CH 6

「CHAPTER 6」

Hatori's worry had not been in vain. This month's progress had been going well at

first, but in the long run, Yoshino was late as usual and only finished the manuscript on

the 17th at sundown. Hatori had been keeping watch the whole time, and when Yoshino

finally finished, he quickly took the manuscript and headed towards the printers by taxi.

What should I do? It's already 7 o'clock……

There was nothing else to do but cancel the restaurant reservation. If he called

after 7, there would probably be a cancelation fee.

“Argh. Why am I always like this…?”

Yoshino was disappointed, but Hatori was definitely even more disappointed.

Perhaps there was even a likelihood of him being angry. What kind of excuse should he

give this time? No, he should think of an apology instead. As he was thinking deeply

about that, Hatori returned.

“How is the manuscript…?”

He had been thinking about an excuse or an apology, but his biggest concern was

whether or not the printers had accepted the manuscript.

Hatori's lips relaxed a little after Yoshino blurted that out.

“We made it somehow.”

“Thank god… Ah! Sorry, we couldn't go to the restaurant… If there's a

cancelation fee, I'll pay for it!”

He bowed deeply with powerful relief. He was ready for Hatori's lecture to come

crashing down on him, but unexpectedly Hatori spoke softly.

“I canceled the restaurant reservation yesterday, so there's no problem. I thought you

weren't going to finish. This is what happens when you decide to change a scene at the

last minute. Plan your storyboard better next time.”

“Urgh……I'm sorry……”

His tone of voice wasn't harsh, but that didn't mean it wasn't his usual admonishing tone

of voice. However, he didn't dwell on the matter any further.

“Clean up the table immediately.”

“Eh?”

“This is a present,” Hatori said, holding out a box with a cake inside. After

Yoshino quickly cleaned the table, he took the white box.

“I was also busy this time. You're not the only one to blame. Let this be my

apology.”

Feeling unusually uncomfortable that Hatori was being so humble, he opened the

cake box and saw that it was a whole cake decorated with lots of strawberries.

“Wow, cool!! I haven't seen cakes like these in ages!”

What kind of expression did the always-unfriendly Hatori have when he had

bought this? Yoshino couldn't even imagine. On top of it all, there was even a chocolate

nameplate that read “Happy Birthday Chiaki”.

“There are even candles for my age! How could you tell the store to put 29

candles!? Ouch!”

A fist came crashing down on his head.

“If you don't want it, then I'll take it back.”

“No, I want it! Aren't you going to eat this? Can we eat this now? Itadakimasu~”

He hurriedly picked up a fork and attacked the circle cake. It had been a while

since he tasted such sweet fresh cream, so he couldn't help grinning. The strawberries

were even more sweet and fresh than he had expected, and the sponge cake was fluffy

and delicious.

“Hm? Aren't you going to eat this too?”

“No. You can eat all of it.

Hatori took a beer from the fridge and sat drinking at the table.

He felt awkward that Hatori was staring at him, but it was also embarrassing to let

Hatori know that, so he focused on eating the cake.

“I should have bought at least a flower, after all.”

“I told you I don't need such things. Where would I even put something like that

in this place?”

“But still…”

For some reason, Hatori did not look satisfied.

Well isn’t Tori quite the romantic or what? I didn't expect for him to want

everything done properly…Is that why he became a shoujo manga editor?

Wasn't there anything that could cheer up Hatori? A gift in return wouldn't work,

but there was one thing that Yoshino himself could do.

…Ah.

Just then, he suddenly came up with an idea.

“Tori, there's something I want.”

“What is it?”

Looking at Hatori with an unusually serious expression, he gave a short reply.

“A kiss.”

“Yo- Yoshino……?”

He kept a strong, straight gaze at Hatori, who was looking questioningly at him,

and said, “I don't need presents. I just want your kiss on every one of my

birthdays…How does that sound? I thought of that just now, but do you think I can use

that in my next story?”

“……….”

“If something like this was said in real life, it would draw away the person, but it's

okay if it's in a manga, right?”

It was embarrassing for him to think such things. Even if it was material for his

story, he could not stand to say such sugary words. Just when he forced himself to laugh

to hide these feelings, Hatori grabbed the back of his neck and tilted his head up.

“……….”

“Mmph!? Mmm……!”

Yoshino was unable to dodge this sudden kiss, and Hatori mercilessly inserted his

tongue inside his mouth. Hatori's lips finally left his after having kissed him so deeply

that Yoshino felt like he was going to lose consciousness.

“Hah…! What are you doing all of a sudden!?”

“You told me to do that.”

“I told you it was material for my manga! …Mmph! Mm…!”

Hatori kissed him again, cutting him off mid-speech. He pushed on Hatori's

shoulders, trying to get his face away from his, but he was no match for him. The sweet

kiss was leaving Yoshino powerless.

“This is the second time,” Hatori warned him with an indifferent expression after

breaking off their noisy kiss.

“Enough!”

This is not funny!

Yoshino managed to escape Hatori's embrace and tried to hide behind the sofa.

However, he was soon caught in Hatori's arms.

“Gya! Let go!!”

“Don't run.”

“It's cause you're doing weird things!!”

“You said you wanted me to do this, didn't you?”

“I was joking…!”

He frantically argued, and Hatori lightly laughed.

“That's a lie. I just want to do it.”

“……!”

His heart gave a leap at the sound of the husky, sweet whisper. Inadvertently,

Yoshino stopped moving, and Hatori spoke into his ear as if he were holding a treasure.

“Happy birthday.”

“…Thank…you…”

“There are twenty-seven more times left.”

“……….”

He was simply being swept away with the mood – Yoshino told himself that and

quietly closed his eyes.