“Hey Axel, when’s your birthday?” I asked casually. Making small talk with my boyfriend as we flew toward his island.

“If I remember, it’s about a week from now. Why do you ask?”

“...Wha!?”

Stopping in my tracks, I stared at Axel.

“Your birthday was that close and you didn’t tell me!?”

“Uh…Was I supposed to?

Axel looked confused which was cute in a way, but not important right now.

“W-We need to celebrate! We need to have a massive party with presents, streamers, and cake and-”

“Actually, I don’t celebrate my birthday. Sorry, Xara.”

Hearing that, I turned to Axel.

“But why not? I mean, isn’t it nice to celebrate the day you were born?”

“I guess. But I’d rather not. Sorry.”

After saying that, Axel flew forward and I trailed behind him a bit. Slightly disappointed by how this conversation was going. As well as pondering why Axel wasn’t interested in a birthday party.

But now that I knew about it, I felt like it’d be rude not to throw one. Who knows. Maybe Axel actually wants me to throw a party and is pretending he isn’t interested. Yeah. That must be it.

“Hm? Are you good back there?” asked Axel. Making me realize how far behind I’d gotten.

“Y-Yes! One second!”

I quickly sped up until we were side by side again all while an idea started to form in my head.

“I see. So you want to throw my Master a surprise birthday party, correct?” asked Sirin in confirmation. To which I nodded.

“Yeah! I wanna give him an awesome party that will blow his socks off!”

“I see. In that case, I can keep my Master occupied until you’re ready. That way he won’t notice your plans.”

“Really!? You mean it!?”

“It sounds like this party will be quite a treat for him, so yes.”

“T-Thank you so much!”

I bowed my head to Sirin and while she went off in search of Axel, I left the island in order to make the preparation.

Now there were three things that I needed for this party. First, was a cake. Because you can’t have a birthday without cake. And second, guests. This means I’ll need to get in contact with Axel’s other friends and see if they’ll come.

Third, I’ll need to get some presents that Axel might like which will hopefully be managable. And finally fourth, I need to finds means of entertainment in which everyone can participate in. And I think I knew just who to ask.

With all this in mind, I flew off the island in search of what I required.

My first stop was my family's favorite bakery. The place where I got my birthday cakes every year and had the best frosting of any bakery nearby.

Walking inside, I was met with a familiar face.

“Well well well. If it isn’t one of my best customers. What can I do for Xara?”

In front of me was a buff-looking woman with long pink hair that flowed down to her waist with skin that was lightly tanned. This woman was Ruru Tozona. Someone who lived in a village where only women were allowed.

But even so, her dishes were divine and my mom and I stopped by her cafe within the village fairly often.

“Hey there Ruru! I’m here to order a cake from you!”

“A cake? Is it that time of year already? How old does that make you now?”

I shook my head.

“No. This time I’m here to order a cake for a friend of mine!”

“Oh, I see. If you’re coming to me, this guy must be pretty special.”

“I-I never said anything about it being a guy!”

“Trust me Xara, I may have grown up in a women-only village, but I can see from the look on your face that you’re a maiden in love.

“R-Really? Well honestly, it’s actually for my boyfriend. I wanna throw him an amazing party and wanted to get him a special cake.”

“Heh. I figured as much. So what are you looking for?”

“Something that really screams love and care. In order to show him that he has people who care about him. Or at least that I really care about him. Do you have something like that?”

“Hm. Let me take a look.”

Heading off to the cooking area of her cafe, I could hear the sound of clanging pans and pots and before long, Rura came out with a bright blue cake that was covered in an array of white clouds, and on top of it all was a group of people standing together in such detail, you’d think it was printed on.

“How about this one? It represents the freedom and happiness of the skies above with caring friends all around.”

“Hm…That’s a good one. But I think we should go for something in a more greyish-white color along with some crimson red.

“I see. I think I have just the thing.”

Leaving once more, Rura returned a little bit later with a new cake in her hands.

“This is one of my newest recipes. I call it Strawberry Support Supreme!”

I looked up at the giant cake in awe.

The frosting was a greyish white and according to Rura, the inside was red velvet cake colored to be crimson red.

And along with the greyish-white frosting, there were detailed drawings of people and if I requested it, Rura said she could customize the people to look like me and Axel’s other friends.

In the end, I felt like this was the perfect cake and turned to Rura.

“I’ll take this one!”

“Great! Now if you want the people customized, make sure to show me some sort of photo for reference. Or if they’re a girl, simply have them stop by. But in the meantime, I’ll prepare the rest of the cake for delivery.”

“Thank you so much Rura! And I’ll be sure to stop by with the photos soon!”

With a wave, I said goodbye to Rura and left to quickly borrow a camera from my parents to get photos of the people I wanted on the cake.

In order to get everyone’s photos quickly, I sent out invitations as fast as I could to the people I knew Axel seemed to get along with.

That consisted of Dianne, Roy, Flynn, and myself.

Once that was done, I patiently waited for responses as Axel’s birthday crew ever closer.

And before I knew it, I finally got what I was waiting for and just as I had hoped, everyone was willing to come by and get their photos taken, as well as join in for the party. Making me happy everything was going so smoothly.

After that, everyone arrived and I quickly got a picture of each and every one of them.

Once I was confident I had everyone's pictures, I was about to fly off when I heard a voice behind me.

“Hey, are you sure a surprise party is a good idea?”

Turning around, I found Flynn standing there walking up to me.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I haven’t known Sir Savoncho long, but he doesn’t seem like one who would appreciate something like this.”

Hearing that, I frowned.

“It’s that kind of negative thinking that ruins surprise parties. So just go along with it and trust me, okay? I promise Axel will love it!”

“...Well if you’re sure.”

After listening to my response, Flynn walked off and I flew into the sky before making my way to Rura’s cafe in order to get all the faces painted onto the cake.

With the cake and invites done, the next thing I needed to work on was the presents.

Now, while I was sure everyone else would attempt to get him at least a gift or two, I wanted to show Axel how much I cared about him by giving him as many gifts as I could.

So, after checking my money balance, I flew off toward the kingdom below the High School of Magic and Swordsmanship and began looking around for presents. But as soon as I did so…

“Wow. What’s that amazing aroma?”

Letting my nose guide me, I was met with a delicious-looking steak cut up into slices and put on a stick.

Trying to stop myself from drooling, I quickly bought one and dug my teeth into it.

“So goood!”

I chewed through the rest in an instant before remembering what I was supposed to be doing and tried to get back on track.

But as soon as I did…

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What’s that smell?”

I was immediately distracted by another tasty aroma and found myself standing in front of a stand selling something called corndogs.

Like before, I munched through it incredibly quickly and lost track of what I was supposed to do. And this continued time and time again as every time I tried to focus, a new aroma entered my nose and caused me to lose focus.

“...I lost all my money.”

Before I knew it, the day was over and all my money was gone. And I ended up only being able to buy a few small things I thought he’d like.

It wasn’t the best, but I still hoped he might like something I got.

After that, I returned to Axel’s island and rested there for the night and the next morning, it was only a couple days away from Axel’s birthday.

With that in mind, there was still one thing I needed. And that was the entertainment.

Now, normally this would take some time. But I knew just who to ask.

“So do you think you could help me, Valentina?”

Speaking to the leader of my club who hadn’t left the school yet due to her work as the club leader, she put her hand to her chin and thought about my request.

“I think I might have some ideas. But I’ll need your help setting them up.”

“Of course! I’ll help however I can!”

“Well then, here’s my idea.”

After that, I listened to Valentina and began making preparations,

To summarize what I was told, Valentina said that if I wanted to make things fun for everyone, she recommended a few small party games. Like one where people have to move their bodies across a small mat without falling, and this game she called Air Ball when you have to see how long you can keep a ball in the air.

But the one she requested my help with was this game where you have to build a big tower made of blocks and when the game starts, players have to remove each block one at a time and the one who makes the whole thing fall loses.

A part of me wondered why it needed to be so big, but I was willing to work with it if the game made Axel’s party more fun. So, I got to work on setting it up and finished just in time for the day of the celebration.

So, with everything in place, I got everyone together and we prepared for Axel’s big surprise party.

“Hm? You need me to go somewhere?”

Hearing Sirin make that request, I gave her a look of confusion. But she simply nodded her head.

“That’s correct. It was by Miss Femashito’s request.”

Xara’s huh? Come to think of it, I haven’t really seen her much this last week. I wonder why.

Getting up from my bed, I got dressed and walked out my bedroom door. Following behind Sirin as she guided me through the halls.

“Say, if you just told me where she was I could just teleport there. We don’t have to walk.”

“Negative. She asked for you to be walked there.”

“Huh? Why would she ask you to do that?”

Despite asking that question, Sirin didn’t give me any response. Making it clear she wasn’t planning on spilling the beans.

Thinking things over, I was starting to feel a bit nervous. Was what Xara really that serious? Was it because she wanted to break up, or maybe she was pregnant? Actually, scratch that last one. If that were true, then there’d only be one explanation. And I’d rather avoid such a horrible outcome which would probably end with someone getting killed.

But moving past that, why exactly was Xara doing all this?

Scratching the back of my head, I continued following behind Sirin until we arrived in front of a room.

“She should be right behind this door.”

“Got it. Thanks, Sirin.”

She nodded her cubed head and then vanished from sight as I pulled the door open. Nervous about what I was about to hear.

Hearing Axel open the door, Xara and everyone else got into position.

The cake was set, the games were prepared, and all the guests managed to make it without issue.

Honestly, it had gone so smoothly, Xara was nervous that something might happen to ruin it.

But as the door opened, Xara could feel those fears fading as Axel walked into the room and everyone got into position.

“Hello? Are you in here Xara?” Axel asked. Confused why it was so dark.

But then, the lights immediately turned on and everyone shouted in unison.

“Surprise! Happy Birthday!”

Cheers filled the air as Axel took a step back.

Confetti soared through the air and as everyone turned to Axel, he looked at the scene with an expression of shock.

Figuring that would fade in a moment, Xara giggled and grabbed Axel a piece of cake before walking over to him.

“Hey, Axel. I know what you said, but I really wanted to celebrate with you so I thought I’d get everyone together and…Axel?”

She had expected him to calm down. But instead, his breathing grew rapid.

Axel’s eyes darted around the room as goosebumps formed on his skin. He took one step back, and then another, before darting out of the room.

“A-Axel!”

Confused, Xara tried to give chase only for Axel to slam the door shut with wind magic.

Leaving everyone in the room completely lost on what just happened.

Bursting into my room, I had to hold back the sensation of puking as I lied down next to my bed as memories flashed through my mind. Memories I wanted to forget.

Feeling my breathing growing more and more rapid, I tightened my fists and let my eyes fly around the room at a rapid speed without thinking about where I was looking.

“Hey…Master?”

Falling to the floor, my heartbeat never slowed down and only seemed to be getting faster and faster. I couldn’t think straight at all.

“Master!”

Grabbing my chest, I felt those horrible memories flashing through my mind over and over again and it made me want to puke like crazy as my palms grew bloody from how tight I’d been clenching them. I honestly wasn;t able to think straight any mo-

“MASTER!”

Suddenly feeling a light slap against my cheek, I turned to see Nia there looking down at me with a look of concern as Sirin floated nearby watching and reading the situation.

“It seems Master's heart rate just keeps rising. May need medical support.”

Grabbing my palm, Nia held it gently and looked down at me.

“Look at me, Master. Look at me and calm down.”

Trying to do as she said, I looked at Nia and found myself staring into her eyes.

They had a unique texture to them. Despite being crimson red like mine, her pupils were the shape of diamonds and gave off a sense of gentleness and kindness. And the longer I stared at her eyes, the more I started to calm down.

“Master's heart rate is slowing down. It should return to being steady soon.”

Hearing Sirin say that, Nia breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to me.

Forcing myself up, I let my palm rest in Nia’s hands as I took in several deep breaths to calm myself and relax a bit.

“Hey, are you okay? You seemed pretty stressed out when your friends surprised you back there.”

“I-It wasn’t the surprise of my friends that stressed me out.”

“Really? Then what was it?”

“T-The birthday thing.”

“Huh? How could someone get stressed over their birthday?”

I went silent for a bit after Nia asked that. But then I took a deep breath and explained.

“On my birthday, there was a certain…accident that occurred. Something that changed who I was and altered my life as I knew it. And because of that…I’ve grown to hate my birthday.”

“So that’s it. That’s why you told that Xara girl not to bother about your birthday.”

I nodded my head.

“If I told her straight, she would’ve felt sorry for asking and I didn’t want that to happen. So I tried to be discrete about it. But it looks like that backfired on me.”

Getting up onto my feet, I could feel my heart returning to its normal pace and turned my attention to Nia.

“Thanks for snapping me out of that situation Nia. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you weren’t here.”

“Heh. You’re welcome. I’m just happy you’re okay.”

Having been brought back to my senses, I took in a deep breath and left my room as Sirin vanished and Nia returned to the grimoire. It was time to return to the others and share my thoughts about this whole thing.

When I returned, the atmosphere was heavy. Like someone had sucked the fun out of it.

And while the sight of the cake and other party stuff left me feeling tense, I took in another deep breath and stepped forward.

“Everyone…”

They all turned to me, nervous about what I had to say.

“I’m aware that my reaction just now was a bit…weird. And it was wrong of me to ruin the mood like that. So I’m sorry.”

I bowed and Xara stepped forward.

“N-No. We…I didn’t think about how it would make you feel. I’m the one who should be sorry.”

I shook my head.

“No. You were just trying to do something nice for me. And I really appreciate it. It’s just…birthdays are a bit of a sore subject for me. So I tend to be a bit sensitive when it comes to them.

“...I see. I’m truly sorry for not listening to what you were saying before.”

“What’s done is done. And with that in mind…”

I turned to face everyone.

“I don’t want spirits to be down. So how about celebrating my birthday, we treat this as more of a fun get-together with friends. Is that okay with everyone?”

In response to my question, everyone quickly nodded their heads to agree and I smiled.

“Thanks. I really appreciate it. Now then, who's ready to get this get-together started?”

Realizing I still wanted a party of sorts, everyone relaxed and things got started.

From playing games to enjoying a cake without any meaning to it, to opening gifts that definitely didn’t have any birthday-like meaning behind them. And among them was a rather odd gift from Xara who gave me a key chain and a free kiss coupon which made me wonder if she spent all her money before getting me a gift.

Before I knew it, hours had passed by and when the day came to an end, everyone waved goodbye and went on their way.

Soon enough, the only two left were Xara and I. And when I turned to her, I could see she was feeling a bit guilty about this whole thing.

“I really am sorry about all this Axel. I didn’t want to hurt you. I was just too focused on the idea of celebrating your birthday and refused to think that maybe it’d be a sore subject for you.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“What matters is you wanted to give me something special. And that's something I can really appreciate. Though next time, please try and avoid birthdays. Please.”

“U-Understood.”

Looking to the ground, Xara still looked a bit down in the dumps.

Thinking of what to do, I dug my hand into my pocket.

“Hey. Mind if I use this?”

To Xara’s surprise, I pulled out the free kiss coupon she had handed me earlier.

“A-Are you sure?”

“What guy wouldn’t want to kiss his girlfriend?”

When she heard that, tears started welling up in Xara’s eyes, and nodded her head.

“Heheh. Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

After that, Xara brought her face close to mine and then, our lips pressed against each other.

Despite being only a moment, this kiss felt like true bliss and when we parted lips, I was struggling not to go in for another.

Xara seemed to be thinking the same as she started leaning in once more. However…

“Caaww!”

Hearing a crow above us, Xara and I looked up to see said crow flying down and landing on Xara’s shoulder and handing her a paper.

She took said paper and opened it up.

When she did so, her smile turned to a frown as she threw the paper to the ground.

“You gotta be kidding me!”

Confused, I grabbed the paper and opened it back up.

Put simply, it was a letter written by Xara’s mother asking her to come back for a bit to help out with some family matters. Meaning Xara would have to be away from the island for at least a week or so.

Putting away the paper, I looked at Xara who looked like she was ready to scream she wasn’t going. However, I patted her on the shoulder.

“Just get going. Don’t worry. I promise the island will be here when you get back. Then we can spend the rest of our break together.”

Xara looked conflicted about the whole thing, but in the end, she let out a sigh and nodded.

“Please wait for me, okay? I promise I’ll be back soon.”

I nodded.

“I’ll be waiting.”

She smiled and spread out her wings. Flying off back to her home while I rested my arms on my hips.

“Looks like I’ll be alone for a little while.”

“Uh…Aren’t you forgetting about me?”

“Oh yeah. Sorry about that Nia.”

“Hmph!”

With that, it looked like this summer vacation was off to an interesting start. And I was curious about what exactly would happen next.