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39: Mission Accomplished?

When my brain feels overloaded, everything seems to slow down. I like to think that it's like the pipeline leading up to my neurons gets clogged with too much information, and everything begins moving in slow motion while I work to process it.

I never did say I was very smart or quick to figure things out, after all. The voices were getting into my ears, but the faces were all mixed up.

I blinked my eyes a few times, maybe just a couple, maybe more. I couldn't tell; I was too focused on the voices swimming around me.

That's right, it was Miku's birthday, wasn't it? And... Yuma and Luka were fighting – well, it was more of just Luka bringing about violence on him and he was taking it pretty well – and Neru was making a video of it all.

Teto was eating bread. That was the one thing that did not change. Still, her eyes were trained in the direction of Kaito, who was trying to hide his blue haired head not so subtly behind a booth seat. 

Surprisingly, she didn't squeal or make a bigger scene about it. Instead, she prodded my forearm again and again until I reacted.

"W-What?" I asked her.

"Kaito's here?" She said, chewing thoughtfully.

"Ah." I managed to block out the background noise of Luka's violence (she was throwing silverware at Yuma and kicking him in the shins under the table). "I hope he ... enjoys the food!"

I didn't want to think about him too much. I didn't want to think about how he was on a date with Rin here. I was here for Miku, and it was her special day.

It was easy for me to say, but I wasn't sure how well the other girls would do, so before the subject of Kaito could blow up to become any larger, I shot my arm into the air and called a waiter over.

"We'll have the cake now, please!" I said.

Luka finally stopped her kicking, setting down the polished silver knife in her hand that she was about to hurl at Yuma's pretty face. It was objectively pretty, I had to admit.

"But we haven't even had the main course yet," she said.

"You snooze, you lose!" I said. "Besides, it's a birthday. The main course should be cake."

"She's got a point," Teto said. "After all, cake is just sweet and frosted bread. It's dessert bread..."

The waiter, meanwhile, hurried off to the back of the restaurant to get the cake we had ordered for Miku. I congratulated Teto on her wise and open-minded thinking.

"I'll buy you some more flowers after all this," Yuma said to Luka. His big grin looked like it was hiding a wince behind it. 

Luka scowled, crossing her arms. "I don't want them from you."

"He's not flirting, for once," I said. 

"Yuma, please, don't worry about it..." Miku said.

"Cake!" the waiter called, wheeling a trolley over with a massive teal and white cake. 

It was decorated with little pink bows and icing shaped like leeks. You know how people get those buttercream flowers on their cakes? That's how the leeks were done. A "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" was written in cursive across the front of the cake, in bright blue frosting.

"Alright everyone!" I said, pushing my chair back and getting up. I clapped my hands. "Let's all sing happy birthday to Miku!"

Miku's cheeks flushed and I scoffed at her. "You don't need to be so bashful," I said.

"Are you going to sing?" she asked, covering her face with her hands. "Here?"

"Absolutely!" I said.

What Miku didn't realize was that my true objective was twofold: give her a memorable birthday and also distract the girls long enough to let Kaito and Rin escape without being intercepted.

"Of course we are!" I bellowed. "Yuma! Get up!"

He threw his head back and barked out a laugh, getting to his feet. Spreading his arms wide, he started to sing. Miku only hid her face deeper in her arms.

"Happy Birthday to Miku!" Yuma sang.

"Come on, ladies." I yanked Neru and Luka up by the forearms. "Get to it!"

The girls began to sing along. I clapped my hands and sang along, circling the table and making my way towards the birthday girl. I also gave Neru a playful slap on the arm to make sure she kept her attention here. It would be rude otherwise.

By the end of the song, a fair portion of the restaurant was clapping and Miku finally cut her birthday cake. I served slices to everyone and from the corner of my eye, saw Kaito and Rin make their exit.

Both missions: accomplished.

"I think I'll need a glass of water after that performance," Yuma said, leaning back in his chair and poking at the crumbs left on his plate. He had eaten that cake like it was his birthday. 

"Thank you for your contribution," I said to him with a totally straight face.

"Anything for you and your friend, pumpkin," he said, winking at me. I puffed my cheeks.

Luka kicked him from under the table again. "You gave away my flowers!"

"And you'll get more tomorrow," Yuma smiled.

"You're heartless," Luka said. Miku had been reassuring her but she didn't seem to want to budge from this subject.

Yuma frowned. He leaned forward, pulled the jug of water close, poured himself some, and began to drink.

"It's alright, Luka," Miku smiled. "I had a great meal today, so thank you for arranging this, everybody!"

I patted her arm and smiled. It had been a nice time, but it hadn't been enough. Somehow, there had been a distraction. An unfortunate distraction, and one that I wished didn't have to interfere. I just didn't want any more problems to crop up out of this.

"Let's finish eating then go for a walk," I told Miku. She beamed at me, and that was all that mattered.

"Don't worry about all this," she said. "I'm having a good time. It's always good with you."

That almost brought a tear to my eye, but a restaurant was probably not the best place for sentimentalities. Instead of sobbing all over her, I gave her a tight hug. Since she was sitting, this meant her face was buried in my stomach.

"You have a soft tummy," she said, voice muffled. I giggled and let go. 

We finished eating and gave Miku her presents. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon by the time we exited the restaurant, and both my stomach and heart felt full and nourished.

"School tomorrow," Teto groaned. Luka patted her arm.

"Maybe we'll see her tomorrow," Neru said as we got into Yuma's car, one by one. He had taken the dog to a nearby shelter with the hopes that they could find the owner.

I paused, one foot in the car, and looked at her, squinting in the sunlight. "See who?"

Neru pocketed her phone and looked at me. "That girl that Kaito was with."

Ahh this chapter was late! That's because I kept FORGETTING to click update and had a busy weekend, but I hope you enjoy it and stick around for the rest of the story.