After the afternoon bell chimed, Yumi-sensei stopped what she was doing on the board and started her daily reminder to us. I hadn't even realized how quickly the day had passed until we all stood up to say our goodbyes to Sensei.
"It finally ended," I sighed, stretching my body, when suddenly I felt someone poke the side of my head.
"Bye bye, Yu-chan," said the culprit, Louise, waving her hand at me with a smile after arranging her things.
"See you tomorrow," I waved back at her highness, watching her back as she left the classroom.
Soon after, as I started putting my pencil in my bag, Ayane appeared in front of me with a smirk. That look was really grating on my nerves, even though she hadn't said anything yet.
"Already done saying goodbye to your girlfriend, my brother?" Ayane wiggled her eyebrow, clearly enjoying my annoyance.
"Ha ha, very funny, my sister," I replied dryly, ignoring her as she started poking my nose.
"I heard she'll be going to Seiren Academy like us. Are you going to ask her out there? When will it be?—" Ayane fired off a mountain of questions, leaning closer as I leaned back in response.
"I already told you, there's nothing like that. We're just friends, alright?" I sighed, swatting my sister's face away from me.
"Doesn't look like that to me, to be honest. Feels like something more is going on between you two," Masachika—the birthday boy himself—crept up behind me and placed his hand on top of my head.
"Screw you and happy birthday"
"Thanks."
I shook my head and raised my fist to the side without looking. Masachika simply chuckled at my dry greeting and gave me a light fist bump.
Soon after, Tomoya and the others joined us in our conversation. When Ayane looked at her phone, she showed us the time and said it was time to leave school. Before heading to Masachika's place, we took a detour to the cake shop Rintaro's family owns.
I was quite excited to give my gift later. It had been a pain to find, but it was too late to complain. This guy better be glad I'm such a good friend.
"Something's making a fuss on my foot."
Daiki frowned and removed his shoes. He saw a tiny bug on his sock. While he was attempting to remove it, a small smirk appeared on Ayane's face. Without hesitation, my sister kicked his shoe far from him.
Daiki just stared as it slid away, his expression unreadable. But I was pretty sure the silence was enough to let us know what was about to happen.
Daiki hopped on one foot, raising his hand to stop us from helping him. When he kneeled down to tie his shoe, he raised his head and smiled at Ayane, who smiled back at him.
"Neh, Ayane?"
"Mhm? What is it, Dai-chan?"
"I'll give you a three-second head start, so you better prepare yourself."
"You're quite the gentleman, huh?~~ Giving a lady like me a chance?"
"Three— One!!!"
Ayane laughed loudly as a pissed-off Daiki chased after her. He didn't even finish counting and went straight to one.
******
Entering the cake shop to pick up the cake ordered yesterday, we were greeted by the sight of a black-haired woman standing behind a line of beautifully displayed cakes. She smiled as she saw us noisily entering the establishment.
"You've finally arrived, brats."
Behind the array of cakes stood Kyoko Tsumugi, the one and only mother of Rintaro, holding a white box in her hands.
"Hello, Auntie!" Satsuki beamed, waving enthusiastically.
"Is Dad in the back, Mom?" Rintaro asked as he sat down at a table with Takeo and Daiki.
"Yeah, he is, but he's busy—" Kyoko shrugged, but her sentence was cut off by someone stepping out from behind her. A black-haired man wearing a mask emerged, carrying a chocolate cake.
"Good afternoon, Stair Papa!!!" Ayane shouted, causing Rintaro's dad to flinch at her teasing nickname.
He placed the cake on the counter and removed his mask, letting out a sigh as he stared at Ayane.
"I've already told you to stop calling me that, Ayane."
"But it's true, though."
"You know she won't stop calling you that, so just give up, Dad," Rintaro said, shaking his head.
Everyone shared a small laugh before Kyoko-san began lettering the cake. Masachika and Satsuki watched the process closely, while the rest of us sat at the empty table available, not paying much attention to the other customers quietly enjoying their desserts.
"It's gonna be a noisy night tonight with Yuki joining us. Of course, Ayane is always a package deal when that goblin is around," Daiki said, glancing at Tomoya.
"Peace and quiet is never associated with all of us gathering up, so it's not that rare," Tomoya replied, ignoring Ayane, who was tying his hair without his permission.
"I'm just waiting for dinner and having fun after that," I said, lightly drumming on the wooden table.
Before Rintaro could even respond, a hand suddenly covered his eyes. The culprit, wearing a middle school uniform, put his index finger on his lips toward the rest of us.
"Who is it?" the guy asked, grinning.
"The ugliest brother in the entire universe."
"Ouch, that stings, little bro."
The guy removed his hand, and Rintaro looked back, smiling at him.
"You even brought your sidekick, nii-san" Rintaro teased, as the dead-eyed guy with his brother simply shook his head.
"I'd rather sell my soul than become this moron's sidekick," the guy snickered.
Sotaro Tsumugi, Rintaro's older brother, had arrived, greeting everyone in the circle along with his best friend, Hachiman Hikigaya. His dead-fish eyes never seemed to change, as usual.
"Give me that umbrella you found on the tomb already. A monk like you won't be able to use that," Ayane taunted Hachiman, using her knee on his side. "It's better if it's in the hands of a goddess warlock like me."
"Sure, if you give me 700,000 gold."
"Tsk, greedy fucker."
"Deal or no deal?"
"I'll just report to Komachi how greedy his idiot brother is!"
"Yeah, yeah."
With Hachiman and my sister bickering, Satsuki and Masachika, who was holding a white box tied with a ribbon, walked towards us, while Sotaro went over to greet his parents.
"So you could actually come from my invitation," Masachika chuckled, giving Hachiman a fist bump.
"Free food is never an issue. I already got permission from my mom, so I can enjoy the celebration tonight," Hachiman said. "Happy birthday."
"Thanks~"
After making a lot of noise in the shop, we decided to continue on our way. As we opened the door to leave, we turned back toward Rintaro's mom to bid her goodbye.
"Then, we'll be on our way, Mom," Sotaro said.
"We'll try not to be too late," Rintaro added.
"Take care on the way, and watch out for strangers offering you candy," Kyoko-san said, turning her gaze to Masachika. "Oh, before I forget—Happy birthday, Masachika."
"Thank you for the cake as well, Kyoko-san!" Masachika replied as we stepped outside.
The shop bell fell silent as the door closed behind us. Standing in front of the shop, I pulled a camera from my bag and tossed it to Hachiman.
"We'll be in your care, Hachi Hachi," I said with a chuckle as we all lined up on either side of Masachika.
"Who am I, your boy?" Hachiman shook his head but adjusted the camera to take the picture. "Alright, on the count of three—say cheese."
Hachiman held up three fingers, lowering one with each passing second. When all fingers were down, we smiled and shouted:
"CHEESE!"
After snapping the shot, Sotaro, standing behind Hachiman, leaned in to look at the picture. He grinned and turned to us.
"One more time, but with a pose this time!"
At his suggestion, Hachiman repositioned the camera and started counting again.
"After three, shout 'Ayane is a moron!' Got it?"
"Okay~~" we all answered, except for Ayane.
"Oi! Why am I being slandered here?" Ayane protested.
"Three, two, one—"
"AYANE IS A MORON!" we shouted in unison as the camera flashed. Everyone struck different poses: Takeo did a Ginyu Force pose, Satsuki and Rintaro leaned forward with a peace sign, Tomoya and I performed a fusion pose, while Daiki and Masachika lifted the box of cake like it was a sacred relic.
Ayane, meanwhile, fussed in the background, pointing at Hachiman as if she were accusing him of slaughtering her entire clan.
Afterword:
Serious-senpai: [Having childhood friends must be nice~~ too bad I can't experience it.]
Author-san: [I really want to add a scene where they're torn apart, like in a true crime documentary, with their picture turning black and white after some tragedy strikes.]
Serious-senpai: [What the hell is wrong with you?!!]
Author-san: [I was bored writing this chapter today. After dealing with that annoying research paper and exams, I wanted to let loose and do some nonsense—Just kidding.]
Serious-senpai: [I don't even know if you're joking or being serious right now.]