Thirty minutes later, both you and Kaiba return to the car.
Other than a grocery store, this small mall contains a variety of other stores so you were able to get everything you needed.
The boot (trunk) of your car filled with party decorations, a small cake, two six-packs of beer, and some other snacks.
You also brought a simple fresh shirt and skirt, so you don’t have to arrive at Kitabayashi’s party in office clothing.
The both of you even bought small gifts.
Giving gifts at a birthday isn’t a Japanese tradition, but more one that has blown over from the west.
Truth be told, Kaiba turned up with a gift, so you felt like you had to get one as well.
All supplies gathered; you make your way to Kitabayashi’s apartment.
“Have you thought of a way to get Yui-chan out of the house?” you ask Kaiba.
Kaiba nods, “I’ll ask if she wants to go to this small bistro near the apartment to get some dinner since it’s her birthday.”
A restaurant? That should buy you around an hour – more than enough.
“Ah,” says Kaiba, “Do you want me to bring you anything from the restaurant…?”
You smile, but shake your head, “Have fun.”
If you do end up hungry, then you’ll just gorge on the sushi you bought for the party.
And so, your plan unfolds.
After leaving her apartment key with you and armed with the lame of excuse of leaving her key at the office, Kaiba enters the apartment complex.
Five minutes later she texts you a thumbs-up emoji.
After a while, you duck down a bit in your car as you spot both Kaiba and Kitabayashi leaving the apartment complex.
Kitabayashi has dolled herself up a bit and seems in happy to have somebody to celebrate her birthday with.
You patiently wait for them to disappear from sight so you can make your move.
Grab the supplies. Up the stairs. Door. Key. Open. Shut. Lock. Mission accomplished.
You breathe a sigh of relief and glance about the room.
Some little things have been added since you were here last week.
A few houseplants. Small decorations. A wide painting on the wall where all the photos used to be.
Using a chair to reach higher spots, you decorate the house as well as you can.
Balloons, banners, cake – the works.
You have a party popper at the ready for when Kitabayashi walks through the door.
Everything is set!
You’re ready for Kitabayashi to arrive any moment in the next…. thirty minutes.
Well then.
You pull out your phone and, like the workaholic you are, pray for an email to respond to.
There is one! A moment of quiet to reflect on things? No way!
That’s what those five minutes before you fall asleep are for.
It’s an email from “Cupid-san Shintaro”, the variety show you made a deal with.
----------------------------------------
Hello Nagata-san,
Recordings for the celebrity games segment on “Cupid-san Shintaro” will occur on May 28th.
You’ll be happy to know we’ve managed to acquire a high-profile cast with renowned actors, up-and-coming models, and longtime voice-over artists.
We hope you and the participant, Enatsu Mari, will be in attendance at that time.
Per our agreement, there will be no payment, but considering we managed to unexpectedly get so many celebrities to sign up… perhaps you should be paying us instead?
Haha! Just kidding!
See you there!
Shintaro Akira
----------------------------------------
In just over two weeks from now.
Well, they did say it would be near the end of May.
You’re feeling slightly guilty that you need Enatsu participate in such a sleazy show, but if Tachibana manages to find something to satisfy 'Everything Idol' then all the deals you made during the fallout of Kaiba’s scandal will be taking care of.
Minutes tick by as you spend some time on your phone.
Then you remember – you still need to change clothing!
You tiptoe into the bathroom and put on the simple clothing you bought at the mall.
Finally, you hesitantly reach into the bag from Isekai Clothing and lift out the cat ears.
You hold it at arm’s length, like it might jump out of your hands at any moment and force itself on your head.
Despite today’s earlier bravado – it’s a little embarrassing, really.
Be strong, Miho! Everybody will be wearing it soon!
Slowly and with great care, you don the cat ears.
You already feel a blush coming on, but determinately peek towards the mirror.
Uwaaa….
As you stand there in front of the mirror, your hands gingerly feel up the cat ears.
It… it doesn’t look bad, maybe you should’ve gotten the complete se--
Then – voices and the telltale sound of a key scratching against a lock.
You clip the tail to the back of your skirt and hurry to the living room.
As you do, the tail bounces up and down, pulling at your skirt.
There’s no time, you’ll just have to pray the zipper holds.
Party popper in hand, you hide behind the couch.
The door opens, there’s a gasp and you cringe internally as you miss the proper timing by a second, but bounce up anyway and pull the string – pop!
Confetti flies across the room, raining down on both Kaiba and Kitabayashi.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Surprise!” you shout, grinning as you quickly hold up a slice of cake, “Happy birthday, Yui-chan!”
[https://assets.legendkeeper.com/fcd8fd74-43d8-47d2-88b1-8058a5c36609.jpg]
Kitabayashi manages some kind of high-pitched squealing noise, then rushes forward to embrace you in a hug.
”Thank you!” she shouts, slightly swaying from side-to-side as she hugs you.
“I’m sorry I had to lie to you!” you say, “We wanted it to be a surprise.”
Kitabayashi loosens the hug she has on you and leans back a bit to look you in the face.
”You bully!” she says, laughing to herself.
Spotting something at the edge of her vision, her eyes gradually slide upwards from your face as she speaks, “Here I was thinking I’d h-have t-to….”
Wide-eyed, Kitabayashi stutters into silence.
“Yui-chan?” you ask, looking up at her.
Kitabayashi glances towards the side, seeing the tail there.
“Ah,” you say, blushing a bit, “We figured a themed birthday party would be fun.”
You’re already in neck-deep, so might as well commit to it.
“There’s cat ears for everyone,” you say with an embarrassed chuckle, then strike a pose, “N-nyaa~”
Kitabayashi takes a very slow, deep breath, then swallows.
”It’s so cute!” she says with a sudden smile, “Where’d you get all this?”
“Isekai Cosplay,” you reply, “That’s the store Chigusa Iki did a promo shoot for!”
Kitabayashi raises a hand to your face, using a thumb to brush away a piece of confetti that stuck near your eye, causing you to squint the eye shut.
She almost seems to tense up, “It’s, ah, very well done,” she says, throwing in a quick smile.
“We got some groceries and snacks for the party,” you say, “I’ll get them from the kitchen…”
“Oh,” says Kitabayashi as she pats your shoulder, “Let me get them.”
She glances towards Kaiba, “Aoi-chan, can you help me in the kitchen real quick…?”
Kaiba laughs nervously, glancing off towards the side, “Yes, of course…”
The both of them set off towards the kitchen, but then you hear the sound of a door closing in the distance.
Which is odd, because the kitchen doesn’t have a door. It’s just opening an to the next room.
Leaving you in the living room. Might as well start picking up the confetti…
After a few moments, you begin to hear Kitabayashi discuss something with Kaiba in this other room.
> Decision
> >1 - Finish cleaning up the confetti and simply wait.
> >2 - Idle in the kitchen and try to listen in.
> >3 - Move towards the door, knock, and ask if everything is alright
> >4 - Write-in
>
> Winner
> >1 - Finish cleaning up the confetti and simply wait.
Seeing as they bothered to go to a different room, their conversation is not something you’re meant to overhear.
And so, you spend the next few minutes picking up confetti.
It seemed like such a good idea at the store, but it sure does get everywhere.
At least you didn’t get the fancy one that included glitter.
A vacuum cleaner sure would be appreciated here…
“We’re back, Nyaa~” says Kitabayashi, holding some simple drinks.
It seems like they’ve found your bag of cosplay items that you felt in the bathroom.
Both Kaiba and Kitabayashi are wearing a set of ears and tail.
Holding a tray of snacks, Kaiba follows in the uncomfortable shuffle of somebody that got scolded only moments earlier, “Nyaa…” she says.
“Everything okay?” you ask.
“Sure, sure,” says Kitabayashi, “Just some household stuff.”
Kitabayashi places the drinks down, sodas for all, then turns towards you, “Are you hungry at all? I kinda feel bad that we went out to dinner without you…”
You wave a hand, “It’s fine, it was the only thing we could think of to get you out of the house so I could put up decorations,” you say.
“Well, alright,” says Kitabayashi, then gestures towards your cat attire, “You know, you don’t have to keep all this on if you don’t want to.”
“It’s okay,” you say, then lean in as you speak in a whisper, “I’ve long since wanted to, but always felt too old…”
Kitabayashi almost seems to choke on a gasp, but manages to turn it into a snort.
“Old?” she says, then laughs, “I’m twenty-six now, too!”
“Well, I’m turning twenty-seven next month…” you say.
“So?” she says, then lightly slaps your shoulder, “Didn’t come here to feel bad, did you?”
Kitabayashi leans back, dramatically holding the back of her hand against her forehead, “Ah, we’re old now. Over twenty-six. Now they’ll call us ‘Christmas Cakes', right? Unwanted, unloved.”
She then shrugs, “But really we’re only one day older than we were yesterday, right?”
You came here to celebrate her birthday and, instead, now Kitabayashi is trying to make you feel better.
“You’re right,” you say, causing a cat ear to flop forward as you nod, then you hastily fix it, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry,” says Kitabayashi, patting your head, “I can tell that it bothers you.”
She blinks twice, “Ah, I’m sorry. It’s the cat ears.”
Everyone’s apologizing. What a great party.
You smooth your hair down, “It’s okay,” you say, then reach for the glass of soda on the table.
“Once again,” you say, raising your glass and as the other join you, “Happy Birthday, Yui!”
Kaiba seems have to regained some of her cheer and joins in, “Happy Birthday!”
“Ehehe~” says Kitabayashi, “Cheers!”
Kitabayashi looks towards Kaiba with a compassionate smile, “I’m sorry for earlier, but you understand, right?”
Kaiba nods, but seems strangely disappointed, “I suppose.”
You gaze floats between the both of them, “Hmm?”
Kitabayashi waves a hand, “Don’t worry about it.”
You smile in a smug fashion, “Keeping secrets? My~ you two sure have gotten close…”
“Sure have!” says Kitabayashi as she winks at Kaiba.
Drats. Of course, that doesn’t work on Yui-chan…
Kaiba on the other instantly turns into apologetic mess, “No,” she says, “I wouldn’t do that!”
You wonder how Kaiba survives her livestreams if she’s so easy to tease.
Ah. The livestreams. Kaiba’s stream is kicking off again soon, then there’s the debuts this week…
Your head tilts down with the recollection of this week’s workload, causing both cat ears to flop forward.
“All good?” asks Kitabayashi.
You sigh, “Just remembering work…”
“Fufu~ I’d offer you a drink in these harsh times, but there’s none here.”
You raise an eyebrow, “Oh, we brought some.”
A sudden thought with the accompanying guilt hits you, “Ah! Did you quit drinking? I can take it back home with me?”
Kitabayashi soothes you with a gesture, “No, not quite, it’s just that…” she says with a split-second glance towards Kaiba, “I just had reasons to cut back a bit…”
Mustering up some courage, Kaiba enters the conversation, “Yui-chan… Don’t hold back on my account… Don’t drink if you don’t want to, but don’t feel like you need to quit. It’s okay…”
This is like an alcoholics anonymous meeting in reverse.
It isn’t the healthiest way of dealing with stress, but drinking does help.
Those big, jarring problems take on completely different shapes when looked at through the bottom of a glass.
But maybe your opinion on this is a bit biased…
Nevertheless, Kitabayashi acts relaxed all the time, but knowing the past she had to deal with, she probably has plenty of concerns as well.
That past. An entirely different life.
That must weigh on her, but she never shared anything about it with you.
The fact that she still clings to all those photos that she has just hidden for now means she hasn’t moved on in the slightest.
Does she simply not trust you enough or is it embarrassing to share?
You want to help Kitabayashi, but you can’t do that unless she opens up…
Perhaps a few drinks can help with that…
> Decision
> >1 - Agree that no drinking is probably for the best. She’ll share when she wants to.
> >2 - Convince Kitabayashi to have a few drinks with you. Just a few.
> >3 - What are birthdays for if not for getting drunk? A six-pack each!
> >4 - Write-in
>
> Winner
> >2 - Convince Kitabayashi to have a few drinks with you. Just a few.