Chapter 191

“A big party…isn’t really your style, right? Let’s have a quiet little celebration.” “…Okay.” When it came to celebrating her birthday, although Mahiru could be quite sociable, she was a shy girl who tended to be cautious by nature and preferred a quiet environment. She didn’t seem to want too many people to know about her birthday, so Amane felt like a small, private party would be best. At the moment, she seemed to be all right with telling the people she was close to, so Amane figured he ought to consult with Chitose and the others who seemed likely to want to celebrate Mahiru. Amane was mentally formulating plans, bit by bit, as Mahiru stared intently at him, slightly embarrassed or perhaps uncomfortable. However, he could see that she was curling up in a happy little ball, and he let out a quiet chuckle. “You’re not used to being celebrated, are you, Mahiru? All I’ve done so far is give you a heads-up.” “I—I mean…” “Mm, the way you’re acting… I can see you’re going to accept it as you should. That’s great… Which is why I’m going to be secretive about what we’re doing to celebrate. You’ll have to forgive me for that.” “Heh-heh, sure.” He had already given her fair warning that he was going to celebrate her birthday, so he figured he ought to go ahead and let her know he would be working behind the scenes to make it happen. He knew Mahiru was the kind of person who would understand as soon as he told her, but he hated the idea of making her anxious when the whole point was to show her a good time, so he warned her he was going to be doing things in secret again. Mahiru broke into an amused smile. Amane felt deeply relieved by her easygoing smile and cheerful tone. He patted Mahiru’s head after she had snuggled up to him like she was looking to be pampered a little. “I’m going to make you as happy as I possibly can, okay? I’ll work hard to find out what you like, whatever it takes.” “You’re saying all that right in front of me?” “Oops.” “Heh-heh, you never think things like that all the way through, do you? Geez.” “I have no response to that.” He pressed his lips together, thinking she was absolutely right, as her clear, beautiful laughter filled the room. “…I’m really looking forward to it.” “Mm. I’ll do my best to meet your expectations.” “Okay, then. I’ll expect great things.” Amane was ecstatic that he had gotten Mahiru, who didn’t care about her birthday, to look forward to it. He nodded forcefully and vowed to himself to diligently use the limited time remaining in the month to prepare something special for Mahiru.