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Chapter 184
Miyagi's summer vacation — 184
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
The happy time flew by and when I woke up, my birthday was over.
On the bed, I sit up and stretch my arms toward the ceiling.
I wish my birthday would last forever today, tomorrow, and the day after, but I think Miyagi celebrated it because it is something that only lasts one day.
I am sure Miyagi was overreacting.
I can’t imagine what she usually looks like.
I can’t believe she ordered a pizza for me, prepared a cake, and even promised to do so down the road.
I don’t want her to be too overwhelmed, but I am also glad that I am the one who can make her feel overwhelmed.
I give one big sigh, get off the bed and sit on the floor.
I take the small paper bag that Kikyō-chan gave me as a birthday present from the table and open it. The cookies, which I was told were homemade, were wrapped beautifully, just like the ones sold in the store.
I unwrapped the ribbon and bit into the cookie, thinking it was too good to be true.
「It’s delicious.」
Yesterday, I was so full of pizza and cake that I ended up never touching them, and although they are a little distorted, they taste better than any cookie anyone has ever given me. I pick up another cookie and bring it to my mouth.
When I was with Kikyō-chan who’s in ninth-grade, all we did was study. If I had had the presence of mind to make sweets back then, I might have become the person my parents expected me to be. But if I had become that way, I would never have met Miyagi.
When I think that Miyagi was the one who celebrates my birthday while I was teaching a third-year middle schooler who made cookies for me, it makes me think that those days when I couldn’t afford to do so were meaningful…
Now she can make sweets anytime she want.
Baking cookies with Miyagi is not a bad idea.
「She’s going say she doesn’t like it.」
My stomach grumbles as I giggle at the thought of Miyagi’s face wrinkled between the eyebrows. Deciding to wash my face and get ready to eat, I get up. I heard a small sound as I opened the door and quietly walked out of the room and saw a bag on the doorknob.
I pick it up and look inside.
A wrapped flat something and a card.
When I returned to my room and checked from the card, I found an illustration of a cat and the words『HAPPY BIRTHDAY』printed on it.
「Birthday card?」
Miyagi said yesterday that it sounded like he didn’t have a birthday present for her.
For a moment, I thought it might be a gift from someone who is not Miyagi, and then I remembered that we are in a house. I would be afraid of a gift from someone other than her hanging on the doorknob. So, what is in this bag is by all accounts a birthday present from Miyagi, and I take out something not so thick.
Carefully peeling off the wrapping paper and opening the lid of the thin box that emerged from inside, I found five cats sitting on the floor.
「Chopstick rests, perhaps.」
Tortoiseshell cats, black cats, white cats, brown tigers and hachiware.
Chopstick rests in the shape of cats are so cute that I can display them in my room.
She should have given it to me yesterday.
If I had received this chopstick rest yesterday, I wouldn’t have been able to have the two wishes fulfilled in lieu of a birthday present, but I would still have wanted to have it hand-delivered from Miyagi.
If I get it directly from Miyagi, even if she seems grumpy or unfriendly, I can possibly hug her, kiss her, and more beyond that——
Well, she won’t forgive me if I did that.
I take the tortoiseshell cat and the black cat out of the five cats and put them in my palm.
「I think I’ll go make some rice.」
I was going to have toast in the morning, but changed to a menu where I could use the chopstick rest I received.
I leave the room and place the two cats on the table in the common area. After washing my face and getting dressed, I sharpen rice and set it in the rice cooker.
It was a little early to start cooking a side dish, and as I sat in my chair watching the two cats, the door to Miyagi’s room opened. Miyagi, dressed in a sweatshirt, comes out and says,「Good morning,」to which I respond,「Good morning」
「Thank you for the chopstick rest. This is your birthday present for me, right?」
Pointing to the cat on the table.
「Sendai-san, you like cats right?」
Miyagi says in a curt voice without confirming or denying my words.
「I like cats. That’s why, I’m happy.」
「Sendai-san, I didn’t know what you wanted, and I just bought something that you can use in everyday life that’s cat-like.」
Miyagi says as if to excuse herself and runs off to the washroom.
I could have grabbed her by the arm and tried to keep her from escaping, or I could have hugged her and made sure she couldn’t go anywhere. But she wouldn’t stay in the bathroom forever, and she wouldn’t go outside the house in her sweatshirt. If I wait, Miyagi will be here again, and I will wait for her with these cats.
Something for everyday use, huh?
I wondered why she chose chopstick rests, but I could tell from what she said earlier that Miyagi was worried and chose them in her own way.
Apparently, a birthday is a day when I can take away Miyagi’s time and thoughts and fill it with me.
August 23 is often forgotten in the middle of summer vacation, and until now even I myself has almost forgotten it, but thanks to Miyagi, I can now look forward to next year.
The sooner the next birthday comes, the better.
I can’t help but think so.
I catch the tortoiseshell cat and the black cat on the table and put them nose to nose.
「Sendai-san, what are you doing?」
After letting the two cats kiss for the umpteenth time, Miyagi’s voice is heard.
「Playing with chopsticks.」
When I said this and looked at Miyagi, she looked away.
I put the tortoiseshell and black cat back on the table and stood up. Then I grabbed Miyagi’s arm before she could run away.
「Let me go.」
Miyagi says grumpily.
「I’ll let you go if you’ll sit down.」
「Let go of me so I can go change.」
「You can go get changed, but you’ll have to talk to me a bit first.」
「…Okay, but only for a little bit.」
When I let go of her arm, Miyagi sat down reluctantly in her chair.
「Where’s the rest of the chopstick rest?」
I hear an unfriendly voice and I sit down across from her.
「White one, brown one, and the hachiware are displayed in my room.」
「Use them.」
「One chopstick rest per person is enough, and you’ve got the ones you use out here.」
When I pointed to the two cats, Miyagi pecked at the black cat and raised an eyebrow.
「You got one too many.」
「The black cat is for Miyagi」
「I gave the chopstick rest to you, Sendai-san.」
Miyagi says in a low voice and pushes the black cat toward me.
It just so happens that there are five cats on the chopstick rest, and I at least know that she don’t want to use matching ones. Still, there are five of them, so it would not be bad if one of them belonged to Miyagi.
「It’s fine. There are five of them, and you can have one, Miyagi.」
The black cat that was pushed away is put back next to the tortoiseshell cat, but Miyagi doesn’t say she’ll use it.
「I’m the one who gave it to you, and I’m the one who wants Miyagi to use it, so use it.」
「…Why the black cat?」
Miyagi blurts out and looks at me.
「Maybe because it feels like Miyagi.」
Miyagi neither denies nor complains. But, judging by her silence, she doesn’t think she resembles a black cat.
「If you don’t like the black cat, I’ll get another cat, what do you do?」
「This is fine to me.」
Miyagi blurts out and stands up.
「Wait a minute. I still have a question.」
「What is it?」
「Do you have anything you want for your birthday, Miyagi?」
「None.」
I did not expect a straightforward answer, but my question was cut to the chase with a more succinct answer than I had imagined.
「Then tell me if you prefer fried eggs or omelettes.」
「Why do I have to answer that?」
「I told you I wanted to talk about nonsensical stuff.」
Yesterday I promised Miyagi that I would talk to her about unimportant and silly things. This is one step in that direction, an unimportant but unimportant story that I will repeat from now on.
「…I like both, but I’m in the mood for fried eggs today. How about Sendai-san?」
「I also have fried eggs. So we’re having fried eggs for breakfast.」
I smiled at her and heard her modest voice saying,「Half-cooked is better.」