It was not a grand wedding ceremony. It was just family, close friends, and colleagues.

The bride was crying more loudly than anyone else, explaining it by having "something in her eye".

Aoi kept correcting all the details of the schedule of the ceremony.

Rika sketched the whole event in the whole sketchbook. She drew a lot.

Minami stood in the back of the ceremony room and smiled happily, as if she was an elder sister who saw the two of them exchange the vows of marriage.

There was nothing extraordinary about their wedding.

No big decorations.

No grand hall.

Just smiles, sincere wishes, and two people promising each other the rest of their life together.

And when the ceremony was over...

"Yui..."

"So..."

"We’re married."

"Yes..."

It seemed unreal even to say this out loud...

---

Three weeks later...

The reality started...

---

Their apartment was small. One bedroom, small kitchen, and a living room which could hardly fit a sofa and a dining table.

The walls were thin.

The balcony would take only two chairs.

It was not luxurious.

But it was theirs.

---

Their first morning was quite disastrous...

"Kuro!"

His wife shouted from the kitchen.

He ran there.

"What happened?"

Yui pointed at the frying pan.

"...I burned breakfast."

He looked inside.

All the eggs turned black.

"...That’s impressive."

"I looked away for only ten seconds!"

"No, I guess it was more than that..."

She crossed her arms.

"I see you are not helping."

Kuro quietly took another frying pan.

"I’ll make breakfast."

"I’m a doctor, not a cook!"

"But I’ll save breakfast."

Yui burst in laughter so strongly that almost dropped the spatula from her hand.

---

They soon got used to their routine life.

In the mornings they left home together.

At the station their ways split.

She went to the hospital.

And he to his counseling clinic.

Before separating they always said the same thing.

"Have a good day."

"You too."

No matter how busy they were...

They never forgot...

---

The counseling clinic of Kuro was on the second floor of a quiet building.

It had the sign:

Kurogane Counseling Clinic

It was weird to see his name on that sign.

The first client came there precisely at nine.

It was a shy university student who had problems with anxiety.

Kuro listened carefully.

Remembering everything he had learned.

From Minami.

From life.

When the session was over, the student smiled faintly.

"...Thank you."

Kuro bowed politely.

But when the door closed...

He quietly exhaled.

Today he became an official psychologist.

---

Meanwhile...

Yui could hardly catch her breath...

The emergency department was overcrowded.

One patient became five.

Five became fifteen.

She suddenly looked at the clock.

8:30 PM.

"... Already?"

She did not eat anything except breakfast...

---

Her phone rang.

It was a message from Kuro.

Kuro: Don’t forget the dinner.

She smiled.

Yui: Trying...

---

When she returned home this evening...

It was very smelly there.

She opened the door.

"... I’m home."

"Welcome home."

Kuro appeared wearing an apron.

There was the dinner ready for them.

Warm miso soup.

Grilled fish.

And rice.

Just simple and nice.

Yui looked at that for some seconds.

"... You’ve cooked all this?"

"I’ve finished my work early."

Without any other words she came closer and hugged him.

"I’m sweaty."

"I don’t care."

Her head buried in his shoulder.

"... Thank you."

---

After the dinner...

They washed the dishes together.

Well...

They tried.

Yui splashed the water all around the kitchen.

Kuro quietly gave her a towel.

"The sink should be inside the kitchen..."

"I’m just experimenting."

"With the flooding?"

"Exactly."

He burst in laughter.

Married life was far from glamourous.

But somehow...

These moments were invaluable for them...

---

One Saturday morning...

Kuro decided to wash the clothes.

Half an hour later...

Yui appeared in the living room.

"... Why are all my sweaters tiny?"

Kuro looked at the washing machine.

"... I think I may have used hot water."

"My favorite sweater!"

"I’m sorry..."

She wanted to look angry.

But lasted only three seconds before she burst in laughter.

"I married a psychologist..."

"... who is able to shrink the clothes..."

"I’ll buy you a new one."

"You’d better."

---

Not every day was easy.

Sometimes Yui came home feeling tired after loosing one of her patients.

Sometimes Kuro returned home heavy from heartbreaking counseling sessions.

Sometimes they both had evenings when they felt not like talking.

On such evenings...

They sat quietly.

Held each other’s hands.

Knowing that sometimes no words were needed.

---

One rainy evening...

Yui looked through the window.

"... Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What do you think marriage is?"

Kuro carefully thought over it.

"When we were young..."

"I thought it meant finding the perfect person."

"And now?"

He smiled gently.

"I think it means choosing the same person."

"Every day."

"Especially on the difficult days."

Yui looked at him for a long moment.

Then nodded.

"... I like that answer."

She reached across the sofa and held his hand.

"I’ll keep choosing you."

Kuro gently squeezed her fingers.

"I’ll keep choosing you too."

---

Months later...

They visited a real estate agency.

Their apartment was too small.

The agent showed them several houses.

Some of them were beautiful.

Some were expensive.

One...

It seemed right.

It was a modest two-storied house with a garden.

With sunny kitchen.

And with a quiet study where Kuro could read.

Also one of the rooms...

"... The future children’s room."

She covered her mouth.

"... Did I say it out loud?"

Kuro smiled.

"Yes."

Her face turned red.

"... Pretend you haven’t heard me."

"I don’t think I can."

---

A week later...

All the paperwork was done.

They were standing at the front door of the new house.

Keys to the new house in Kuro’s hand.

Yui looked at the house.

Then at him.

"... Ready?"

He nodded.

"Together?"

"Always."

They opened the front door.

Entered the new house.

Not into the perfect house.

Not into the perfect life.

But into a place where they would choose each other every day.

The new house for them was more than just a building.

It was the beginning of their family.

Moving boxes were piled in every single room.

Kitchen boxes were marked on some of them.

Others had labels such as Books, Clothes, or Clinic Files.

The entire living room was nearly filled with boxes.

Yui scanned the area and grinned.

"...Didn’t we buy too many boxes and forgot to buy the house?"

Kuro took another moving box from the pile.

"I wondered why we needed to pack so much."

He pointed his finger at her.

"It was not funny."

"You made me laugh."

"...Not the point."

---

Their first evening in a new house was supposed to be spent unpacking.

Or, at least, that was what they expected to happen.

Having opened only four boxes, they were already sitting on the floor, utterly exhausted.

Yui reclined against the wall and sighed.

"I’ve stood during the whole eight hours in the surgery before."

"But somehow..."

"It’s more tiring."

Kuro agreed.

"They didn’t tell me moving is so exhausting."

They surveyed the house.

No curtains were installed.

Empty shelves.

Echo in the house seemed to amplify every single noise.

---

Kuro reached into one of the boxes and found the small framed picture.

It was from their graduation from the university.

Yui was posing by his side, proudly holding her diploma.

Behind them, Akari was doing a ridiculous peace sign, Rika was smiling, Aoi looked somewhat embarrassed about having her picture taken, and Minami was standing in the back with the smile of a teacher, witnessing the adulthood of her students.

Yui smiled and took the picture from him.

"...We’ve gone far."

"Yes."

She carefully put the frame on the shelf.

"This is our first decoration of the house."

"I agree."

---

When the evening turned into night, it started to rain outside.

Both of them haven’t unpacked the dining table yet.

So the dinner consisted of rice balls from a convenience store and instant miso soup.

Yui gazed at the simple food and laughed.

"We are homeowners now..."

"...and this is our first dinner."

Kuro raised his cup.

"To instant soup."

She lifted her paper cup and clashed it with his.

"To instant soup."

---

That evening, they carried two folding chairs to the garden of the house.

The rain stopped.

Fresh smell in the air.

Gentle wind stirred the leaves of the young maple tree near the fence of the house.

Yui rested her head on his shoulder.

"It isn’t a big house."

"No."

"It isn’t luxurious."

"No."

"Probably hundreds of better houses exist."

"There are."

She smiled.

"...I don’t care."

Kuro turned to her.

"Neither do I."

She gazed through the window at their still-empty living room.

Boxes everywhere.

No matching colors.

Everything disorganized.

But somehow...

It already felt cozy.

"Home isn’t really a place, is it?"

she quietly asked.

Kuro pondered for a bit before he answered.

"I think..."

"It’s whatever place I get to welcome you home."

Yui’s eyes softened.

She reached for his hand.

"Then..."

She looked once again at the quiet house.

"...I think we are finally home."

Light from the empty rooms faintly illuminated them.

There was a lot of work to do.

To assemble furniture.

To decorate walls.

To dream big dreams.

But they weren’t in a rush.

Home, same as a marriage, wasn’t built in a single day.

It was constructed gradually...

From regular mornings, shared dinners, quiet laughs, difficult talks, and hundreds of little decisions to choose each other.

And, they both knew...

It would be a life-long work to accomplish.