bday gift from rin (2022)

    Koharu stood behind a tree, shyly poking her head to look at something out in the distance. She let out a nervous hum as she watched her friend make a fool of herself in front of the guy that she liked. Yuko’s face was a bright red as her arms flared around, her mouth constantly moving. Her blonde tail was swaying back and forth as her ears flicked now and again. Takeshi, the guy standing awkwardly across from her, held a pastel purple letter in his hand. He was making the face that Koharu knew all too well - a half-forced smile with his eyebrows slightly upturned and a somewhat panicked look in his eyes. His hand rose and fell every couple of seconds, trying to find a place to stop Yuko’s incessant rambling. Koharu let out a heavy sigh as her heart sank, her black ears turning downwards. 

    She stayed put behind her not-so-good hiding spot and watched the scene unfold. Eventually, Takeshi put his hand up in front of him and stopped her. He looked at the letter in his other hand before speaking to her. Yuko’s hands slowly fell to her sides as she gave him a short nod, bidding each other a quick farewell. Her tail stopped moving, and her ears turned downwards, standing there for a bit. She then slowly turned around, her bottom lip starting to quiver. 

    Koharu let out a gasp before she ran over to her friend with her arms wide. Yuko ran over to her, tears already starting to fall down her rosy cheeks. “K-Koharu…!”

    “Aw, Yuko…!”

    Koharu tightly held Yuko in her arms, rubbing her back as she softly hushed her. Yuko held onto her as she sobbed onto her shoulder. “H-He… He said that he didn’t like me back….”

    “Yuko… Don’t cry! I’m sure that he wouldn’t have made you happy anyway. Here, I’ll buy you some sweets, okay..?”

    Yuko lifted her head with a few sniffles, using her sleeve to wipe away her tears. Her ears perked up at the sound of getting sweets; her tail started to move again. “R-Really..?”

    Koharu smiled and nodded with a gentle hum, grabbing both of her hands. “Yea, and we can go to the store with a cute cat too!” 

    Yuko’s eyes beamed happily, a giant smile plastered on her face as she nodded. She squeezed Koharu’s hands and started to walk off, seeming to be in a better mood already. The two of them walked down the street hand in hand, slowing down once they reached a small store on the corner. It was a small store that was covered with dark bricks. It had a small blackboard out on the sidewalk a couple of water and food bowls out in front of it. 

    Inside the store, the shelves were lined with colorful candy boxes. There were a couple of black refrigerators and a long counter towards the back. On top of it, there was a cat bed with a sleeping tuxedo cat and a girl standing behind the counter. She smiled and waved at the pair when they walked into the store. “Hello again! I’m guessing that it didn’t work out?”

    Yuko’s ears tilted downwards with a frown. “Don’t remind me again….”

    The store clerk laughed and waved her hand side to side. “Sorry, sorry… Too soon, huh? My bad, get whatever you want!”

    Yuko’s ears had perked back up as she skipped inside. She walked by the desk, petting the cat on the table before going over to the shelves. The cat trilled, shaking its tiny head with a big yawn. 

    Koharu smiled softly before she walked in, going towards the shelves. She looked at all of the sweets she had looked at before, humming as she tried to decide if she wanted to try something new. But ultimately, she found herself in front of the Pocky. She smiled softly and grabbed a box, going over to Yuko to the refrigerators. She gently nudged her with her hip and smiled at her. “Are you feeling better?”

    Yuko laughed, opening the door as she grabbed a pink ramune. She nodded as she added it to the pile in her arms. "Yup!” 

    Koharu laughed with her before she opened the refrigerator as well. She grabbed the same one as Yuko before getting behind her in line. She smiled softly as she pet the cat that was sitting in its bed. It stretched before meowing, purring as it happily moved against her hand. Koharu continued to pet it until Yuko finished paying for her things. She put her stuff on the counter, keeping the conversation light, as she usually did. The cat stretched once more before it followed her, rubbing its head against her hand. Koharu pet it a little more, giving it a goodbye pat before she walked outside where Yuko was waiting for her.

    She already had pocky sticks poking out of her mouth, looking like a walrus. Koharu laughed softly, “You’re eating them already?”

 

    Yuko gave her an enthusiastic nod. “Of course! I wouldn’t want to them to go to waste!”
    Koharu laughed some more before she took a couple of steps away from the store. “Do you want head back to the park?”

    Yuko nodded, scarfing down the remaining sticks in her mouth. She pointed towards the direction of the park. “Lets go! I wanna see which cute boys are there now!”

    Koharu nodded, smiling at her as the two of them walked back to where they came. Side by side, they gossiped about who they might as they snacked on their Pocky sticks.