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The sky could be so pretty sometimes.
Iroha surveyed the sky as she sat on her rock, smiling. A nice light blue, dotted with clouds. The sun shining in the corner, always shining. Even when a cloud drifted over it.
It was a magical thing. And Iroha had met Mikado. Maybe the sky was even more magical than him.
Of course, she'd never tell him that. She didn't want his pride to be too hurt. A depressed Mikado was an awful thing to see. Everyone much preferred the cheerful and asshole Mikado that would fly around the clubroom bothering everyone.
The sky was still more magical than him though.
And it might even be more magical today. Because today was Iroha's birthday!
Birthdays were never fun back home. It was part of the reason she'd run away for a new life.
And a new life was a new life. She wasn't going back. She wasn't even going to think back! She was going to have a nice, quiet birthday for once.
Iroha didn't want a huge party. She'd seen and been to the parties her class would throw whenever it was someone's birthday. She didn't want that, she'd get overwhelmed. Iroha was easily overwhelmed.
So, she messaged the class chat earlier, asking for no party. She'd had all positive responses so far, which she was glad about.
A slight wind ruffled Iroha's hair, making her giggle a bit. The pages of her sketchbook fluttered in the wind, and she held onto it tightly, in case it flew away. That had happened before, and it had caused a five-way chase as all of VOID tried to get it back.
Iroha giggled again as she remembered that day. Nikei had been the one to grab it, but he had accidentally tripped in the process. When the rest caught up to him, he was sitting in a puddle and cussing it out as the sketchbook lay behind him, only having a few drops on it.
He had been difficult to calm down that day. Mikado had done most of the work though, Iroha had stayed in the background watching.
Thinking about the memory helped Iroha sketch the sky and the trees and everything around it. A bird flew through the sky and Iroha quickly added a rough sketch in, deciding to focus on it later. The bird was already gone by the time she looked up again, anyway.
Iroha shrugged and continued sketching the sky and trees. It was peaceful here; so calming.
"Iroha?"
A voice called out to her out of nowhere, and Iroha jumped, letting out a small shriek and turning around, breathing a small sigh of relief when she saw who had spoken.
"Emma? Please don't startle me like that!" Iroha asked, clutching onto her sketchbook again and picking up her pencil, which had fallen to the floor.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you didn't know I was there, I assumed you were aware of me." Emma apologized. "But then again, you did look pretty absorbed in your drawing. I'm not sure how I could have not startled you."
"O-Oh, that's right..." Iroha faltered. "But that's only because it's so peaceful and calm here! Just look at the sky, you can see everything! It's so pretty!"
Emma followed Iroha's gaze and smiled contently as she got what Iroha was talking about. "I see what you mean. It is calming here. It must be nice to just sit on a rock and sketch the sky and other things."
"It really is." Iroha agreed. "It's part of the reason I love art! It's so peaceful!"
"I an tell." Emma chuckled. "By the way, the boys will be coming here soon. We've been looking for you."
"Oh, that's fine, I guess..." Iroha trailed off. "There won't be any big surprises when they come, right?"
"Nothing big." Emma reassured her. "Just something small."
Iroha breathed a small sigh of relief at Emma's statement and turned back to the sky. It seemed to get even more pretty the longer she looked at it.
She sat down again and began sketching, and Emma sat down with her, watching. Not judging anything, simply enjoying seeing the lines lightly sketched onto the paper of the sketchbook.
About ten minutes went by, and Emma made a small noise using a small pebble, and Iroha looked up. "Hm?"
"They're almost here." Emma said. I thought I'd let you know so that they don't end up startling you like I did."
"Oh, alright, thanks Emma." Iroha said, a smile forming on her face.
Emma looked towards the sketchbook at the nearly finished sketch. "Art really does make you calm, doesn't it?"
Iroha nodded. "Art was always pressuring back there. Art should be nice. Calming. Quiet. That's why I don't want a big party, I just want to have a quiet birthday for once."
A quiet hum was Emma's response, and the snapping of twigs and muffled voices could be heard in the distance, and both Iroha and Emma looked towards the sound, both not even bothering to say who it was.
"-mit Mikado! You can't just say something like that!" Nikei whisper-yelled, walking into the clearing with Hajime and Mikado besides him. Mikado's arms weren't visible, but his mask was smiling cheekily, and Hajime just looked both tired and amused at the antics as he fiddled with the blanket he was holding.
"Why can't I? I get to see such cute reactions from you." Mikado teased, and Nikei grumbled something and looked away.
Iroha was half-tempted to flip to a new page of her sketchbook and draw something based on what she was assuming happened between Nikei and Mikado, but she had the feeling that she probably should just leave them be for now.
Hajime turned away from the other two boys and faced the girls. "Hey, Happy Birthday Iroha." He greeted her. "We're sorry for barging in on you like this."
"No no, it's okay!" Iroha reassured him. "I'm just about done with my sketch anyway!"
"Ah, I didn't expect anything different!" Mikado chirped, his mask forming an ^o^ shape. "Ms. Nijiue, you truly are above all of us!"
Iroha flushed red at the unexpected praise. "W-What? Really?"
Nikei hit Mikado in the arm, although it wasn't nearly as hard as it might normally be. "Hey, don't just say things like that to her without warning!"
Mikado chuckled, and Emma sighed and turned to address Iroha. "Actually, we have a small surprise for you."
"R-Really? A surprise?" Iroha asked, her smile beginning to widen. "What is it? Tell me, tell me!"
"We'll do you one better, we'll show you!" At Mikado's words, Hajime spread out the blanket onto the ground, and Mikado bent down and brought his arms out from under his cape. Iroha gasped.
A beautiful cake now sat on the blanket, decorated with splotches of colors made out of frosting. It had a plastic covering on it, to protect it from anything messing it up, and Nikei removed it now that the cake was out in the open.
Iroha let out an excited squeal at the cake before her. "Oh wow! A cake! And it's so pretty! This is my birthday cake?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
The rest of VOID had expressions ranging from happy to embarrassed at Iroha's praise. "Don't thank us Iroha, this is just what friends do!" Emma said, patting Iroha's arm.
Iroha still couldn't process the fact that she had an actual birthday cake in front of her, and she began tearing up happily. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Emma just told you not to thank us, are you deaf?" Nikei asked, using his tsundere personality to cover up the embarrassed look on his face.
"Let's not focus on the thanks!" Mikado chimed in. "Would you like us to sing 'Happy Birthday' to you, or do you just want to eat the cake now?"
"Let's eat!" Iroha said. "I'm too hungry to wait!"
With a chuckle, Hajime took a sheathed knife from his pocket and unsheathed it, taking the covering off and putting the slice he cut on one of the plates that Nikei brought, and he handed it to Iroha.
Iroha immediately dug in happily, savoring the taste.
Art could be calming, but sometimes cake overpowered the calm.