Chapter 25 Part 5: Shine’s Favorite Things

“Is birthday important?”

Amy couldn’t answer Shine’s question.

A question from a girl who had never celebrated her birthday since she was born.

What on earth was Amy thinking?

Like Shine, I also don’t know when my birthday is.

“Um… I have to renew my citizenship soon.”

“Renew?”

“Citizenship has to be renewed periodically.”

“It’s annoying.”

“But it’s important. If someone uses someone else’s citizenship, it’s a big deal.”

“What does renewing my citizenship have to do with my birthday?”

I asked Amy.

She seemed to think for a moment and then slowly began to speak.

Amy took out a small card from her pocket.

It was a black card.

Amy’s brief information written on it caught my eye.

It was the first time I’d ever seen a citizenship card.

“Um… How should I explain this…?”

Amy’s card had her date of birth written on it.

There was no grade written on it.

“Want to take out Shine’s citizenship card?”

“Yes.”

Shine nodded and rummaged through her pocket.

There were two cards in her small hand.

It was a small citizenship card with my picture and Shine’s.

“If you look closely, do you see the difference?”

Amy showed the two cards for comparison.

The only difference was the color of the cards, but they were arranged and organized in the same way.

“If you look here, there’s no date of birth.”

“That’s true.”

Amy’s card had her date of birth written on it.

On the other hand, our cards had nothing written on them.

“Why don’t we have any?”

“That’s because they’re temporary cards issued.”

“Temporary?”

Amy smiled slightly, patting Shine’s head.

“I had to make them in a hurry, so I didn’t write down your birthdays.”

“Do we have to have them?”

“Yeah. Without them, we can’t use our citizenship officially.”

“But Amy. I don’t know my date of birth.”

“I don’t know either.”

Amy raised her hand and rubbed her forehead at our answer.

She seemed to be carefully choosing her words, so I waited silently for her to speak.

“Then should we do this?”

“How?”

“We’ll decide that today’s date is Shine and Jeff’s birthday.”

“I don’t care.”

I don’t care either.

I nod at Amy, who is looking at me.

After hearing our answers, she smiles slightly and takes out her notebook and starts writing something.

“Then, it’s late, but how about having a birthday party today?”

“What’s a birthday party?”

“It’s a celebration of the day you were born.”

“Who?”

“You two.”

I lowered my head at Amy’s words.

My heart pounded.

I felt my cheeks flush as if they were hot.

I raised both hands and touched my cheeks.

I felt the warmth.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Jeff, why do you like it so much?”

“Me? Am I liking it?”

“Yeah. You’re just smiling.”

I hurriedly touched my mouth.

A smile that I couldn’t hide appeared on my lips.

“But. I’ve never had a birthday party before.”

“I don’t know.”

I flap my legs as the laughter leaks out.

Shine seemed to not know the meaning of a birthday party.

“Okay. What do you both like?”

“What do you like?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Jeff.”

“Hmm…?”

Amy’s expression becomes subtle at Shine’s answer.

I raise my head and look at Shine’s face.

She blinks her big eyes as if to ask what’s the problem.

“I’m asking what you want as a gift.”

Amy patted Shine’s head and said, “A gift?”

“Yes.”

“What’s a gift?”

Amy’s expression fell at Shine’s question.

She looked back and forth between me and Shine, then smiled bitterly.

“When someone gives you something out of kindness, it’s called a gift, and the opposite is also true. When you give someone something out of kindness, it’s also called a gift.”

“That’s difficult.”

“Anyway, is there anything you want, Shine?”

“I already have it.”

Shine smiled at me as she said that.

I smiled back at her bright smile.

“Then what about Jeff?”

I lifted my head and looked at Amy.

Her gaze was full of kindness.

I’ve never received such a gaze before, so my heart fluttered.

My smile showed no sign of stopping due to the unbearable happiness.

I held back my pounding heart and carefully opened my mouth.

“A hat…”

“A hat?”

A birthday present, something I’ve never received before.

Amy wanted to give me a present.

What I want.

I desperately recall.

What I want right now.

The heat that spreads across my face.

My entire body feels hot.

I take a deep breath and open my mouth again.

“I want Lucy’s hat from [The Little Witch’s Great Adventure]!”

I said what I wanted right now.

My body, swept by desire, wanted it so badly that it would make me want to use magic.

So I want that hat.

Right after I answered, I immediately covered my face with both hands.

My vision is dizzy.

What on earth was I thinking when I said that?

A grown man, and a man at that.

“Ugh….”

I mumbled something, spitting out anything.

My entire body sagged like melted ice cream.

“I want the same thing as Jeff.”

Shine, who was sitting next to me, said.

“Is that really okay?”

I nodded desperately.

I couldn’t look at Amy’s face.

I couldn’t raise my head because of her laughing voice.

“Okay.”

Amy said and stood up from her seat.

“Wait a minute!”

The laughing voice spread throughout the room.

I couldn’t raise my head until Amy left the room.

Should I run out and cancel right now?

Should I say that I was wrong and ask for something else?

But I want it.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“Jeff, do you like witches?”

“Huh…?”

“Would it be better if I were a witch?”

I couldn’t answer Shine’s serious question.

Her eyes were so serious that even I took her question seriously.

I started to imagine Shine becoming a witch.

Hmm… It’s subtle.

[The Little Witch’s Great Adventure]

It’s definitely an animation that I’ve recently become fond of.

The main character, Lucy, uses cute and beautiful magic to destroy enemies.

“I don’t think so.”

I shake my head.

Animation is just animation.

“Then Jeff. Do you like me?”

“Of course…”

I kept my mouth shut at her question.

The face of a white girl seen through wavering gazes.

Did I like Shine?

She’s family.

If she’s family, then of course I should like her?

Questions floating around in my head.

Disparate feelings that appear one after another.

“I like you.”

I mumble at the sudden confession.

The emotional line flying straight through pierces my heart.

The emotions I felt through her eyes were very sticky.

Hot and pure.

“Jeff didn’t hurt me. He talked to me all the time.”

“Uhh…”

“So I like you.”

“…”

“I like you, Jeff.”

“I…”

I hesitate to answer.

It’s because I’ve never thought deeply about her.

Shine reaches out and grabs my hand.

She starts talking with her eyes.

I lower my head at her gaze, hoping for an answer.

Do I like Shine?

I don’t know.

Then the opposite.

Do I hate Shine?

No.

Then I like you.

“Uh…”

“Jeff.”

Tell me quickly.

A hot heat rises from deep within my chest.

I put that heat in my mouth and start forming words.

So.

“I like you.”

The words she completed with difficulty give Shine the answer she wants.

A happy smile appears on her face.

“I like you too!”

Shine reaches out and hugs my body tightly.

It’s so suffocating.

Her strength is clearly that of a weak child, but the emotions contained within are stickily entangled.

It’s hot and burdensome.

But she doesn’t show it.

“Yeah…”

Shine, who had been hugging me for a long time, pulls away from me.

The place where she fell felt empty.

The place where our hot skin touched and fell feels cold.

I stroked both of my arms.

“When will Amy be home…?”

I change the subject to hide my embarrassment.

Shine’s gaze on me is burdensome.

Her head is bowed.

Her gaze looks down at her feet.

Her short legs flapping as she sits on the chair.

“Jeff.”

“Yeah….”

“Do you like me better than Amy?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that’s fine.”

What happened?

Anyway, I’m glad she was satisfied.

I sighed in relief and shook my feet.

It was a long time since Amy came back.

The delicious smell coming from her body made my mouth water.

“I’m ready.”

She opened the door and came in, wearing a small cone-shaped hat.

Amy held my and Shine’s hands and left the room.

We walked down a long hallway and took a path we didn’t usually take.

As I looked around, Shine poked my cheek.

“Shine?”

When I looked at her curiously, she shook her head.

Why is she doing that?

I scratched my cheek and started looking around again.

This was my first time in this hallway.

The long path was unfamiliar.

Amy walked without hesitation and reached in front of a large door.

“Strategy Conference Room?”

A nameplate was written next to the large door.

It said [Strategy Conference Room].

As I read it out loud, Amy reached out and ripped off the nameplate.

“Amy?”

“Did I see something wrong?”

“Hmm…”

The torn off name tag went into Amy’s pocket.

Anyway, I couldn’t come to my senses because of the delicious smell coming from beyond the door.

My gaze turned towards the door.

Amy looked down at me like that, then reached out and opened the door.

A warm breeze blew in.

Various foods were placed on the wide table.

Among them, the large cake placed in the middle caught my eye.

“Are you here?”

Victor, wearing glasses, was sitting inside the room.

He was setting up the food with an annoyed expression.

“Happy birthday, guys.”

I kept my mouth shut at this birthday party that was my first in my life.

I couldn’t say anything.

That’s because I felt like I would burst into tears the moment I opened my mouth.