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Marika lazily scrolled down the blog she was browsing, trying to kill time as she waited. Rika had asked her to meet up for her birthday and she had gotten here way too early; 10 minutes, by her phone’s count.
She closed the tab she was browsing and switched apps to check her feed, barely paying attention. Heck, given how famously relaxed she was about getting to class on time, she wouldn’t expect Rika to even realize she might be waiting. Especially for plans Rika didn’t tell her all the details on.
She paused. Even so, she came here to meet Rika early. Not just ‘Marika Time’ early either. Like, textbook definition, star student, high achiever early.
Before Marika could think through the implications of her earliness, she heard a voice shout at her, getting closer.
“Marika-chaaaaaaaan!” A girl in high twintails, dressed in a highly fashionable shorts and tube top combo, sunglasses on her head, came running towards her.
“Oh, Rika-chan!” Marika waved back, trying to match her friend’s excitement.
Rika stopped in front of her, clearly out of breath, but trying not to show it. “Sorry, I’m late! For my own birthday celebration, no less!” She said, perky as ever, giving herself a light flick on the head.
“No, not at all.” Marika said, shaking her head. “Happy birthday by the way! Before I forget, in all the excitement, you know?” Marika stretched her arms in a hug.
Rika nodded up and down, smile on her face as she near leapt into her friend’s hug. “Oh yeah, our plan! Come on!” As they parted, Rika grabbed her hand, leading her into a sprint. “I can’t wait to show you what I want to do today!”
Marika rolled her eyes, a soft smile on her face as she tried to figure out where Rika would take them. Goodness knows her friend was too excited to tell her now. Knowing her, she probably had a bunch of high energy activities for the two. Mountain climbing perhaps? Or a bike marathon? Maybe even swimming?
Either way, Marika knew that she’d have fun with her. She always did and she always would, she hoped.
Rika took another sip of her iced cappuccino, making sure to not drink too much of the whipped cream at once. “Hm, this is quite tasty!” She said, in her best impression of a typical cafe goer.
Marika eyed her strangely, not taking her look off of her, even as she downed the rest of her americano. Of all the places she had thought Rika could take her, she didn’t expect…
Well, places she would usually go, Rika had taken her cafe-hopping, going to all the cafes she knew and loved. Hazawa Coffee, Shiraishi Cafe, Shibuya Cafe, Cafe LeBlanc, even Champ de Fleur.
She was pleasantly surprised and, were this any other day, she'd be positively tickled pink. But this was Rika’s birthday! Why was she taking her to her favorite places?
“Mm, mm!” Rika finished off her cappuccino, licking the last of the whipped cream off of her lips. Marika swore she felt a faint warmth in her cheeks. “That was even tastier than the last one! Now, onto the next-”
“Rika-chan, wait.” Marika interrupted her before she could even stand. “Are… you sure you’re alright with this?”
Rika pouted, confused. “Okay? What do you mean?”
“I mean… I know cafes aren’t your usual scene and all, so I thought you might be getting a little… bored?”
Rika smiled, not even giving it a moment’s thought. “Well yeah, but it is yours, right?”
Marika felt her heart lighten, sighing out into a smile. “Yeah… I was really surprised when you said you wanted to take me here. Like, ‘she was paying attention to my cafe rants? What?’ and stuff.”
Rika didn’t tell Marika that she practically took notes on whatever she said.
“But still…” Marika continued. “Why today? It’s your birthday! We should be doing things you want to!”
“But that’s just it!” Rika chirped. “That’s why I took you to places you would have fun at! Because for my birthday, I wanted to have fun with you!”
Seconds passed as Marika just looked at Rika, blinking once or twice in front of the girl’s shining grin. Then, she slowly worked into a chuckle, shaking her head. Thinking about other people on her birthday? She hadn’t thought of it before, but now that it was right in front of her, she realized that was the most Rika-like thing one could do on their birthday.
“But hmm…” Rika put a finger to her cheek. “I’m not really sure where else we could visit today.”
Marika smiled, somehow both serenely and sneakily and took her friend’s hands in her own. “I might have an idea. But first, we have to go get changed…”
“Alright party peeps! Don’t go sleeping on me now, cause we’re gonna keep it goin’ all night!”
A cheer erupted through the club as the DJ, her high voice loud and brash as ever, turned the music up louder. In the middle of the dance floor, surrounded in the sea of the crowd, Marika and Rika danced to the beat.
“Woohoo!” Rika shouted, clearly audible even in the noise of the club. “Now THIS is what I call a birthday party!”
Marika giggled. “I think you have more energy than everyone here combined!” she said, trying her best to be heard.
Rika didn’t miss a word. “Well yeah! How could I not be in a crowd like this?” Rika’s eyes caught a big gathering just in front of the stage, and Marika swore she could see her twintails bounce for a split second. “Oh, I think they’re having a dance battle over there!” She looked over to her ponytailed friend and stretched out her hand. “Should we?”
Marika looked at her hand and smiled without a second thought. “Let’s.”
And as they walked over to the stage, Marika and Rika both knew. They would both have fun doing anything as long as they did it together.
But for all that Marika learned about Rika today, there was one thing she didn’t realize. Even though Rika said she was late, she had only shown up a few minutes after Marika. She couldn’t help herself after all. Not when she was so excited to spend the day with the person she cared about the most.