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It’s raining.
Mafuyu didn’t know how she felt about it, but she didn’t hate it. She guessed it was hypnotizing in a way, sort of like her aquarium.
The aquarium is nice; she liked the aquarium.
Ever since she moved in with Kanade, she found out that she liked many things.
She likes K’s songs; she also likes writing lyrics.
She also really likes apples.
Surprisingly, it’s the only thing she can taste. It’s faint, sure, but she can still taste it. Kanade has asked Honami to get a lot of apple-related things since then.
Most of them were good, though she would prefer not to taste apple-flavored soda again.
She stared out the window at the darkened sky of Tokyo, the mist covering most of the city buildings you could see from Kanade’s apartment. The gloomy atmosphere somehow gave Mafuyu a calming feeling, like when she looked into the aquarium late at night. It at least made her head empty; it was a rare occasion when her window wasn’t covered by the dust-filled curtains that she had to clean, along with Kanade’s room, which was filled with composition sheets and empty cup noodle cups.
They’ve fallen into a routine where Mafuyu forces Kanade to eat somewhat normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day before meeting up with Nightcord and washing up. Kanade would stay up most of the time until later at night, when Mafuyu drags her to bed.
Most of the time, Honami is the one cooking, or Mafuyu.
So imagine her surprise when she sees Kanade in the kitchen at 6 in the morning. Technically, she doesn’t feel anything, but she still blanked out for a bit.
Without a word, she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend’s waist, burying her head in the smaller girl’s hair. It smelled of the floral shampoo that Honami bought at a discount.
“Ah—Mafuyu… you’re awake. I was trying to make you apple pie, but…” Her voice was softer than usual; Mafuyu could imagine the apologetic smile she had plastered on her face. She peeked up to look at the counter; it was messy, with flour dressed in white powder and a bowl of weird liquid that was supposedly the dough. It looked like someone had blended flour and soy-flavored cup noodles in a mixer. There were eggshells in the trash and something that looked like salt or sugar on the side. The pot was filled with some greenish-yellow… thing? Mafuyu understood why Honami never let Kanade cook anymore.
"Let me help you..." the older girl muttered as she pulled away, storing away the ingredients that had been messily left out on the counter. Kanade rushed to help before being stopped by Mafuyu. "No, go wash your hands. I’ll take care of it." Kanade hesitantly went to the sink. "It’s supposed to be a surprise..." she muttered. "Don’t worry about it, K." Mafuyu gripped her hand, massaging the dirt and sticky substance off her palms. She could feel the warmth of Mafuyu's palm and the faint blush radiating from her cheeks.After the cleanup, they decided to get something from the convenience store instead. Kanade, wrapped in a large coat, scarf, and beanie, was looking at the wide variety of weird-flavored cakes that were sold. She picked an apple-flavored one, its packaging crinkling under her hand, and chose an apple pie. "Is there anything else you need?" Kanade asked. Mafuyu shook her head. They paid and went on their way back.Mafuyu turned the key and pushed it in, suddenly blinded by the unexpected bright light inside the apartment. After blinking away the dizziness, her eyes widened at the sight. "Happy birthday, Mafuyu!" Inside were Ena and Mizuki, with some wrapped boxes, assumed to be gifts, on the tea table. "I thought you guys said you were busy." "Well, we wanted a surprise! Wouldn’t want to miss out on our dear girlfriend’s birthday, right?" Mizuki shot Mafuyu a wink. Ena rolled her eyes playfully. "Let’s cut the cake." Kanade closed the door as Ena came over and pulled Mafuyu toward the sofa.The cake was presented on the table, with a candle on it. After Mizuki started the song, others joined her. "Make a wish," Ena said after the song. Mafuyu hesitated before blowing it out. "What did you wish for?" Mizuki almost immediately asked. "T—" "It won’t come true if you say it out loud!" Ena covered her mouth. Kanade arrived with a plastic knife and cut the cake into four pieces. "Guys, let’s just eat first..."
Mizuki and Ena bickered about something like whether cheesecake was better than ice cream cake or something. Kanade watched with a smile while Mafuyu just sat there in silence, a smile on her face. “Wait, we should let Mafuyu open the presents!” Mizuki said out of nowhere. Then the cake was put to the side, and three presents were placed in front of her. “Wait, open mine first! I picked it out after a longgggg time of thinking!.” Mizuki raised a pink present in front of her. “Thank you…” Mafuyu took the present and unwrapped it, revealing a bunny plushie almost exactly like the one from her childhood. “It was hard to find since it was from so long ago, but I found it!” Mizuki smiled. Mafuyu stared down at the plushie and raised it up to her chest. “Thank you…” “Aw, I knew you would like it! You know, I had to scroll through fifty different shops just to find something similar. I knew—” “Mizuki, shut up for a second! Let Mafuyu open the rest of her gifts first!” Ena pushed her gift in front of her, giving Mafuyu a soft smile. “I know it isn’t worth much, but…” she signaled for Mafuyu to open it. And she did, revealing a black box inside, with a necklace that had a pendant with a snowflake engraved on it. Inside, stored a necklace with a pendant featuring a snowflake engraved on it held a picture of their first meet-up, which Mizuki had taken. “It’s nice.. thank you..” Ena’s eyes lit up. “I was afraid you’d think it was stupid..” she admitted, laughing softly. “Yuki..” Kanade emerged from her room, holding a wrapped small box. Mafuyu hadn’t noticed her absence until now. She placed the box in front of her. “I hope you like it..” the younger girl said, looking up at her girlfriend with the usual smile that always made her heart warm. The birthday girl opened her gift, revealing a wooden box; when it opened, it started to play a tune—the first ever song Yuki had heard from K. The song had always held a special place in her heart. It had all their names engraved on the inside of the box, along with an engraved version of their group picture from when they went to Phoenix Wonderland. Mafuyu listened to the melody until, by the fifth repeat of the song, she finally looked back up, a genuine smile on her face. “Thank you… Kanade… for everything…” The white-haired girl shook her head. “No… thank you for saving me, Mafuyu.”The rest of the day continued with the four snuggled up in the living room, watching Titanic. By the end of the movie, everyone except Kanade had fallen asleep, as she never really slept, her body remaining awake until the end. She placed a kiss on Mafuyu’s cheek.
“Happy birthday Mafuyu”