Chapter 170

“Thank you, Minami.” “I-it’s nothing. You did great, Lady Hime.” “The play was super good, Ai,” said Mana. “It was the first time I’d ever seen something like that, and I loved it.” “At first, I thought I would feel sad watching a play I was almost part of, but that wasn’t the case,” said Hina. “Your acting made me forget all about that. Congratulations.” “I already told you what I thought via text,” Torigoe said succinctly. “Oh yeah. That essay. Let me see…” Himeji brought up her phone to look for it, and Torigoe snatched it away. “Do not read it in front of the others.” “I was joking!” Himeji glanced at me. Looking for my thoughts? “I can still remember Mr. Matsuda coming to me, white as a sheet. And despite all that, your acting and singing was incredible. I was so impressed. You’ve got grit.” “Can’t you praise me without making fun of me? Sheesh,” she said, but she was smiling. Everyone was curious about my mention of Mr. Matsuda, but no one asked. “Saving the best for last, eh?” Deguchi stood up, ready to give his speech, but Himeji interrupted him to thank everyone again. “Thank you for doing this for me even though the party is for everyone. I was not expecting this. I mean it.” “You’re so cute when you’re being honest,” said Mana. “Yup,” said Hina. “Especially since she has such a big mouth most of the time.” These two comments brought Himeji back to Earth. “I can hear you,” she said. “Yeah, she’s usually so arrogant,” Torigoe murmured. “Shizuka.” She heard that, too. Everyone laughed out loud. Hina went out to borrow a knife, while Torigoe and Mana prepared the paper plates and drinks. Deguchi was left behind, deflated. “Hey, Takayan, I was going to say something really nice…” “Looks like she doesn’t care.” Or maybe she just forgot about him. Hina came back, and Mana sliced the cake. Once the knife was in my sister’s hands, I breathed a sigh of relief. “Congratulations, Himeji.” We made a toast and had our cake. Once our time was up, we cleaned up and headed out. Hina and Himeji had their karaoke match, and Himeji won three to two. “You’re on for a rematch, Ai!” said Hina. “It’s futile. I’ll only win again.” Himeji had boasted about crushing her before, but Hina had put up more of a fight than she’d expected, and Himeji was hoping to avoid a rematch. We all walked back to the station together, and Hina told me about her work. “I’m going to be in a commercial for a local company. We had a meeting for it today.” “What? A commercial?” “For the web. I won’t be on TV or anything.” “But hey, that’s a big step up from hair model.” “It doesn’t really feel like it, since it’s just a local company.” Himeji’s ears perked up at the word commercial, but she lost interest again after hearing local company and web. “It seems like the agency is expecting big things from you.” “You think? I don’t know what’s normal, but I hope so.” Hina was smiling from ear to ear.