Chapter 308: Birthday
Birthday, a day that comes once a year, honestly, there isn't really a need to celebrate it.
Sakurai Saki's birthday is February 20th, with no particular meaning, just a very ordinary point in time.
Even if you search Google for "this day in history," the only result is the first performance of the ballet "Swan Lake." Ballet? Sakurai Saki had no interest.
Last year's birthday he spent alone, at night gaming with Hayasaka Ai, playing PUBG on the computer, getting 29 kills, but unfortunately just before winning he got killed by a hacker, afterward Sakurai Saki was almost mad enough to want to kill that hacker, literally.
Luckily, Hayasaka Ai persuaded him to calm down.
Tuesday, Sakurai Saki and Hayasaka Ai were sharing an umbrella, walking on the sidewalk. Recently it had been raining continuously, the atmosphere was very pleasant.
"So, President Shirogane is about to move house?"
"Umu, he wants to become a Minato person."
"How about we move there too? Here in Setagaya we don't really have anything tying us down, right?" Hayasaka Ai asked.
If they moved to Minato, it would be a little closer to Kaguya's house, and Ai-chan could more easily drop by to see her.
"Pretty much. The room you rented has already been returned, plus a penalty of one month's rent for breaking the contract." Sakurai Saki brought this up.
Suddenly, he remembered something and asked: "Last year, during that period when you kept going back to that rental apartment, was it because you were knitting a scarf for me?"
What Sakurai meant was when she had given him a Christmas present.
"That's right."
"Really so, huh." Sakurai Saki felt both helpless and amused, "That rental room, the rent was over 100,000 yen a month, right? Just to prepare a surprise for me?"
"Why not? It's called a surprise because the one being surprised can't know beforehand." Hayasaka Ai winked her right eye at him, "That happy expression you had back then, I can still remember it very clearly."
"Any guy who receives a hand-knit scarf from his girlfriend would be happy."
"As long as you were happy, I'm satisfied. Ah, by the way, tonight there's a surprise. When you come home after school, boyfriend-kun can look forward to it."
Hayasaka: (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
A surprise? What kind?
Right now Sakurai Saki just wanted to skip school and rush home to sit and wait.
...
Tuesday had art class.
Sakurai Saki looked at Shinomiya Kaguya posing as the model in front of him, he used the brush in his hand, sketching her face onto the drawing board like a copy.
Then he drew an ape.
Sakurai Saki's drawing skills were not high, you could even call them bad.
People always need to have some flaws, like the statue of Venus with broken arms—if you attach her arms back, instead it would lose its beauty. The beauty of incompleteness is also a kind of beauty.
Girls are the same. There are some silly, naive girls who are very cute. Sakurai Saki called that kind of beauty—a brainless beauty.
After more than ten minutes.
"The process of human evolution spanned millions of years, a very long time."
Shinomiya Kaguya listened to his excuse, glanced at the drawing on the board, then sighed: "That's all you can say?"
"(ノ _ <,, )
"I think the beauty of Kaguya-san can't be expressed with my skills on a drawing board. So I drew an ape very similar to Kaguya-san, and let it evolve. A few million years later, maybe it will become Kaguya-san."
¯\_(- > -)_/¯
"I'll tell you now, our group is two people, and by the end of class we have to hand in a human body sketch."
"Then what should I do? This is the best I can do." Sakurai Saki surrendered.
Before you told me to draw you, now you're criticizing—it's you again? Is this my fault?
"If it weren't your birthday today, I'd definitely give you a punch!" Shinomiya Kaguya said through gritted teeth.
"If you punch me, I'll definitely hit back, so I advise you not to do it."
Gender equality, banzai!
✧｡◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜✧*｡
"Sit over there right now, I'll draw! Luckily this period just started." Shinomiya Kaguya pulled his hand, leading him to sit in a nearby seat.
"Alright, get into position, don't move around."
The art room of Shuchiin was very spacious, very comfortable, no one cared about their small actions.
Except for Hayasaka Ai.
(≧ω≦)人(≧ω≦)------------------(≖_≖ )
Her sea-blue eyes stared sharply at the two, like an eagle.
'Since the winter camp trip, has the relationship between those two gotten too good?'
Before, they still bickered back and forth like they were arguing.
Look at their conversation now—it basically sounds like a couple fooling around!
Hayasaka Ai felt her blonde hair turning green.
"Ai-chan, are you spacing out?" Hinokuchi Mirin—the one grouped with her—asked.
"No."
"You were definitely looking toward Sakurai-san, were you jealous because he and Shinomiya-san are grouped together?"
"I'm not that easy to get jealous." Ai-chan pulled her focus back to her friend, moving her pencil to continue sketching.
"Ai-chan, it seems you've misunderstood something, girls are supposed to be jealous." Hinokuchi Mirin said with a serious expression.
"Wouldn't being jealous make boys hate you?"
Girls who often lose their temper definitely won't be liked by boys, Hayasaka Ai could assert that.
Because Shinomiya Kaguya was the typical example, being her maid for more than ten years, Hayasaka Ai understood that the most.
Kaguya-sama made too many willful demands!
"Nuh-uh~ Ai-chan, though you're not wrong. But!" Hinokuchi Mirin ran up in front of Hayasaka Ai, grabbed her shoulders, she said: "A girl being jealous is also a kind of cuteness! It's indispensable!"
If I'm together with the opposite sex and my boyfriend doesn't have any reaction at all, doesn't that mean the other person doesn't like me?
"You mean like this? I do that though." Hayasaka Ai had long since grasped these kinds of basic techniques.
Occasionally showing a bit of possessiveness would make boys feel a sense of achievement.
Boys all like girls fighting over them, even getting intoxicated in those "shurafield."
Like last time when she quarreled with Chika, Hayasaka Ai could assert, when Sakurai Saki was troubled because of that "shurafield," in his heart he was definitely secretly delighted.
That's human nature.
"Ai-chan, you really are a wicked woman." Hinokuchi Mirin said fearfully.
"A wicked woman?" Hayasaka Ai glanced at Shinomiya Kaguya not far away.
That one should be called a wicked woman, she was only protecting her spoils of war.
But her friend's words also gave Hayasaka Ai a hint.
'Occasionally showing a bit of willfulness doesn't seem bad either?'
Tonight, she must make him unable to get out of bed, best to drain those two balls until he begs for mercy!
ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ
...
In the distance.
"...?" Sakurai Saki – who was modeling for drawing, suddenly felt a bit of pain in his waist.
What's going on?
Could it be that some strange yokai had set sights on him? Hopefully tonight he wouldn't be drained dry.
"Don't move around recklessly, Sakurai-san can you look at me properly?" Shinomiya Kaguya ordered.
Sakurai Saki shouted: "Got it!"
There was a bad premonition.