Chapter 289: Birthday
Kaede's birthday arrived as scheduled.
On the way to school, Kaede asked Eriri, "Eriri, didn't you say you prepared a birthday present for me? Why don't I see you carrying it?"
"Hmph! If I had kept it at home and brought it out, wouldn't you have discovered it?"
Eriri shook her head, "Since we are celebrating with everyone at school, naturally I'll give it to you when we are at school. I already left the gift with Utaha, you'll see it this afternoon."
"Mm~~~ Then I'll look forward to it."
Looking at Eriri, Kaede's eyes were filled with a smile.
For the past decade or so of celebrating his birthday, Kaede had only celebrated at home with his parents: his mother would cook a sumptuous dinner, they would buy a cake, and he would receive a birthday gift he wanted.
But starting this year, it seemed things would be different every year from now on.
After arriving at school, his classmates unanimously wished him a happy birthday, leaving Kaede momentarily stunned.
After sitting down, he looked at Kitamura Yusaku, who walked over, and asked, "Don't tell me you told them?"
"That's right, I mentioned to everyone that today is your birthday."
Kitamura Yusaku nodded with a smile, "You should be glad I only mentioned it after arriving in class today. If I had done it a few days earlier, those girls in our class would probably have prepared gifts for you. At that time, the vinegar jar in your house might overflow."
"...I really appreciate that."
Kaede gave Kitamura Yusaku a speechless glare, but secretly felt a bit fortunate.
If he were to meet Eriri while carrying a pile of birthday gifts from a bunch of girls, it would be difficult to explain, no matter how understanding Eriri was.
There's nothing wrong with friends giving gifts, but when a large group of girls gives them, it would be strange if there wasn't an issue.
During lunch, Eriri also heard Kitamura Yusaku mention this matter. She immediately glared at the guy sitting opposite her and said irritably, "I feel like Kitamura, you just want to stir up trouble. Do you believe that during future gatherings, we'll eat meat and you'll only eat vegetables?"
"Ahaha~~~ I was wrong, I won't do that next time!"
Kitamura immediately backed down. Gatherings and meals at Kaede's and Eriri's houses were regular events for everyone. If he were the only one without meat when the time came, wouldn't that be too miserable?
At the long dining table, Aisaka Taiga, who had also joined them today, asked, "So, after class this afternoon, we are going to the Art Club, right?"
"That's right, just come over then."
Kaede nodded, "The Art Club space is sufficient, and we've already applied to Teacher Koyama. We can be a bit lively today, there's no problem."
"Hooray! There's cake to eat!"
Although she, this novice, could already make cake, Aisaka Taiga still preferred others to make it so she could eat it herself.
"No Hooray!" xN
Recently, besides the manga by Eriri and Kaede, chainsaw man, which was serialized concurrently in Jump, also produced many memes. The "Hooray" meme was one of them. Everyone instinctively shouted it out upon hearing it, startling Aisaka Taiga.
"No... No allowed? What the heck?"
Aisaka Taiga hadn't realized what was happening. She stared blankly at everyone, wondering if she had said something wrong.
Afterward, with explanations from Uchimaki Subaru and Kitamura Yusaku, Aisaka Taiga finally understood what the meme was about.
"Sigh~~~ chainsaw man, I haven't read that manga, I don't really like the art style. But hearing you guys talk about it, it sounds quite interesting? I'll read it when I get back."
She originally wanted to say she would read it during her free time in the afternoon, but considering that she had been caught slacking by teachers more than once during class, Aisaka Taiga had to abandon that idea.
Amidst everyone's anticipation, afternoon classes ended, and everyone quickly packed up and headed to the Art Club activity room.
Moreover, everyone's schedule today was unified; no one had duty or anything similar. Even Kitamura Yusaku and Kushieda Minori suspended their Softball Club activities for the day and took a day off.
After Eriri left her classroom, she separated from Usami and first came to Kaede's classroom, telling him, "Kaede-kun, let's wait a bit! We'll go over after everyone else has gone!"
Kaede paused, then smiled and said, "What, does everyone need to prepare something inside the clubroom?"
"Hehe, that's right!" Eriri said happily, "This is the first time everyone is celebrating someone's birthday together at school, so we definitely need to prepare a bit, right?"
"Alright, I'll see what kind of fun you guys can come up with." Openly holding Eriri's hand in the hallway, Kaede asked, "By the way, did you prepare drinks? If not, let's go buy some first. They still need time to decorate the activity room anyway."
"I can confirm that they haven't bought any." Eriri was clearly well-informed about the progress on the other side and said without hesitation, "Then let's go buy drinks. I want Coke!"
"You just recovered a few days ago, and you want to drink something cold again?"
Eriri gave a silly smile, shaking Kaede's hand and saying, "Buy it, please! I'll just drink a little, and you can drink the rest, Kaede-kun!"
"That's fine then."
Thus, to give everyone more time to prepare, the two went to the school's small shop and bought several drinks. Most were hot drinks, with only a small amount of carbonated beverages.
Carrying a large bag, Eriri said excitedly, "When I celebrated my birthday at home before, my parents hosted birthday parties several times, inviting people over. But I didn't like those at all; they were boring, and I had to put on a party dress and couldn't even enjoy playing happily. So, after a few times, after I protested, my parents stopped doing it. It became a simple family dinner, and then I happily played games in my room all night!"
"I see, what you really wanted was to play games."
He smiled and playfully tapped Eriri's nose, saying, "It's similar for me. I don't think birthdays need to be extravagant or wasteful; a simple celebration with a small group of people is enough. Something like today is a first for me in over a decade."
"Hehe, me too. It's the first time I've celebrated someone's birthday with friends."
"Then, when your birthday comes next March, Eriri, let's celebrate yours too. We can have a party at home then and make it even livelier?"
"Great! Let's do that!"
As they spoke, the two arrived at the entrance of the Art Club.
Kaede and Eriri exchanged glances. Encouraged by Eriri, he pushed open the door to the activity room.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
"Happy Birthday!!!"