───● The Energetic College Girl Gets Celebrated ●○●
“Happy birthday, Mizuho!”
“Yay! Thank you, thank you!”
Today is December 21st—my birthday, indeed it is!
My university friends decided to make an occasion of it and gathered after our club activities to celebrate! Koumi couldn’t make it because of a scheduling conflict, though!
When they asked if a family restaurant was okay, I cheerfully answered, “Of course, indeed it is!” Just getting celebrated is wonderful enough, so I would be happy no matter the location!
“You know, Mizuho, you’ve gotten a lot more energetic lately.”
“I was thinking that too!”
“Oh, is it that obvious?”
Until recently, I was actually causing them quite a bit of trouble. …Wait, am I really that easy to read?! I thought I was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.
The friend sitting next to me eating pizza bumped her shoulder against mine as she pushed some food toward me.
“Even when you think you’re acting energetic, Mizuho, there are times we look at you and can tell you’re forcing it.”
“Well—ahaha, you have my apologies.”
I truly am blessed with wonderful friends. Thus far, I’ve had a lot of failures when it comes to romance, but I’ve rarely ever had trouble making friends.
I think that is entirely because the people around me are all such good-hearted folks.
Another friend returning with juice from the drink bar sat down with a smirk and crossed her arms.
“So. It’s a guy, right?”
“Eh?!”
“I was thinking that too! It’s like you suddenly stopped whining about wanting a boyfriend out of nowhere!”
“Right?! You used to complain about it constantly!”
The rest of my friends joined in, bombarding me with teasing agreements all at once.
Awawa, t-this is a dire predicament! I know I’m at fault since I used to constantly spew nonsense about wanting a boyfriend whenever I opened my mouth, but still?!
If it has come to this, I suppose I have no choice but to surrender. Time to brace myself…
“W-Well…? I suppose you could say I found someone I like…”
“Whoa, I knew it!”
I figured it wouldn’t be right to lie to them when they were going out of their way to celebrate my birthday.
I gave them that answer while twirling one of my twintails around my index finger to hide my embarrassment.
“I knew it!”
“Mizuho finally has a crush, huh!”
Everyone wore expressions of understanding. But what they said next caught me completely off guard.
“Wait, is it the same guy Koumi likes?!”
“Huh?”
“I was thinking that too! You three hang out together a lot, after all.”
I found myself utterly at a loss for words.
…Well, yes, they were absolutely right. But I never expected anyone else to point out that I had fallen for the same person as Koumi.
“H-How did you figure it out?”
“Huh? Because you look like you’re having so much fun when you’re all together. Plus, whenever you two are with him, you both radiate an aura that screams ‘don’t talk to us.’”
“I kinda get that. Especially Koumi!”
From there, they launched into an excited discussion about how much Koumi flaunted Masato around as if he were already her boyfriend, and how obvious it was that I was getting all lovey-dovey lately too.
It felt incredibly strange. After sitting there in a brief daze, I hurriedly interrupted their conversation.
“U-Um, wait, aren’t you guys surprised or anything?”
“Huh? Hmm, not really?”
“Besides, we occasionally see that Katasato-kun—is it? We see him around the university, and he’s really cute! One of my seniors even asked me if he was my friend.”
“It totally makes sense why you and Koumi would fall for him.”
To say the least, it was completely unexpected, but… to me… I felt somewhat grateful.
“…Thank you.”
“Huh? We haven’t done anything to be thanked for.”
“Man, Katasato-kun sure is a lucky guy, getting to date both you and Koumi!”
“W-We still don’t know if he’ll date us!”
I desperately tried to defend myself to everyone.
Still, being told “both you and Koumi” by my friends made me incredibly happy.
If you really thought about it, a single boy dating two girls wasn’t rare in the slightest. To everyone else, that was simply how they saw the situation.
…Besides, a part of me still felt guilty for falling for Masato after Koumi did. So, it brought me joy to hear someone say we could both be with him.
We disbanded around 8:00 PM, and I began walking the route from the station back to my apartment alone.
It’s about a 10-minute walk from the station to the apartment building where I live alone.
The rent is pretty cheap considering how close it is to the station! Well, I do still receive an allowance from my parents, but…
Just as my apartment was about to come into view, I suddenly remembered something.
“Now that I think about it, Koumi didn’t do anything for me this year…?”
Every year, Koumi would give me a present or celebrate my birthday with me. This year, she sent me a message right when the date changed, but we hadn’t made any specific plans to meet up.
Well, a lot happened recently concerning Masato, and things have been a bit hectic with our confessions and everything, so it couldn’t be helped.
She did message me earlier saying, ‘I want to call you when you get home, so let me know what time you’ll be back!’ I replied telling her I’d be home around 8:00 PM. Even if we couldn’t meet in person, she clearly still intended to celebrate with me. Very well, I shall forgive her with a phone call this year…
Masato dutifully messaged me right as the date changed, too. He must be struggling to figure out how to interact with us right now, yet he’s still so kind.
I finally reached my apartment and unlocked the door.
I was just thinking to myself about what a fun birthday today had been… when suddenly.
—The lights flicked on. Before I could even reach for the switch.
…Eh?
“Happy birthday, Mizuho!!”
“Happy birthday!”
Pop! The sound of party poppers echoed through the room.
Confetti fluttered through the air, and I felt it land on my head.
In my line of sight stood Koumi and Masato, beaming from ear to ear with the spent poppers in their hands.
“…What happen?”
“Mizuho’s so confused she’s using English, and she’s terrible at it!”
“Ahaha!”
I genuinely had no idea what was going on.
On the table sat a strawberry shortcake the two of them had clearly prepared.
Wait, this is my apartment, right???
“Wait, hold on, how did you???”
“Well, remember when I came over before and forgot something? I asked if I could go back and get it, and you told me you left the spare key in the mailbox so I could just let myself in!”
“Ah!! That did happen!”
I definitely remember saying something like that, but!
Besides, since Koumi and I are so close, she comes over all the time, and I did tell her she was free to let herself in, but!!
“Anyway, what would you have done if I decided not to come home on a whim?!”
“Well, I asked you what time you’d be back, didn’t I?”
She did send me that message, but still!
“I kept asking her if this was really okay, but…”
“Y-Yeah, exactly! Like, I could have had my treasured maidenly secrets hidden in my room, you know!!”
“I did a quick sweep of the area, and my on-site judgment confirmed there was nothing of the sort, so I let him in!”
“How utterly unreasonable!”
With her saying that with such a refreshingly bright smile, I couldn’t argue back.
“Come on, Mizuho, go wash your hands! Let’s eat cake!”
“I’ll brew us some tea, then.”
“This really is my apartment, right!?”
As Koumi pushed my back, guiding me toward the sink…
Even as I continued to complain about this and that, I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from turning upward.
After I washed my hands and finished my post-homecoming routine…
Koumi cleared her throat. “Now then, once again…”
“Happy birthday, Mizuho!”
“Happy birthday!”
“Thank you!”
We each had a slice of the strawberry shortcake. The piece placed in front of me was perfectly decorated with a birthday plaque.
Being celebrated like this by anyone other than my family was a first for me.
“Um, what time did you guys get here?”
“Honestly, only about an hour ago!”
While I sat there in surprise, Masato spoke up, looking a bit apologetic.
“I really didn’t look at anything in your room, I promise…”
“I wasn’t worried about that! …I mean, I wouldn’t mind if you saw it anyway…”
I didn’t really have anything I’d be embarrassed for Masato to see… Well, my underwear would be embarrassing, but it wasn’t like he’d want to see that anyway…
“You celebrated with Rie and the others today, right? Was it fun?”
“Yeah! They treated me to dinner! It was a lot of fun! I noticed you weren’t there, Koumi, but I had no idea you were setting all this up…”
“Ehehe. You know, I thought it would be nice if Masato and I could celebrate it with you this year.”
I glanced to my side to see Masato smiling somewhat bashfully.
“I told her I wanted to help celebrate, too.”
“Fuhehe… I certainly do not mind that.”
I couldn’t stop myself from grinning once again.
While I stuffed my cheeks with the incredibly sweet shortcake, Koumi finished her slice first. “Now then,” she said, pulling something out from behind her.
“Here! Your birthday present!”
“Whoa! Thank you! Is it alright if I open it?!”
“Of course.”
The logo printed on the paper bag she handed me was familiar. It belonged to my favorite cosmetics brand.
“Ah! The lipstick I said I wanted!”
“Yep! I thought it would look really good on you, too. Feel free to use it if you’d like!”
“Thank you! You are truly my dearest comrade!”
Actually, a lot had been happening lately, and I was tight on money (mainly because of Masato’s bar), so I had to hold back on buying makeup. This was a lifesaver!
“Then it’s my turn.”
“Eh!”
Masato seemed to have been hiding a present behind his back as well, and he brought out a paper bag.
“Here… Honestly, I’m not sure if you’ll like it, but…”
“I’d be overjoyed with anything from you, Masato!”
I conveyed my unabashed true feelings to him as I accepted the bag. Inside was a small package, and when I unwrapped it, I found a little bottle.
“Perfume?”
“Yeah. I don’t know if you’ll like it, though…”
“Can I try putting a little on?”
“Of course.”
“Ooh, I’m curious.”
Koumi stood up and came over, so I sprayed a little bit on the back of my hand and smelled it.
It had a refreshing citrus scent, but with a somewhat gentle undertone. To put it simply, it was exactly the kind of scent I loved.
“It smells so nice…!”
Koumi seemed just as moved as I was.
“Well, I looked at a lot of different ones, but this one just felt the most… I don’t know, it felt the most ‘you,’ Mizuho.”
Seeing Masato shyly scratch his cheek with his index finger as he said that was just too endearing.
…I could feel a joy beyond words welling up in my chest.
“…Thank you.”
“If you like it, feel free to use it!”
“I am absolutely in love with it!”
There was no way I wouldn’t like it.
Masato picked it out because he thought it suited me. That fact alone made me so, so incredibly happy.
Overwhelmed by emotion, I instinctively thrust my right hand toward the heavens.
“Alright, let us drink! Tonight, we feast!”
“Let’s drink!”
“Even though we only brought ginger ale?!”
“It’s about the spirit of the occasion, Masato-sama!”
…This was a birthday I would never forget for the rest of my life.
I looked at Koumi and Masato as they chatted with smiles on their faces.
I never knew that spending my birthday with my best friend and the person I loved could bring me this much joy.
…I found myself hoping that, if possible, I could have birthdays like this every year from now on.
Our laughter echoed late into the night, so loud I almost worried we were disturbing the neighbors.
[ Case: Igarashi Koumi ]
[19:08] Koumi:
Alright, just as I told you, let’s meet up at that spot!
[19:08] Koumi:
We’re gonna go all out~!
[19:08] Koumi:
(Sticker of a cute rabbit raising its hands in celebration with sparkles around it)
[19:40] Masato:
I didn’t think to double-check anything at the time, but…
[19:40] Masato:
Is it really okay for us to just walk in like we own the place? lol
[20:06] Koumi:
It’s totally fine, totally fine!
[20:06] Koumi:
That girl just has some cute interior decor in there anyway!
[20:10] Koumi:
…Well, just in case, I’ll go in right beforehand to sweep the room and make sure there’s nothing “indecent” inside lol
[20:17] Masato:
Is that really going to be okay?!
[20:17] Masato:
Well, I guess she doesn’t seem like the type to get mad over something like that, but still…
[20:42] Koumi:
…Fufufu, you should tell her that directly next time.
[20:42] Koumi:
I’m sure she’d be super happy if you told her yourself!
