"It's been a month since you've gotten out of the hospital... and we've done nothing yet! I'm bored!"

Theo was taken aback by Vera's inquiry. A month had already passed after he got released from the hospital, yet Theo still hadn't done anything worthwhile. They haven't gone to other places, traveled, or anything! Vera continued her rant in frustration.

"Honestly! You wanted to go outside, yet once you've had it, you never did anything but laze around all day." Her eyes softened. "Do you really want to stay like this?"

"No..."

"Then it's great! Let's go outside!"

Theo looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Let's find fun outside! I'll just ask Clarissa for permission." Vera happily skipped, searching for Clarissa's presence. 'Finally, I could get started on fulfilling their wishes.'

"Huh?"

---

"Where are we going?!" shouted Theo. Vera was forcefully pulling him with her. "Slow down!" Vera showed no signs of slowing down. "Hey! Are you even listening?"

Vera halted for a moment, and gave him a teasing grin. "I don't have a clue!"

"What!? Are you kidding me? You've dragged me outside, and you have no plans?"

"No, I'm not kidding. It'll be fun! Trust me!"

"How will it be fun, huh?"

"Don't you find fun in the unknown? To be as carefree without any worries, and enjoy the ride?" Theo remained silent. "I'll take that as a yes!"

Vera began dragging him with more fervor. "Hey! Slow down!"

Vera laughed loudly. "Never!"

---

"What are we doing here?" Theo stared wearily as they approached the town plaza.

"To stroll around!" said Vera with a cheerful smile. That smile dimmed slightly as she took notice of Theo's wary glance. "Why?"

"I... I have some... unfun memories here..." Theo remembered the times he spent with his father back when he was still present. 'Was his love... all of those... Were all of them a lie?' Theo was scared to find the answer to that. "I'd really rather not go here..."

"Is that so?" Theo really hoped that Vera would change her mind about going here. However, she did not. "Then let's just overwrite them with fun ones!"

"Huh?"

"Come on! Let's go! After all, it's my first time exploring the town!"

"Wait? You've haven't gone here before?"

"Yep!"

"Seriously!?"

"Yeah! That's why you should be the one taking the lead!"

"Fine!"

---

The first store they visited in the town was a shabby bookstore. When Vera asked why this was their first destination, Theo blushed and said:

"Don't judge me, I like bookstores."

Vera guffawed at his response. Theo turned even redder, and almost shouted, "Don't laugh at me!"

Vera just laughed even harder. Theo gave up after that.

---

Vera did enjoy their first destination, but it lacked something. Because of that, she forcibly dragged him away from there and demanded they go somewhere else.

"I'm sorry for my friend's antics," apologized Theo as Vera stood there impatiently with her arms crossed.

"It's okay, young lad." The store owner just smiled at them. "It's best you go now and avoid incurring the wrath of your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend!?" exclaimed Theo. "We're not---"

"Come on, Theo!" Vera dragged him outside the bookstore.

"Ah, young love."

---

After that, they just strolled around the town. There weren't much to see from the town, but Vera was enjoying herself so Theo let it be. After an hour of strolling, they went to the public market to grab some food.

They just acquired their food when Vera asked, "Hey. Theo."

"Hmm?"

"Why do you always ask your food to be like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"That." Vera pointed at his diced hamburger. "If it's not diced, it's bite-sized."

"Ah, you've noticed, huh?" Theo popped a piece of the diced hamburger inside of his mouth. He chewed for a moment and swallowed before answering. "It's just easier this way."

"You and your weird eating habits. What are you, a child?"

"No."

Vera just bit her own hamburger. Hopefully, Theo did not notice it was slightly more forceful than usual.

---

They casually strolled around the market as they waited for the food to settle down. Hers was left half-finished, as she grew tired of the burger. On the other hand, Theo asked for seconds.

"You don't like the food?"

"It's not like that, I just feel full."

"Is that so? You should finish it, you know?"

"But I'm full..."

"You still should finish it. Remember, there are people who have nothing to eat."

"You sound like my mother."

"What? But it's true!"

"Ugh! Fine! But I'll eat it later." Vera wrapped it with its packaging and stood up. She offered her hands at Theo. "Come on! We still have hours to burn!"

---

A large crowd was gathering somewhere inside the market they were in. Due to Vera's inquisitive (gossipy) nature, she went towards it, dragging Theo in the process.

"What are you doing?!"

"Haven't you noticed? There's a huge crowd!"

"So what?"

"I'm just curious!"

In the center of the commotion was a woman, elegantly sitting with a sleek guitar on her hands. Normally, this shouldn't result in drawing a huge crowd, but her performance was, for a lack of better words, breathtaking. Vera and Theo just arrived when she was about to wrap up her performance.

"Wow! This resulted into a way larger crowd than I expected. Thank you guys for watching!"

The crowd applauded and praised her.

"Of course, you're so talented!"

"I've never heard of such talent while performing on the streets!"

"How come you aren't famous yet?!"

"Thank you for the warm support! Now, I would've wrapped this up by now, but today's a special day! With that, I'll perform one last song, a duet, with one of you guys!"

The crowd exploded with excitement.

"Really?"

"I wish I would get picked!"

"You heard that, Theo?" Her elbow poked his side. "Isn't that fun?"

"I---"

"Now! For that special someone, he or she must have blue eyes! So all of those in the crowd that has blue eyes and is willing to sing with me, step here in the center now!"

"You heard that, Theo!?" Vera shook him with vigor. "That fits you!"

"B-but..."

Noticing Theo's reluctance, she gave him her cutest and largest pleading, teary eyes. "Please?"

He flushed in embarrassment. "Fine."

Vera cheered and pushed him towards the center. "Go Theo! You can do it!" She gave him two thumbs-up and a wide grin. Theo shook his head and sighed in exasperation. Once he was in the center, he surveyed his surroundings. There were around five other people who had blue eyes like him.

"Hmm... Looks like we've got quite a predicament here, huh?" The woman with the guitar scratched her head for a moment. She looked up for a moment. "I've got it! We should let the audience decide, by chance, of course!" She gave the crowd a cheerful grin. "Hey, you!" Her fingers pointed at Vera.

"Me?"

"Yes, you! Give me a letter!"

Theo's eyes widened as she saw Vera's eyes gleam with excitement. "T!"

"Okay! Those who have the letter T for the first letter of their first name, remain here!"

The five people grumbled in disappointment and walked away. Theo pretended to do the same, but Vera shouted loudly and pointed at him, "Hey! Theodore Marchyll! Stay there and perform! Don't be such a kill joy!" He felt his face burn in embarrassment.

'What are you doing, Vera!' He stood there rigidly.

"Ooooh, looks like we've got the winner!" The guitarist approached him. "Theodore, huh? Look's like you've got quite a girl there."

He sputtered in protest, "G-g-girl? W-w-we're---"

His protests fell on deaf ears. "Don't sweat it, Theodore! Just enjoy the moment, no?" Her head craned and looked for Vera. She pointed at the dumbfounded Theo beside him. "I'll just borrow him for a while! Don't get mad at him, huh? I promise it'll be quick!"

The crowd laughed at her joke, but Vera was clueless. "Huh? What are you saying? Borrow? But were---"

"Thank you, girl!" She blew the crowd a kiss and dragged him towards her seat. "Now, I'll let him decide what song we should sing." Her stare pierced through him. "Make sure that it's familiar, alright?"

"Huh?" Then it sank in. "A-a-a song?"

"Yes! Make it quick, we don't want the crowd to get bored, right?!"

The crowd affirmed it. "Yeah!"

Internally, Theo was panicking. 'What song should I choose? I don't even sing that greatly...'

He racked his brain for any idea. 'Anything, please? Brain, please work now.'

Then a song popped into his mind.

"Alright. Since I've got no choice," the crowd laughed. "I think you're familiar with this, so I chose..."

---

Vera was mesmerized. Scratch that, mesmerized would be too insufficient of a word to describe even a quarter of what she felt as she watched Theo sing with the lady. She looked around her, and saw the crowd enchanted by their performance as well. It was like he bared his soul for the world to see. She couldn't help but feel her tears fall as he poured everything on his soul.

A few minutes later, as all things do, their song came to its end. Theo was breathless. He tried to catch his breath as he let out the last note. Yes, he was nervous at the start of the performance, but he lost himself within the song's melody and let it carry him away. He opened his eyes, and saw the crowd's enthralled stares, before erupting into joyous cheers and applause.

The guitarist beside him took moments to come down from the adrenaline high of performing. "Wow..." The guitarist took hold of his hands. "That was AMAZING! Are you sure you haven't performed anywhere yet!?"

Theo scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm quite sure I haven't sung in such a large crowd before."

"Oh? How about performing with me regularly, huh? What do you think?"

The crowd cheered for them. "Yeah! We'd love to hear you perform again!"

"Work with her!"

"Uh, I... I'll have to refuse it, sadly..."

"Aw, how sad. That's a shame! I'd really love to have you as my partner, even just at the stage, seeing that..." The guitarist gestured at Vera.

"Huh? What are you saying?"

"Nothing!" The guitarist just laughed at his expense. She then faced the crowd. "That's it, folks! The last performance for today. Hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you again, soon. Bye!"

The crowd dissipated, leaving Vera and Theo standing there.

"Wow, that was amazing, Theo! You haven't told me you were an amazing singer!"

"Really? I didn't think I was that great..."

"But you really are great! I'd love hearing you sing for me, sometime in the fu... ture..."

Upon realizing the implications of her words, both of them turned into tomatoes.

"Uh, let's just forget it?" offered Theo.

"S-sure!" Vera nodded hastily. She dragged him away, resuming their excursion. Theo was lost in his thoughts.

'Is my voice really that amazing? But---'

They halted suddenly in the middle of their work. Theo was baffled, as Vera turned to look at him. "You enjoyed it, though, right?"

"Huh?" Theo stared at her in confusion.

"I mean, you had fun and everything, right?"

Although still confused, he nodded. "Yeah. That was fun."

Vera placed her hands above her heart and sighed. "Then I'm glad. I thought you weren't..."

Theo just blinked at her, not understanding what was happening. "What...?"

Vera started dragging him away once more. "Don't mind it! Let's go!"