care, and considered how their lives might change as Kenji grew older. They spoke openly about Yuki’s career, her friendships, and her desire to maintain an identity beyond their marriage.
Kenji encouraged her to keep working and to continue developing her own interests.
“I did not marry you so that you could become an unpaid assistant to an old professor,” he told her.
“You say that as if your laboratory isn’t currently the kitchen.”
“My laboratory produces pancakes.”
“Your laboratory produces smoke.”
“Every great discovery involves risk.”
Yuki rolled her eyes, but she smiled.
Their relationship was not free of difficulties. The age difference remained real. Their energy levels differed, and their ideas about the future sometimes clashed. There were moments when Yuki wondered whether she would one day have to make sacrifices she could not yet imagine.
Kenji did not dismiss those concerns.
He understood that loving someone did
