Fixing Errors

“Did you find him?” the older woman asked, unaware of what the other two had just seen on the tablet’s screen.

Nami looked at Atsushi expectantly. Usually prepared for everything, the golden-lipped man seemed, for once in his life, at a loss for words. This was not a technical issue that could be solved by programming, nor a problem that could vanish with enough money in the bank.

It was a delicate matter, which meant it was a moment for Nami to truly provide the help she had offered.

“Miss, we will take you to the help point first, okay? Then we’ll call your family member.”

“I swear, that husband of mine—he should stop behaving like a kid, at least in public. But then again, that’s why I fell in love with him. Despite his flaws. You understand that, don’t you, dear?”

Despite not verbally approving the brunette’s plan, the older woman moved along, which was enough for Nami to accept it as a positive signal to proceed. Atsushi didn’t question it either; it seemed he was happy to let her take charge in this case without any objections.

The three of them started walking towards the festival’s help point while the older lady kept talking about her husband and her stories from youth. It wasn’t hard to tell these were all events from the past, despite her recounting them as if they had happened just weeks ago. The way the older woman spoke about her soulmate warmed Nami’s heart but also made the guilt she occasionally felt even heavier.

Was she good enough as a partner for Tsukasa to someday tell those kinds of stories about her? Did they even have meaningful moments worthy of sharing with future generations?

“We’re here. Just sit down for a moment. We’ll take care of the rest,” Nami informed the woman once they reached their destination.

“How sweet of you. You and your boyfriend remind me so much of me and my husband.”

“We’re not—just wait here, okay?” The pianist stopped herself from explaining her relationship with Atsushi to clear up the misunderstanding. It was no use, anyway; the poor lady would probably forget about this encounter soon, so there was no harm in her thinking she and the blond man were dating.

The reason for this was definitely not Nami not minding someone thinking that way.

She had a more important task at hand: finding someone from the old woman’s family. Considering her condition, Nami doubted the lady could have come all this way alone. Especially after they brought her to the help point. Her physical state was fine but clearly not suited for longer trips, at least not on her own.

Once the brunette spotted Atsushi by the desk, she walked toward him.

“I already asked the staff to make a voice announcement,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “Thanks for taking charge of this one. I can handle talking most of the time, but I tend to freeze when something surprises me. Silly of me, I know.”

“Hey, I was the one who offered help, so I’m glad I could actually do something,” she chuckled, trying to ease the slight tension. “And it’s good that you have some flaws. Other than being annoying, that is.”

“Hey!” he said, pretending to be angry but failing to keep up the act and starting to chuckle instead.

Before either of them could say more, a nervous-looking woman arrived, breathing unevenly as if she had just run a marathon. “I’m sorry, I heard my mom is here and I…” she paused to take a deeper breath.

“If you came because of the announcement, she’s sitting right here, drinking tea,” Nami said, reassuringly pointing in the right direction with her whole hand.

“Oh, thank goodness. Mom!” The woman, who had regained some energy, rushed toward the older lady. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. God knows what could have happened.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Asami.”

“That’s not my—nevermind,” the younger woman said, then turned to Nami and Atsushi. “Thank you so much for taking care of my mother. It was really irresponsible of me to leave her, even for a minute.”

“It wasn’t much of a problem, really. We were a bit surprised at first. She thought she was with, um…” Nami hesitated, unsure how to address the topic without being insensitive.

“With my dad. I know. She loves talking about him. It’s quite ironic, really.”

“How so?” Nami asked.

“It’s just—she was apparently so against the Soullet system at first. She and my dad fought like cats and dogs in the beginning. They were far from a perfect couple; they argued a lot. But it was always touching to see how they made up every single time.”

“That sounds lovely,” Nami replied.

It was rare these days to hear stories about people defying or disliking the current system, especially in such a public space. The club Atsushi had taken her to was an entirely different matter. To think that, back in the day, people weren’t so focused on being perfect couples. It must have been such a freeing feeling—not being scared of making mistakes as a girlfriend or boyfriend.

“Ah, I’m rambling. Once again, thank you two! I’ll take my mom back home!”

“You’re welcome.”

With that, the older woman and her daughter left.

“Glad we got that sorted out,” Atsushi said, standing beside Nami. “We should probably head back and—” Before he could finish, his tablet started beeping with the generic sound of a FaceTime call. The blond man didn’t hesitate to answer.

“The error should be fixed now, boss! We made sure to prevent this type of issue in the future as well,” said the man on the other end, reporting on the fiasco from earlier.

Nami immediately looked down at her Soullet and sure enough, it was glowing gold as it has been in the past few months.

“Good job, guys,” Atsushi replied. “I’ll still run some tests next week and think of other possible errors, but for now, keep things stable. See ya.”

As the call ended, Atsushi’s shoulders slumped, and he looked visibly more relaxed. “Guess we won’t have to go back to the crowd. Which is perfect—I’m getting hungry. What do you say to some ramen? My treat.”

“You know what? That actually sounds good!”

But just as they were about to leave the festival, it seemed their evening was not meant to end peacefully. A couple rushed in, clearly distressed. The woman, especially, exclaimed something neither Atsushi nor Nami could have expected.

“Excuse me, they announced the error has been fixed, but it can’t be,” she said, raising her hand. Her wrist was adorned with a Soullet that was glowing white. “Just yesterday, it was glowing gold!”