One and Only

Ch. 16 Happy Birthday!

  I had a mission earlier in the day, and it left me feeling pretty drained from the excessive use of my cursed energy. I decided to take a short nap since it was only around 1 in the afternoon. It couldn't have been more than 30 minutes before I heard the door to my dorm open and close. That was short lived.
  I could hear the giggles and shushes from my sisters and someone else. As I was about to sit up in bed, Himeko and Mafuyu both jumped on me, but I also felt another much larger weight land on my abdomen.
  "Oof!" The 3 of them knocked the wind out of me.
  "Happy Birthday!!" Himeko and Satoru shouted out. Mafuyu was laughing and continued to jump on the bed. I pulled Mafuyu down to sit in my lap, Himeko crawled behind me and gave me a hug.
  "Thank you," my voice a bit groggy.
  I looked towards the door of the dorm to see both Shoko and Suguru standing by, holding a number of gift bags.
  "What's all this?" I said, letting Mafuyu jump on the bed as I got up to stretch.
  "We went a little overboard last night." Shoko said, handing me a bag.
  "Can I get dressed first?" I said setting the bag down.
  "That's what's in there. Already cleaned so you can just throw it on!" She replied excitedly.
  "Okay, okay. Can you guys step out for a bit?"
  As the door closed I rummaged through the large pale yellow gift bag. I pulled out a cute red ruffled crop top with a dainty white flower print. And a pair of light washed high waisted denim shorts. A pair of beige laced up sandals to compliment the outfit. As I dug deeper into the bag I felt more clothes. I took it out and it was a swimsuit, a sticky note attached to it.
  Put this on, we're gonna have a great day! -Shoko
I smiled at the note. I quickly put everything on and gave myself a once over in the mirror. It all looked really nice. I went to open the door to let everyone back in.
  "Oh, I knew you'd look good in that!" Shoko said, walking around me to get a better look. Himeko giving me a thumbs up, Mafuyu was busy playing with a wagon that sat outside my door.
  "Red looks good on you." Suguru complimented.
  "Ohhh well look at you." Satoru said, coming in behind the rest.
  "Thank you for the outfit! It's really cute." I thanked her. "Are we going somewhere?"
  "Well, no." She answered. I gave her a confused look. Suguru stepped forward.
  "We actually wanted to go by the lake that neighbored your estate. Do the cookout and hang out there for the day, but most of the villagers are helping with the construction on your house. We didn't want to burden them." He explained.
  "So, instead we bought a grill! We're hanging out in the open field with the creek in the back of the college! We remembered you telling us about how your family would do day trips to the lake and have barbecues, so we wanted to bring that to you." Satoru exclaimed.
  "Oh, you guys.." I brought them all in to a hug.
  "Now come on! We gotta get moving if we're gonna make the most of today!" Satoru hurried us along. Mafuyu and Himeko following behind us. As we got out of the hall, I noticed that the wagon they brought along was filled with pool items, a small grill, and a large portable radio. There was also a cooler, more than likely filled with food and drinks. I turned and noticed that both Himeko and Mafuyu were still wearing their pajamas.
  "Are you two not coming?" I asked.
  "Not right now. Tatsuya said that she and Dazai will bring us later! They don't want Mafuyu to get a sunburn, and I've been having some muscle pains.." I bent down and sat on the balls of me feet.
  "Are you okay? Do you need medication or anything?" I asked concerned. Himeko inherited my mothers lung disease, as well as muscle pain and weakness. She often took relaxers, steroids, antibiotics, and bronchodilators. She and my mother both have Emphysema, which causes damage to the lung tissue over time. She hasn't had an attack in some time, but when she does it's always scary. She coughs up blood and ends up in bed for weeks at a time. She also has Polymyostis, which causes her muscle weakness and pain.
  "I'm okay," Himeko reassured me. "I'm going to be resting for now, I'll take some medicine too! Don't worry!"
  I gave her a soft smile.
  "Just don't overwork yourself, you've been doing really well on staying on top of your health." I ruffled her hair and stood up. I gave her a hug before picking up Mafuyu and doing the same. "You guys be good then, okay? I'll see you later!" I waved goodbye to my sisters. I grabbed some of the items to help carry to the clearing.
  It was a short hike, about 20 minutes away from the actual school. Thankfully, there was already a bit of a path made towards the clearing. The school often used the area for the sister school exchange program.
  "Oh, there's a good spot," Suguru pointed to an area that had the small creek running through it. The area was big enough for us to set up and have a place for Mafuyu and Himeko to run around.
  We set down the cooler and stopped the wagon beside it. We unpacked the wagon and set up everything that they brought. There was a lot more than I expected. They managed to fit not only the grill, radio, and towels; they somehow got a large picnic blanket, pillows, a small bag of coal,  plates and cutlery in it too.
  I helped Shoko set up the blanket and made a makeshift seating area with the few pillows they brought along. Suguru and Satoru set up the grill.
  "That looks good, you boys done messing with that?" Shoko called out to the 2. Suguru got up, wiping off dirt from his shorts. The closer I looked, I noticed that both he and Satoru were actually wearing swim trunks. Both black.
  "Yup, it should be ready to use whenever. You guys wanna eat now or in a bit?" Suguru said, looking over at us.
  "I'm good with waiting, are you guys hungry?" I answered. Shoko and Satoru agreed to wait.
  "Then do you guys wanna get in the water?" I eyed the small creek. It was a hot day and the walk over already had me covered in sweat. Sitting in the cool water sounded more than pleasant.
  "Yes, please. I didn't expect to sweat this much from such a short walk." Shoko complained, fanning at herself with her hand.
  "Then it's decided! Into the water we go!" Satoru was quick to throw off his shirt and bolt to the small stream. Suguru shook his head, but went along with the eccentric boy nonetheless. He picked up Satoru's shirt and took off his own, setting them both on the blanket we laid out. Shoko and I began following suit. She had on a peach one piece with the back exposed.
  "Oh that's cute," I complimented her.
  "I'm so happy the swimsuit I got you fits! I wasn't sure what size you wore since you're taller than I am." She sighed in relief.
  "You chose well." I chuckled back. Shoko bought me a light blue one piece, similar to the one she was wearing.
  "What're you guys hanging around for? Come on!" Satoru shouted. Shoko and I smiled to each other and ran over to the boys.
  We ended up splashing at each other in the shallow creek. Sitting in it, it only went up to our waist! But we were able to make the best of it. We all used the pool noodles to swing at one another. Satoru had the bright idea to blind fold us and have each other try to whack someone. Of course, he won.
  "Hey, have you guys gone any further than here before?" Shoko asked.
  "I haven't." I replied. Satoru shook his head.
  "I have," Suguru answered. "Why?"
  "I was just wondering, is there like a bigger body of water or something?" She asked curiously.
  "Nah, just snow melting." He shrugged.
  "Damn, I was hoping we could actually swim a bit. Ya know?" Shoko sighed.
  We all turned to the sound of an incoming phone call. We all scrambled over to where we left our clothes to see who's phone was going off.
  "Why did we agree to having matching ringtones again!?" Satoru grunted out.
  "I said we should have matching ringtones for each other! Not as for all calls!" I defended. I grabbed my shorts and reached into the pocket. I could feel my phone vibrate in my hand. I quickly opened the phone to see that it was Tatsuya calling.
  "Hello?"
  "Mai-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I thought you'd want to know right away rather than be left guessing." Tatsuya huffed out. I could also hear the faint sound of crying.
  "Is everything okay?" I swayed from the building anxiety.
  "Don't worry, nothing that needs your immediate return." She paused. "Unfortunately, Himeko-sama is experiencing mild weakness. I saw it best to have her stay here and rest. I will keep Mafuyu-sama here as well so that she can keep her sister company."
  "What? Is she okay? Are you sure I don't need to be back?" My voice raised. Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko got a bit closer trying to hear what's going on.
  "Yes, she is alright. She just needs some rest. What? Oh- Himeko-sama would like to speak with you." I heard some shuffling and then the quiet voice of my sister.
  "I'm sorry nee-san.." She sniffled. "I really did want to go.." Her voice shook, most likely trying to hold back tears.
  "It's okay, really. Get some rest, okay? We can do something together soon! I can take you and Mafuyu to get some ice cream, how does that sound?" She was still sniffling, but her voice sounded as if it was perking up a bit.
  "Okay, that sounds fun.."
  "Great. Just be careful and take care of yourself for now. I'll see you later. Love you lots, kid."
  "I love you too." I ended the call.
  "Is everything okay?" Shoko asked.
  "Yeah, Himeko's muscles are bothering her. They won't be able to come up today." I explained.
  "What? Aw man, that sucks." Satoru pouted.
  We stood around in silence for a moment.
  "What if we just go celebrate there?" Suguru suggested.
  "What do you mean?" I asked.
  "Satoru and I did buy an inflatable pool. We can just go there, that way Himeko and Mafuyu can still be around us. And Himeko won't exhaust herself from walking." He explained.
  "You guys bought an inflatable pool?" Shoko asked.
  "We sure did." Satoru confirmed.
  "We went through all that trouble to come up here though.. I don't want you guys to do anything more.." I tried to decline.
  "Nah, it'll be fine. Plus it'll be more fun. We can fill their bellies with good food!" Satoru was already throwing his clothes back on. I knew they wouldn't listen to anything else I would say. So, I just decided to go along with them.
 
  As soon as we made it back to the college, we immediately began setting up a mini pool party. Shoko and I ran to her room to get some string lights that she usually had tucked away. The boys were messing around and trying to get the inflatable pool going. Dazai bumped into us as we were setting up, so we all decided to drag him in to help us.
  By the time everything was almost ready, it was nearly 6pm. We decided to set up the small grill and began cooking our meat. I quickly texted Tatsuya to bring both Himeko and Mafuyu out to the courtyard in their bathing suits.
  "Wow!" I turned towards the excited yell. Himeko was standing by the entranceway with stars in her eyes, clearly very excited about the makeshift set up we had done.
  "Why did you guys come back?!" She weakly made her way over and hugged me.
  "Because it's not a proper birthday without my all of my favorite people!" I blew a raspberry on her cheek, making her laugh.
  "Now, come! Food is cooking and the pool is full! Go have fun and get wet!" I urged her. She happily obliged, Mafuyu not far behind.
  Tatsuya stood next to the pool and held onto Mafuyu's hands, letting her kick her feet and splash around. Himeko was splashing water towards Satoru, and him being the child that he was, splashed right back with more force.
  "Satoru! Stop that! You'll get water on the meat!" Suguru scolded. He moved the cooler on the other side of the grill, where Dazai was turning the meat in a very focused manner. Shoko turned on the string lights since the sun was beginning to set, giving off a warm glow. She sat down next to me.
  "Happy Birthday, Mai." She rested her head on my shoulder.
  "Thank you, you guys made this really fun." Suguru sat down next to us, Satoru following shortly after.
  "All done playing?" Suguru teased him.
  "For now, wanted to spend time with the birthday girl." He replied, plopping down on the other side of me.
  "This was a great day, I appreciate you guys so much." I smiled.
  "Shits been hectic for you and your clan, not to mention this was a much needed break for us too." Said Suguru.
  "It was nice being able to hang out and just be normal teenagers for once." Shoko chimed in.
  "Plus, who wouldn't appreciate us? We're great." Satoru stated matter of factly. I laughed and threw an arm around him.
  "Sorry to break up the little get together, but foods done!" Dazai called out to us. The 4 of us, along with Himeko, Mafuyu, and Tatsuya went over to the small grill and began enjoying the grilled meat that was laid out in front of us.
  This really was a good day.