"You guys made all this? That's insane."
Tobe Kakeru stared at the feast spread across the dining table, breathing in the rich aromas, unable to help himself.
"I was really just helping with the easy stuff. Mio did most of the cooking," Yui said, a little bashfully.
Her current cooking ability wouldn't come anywhere near producing something this good.
Most people would have played humble at this point. Mio, however, took the compliment head-on—and even preened a little. "Feel free to keep praising me. I really don't mind~"
Even though Mio had scaled the recipes up to account for the extra person, by the end of dinner the plates were completely clean.
Yumiko's sister patted her faintly rounded stomach and leaned over to Yumiko with total seriousness. "Yumiko, I have decided. One day I'm going to find myself a girlfriend exactly like yours—one who can cook."
"Then I'd recommend hiring one through a housekeeping agency."
"Uh."
Yumiko's mercilessly flat answer sank her sister on the spot.
After dinner, dish duty naturally fell to Tobe and the others, who hadn't done much of the heavy lifting up to that point.
Mio could finally sit down and rest properly.
Cooking wasn't hard for her, exactly, but whipping up that many portions in one go was a real physical challenge.
Mio slumped onto the couch, half-lifeless, and started wondering seriously whether it was time to start exercising.
Yumiko sat down beside Mio and took in her slightly worn-out profile, then said quietly, "You really worked hard tonight."
"I really did. And if Yumiko kissed me right now, the exhaustion would be completely worth it~" Mio turned toward her with expectant eyes.
Yumiko knew full well Mio was joking. She still tensed up anyway.
She recovered quickly, though. If she let Mio win this round, given that shameless little personality of hers, Mio would only escalate.
So Yumiko said without flinching, "Fine. But there's kind of a lot of people around—want to come back to my room?"
"Maybe another time." Mio's eyes flicked sideways. When did Yumiko learn to counter like that? At this rate, Mio was going to end up being the one getting teased.
Once everyone was gathered in the living room, Mio brought the cake out of the fridge.
Looking at the elegantly decorated chocolate cake, Yumiko couldn't help licking her lips. How had Mio known she wanted chocolate?
As if reading her mind, Mio set the cake down and leaned over to whisper: "Did you forget? When we were on our date, we passed a cake shop and you mentioned you wanted chocolate cake."
Mentioned. As an offhand remark. And Mio had actually remembered.
Then came the standard birthday ritual. Yumiko made her wish, blew out the candles, and everyone started handing over their gifts along with their congratulations.
When it was Mio's turn, Yumiko found herself genuinely curious about what Mio had picked.
Mio had actually texted to ask what she'd want beforehand. Yumiko had thought about it for a long time, hadn't been able to decide on anything specific, and had eventually just told Mio to pick.
As Yumiko started to open the package, Mio suddenly reached out and stopped her hand.
"Um—Yumiko, maybe open this one when you're alone."
Yumiko had a very bad feeling settle in her chest. This white-haired little bitch—she didn't seriously pick something weird, did she?
It wasn't just Mio being cagey. Every pair of eyes in the room had now locked onto Mio's gift, everyone silently speculating about what Mio could possibly have given Yumiko that needed privacy to open.
To be safe, Yumiko quietly set Mio's gift aside for later. She'd open it tonight, alone.
She also shot a warning glare at her sister, who was practically vibrating with curiosity.
Her sister cleared her throat a couple of times under the look and very carefully arranged her face into I know absolutely nothing.
Everyone finished the cake by about nine in the evening. Since there was school tomorrow, the group decided to call it a night.
Her sister, watching Yumiko make no move to do anything, tugged lightly on her sleeve. "You're really not going to ask your little girlfriend to stay over?"
Then, as if struck by inspiration: "Oh—I get it. It's hard to ask her in front of everyone. Just text her. Tell her to take a walk around the block and come back up after everyone's gone. Nobody will be any the wiser."
For exactly one second, Yumiko genuinely thought her sister's suggestion wasn't that bad.
Of course, she did no such thing. She just went downstairs with the rest of the group—claiming she wanted to take a walk too.
Mio drifted to Yumiko's side, casual as anything. "You really don't want to walk with Hayama-kun for a bit? He's going in the opposite direction from everyone else. This is a solid opportunity."
"Not tonight. I'd rather walk with you."
"Suddenly wanting to walk with me? Don't tell me you want to go on another date with me?"
"O-Of course not." Yumiko let out a small huff, broke eye contact, and started walking briskly ahead.
Mio quickened her pace, caught up, and asked: "So—what did you wish for tonight?"
"If you tell people your wish, it doesn't come true, does it? More importantly—what did you actually get me?"
"Just open it when you get home and see. I'll give you one hint, though: it's something you wear."
Yumiko's first thought was clothes. But she didn't really think Mio would give her clothes—if it were just clothes, Mio wouldn't have told her to open it alone.
Then another thought surfaced, unbidden: the first time she and Mio had gone on a "date," Mio had bought some very racy lingerie. This white-haired little bitch—she hadn't given her that, had she?
Yumiko's expression must have been visible because Mio cleared her throat pointedly. "Relax. That set is still in my closet. I was actually going to wear it for you tonight, but I forgot~"
"It's okay you forgot this time. Just remember to wear it tomorrow. I'll be looking forward to it."
Watching Mio's suddenly rigid expression, Yumiko let a small, pleased smile curl at the corner of her mouth.