"...Kei, what are you doing?"

I stared at her bewildered.

"Mou, Kiyotaka. You really ruin the fun of everything. Your girlfriend just told you that she's your gift, but you're not even reacting at all."

While saying that, Kei was pouting. To be quite honest, it was cute to see her act like that but I didn’t let it show on my face..

“Well, I don’t really understand what you meant by that. What DID you mean, Kei?”

Although, I got the gist of what she meant, I decided to play dumb to tease her a bit.

“W-what I meant… you’re really the worst boyfriend ever, making your girlfriend say that. What I meant was…”

“I understood what you meant. I was just teasing you a bit.”

Kei got a little frustrated at my words.

“Mou!! If you knew, then don’t play dumb. You really like playing with my feelings, don’t you?”

“It can’t be helped if I have such a cute girlfriend.” I decided to tease her a bit more.

“C-c-cute!? Cut it out, Kiyotaka!”

I better stop it here. If I keep it up, Kei might actually get angry.

“By you being my gift, I suppose that means that I can choose what we do together, right?”

“Yes, you can choose what you want to do. But, but, but, e-ecchi stuff is out of the question, okay? ….Although I wouldn’t say no either.”

Kei said the last part in a whisper so soft you could barely hear it. I was able to catch what she said, but I pretended not to hear it.

“Well, I had nothing in mind. I was planning to just lie back and relax today.”

“Really? Even though it’s your birthday?”

Kei seemed a little disappointed at my words. It was understandable since this would be the first time we would spend one of our birthdays together as a couple.

“Yeah. But since I didn’t have plans anyway, I suppose we could go on a date.”

I suggested the date so as not to disappoint Kei. That and I genuinely thought it would be nice to spend some time with Kei.

“Really? Then, how about this?”

Kei suggested a plan involving a lot of different places you would go for a date. I didn’t really mind where we went and Kei understood that.

So just like that, Kei started dragging me around campus. First, we went to the movies and watched a popular movie that was a hot topic recently.

Afterwards, we went to a cafe to eat while Kei talked about the movie excitingly. I was just replying to most of what she was saying, but it didn’t seem like she minded.

After eating, we went around Keyaki Mall to browse different stores. As expected, Kei dragged me to different stores. For the most part, we didn’t buy anything as we were saving on points, but she did make me watch her try on different clothes. At the end though, she bought me a scarf.

As I held the bag with the scarf, I felt a little emotional. It was a weird feeling, but it wasn’t a bad one. I suppose it was because this was the first birthday gift I ever received; and my girlfriend was the one who gave it.

After our time in Keyaki, we started going back to the dorms as the sun was starting to set. All in all, a normal, but fun date. As I thought that, I glanced at Kei. She looked happy, if not, a little distracted. I wondered what she was thinking about.

As we arrived in front of the dorm, Kei suddenly stopped walking. I stopped as well, wondering why she stopped. As I began to question her, Kei turned to look at me.

“Did you have fun, Kiyotaka?”

An unexpected question. I was caught a little off-guard because of the suddenness of the question.

“It suppose it was fun.”

“Suppose? What’s up with that vague answer?”

Kei was off-put by how I answered.

“Going to the movies, eating at a cafe, shopping at the mall. To be honest, it isn’t very different from what I do with the Ayanokouji Group.”

Kei lowered her eyes, disheartened at my answer. She probably put in a lot of thought of where to go to make sure I had fun on my birthday. I decided to stop her train of thought there.

“That said, I wasn’t with the Ayanokouji Group. I was with you, Kei. That’s what made it different and special.”

Kei looked up at me. Her mood had made a 180 degree turn.

“Kiyotaka…”

She looked at me, with passion… no, with eyes full of love.

“Ne, Kiyotaka. To be honest, I have one more gift for you.”

“Gift? But you already gave me a scarf and we went out for a date.”

“It’s okay. I had already prepared to give this gift a long while ago. B-but I want it to be a surprise, so close your eyes, okay? No peeking.”

Obediently following her instructions, I closed my eyes, wondering what kind of gift she would surprise me with. I honestly felt two gifts, three if you count the date, was a bit much. I would need to match that level of effort during her birthday, after all, or she would get mad. That said, since she prepared it already, I couldn’t refuse it.

Suddenly, I felt a warm sensation on my lips. Opening my eyes, the face of Kei suddenly appeared in front of me, with no distance between us.

Kei had kissed me. Tiptoeing a little, in order to reach me, and with her eyes closed as well, her lips had locked with mine.

I didn’t know if a few seconds, a minute, or more had passed. The only thoughts that I could think of were of the softness of her lips.

After a while, Kei withdrew a little. The sensation of her lips left mine, but the warmth remained. She opened her eyes, looking a little dazed and with her face flushed red. She caught her breath from how long we kissed, and with a mischievous grin, she smiled the way only Kei could smile.

“お誕生日おめでとう、清隆。”

It was, without a doubt, an unforgettable birthday.