie or told her stories, but because he made Ai smile and Aqua talk and Ruby herself feel seen.
At the planetarium entrance, Ruby hesitated, suddenly nervous about the darkness. Without prompting, Toshiro knelt beside her.
"Want to know a secret about planetariums?" he asked.
Ruby nodded eagerly.
"The stars in there aren't as bright as the real ones," he whispered. "But they tell better stories."
Ruby considered this, clutching her plush star. "Will you sit next to me?"
"I'd be honored, Captain." He offered his hand.
Ruby took it without hesitation, her small fingers disappearing in his larger ones. His palm was warm and slightly calloused – different from Ai's soft hands.
As they entered the darkened theater, Ruby glanced back at Ai and Aqua following behind them. Ai was watching Toshiro with an expression Ruby had never seen before – soft and worried and happy all at once.
Maybe, Ruby thought as they took their seats, this was what a real family felt like. Not perfect, not always easy, but warm. Connected. Like stars in a constellation, separate but part of the same story.
She settled between Toshiro and Ai as the first lights appeared on the domed ceiling above, illuminating their upturned faces with a gentle glow. Aqua leaned forward in his seat, eyes wide with wonder. Ai's hand found Ruby's, squeezing gently.
And Toshiro? He pointed upward, tracing invisible lines between stars, creating shapes and stories only he could see.
Until he shared them, making them real for all of them.