Chapter 167 Birthdays

Nozomu!

Woah!

When I approached and called out to him, Nozomu was startled. His reaction reminded me of a small animal despite his large stature.

Y-You surprised me!

My bad. Its unusual to see you here. No practice today?

The coach had something to take care of, so we finished early. Are you two on a date or something?

Yeah, were just shopping though. What are you doing here?

Ah, well Im just, you know

He immediately hid something behind him. I caught a glimpse of it, an accessory for girls.

At that moment, Umi immediately moved behind him.

A necklace, huh? Is it for your sister?

U-Uh, yeah Her birthdays coming up soon and she kept nagging me to give her a present, so I kinda did Um

That so? She told me her birthday back at the Christmas party. Isnt it too early for this?

Ugh

So that was a lie. He was as bad as me when it came to lying.

Seki, just be honest with us~

Fine I was thinking of giving Amami-san this for her birthday

Thought that would be the case. He showed us the accessory in his hand. A necklace with a small silver dolphin on it.

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Is Amami-sans birthday coming up soon, Umi?

Hm? Ah, right, I never told you about it, huh? Her birthday is on Tanabata, the seventh of July. The Yuu () in her name came from Tanabata (), that was what her mom told me.

I see.

I guess I had to think of something to give her as a present too since her birthday was next month. I had been troubling her a lot, so this would be a good chance to repay her a little.

I just had to prepare for Rocky (A Golden retriever, male, seven years old) jumping on me again when I visited her house.

But, Seki, arent you getting ahead of yourself? Yes, were going to celebrate her birthday, but who knows if shell invite you or not.

I-I know! Ill be busy with the tournament around that time too, but as her friend, I want to celebrate her birthday too! Will it trouble her?

If it was me, yes, I would be troubled, but What do you think, Maki?

Huh? I dont know

Honestly, receiving such a gift from someone who wasnt particularly close to you would be burdensome. I only gave Umi a pricey gift back on her birthday because she was my girlfriend. I had no intention of doing the same for Amami-san.

The necklace he had wasnt a particularly expensive gift, but it was something for her to wear. Receiving something like that would probably trouble her a little. (T/N: Basically itll put her into a dilemma on whether she would wear it or not. If she were to wear it, that could imply she is really close to him but if she were not to, that could imply that she dislikes him or something along that line.)

I didnt know what kind of impression Amami-san had about him anymore thanks to their conversation at the last study session. She definitely had a more favorable impression of him, but I didnt think that it was a good time for him to do this.

He should get another gift. Something that would fit their current relationship

Leave it to me, I have a good one in mind for you.

I immediately found the answer for him.

Really, Maki?

Its not much, but its something that only you, a baseball team member, can do. Its a bit lame, but

What do you mean?

Youre so slow! He meant that you should just win your match for her!

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As Umi previously stated, Amami-sans birthday was on Tanabata, the same day as the baseball teams summer tournament.

We promised that we would cheer for him, so if he said something like Im going to win this match for you during D-Day, that should count as a gift for her.

It would be embarrassing, but she should be happy with that. Of course you have to be more subtle about it or else shell just be creeped out.

I-I see As expected of someone with a girlfriend.

I agree with Maki. It will lift her mood if you do it right.

I-I see. Then, what I need to do is concentrate on my pitching instead of worrying about what kind of gift I should give to her, thats what you are saying right, Maki?

Mhm. And who knows? If you show her your cool side, she might fall for you on the spot.

She rejected him once and the chance of her falling for him at this point might be close to zero, but that might change. She was the one who started calling him Nozomu-kun, so there was still hope.

Alright, I should go home and practice then! Thanks, you two! If not for you guys, I wouldve messed up big time

Dont mention it. Good luck, Nozomu.

Thank you!

He left the shop hurriedly, his face looking refreshed.

The guy had a simple personality, but I kind of envied him since he didnt have a tendency to overthink like me.

Birthday present, huh? Speaking of which, yours is coming up after Yuus, right?

Yeah, August sixth.

Amami-san would turn seventeen this year and so would I a month after she did.

The three-day long holiday, Amami-sans birthday, after that summer vacation would start and my birthday would come. Compared to the state I was in last year, I was considerably busy this year.

What do you want to do on your birthday?

Um I dont know

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Should I celebrate it like Umi did? If I were to do it in her house, her family could come too and it seemed to be fun to do it that way.

I hadnt celebrated my birthday ever since my parents got divorced, so it would be nice to throw a party like that, but

Honestly, Id rather celebrate it with you alone, Umi.

I tightened my grip around her hand a little.

It wasnt like I hated partying with everyone, but Id rather spend my time with her on that day.

The day would only come once a year. If I could spend the whole day flirting with my lovely girlfriend, it would be perfect for me.

If we threw a party, I could still be together with her, but there would be other people there too, and we couldnt do anything we wanted under their watchful eyes.

I see. Hehe

W-What?

You really are hopeless without me, huh? What a spoiled boy, you are~

Ugh, take a look in the mirror.

Hehe. I guess thats true, but

Saying that, she clung to my arm again.

Honestly, it was too hot when she clung to me in this weather. I didnt mind though, since she was my lovely girlfriend.

I kept falling deeper for her.

Maki.

Yes?

Look forward to my birthday present, okay?

Mm.

The latest_epi_sodes are on_the . website.

My birthday was still more than two months away, but youd bet Ill be looking forward to it.

TL: Iyo

ED: MaltedBarley