NARUMI
(3 days before her birthday. . .)

"A cake for Kisaragi," he mused to himself.

He could go off gut instinct, but he should aim to get her one she'd enjoy.

The other day, he witnessed her eating a chocolate bar. Then again, she ordered tons of melon bread the time they went out on their day off. She contentedly ate strawberries on more than one occasion, too. . .

Outright asking her what her preferences were was out of the picture. That would require him to muster the courage to actually talk to her. When it came to others, he could maintain his cool. In front of her, solely when it came to her, it deteriorated.

"Are you finding it difficult to choose a cake?" The shopkeeper transferred Jin Narumi from his spiralling thoughts. Her lopsided smile carried mischief. "Ah, is it possibly for your girlfriend?"

Pink claimed his skin in an instant. "W-we're not. . . !"

"No need to be shy. You hold her dear, don't you?" Wrinkles creased her cheeks. "I'd reckon a lot more than you give off. Is it for her birthday?"

She was running her mouth. Obviously, if she put it in the way she did, he had no choice but to agree. But agreeing meant accepting the possibility that one day the two of them would be boyfriend and girlfriend. . .

Steam spurted from his ears.

Okay, he'd banish the idea for now. On behalf of his feeble heart.

Although his imagination ran rampant, they were technically friends.

Friends. . .

The word filled him with elation. It wasn't one others regularly addressed him by. Due to his upbringing, people tended to treat him like a sympathy case—a burden. To shake off that pity, he'd built up a barrier around himself, went to great lengths, and hid his glaring flaws from the public. While people stopped looking down on him, it also steered the majority away for a different reason.

Because of his insecurities, there was a period he was needlessly harsh and cruel toward her. Now that they'd gotten closer, was it pompous that he wanted to protect her like some self-righteous knight in some fairy tale? Even if he had to do it through subtle gestures, if subtlety was all he could manage, he'd do it.

Step number one was buying an appropriate cake. He never had a birthday celebration of his own, so he was out of touch, but for her, he'd choose the best one he could.

"Yes, it is," he answered, beet red, to the owner. "Do you have any recommendations?"

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

RIN
(2 days before her birthday. . .)

"Rin? What are you doing over? Shiina isn't home yet."

"Why are you convinced I solely come over for Shii? I'll have you know I dropped by to show my face to my favourite people. Where's Mr. Naoto? Miss Chie?"

Mao pulled a face. "They're at work." Furrowing her eyebrows, she ducked left then right. "Mao is getting uncanny vibes to not let you through."

"Am I some evil spirit? Mrs. Sachiko wouldn't shoo me away."

"She would."

Chuckling under his breath, he draped his hand at his hip. "She never was my biggest fan."

Following reasonable back and forth, Mao allowed him inside. Then, barrelled up the stairs to her bedroom, insisting she not be disturbed.

"Mao's really changed," Rin murmured, scanning his surroundings. Contrastingly, this house hadn't one bit. Save for the fact that it was a lot smaller. At one point, everything towered over him. Guess it was a sign he'd gotten older.

He ran his thumb over the lines carved into the wood, alongside the felt pen they'd used to measure their heights. The tallest line that didn't change was Sachiko Kisaragi's. Shiina and him contested like clockwork about who was taller, a competition Sachiko wanted her fair share of glory in as the everlasting winner. Then there was Mao's tiny line because she disliked being left out even as a toddler.

Rin chuckled, comparing Sachiko's permanent line to his current height. In the present, he'd tower over her, easily. Shiina would, too. "You weren't that tall to begin with yet you came across as some perpetual giant. Used it as leverage over us, too."

Looking back, there was a lot she did that was widely immature.

Seated before the Butsudan, Rin cheekily beamed, a reflection of her photograph. "What's up, Mrs. Sachiko? It's Japan's number one heartthrob, Rin Mizota. I'd get it if you didn't recognize me. This handsome face, this god-like body, is widely talked about as a sin." He could almost hear her biting retorts. She possessed quite the silver tongue. "You'd one hundred percent throw a fit if I told you a ragtag group of guys were throwing your daughter a birthday party. You hated the idea of me alone having feelings for her. Now we're talking about several boys being blatant about it on top of that. How could you rest in peace?"

"And I can't wait to see it. For both of you to grow up, make stupid decisions and learn from them, have your dreams slowly and surely become a reality. Every year you guys give me more of a reason to be proud of you. By the time I'm old and wrinkly, I'll be the proudest mother of my little rascals."

He rubbed at his teary eyelids.

"Truth be told, I hated being treated like your son. It made me feel like you were inadvertently implying I'd never be more than a brother to Shii. But, even when you made your disapproval of my feelings clear, you never shooed me away. Did you think that if I ever confessed to Shii and she rejected me, I'd abandon her? That I'd leave your lives altogether? I've long accepted the fact that I'll love Shii forever. Even if Shii doesn't go out with me, even if it turns out that it isn't reciprocal—and she likes one of those other guys instead—I'll keep loving her. I never planned on otherwise. Of course, loving her wasn't a choice in the first place."

Gripping his ankles in his crisscrossed position, he expelled a breath.

"I've made incredible strides towards my dream, enough to delight my old man. Shii's working hard too. Even if you won't be there to fuss over us getting older and achieving our dreams, we'll give you every damn reason to be proud of us."

"Rin. . . Shiina rejected you?"

He recoiled.

The middle schooler poked her head into the living room.

"Mao, I was, uh, kinda having a moment. . ."

"Do you want a hug?"

"Like I said, I didn't get rejected! Yet!"

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

TORU
(1 day before her birthday. . .)

"Azuki, your fur's all knotted. Have your owners been neglecting you?"

Within the forest behind the school building, Toru Igarashi carded his fingers through the fur of the black and grey Maine coon.

She called him a 'cat magnet' once, and it was the perfect explanation of this unlikely talent he'd been blessed with since childhood. Everywhere he went, he found himself surrounded by cats, or stumbling into them. As a huge animal lover, he accepted the coincidences with open arms. Ironically, his parents and older brother had serious allergies and couldn't be within ten metres of any furry animal, else they'd break out into hives, so his hopes of getting a pet were buried rather early. For a long time, he had to avoid any instances of interacting with animals, which was torturous on his spirit.

When he got into middle school, his older brother graduated high school and thereafter moved to Tokyo to pursue a career as a police officer. His parents also were busy with work. With more freedom, he took advantage of their absence and mingled with cats to his heart's content.

For whatever reason, neighbourhood cats gathered at the back of Hoshizaki Private Academy. It was why he specifically lingered here in his free time. Today, only one of his buddies had shown up to keep him company.

With a contented mewl from Azuki, his smile grew. Shiina loved cats, so he considered introducing a bunch to her as a potential present. However, she was bona fide cat repellant. They'd scamper off. On the off chance they didn't, they'd open up to him instead and she'd get jealous. It happened on enough occasions.

He raised Azuki into the air. "Do you guys give her the cold shoulder because you're intimidated by her cuteness or something?"

The fact he considered her adorableness to be on par with these cute, fluffy felines was the signal he lost this one-sided battle of love.

"There you are, Igarashi!" Fluttering his eyelashes, he removed Azuki from the air to come to terms with the girl standing over him. "I looked all over for you. Except down, clearly."

"Hey!"

She laughed.

"You're the one who said we should rehearse during lunch break. Why am I not surprised you're slacking?"

Before he could answer, an ecstatic gasp escaped her.

"Aww! A kitty!" She collapsed to the ground, glistening at the feline resting on his lap. When she reached to pet it, it hissed, clawing at her. She recoiled, dramatic tears in her eyes. "Why—why do they hate me so much?"

"If you come at them too eagerly like that, they'll get defensive." He settled his hand on hers, then dragged it to Azuki's head top. "Here."

With his hand on top, Azuki didn't scamper off. Rather, he remained curled on his lap, purring in content. Shiina sparkled.

"Oh my gosh. Igarashi. He isn't running. He's staying still!"

She grinned that beautiful grin of hers.

"Aww! Did you see that? He yawned. So cute. Can I sleep with you, little kitty? I'm more cuddly than Igarashi, believe me."

Giddily, she glided her fingers through the fur. She craned her neck.

"Looking at him like this, he naps just like you do in class. I knew you had cat DNA. Hey, are you listening?"

Toru hummed in response, albeit his focus was trained more on her reactions rather than whatever words left her mouth. "Yep. Totally," he answered.

She fluttered her eyelids, slowly, and glanced over her shoulder. "What? What are you looking at?" A gasp left her. Her hands flew to her flushed cheeks. "Do I have something on my face?"

The sudden movement startled Azuki, who took off in an instant, disappearing into the bushes and out of sight within seconds.

"No! The cat ran away!" Shiina whined.

Toru nodded. "That, he did."

She sulkily puffed her cheek. "You ruined it! Here it was the first time an animal actually liked me."

"It's no big deal. I'll attract them again."

"Keyword: you will. The closest thing to an animal that actually interacts with me is you."

"Is that bad?"

"The worst."

He guffawed. "What did I even do?"

Every day, he loved her more and more. The feelings grew rapidly, and without yield. As of right now, he was too much of a coward to tell her a fraction of them.

One day, though, he would.

One day.

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

(The day of her birthday. . .)

"Decorations, food, cake. . . Hey, you all ended up getting her gifts anyway? What happened to leaving it to me?" Toru demanded.

"Nobody said we wouldn't buy her presents," Banri remarked.

"Logically speaking, it's the quickest way to appeal to her heart," Issei said.

"I didn't buy mine, it's homemade, so it counts," Kamakiri mumbled.

"The more the merrier," Narumi added.

"It appears we all were unintentionally on the same page," Rin sighed. "Well, my pride wouldn't allow another guy to give Shii a gift on my behalf. Plus, I'd be jealous."

The room on campus they'd borrowed and prepared for the celebration had unwittingly come together. The guests they invited loitered in the background.

"Somebody shut Hachi up," Toru groaned. "And tell him to stop running around! He'll ruin the surprise before she gets here."

"Issei, why would you invite that monkey?" Banri deadpanned.

"What do you mean? I'd feel bad. Besides, I waited until the last possible minute to tell him so he wouldn't accidentally spill it to her."

"You even summoned that weirdo magician," Narumi added.

"Hirawa, I didn't invite. He showed up unprompted, believe it or not."

"He's munching on the food. . ." Kamakiri's eyebrow twitched. "The food I specifically prepared for her. . ."

"Rin, where's the entertainment you were in charge of?" Toru asked.

"They'll be here," he assured them. "Just running a bit late."

"Oh, my beloved goddess, when will you arrive? Being apart from you is utter torture," Banri complained.

As if on cue, footsteps echoed in the distance.

"She's here!" Issei whispered, instantaneously hushing all idle chatter. "Everybody's ready, right?"

"Been ready," Kamakiri said. "Shut the lights."

It was now or never.

With the squeaky creak of the door, it reeled inwards, and her apprehensive footsteps ensued. On cue, they fired the party poppers. Light engulfed the room thereafter.

For the first time, the six of them were in sync.

"Surprise! Happy birthday!"

THE END