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Chapter Text

«It chanced one day that Freyr had gone to Hlidskjálf, and gazed over all the world;

but when he looked over into the northern region, he saw on an estate a house great and fair. <

And toward this house went a woman; when she raised her hands and opened the door before her,

brightness gleamed from her hands, both over sky and sea,

and all the worlds were illumined of her».  

[Gylfaginning XXXVII, Brodeur's translation]  

7th July 2015 - Akihabara.

 

«Will you, Hashida Itaru, take the hereby present Amane Yuki as your legitimate bride?».
 

Hashida Itaru, in a white smoking but armed with his irreplaceable yellow hat, was trembling like a leaf on a windy day. For quite a big number of reasons the sight managed to get a smile out of him.  

Five years had passed since that terrible and unforgettable adventure had come to an end. He, the insane mad scientist, had triumphed against the conspiracies of the universe, bending the space-time to his unyielding will.  

He looked really cool when he put things that way, a very movie-like villain. But then, every antagonist was the main hero of his own story.  

«I-I will!».  

Which was why he could proudly say that, in that moment, his trustworthy right arm had become the protagonist of his very own, incredible adventure. To be honest, he wished he could be a supporting character in that story, as his friend was to him during his long journey across time.

The truth, as he watched the tender kiss Daru shared with Amane Yuki in front of the altar of that small sanctuary, was that a desire strengthened within his heart. The desire of writing the most insane and wonderful chapter of his own story, fulfilling that last important mission that would have brought eternal glory to Hōōin Kyōma.

«Geez, I can’t believe Daru has become a normalfag before me...», he sighed as he felt his lips curve into a smile.

«Mayushii was sure that it would end like this. Daru-kun and Yuki-san really are made for each other~». Mayuri, wearing a cute baby blue dress, observed the protagonists of the ceremony with a content expression.  

In front of them, the remaining guests were gathering around the newlyweds to give their congratulations.  

«Faris had no doubts as well, nya. Cheshire Break never fails, nya!». The voice of the most famous waitress of May Queen Nyan Nyan, coming from behind them, caught his attention. «By the way, Kyōma… When will you and Ku-nyan follow Daru-nyan’s example, nya?».  

Hit and sunk.  

«Uhm, you know… the Organization is still chasing me. T-the risk is too high for Operation Freyr to start», he grumbled nervously, looking around.  

Luckily enough Kurisu, not very far from him, was too absorbed in her conversation with some of the other guests to pay attention to his words.  

Sometimes Faris was so perceptive it was scary.  

«Nya-nya? Don’t tell me they used their Mental Breaker to intercept your plans, nya?!».  

«Tehehehe. Okarin is such a tsundere! This way even Ruka-kun will beat him on time», Mayuri chimed in with a giggle.  

Ahead of them a young man with long dark hair and a regal posture was giving, with a deep bow, his felicitations to the newlyweds.  

«Oh, Urushibara-kun has become such an handsome young man».  

«Such elegant features, such composure! He really reminds me of a samurai of the Edo Period!».  

«And look at how polite he is, a true gentleman».  

Due to his unparalleled beauty and grace, during his adolescence Urushibara Ruka resembled a very delicate and feminine being, causing his self esteem to waver. But then, as years passed, that frail looking boy transformed into a man of rare fineness and elegance, getting him the attention of both men and women.  

«Umph. He is my disciple, after all. I wouldn't be surprised if one day he managed to outclass my own magnificence».  

«Could you please avoid behaving like an idiot even in this kind of situation, Rintarō?».  

Makise Kurisu - his girlfriend and the source of his tribulations - looked like she wasn’t enjoying the fact that Hōōin Kyōma had once again stepped under the spotlight. Her annoyed expression, however, was betrayed by the transparent trails on her cheeks.  

«Oho~ Kurisu, my dear assistant. The ceremony moved you… didn't it?».  

Kurisu, evidently cut to the quick, jolted with an adorable blush painting her cheeks. A little nosy but good hearted, incredibly curious, clever and perceptive, always ready to lend a hand to the other. Under her apparent pedantry and lack of tact, he had learned were hidden a surprising kindness and fragility.  

Kurisu had always been his greatest point of reference in every place, time and worldline. Though the time and the adventures spent together softened the edges of their characters enough to let them be more honest with their feelings and officialize their relationship, Okabe still stumbled upon the words to express the importance Kurisu had to him.  

«So what? There's nothing wrong in getting emotional for a wedding… N-not that I did, of course».  

The sound of a pair of clapping hands followed by an unmistakable laughter nipped their quarrel in the bud.  

«Wonderful. Like a true married couple, Lintahlo».  

«The professor is right, you should hear yourselves. I knew there had been some progress in your relationship, but I couldn't predict that you would be able to call each other by your first names after only five years».  

Alexis Leskinen and Hiyajō Maho, illustrious names in the field of neuroscience, looked quite amused.  

It wasn’t his fault if he ended up getting tremendously embarrassed each time he tried to call her by her name. Besides, he didn't want to think about the way his lifespan shortened as Kurisu called him “Rintarō" for the first time. Since that time they agreed to limit the use of nicknames to demonstrate the sincerity of their commitment, but that condition often turned against him, as that situation demonstrated.  

«Oh, c’mon, don't tease our Lintahlo too much», Professor Leskinen exclaimed in his strongly accented japanese as he vigorously patted his back. «There's no need to be jealous, Maho. One day love will come for you as well».  

Maho Hiyajō, in response, blushed indignantly, looking for help into Kurisu’s gaze.  

«There’s still some time left, senpai. You just have to learn not to waste your chances», Kurisu retorted with an impish smile.  

«I’ve already told you», Maho replied. «It’s not in my plans, at the moment. And why must everything revolve around love for you?».  

It was hard to believe that the three people involved in that bickering were among the most brilliant minds of the 21st century. Even so, during the times he paid visit to America, Okabe had the possibility to understand how much did Professor Leskinen and Maho care for Kurisu. It was like watching a quarrel between the members of a weird family.  

«Ku-nyan and Maho-nyan really get on well, nya», remarked Faris with a smile.  

Mayuri giggled, nodding vigorously. «Maho-san and Chris-chan get on well with Mayushii and Faris-chan too. It’s so nice to see everyone in Lab being so happy together~».  

It was incredible thinking that, after five years  they were all still there. They almost looked as if they were the same youngsters that, fighting the boredom of a distant summer, ended up changing the world.  

And even if he knew that it was thanks to Kurisu and his old and new comrades that he reached that world whose future was still wonderfully unknown, he had to recognize some merits himself as well.To another Okabe Rintarō he would never meet and that dedicated his whole existence to the purpose of building that world.  

«Holy cow, it seems that the bride is going to throw her bouquet!».  

Professor Leskinen’s excessively loud voice as he pointed at the altar with the same eagerness of a child, caught the attention of Okabe and of the rest of the Future Gadgets Lab’s members.  

Amane Yuki, a radiant beauty in her wedding dress, was smiling brightly at the guests holding a beautiful bouquet of red roses.  

«Senpai, I’m aware that your aptitude for physical activity is awful, but do your best to catch those flowers, okay?». Kurisu, partially facing Maho, winked before adding something that Okabe deciphered as: “This might be your last chance, after all.”  

Maho, on the other hand, looked as she was determined to give one of her angry retorts but her expression quickly changed into one of astonishment and amusement the moment as a bunch of flowers perfectly hit Kurisu’s head, falling into the woman’s arms.  

Okabe - and Kurisu with him - took a few moments to process what happened and what the event exactly meant. As his brain finally realized that his girlfriend had just caught the bride’s bouquet, the expectant gaze of the guests were already fixed on them.

Panic ensued.  

«Fufu… Fuahahah!», the pompous and exaggerated laughter of Hōōin Kyōma reverberated through the silence of the sanctuary. «Very well, my dear assistant, I see you trained your reflexes in view of the final battle of Ragnarok!».  

«Okabe, I’m gonna raise your rent by 20.000 yen».  

«Kyouma-san, I don’t think these were the words that Makise-san wanted to hear...».  

«Awful… Timing...».  

The evident discontent of his friends greatly contributed to worsen his already terrible impression but soon their comments were replaced by a lively chatter, shining the attention away from him. But he knew all too well that he couldn't take a sigh of relief yet.  

Kurisu, the flowers still in her hands and the embarrassment and disappointment clashing on her face, was looking at him wordlessly. He had to carefully ponder his words or his apologies would be nothing but fuel on the fire.  

«Kurisu, I...».  

In a white and red flash, the lovely bunch of roses was hurled against his head, followed by a considerable pain.  

«You’re an idiot!».  

He honestly regretted putting on his Kyōma act in what had the potential to be a huge step forward in their relationship. He should have been braver and put that ring - result of months of part-time jobs and pleas to Mr. Braun for the Lab’s rent - on Kurisu’s finger. But then, under the hopeful gaze of his friends, his courage simply vanished. He truly was a coward, when it came to her...

After ensuring with a quick look that his friends’ attention was focused on something else, Okabe settled his gaze on Kurisu. The woman, though, replied with a venomous glance.  

Think. Say something, anything that vaguely makes sense.  

«Uhm, I, that’s…», he nervously mumbled as he rubbed the palm of his free hand against the trousers of the dark suit he had been forced to wear. Kurisu’s gaze, if possible, became even more terrifying.  

Okabe took a deep breath, taking the scientist’s thin hand just to bring them around the base of the bouquet. Kurisu jolted, looking at him with surprise in her eyes as he came closer, putting his hands on hers.  

“...Soon”, was everything he was able to say as he gazed at her with soft, earnest eyes.  

And Kurisu, who had always understood him better than anyone else, smiled.  

Okabe Rintarō was exhausted both physically and mentally. Many times, during his best friend’s wedding reception, he had tried to propose to Kurisu, punctually failing due to his friends’ awful timing.  

Every time they were alone someone mysteriously managed to find him and ask him some kind of favor. So between best man speeches, dances he wished he could have avoided and very enthusiastic pats on his back, he hadn’t been able to complete his mission.  

«Well done, Hōōin Kyōma. What a demonstration of madness is yours», he mumbled to himself in a mocking tone.  

His fingers were fiddling absentmindedly with a small circular object.  

«How can you throw the world into chaos and despair when you can’t even do something so basic? The leaders of the Organization would laugh at your pitiful performance, if they saw yo-».  

«Aren’t you a tad too old to talk to yourself?».  

Kurisu blunt voice coming from behind him caught him off guard. The object fell on the floor with a jingle, shining under the light of the chandelier.  

«What’s that?».  

«Silence, Christina. A mere assistant can’t comprehend the majesty of my plans», Okabe boomed as he hastily bent down to catch the object. Damned Hōōin Kyōma, he always came out in the worst moments.  

«I thought you were out of the phase in which you call me “Christina" to hide your embarrassment», Kurisu punctualized crossing her arms.  

Sometimes she was so straightforward that she was almost scary.
 

«What happened? You’ve been acting weird for the whole day». Her expression softened. «I’ve already told you, haven’t I? You can tell me everything».

He just was no match to her. Kurisu was like that, in some way she could always tell when there was something wrong with him. Every time she listened to him as if his words were very important to her, just like she did in that neverending summer. Kurisu had saved him countless times, always putting the others’ happiness before her own. But then, nothing but his will, in that world with a still unseen future, could determine her presence in his future.

«To hell Hōōin Kyōma!», he shouted before covering the distance that separated them with a single stride. He had been an idiot, hesitating for so long. «Kurisu».  

«Wha… wh-what is it?».

«In this world the tomorrow isn’t but a story that each one of us writes with his own hands». Okabe took a deep breath. That was it, kairos, the perfect instant of time, or, to put it simply… the choice of Steins Gate. «I have sacrificed everyone’s precious memories and dreams to make the future a variable more than a scene whose script had already been written».  

«Does this seem the moment to blurt out something like that?», Kurisu chimed in. A certain anticipation shone through her voice and gaze. He looked in silence for a few moments, trying to carve that scene into his hippocampus.  

«The truth is that today I thought about the future more than ever. And I realized that… and I can’t imagine a future without you by my side. So...».  

Kurisu, with her hands clasped in front of her and her cheeks dusted red, was looking at him speechlessly. Her expression recalled distant memories.

Okabe. Will you… remember me?  

«M-marry me, Kurisu».  

«H-huh?! You… so suddenly...».  

Okabe gave her an embarrassed smile, convulsively holding the ring in his hand. The nerves were starting to get the best of him.once again. «Is it such a surprise? I-I mean, you should know better, Kurisu. As a Mad Scientist I retain no value without my beloved assistant».
 

For a few moments the hallway of the luxurious hotel was engulfed by silence. He swallowed with difficulty, his heart beating in his throat for the emotion. Kurisu lowered her gaze.  

«You’re really unfair, Rintarō».  

«...Eh?».  

«Before you made me do that terrible impression in front of everyone at the sanctuary and now you say this kind of thing, and with that face, most of all», Kurisu went on.  

With a certain degree of horror he noticed that her cheeks were marked by tears for the second time that day. And what did she mean by “that face"? Did he just ruin everything and made a fool out of himself?  

«You should hear yourself. You can’t find the courage to propose in front of the others but then you say that you’re nothing without me. I mean, the Hōōin Kyōma I know and love and… want to marry, is way more confident than this».  

He must have had a very stupid face as he realized the meaning of Kurisu’s words, because her gaze, even though she was still crying, softened.  

«I really am an idiot, am I?», he admitted as, with shaking hands, he put the ring on her finger.
 

Kurisu’s smile brightened.

«Yes, you are, indeed. It’s fine like this. After all love, just like us, isn’t something perfect».
 

«Hey, Kurisu».

«Hmm?».

«Close your eyes».  

Bonus  

«Faris told you that it would be worth spying on them, nya».

«Mayushii is so happy!».

«And then Okarin has the guts to say that I’m a normalfag...».

«I’ve… recorded… everything».

«Kyōma-san has been very brave».

«Awesome, he’s really something».

«In the end he was able to do it, that idiot».

«Are you jealous, Maho?».

«… A bit. Maybe».

Chapter Text

«Even if we are separated faraway
We are still connected like usual at this place
The still unknown tomorrow is painfully romantic».

[Itsumo Kono Basho De - Ayane]

“It’s rare to see you so deep in thought, Maho.”

Hiyajō Maho, 28 years old, prodigy neuroscientist, blinked repeatedly for a few moments, turning with a surprised expression towards her speaker.

Dr. Alexis Leskinen, her direct superior and luminar of her same discipline, was looking at her with his usual jovial smile.

“Is something troubling you, maybe?”

Maho gave him the hint of a smile. She appreciated the fact that the professor still worried about her even though she was a fully fledged adult woman.

“It’s nothing. I just got a bit lost in my memories. I think this whole situation is making feel unusually sentimental.”

“You say it like it’s something negative,”, the older man replied with a laughter. «Getting emotional is allowed even to scientists, once in a while.”

Maho sighed, unceremoniously collapsing against the bench’s seatback. “Who would have ever said that this day would come. Looking at them together for the first time I wouldn't have bet a single cent on them».

“My, my, the years haven't softened you up even one bit,” Leskinen joked bringing a hand to his chest theatrically.

Sometimes she felt like she understood why the professor was particularly nice towards a certain idiot she knew.

“But you have to admit that those two considerably changed since we first met them.”

“Since we first met them, huh?”

Hiyajō Maho never thought of herself as very sociable person. She had always been aware of the fact of possessing a sharp tongue and a quick-tempered attitude. Even so, instead of trying to soften its edges in time she had desperately clung to it, using it as weapon to follow her dream.

People always called her a “prodigy”, but nevertheless the adults of the academic world had the tendency to diminish her opinions and, most of all, her person. But she fought valiantly and with her way of being so lacking in delicacy she demonstrated her own value, reaching the position of Dr. Alexis Leskinen’s assistant.

She was almost at the top but, in doing so, she was left alone.

She and Makise Kurisu had met at Victor Chondria University in the distant 2009. Taking to her just once had proven enough to realize that if Maho was Salieri, Kurisu was Mozart.

Funnily enough, it was a composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to instill the first timid breath of life to the bud of their friendship. Kurisu was everything she wanted to be; she was an extraordinarily talented person and, even though she possessed great confidence in her capacities, she never bragged about it.

If Maho answered to the unfounded criticism of the great academics with venomous straightforwardness, Kurisu remained calm and collected, destroying each statement with accurate and methodical argumentations.

Curious, a bit nosy but always so kind, even though she was the perfect example of a model scientist, Kurisu was a kōhai that, with hindsight, she couldn't help but define as “bratty". True to herself and her ideals through and through, she listened to no one, walking with her head held high on her own road with the same stubbornness of a mule. 

“Maybe you’re right. Although I’m sure that deep inside she remained the usual stubborn person”, she admitted as an amused sigh escaped her lips.

Recalling the beginnings of their friendship made her really nostalgic but she couldn't deny that remembering the ingenuity of those moments amused her quite a lot.

“Now that I think about it, at that time I didn't understand anything about what kind of person Kurisu really was.”

Leskinen gave her a surprised look for a moment. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Maho,” he said with a sympathetic smile. “Kurisu just wanted to fulfill the expectations the world had about her.”

“That's why I don't blame neither her nor me,” Maho punctualized adjusting her posture on the uncomfortable metallic surface. “Certainly her difficult relationship with her father has been the trigger factor that pushed her into becoming so reserved and diffident towards people.”

Her gaze shifted on the short but elegantly dressed figure of Makise Shōichi, who, with apparent restlessness, was headed towards the rooftop’s door, decorated with a wreath of bluebottles.

The sight managed to get a smile out of her. Being a parent was a source of great emotional stress but at the same time it rewarded people with the greatest joys.

“I can’t help but wonder what kind of ruckus those two caused that time they went to Aomori,” she added without losing her smile. “Kurisu still refuses to give me the details, but I suspect that that idiot of a mad scientist got away with one of his cheesy and embarrassing speeches.”

The professor bursted out laughing, clapping his hands enthusiastically. “As to be expected from Lintahlo. That boy has the power to change people for the better.”

She had always nurtured the conviction that, after getting to know Kurisu for who she really was more than for her fame as a scientist, you just couldn't not like her. Despite the blatant gap between their abilities, Kurisu had always treated her as her equal, showing towards her much more respect that she thought she deserved.

And as her fondness towards that extraordinary person continued to grow, in her took shape the desire, as her Denali and friend, to see her happy. Kurisu never talked about her family and she avoided the topic whenever she had the possibility to do so. Apparently she looked like she didn’t have any friends, and if she did she didn’t entertain a close relationship with them, preferring the quietness of the laboratory and her company.

Kurisu was only 17 and was wasting her youth among the bleak walls of a research institute.

It was at the end of summer 2010 that Maho’s certainties about her younger colleague started to slowly crumble as the walls of a sand castle caressed by the tide.

Kurisu had gone to Tokyo for a series of lectures for the summer edition of the Akihabara Technoforum and had come back definitely… different.

It wasn't a particularly evident change but it still was something that Maho, who had the possibility to watch over her colleague everyday, couldn’t help but notice. There were moments in which Kurisu quickly glanced at the display of her phone and there were days when her gaze got lost looking at the rain out of the window with gentle melancholy.

Her memories of that time were clear because Kurisu wasn't the only person who had something weird going on

Sometimes, in her dreams, appeared a young man with the saddest expression she’d ever seen. Somehow that sight made her heart clench to point of feeling pain.

When, during winter 2011, she met for the first time the strangely familiar figure of Okabe Rintarō, she quickly came to the conclusion that that guy couldn't be more different from that man whose white lab coat shone on his dark clothes like a silver armor. Even so, something, a voice asleep in the deepest part of her memory, suggested that beneath that stupid facade was hidden a person extremely similar to the man in her dreams.

It was thanks to him that in those days, in front of her incredulous eyes, appeared the real Kurisu, a Kurisu who got embarrassed, laughed and got angry with the same lightheartedness of a girl of her age.

Bewildered and relieved at the same time time, she realized that she had gotten to know only the surface of that person she considered an important part of her life. In the depths of her heart she had always hoped that Kurisu wouldn't commit the same mistake, wasting those precious years that would have never come back.

Incredibly enough, that guy had succeeded where she had failed.

Those two were constantly bickering and teasing the other, they might even given the impression of hating each other, if observed superficially. But paying attention to details was one of the fundamental principles of the Galilean scientific method which modern science was based on. Which was why the complicity hidden beneath those weird exchanges of insults and nicknames resulted blatant to her. She could read in their exaggeratedly annoyed expressions and in the light in their eyes how those ridiculous sketches were deeply intertwined with their relationship.

She dwelled on it many times, looking for the missing piece that would have given some meaning to that change but, as much as she recognized the unexpectedly good hearted nature and cleverness of Okabe, she couldn't get how a single person could influence another so much.

Then, the night before Okabe had to travel back to Tokyo, she stumbled upon that scene that sparked in her for the first time the unexpected and painful feeling of envy: her friend Kurisu was explaining with a beautiful smile one of theories which the Amadeus System was based on and Okabe, her speaker, was looking at her as the whole universe was taking shape from her lips.

And if Maho would normally have insisted on solving that rebus, in that occasion time had been the one giving her the answer she had been looking for: Makise Kurisu and Okabe Rintarō were deeply in love.

“...ho?”

“Maho, are you okay? You’re crying.”

Dr.Leskinen’s worried voice shook her from her thoughts. On her skin still lingered the wet feeling of tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Hiyajō-san, you’re not Salieri. You’ve been Amadeus the whole time.”

“...Yeah, I’m fine. I just got… emotional.”

For some reason words struggled to get out from her mouth.

“How time flies. Our Kurisu is already leaving the nest.” Professor’s voice got strained together with his expression. “She had been flapping her wings for a long time, but watching it happen leaves an odd aftertaste.”

Maho nodded vigorously. She had met her in a bleak American laboratory and, watching over her during those eight long years of friendship, she had seen her grow up and get stronger, brighter. On that hot summer day, more beautiful than ever in her white dress, she was graduating from being a kōhai, starting her journey towards the unknown future together with the man whose fate had always been interwoven with hers.

“Senpai, I’m… in love with Okabe.”

Although it was a bittersweet sensation, she had a feeling that it was only a “goodbye" more than a farewell. The brain and its emotions were one of the most charming mysteries of humanity, Maho found herself musing as other tears got caught in her lashes.

In front of the small altar set on the rooftop of the Ōyama Building, Okabe Rintarō was lovingly holding Makise Kurisu in his arms, his eyes so full of love that Maho suddenly felt the urge to avert her gaze, as if she had stumbled upon something that wasn’t meant for her eyes to see.

For a moment Okabe’s figure matched with the one of the man in her dreams.

“Maho. I’m... going to get Kurisu back. Thank you for everything.”

Makise Shōichi, sitting in the row in front of hers, was crying his heart out, his back shaken by the sobs. Beside him, Mrs. Makise was tenderly wiping his tears, gently squeezing his hand.

“Our guys have become all grown up, Tsuzuri,” Tennōji Yūgo’s voice, broken from crying, clearly reached her ears. His daughter Nae was patting his back with a moved smile. “You know all too well that I’m a very distracted blockhead, so… help me watch over them until the time comes for me to reach you, okay?”

“How funny. The answer had been in front of me the whole time,” Maho grumbled smiling through her tears. “You talked about that so many times…”

But maybe it was love, the greatest mystery of all, the very same mystery she had always pretended not to understand and that changed people, connecting them through time and space.

“...Quantum Entanglement, huh?”

Chapter Text

«Now that I have met you, the world will change.

I can hear the song of the beginning inside me.

The beginning will start right from you».

[Hajimari no uta - Kanako Itou]

Tap. Two thousand three hundred fourteen.

Tap. Two thousand three hundred fifteen.

Tap. Two thousand three hundred sixteen.

Silence.

“Okarin, man, you’re wearing out the floor.”

Okabe stopped dead in his tracks, shifting his gaze towards the figure of his best friend sitting on one of the plastic chairs of the waiting room.

Hashida Itaru answered with a understanding smile, patting down the free seat next to his one with one of his big hands. Okabe couldn't help but notice how his behavior resembled that of a father reassuring his child. His body wasn’t the only thing that the marriage with Yuki changed.

Okabe gladly accepted the invitation, abandoning himself on the chair with an exhausted sigh and an apologizing smile.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been as anxious as I was on the day Suzuha was born. I was so nervous that the nurses asked me if I needed a tranquiliser,” he began, stifling a self deprecating laugh.

He recalled that day very clearly. On that warm night at the end of September he and Kurisu were wide awake in the Lab, analyzing some data relative to a mysterious device that appeared to be involved in various odd incidents that took place in Shibuya a few years before, when his phone had rung. A terrorized Daru announced that Yuki’s water had broke: by the time they had arrived to the hospital his best friend’s wife had already entered the delivery room and Daru, pale as a ghost, was looking at its door as if it could suddenly come alive and attack him.

“You were still less pathetic than me in this moment, rest assured,” Okabe chimed in as he passed a hand through the dark hair falling down his forehead. “Right now I have so many doubts about myself that I feel.like I’m on the edge of madness.”

Daru chuckled and lightly patted his back. “It’s ironic that until a few years ago you used to introduce yourself to the world as the insane Mad Scientist Hōōin Kyōma.”

Okabe jolted, feeling his cheeks heat up. “D-don’t bring up my dark past!”

Growing up, thanks also to Kurisu’s threats of divorcing every time he mentioned the name of his alter ego, Okabe gave up on the “mad” side of Hōōin Kyōma. As a full fledged normalfag he settled for being a somewhat respectable scientist.

To that figure that was so dear to him, though, were tied his fondest memories, the memories of that long summer when they met and of those lighthearted days spent with
everyone as they built, one step at a time, their own future.

“You’re a lost cause, but, even though I hate to admit it… I love you even when you’re Hōōin Kyōma.”

“I’d feel much more calmer in this moment if I really were Hōōin Kyōma. I’m so afraid of getting everything wrong.”

Daru closed his eyes, shaking his head with a serious expression. “I think that this moment is for Okabe Rintarō to live,” he said gazing at him behind his glasses. “It’s an important moment of your story, not of Hōōin Kyōma’s.

Okabe lifted his head, looking at his best friend with a surprised face. His words reminded him of the thoughts he had watching him in front of the altar with Yuki.

Heh. This is also… Steins Gate’s choice.

Daru’s expression shifted into a nostalgic smile as he looked at the white ceiling of the hospital with a sigh. For a moment his friend looked incredibly old.

“Hey, Okarin. There’s something I’ve never told to anyone, even to Yuki-tan.”

“Uh? Really?”

Daru nodded solemnly. “When the future Suzuha told me that in seven years I would have become a father I must confess that I’ve taken the news too lightheartedly. I was 19  and I didn't know Yuki-tan yet, so a similar statement about my future looked quite unrealistic.”

“I can’t blame you. I doubt I would have believed a single word coming from Suzuha if I had been you”, Okabe commented as he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck with an understanding smile.

After all his experiences there could hardly have been anything that he would have found “impossible”. He had challenged the very concept of impossibility and managed to deceive the world. On the other hand, though, he was sure that at the time Daru had retained almost no memories of the other worldlines.

“When Yuki-tan got pregnant and gave birth to Suzuha, I found myself in a situation very similar to yours.”

“Uh? But you looked so happy… I mean, in this moment I’m-"

Daru’s face opened into a desperate smile. “Of course I was happy. But at the same time my mind suggested very useful question such as “can a useless otaku like me be a good father?”, “what if growing up Suzuha ends up hating me?”

Okabe’s mouth went slightly agape.

The day LabMem #008 was born he had seen Daru’s behavior change radically in a few hours: from the terrified man he and Kurisu found as soon as they got at the hospital he transformed in a protective father, watching over his wife and his daughter as his whole existence found a meaning just in that moment. He was a very good father and Suzuha loved him from the very first moment.

“The fuel to my doubts was something that you know very well, Okarin.”

Daru paused for a moment, as if to grant him the time to make some guesses. As he realized that his brain was in no condition to properly function his smile widened.

“Reading Steiner.”

“What? But you don’t…”

“Obviously it's by no means as strong as yours, but you and Makise-shi had studied it, didn’t you?” he explained with a different kind of unfazement from his usual one. “Everyone possesses a small percentage of Reading Steiner, but it's a bit stronger in us who have somehow been involved with… that thing .”

Okabe stared at his best friend in amazement. For a moment his figure overlapped with the one of an older man with a somewhat melancholic aura.

“It’s nice to see you again, my friend.”

“No matter the worldline… I’ve never been a good father to Suzuha. I’ve never been able to stay by her side as I should have, that was why I was so afraid of making the same mistakes even in this world you created.”

“Daru, I-”

His favorite right arm interrupted him with a gesture of his hand, still smiling. “I’m sure that the truth behind these facts is very different from my thoughts, but I’ll say that this is not the most suitable time to talk about it, isn’t it?”

Although reluctantly, Okabe found himself nodding. The shock of hearing such a mature speech coming from Daru left him speechless.

“Okarin. You always put each one of us before yourself and you’ve been capable of incredible feats to protect our happiness. If a useless otaku like me can be a somewhat decent father for a wonderful child, I don’t see why you couldn’t.” Daru laid a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes. “All of us LabMems have faith in you, Makise-shi more than anyone.”

Okabe suddenly felt the urge to cry.

Despite his mistakes, despite the pain they caused to the people he loved, life bestowed him with wonderful people. He wasn’t but a dime a dozen mad scientist but, for reasons beyond his comprehension, his friends had unconditional faith in him.

He sighed, driving away the burning sensation at the corners of his eyes and looked for a way to express all the gratitude he felt in that moment.

“Mr. Okabe?”

The polite voice of the nurse forced him to desist from his intents to focus on more imminent matters.

“You may enter, your ladies are waiting for you.”

A wave of chilling fear crawled sinuously under his skin. As he got up from the chair he realized that his hands and legs were shaking visibly.

“Daru?” he called, turning one last time towards his favorite right arm.

“Hmmm?”

“You haven’t told me how you got rid of those doubts.”

His best friend threw a smirk towards him, adjusting his glasses on his nose in a way that reminded him of an anime character.

“You’re going to find out for yourself sooner than you might expect.”

The first detail he perceived of the room, aside from the blindingly brilliant white of the walls, was the pungent smell of disinfectant.

Kurisu was sitting on the bed with her eyes closed, her legs stretched under the snow white sheets and her back resting against the headboard of the bed. Her face was slightly pale, except for two lovely pink spots on her cheeks and her long chestnut hair slightly sticked on her damp forehead. In her arms a flushed face which looked as if it was sleeping peacefully peeked from a small white bundle.

A knot suddenly formed in his his throat.

“Kurisu,” he called softly, almost as if he was afraid of being a nuisance.

The woman slowly opened her blue eyes, taking a few seconds to focus on his figure intent on kneeling hesitantly next to the bed.

“Hi, Rintarō.”

Her face let her exhaustion shine through but, even so, it opened into a big smile.

She was beautiful.

The knot in his throat got tighter. A slight vertigo caught him off guard.

Kurisu, still panting, was smiling at him on the Lab’s doorstep. Her glistening eyes were fixed on him.

“Farewell, Okabe. I also love you… so much!”

When the vertigo stubsided Kurisu was in the same place he had left her, still smiling. Her thin hand caressed his dark hair with tenderness.

“It’s been a while since it last happened, isn’it?” she asked tiredly in a slightly amused tone.

Okabe let out a chuckle. “You never change, huh?”

“Nobel prizes aren’t something that are assigned randomly, you know.” Kurisu’s smile softened. “Come here.”

Okabe obliged, lifting himself up enough to reach his wife’s face. Her lips were warm.

Kurisu’s cheeks were slightly red. Her eyes shyly gazed at him through her long lashes.

“J-just a kiss. Be… gentle.”

His heart overflowed with love for her.

A delicate touch on his cheek took him back to the present. Kurisu’s face was smiling a few centimeters from his own.

With a sigh Okabe laid his forehead against the one of the woman he devoted his life to.

“I’m sorry.”

Kurisu caressed his cheek with a thumb. “Don’t apologize.” Her voice was incredibly gentle. “It happened to me as well, before. We went through a lot together.”

He was speechless. He risked everything, but what he was living in that moment went beyond his best expectations. Did he really build all that with his own hands?

No. It wouldn’t have been the same without Kurisu. Such a bright future was also her credit, of the very same woman that, taking his hand, guided him during his travel across time.

“Oh… Are you… crying?”. Kurisu’s voice and expression slightly tinged of worry. “It’s alright, I’m here. It’s okay.”

Kurisu was gently embracing him, whispering words of comfort with that kindness that she hid with so much obstination. He had wished to meet her once again so much and that wish had come true in the most cruel of ways.

“The Hōōin Kyōma I know and love is way more confident.”

Why couldn’t he stay by her side forever?

An unintelligible sound articulated by a voice that didn’t belong neither to him nor to Kurisu interrupted the flow of his memories. The small bundle in his wife’s arms slightly agitated.

“Looks like someone is impatient to make your acquaintance… dad ,” Kurisu said with a smile. “I think I have told you many times that it is bad manners making a lady wait.”

“...dad, huh?”. Okabe hesitantly gazed at Kurisu, who answered with a nod without losing her smile.

“You can take her in your arms, if you want. She can’t wait to meet you.”

He got up, doing his best to hide the weakness that suddenly took hold of his legs and bent over the child, cautiously picking her up just as he did with Suzuha the day he “first” met her.

The baby, almost as if she had realized the change in the environment, sightly opened her small eyes, revealing a pair of golden irises.

The knot in his throat suddenly came back. Tears fell down on his cheeks. How embarrassing, an adult man crying his heart out with a perfectly calm baby in his arms.

“She has your eyes,” Kurisu said tenderly. In her gaze there was only a deep love.

“...Welcome, LabMem #013,” he said softly, almost as if it was a secret between father and daughter.

The baby’s mouth sightly curved in what looked like a smile.

It was a new beginning. The beginning of a great and beautiful adventure.

“Kurisu,” he called, his voice broken.

The scientist gazed at him curiously, sightly tilting her head. “What is it, Rintarō?”

“From this day on, all I have… I give it to you.”