"Wait Yuu, before we check out the house we first need to take off our shoes." Chito sat down on the porch of the entrance, as she started pulling off her shoes and placed them on a small raft to the side of the door.

"Oh, but why Chii-chan?" she asked.

"Mieko and Reo told me that at the Biodome they never wanted old practices to go to waste. In the old times, when you go into someone's home it's polite to take off your shoes," Chito replied as she also helped Yuuri take off her shoe. "It's to keep the house clean too."

"Should be easy with me Chii-chan, I only have one shoe!" Yuuri replied and smiled as she moved her foot carefully to Chito to help her take off the shoe.

"There.." Chito placed her shoe on the raft next to hers as she stood up and gently took Yuuri by her arm. "You can wear the other shoe when you finally get your bionic leg."

Moving past the entrance, Yuuri kept looking around their new home with the widest smile. "Chii-chan, WOW! Are you sure this is our house?" she asked.

Their new home was a small rectangular-shaped Japanese-style house that looked completely different from the one where they used to live with their grandfather. A short walking distance from the hospital and the park where they talked to the Biodome's AI, it was big enough for a small family with all the essential appliances for everyday life. Most of the housing and apartment units on the bottom layers were built from metal and concrete that seemed lifeless. However, up here their house as well as many homes in the Biodome were done in a completely different process that involved recycled plants, materials, and salvage from the bottom layers. It was with the help of salvage printers and construction robots that these homes could be built or demolished within hours. The same could be done for furnishing and appliances used for daily life, hence recycling and material salvage from the outside was of the utmost importance for the citizens at the Biodome.

Their house was already furnished with the help of Reo, Mieko, and their Biodome friends who wanted to help them move in due to their condition. After all, Chito still needed time for her hand to heal fully and Yuuri was on the waiting list for a bionic leg.

"Of course, they told me we could live here close to Mieko so they are our neighbors, "They even furnished it for us! Chito replied as she helped Yuuri move to the living room. "I think that is how they also built factories and apartments outside too, Yuu. Maybe they also looked beautiful like this back in the days but they never could help maintain them after the wars."

Checking out the living room, it was in an old Japanese style with tatami mats, a couch, flowers planted in pots, and a strange large screen that you could use to access the archive that Reo and Mieko told them about. In the middle of the room, there was a table that had a blanket underneath, and close to the kitchen was a dining table with chairs.

"Did people used to sit on the ground Chii-chan?" Yuuri asked her as she checked out the room, the table on the ground was an interesting sight as she never has seen anything like this before.

"Mieko told me that in the old world they used to sit on the ground and even sleep on the ground," Chito answered recalling the discussions she had with Mieko and Reo. "But I think we have our own beds as well so we can be comfortable. Anyway, let's go check out the rest of the house." Chito suggested.

The house contained 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a pantry, a bathroom, and all kinds of appliances. Even if it was a small house, for Chito and Yuuri it felt like a mansion. They were more than happy that they finally have a comfortable home.

"Chii-chan, it's so beautiful!" Yuuri replied with the widest smile as they finished the tour of their new home. Even though Yuuri could move around with the ease of her walking cane, Chito was always close by ready to help her so she doesn't trip.

"Also outside we can use the garden to grow vegetables. Mieko said she does the same." Chito replied. "She grows tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers."

"Mmmmm... if only we could grow fishies too Chii-chan!" Yuuri grinned and drooled.

"What do you want to do first in our new home Yuu?" Chito asked her as they moved back into the living room.

"Well... I want to sit underneath that table with the blankets." Yuuri answered.

Outside the last of the sun's rays were dissipating as the evening passed on. The residents of the dome used this time of the day to catch up with their families or friends and prepare food after their tasks in the Biodome were over.

"I heard that table is called a 'kotatsu' and is supposed to be comfortable and warm," Chito spoke as she helped Yuuri sit down underneath the table, placing her walking cane next to her.

"Mmm... Chii-chan, you are right it's sooo comfy... and warm! Quick, Get in!" Yuuri exclaimed as she lay underneath the blanket.

"Wait Yuu, I have to get the rest of our stuff from the entrance!"

Chito moved back to the entrance and with her good hand, she grabbed some of their boxes and Yuuri's backpack and carried it with her back into the living room. "Geeze... even with one leg, she is so strong..." she thought to herself as she kept struggling to carry her backpack. "But then on the outside, she could lift all kinds of heavy things with ease."

"Chii-chaaan, quick get inside the kotatsu thingy!" Yuuri called out to her again after Chito finished moving all of their stuff to the living room.

"Alright alright..." Chito answered as she got underneath the table as well. "Ahhh.. sooo comfyyy!" closing her eyes as she lay her head on the table.

"What did I say Chii-chan, they know how to be comfortable up here." Yuuri giggled and also laid her head on the table just like Chito.

After some time passed in comfortable silence, Yuuri remembered something. "Oh hey Chii-chan, Can you bring me my backpack?" she lazily asked. The kotatsu had a powerful energy that made them both feel sudden laziness.

Turning around lazily, Chito grabbed the side of the backpack and slowly pulled it towards Yuuri.

Slowly turning around, Yuuri grabbed the backpack and opened it. "Let's see... mmm... where did I put it..." she kept scouring through their clothes and felt the rectangular shape of an object. "Ahhh... here." she pulled a black device out of the backpack and handed it to Chito.

"What's that?" Chito asked as she took the device in her hands.

"It's just a gift to say I am sorry for something I did a long time ago."

"Huh? What did you do?" Chito asked while she inspected the strange black device. There were a few tiny buttons on the side of the device.

"Chii-chan you have to press the button, you'll see!" Yuuri answered, as Chito slowly trailed her finger along with the device and pressed the button on top of the device. The device came to life and brought out a crudely drawn picture on the screen of Yuuri bowing down and the letters...

"I ma sowrwy?" Chito asked, she was still puzzled as she glanced at the screen.

"Well ... It's supposed to be 'I am sorry!'" Yuuri blushed as she at Chito checking out the device "Oh you have to turn it with your finger like this." she gestured with her finger in the air moving it in a slight motion from right to left "Mieko-chan showed it to me some time ago and though it was a perfect gift for you."

"Haha, you still can't write that well Yuu!" Chito giggled. "Now that we have time, I'll teach you to write and read if you want." she gently swiped her finger on the device. The next image had the words...

"Kappa?" Chito asked.

"Well, Mieko told me that it's this thing is a device that lets you read books. She said it has a lot of books in it and I figured we had to replace the ones we burned to keep us warm." Yuuri answered and smiled. "I remembered the name of the book that you loved so much and asked Mieko to put it on the device. You can also use a pen thingy to write your diary again on it. She told me that you can find a lot of books that are on paper in the library too..."

"Yuu! Eeeeeeee.... thank you!" Chito interrupted her and yelled with joy hugging the device tightly.

Yuuri gently patted her head and blushed. "Aww it's nothing Chii-chan, I know how much you smile reading books and I'd love to hear the stories again.". Yuuri grinned as Chito jumped into Yuuri and started kissing her cheeks. She was beyond happy with her new gift.

"Chiiiii-chan..." Yuuri spoke underneath Chito's embrace as she glomped her. "... it's not a big deal ... they have so much new stuff up here, Mieko told me we can even build a whole tank if we want!" Yuuri seemed to have considered if she should get a whole tank for herself to drive around the Biodome or outside. It was only fitting if she was to become a 'robotic god' with her new bionic leg.

"No Yuu... I know what you are thinking but they won't let you have a whole tank." Chito replied, still giggling and hugging her close.

"But what else is in your backpack?"

"Mmm... just some new clothes and even our old clothes, and look they even kept our helmets!" Yuuri kept scouring through the large backpack as she took everything out of it.

Chito looked at her old clothes, they were cleaned and gently folded. It was the same clothes that they used to survive on the outside, along with their warm winter jackets. Some of those clothes belonged to their grandpa and Chito's father when they were younger.

"Hey - Yuu - it almost feels like a whole eternity since we arrived here." Chito spoke as she held her jacket in her hands "I can't believe some of our stuff survived from outside. I felt those are the only clothes that we would have had in our life. It felt like we would have died - in those clothes and the helmets on the outside."

"But we didn't die Chii-chan! We are alive!" Yuuri reassured her and smiled. "We made it thanks to grandpa and his family!"

Letting out a sight Chito placed the clothes on the side next to where she was sitting, it still felt so unreal to her after everything that transpired since the day they reached the wall outside the Biodome.

"Hey, Chii-chan... I am hungry..."

"Yuu - we just ate at the hospital earlier," Chito replied. "But I think we have food in the pantry and there is a thing called a refrigerator in the kitchen."

"Mmmmm... we should prepare something nice for ourselves," Yuuri answered back before she lazily scuttled inside the blanket. "But I am just going to stay under the kotatsu thingy for now."

"I have a feeling you are going to be lazy all day under the 'kotatsu'..." Chito said and smiled. Once again she glanced at her and Yuuri's jackets and helmets. Currently, at the dome, the weather was warm so they didn't need the jackets for now until the dynamic weather would change to cold again in the upcoming months.

"Oh... I know what I will do with our helmets and jackets." Chito stood up from underneath the kotatsu and took them. Moving to the entryway of their house, there was an old-world coat hanger, she remembered even on the outside they used these strange objects to hang clothes from.
"We don't need the jackets for now but if it gets cold we can wear them again." she smiled and hung them on the rack. Yuuri was still lying underneath the kotatsu without a care in the world.

"Oh, by the way, Yuu. I have a gift for you too." Chito moved to one of the boxes, and opening it she took a round-shaped thing that looked like a pot and placed it in the middle of the table.

"Oooh... what's that?" Yuuri asked looking at the device that Chito just placed on the table.

"Remember outside when I promised I will give you all the food ever when we find a new home?" Chito asked. "It's a thing called a hot pot and you can make food in it!"

"Oooooo..." Yuuri let out a curious and joyful sound. "I never forget promises about food Chii-chan! But how does it work?" she curiously asked.

"Well.. you put water in it and turn the dial on the side. It's supposed to work with those batteries that never expire, just like the camera Kanazawa gave us." Chito explained as she inspected the pot. "And then when the water boils you put all kinds of food in it and wait until it all turns into a soup. That's how grandpa also made soup rations, but here we have fresh meat, eggs, and vegetables - it should be really delicious!."

"So Chii-chan, should we make a hotpot for dinner?" Yuuri asked, all this time she never moved an inch from underneath the kotatsu.

"Sure, but you have to help me prepare the ingredients."

At the mention of food, Yuuri seemed to have beaten her laziness as she jumped from underneath the kotatsu and stood up with her walking cane "Let's do that Chii-chan!" only the mention of food could move her from underneath the power of the kotatsu.

° ° °

"What's that Chii-chan?" Yuuri asked as she pointed towards another white device standing on the kitchen sink, it looked like the hotpot but it was taller with a lid on top of it.

"I think Mieko mentioned that it's a rice cooker?" Chito answered inspecting this other 'strange' device in their home and opening the lid to check out the inside. The kitchen was just a room away from their living room separated by an open wall.

"Mmmm... rice..." Yuuri drooled again. "Chii-chan did you notice they eat so much rice here? We had to ration it in the village, but here they have a lot of it!"

"I guess it's another traditional thing, back in the old world rice was popular to eat and they even made a drink from it called 'sake'. Also, they told me they even pound it with a giant hammer to make something called 'mochi'. Mieko told me how to use this, should be really easy.

Pointing to the pantry Chito spoke. "Yuu, go see in there if we have rice."

"On it!" Yuuri replied as she strutted into the pantry with her walking cane and opened the door. Inside there were all kinds of foods from canned goods, vegetables, and even non-expiring edible ration bars like the one they used to eat outside. There was a large bag of rice as well that would probably last them for a month.

"FIIIISH!!!" Yuuri grabbed one of the cans with the image of a fish on it. At the Biodome the residents were able to produce canned products along with ration bars as well, they had a facility that was able to produce all kinds of food that never expired with time. "Chii-chaaan... FIIIISH!" she shouted from the pantry with joy, proudly showing her the cans. "WE HAVE FISHY HERE TOO!!!"

"You can take only one, or we will run out of fish cans. Even up here we need to ration food for up to a month, we can't be glutenous Yuu." Chito replied while setting up the rice cooker. "Hey, you need to bring me a cup of rice for the cooker."

"You mean this bag?" Yuuri asked as she grabbed the whole bag and a can of fish with ease and carefully walked toward Chito. The bag could have easily weighed around 20 kilograms.

"How??? Even with one leg - she can carry that bag???" she thought to herself as Yuuri placed the bag on the counter "Here Chii-chan, let's open the bag."

Carefully both of them opened the bag, as it was filled with rice up to the top. At the Dome, the citizens could produce enough food for every resident for a whole month. Even with the rationing system for meat and fish, no one was left hungry when it came to canned goods or vegetables.

With a cup, Chito scooped up the right amount of rice for the cooker and washed it thoroughly with water. She heard that in Japanese culture not washing the rice was the worst thing ever, so she made sure to wash it before placing it in the rice cooker. Turning on the appliance it started with a single beep and a small red light.

"Is it done?" Yuuri asked as she examined the device coming to life before Chito replied.

"Well.. it usually takes 45 minutes. In the meantime you can cut the vegetables and the meat from the fridge, can you go take - "

"On it!" Yuuri interrupted her and replied in the same tone as she opened the fridge which was also filled with all kinds of perishables.

"Oooooooohh... " Yuuri with a wide grin pulled a bottle filled with a yellow liquid... "Chii-chan!" she said holding the bottle proudly in front of her face. "Look!!!"

Leaning closer Chito read the words 'beer' written on the bottle's label. "Oh no... no... I'm gonna feel weird from drinking that again!"

"Oh yes... we are going to drink it Chii-chan! They even have this here too!" gently she placed the bottle on the kitchen sink before she moved back to the fridge to take an assortment of food and place them on the counter.

Inspecting the pile of food that Yuuri took out, she pointed to an ingredient. "You can't put that in a hotpot!" Chito spoke.

"But why not?"

"It's called an apple. It's a fruit." Chito explained before she took an onion from the pile that Yuuri put out from the fridge and started cutting it with the knife she pulled from the drawer earlier. Chito knew how to prepare food as Itsuki taught her while they were living in the village. But she also had Mieko teach her to prepare basic recipes after Yuuri woke up from her coma.

"Umm... what's an apple?" Yuuri asked as she inspected the weirdly shaped food she took out of the fridge earlier.

"Just bite into it with your strong teeth!" Chito answered as she continued cutting the onions, but the strong smell made her shed tears.

Holding the apple in her hand, Yuuri took a single bite "Mmm.... this is so tasty... almost sweet like the ration bars, but so much tastier!" with a satisfied look on her face she turned to look at Chito who was still struggling to cut an onion.

Worriedly she walked towards Chito and gently embraced her. "Chii-chan, why are you crying?" she asked.

"It's these onions..." Chito replied as she kept struggled to cut the onions with Yuuri around her arms. "They make me teary..."

"Awww... are you sad because you have to slay the little onions?" Yuuri asked her as she placed her head next to her. The strong smell of the onions made her tear up as well.

"No. It's because when you cut onions it hurts your eyes and you start shedding tears. I am not sad..." she replied and sniffled. "...Go cut the rest of the onions and vegetables Yuu! I bet you remember how to do that from grandpa?"

"But we are eating the fish first!" Yuuri suggested before she grabbed a knife and a carrot from the food pile and started chopping them into uneven pieces.

° ° °

The rice finished cooking as Yuuri helped Chito bring it to the kotatsu in the living room. Earlier they had set up the table with a set of forks and chopsticks, two plates, soup bowls, rice bowls, and a fish can that Yuuri opened earlier. The vegetable hotpot was already simmering as Chito started preparing it while the rice was still cooking.

"Mmmm Chii-chan... this smells so tasty" Yuuri kept smelling the pot and started to drool once again as she sat on the opposite side of Chito.

"Here we can try the canned fish too, it smells so tasty!" Chito suggested as she separated the contents into two parts and placed the fish on the plates.

Yuuri grabbed her fork and scooped up a large chunk of fish meat and rice before placing it in her mouth. "Mmmmmmm - Chii-chan! It's FISHY!!! I forgot how tasty fishy was!"

Taking a set of chopsticks Chito wanted to try to eat just like the ancient people used to do. Even on the outside, she was fascinated with the older culture and she was happy that she got to try living like them at the Biodome. Struggling at first to learn the technique she eventually managed to grab a chunk of rice and fish and put it in her mouth. "Mmm... tasty!" she spoke with a smile.

Next on the menu was the contents of the hotpot. Chito carefully placed a spoonful into a bowl and handed it to Yuuri who softly blew on it as it was still sizzling hot. She gently sipped carefully to not burn her mouth... "Mmm... Chiiii-chan hotpot is soooo tasty mmmmmm... the soup is sooo warm and soooo mushy!" she exclaimed and giggled so loudly she couldn't help herself. "Chii-chan you are a wonderful cook..." she continued devouring the contents of the bowl even if they were hot. "I want to learn to cook food like you as well."

"Sure Yuu, we can prepare food every day if you want!" Chito replied with a smile before she started eating her portion. They both giggled from satisfaction as they kept eating the contents of the hotpot.

"Chii-chan thank you for making me food!" Yuuri smiled and still giggled with pleasure after she finished her bowl. They both helped themselves to another serving, soon after the hotpot was empty. It was the first proper meal they cooked together in what felt like a really long time. Even if the food in the cafeterias and community restaurants around the Biodome was also delicious, the food that Chito prepared tasted the best to Yuuri.

Of course, next on the menu was the yellow beer drink that Yuuri found earlier in the fridge. Chito opened it up and poured a small amount for herself and a large glass for Yuuri. She couldn't really drink it that much as it made her feel funny. Yuuri could drink much more of it.

° ° °

"Chii-chan, this was the most wonderful day of my life!" Yuuri said after she got a bit tipsy from the beer, and lay snuggled into Chito. She also felt a bit tipsy even though she didn't drink much.

It was already dark outside and the sprinkler grid on top of the biodome that simulated rainfall was turned on. The gentle sound of rain washed over the ambiance of their comfortable and lit-up room as they both lay tipsy on the couch in each other's arms. The world outside their home was lit up with the street lights and the gentle light of other homes around their neighborhood. After dinner, the citizens of the Biodome spent their time at home or in the community areas. The old-world entertainment system was available at any given time.

Even though it was such a small community, people still played music, and games, read books, watched movies, drew pictures and paintings, and knew how to have fun after their tasks were done for the day. They had no abundance of alcohol, sweet drinks, entertainment, and food.

"We can have hotpot another time as well, Yuu." Chito spoke as she snuggled into Yuuri.

"Mmm... let's drown in hotpot every day for the rest of our lives, Chii-chan." Yuuri suggested and smiled as she took another sip of beer from the bottle. "Oh Chii-chan, we never found out what that large screen on the wall does!"

"As I remember it's something the people use in the dome." Chito recalled. "It also has those kinds of moving pictures as we saw in that place outside and even this thing called music. But I haven't used it yet."

"But how do we turn it on?" Yuuri asked her as Chito slowly got up from the couch and walked to the screen

"Ummm... maybe in the same way as the device you gave me? You have to press a button?" She asked while inspecting the screen. On the side of the large screen, there was a button that she pressed and the holographic screen came to life. It displayed all kinds of texts, images, instructions...

Chito still didn't know how to use this device. She learned from Reo and Mieko that these kind of devices were in almost every place in the Biodome and it was used to access the archive that had countless old-world material. It linked the residents to their history, whether it was music, art, documentaries, movies, or tv shows... it was the entertainment of the old world, and it was one of the most important devices in the whole dome.

Scanning the screen, Chito noticed there was a section that had music written on it. "Yuu, do you remember those disc-shaped things grandpa had?"

"Yes, Chii-chan... but he could never make those strange disc work." Yuuri replied as Chito kept browsing the screen and looking through the music sections.

"I remember grandpa told us that each disc had a different collection of 'sound' on it that he said its called music, but we could never hear what was on it. I think this is that."

As she kept pressing the strange buttons on the screen, suddenly the whole room came to life with a type of sound they have never heard before or ever imagined existed. It was noisy but sounded so happy and full of life. The voice and collection of instruments coming from the speakers were from a girl that lived in another century and she sang in their language.

"Chii-chan, is this music?" Yuuri asked. "This is so wonderful!" she got up and stood up from the couch with a smile. "Makes me want to dance!"

"Yuu, let's dance together!" Chito suggested. "Just like we danced that time under the moonlight!"

Grabbing her hand she embraced Yuuri. They both started turning around and around jumping and laughing with happiness. It felt as if the world around them was spinning and it felt fantastic. They haven't felt this happy and safe in a long time. Hopping around they were both careful not to fall. "WOOOOOOOOOO!" Yuuri yelled and closed her eyes.

They kept jumping on and on, they felt like the happiest girls on this whole planet. They shined like the brightest star in the universe. They kept on jumping and dancing to the craziest set of sounds they'd ever heard in their life. It was music made in a century that passed a long time ago. The voice and the people playing the instruments have long passed away, but their music, their voice, and their message of love, hope, peace, and happiness lived on, stored in the archive that just like planet Earth, never refused to die. It was the set of sounds their grandpa wanted to hear for a long time while he lived on the outside, and they realized his dream. If he was their guardian angel, they only hoped he could hear the music and see how happy it made them.

From all that dancing, Yuuri suddenly tripped and pulled Chito down on the floor. Laying on top of each other both of them felt exhausted from all the dancing. Gazing into each other's eyes they always knew how much they meant to each other and that they wanted to spend an eternity together.

"Chii-chan we made it!" Yuuri spoke laying on top of Chito. "We are finally home." Both of their eyes were full of happiness. Gently she caressed Chito's cheek and leaned to kiss her lips. She hasn't kissed them since that day on the outside when she promised that they would find a home and happiness together. And they fulfilled that promise. They were finally safe and happy. The song went on and on as the girls kept kissing in a pleasant tranquil, laying on the ground in an embrace, never wanting to let go. They were the happiest souls in the world. Even after the difficulties of their journey and the losses they endured, here they were dancing to this odd music from the old world and eating hotpot in the comfort of their new home.

° ° °

The rest of the evening they spent cuddling into each other under a blanket on the couch, and listening to music from all around the world and different centuries. Some songs felt sad, some felt happy, some felt heartbreaking, and some felt like random rhythmical noises that Chito thought could make you dance without even trying.

The next song that played felt mystical and almost out of this world, the person in the song sang in a language that seemed to have been forgotten a really long time ago.

"Chii-chan..." Yuuri spoke from underneath the blanket as they both were cuddled underneath "What is this person singing?"

"Ummm... I don't know." Chito replied. She was puzzled as to what language this was and she couldn't understand what they were singing about. "I have no idea it's probably words from a foreign language, the song just came up all of a sudden." She answered before she turned to Yuuri, she had tears in her eyes.

"Chii-chan... this is so - beautiful..." Yuuri rarely ever cried but it seemed like this piece of music moved her profoundly. "It's not like the music we danced to, but it just sounds magical - like that song we heard Nuko's family sing. It feels like a song of the world... I can't understand why something so beautiful - would cease to exist in the world outside." she sniffled as tears streamed down her face. "I mean... why did people instead of wars - make beautiful music like this?" she asked and cuddled Chito even tighter. "Why was humanity so cruel to each other Chii-chan? Why didn't they - make beautiful music - like this - instead of killing each other?"

Chito never expected that music could make Yuuri cry. "It puzzles me as well, Yuu, I will never understand it as well," she replied. "People seem to take solace in music back in the old days, even when they were feeling down and even when they were happy. Grandpa told me that he read that music made the world a beautiful place and it showed us that humanity was able to do many beautiful things - But... hatred and weapons won Yuu... not beautiful music like this. Grandpa really wanted to hear music but he never could. He told me that people all around the world sang and made music and it made them happy, but all that happiness could never cure the world out of hatred and wars. The people used to sing and make music until the day they made weapons so they can kill each other. The wars never stopped and music was powerless Yuu..."

° ° °

It was sometime before midnight and Chito and Yuuri started feeling sleepy on the couch. They decided to have a bath before going to bed and Chito helped Yuuri walk to the bathroom. Carefully taking Yuuri's clothes off she helped her sit down on a stool next to the bath where the shower faucet was.

"Chii-chan... it's been ages since we've taken a bath together." Yuuri spoke with a smile as she sat down naked on a stool in front of her. "The last time was after we turned the Kettenkrad into a bathtub."

"Oh yeah, your memory is getting so much better Yuu!" Chito said as she also started taking her clothes off in front of her. However, it suddenly occurred to her this was the first time they were naked together after they shared their feelings for each other. This seemed to be an unavoidable predicament as Chito promised to help Yuuri take a bath until she got her prosthetic leg.

"Err...." Chito blushed heavily as she covered herself with her hands. "Ummm..... errrr...." she continued before Yuuri stared at her puzzled.

"Chii-chan - you shouldn't feel embarrassed. It's not like the first time we've taken a bath together." Yuuri spoke and smiled. "And hey! You've grown so much since last time!"

Chito blushed even more as she sat on a stool close to her covering herself "Well... it's all that food... and medication and vitamins up here... I think... we've grown much more and... errr... cmon! Don't look its.... kinda embarrassing..."

Yuuri blushed again before she took the shower handle and handed it to Chito. " I think that is why the people up here are so tall and nice-looking, they have so much food and those vitamin thingies to help them grow."

Still blushing from embarrassment Chito turned the faucet on as warm water ran out of the handle and directed it at Yuuri's hair. Using shampoo she ran her hand through Yuuri's silky blond hair.

"Mmm... this smells so nice. What is it Chii-chan?"

"It's called shampoo, we didn't have any outside besides some bar of soap - we even had to ration that..." she helped washed it off on Yuuri as she pointed the shower handle to herself. The nice warm water flowed through her whole body, scrubbing her hair with the same shampoo after washing it off.

"Mmm... I wonder how much we must have stunk when they found us outside... we haven't bathed in such a long time." Yuuri replied and giggled.

"I didn't mind your smell, Yuu... you always smelled... so nice!" Chito blushed again after she helped Yuuri get off the stool and gently lowered her into the wide bath.

"Ahhhh.... so warm" both of them exhaled after Chito lay comfortably in the bath opposite Yuuri. Being so close to each other naked always felt warm and comfortable for their hearts.

But since they confessed their love, Chito felt overwhelmed with a different kind of feeling looking at Yuuri's nude body. It evoked some strange emotions in her that she never felt before.

"Was she always this beautiful?" Chito thought to herself as Yuuri sat opposite her with her eyes closed and a wide satisfied smile. "She has... always been such a gorgeous girl and, I never thought about that before..." She kept reddening and her heart kept pounding even faster, too afraid to even move seated close to this beautiful girl.

"Chii-chan, we've bathed together forever you shouldn't be so jumpy!" Yuuri spoke and let out a chuckle before she got close to Chito in the bath, her nude body was now pretty close to Chito's. "Ahhh... sooo warm..." she smiled closing her eyes again.

Red-faced Chito sat stiffly like a rock beside her. Indeed they haven't bathed together since she turned the broken Kettenkrad into a bathtub. But it always felt relaxing and safe when they were together in a bath like this.

"Mmm... Chii-chan we should take a bath together almost every day now, it feels so nice." Yuuri said as she dipped her head down in the water and playfully blew bubbles. Chito was still flooded with these strange emotions, her heart could have completely burst out of her chest. Trying not to think about it, she took a sponge from the side of the bathtub and turned back to Yuuri. "Yuu, can you turn around so I can scrub your back?"

"Mmm... sure..." Yuuri smiled and turned around with her back facing Chito.

Blushing even more, Chito placed the sponge on her back and gently started scrubbing her. "Even her back... she is so beautiful and gentle..." She thought to herself both of them feeling contempt in the warm bath. Sharing these moments even on the outside always felt special to her. "I... just... love her so much."

"Chii-chan... I'm gonna fall asleep like this..." Yuuri smiled as she laid her back comfortably on Chito. It seemed impossible, but Chito turned even redder than before, she knew that she had to help her with a bath every day but somehow it felt so strange for her at this moment. "What do I do?" Chito thought to herself as she stood still. "It will pass... it's nothing much... we are just taking a bath as we've always done."

Laying inside the bathtub, Chito and Yuuri both enjoyed the warm water in complete silence until Yuuri had a new request "Chii-chan... mmm...can you rub my - "

Completely flustered and red-faced, Chito jumped out of the bath...
"I---- think that's enough bath for today... let's dry up..." she uttered and ran outside.

" - shoulders???" Even more puzzled than before Yuuri looked at the girl that stormed out of the bath in the nude. "Geeze what's with Chito today? Maybe it's the beer again!" she thought to herself before she returned with a towel and threw it on Yuuri's head from across the bathroom.

"Heee... I need to... scrub your hair and... I need to dress you for bed as well..." Chito still completely flustered kept stuttering. She already covered herself in a bathrobe before she helped Yuuri out of the bath and scrubbed her wet body while sitting on a chair outside the bathroom.

"Chii-chan, did you drink too much of that beer drink tonight?" Yuuri asked her with a puzzled expression.

"NO! You had too much beer! Not me no!" she answered and continued wiping her body with the towel averting her eyes. "Here you can put some new underwear..." Chito was unsure what these strange feelings were, and maybe seeing Yuuri like that brought out some crazy emotions that she couldn't control. Her heart continued pounding faster than an automobile engine, as Yuuri continued dressing up in underwear and pajamas waiting for Chito to help her up again.

"Chii-chan... Chiii-chan..." Yuuri smiled and gently held her hands out to her wanting to calm her down. "Don't worry Chii-chan. I know what you felt," she spoke and suddenly her face turned red as well. "Well - I kinda felt the same thing when we were bathing and errr... I guess one day when we are ready we will know what to do in this situation." She must have had these same feelings as well the moment when they were together inside the bathtub, but she didn't want to show them.

"I am sorry Yuu, I hope you don't think bad of me... but just seeing you like that... I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world." Chito replied still flustered from the strange feelings she had for her partner.

Yuuri blushed even more as she gently stared into her eyes "Chii-chan, I can say the same about you... you were always the most beautiful girl to me..."

"But I want us to take baths together I don't mind..." Chito spoke. " I guess the beer was at fault tonight."

"But Chii-chan, you barely drank a full gla ---"

"Shhhhhh... Yuuri..." Chito gently placed her hand on Yuuri's mouth "It was the beer."

° ° °

After Chito helped dry their hair with a hairdryer, already dressed for bed they moved together to one of the larger bedrooms. The room had a big double bed, dresser, another black screen device on the wall, and just on the side of the wall another window with shutter blinds that looked into their garden. The whole atmosphere of the room felt comfortable and safe.

"You can sleep in this room if you want, Yuu. I know we don't have bunk beds as we planned, but just look how big the bed is." Chito suggested as she helped Yuuri lay down on the bed. Yuuri playfully took a pillow from under her head and snugged it.

"Chii-chan... the bed is even comfier than the one at the hospital." Yuuri chuckled as she lay back down on the bed and sniffed the pillow "...and the pillow smells sooo nice... and my hair is sooo silky and smells nice too." she kept giggling as Chito wanted to help tuck her in.

"Stay still Yuu! I have to tuc - " abruptly she got smashed by a pillow that Yuuri swung at her and fell on the bed from the force.

"It's war Chii-chan!" she threw the other pillow to Chito who now had an annoyed look on her face as she found herself on top of the bed.

Taking the pillow she smashed Yuuri with it. "Yuu! You are still a crazy girl!" she exclaimed giggling as both of them smashed the pillows from each other, before they both lay down on the bed exhausted.

"Yuu - I remembered those exact words you said to me. When you pointed the rifle at me. I still don't understand why did you do that!" Chito asked her as she lay still on the bed exhaling fast. "You scared me so much, I thought you wanted to kill me."

"Chii-chan... I felt so horrible after that but... I wanted you to realize that I was worried you never wanted to carry a gun with you and I wanted you to be able to defend yourself if I died out there. Grandpa always told us how dangerous it was outside and that outsiders killed each other for food. I never even had the finger on the trigger." Yuuri replied laying still on the comfortable pillows. "And it hurt every time you punched me, or that time you threw a wrench at me."

"Yuu... we both have done things that we feel horrible about and it's just that's how that world outside made us." She held out her hand and gently held Yuuris'. "I felt at the time that slapping or punching you was the right thing to do because you made mistakes and seeing that side of you when you pointed your rifle at me and when you fired the rocket from the war machine scared me so much... but I made mistakes too and I realize that... I was wrong to do that and... I am so sorry... Yuu... I never wanted to hurt you..."

"Chii-chan, that is all in the past, and now we can just enjoy the rest of our lives up here... we don't need to do that anymore," Yuuri replied as she squeezed back Chito's hand laying still on that bed. "We don't need the rifle or weapons anymore."

"Anyway. It's way past bedtime." Chito said as she got up from the bed. "I will go sleep in the other room."

"Chii-chan!" Yuuri gently held out her hand and grabbed Chito's pajama. "Don't go - please sleep next to me!" Yuuri asked.

"But... my nightmares will just wake you up Yuu. And I keep swaying my arms around in my dreams..." Chito replied before Yuuri spoke again. "I don't want to hurt you again."

"I don't mind Chii-chan. I know we are finally safe but - I am still afraid of being alone in the dark and when you sleep next to me I feel so much safer," she replied still holding her pajama

Chito let out a sigh and she lay on the bed next to her. "I guess - I can't sleep without you as well Yuu. Even back at the hospital, I couldn't..." she replied and snuggled next to her.

"Chii-chan, maybe you should take that pill that Reo gave to you, so you don't have nightmares!" Yuuri suggested.

"They just make me feel really weird. I think he said it's something called medical 'cannabis' and supposed to help me with my condition."

"Oh Chii-chan, what's a 'cannabis'?" Yuuri asked her back.

"I think it's just a plant, they seem to really like it up here at the dome. I don't know what else they use it for besides medication and building materials. Oh by the way I wanted to show you these earlier." Next to the bed was another box that Chito carried with her from the hospital. "It's another box of letters from Itsuki and Yasuo before the bridge to the village collapsed. I haven't gone through them all."

"Oooh... I remember you told me about those letters."

"Mhmm... Reo gave them to me after Mieko chased us away from the hospital. There were so many things that they wanted to tell their friends and family up here." Chito answered as she kept scouring through the whole pile of letters.

"Chii-chan I hope I can learn to read them all one day, I want to read by myself what grandpa was writing all those years to his family," Yuuri replied when something from one of the letters fell on the bed beside them, it looked like an old photograph.

Gently Chito reached around and took the photograph in her hands. It was a photograph of a man and a woman holding a baby, behind them looked like their first home at the bottom layer.

"Chii-chan, who is that?" Yuuri curiously asked while Chito kept intently gazing at the photograph. "Oooh... the girl in the picture looks a lot like you! She looks so beautiful - just like you!"

Chito kept looking into the photograph transfixed into those eyes frozen in time. It appeared to be a photograph of her father and her mother holding her while she was still just a tiny baby. They both were beautiful and when she gazed at those eyes of her mother, it felt like she was looking into a mirror. Her mother looked a lot like her, with the same black hair but she wore it with a single pin. In the picture both of them were smiling and full of life, holding their newborn daughter in their hands. Even if life was difficult for them on the outside, they were so happy and brimming with life holding their beautiful daughter whom they decided to name Chito a long time ago. Sadly they never expected that soon after they would depart from this world leaving their only daughter behind.

Looking down at the photograph, droplets of tears started falling from Chito's eyes.

"Chii-chan?" Yuuri asked her puzzled as she snuggled her closer "What's wrong?"

"It's them" Chito spoke with a heavy voice, she started wailing loudly before she raised her arm and cried into it. "- It's my... my mom... my dad... Why did they have to die - Yuu?" she asked as she continued crying. She never remembered them when she was a child and instead their picture survived the journey up to the last layer.

Even if Chito and Yuuri survived and went through hell to find their home and both of them were turning into young adults, she still wanted the protection of a family. She also wanted grandpa to come on the journey with them as well, but they were dead a long time ago leaving Chito and Yuuri alone to survive this harsh world.

"Chii-chan..." Yuuri snuggled her closer. "Your mom and dad - they lived and were happy as well. Even grandpa lived and was happy all his life as well out there with us. They gave me the most beautiful girl in the world, and she saved my life so many times and she makes me so happy every day that I am awake."

"Yuu... I am so... terrified!" No matter how much she tried to stay strong Chito felt like crying was the easiest thing she could do to express her inner turmoil. Even since they lost the Ketternkrad that saved their lives she couldn't stop crying. "...What if this is all a dream - I don't want to wake up out there again - I really don't want to be ever out there again - I don't want to live in a world where you are not by my side - Yuu! What would I have done if you never woke up and - you are still sleeping forever on that bed? I - I --" she wept loudly in her lover's arms. They both paid a huge price to be here together, and that time while Yuuri was in a coma, it shattered her spirit and her heart in millions of pieces as her inner turmoil kept living on.

"Chii-chan... please don't cry. I am here, right next to you and you are wide awake - my sweetheart." Yuuri snugged her close "If you want we can go outside one day where they found us and you can see that we are not out there in the snow anymore. Chii-chan... we are here - we are home. Please, my love - don't cry - please" Yuuri couldn't stop the tears in her eyes as well and softly started crying. She couldn't bear to see Chito like this anymore and no matter how much she wanted, she just really wanted them to be happy from now on. No one could hurt them anymore,

"Yuu... I am so sorry." Chito replied as she slowly composed herself in her arms "I - love you - I don't know what I would have done without you. Please don't ever leave me again - "

"I love you too, Chii-chan." Yuuri replied as she brushed Chito's tears off. "I feel the same way, I would never leave you alone... Chii-chan - we have a future up here and I want to grow old together with you. We have a family as well that cares deeply about us and I really like them as well. Chii-chan, please don't cry... Chii-chan, I am here - next to you - I will never leave you..."

Laying together cuddled on that warm bed, both of them felt contempt in each other's arms as they fell asleep. Even if Chito's inner turmoil kept living on, she always felt safe in Yuuri's arms, even when they were out there in the cold.

° ° °

"Chito... Chito... You have to wake up." Itsuki was in the driver seat of the Kettenkrad, they both drifted away in sleep the hour before. Chito was in the back slowly opening her eyes as she gazed upon the cold derelict world outside. It was 3 days since they left their village after a group of outsiders attacked. Both Itsuki and Chito managed to escape with everything they could carry, just before the fighting started. As they drove away, they could hear the gunshots in the distance.

Itsuki feared for Chito's life and he had to help her escape. Life in the village was no longer safe and they took all the food they could carry in the Kettenkrad.

"Uhh... Grandpa... what's wrong?" Chito brushed her eyes and slowly got up from underneath her blanket. She was sleeping in the back of the Kettenkrad and had the most peculiar dream where she was with a girl she never has seen before in her life called 'Yuuri', and they lived at some odd place at top of the world.

"We have to drive as fast as we can, I think I heard motorcycles in the rear, I fear that maybe we have been followed!" Itsuki started the engine as fast as he could and started driving straight down the derelict road filled with snow. Rows of houses and snow piled up the dead horizon as the clouds above covered up the whole sky, the large layered city was out there in the distance.

"Just in case, do you remember how to use your pistol Chito?" Itsuki asked her back, as Chito took out a 'Nambu Pistol Model 14' from underneath her blanket and inspected it. She never wanted to use a gun in her life and was disturbed by them, but Itsuki instructed her to use it and never think twice in case there is a danger. "Just point and shoot Chito... if they want to hurt me or they want to hurt you. Just squeeze the trigger and... don't think... don't look at them afterward."

Soon after the sound of the motorcycles seemed to get even closer. With a panicked expression, Itsuki parked the vehicle near an abandoned house and quickly killed the engine. Itsuki knew that the motorcycles were faster than the Kettenkrad and could easily overtake them, especially when they were overcapacity with supplies. He felt it was time to make a stand, to protect both their lives if they were going to make the long journey up to the city in the sky.

"Chito, take your pistol and hide in the house! I will wait for them here with my rifle." Itsuki loudly gave an order to Chito as she got out of the vehicle and looked at him

"But grandpa - ".

"I didn't ask for a reply Chito - Go hide in the house! NOW! And don't come out unless I call you! And remember... Squeeze the trigger and don't think..." Itsuki was ready with his rifle and hid behind the Kettenkrad, as Chito ran inside the house and frantically looked for a place to hide. She saw a flipped-over table close by and hid right behind it. Holding her breath she kept waiting and listening to see what will happen.

"It's going to be alright..." she kept repeating to herself shaking from fear and holding her pistol tight in her hand. "It's going to be alright..."

The sound of the motorcycles grew louder and Chito could hear the first shot. The first shot was the familiar sound of the rifle that Itsuki used. That was just before a full-blown firefight went outside and after a few shots were fired, Chito could hear a man that sounded like Itsuki suddenly cry out from pain.

"Where is the girl? You sack of shit!" a different voice belonging to a man spoke.

"She died - you shot her at the village - how can you be so cruel to do this to innocent kids?"

"LIAR!" a loud thump and the man that sounded like Itsuki yelped from pain again as someone must have hit him forcefully. "WHERE IS SHE? IF SHE IS DEAD HOW COME YOU HAVE SO MUCH STUFF WITH YOU???"

"F... fuck... you... you shot my brother! Go fucking die in a hole you piece of s-" another loud gunshot - and then deafening silence.

"You - girl - grab his rifle and search the house. If she has a weapon don't hesitate to shoot her!"

Chito kept hiding and holding her breath trying not to cry. She kept shaking from fear. She could hear footsteps through the house. After some time, someone forcefully pushed the table just where she was hiding. Closing her eyes she pointed her pistol at the person right in front of her.

Suddenly Chito yelped from pain, the person must have kicked the pistol right off her hands. With tears in her eyes, she looked up at the person standing above her. The person was a tall girl about her age, with blond hair and blue eyes. She pointed her grandfather's rifle directly at her head. Chito scuffled back crying from fear and kept looking up at the girl. The girl with a dead stare looked at her expressionless.

It occurred to Chito that this was the girl from her dreams, the one she shared so many special moments in her life and even a whole journey up to the last layer.

"Yu - Yuuri?" Chito asked the girl who kept pointing Itsuki's rifle at her.

"Who?" the girl asked still with the same dead expression. She must have felt assertive pointing the rifle at the defenseless girl in front of her.

"Yuuri - It's me... Chito..."

"My name is not Yuuri. I've never met you in my life. We were sent to kill your grandfather because he caused all kinds of trouble for many years... And we are supposed to take you with us..." she sighed before she continued speaking "But for some reason, I really just want to kill you, watch you die slowly and bleed out like everyone else we killed at the village." The girl replied with a grin starving from this cold-blooded hunger to take someone's life away. All this time she had the rifle pointed at Chito. She was not the Yuuri from her dreams, but a cold-blooded murderer.

"No Yuuri... you are not like that... I love you - you are the kindest girl I've -" Chito yelped again from pain as the girl kicked her head forcefully.

"Shut up... you little shit!" the girl exclaimed and pushed her up against the wall.

"Please... Yuuri... please don't kill me... please..." Chito continued weeping and begged for her life, as the girl standing above looked at her with cold eyes.

"Little girl, this is war. Not even pretty girls like us are spared," she exclaimed before she reloaded Itsuki's rifle and pointed it dead center at her eyes. "Believe me I am doing you a favor, you will be with your grandfather soon and I get to watch you die! It's a win-win situation on both fronts don't you think?"

The girl squeezed the trigger of the rifle. A sudden loud bang split the dead silence in two. With an evil grin, the girl threw Itsuki's smoking rifle on the ground just beside where Chito was laying. Just close to her was where she kicked Chito's pistol off and she leaned down to take it into her hands inspecting it carefully.

"Just kidding..." the girl spoke. "Believe me... dying from hunger is even worse. I hope you enjoy every single second of that, you dumb shit!" the girl chuckled and walked off from the room outside where the others from her group were waiting.

"What happened?" the voice of a man outside asked, just as the girl walked out. "Where is the girl?"

"Hey, calm down. The girl had a gun pointed at me, I had to shoot her."

"Where is the rifle then?"

"Well, it jammed and blew up right in her dumb face. Her head is all over the place, I wouldn't go inside if I were you!" she replied chuckling.

"Shit.. well we can take the vehicle and all of the supplies with us. Leave them here to rot."

After a few minutes, the Kettenkrad and the rest of the motorcycles came to life as the group seemed to have driven away. It was dead silence once again.

Chito covered herself with her arms and wept loudly inside the house just after the group drove off. She kept waiting in vain for Itsuki to call her out, but it felt like there was not a living soul outside. She got up with her bloodied face and started walking with difficulty, still crying when she saw Itsuki laying down on the ground covered in blood.

"Grandpa!" Chito screeched as she fell over his body and wept even louder "Grandpa! Wake up! Please!" she kept nudging him and kept trying to wake him up, but he lay peacefully down on the ground, covered in a pool of blood. "Don't leave me, grandpa..." Chito kept weeping, laying her head down on his body unsure what was going to happen to her next.

She had no supplies, no means of transportation up to the last layer, and the only person that ever cared about her in the world, lay dead on the cold ground. Her head hurt like hell and she felt like the whole world rotated around her. She couldn't understand why the beautiful girl from her dreams would hit her head forcefully and even try to kill her. Chito kept weeping until she couldn't keep conscious anymore and fell on top of Itsuki's body.

Some time must have passed because when she regained consciousness, she found herself in a different kind of place. Her head didn't hurt anymore and Itsuki was nowhere to be seen. She kept looking around to see where she was but all there was a flat horizon, a stairwell, and a square stone monument just close by. The only source of light seemed to be the stars above her. In the dead distance there seemed to be no one else, all she could hear was the sound of a loud electrical buzz coming from the square block.

Carefully she got up from the cold ground and started walking towards the block. The sound of electricity grew even louder and louder as she approached it until it was almost ear-piercing. The square block seemed to be calling out to her to come closer and closer. She reached out and gently touched the block. In a matter of nanoseconds, she was transported to a different kind of place and the sound of electricity stopped.

The only thing she could see was the evening sun and lots of yellow plants spread across her. She found herself in a large field of wheat, the stone block stood just behind her. This odd new place seemed to have been somewhere else in the world and she had never seen any place like it before.

Walking calmly through the field she finally reached the edge of the wheat field and walked right out of it. Looking around again, the sea in front of her stretched through the far horizon and there was a motorcycle close by with a bench that someone slept on.

Discreetly Chito moved closer to see who the person was on the bench. The girl on the bench had dark hair similar to hers and lay down on her backpack, snoring softly. She had something in her ears and in her hand, she held a book with the words 'Catch 22' written in Japanese.

Chito was even more puzzled looking at the girl. The girl looked exactly like herself except she was tanned and wore some kind of weird clothes that people in the 21st century probably wore, with flip-flops on her feet.

The girl on the bench stopped snoring and woke up mumbling. Brushing her eyes she sat up on the bench and looked at Chito who was wearing the usual army clothes that she had on her journey on the outside layer. They both looked at each other with equal confusion, before the other girl smiled and said.

"Oh, Hey! I haven't seen you in my dreams in like - a really long time."

(Continued in Chapter 10
(Latest Revision 10th December 2022)