Some time later, when our two-hour limit had run its course...
“Blugh... I ate way too much. Think I’m gonna be sick...” I groaned.
“What did we tell you?” Yuna sighed. “I knew you were pushing your luck.”
“Are you all right? Do you need to sit down for a moment?” asked Rinka.
“Sure, thanks... Sorry for the hassle...”
I’d filled my stomach with meat, then kept going until I was right on the verge of bursting. The unsurprising result: intense nausea. Yuna and Rinka ended up having to hold me upright as we walked along.
Ugh... I feel terrible, in more ways than one. Had the restaurant cast some sort of yakiniku magic on me? Or had I just been too hyped up on first-ever-after-party adrenaline to regulate myself? Or maybe the meat that I’d eaten had swollen inside my stomach postconsumption?! One way or another, I felt ill in the same sort of way I always felt when I got carsick...and the fact that all the meat had been a lot fattier than I’d given it credit for in the moment probably wasn’t helping. My first-ever after-party and I dropped the ball at the last second...
“I see an open bench just in front of the station,” said Rinka. “Should we stop there, Yotsuba?”
“Sure...” I groaned. “Oh, but it’s pretty late. Maybe you two should just go home...?”
“Dummy,” said Yuna.
“Of course we won’t leave you alone,” added Rinka.
Ugh... Of course they’d say no, and of course they’d scold me for suggesting otherwise.
I sat down, and Yuna and Rinka sat on either side of me. Rinka gently stroked my back, while Yuna pulled a plastic bottle of water from her bag and offered it to me. Their nursing had me feeling a little better already...and the relieved sighs they let out made it clear that they could tell.
“This is the most you thing you could’ve possibly done, honestly,” said Yuna.
“Isn’t it just?” Rinka agreed. “And when there’s still so much left to do this evening.”
“Huh...?” I grunted. I wasn’t quite picking up on what Rinka had meant to imply with that. I’d been under the impression that we’d be having a meal, then going home...
“Hey, Yotsuba. What day is it tomorrow?” asked Yuna.
“Umm... It’ll be, uh, November 2nd...?”
“Right. And what’s November 2nd?”
At that, the free-spinning gears in my boiled brain finally clicked together. They only managed to produce one answer, mind you, but it seemed like a pretty likely one.
“It’s...my birthday?”
“Exactly!” Yuna and Rinka said in excited unison.
It was true. November 2nd was indeed the one and only birthday of one Yotsuba Hazama. You might think that this would be the part where I pathetically groused about how gloomy loners like me didn’t deserve birthdays—it would be pretty in character—but my family always made a point of celebrating with me every year, and last year Yuna and Rinka had done so as well. It was one of the most special days of the year for me, no question about it. Was it really special enough to make a big deal out of it the evening before, though...?
“And your birthday this year will be a first for us,” Yuna continued.
“A first? How?” I asked.
“Our birthdays are both in April,” said Rinka, “and back then, we weren’t in this relationship yet, were we?”
“Oh...” I instantly realized what they were trying to say. Tomorrow would mark the first time one of us had had a birthday since I started dating the two of them.
“We know that you’ve always celebrated with Sakura, Aoi, and the rest of your family,” said Yuna. “They’re the ones who’ve always made the biggest deal out of your birthday. But the thing is—and maybe this is just a little selfish of us, but still...it’ll be our first birthday with you as your girlfriends. This year, we want to be the ones who make the biggest splash, you know?”
“So we decided to cheat the system a little,” said Rinka. “We made plans to celebrate before your birthday technically arrived.”
“You...did? Is that what this was? I had no idea...”
“Because we were careful to make sure you wouldn’t notice,” Rinka said with a slightly bashful grin.
“But considering the state you ended up in, and that we really don’t want to make it worse, it looks like we’re gonna have to stick to giving you your present and calling it a day,” said Yuna.
“Ugh... Sorry...”
“Look, we’re saying you don’t have to apologize! We got to watch you have a blast today, and we had plenty of fun too! Right, Rinka?”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself. If we’re with you and you’re having a good time, we’re guaranteed to have just as good of a time too.”
Yuna clung to one of my arms, while Rinka took my other hand in both of hers, cradling it in front of her. I felt incredibly loved, which was both wonderful and a little embarrassing. And, more importantly...
“I-I don’t stink right now, do I?!” I yelped. “Oh, jeez, I just know I smell like a barbecue pit...!”
“No, you don’t,” said Yuna.
“And even if you did, we would too. Does the way we smell right now bother you?” asked Rinka.
“N-No, not at all...”
“Then it’s all good!” said Yuna.
There was no way I could ever think that the two of them smelled bad (on account of the fact that my brain had never been equipped with the capacity to see either of them in a bad light to begin with), so all I could do was accept that they’d won this round. What was all that stuff they were saying about celebrating my birthday early, though...?
“I think it’s time for us to cut to the chase, Yuna,” said Rinka.
“Oh, right! We didn’t get to cuddle at the restaurant, so I couldn’t help myself for a minute there,” Yuna agreed.
She spent a moment fishing around in her bag, then pulled out a gift-wrapped package. I couldn’t tell what was inside, of course—gift wrap does that—but it did look like it had to be expensive, judging by how carefully packaged it was. It had, like...an elegance to it, I guess?
“Here you go, Yotsuba,” said Yuna.
“We’re still a little early...but happy birthday,” said Rinka.
Yuna held the gift out to me, and Rinka guided my hands toward it. It was physically light enough to easily hold in one hand, but the weight of the feelings that had clearly been poured into it was so great that I was a little worried about whether or not I could bear it. I could feel my fingers trembling, and I knew that Yuna and Rinka had noticed too, but neither of them said a word about it. All they did was wait and watch over me.
“Can I open it?” I asked.
“Sure!” said Yuna.
“Of course,” said Rinka.
I slowly, carefully peeled off the wrapping paper. I wanted to see what was inside as soon as possible, but it had been wrapped so beautifully that it would’ve felt wrong to just tear it open. I was also still pretty worn out, so it took quite a while for me to get it all opened up, but when the package was finally free from its paper, I found myself holding a very classy-looking box. I’d opened one package to reveal another, like some sort of present matryoshka doll—y’know, those little dolls with littler dolls inside them? My anticipation was building. My real present would be inside that box...!
“O-Okay, I’m opening it,” I said before timidly cracking the box open to reveal...a necklace. Its design was fairly understated—the sort of jewelry you could easily wear on an everyday basis—but I knew for a fact that its price tag had been anything but. I recognized the logo inside the box, after all. It was famous enough that even someone totally unacquainted with fashion like me knew it on sight. “Wh-Where did you get this?!” I yelped.
“Oh, y’know! We splurged a little,” said Yuna.
“M-More than a little! This must’ve been so expensive...”
“It took a chunk out of our savings...but that’s fine with us,” said Rinka. “We’ll only get one chance to celebrate our girlfriend’s birthday for the first time, after all.”
“We can just get part-time jobs and save up again,” Yuna added.
They were making it sound like no big deal, but I was convinced they’d really had to push themselves to get ahold of my gift. For a moment, I felt bad about it...but then I shook my head. Apologies weren’t in order this time.