Sora was bathing in self-pity. Her head had plopped down on her arms resting on the table in the staff kitchen of Tomoko's café. She didn't even have work today, but she came nevertheless since she hadn't known where to go instead.
It was weekend once again and on top of it, it was Valentine's Day. The blue haired girl had attended morning practice with the first string and after that she had been busying herself with distributing her self-made platonic friendship chocolates into the lockers of her teammates. This time she had been prepared at least and had taken several days to make them beforehand without having to wake up one day earlier in the morning.
After that she had excused herself and had escaped to Yakushi, also giving Sanada and Todoroki some chocolates to thank them for the other day again and to invite them over to her home to play some videogames together the next time she had a day off. Now that she had made some friends outside of Seidou, the young girl wanted to cherish them.
Her next stop would've been Inashiro, but the words Narumiya Mei and Valetine's Day combined together had sent a cold shiver down her spine. Sora had no intention whatsoever to attempt suicide aka to get assassinated by crazy maniac fangirls. Thus, the blue haired girl had decided to wait until later, after the usual afternoon practice for her and hopefully also for the Inashiro team would've ended. She hoped that in the evening the coast would be clear and the fangirls and journalists would've left the school compounds.
However, on her way from Seidou to the subway station, she had dropped by at her workplace to greet Tomoko and her colleagues from the cosplay café, only to regret it instantly. The young blonde manager had noticed the dark circles around her eyes, her pale face and the lingering insecurity and worry in her cerulean eyes. It was merely a lack of sleep because of a certain nervousness that had been settling deep inside of her stomach. Sora was restless and fidgety, but usually managed it very well to hide it with her acting skills. That her boss of her part-time job of all people had been able to pick up on her current mood still surprised the young girl.
Tomoko had dragged her along to the small staff room, calling in Aka-chan, Ki-chan and Mido-chan as well who had switched shifts and had been about to leave. They were Sora's colleagues with the respective character colors red, yellow and green, resembling their hair and eye colors. Aka-chan and Ki-chan were in fact girls just like Sora and Mido-chan was a crossdressing boy who seriously knew how to do his job exceptionally good. They all shared a passion for anime, manga, videogames and cosplaying after all. Aka-chan had been the girl to cosplay Nami in their One Piece week, so she had had a lot of shifts together with Sora as Vivi.
Currently at work were Shiro-chan, a very beautiful guy with the character color white, Kuro-chan, the girl who had cosplayed Nico Robin from One Piece with her color being black, Mura-chan, the older brother with purple hair and eyes and Pink-chan, his cute and cheery younger brother in... well, yeah pink.
The blue haired girl was wearing a black turtleneck, courtesy of Miyuki and a pair of jeans. She had tied her hair up into a messy bun and her natural make-up was covering up her tiredness quite well. So, she still wondered how the hell Tomoko had been able to recognize it. Her manager had provided the young girl and her three colleagues with coffee and tea and had started to interrogate her like a mother as to what was up with her. The problem was, Sora didn't even know that for sure herself. Plus, she didn't have time for this since she still wanted to visit Inashiro to give Narumiya his share of chocolates.
"Okay, back to the two hot dudes you're constantly hanging out with", Aka-chan started and blew into her cup to cool down the hot cappuccino. "Are you sure that they don't have anything to do with your inability to sleep properly?!"
Ki-chan blushed heavily and cleared her throat a bit awkwardly.
"Aka-chan, do you know that this implication does sound very suggestive?"
The red head grinned.
"Take it as you want..."
Sora groaned in annoyance, lifted her head and rolled her eyes at them.
"Oh please, you both know I couldn't even be physical with them if I wanted to, because my secret would be revealed!"
"Would you want to?" Mido-chan asked curiously wiggling his eyebrows in a playful manner, causing the blue head to glare daggers at him.
"Hell, no!"
At least not as far as this whole conversation was going to take it...
"Then what about Eijun? Taking him would be nice 'n easy, no?"
"Eeew Mido, you creep! He's like my brother to me!"
"But does he see it the same way as you, Ao-chan?" Ki-chan questioned while tilting her head a bit.
"Yes! If I'm certain about anything, then it's my relationship with Eijun!" Sora answered seriously. "Why in the ever-loving hell has the topic of our discussion suddenly switched to him of all people anyway?!"
"'Cause he's cute as fuck and knows your secret as the only guy in the team, right?!" Aka-chan gave back with a shrug and the blue haired girl facepalmed.
"Just for the record, I'm still planning on match making him with his childhood friend Wakana!"
A collective Ohhhh and knocking of fists on the tabletop could be heard as her colleagues gave their united approval.
"Keep us updated on that", Mido-chan requested making Sora snort with laughter.
"Curious gossip!"
"Always!"
He winked and flashed her a wide grin.
"Okay, will do"
"Much appreciated, Ao-chan"
"Come on guys, you're losing focus!" Tomoko scolded slightly with a sigh. "We were about to find out why our dear blue head here is so restless that she's even unable to sleep. Because that is not healthy and you also know that!"
"Yes, mommy", Sora teased, causing her colleagues to giggle along.
"I still think she has a crush and doesn't want to admit it", the fiery red haired commented.
"I second that", also the blonde Ki-chan agreed.
"Yup, me too", the boy with the emerald green hair and eyes followed suit.
"Me three", even Tomoko as the manager supported their opinion with arms crossed over her chest and nodding curtly.
"Oh for the love of..."
But Sora was interrupted soon enough by a loud, demanding and annoying voice yelling something through the whole café that sounded much like parfait.
"What was that?" Ki-chan asked, but Aka-chan only raised an eyebrow.
"I guess you should rather ask who was that", Mido-chan remarked in amusement, not making it any better.
"Oh no!" the blue haired young girl sighed. "Dear Gods in Heaven!"
"Mh? Do you know what has happened?" her manager asked, but Sora already stood up from her seat.
"Yeah, The Prince of the Capital has happened!"
"Eh?!"
The others exchanged more than confused glances with each other as Sora already exited the small kitchen for staff members only. She spotted Narumiya instantly since he was still wearing his white and red Inashiro baseball uniform and he was being accompanied by three other males in the same clothing. Probably the teammates he had promised to introduce to her when they had met the last time. Shiro-chan and Kuro-chan were currently trying to deal with the four boys, but the blonde ace seemed to be displeased with something and that was never good news if you wanted to avoid a temper tantrum.
"Mei, stop bullying my colleagues!" the young girl quickly interfered and gave her co-workers a short sign with one hand that they should go and take care of the other guests.
With short nods and apologetic glances, the two of them bowed and excused themselves to take orders on other tables.
Narumiya's expression however, lit up instantly at Sora's arrival, much to his catcher's surprise who had tried to calm the arrogant ace down the whole time since they had entered the café together. Also the other two guys exchanged a glance and eyed the blue haired girl skeptically. Even more so when the blonde suddenly leaped at her and hugged her tightly and she sighed in exasperation and hugged him back.
"Ao-chan, so nice to see you again! And I didn't bully them, I promise", the southpaw chirped, still squeezing Sora in his arms with a jolly smirk. "Right, Itsuki?!"
The brown haired poor boy sweat dropped, not knowing how to react properly.
"A-Ah, yes Mei-san..."
"Mei..."
"Hm?"
"Let me go!"
"No!"
The other boys watched in great interest. Never before had their ace reacted like that to a girl and never before had any girl they knew of reacted like that to Narumiya Mei, the prodigy ace of Inashiro. They were sure to witness a historical moment together.
"You won't get any parfait today!"
That worked immediately and Narumiya held up his hands in surrender. The jaws of his teammates almost dropped to the floor.
"Holy hell...!" Sora cursed and rubbed her neck where the blonde male had been clinging to her.
"Ao-chan, don't be so mean...!" he whined, only earning a slap on the back of his head.
"Then don't try to strangle me, idiot!"
"Wha-...?! I didn't! And I'm not an idiot! Take that back!"
"Heh... I already like her", a tall, muscular and tanned guy with gelled back brown hair said with a grin.
"You don't seem to be the only one", the smaller dude with his red hair covering his whole left eye answered matter-of-factly, observing the interaction between Sora and Narumiya with his piercing yellow gaze.
"True, that's why it's interesting"
"G-Guys..." the brown haired catcher named Itsuki deadpanned, still not so sure if he should at least try to step in or not.
"You're not only an idiot, you're also being rude", Sora just went on unimpressed and gestured towards Narumiya's teammates. "Didn't you want to introduce us to each other?!"
"Ah heck, fine!" the blonde huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. "You're no fun! The other day you were much nicer to me!"
"Mei, I'm coping with a Miyuki Kazuya on a daily basis, I'm never actually nice..."
Begrudgingly Narumiya swallowed his own snarky answer and introduced Ao-chan to his three teammates, his brown haired, friendly catcher Tadano Itsuki, the calm and composed red head Shirakawa Katsuyuki and the tall and tanned half Brazilian Kamiya Carlos Toshiki.
"Ao-chan is the daughter of the owners from the wellness center my dad has decided to sponsor", the ace explained and literally no one understood why he was sounding so awfully smug about it. "Plus, she's a first-year student with academical scholarship at Seidou and has played softball and baseball herself in Junior High! Awesome, right?!"
Good thing Sora had already told her new friend how she was disguising herself when she was meeting people as the female Sora aka Ao-chan. They had texted about this some days ago and Narumiya like the child he was had been excited about something that sounded like a secret identity for a mission of a military corps or something like that.
Sora bowed politely.
"Nice meeting you guys. Please make yourselves at home"
"By the way, Ao-chan... Why aren't you in cosplay today?" the blonde southpaw asked, eyeing her outfit.
"Because I'm not working today. I just came out to greet you because your voice could be heard throughout the whole café and probably also throughout the whole neighborhood"
Kamiya started laughing, Shirakawa nodded his head with a short, but still desperate sigh and Tadano just sweat dropped again, trying to suppress his nervousness and embarrassment.
"You've got him handled alright, huh?!" Kamiya stated with amusement glinting in his eyes.
"Hey, be quiet, will ya!" Narumiya protested and Sora only sighed and shook her blue haired head.
"I wish it was that easy..."
"Yes, I feel you", Tadano mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from his pitcher and a chuckle from the blue haired girl.
"If you're not working, you can sit with me for a while, right?" the arrogant ace asked, but it sounded more like an order. "Besides, why are you even here?"
"You mean she could sit with us", Shirakawa corrected, but got ignored.
"Yeah, that should be fine. Be glad our third years aren't here today, they would occupy me for sure", Sora answered and led the group of four baseball players to an empty table so that they could have a seat. "And I'm here to visit my manager, Tomo-chan and my colleagues"
"You really are way too close to Seidou's baseball players..." the blonde grumbled displeased.
"Jealous?"
"Yeah, so?! Got a problem with that?!"
"Mei-san, you actually admitted it..." Tadano deadpanned dryly and the other two were hiding their smirks behind the menu.
"Can't help it, right? I'm tutoring my fellow first years and I've gotten pretty friendly with the rest of the team as well. Playing videogames together and stuff..."
"Heh, you're playing videogames?" Kamiya asked and Sora nodded slightly perplexed. "That's nice"
Narumiya only hmphed and stuck his nose into the menu as well. After having placed the orders for the Inashiro guys in the kitchen, Sora went to the smaller staff room to get the last remaining package of chocolates for the blonde southpaw. She kind of regretted having made them for him, but whatever. His ego would only get an unwelcomed major boost for sure.
"Happy Valentine, Mei", she said nevertheless as she handed them over to the flabbergasted blonde with a genuine smile. "They are amicable and platonic, though. So, don't get the wrong idea. The Seidou boys also got their share, y'know"
Narumiya took the small package wrapped in beautiful red and gold paper with matching red ribbons and stared at it with his mouth hanging open. Then suddenly, brightly shining sparkles lit up his blue eyes and surrounded him like fireflies in the summer season. His cheeks visibly pink, the blonde ace smirked as if he had won koushien all on his own.
"Aw, c'mon Ao-chan won't you finally confess to me?! It has taken you way too long already anyway!"
Sora looked at him flatly, extending her hand once again.
"Give it back!"
"NO!!!"
"Mei-san, your voice is too loud!" Tadano scolded.
The blue haired girl was finally kinda forced to sit between Narumiya and his catcher, chatting away with the Inashiro boys until Pink-chan was bringing their orders to the table. He was dressed as a pink cat girl since this week's theme was an animal café. Shiro-chan was doing a white kitsune, Kuro-chan cosplayed a tanuki that reminded Sora much of Miyuki somehow and Mura-chan did a great job as a wolf.
"Ao-chan, Tomo-chan is calling you back to the staff room, nya..."
"Ugh, thanks, Pinky..."
The always cute, cheerful and energetic boy with freckles grinned brightly, waved and winked at his customers and went back to work to distribute sweets on other tables.
"Pinky?!" Narumiya repeated, sounding somehow disgusted and his catcher suppressed his laughter.
"Yeah, it's his character color..."
"HIS...?" the other four boys chorused in disbelief.
Sora shrugged and stood up.
"Yeah, half of our staff is male and the reaction whenever I mention this is always kinda the same..." the young girl explained. "Sorry, guys, but I have to go see my manager"
Despite Narumiya's heavy protests, the blue haired girl made her way back to the staff kitchen, sitting down on her former chair with a drained sigh. Keeping the blonde ace's company was very exhausting, although she would describe him as a friend.
"Another hottie we have to keep our eyes on?!" Aka-chan teased, but Sora scrunched her nose.
"Go ahead, you can have him, Aka"
"Uuuh, how generous"
"Doesn't really seem to be Ao-chan's type anyway", Ki-chan commented, nibbling on a white chocolate and strawberry cookie.
"True", Sora affirmed curtly. "Thank you"
The young blonde girl smiled back gently.
"Oh, but he seems like mine?!" the red head shot back, earning a chuckle from Mido-chan beside her.
"C'mon, Aka-chan, everybody knows you're going after the good looking and hot type after all"
The others nodded in unison and the little banter went on until Tomoko wanted to stop them to get back to the original topic, but then Narumiya barged in and got the better of her by slamming the door a little bit too hard.
"Wah, sorry!" he at least had the common sense to apologize and then glared at the blue head. "What are you thinking leaving me alone outside there on that table, huh?! You're cruel, Sora! And what's up with this gathering here if you're not working?!"
"Hmmm, someone knows your true name..." Mido-chan sang sweetly and Sora facepalmed, not even bothering to reply.
"We are trying to figure out why Sora-chan isn't able to sleep properly and looks so utterly exhausted", Tomoko informed the blonde male casually. "And we are thinking that she has trouble in her love life, so we were in the middle of questioning her about it when you arrived with your friends and she used the opportunity to escape"
"Hey, I definitely want in on that!" the arrogant ace stated seriously, took another chair and sat down as if it was the most normal thing to do in that kind of situation. "I'm Narumiya Mei, by the way, since you don't seem to recognize me"
"Ah! The rival ace pitcher and the sponsor's son, right?!" Aka-chan questioned curiously, receiving a proud nod as an answer.
"Naw, Sora... So, you've been talking about me with your friends..."
"Hello, Narumiya-kun. It's nice to meet you, I'm Tomo-chan, the manager and here we have Aka-chan, Mido-chan and Ki-chan, our colleagues"
They all nodded their heads and Mido-chan did a two-finger salute, before the blue haired girl let out an annoyed groan once again.
"Would you please not include Mei in this discussion so casually?! Besides, I've already told you, I'm fine and it has nothing to do with love trouble! I don't have time or energy for stuff like that. I'm at Seidou to play baseball, not for teenage drama!"
"But you're restless and fidgety and suffering from a lack of sleep, Ao-chan. We're only trying to help you", Ki-chan objected matter-of-factly.
"So, you've finally got yourself a boyfriend now, huh?! I'm hurt! You could've told me at least!" Narumiya chimed in, his voice sounding offended.
Sora rolled her azure blue eyes at him.
"I already told you that's definitely not it! I don't have a boyfriend!"
"It could still be a crush you aren't aware of or you're trying to deny and don't want to admit", Mido-chan mused thoughtfully.
"Mido-chan is right, Sora-chan", the blonde café manager agreed. "The nervous feeling in your stomach you described earlier sounds awfully familiar. It's called butterflies in your stomach and that means you're in love! But if you insist on denying it so much, then tell us what has happened at Seidou lately to frazzle your nerves like that"
As all eyes were on her, Sora felt heat rising inside of her until her cheeks were burning hot and fiery red. She started to tell them everything that had happened since the few homestay days on new year, well aware that they would just start teasing her again and that they'd probably misunderstand it too. The blue haired girl noticed herself when she was trying to describe things from her point of view, that it still sounded iffy.
"So... It's not only one boyfriend, there are two of 'em?" Aka-chan finally concluded just the way Sora had anticipated.
"Oh, holy hell, no! Didn't you listen to me properly?! That's why I didn't want to tell you! You're completely misunderstanding things. Or maybe you just want to see it the way you want it to be"
"That'd be you, Ao-chan", Mido-chan gave back dryly, surprisingly supported by Narumiya's nods.
"I feel bad for Kazuya, ya know. Although he doesn't even deserve it...!"
"Oi!" Sora protested instantly. "You should feel bad for me here! For me! I'm the utterly confused and stressed one without sleep who doesn't even know what's going on and how it could have ended up like this!"
"And they are guys who most likely think that they've turned gay for you, Ao-chan. That's probably very confusing and stressful too, right? Not to mention, you are two-timing them. Well, somehow... since you aren't dating officially..." Ki-chan interrupted the ranting blue head. "You really should clear up things with them before it gets even more serious!"
"Guys, honestly... There isn't anything to clear up and I'm also not two-timing anyone. There isn't anything serious behind it!" Sora tried again to make her point. "I'm pretty sure that Mochi has only acted up on the situation we've been in and Kaz has been a tease from the very beginning. Since then none of them have tried to talk to me about anything and nothing has happened again, so that were one-time occurrences. It's not like they're trying to jump me at every opportunity they might get. We're acting completely normal with each other, just like before and I'm grateful for the fact that we're not being awkward"
"Sora-chan..." Tomoko sighed and shook her head about her blue haired employee. "I may not be the one to lecture you about this, but I think you're seriously wronging your two friends. Narumiya-kun was right, I feel sorry for them"
The young girl blinked a bit taken aback from her manager's clear words.
"While they might not be the best with their words because they're boys, in my opinion they've been trying to show you how they feel about you with their actions quite unmistakably", the blonde manager explained patiently. "And even if you're not so sure about their true objectives, you should consider the possibility of them being truly in love with you and you should talk to them about this matter. Otherwise you'll never know and you'll keep wondering about it, making you feel uneasy. Also, you really should think about your own feelings as well. Your whole behavior and your overthinking and denying actually prove that you're in love too. The only question is with whom of the two or in the worst case, maybe with both of them at the same time"
"She's right, Sora", Narumiya said unusually serious and without his characteristic smugness. "You should know Kazuya better by now. I don't know about the other guy, but if Kazuya starts to show true interest in something else than baseball, he's most likely serious about it. I personally never saw that happen though"
"And what do I do if I'm honestly in love with both of them, huh?!" Sora panicked and threw her hands up in the air. "Besides, how do I even realize that?! I mean my heart was definitely throbbing like crazy with both of them, so is that already proof enough or...?!"
"Why not start a threesome?" Mido-chan suggested nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders and crossing his arms behind his head. "If there's consent, of course. Polyamory isn't such a brand-new term nowadays, is it?! I mean, they're usually straight, but they started stuff with you even though they think you're a guy, so they don't mind experimenting a little. Seems interesting enough for me"
"Yeah, what he said", also Aka-chan went along with the idea. "C'mon, who wouldn't want two hot boyfriends instead of only one?!"
Narumiya sputtered and coughed heavily and Ki-chan only averted her gaze, developing a sudden interest in her fingernails, her face flushed brightly red, while Sora also gaped speechlessly at her two co-workers.
"You lost your mind! Both of you!"
"You're basically hanging out with both of them twenty-four-seven", the red head argued sullenly after Sora's accusation. "Not that there would be that much of a difference... Besides the lovey-dovey stuff..."
Now also the blue haired girl blushed profoundly as flashbacks of Miyuki and Kuramochi crossed her mind. Lovey-dovey stuff, huh...?
"My, my it's nice to be so young..." Tomoko joked and snickered a bit before composing herself once again. "Sora-chan, would you even be willing to start anything? No matter if it's with only one or with both of the boys?"
"To be fairly honest, up until now I didn't even think about it. I was trying not to get too worked up about everything... since, you know... if I'm the only one being serious, I'm only gonna get hurt in the end", the blue haired girl clarified sadly. "And even if I got together with one of them, what about the other one? What about our friendship? If it's true what Tomo-chan said and they're both falling in love with me despite thinking I'm a boy, then one of them would get hurt, or both of them or all three of us. I really think I should let it go. It's true after all, we're always together. The three of us... I don't want anything to change. It's such a precious friendship!"
"And if two of you were to be a couple, one would be left out", Ki-chan concluded. "But if you reject both of them, then everybody is unhappy, including yourself because you actually do feel something for them"
"It's so ridiculous that this flamboyant threesome idea seems to make the most sense right now..." Narumiya grumbled displeased, crossing his arms over his chest with a prominent frown on his handsome face. "Is it bad timing to remind you that you could have me instead? That wouldn't be so complicated and painful"
"Not to mention, being in a relationship usually includes being intimate with each other which you can only do to a certain extent without revealing that you're a girl..." Aka-chan added with a somewhat failed smirk.
"That should be the slightest problem, Aka-chan", Tomoko scolded softly, but Mido-chan chuckled about that.
"Not after what we've heard, I assume..."
"Mido, I swear...", Sora cursed, hiding her embarrassment with her anger.
"Sora-chan, listen to your heart closely and you're gonna find your answer, I'm very sure of it. Don't do anything you'd regret and follow the path you think is appropriate for yourself and not for anyone else. And please, talk to the boys. A simple conversation sometimes can work wonders and make things much easier", Tomoko finally advised.
The blue haired girl lowered her gaze, but gave a short nod with her head.
"Thank you, Tomo-chan"
After their little get-together, Sora's colleagues said their goodbyes since their shifts were already over and they had been on their ways back home when Tomoko had called them into the staff room. The blonde manager had to go back into the café's kitchen to do her job of creating sweets and supervising the pastry chefs and the blue haired girl followed Narumiya back to the table with the Inashiro guys.
"You're wearing that to hide your marks, aren't you?!" the arrogant ace asked sneeringly and pointed at Sora's turtleneck.
"Wha-...?! Mei!"
"If he's being that possessive, of course he's serious, stupid! I would be as well!" he mumbled quietly, only for the young girl to hear shortly before they arrived back where the other three boys still sat. "Hey, you guys! I brought Ao-chan back with me, aren't I great?!"
Sora re-joined the Inashiro group, making a little bit more small talk until they had to leave to be back on their respective school compounds before their curfews. Narumiya gave her a tight hug as a parting and whispered something about coming to him if Miyuki turned out to be even more of a jerk than they both already knew, making her laugh genuinely before turning on her heel and heading back to Seidou.
The blue head went into her room, changed into her boy's attire and jogged all the way to the cafeteria where she wanted to meet up with Watanabe, to check on some video footage together. However, when the young girl walked into the large hall and switched on the light, she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a collective
"Happy Valentine, Sora!"
She needed a moment to get herself together again. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest because of the scare her teammates had given her. The blue haired girl stared at the scene in utter disbelief.
In front of her stood Sawamura with his usual wide grin, the younger Kominato, Furuya, Kanemaru and Toujou on one side of a colorfully decorated table and on the other side gathered Miyuki, Kuramochi, Kawakami, Shirasu, Ono, Maezono and Watanabe. On top of the table were several drinks placed and also a big round chocolate cake with the brightly red lettering Happy Valentine's Day.
"It isn't much, but we wanted to say thank you for the chocolates and also for the Christmas party", Watanabe said smiling.
"It's self-made though, so no guarantee for the taste", Kanemaru warned jokingly causing his teammates to laugh.
"Hyaha! True!"
"Your own chocolates probably taste a hundred times better, but we tried and it's the thought that counts, right?" Kawakami chimed in, starting to cut the cake into pieces and holding out the first plate to Sora who had to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"You guys..." she almost sobbed out deeply moved. "Thank you so much! You really are the best!"
The young girl received her share of the cake from Kawakami and smiled, her vision getting a bit blurry because of the suppressed tears.
"Yeah, you can say that again", Miyuki smirked as always, but this time Sora didn't roll her eyes at him and his antics.
"Here, that's from our third years", Shirasu said, handing Sora a cute Valentine gift card that contained a few words of thanks for her chocolates and the former Christmas party as well and it was signed by her senpais.
Before she could honestly start to cry, she was tackled by an energetic Sawamura who hugged her and thanked her personally once again.
"I'm gonna return the favor on White Day", the brunette whispered into her ear, since that day was usually reserved to give presents to girls, not to boys.
"Ah, Eijun! Wait, that's not necessary...!"
But he was already gone again, holding up his cup of juice above his head.
"Three cheers for our Sora!" the young southpaw yelled, causing his teammates to follow suit.
"Kanpai!" they chorused, holding their drinks up and gulping them down before they all tried the chocolate cake.
For Sora it was the most delicious cake she had ever eaten in her whole life...