I had waited for Kate outside of the hospital for a long time. When I finally saw her, her walk was a little unstable and she seemed dizzy. When she spotted me waving at her as I approached, she crossed her arms and pouted.

"Hmph... I can't believe you men voted for this dumb new law. It's really scary to be operated on, y'know? Besides it has a negative impact on-"

"Well, you'll look even cuter from now!" I interrupted her with a smile.

"Eehhh?! C-cute?!" She stammered, terribly flustered by what I had said. Her striking blue eyes looked up at me, and her beautiful pupils, the windows of her soul I had lost myself in countless times before, rapidly morphed into vulgar shining pink hearts. "Ahhh... It's so weird! Everything looks so pink! And it's hard to see details!" Kate whined as she stomped her tiny feet in frustration.

I laughed. "That means you really love me, isn't that right?"

Kate's cheeks flushed red and she rubbed her eyes as if to rid herself of the effects of her mandatory heart pupil surgery. She opened her eyes again, and for a brief moment the pupils were blue, but as soon as she focused on me, they changed shape and color. Frustrated, my tsundere childhood friend looked up at me through heart-shaped pink pupils. "N-no! I d-don't love you, dummy. It's... the operation must've gone wrong! Stupid doctors can't even..."

I laughed once more. "Let's go get some ice cream or something, Kate. I've heard that the eye surgery can be quite taxing on you girls after the sedatives wear off."

Kate smiled at me. "I'd love that. But ummm..... I can't see very well right now. C-can I... hold on to your arm?"

I offered her my arm and we began walking slowly together. Kate took small, imprecise steps while she struggled with adapting to the new limitations of her vision. Her heart-shaped pupils would give her these problems whenever she was in proximity to me, after all.