After a moment Danika asked suspiciously, "New elevator?"Shinichi gulped. He"d wanted to make it so that the whole place was easily accessible to her. For just a visit, she could have gone back out, taken the building"s elevators up to this floor and come in behind him, but he hoped that someday she"d consider moving in. "Yeah," he agreed weakly.
"You plan on living here with your dad long-term," she questioned neutrally.
That hadn"t been what he"d been expecting her to say, so it took him another moment to respond. "Yes, he"s getting older and I don"t want to leave him alone for his last few years."
"I can hear you," Ryuske called up laughingly from the floor below.
Shinichi leaned over the railing and replied dryly, "You"re the one who"s always saying that you"re getting so old and might die any time now. I think you"ll probably last another quarter of a century."
--
Danika watched them argue good naturedly between two floors for a moment. Her heart was pounding and she was glad that they were distracted for a few minutes so that she had a chance to calm down. Shinichi was obviously trying to make room for her here.
She didn"t think of herself as someone who needed a three year engagement to feel secure that her partner was committed to her, but Shinichi really seemed to be thinking long-term. After a moment she realized that that made her sound like the person who wasn"t ready to make a commitment. Having identified the problem helped her calm down.
This was the same as his idea about what kind of vehicle to get in the future. As long as she thought about it as "their future" it made her happy. It was only when it felt like he wanted more now that she got nervous, even though he repeatedly showed that he"d wait if she wanted. She wondered when she"d become so much like the people she"d dated before, when she"d become "too-afraid-of-now-because-later-might-not-happen" as her mother had described other people with aggravation.
Shinichi threw up his hands and told his dad laughingly, "That"s why you adopted me, so of course I know." He turned back to her and asked nervously, "Want to come see my room? Or all the rooms?"
"Sure, let"s do the whole tour," she agreed. She scooted up to the edge and called down, "If you don"t mind?"
"I don"t mind," Ryuske called back. When he was looking up like this his skin was pulled taunt and he looked even more like Ryullusion, despite the short grey hair. His posture was straight and his stance was firm, and Danika agreed with Shinichi that his dad seemed healthy enough to be with them for a long time.
Shinichi ran his hands through his hair and said, "Well, if we"re doing the whole tour, let"s go out first." He opened the door beside him and led her down a clean and pleasantly decorated hall. It was like the hall of an expensive hotel and they didn"t pa.s.s any doors before they reached the elevators, but two were visible beyond them.
"How many apartments does this place contain? Or is that even the right word?" Danika asked.
"There are eight residences, but only six are currently occupied," Shinichi explained. "Naoki and Toshi are sharing one on the top floor."
"So you could have your own place but live in the same building?" she questioned.
He gave her such a startled look that she decided it hadn"t even occurred to him. "I guess I could," he agreed doubtfully. "But I think it would be more efficient to have Akito, Hideki, and our manager Priyadarshi here, so that Underneath was all together. Akito says he plans to live at home until he gets married though, and then he"d need one of the bigger places if they have kids."
They took the elevator up to the top of the building, which had a swimming pool on top, making it seem even more like a luxurious hotel than ever. Danika"s family was generally well off, but she was struggling with feeling like she"d walked into a movie set. She"d known that Shinichi"s adoptive father was a member of a band that had stayed successful for decades, and that Shinichi was going to be quite well off in the future, but she felt like she hadn"t really known.
They admired the view briefly and then went down again. They only peeked into the guest room where Akito was using the VR system for the briefest moment. It was the room closest to the upper entrance, and had large bright windows, that looked out at the building next door. The limited view reminded her of her own apartment"s view.
A large bathroom was next, and then Ryuske"s room. Danika couldn"t help but peer inside curiously. It seemed "lived in". If Shinichi had claimed it was his room she wouldn"t have been at all surprised. It was only slightly less messy than a typical teenager"s room.
The "music" room beside it was spotlessly clean and crammed full. "This is his real room," Shinichi whispered, "the other one is just where he sleeps." Instrument cases crowded the walls and a tall harp stood in the center of the brightly lit room. A wide desk, crowded with both electronics and papers, was positioned with the best view. It looked out across the tiny patch of lawn to the artificial city ca.n.a.l with public walking paths along it.
Shinichi skipped his room and showed her the last room first, which had only one small window and looked like it was mostly used for storage. Then they went back to his room, which occupied the corner of the building.
If Ryuske"s room looked like it belonged to a teenager, then Shinichi"s looked like it belonged to a girl. The two walls full of windows had padded window seats running along them. There was an entire shelf full of plush animals. Admittedly he"d already claimed to have everything ready to leave, and he"d known she was coming over, but his luggage stood neatly beside the door and the room was spotless.
She glanced at him after a moment and asked, "Did you choose the wallpaper?"
He blinked at her and then looked at it and laughed. It was a print of little blue flowers with heart shaped leaves. "No, but it"s pretty neutral? This used to be his guest room, but I liked it better than the room he prepared for me."
"It is very cute and bright," she agreed with a grin. It was also half again as big as her apartment despite being the "smallest" room and had its own attached bath and the wall between it and the music room was entirely closet. She suspected the designer had intended it as the master bedroom.
Shinichi was regarding her nervously, but she really couldn"t think of anything to say. She felt like she"d reached some sort of shock saturation point. "Where"s your game console?" she asked a bit vaguely.
She was fairly certain it had been in the living area, and Shinichi proved her right by quickly saying, "Downstairs."
They rejoined Ryuske who was lounging on one of the couches and doing something on his phone. Danika envied his relaxed air, and he glanced up and asked simply, "Done with the tour? Hungry?"
"I haven"t shown her the studio," Shinichi answered.
"Later?" Danika suggested quickly.
"Okay," he agreed.
"The only cool looking thing about it is the piano anyway," Ryuske informed her with a grin.
That actually made Danika kind of curious to see it, she was pretty sure that there must be other interesting points to a private recording studio. But she was just as glad to wait at the table while Ryuske and Shinichi brought food out of the kitchen, where it had been warming, or cooling, in its delivery containers as was appropriate for the contents.