Chapter 71
After sliding into a form-fitting black dress and pulling on her signature black stockings, Utaha immediately took her seat before the vanity. Face creams, lipsticks, perfumes, eye shadows... as a young woman, Utaha's dressing table certainly didn't lack a single cosmetic product.
However, she very rarely made use of them. Even on the rare occasions that she did, she never went through such an exhaustive routine.
But today, Utaha was applying her makeup with painstaking care. She wanted to present herself in the most beautiful state of her entire life.
Her long black hair flowed neatly over her shoulders. Utaha then picked out a pair of silver earrings and a matching necklace to wear. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she checked herself over and over again, terrified that she might have missed some small detail in her preparations.
Once she felt her appearance was finally perfect, she quickly glanced at the wall clock.
The second hand moved tick by tick. As the time drew closer, Utaha's heart rate began to accelerate in sync with the clock.
Would Mineo-sensei really come? Would he actually appear before her today? Would he bring a surprise for her birthday? Could she truly believe that Mineo-sensei would show up?
In those short dozens of seconds, a whirlwind of thoughts flashed through Utaha's mind. Suddenly, she realized a very serious problem. It seemed that Mineo-sensei didn't even know where she lived!
If he didn't know her home address, how could he possibly arrive here within thirty minutes? Did this mean Mineo-sensei was just teasing her again?
Staring at her beautiful reflection in the mirror, Utaha's eyes began to glaze over with tears. Her face turned pale. There were only thirty seconds left until the time Mineo-sensei had promised. Was she going to be disappointed again today?
The clock hands finally struck exactly eight in the evening. Feeling her body go weak, Utaha tried to push herself up from the vanity. She wanted to turn away from the mirror, take off her earrings, and wipe away her makeup. However, the moment she turned around, Utaha's breath and heart seemed to stop simultaneously.
"....Mineo-sensei???"
A faint murmur escaped Utaha's lips, sounding as if she were talking in her sleep. A second later, she gasped and covered her mouth in shock. In that instant, her eyes radiated a chaotic mix of emotions: disbelief, deep moving touch, pure happiness, and other things that were simply too difficult to put into words.
Standing right there in front of Utaha was the figure of Mineo. Just like her, he was dressed impeccably, wearing a sharp black suit that made him look incredibly handsome.
He wasn't wearing the suit jacket, opting only for a crisp white dress shirt on top, but there was an elegant brooch pinned to the chest of the shirt. To be honest, this was the first time Mineo had dressed up this formally since he was a child.
Wearing a suit felt a bit strange to him. Takamine Mineo grumbled inwardly, but a moment later, he looked up and locked eyes with the girl in front of him. He saw Utaha covering her mouth while leaning weakly against the vanity behind her. In the corners of her eyes, tears were clearly visible.
"Right at eight o'clock. Looks like I'm not late!"
"Well, Utaha? I appeared right on time before you, within the set deadline!"
As if performing a magic trick, Mineo revealed a hand he had been hiding behind his back. In it was a bouquet of roses, wrapped beautifully. The bouquet consisted of precisely twenty-one stalks of Damascus roses.
Mineo reached out and offered the bouquet to Utaha, a gentle smile playing on his lips.
"Happy birthday, Utaha!"
"These are for you. Even if it feels a little late, fortunately, it's not actually late..."
Seeing Utaha standing there in total silence, staring at him without the slightest reaction, Mineo waved his other hand in front of her eyes.
"Hello? Utaha, snap out of it!"
"What are you thinking about? Are you so moved by my appearance? Don't get too emotional, I just wanted to give you a surprise. Could you... mm....!!??"
Mineo's words were cut short because Utaha suddenly lunged forward and threw her arms around him, hugging his body tightly. Tears overflowed from the corners of her eyes, soaking into Mineo's shirt as she pressed her smooth, pale cheek against him.
"Mineo-sensei... am I dreaming...?"
"I... I can't believe any of this is real."
"Did Mineo-sensei... really appear in front of me?"
"..."
Seeing Utaha hugging him so desperately, Mineo didn't know what to say for a moment. He set the bouquet of roses aside, wrapping one arm around Utaha's slender waist while the other gently stroked her long black hair.
"Of course it's real!"
"Today is your birthday, a day worth celebrating. Why are you crying, Utaha... Come on, give me a smile! Why do you seem so different from when we first met? Since when did you become so sentimental like this..."
"You... you're the one who's sentimental... I'm... I'm not crying... Just now... some sand got in my eyes..."
Utaha pulled back from Mineo's embrace and immediately wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Mineo-sensei.... I don't understand.... how did you find the location of my house!"
"I.... I didn't even open the door.... how did you get in.... has Mineo-sensei been secretly watching me all this time, even secretly duplicating my house keys???"
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
50 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter (Up to 5 bonus chapters per week).
Read ahead and support the story on Patreon: patreon.com/FaaanzKun
✅ 45+ chapters ahead of WebNovel
✅ 2 new chapters every day (Monday–Saturday), exclusive on Patreon
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —