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The living room of Hiratsuka Shizuka's home was pitch black.
Even the bustling night view beyond the floor-to-ceiling window was now blocked off by the curtains.
Suddenly, with a whoosh, a small flame flared to life.
It lit up the faces of Tsushima Kagami and Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"Happy birthday to you~"
"Happy birthday to you~"
...
Tsushima Kagami held a candle he'd found from who-knows-where, and after lighting it, began singing the birthday song to Hiratsuka Shizuka.
Hiratsuka Shizuka, still draped in his jacket, sat off to one side and beat time with her hand to go along with Tsushima Kagami's birthday song.
Earlier, after the two of them had smoothed over the awkwardness, they'd sat together drinking tea and eating the snacks Hiratsuka Shizuka had brought out.
Reading manga and chatting on and off, they'd waited all the way until the arrival of midnight.
Because it had been so late when they got back, the cake shops had long since closed, and besides, this sort of birthday cake had to be ordered in advance.
With no birthday cake to be had, Tsushima Kagami could only buy a pack of birthday candles at a nearby convenience store.
And then light them at this very moment, to give Hiratsuka Shizuka at least some kind of wish-making ceremony.
When Tsushima Kagami finished singing the birthday song, he looked over at Hiratsuka Shizuka beside him.
"Time to make a wish."
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at Tsushima Kagami, then at the candle in his hand.
Finally she clasped both hands together, fingers tightly interlocked, held them before her chest, and closed her eyes.
Tsushima Kagami watched her eyelashes tremble faintly, with no idea what kind of wish she was making.
Before long Hiratsuka Shizuka opened her eyes, then leaned in toward the birthday candle in Tsushima Kagami's hand, drew a deep breath, and blew it out.
The candlelight cast the two of their shadows onto the wall behind them, looking just like one person leaning forward to kiss the other on the cheek.
And then the living room instantly returned to pitch darkness.
Tsushima Kagami had just gotten ready to stand up and go turn on the lights.
Only for Hiratsuka Shizuka to grab hold of him and pull him back down into his seat.
Tsushima Kagami could feel a pair of hands wrap around his arm, and then Hiratsuka Shizuka's head leaned gently against his shoulder.
"Thank you for spending my birthday with me."
Hiratsuka Shizuka's voice sounded out in the darkness.
"Why didn't you tell Shizuku and Seika and the others? Everyone would have been more than happy to celebrate your birthday with you."
Tsushima Kagami asked as well.
"Because I'd never once invited friends to celebrate my birthday before."
"And by the time I suddenly wanted to tell everyone today, it felt like I'd already missed the best moment."
"So I figured I'd just let it go."
"But it's a good thing I ran into Kagami at the station."
"Truly worthy of being my destined good buddy!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka's downcast tone suddenly brightened again.
"Then could this good buddy take her hands and head off me?"
"Huh, what's wrong?"
Tsushima Kagami could feel Hiratsuka Shizuka's gaze turn toward him in the darkness.
"Doesn't this kind of feel like I'm taking advantage of you?"
Tsushima Kagami had originally wanted to say it was a bit suggestive.
But on the off chance she had no such thoughts, wouldn't he just be a delusional, overconfident loser again.
So he hurriedly switched to a different way of putting it.
"Is it?"
"Don't close girlfriends at school cuddle up like this all the time?"
"I see Sayuri hugging Shizuku and Nayotake like this pretty often too."
"But I'm a guy."
"So what if you're a guy?"
"A girl friend can, but a guy friend can't?"
Well, now.
She had a point — if girls are on good terms they get to cuddle up.
Setting aside for the moment whether there's even any need for guys on good terms to cuddle up.
But why is it that when a guy and a girl are on good terms and cuddle up together, it gets judged as impure opposite-sex relations! Dating!
Trembling with cold fury — when will men ever be able to stand up for themselves!
"And besides…"
"We're not just close friends, we're good buddies too."
"Isn't it perfectly normal for good buddies to be inseparably close?"
So that's how it is — at last I've witnessed a normal brotherly relationship!
No, wait!
Why do those words sound so familiar, like I've heard them somewhere before?
Bzzz...
Just then Tsushima Kagami felt the phone on him start to vibrate.
He casually pulled out his phone.
He saw it was Yukinoshita Shizuku calling.
So he answered it straight away.
"Hello, Shizuku."
"Kagami, how come you're still not back?"
"I called and asked Nayotake, and he said you walked her home, had a meal, and headed back ages ago."
Oops — only now did Tsushima Kagami remember that earlier he'd been thinking he'd come straight back after seeing Hiratsuka Shizuka home, so he hadn't called to tell Yukinoshita Shizuku.
And then he'd ended up eating ramen, and with the birthday and following her back, he'd completely forgotten about it.
Tsushima Kagami answered straightforwardly.
"On my way back I ran into Koharu."
"I saw how late it was and figured I might as well walk her home."
"I forgot to tell you and made you worry."
"I see."
"Oh right, put Koharu on the line."
"Sure."
Tsushima Kagami handed the phone to Hiratsuka Shizuka beside him.
For some reason, Hiratsuka Shizuka suddenly felt a little guilty as she took the phone.
"Shizuku, it's me."
While Hiratsuka Shizuka was on the phone, Tsushima Kagami took the chance to walk over to the side and turn on the living room lights.
Then he walked over to her fridge and took a look inside.
He found there were some heat-up instant meals, a few bags of soba noodles, and some eggs.
He also saw a pile of various flavors of cup noodles stacked on top of the fridge.
Walking over to the open kitchen counter beside it, he looked at the stove — although it could be used normally, and there were pots, bowls, ladles and pans all present, it had clearly not been fired up in a very long time.
By this time Hiratsuka Shizuka had finished chatting with Yukinoshita Shizuku, so she walked back over.
Hiratsuka Shizuka returned the phone to Tsushima Kagami.
Tsushima Kagami saw the call was still connected.
So he continued speaking into the phone.
"I'll take a cab back a bit later."
"Go to sleep first."
"Then I'll head to bed first."
"Oh right, don't forget to wish Koharu a happy birthday before you leave."
"It's her birthday today."
"Okay, I'll remember."
After the call hung up, only then did Tsushima Kagami look at Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"What did Shizuku say to you?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka said bashfully.
"Shizuku wished me a happy birthday."
"She also said Seika and the others have prepared a birthday cake and are going to celebrate my birthday at school tomorrow."
"Omedetō~"
Tsushima Kagami clapped his hands.
What a fortunate person she is~
Being teased like this by Tsushima Kagami made Hiratsuka Shizuka even more embarrassed.
She'd never imagined that Shizuku and Seika and the others had already known her birthday, and had even secretly prepared a birthday cake for her.
Grinning foolishly, she looked toward Tsushima Kagami again, and her expression sank once more.
"So does this mean you're about to leave?"
"Shizuku and the others have all prepared a birthday cake for you."
"I can't very well just up and leave without preparing anything at all, can I?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka watched curiously as Tsushima Kagami rolled up his sleeves and walked over to her fridge.
Hiratsuka Shizuka sat at the dining table, resting her chin in both hands, smiling as she watched Tsushima Kagami busy at the kitchen counter.
"Who eats soba noodles on their birthday."
"How strange."
Tsushima Kagami had seen there were soba noodles and eggs in the fridge from before.
So he figured he might as well make Hiratsuka Shizuka some longevity noodles.
Consider it a stand-in for a birthday cake.
Although Japan does have this notion of longevity noodles, it isn't used for birthdays.
The Japanese have a tradition of eating soba noodles on December 31st (Ōmisoka, that is, Japanese New Year's Eve), known as "toshikoshi soba."
When eating the noodles, the point is to slurp each strand whole into your mouth without biting it off, to express a prayer for longevity.
Whereas on birthdays, people generally eat red bean rice.
Although that's what Hiratsuka Shizuka said.
Her legs under the table kept swinging back and forth.
Clearly the very picture of eager anticipation.
When Tsushima Kagami finally finished, he came before Hiratsuka Shizuka carrying a bowl of longevity noodles.
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at the not-very-plentiful noodles in the bowl, along with a single poached egg and the bits of chopped scallion floating on the clear broth.
"With your talent as a ramen immortal, slurping it all down in one go shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Tsushima Kagami made a gesture of picking up the noodles and slurping them all down in one breath.
Hiratsuka Shizuka smiled and gave him a wink.
Then she picked up her chopsticks and pressed her palms together.
"Itadakimasu."
She first took a sip of the soup — which was really just a bowl of clear broth.
In essence it was just a bowl of clear-broth soba.
Not all that delicious.
But at this moment, as that slightly tongue-scalding broth slid down her esophagus, it felt as though warmth had instantly spread through her entire body.
Only then did she use her chopsticks to pick up the soba noodles in the bowl, blowing on them a little.
And then, just like slurping ramen at a ramen shop, she sucked up the whole soba strand in one slurp, drawing it all into her mouth.
Then she picked up the poached egg and took a bite.
When Hiratsuka Shizuka had finished savoring it, she finally patted her belly and said.
"I really can't eat any more."
Tsushima Kagami laughed too.
"Then digest those carbs properly."
"I'll be heading back now."
"Oh my, then let me see you down to the ground floor."
"No need, seeing each other off back and forth is too much of a hassle."
Tsushima Kagami stopped Hiratsuka Shizuka at the door as she tried to keep seeing him off.
Only then did Hiratsuka Shizuka give up.
"Happy birthday, Koharu."
"Thank you."
After the two of them finished their goodbyes, Tsushima Kagami finally walked down to the ground floor, flagged down an empty taxi that happened to be driving past, and returned to his apartment in Shinjuku Ward.
The moment Tsushima Kagami got out of the car, a gust of cold wind blew past.
He shivered, and only then remembered that he seemed to have left his jacket back at Hiratsuka Shizuka's place.
Never mind, she'd probably bring it to school for him tomorrow.
At Hiratsuka Shizuka's home.
Hiratsuka Shizuka, having already finished her bath, walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel.
Just as she was about to dry her hair first.
She saw the jacket Tsushima Kagami had left behind at her place, now hanging on the clothes rack.
She thought for a moment, and in the end undid her bath towel.
She took the jacket down and once more slipped it on over herself.
She studied herself for a long while before the full-length mirror to the side.
Only then did she contentedly pick up the hairdryer and begin drying her hair...
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