I sighed as the train swayed, carrying me home.

         Miyagi had left the apartment before I went to work today, saying she was going to hang out with a friend.

         It wasn’t as if she needed to stay home or anything, and it was fine for her to have plans with friends as well.

         I wasn’t home either, since I had work, and sometimes I’d go out with my own friends too.

         Even so, I didn’t really like the idea of Miyagi not being at home, and I couldn’t help wondering who this “friend” she was meeting could be.

         Seriously, who could it be?

         Utsunomiya had gone back to our hometown for the summer and still hadn’t returned yet.

         I knew Miyagi had other friends besides Utsunomiya, but I’d never once heard her mention anyone she was close enough to spend her summer break with.

         And on my birthday, of all days.

         I stared out the window.

         My own birthday had always been so insignificant to me that I hadn’t even realized it was today until I got a few text messages at midnight from people wishing me a happy birthday. I’d never felt anything special about the day I was born, and I didn’t expect Miyagi to celebrate it with me either. She probably didn’t even remember when my birthday was.

         Still, knowing that she was out with some friend today of all days made me feel unbearably depressed.

         There’s really nothing great about birthdays after all.

         I let out a long sigh as I stepped off the train.

         The sidewalks glowed faintly under the streetlights as I walked home.

         Miyagi had said she’d eat dinner with me tonight, so she was probably back by now. I’d be seeing her soon, but I wasn’t looking forward to it. I was afraid I’d end up asking something stupid like, “Who’d you hang out with today? What kind of person are they?”

         I was irritated that she’d chosen today, of all days, to go out with someone.

         Even though I knew I was just being unreasonable, I felt like I had a hundred things I wanted to complain to her about.

         On days like this, I felt like petting Cali¹ would help calm me down, but she wasn’t around.

         Then again, now that I thought about it, she was hardly ever wandering around at this time of day anyway.

         I climbed the stairs to the third floor, and when I opened the front door, I saw Miyagi’s shoes by the entrance.

         It seemed she’d made it back home already.

         I took off my shoes and headed into the shared living space, where Miyagi was pacing restlessly near the kitchen.

         「I’m home. What are you up to?」

         I called out to her as she stood in front of the fridge.

         「Welcome home. I’m not up to anything.」

         「That’s exactly why I’m asking. What are you doing here if you’re not up to anything?」

         Miyagi wasn’t usually the type to hang around the shared space without a reason. It was rare to see her here without cooking something or taking anything from the fridge.

         「Seriously, I’m not doing anything, so just wait somewhere else, Sendai-san―」

         Miyagi’s words were cut off by the sound of the doorbell.

         Instinctively, I turned toward the intercom monitor.

         「Oh, someone’s here.」

         「I’ll get it, so just go somewhere else, Sendai-san.」

         「It’s fine, I’ll answer the door.」

         「No, I’ll do it. Just go somewhere else and stay there.」

         Miyagi sounded flustered as she hurried toward me and pressed her hands against my shoulders, trying to push me back. Then, she opened the door to her bedroom and shoved me inside.

         「Huh? Wait, what—」

         I wasn’t prepared for this.

         When she’d told me to go to somewhere else, I thought she meant my room, so being pushed into Miyagi’s room completely caught me off guard.

         「Just sit down and wait.」

         「Sit down? Wait, Miyagi!」

         I called after her, but Miyagi shut the door hard behind her and left the room.

         「… Isn’t this a little too out of nowhere?」

         This was the first time I’d ever set foot in Miyagi’s room since moving in, and the way it happened felt way too casual.

         It wasn’t like I needed some big occasion or anything, but being thrown into her room so suddenly just felt wrong somehow.

         Since it was my first time here, I’d wanted at least a moment to prepare myself.

         But the way she’d shoved me in was so abrupt that my surprise completely drowned out every other emotion.

         Though, I guess that was just like us.

         Getting pushed into her room like this suited us a lot more than just waiting around for an invitation.

         I wandered around her room and stopped in front of her bookshelf.

         The atmosphere of her room hadn’t changed much since high school, but on the slightly smaller bookshelf sat a black cat plush. Miyagi had mentioned bringing it with her on the day we went to the aquarium, and seeing it there for myself almost made me break into a smile.

         I picked up the black cat plush and stroked its head.

         It had been a long time since I’d last seen or touched it, and I couldn’t remember if the texture felt the same as before, but petting it was oddly comforting.

         「I’m glad you’re here.」

         I said to the black cat, which vaguely resembled Miyagi, and pressed a light kiss to its nose. After running my hand over its head a few more times, I placed it back on the bookshelf. Just a few moments later, I heard the door open.

         「Why are you standing up? I told you to sit down.」

         「Sorry, I was just looking at the black cat.」

         「Sit over here.」

         Miyagi pointed to a spot by the table, away from her bed, and set down two cups of orange juice.

         「Orange juice? What happened to dinner?」

         I asked as I sat where she told me to.

         「We’re eating dinner in here. I’ll bring the food now.」

         「We’re eating here?」

         How strange.

         Miyagi—who had never once let me step foot into her room—was now saying we’d be eating dinner here. She was clearly acting different from usual. The only explanations I could think of were that she’d either hit her head somewhere or been brainwashed.

         「You have a problem with that?」

         Miyagi asked, glaring at me.

         「Well, no, but…」

         「Then stay put.」

         Her curt voice sent a chill down my spine.

         So many unbelievable things were happening all at once that I couldn’t calm down.

         「Oh, right. Miyagi, do you want to have some cookies together later?」

         I asked, stopping her before she left the room.

         「Cookies?」

         「Yeah, I got them as a birthday present from my student, Kikyou-chan.」

         Hanamaki Kikyou was the name of the student I tutored. We were close enough that I called her by her first name, and she’d made some handmade cookies for me as a birthday gift.

         「… No. She gave that as a present to you, didn’t she? So you should eat it yourself.」

         Miyagi said in a low voice before leaving the room.

         A few moments later, she came back carrying a large pizza and some chicken nuggets, setting them down on the table before taking a seat across from me.

         「… Why’d you get pizza?」

         The question slipped out before I could stop myself.

         「You said it yourself just now, didn’t you?」

         「Wait, what did I say again?」

         「Your birthday.」

         「Huh?」

         「It’s your birthday today, isn’t it? That’s why I ordered us pizza.」

         「Oh… Wait, what?」

         I went completely speechless.

         Miyagi had said something that I hadn’t expected at all.

         「… Happy birthday.」

         She murmured.

         「…Thanks.」

         I replied quietly.

         The room suddenly fell quiet, but after a brief silence, we both said “Let’s eat” in unison and reached for the pizza.

         No, seriously. What?

         Why did Miyagi order pizza for me and even wish me a happy birthday?

         I had no idea what was going on.

         She knew when my birthday was, so this shouldn’t have been surprising, but having Miyagi actually do something like this for me felt completely unreal.

         I didn’t know how to react, or what kind of expression to make.

         Even though I was happy, I couldn’t bring myself to smile.

         I took a bite of the cheese-covered pizza.

         It was good—or at least, it should’ve been.

         But with so many unexpected things happening all at once, I couldn’t even taste it properly.

         「There’s also some cake for later.」

         Miyagi said, adding another surprise to the list.

         The Miyagi I knew during summer breaks wasn’t just more lenient than usual.

         She was practically like a different person, as if she’d been given some kind of medicine that made her kinder to me.

         「You bought one?」

         So many unexpected things had happened all at once that my mind and emotions were a complete jumble, and I ended up asking a question with an obvious answer.

         「I mean, it is your birthday, after all.」

         「… Wait, so the reason you went out earlier was to buy me a cake?」

         「… Yeah, so?」

         「You should’ve told me.」

         「I didn’t want to.」

         「Why not?」

         「I wanted to go without you finding out, but since you only had work in the evening, you wouldn’t leave the apartment no matter what.」

         Miyagi said, as if blaming me, then took a bite of her pizza.

         「So you weren’t actually hanging out with a friend?」

         「I said I was meeting a friend because it was easier to leave if I had an excuse. I went out alone today.」

         I couldn’t help feeling relieved knowing she hadn’t really gone out with some mysterious friend.

         「You even went as far as making up an excuse just to go out… You really did all this for me?」

         「… Isn’t it normal for a roommate to celebrate your birthday with you?」

         「Yeah, but I honestly didn’t expect this at all.」

         「Well, we’re roommates, after all. There’s nothing surprising about it.」

         「Don’t you think you’re emphasizing the ‘roommate’ part a little too much?」

         I knew Miyagi was still clinging to that word, but hearing her repeat it like that made the part of me that longed for more stir uneasily.

         「Don’t worry about that. Anyway, let’s keep eating.」

         Miyagi said in her usual flat tone, picking up another slice of pizza and taking a bite. Her expression was as grumpy as ever—not even close to a smile.

         I wasn’t a penguin, and maybe I wasn’t exactly something Miyagi liked, but if she was going to celebrate my birthday, I wished she’d at least looked a little happier while doing it.

         「Okay, but can’t you at least look like you’re enjoying yourself a little?」

         I asked, voicing that small wish, and Miyagi frowned.

         「No. If I could do that on command, I would’ve done it already.」

         「Well, I guess that’s true.」

         I stared at Miyagi, who didn’t look the least bit friendly.

         Then again, having Miyagi wish me a happy birthday and celebrate with me like this was already way out of the ordinary for her, so seeing her usual grumpy expression somehow felt right.

         She’d remembered my birthday, ordered pizza, and even bought me a cake—so it’d be greedy to ask for anything more.

         My birthday would come around plenty more times in the future, after all.

         It was fine to save more things to look forward to for later.

         I glanced at Miyagi, who still refused to smile, and took another bite of my pizza.

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1. I’ve chosen to rename the calico cat to Cali (capitalized). The reason for this is because Mike-chan (in Japanese) is a name/nickname Sendai came up with for the cat. Instead of keeping it as a lower case term, it’s now been changed to an actual name. This was the middle ground my readers and I have come to, as my anglocentric brain felt iffy about keeping the name for the cat as Mike-chan (in part because of the name, Michael, and mostly because Sendai previously had to explain that she’d named the cat based on its coat). ↩︎

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