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"Happy Birthday to you!"
Loud and enthusiastic applauses erupt among the crowd as I brutally blow onto the colourfully illuminated candles snugged into the creams of my well-decorated chocolate cake. Both my older siblings promptly stuck to my sides when posing for the camera my mother held, with the much-needed assistance from Seijuro to take a charming photograph of us. With a satisfied nod from the outlandish amount of pictures taken, my mother gently pecks my boyfriend's cheek in gratitude with a soft pat on the opposite cheek before noiselessly shuffling away from the overly bombarded room.
My sister envelopes me in her arms with a kiss on the crown of my head before my brother embraces me tightly, of course, not without ruffling my hair, causing us to giggle as I half-heartedly attempt to push him away from me. My heart swells when seeing everyone mingle comfortably with each other. Especially Ryota and Tooru both thrive on annoying Kasamatsu Yukio, the former captain of Kaijo basketball team, and Iwaizumi.
I jump with a faint gasp when feeling a comforting palm on my lower back, and I quickly twirl to find my lovely redhead boyfriend already looking down at me with the gentlest expression. Using the other hand by his side, Seijuro tucks some loose strands of hair behind my ear while asking, "why don't we go to the balcony? You appear to be flush from all the excitement."
As Seijuro steers me towards the empty balcony, his hand always pressing against my lower back, I settle a palm against my reddened cheek, feeling the intense warmness emitting against my cooler palm immediately. "Ah, I didn't think it'd be that warm."
"You were red for some time now," he says while opening the balcony's double door for me, "I took my chance now to steal you away from everyone else."
"Steal me away, you say?" I laugh as I lean against the fence furthest from everyone else's prying eyes.
"Of course. You are the birthday girl today, after all," Seijuro leans against the rails right beside me, allowing our arms to brush against each other, "there wasn't a single moment where I was alone with you this entire night. I wanted a moment of just the two of us."
"Oh? So you stole me away from everyone solely for your own needs? And not because I was possibly perishing from the heat?" I joke as I hook an arm around his and press my face against his soft shirt, peering at him with mischievous eyes and a growing smirk.
"You can allow me to be selfish once in a while, can't you, Katsumi?"
"Hm, I suppose I can."
We share another laugh before sighing at the calm night, the noise and chattering inside the household slowly dimming away. It is true, however, that we did not have a single moment with only the two of us since the beginning of the day. My mother, sister and Satsuki dragged me out of bed for shopping while the men decorated the house for tonight's party. Standing with Seijuro in the still nighttime is definitely refreshing from today's ongoing excitement.
"Katsumi," he whispers suddenly after some time, almost sounding breathless.
"Hm?"
"I'd like to give you your gift now."
"Now?"
He hums as he stuffs his fingers into the inner breast pocket of his blazer and unhurriedly takes out, much to my surprise, a small deep maroon velvet hexagon box. I instantly felt my heart hammering against my ribcages, bliss and nervousness taking over every sense.
Aren't we too young for an engagement? We aren't even adults! Maybe I should have visited the bathroom before—
"Katsumi," he begins, looking intensely into my chocolate eyes, "don't be nervous. This is not what you think it is, now is not the right time yet."
"Yet?" I repeated.
"Yet," he repeats reassuringly before placing the box in my hand.
My eyes widen in awe at the two simple golden bands of ring snugged between the white plush cushions. Softly plucking them out from the box, I notice the cursive penmanship inside each ring, with one containing Katsumi and the other Seijuro. Understanding its significance, I felt my bottom lips wobble, tears threatening to fall from the edges of my eyes as my chest tightened by his gift.
"Sei," I drag out his name as I sniff through my sentiments and slide the ring possessing Katsumi into his finger. He chuckles at my bubbled expression before taking the other golden band from my possession to slide it into my finger. He wipes the lingering tears from my eyes, allowing the cold surface of his ring to touch my cheekbones.
"I have been wanting to give you a promise ring for some time now and believed today would be the best time to do so," he tells me with a soothing voice, driving my heart to drum harder than ever before.
"I love it, I really do," I cry, feeling my emotions arise once more.
Seijuro quietly engulfs me in an embrace, nestling my face into the crooks of his neck as I tightly wrap my arms around his waist, my whimpering slowly coming to a halt. I felt at utmost peace at that very moment, having made a promise to intertwine our future together forever while relinquishing the last minutes of my special birthday in the fondness of the man I have grown to love unconditionally.
