My Future Boyfriend

For the next ten minutes, I tried to understand why an interdimensional angel had looked at me and immediately chosen violence.

I came up with three possibilities.

One: it knew I wasn't the chosen one.

Two: it didn't like my face.

Three: Celestials were assholes.

I was leaning toward three.

“It went after that man too,” Claire said.

“Maybe it didn't like his face either.”

“He was carrying something.”

I remembered it then. Something golden had been clutched against his chest when he ran past us.

A Treasure?

Before I could think about it any further, the ruins opened into a wide circular courtyard. And suddenly, there were treasures everywhere.

A jeweled crown rested on a pedestal. A sword with a crystal blade leaned against a broken column. Golden coins spilled from an open chest nearby.

I stopped pushing Claire.

“No way.”

“Don't.”

“I wasn't going to do anything.”

“You were already walking toward them.”

I looked down. I was.

“Observation purposes.”

“Sure.”

Everyone knew the stories about false Treasures. Supposedly, most of the treasures scattered throughout this place were traps. Take one, and the Infinite Hole threw you back into reality without your memories.

Which meant the safest thing to do was obvious. Don't touch anything.

Easy.

Then I heard his voice.

“Louise.”

My entire body froze.

No. There was absolutely no way. I slowly turned around. A boy stood beneath one of the white arches.

Black hair fell perfectly over his forehead. A silver earring hung from his left ear. He wore a black jacket I recognized immediately.

I'd watched the music video two hundred and thirty-seven times. Three hundred and thirty-eight if watching it at 0.5x speed counted separately.

And honestly? He'd look pretty good next to a short American girl with messy copper-red curls, green eyes, a few freckles across her nose, and excellent taste in music.

Purely hypothetically, of course.

“Ren...?”

He smiled. That smile. That stupid little half-smile. My heart stopped. Ren Hayashi walked toward me.

“Louise,” he said again. “I've been waiting for you.”

I knew it.

I KNEW IT.

Somewhere deep inside, I'd always known there was something connecting us. Something beyond countries, languages, fame, common sense, and the minor technicality that we'd never met.

Destiny.

“Who's that?” Claire asked.

I turned so fast I nearly hurt my neck.

“Who's that?! That's Ren Hayashi!”

She stared at him. Then at me.

“Okay.”

“OKAY?!”

“What do you want me to say?”

“He's one of the biggest J-pop idols in the world!”

“And he's inside an Infinite Hole?”

I looked back at Ren. That was… a reasonable question. But Ren smiled at me again.

Reason abandoned me.

“Love finds a way.”

Claire stared at me.

“I don't think that's what that means.”

Ren extended his hand.

“Come with me.”

My brain stopped functioning. He wanted me to go with him.

Me. Louise. Lo. Future Mrs. Hayashi, potentially.

I took a step.

“Lo.”

“Not now.”

Another.

“Lo.”

“Claire, please. This is a very important moment in my life.”

“How does he know your name?”

I stopped.

Ren's hand was inches away from mine. My smile slowly disappeared.

Oh. Right. He definitely shouldn't know that.

Ren's face flickered.

For less than a second, his smile stretched too far. I jumped backward. His body dissolved into golden light. Where Ren had been standing, a small golden pendant floated above the ground.

A false Treasure.

I stared at it. Then at the empty space where the love of my life had just disappeared.

“That was cruel.”

Claire sighed.

“You almost got yourself kicked out of another dimension because a boy smiled at you.”

“You don't know what we had.”

“You had nothing.”

“Exactly. They took it from us before it could begin.”

A low hum echoed through the courtyard. I knew that sound.

“Oh, come on.”

Golden light appeared between the pillars. The Celestial stepped into view. Its six eyes opened. All six immediately found me.

“WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH ME?!”

The rings behind its head began spinning. Claire pointed down the path.

“Run first. Complain later.”

For once, I didn't argue. I grabbed her chair and ran.

We didn't stop until the ruins were far behind us. The Celestial had stopped following the moment we'd gotten away from the false Treasure.

“I think they're protecting the Treasures.”

“Maybe.”

Something slipped from my pocket. Claire picked it up before I could react.

My photocard.

“Who's this?”

I snatched it from her hand.

“Don't touch him.”

She looked at the card. Then at me. Then back at the card.

“Your boyfriend?”

I held Ren against my chest.

“Not yet.”

Claire went silent. I didn't like that silence.

“You were going to use the real Treasure on him, weren't you?”

“What?! No! I came here for Grandpa!”

She kept staring.

“And?”

I looked away.

“And nothing.”

“Lo.”

“There may have been secondary objectives.”

Her expression didn't change.

“Very small secondary objectives.”

“You wanted to rewrite reality so a celebrity would date you?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds bad.”

“How else am I supposed to say it?”

I carefully returned Ren to my pocket. Then something clicked.

The man and the golden object he'd been carrying. Me and Ren.

The Celestial had ignored Claire, Mochi, and two of the strangers. But it had attacked him. And me.

I slowly reached into my pocket. Ren smiled up at me from the photocard. Claire looked at it. Then at me.

“No.”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You're thinking about keeping it.”

“Of course I'm keeping it.”

“Lo.”

“It cost me twelve dollars.”

“Lo…”

“And shipping.”

She held out her hand. I clutched Ren against my chest.

“You can't be serious.”

“If the Celestials can sense what people want, carrying a picture of the guy you were planning to magically turn into your boyfriend probably isn't helping.”

I looked down at him. That stupid little half-smile. Those perfect black bangs. Two hundred and thirty-seven music video views. Three hundred and thirty-eight if the 0.5x viewing counted.

She was right. I hated that she was right. Slowly, painfully, I extended the photocard toward her.

“Take care of him.”

Claire took it.

“I'm throwing it away.”

“I know what I said.”

She walked her chair toward the edge of the path.

“Wait.”

She stopped.

“Just... give me a second.”

Claire sighed. I looked at Ren one last time. Perhaps this was how our story had to end.

Two souls separated not by distance, fame, or the fact that one of us didn't know the other existed… but by an interdimensional death angel that disapproved of our relationship.

“Goodbye, Ren.”

Claire threw the photocard toward the edge.

“REEEN!”

It fluttered over the abyss—

then a gust of wind caught it and carried it back onto the grass several feet away. I placed a hand over my heart.

If we're truly meant to be together, I'm sure the universe will find a way to reunite us.

Something moved beside Claire. Mochi opened her eyes. She stretched, hopped down from Claire's lap, and walked toward the photocard.

I blinked.

Mochi sniffed it. Then picked Ren up in her mouth. My eyes widened.

“No way.”

Claire looked at me. I pointed at Mochi.

“THE UNIVERSE ANSWERED!”

“That is a cat.”

“It answered really fast!”

Mochi started walking. My heart soared. I knew it.

Destiny.

She was bringing him back to me. My love had survived.

Nothing—not fame, not dimensions, not Celestials—

I frowned.

“Why is Mochi walking toward that cliff?”

Claire turned. Mochi reached the edge of the floating island.

“Mochi?”

The cat looked down. My soul left my body.

“Mochi.”

She opened her mouth. The photocard fell.

For one horrible second, I watched Ren Hayashi flutter peacefully through the endless blue beneath us. Then he disappeared into the clouds.

“...”

Mochi turned around and trotted back toward Claire. I stared at her. She rubbed against my leg.

“You.”

Mochi purred.

“I'M GOING TO KILL THAT CAT!”

“Don't threaten Mochi.”

“SHE KILLED REN!”

“He's not dead.”

“HE IS TO ME!”

Mochi jumped back onto Claire's lap, curled into a ball, and closed her eyes.

I pointed at her.

“Don't you dare go back to sleep!”

She went back to sleep.

A few moments later, I finally managed to regain my composure.

Mostly.

I was still going to hold a grudge against Mochi for the rest of her nine lives. Claire, apparently deciding that my mourning period was over, started rolling forward again.

“So if you actually find the real Treasure...” she said, “what are you going to wish for?”

I looked at her.

“Grandpa.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“I threw Ren away, didn't I?”

“Mochi threw Ren away.”

I looked at the sleeping criminal in her lap.

“With unnecessary cruelty.”

Claire smiled.

“So, Grandpa?”

“Grandpa,” I repeated firmly.

This time, I meant it.

Mostly.