Those happy moments from yesterday passed by in the blink of an eye, and by the time I woke up, my birthday was already over.

         I sat up in bed and stretched my arms toward the ceiling.

         I wished my birthday could’ve lasted today, tomorrow, the day after—maybe even forever—but I knew Miyagi had only celebrated it with me because it was something that came once a year.

         She had probably pushed herself really hard yesterday.

         I couldn’t imagine her usual self doing any of the things she’d done for me: ordering pizza, preparing cake slices, or even agreeing to spend time with me again in the future.

         I didn’t want her to push herself too much, but I was happy that I’d become someone she was willing to exert herself for at all.

         After letting out a big yawn, I got out of bed and sat on the floor.

         I picked up the small paper bag Kikyou-chan had given me yesterday and opened it. The cookies were apparently handmade and the bag was wrapped so neatly they looked almost store-bought.

         Feeling like it would be a waste to leave them untouched again, I untied the ribbon and took a bite.

         「This tastes amazing.」

         I’d been too full from the pizza and cake yesterday to eat them then, but now the unevenly shaped cookies tasted better than any I’d ever received before.

         I took another from the bag and put it in my mouth.

         When I was in my third year of middle school, just like Kikyou-chan was now, I spent all my time studying.

         If I’d had the time and energy to learn how to bake sweets back then, I might’ve become the kind of person my parents wanted me to be.

         But if I’d turned into that person, I never would have met Miyagi.

         Thinking that the reason I was able to celebrate my birthday with her yesterday was because the third-year-middle-school me never had the free time or energy to learn how to make cookies… made it feel like maybe I hadn’t wasted that time after all.

         Now, I could make snacks and sweets whenever I wanted.

         In fact, I felt like it would be fun to bake cookies with Miyagi.

         「But I bet she’d say no to that.」

         I could practically imagine her furrowing her brows the moment I asked, and that thought made me smile—until my stomach growled loudly. Deciding it was time to wash my face and get ready to eat, I stood up. When I opened my bedroom door, I heard a small sound and stepped outside quietly. That’s when I noticed a bag hanging from my doorknob.

         I picked it up, opened it, and looked inside. Something flat and wrapped was tucked in with a card.

         I brought the card back into my room. A cat illustration and the words “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” were printed on it.

         「Is this a birthday card?」

         Yesterday, Miyagi had said she hadn’t prepared a birthday gift for me at all, so for a moment I wondered if this had come from someone else. But the idea of anyone else getting into our apartment to hang something on my doorknob was terrifying, so it had to be from Miyagi.

         I reached into the bag and pulled out a small box. I carefully peeled away the wrapping paper, opened the thin lid, and found five little cats inside.

         「Chopstick rests, huh?」

         A calico, a black cat, a white cat, an orange tabby, and a bicolor cat.

         They were so cute I felt like just displaying them in my room.

         I wished she had given them to me yesterday.

         If she had, she probably wouldn’t have agreed to the two wishes I made, but at least she would have handed these to me herself.

         Even if she’d handed them to me while looking irritated, I would’ve hugged her, kissed her, and maybe gone a little further—

         Well, not that she would’ve let me.

         I picked up the calico and black cats and placed them on my palm.

         「Maybe I should wash some rice right now.」

         I had planned to have toast for breakfast, but I quickly changed my mind.

         I wanted to use the chopstick rests Miyagi had given me.

         I left the room and set the two cats on the table in the shared living space.

         After washing my face and getting changed, I washed some rice and put it into the rice cooker.

         It was still too early to make side dishes, so I sat down.

         As I admired the two little cats on the table, Miyagi’s bedroom door opened, and she walked out wearing a set of sweats.

         「Good morning.」

         I said, and she answered with a quiet, “Good morning,” of her own.

         「Thanks for the chopstick rests. These are for my birthday, right?」

         I asked, pointing at the cats on the table.

         「You said you liked cats, didn’t you?」

         Miyagi said coldly, avoiding my question.

         「I do like cats, so I’m really happy with these.」

         「I didn’t know what you wanted, so I just bought something with a cat design that you could use every day.」

         She said, as if dodging the topic, then escaped to the bathroom.

         I could’ve grabbed her arm to stop her, or hugged her so she couldn’t run off, but she wouldn’t stay in the bathroom forever, and she definitely wasn’t leaving the apartment in sweats. If I waited, she would return. So I stayed where I was and waited with the cats.

         Something I can use every day, huh?

         At first, I wondered why she chose chopstick rests, but from what she’d said, it was clear she’d spent a lot of time thinking about what to get me.

         It seemed like my birthday was a day when I could steal Miyagi’s time, occupy her mind, and fill it with thoughts of me.

         August 23rd was right in the middle of summer—an easy day to forget. Sometimes even I forgot it was my own birthday.

         But thanks to Miyagi, I finally had something to look forward to next time.

         I couldn’t help wishing my next birthday would come sooner.

         I picked up the calico and black cats from the table and pressed their noses together.

         After letting the two cats kiss a few times, I heard Miyagi’s voice behind me.

         「What are you doing, Sendai-san?」

         「Just playing with the chopstick rests.」

         I said, glancing over at her, only for her to turn away.

         I set the two cats back on the table and stood up. Before Miyagi could escape again, I caught her by the arm.

         「Let go.」

         Miyagi said in a grumpy tone.

         「I’ll do it if you sit down.」

         「I’m going to get changed, so let go of me.」

         「I will—after we talk for a bit.」

         「… Fine. If it’s just for a little.」

         She said, and I let go of her arm. Miyagi reluctantly took a seat in her chair.

         「Where are the other chopstick rests?」

         Miyagi asked in an unfriendly tone as I sat back down across from her.

         「I’m keeping the white cat, the bicolor, and the orange tabby in my room as decoration.」

         「You should use them.」

         「We only need one chopstick rest per person, right? So I brought out the two I want us to use.」

         I said, pointing at the two cats, and Miyagi poked the black one with a frown.

         「Well, you brought one too many.」

         「That black cat’s yours, Miyagi.」

         「But I gave the chopstick rests to you, Sendai-san.」

         She said quietly, pushing the black cat toward me.

         I knew the fact that there were five of them was just coincidence—not some hint that she wanted us to use them together. Still, since there were five, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make one hers.

         「It’s fine. There are five, so you can have one too.」

         I set the black cat beside the calico again, but Miyagi stayed silent.

         「You gave them to me, but now that they’re mine, I’m saying I want to give one to you. So use it.」

         「… Why the black cat, though?」

         Miyagi mumbled, staring at me.

         「Because it resembles you.」

         I replied. She didn’t argue or complain, but her silence made it clear she didn’t think she was anything like a black cat.

         「If you don’t like that one, I can switch it for another. What do you think?」

         「I’m fine with this one.」

         Miyagi muttered as she stood up.

         「Wait, I wanted to ask you something.」

         「What is it?」

         「Do you want anything for your birthday, Miyagi?」

         「No.」

         I hadn’t expected a straightforward answer, but her sharp reply still caught me off guard, cutting right through my question in one clean swing.

         「Okay… then at least tell me which you like more: fried eggs or tamagoyaki?」

         「Why do I have to answer that?」

         「Because I said I wanted us to talk about these kinds of trivial things.」

         Yesterday, we’d promised each other we’d start having more of these small, everyday conversations. This was my first step toward making that happen.

         「… I like both, but I’m more in the mood for fried eggs today. What about you, Sendai-san?」

         「I prefer fried eggs, so I guess that means we’re having fried eggs for breakfast.」

         I said with a smile, and she quietly added, “I like mine sunny side up.”

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