"Ahhhh~ Thank you so much~"
We arrived at Midori's mother's house to celebrate her birthday. Of course we had to still go to school, but it was nice for her mother to let us come here. Midori said that if it was her father, she might've not been allowed to have friends over depending on his mood. Reina and I had just given our present to Midori as she holds it close to her chest.
"Thank you, Luna, Reina."
"Hehe."
We both smile at Midori's praise. I can tell the smile is genuine, however-
"Okay! Now is my turn!"
Shin pulls up a small box that was wrapped up quite awkwardly in wrapping paper, placing it on the table. With how many people that are here, we decided to do this in the living room as Midori's mother is busy preparing some refreshments for us.
"Pfft. I can tell you wrapped this yourself."
"Hey well, I think it adds to the charm!"
"It does, hehe."
"Okay, come on, open it up."
"Kayy~"
With a smile on her face, Midori unwraps the box to reveal, well, a box. But it was when Midori opened the small box did a pair of earrings come into view.
"Ea-earings?"
"Yup!"
"...Shin."
"Yeah?"
"You do realize I don't have my ears pierced, right?"
"..."
"You idiot!"
"Ow!"
Nicole wound up whacking Shin on the back of the head. It wasn't hard at all as the rest of us couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle.
"Wait, but hang on! I could've swore you wore earrings before, you're even wearing them now, aren't y-"
"These?"
Midori, cutting Shin off proceed to remove the earrings from her ears, revealing no hole in her ears.
"They're clip on ones. You think my father would let me get them pierced?"
"Ah..."
"It's okay, Shin."
Zhen ends up consoling Shin, gently rubbing his shoulder before Nicole could whack him a second time.
"Well, thank you Shin. Maybe when I graduate I could maybe get my ears pierced."
"Heh. Maybe you could lend them to me in the meantime."
Unlike Midori, Nicole had her ears pierced. Currently she's wearing hoop styled earrings which I normally see her wearing, but the earrings that Midori has been given seem to be in the shape of a tear drop with gems imbedded in the center of it.
"Sure!"
"Wooooh!!!"
And so, Shin's gift was quickly given to Nicole; albeit temporarily.
"Hey, wait! I don't want to give my present to the one who's whacking me on the- ow!"
"Next time do proper research."
This time, Nicole simply flicked Shin on the forehead the moment he turned towards her. Yeah you kind of ran into that one yourself, Shin.
"Anyways, I guess it's my turn. Here."
It was Nicole's turn this time as she brought the largest present yet that was hiding behind her. Of course Midori had already seen the size of it in the wrapping when we arrived as it's about nearly half the height of Midori herself.
It took a while for Midori to undo the wrapping, but when it finally was revealed-
"WAAAAAAAH~!"
"Fufu."
What was revealed was a large, blue orca plushie as Midori quickly hugged it as if to test how soft it was.
"Where in the heck did you find this?"
"Last year, remember? When we went to that convention? You ran out of money and couldn't buy this, so when we parted ways..."
"No way."
"Yes way."
"Thank you so much~!"
The two of them hugged each other over the table with the orca plushie in between them.
"I was afraid that you'd get this one eventually, but even until now, I still haven't seen this one in your room, hehe."
"Then, what would you do if I did buy this already?"
"Probably give it to my sister on her next birthday."
"Hey, that's like totally cheating!"
"Heh. Says the one that probably looked up what gifts to buy for girls, hehe."
"..."
Shin froze up at Nicole's words as if he did actually do that.
"Shin. I love your gift, I think the earrings are really pretty, but is it okay for Nicole to borrow them for now?"
"I guess."
"Hehe."
Midori ends up hugging Shin this time, bringing back some hope in Shin, but that's when I realize that Midori didn't give either Reina or me a hug. It's not that it's a bother, but I just thought it was interesting.
"U-uhm... Sorry. I didn't know it was your birthday, so-"
"It's okay, Zhen. Mom seemed quite happy with the gift you brought already, hehe."
Earlier when we arrived, Zhen brought over some fancy wine from his place. I didn't know how fancy it was until we saw Midori's mother's reaction.
"Here we are~"
And in just the right time, Midori's mom returns with a large platter of food along with drinks for us.
"Ohh~ That's quite a big one one isn't it?"
"Mhmm!"
"Fufu. Well you kids have fun~ I'm going to get started in dinner. Remember not to stay too long."
""Yesss~""
Like her mother said, it's a school night so we don't have much time here. Suddenly, A buzzing sound came from Nicole as she quickly pulled out her phone to quickly respond to the text.
"Oh? Is that your parents?"
Midori is the first to ask as I also thought the same.
"Nah. It's from the place that I'll be working at soon."
"..."
""WHAT?!""
Everyone besides Reina and Zhen all exclaimed in surprise at the sudden news.
"Wait wait wait! I thought you were going to go on the weekend!"
"Hehe, well I actually went there yesterday after school. It's a nice place and they even have body-guards around the clock."
"Bodyguards?"
"Yup! It seems pretty legit. I thought it'd be something sketchy when I was first given that card, but the girl I talked on the phone with seemed nice."
The only places that come to mind that have bodyguards or something like that would be the mall and the train station. But would those people be considered bodyguards?
"Wait, so then the person that messaged you-"
"Mm. She's the girl I talked about. We exchanged numbers. She's just asking if I could come down tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Well I told her no, obviously. Hehe, don't give me that look."
"Mmmm, fine. You were sick before, so you better."
"I will~"
It's then that Nicole turns her head towards me as she shoots me a smile.
"I'm catching up, Luna~"
"Pfft."
So "that's" what that smile was. Is she seeing me as some kind of competition? If that's the case-
"Good luck."
"Thanks."
I know how hard it was when I first started working. My brain felt overwhelmed unlike my body, but after a few days you soon find a rhythm for things. Of course I imagine different places would be different, but after hanging around with Nicole for this long, I feel like she has a good head on her shoulders, especially considering how she's holding up with that whole Kai situation. It seems like she isn't even bothered by it anymore.
"So? What's the job?"
Reina ends up speaking up, asking a question that I was about to ask.
"It's a customer service job, but it's something I never thought was a thing! Like, it's a place where people come in and depending on the client, I could maybe even find practice doing nails and stuff~!"
"Really? So like a salon?"
"No, but well. Ah~ It's hard to explain."
"Hehe, well I'm glad."
Midori chimes in with a smile on her face. I don't blame her. It's rare to see Nicole this excited, normally it'd be Midori who'd act this way, but to be able to find a job that is exactly what you wanted to do in the first place, wouldn't that what people call their dream job? No wonder Nicole is ecstatic.
"So! Be ready for your next birthday! I'll submerge you in so many plushies you wouldn't be able to breathe!"
"Hehehe. You're really making me want to try working now."
"You could come join me!"
"Thanks, but I still think I want to focus on the student council first."
"Booo~ Heheh, nah it's okay. Luna, you'll be joining her, right?"
"Maybe."
I have been thinking about it some more, but-
"But I wonder if it's too late for that."
"W-well… If I do get selected, I get to choose my team. Normally the team would be the same, but since most of the student council are third years, there's quite a few spots that'll open as well. Oh, but the vice-student council president would need to be chosen very soon."
So if I'm going to want to support Midori the best I could, I'd need to make up my mind sooner rather than later, but if I don't then there's a chance for another position…
"Well, if Luna wants to run for vice president, I'm sure no one would argue with that."
Shin adds onto what Midori said as if what he said is a fact, causing me to face his way.
"You're grades are always on top, not to mention your amazing athletic performance as well. Wouldn't it just be a given for you?"
"Fufu. Sis sure is popular."
Reina ends up nudging me under the table. I know what she's implying. I'm sure academically, Reina would be a better person for the job.
"Well, if sis will run for vice-president, then I wouldn't mind joining as well."
"R-really, Reina?"
"Mhmm! I could be the treasurer or something."
"Thank you."
Wait, did Reina just set me up to go ahead with this? Turning my head to her, she simply gives me a smile that is filled with hidden intent. Yeah… she totally did. With everything now settled, I guess we're back to being competitive, constantly pushing each other to do better. I don't hate it at all. Yeah…
"Okay, then I'll run for presidency alongside you, Midori."
"Really?!"
"Nn."
Before I knew it, I was pulled into a hug by Midori, but before I could hug back, she pulls away with a bright flush on her cheeks.
With dinner almost ready, we all began to leave, thanking Midori and her mother for having us, but it was then that I felt my sleeve being grabbed did I turn back around, facing the front door to find Midori.
"U-uhm!"
"Yeah?"
"D-did you really mean it? Will you run with me?"
"Nn. I might not know much, but I'll do my best to support you."
At my words, Midori held a bit tighter, clenching her fingers into my sleeve..
"Then uhm… You think we could find time together and- well. Practice our speeches and- stuff?"
I can feel Midori shivering from the cold despite wearing the scarf we gave her and the warm clothes she's wearing. Did I need to get her a thicker scarf?
"Hehe. Sure."
"Th-then this weekend!"
"Nn"
"Oh? Sis, if you're going this weekend, then I'll leave you to it."
"Huh? Wait, didn't you say you also wanted to join?"
"Yes, but I also want to help Anna. So, Midori. I'll leave sis in your hands~"
"Th-th-thank you!"
To Reina's words, Midori seemed even more thrilled for some reason as her eyes snapped open in surprise.
"Wait, but won't you be at your father's place?"
"Ah, right. I'll have Alisa pick you up."
"The maid?"
"Pfft, yeah."
Well, then I guess that leaves me with a few days to come up with some sort of speech. I know Midori said we can work on them together, but I want to have somewhere to start. If my role is to support Midori in this, then there's no way I'll be turning up empty handed. I might even try and get a couple days off work to work on it as well. My manager always wants me to take it easy so maybe it's time to finally take him up on the offer.