Yukino Yukinoshita ultimately decided not to return to Japan this summer. When she spoke with her sister on the phone earlier, her sister mentioned that there had been some issues with the family business recently. Their mother was very busy and not in a good mood, which might lead to trouble if Yukino decided to come home at this time.
Upon hearing this, Yukino immediately canceled her plans to return during the summer vacation. She understood all too well how tense the atmosphere at home could be when their mother was under pressure from family matters, and she felt suffocated just thinking about it.
"Forget it. Let my sister deal with our mother's depression alone. I won't go back and bring bad luck to her," Yukino thought. She felt somewhat grateful to her sister for warning her about the situation. In the past, Haruno would have eagerly welcomed her home over the phone and would not have preferred to stay abroad all summer.
Yukino appreciated that her sister wanted to protect the relationship that had recently improved between her and their mother, hoping it wouldn't regress during the summer vacation.
"I understand. Thank you, sister. See you in winter," Yukino said before ending the call. She had a sense that her sister's tone had lifted slightly as they said goodbye, but she didn't dwell on it; she was looking forward to a good night's sleep and horseback riding the next day.
"She even has to thank me," Haruno thought to herself proudly as she put down her phone and rode her horse back to Hikigaya Hachiman.
"Senior, what did you just say?" Hikigaya asked, riding alongside Haruno in the sunshine. Since it was summer vacation, Haruno had brought him to the large open-air horse riding club in the suburbs that she had mentioned before.
While they were happily riding, Haruno's cell phone unexpectedly rang. She glanced at the screen and told Hikigaya to wait for a moment while she rode away to take the call.
"Perhaps it involves some family matters that aren't convenient for outsiders to know," Hikigaya thought. Nevertheless, he noticed that at the end of the call, Haruno couldn't help but smile, a beautiful expression that felt somewhat mysterious.
"That's all, lad. I was just talking to myself," Haruno said with a bright smile as she looked at Hikigaya, who had lowered his head, possibly due to her intense gaze or the scorching sun.
"Senior, what did you think of the little story I sent you earlier?" Hikigaya asked, unable to resist Haruno's persistent urges for updates on his work. He had ultimately sent her his heartwarming story titled "Disintegration of Guardian."
"Uh, Hikigaya-kun, I did read it, but the story seemed a little different from what I expected," Haruno responded, stretching out her right hand to gesture as if to indicate something lost in translation.
"Well, this is the short story that will be serialized in the magazine this month. There will be seven more to come, but I haven't started writing them yet. Do you remember? Senior, I mentioned at the award ceremony that I want to write a true mystery. I'm focused on that right now. When it's a complete book, I'll definitely let you read it first," Hikigaya explained. He had already written about a quarter of "The Clock Museum Incident," which amounted to more than 60,000 words.
"Well, that's good enough, junior. I'm really looking forward to it," Haruno replied with a smile, her figure growing closer to Hikigaya under the sun.
It was almost noon when the two finished their ride and arrived at the rest area.
Because the weather outside was too hot, even though both Yukinoshita Haruno and Hikigaya wore sun hats, they still found themselves sweating. The hair on Haruno's forehead became wet with perspiration and tangled, but she had no intention of fixing it. Instead, she rummaged through her bag and pulled out a luxurious and exquisite gift box, handing it to Hikigaya.
"Happy birthday, Hikigaya-kun. Even though it's a day early, please accept this anyway."
Hikigaya was a little stunned. This was the first time someone outside his family had given him a birthday surprise. Although it was a day in advance, it was enough to make it memorable for him.
"Thank you, senpai. Can I open it?" Hikigaya asked, feeling a bit at a loss since he had never experienced anything like this before and wanted to avoid being rude.
"Of course! If I give it to you, it's yours. Go ahead and take a look," she encouraged.
Hikigaya carefully untied the ribbon on the gift box. When he opened it, he found a high-end fountain pen inside.
"It's the Meisterstück 149 series. It's not too expensive, but I believe that even in an age where we mostly use keyboards, writers should still have a good fountain pen. What do you think, junior?" Haruno asked, tilting her head and admiring Hikigaya's shining eyes.
"I like it very much, Senior! I will use this pen to create the outlines for my future works. But why today?" Hikigaya inquired, still puzzled. His birthday was tomorrow, and his family had plans to celebrate it with two editors, Machida and Imamura. He had also planned to invite Haruno.
"I'm sorry, junior. I really wanted to celebrate your birthday tomorrow, but there are family matters that I cannot ignore. I came out today hoping to make it work, but things didn't go smoothly," Haruno explained.
Recently, her family business had faced some difficulties. Mrs. Yukinoshita had insisted that Haruno complete an internship at the company during the summer, believing she would eventually take over the business. Haruno didn't mention that she had noticed Hachiman seemed to have less influence over her mother and that this observation only arose when Haruno herself brought it up.
"Oh, that's unfortunate. If it's a matter concerning your family, I won't pry further. But thank you for your gift; I will always cherish it," Hikigaya replied, sensing that Haruno had some unspeakable secrets and respecting her privacy.
Once he returned home, he sent an email to Naho Imamura and Sonoko Machida to remind the two workaholics about the party at his house tomorrow. They quickly responded, assuring him they would overcome any obstacles to arrive on time.
At midnight, Hikigaya received several emails and text messages, most of them from publishing house staff he knew. A few classmates from his new class also sent congratulatory messages.
These were experiences Hikigaya had never had before. He edited his thank-you messages one by one and replied before finally falling asleep.
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