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It must have been around 3pm as Kaoru lay awake after her small afternoon nap (college was rather taxing, after all), watching the rain fall outside over the misty cityscape, the shadows of the droplets gliding down the walls like grey ribbons. As a child, she always enjoyed watching the rain create dancing shadows in her room, the falling movement often helping her feel calm and at ease. With a nostalgic smile she moved her hands to her chest and deeply breathed in like she used to, then fixed her eye on one droplet’s shadow and steadily matched its descending pace as she breathed out again. After all this time, it was still just as calming, and she felt her eyes flutter a little as sleepiness began to once again take over. Kaoru paused though as the raindrop drifted over the small space on the wall by her desk, one which was comically clustered with photos in comparison with her otherwise orderly room.
“I count myself in nothing else so happy, as in a soul remembering my good friends.”
Kaoru stared at the wall, turning the quote from the ever-magnificent bard over and over in her mind with a small smile etched on her face. It had become one of her favourites over the years, and while she couldn’t understand many of Shakespeare’s words, observing all of the photos she had steadily gathered of her precious band and all they’d done together somehow allowed it to make perfect sense to her. Even with the changes college had brought, every moment she spent with hello happy world still filled her with the same childlike joy and wonder that it had always done. There was also a growing collection of photos not just of the band, but of Kaoru and her other friends too; snapshots from the final day her and Maya were in the theatre club surrounded by all the hard working students who she had known since middle school, small pictures from spending time with Chisato and Leon for the first time in years, and photos of her and the other Haneoka third years like Hina and Lisa all smiling through tears at graduation.
It was funny; upon joining the theatre club and gaining the confidence she had always dreamed of, Kaoru had thought she had grown as much as she could and there was nowhere else left to go. That fateful day when she had met Kokoro, however, had expanded her world more than she could have ever imagined. It was very much like destiny, Kaoru smiled to herself.
There was a small buzz from the bedside table, and Kaoru was quickly brought out of her thoughts. She reached over to bring the screen to her face, squinting slightly to read: One New Message [Hello Happy World Group Chat].
She tapped her screen and opened up the chat room to see Kokoro’s speech bubble pop up.
Kokoro: My stuff is all packed!!!! I’ll be arriving in an hour :D!!!!!!!
Another buzz rattled her phone, and a message from Misaki slid into view.
Misaki: Roger that. Remember to actually bring your luggage this time though, Kokoro.
Kanon: Me and Hagumi will start making our way soon! We'll meet you at the station ^-^
Kaoru smiled; even after all this time, she still felt a twinge of excitement for their sleepovers. She tapped away at her screen, the anticipation of her friends’ arrival removing any lasting drowsiness from her nap.
Kaoru: I await all of your arrivals with great anticipation~
Satisfied, she glanced over at the clock, noting the time and stretching out across her bed as she moved to get up; well, she’d better get ready to make sure everyone would have the best possible time.
-
It was five minutes to four, and the kitchen was…well, almost completely obscured due to all of the ingredients that had been scattered across the limited space of the counter. Kaoru herself found that her neat appearance had been left a bit ragged after the effort she had put into preparing the most delicious curry she possibly could, the bun she had put her hair in threatening to come undone at any sudden movement and her face and shirt covered in specs of sauce.
Well, Kaoru didn’t particularly mind the mess; after all, she still looked as beautiful as ever, deciding that her appearance was that of a rugged, passionate chef rather than a college student hurrying to finish making dinner.
With the arrival of her bandmates practically imminent, Kaoru collected up the matching plates for each of them which she had brought from home and began serving up the food. She stirred around the sauce a little, making sure that there were enough rose shaped carrots for everyone to find, and laid it out in perfectly equal portions. Next, Kaoru went to the fridge and prepared the drinks for everyone; an orange soda she’d spotted while grocery shopping for Kokoro, apple juice for Hagumi, green tea for Kanon, water for Misaki (not fizzy), and grape juice for herself.
As she put down the final glass on the table and ensured all of the cutlery was laid out, Kaoru placed her hand on her hips, looking at her hard work - perfect.
Now, she just needed to wait…
…five minutes passed…
…then fifteen…
…then twenty…
Kaoru looked back and forth between the door and the time with a perplexed expression, her foot tapping slightly not with frustration but mild confusion. Perhaps Kanon had gotten lost? No, Hagumi was with her… Had Kokoro needed to go back home to get her luggage? No, Misaki had reminded her to bring it…
Either way, it would be no good for them to arrive to the depressing welcome of cold food, so Kaoru placed the plates of curry under the grill to keep them warm. She went over to her phone to see if there were any missed messages, but there were none.
Another half an hour passed.
“Very strange…” Kaoru thought aloud to herself, feeling growing concern for the wellbeing of her companions as she paced around her room nervously. They could all have lost their way in the rain, or maybe they were facing a terrible foe? Multitudes of scenarios crossed Kaoru’s mind, and without fixing her appearance, she strode purposefully to her apartment door and swung it open.
If they were in danger, then she must find them! She would start looking at the - oh?
“Sorry we’re late, Kaoru-san!”
Kaoru blinked wide-eyed in surprise, having just opened the door to her bandmates who were all soaked through and panting with a multitude of bags in their hands aside from their luggage. Misaki, who had just spoken, was breathing heavily with her hands on her knees.
“I told - wheeze - you guys this was a - wheeze - bad - wheeze -” Misaki tried to continue, but Kaoru waved her hand quickly to stop.
“My goodness, you all look exhausted! Please, come in quickly! You’re all soaked through!” She stepped aside and helped them all in, rushing to the bathroom to get enough clean towels for them all to dry off. Even Kokoro and Hagumi looked weary, and Kanon practically fell asleep the moment she made contact with the warm towel Kaoru handed her.
Kaoru went around drying off everyone’s hair and helping them put down their bags, bringing over their drinks from the table to help them re-hydrate.
After a few minutes, the group seemed to regain their energy, and they all stood up in front of Kaoru with rather nervous but excited looks.
Kanon decided to be the one to start the explanation. “We’re sorry if we made you worry, Kaoru-san. You see, we all met on the way here, and were about to get the train to your apartment when Kokoro realised something.” Kanon said, looking to Kokoro to continue.
“Exactly! We were talking about how this was our first time at your apartment, and then I realised that we hadn’t got you a house warming gift!” Kokoro exclaimed, a sun-like smile beaming out at Kaoru.
“I tried to say that we needed to prioritise getting to your area, but we spent such a long time discussing what we should get that we…” Misaki sighed. “Well, the train left just as we got to the station.”
Hagumi nodded. “We were all so worried! But then Kokoro suggested that we should do our best to get you as many amazing housewarming gifts as possible to surprise you with! We didn’t want to ruin the surprise so didn’t message you, and we spent so long looking for the perfect presents we still had to run to catch the next train! We’re so sorry if we made you worry, Kaoru-kun. We really did rush to get here! We promise!”
Kanon smiled apologetically, placing two bags full to the brim with gifts in front of Kaoru. “This is what we managed to get you.”
Kaoru knelt down and wordlessly rummaged through the bags, seeing a snowglobe, notebooks, cooking utensils, flowers, poetry books, and an assortment of many other things which her companions had carefully picked out for her.
“You’re weirdly quiet, Kaoru-san.” Misaki said with a hint of worry in her voice. “You’re not angry, are you?”
Kaoru sighed heavily, putting down the bags and standing up to her full height.
For a brief moment her bandmates thought that she actually was angry at them, but just as quickly as the thought came it soon disappeared as Kaoru stepped forward and pulled them into a big embrace, earning small laughs and noises of confusion from everyone.
“Ah~! I could never be angry at you all! To think I am blessed with such wonderful friends who would do so much for me… I am truly blessed!” She pulled away from the hug and clapped her hands together with a fond, warm smile on her face. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the most wonderfully fleeting gifts you bought me, everyone!”
Kokoro jumped in the air with an ecstatic laugh, throwing her hands about with joy. “Kaoru has such a sparkling smile! I knew the gifts would be a lovely surprise!”
Kaoru chuckled, flicking her wrist extravagantly. “Ah, but surely not as sparkling as your own, dear princess~”
“Oh dear, she’s definitely in a good mood now.” Misaki sighed with a weary smile, earning a small giggle from Kanon.
However their exchanges were swiftly interrupted by a low, rumbling sound coming from Hagumi’s stomach.
The girl in question laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “Hehe, sorry, I think all that shopping and running around has made me hungry.”
“Ah! Do not fret, dear Hagumi!” Kaoru exclaimed, turning on her heel and marching to the kitchen. “I have prepared everyone delicious plates of curry!”
“Oh, so that would explain your…elegantly dishevelled look for today then.” Misaki said, following her to the kitchen.
“Um, won’t the curry be cold by now? Even if you left it under the grill, it surely wouldn’t be…huh?” Kanon blinked at the sight of swirling steam still coming from the plates of curry Kaoru and Misaki were bringing out to the table. “How…how is it still so hot?”
“Hmmm…” Kaoru shut her eyes for a brief moment to ponder. “I suppose the warmth of our friendship helped rekindle the flames of our meal!”
“Aaaw! How lovely!” Hagumi beamed, perching on her seat with anticipation as Kaoru set her plate in front of her.
“No no, I don’t think that’s quite possible. There’s no way that the curry would still be this hot after over an hour!” Misaki raised an eyebrow at her own plate, looking almost too scared to touch it.
“Ah! Then there’s a perfectly logical explanation!” Kokoro puffed out her chest with importance as everyone awaited her wisdom.
“Wh-which is?” Kanon prodded.
“The curry fairy!” Kokoro revealed proudly.
Kaoru and Hagumi exchanged “Oooh”s as though it were the perfect explanation, while Kanon and Misaki looked at each other with perplexed expressions.
“Well, everyone, let us dig in! I hope you all enjoy it!” Kaoru exclaimed. “And of course, thanks be to the curry fairy who helped keep it warm for us!”
“I give up.” Misaki sighed, picking up her fork alongside everyone else and digging into what was admittedly a very, very tasty meal.
-
Kaoru was in the kitchen washing up everyone’s plates, Kanon helping by drying them as Misaki, Kokoro and Hagumi all set up a film and their sleeping bags in the living room.
“You look really happy, Kaoru-san.”
Kaoru looked over to Kanon, who was smiling at her gently.
She let out a low, quiet chuckle, looking down into the soapy bubbles which covered her arms. “Mmm, I’m very happy.”
Kanon followed her eyes, going quiet for a moment before opening her mouth to speak.
“You know, when I look at bubbles, I think of hello happy world.”
“Is that so?” Kaoru looked at some of the bubbles in her palm, taking in the swirls of soap which swam across their surfaces like whirlpools.
Kanon nodded with a smile. “They have such a mix of colours in them, and they’re always floating around without a care in the world. They make me think of being a kid in Summer and playing in the garden… it’s that kind of joy I experience with everyone when we’re together, don’t you think?”
Kaoru stared at her bandmate for a moment before grinning. “Yes, I do. What’s more, bubbles are very fleeting, don’t you think? They’re here one moment and gone the next, and yet you become entrapped by their colourful beauty so that you can never forget them. Much like how we have a fleeting presence for those whom we meet in our journey to make the world smile, and yet we are quite an unforgettable group, are we not?”
Kanon chuckled, putting the final plate into the cupboard. “Yes, yes we are.”
“Hey, you two! We’ve got everything set up!” Kokoro’s voice called them over, and with a small, knowing glance, Kanon walked on ahead to sit down and listen to everyone’s ideas for films.
Kaoru dried her hands with a towel which had a large, vibrant print of a rose on it, one of the many housewarming gifts her bandmates had bought for her. It felt slightly odd that she had hoped to spoil her friends as they were visiting her apartment for the first time, and yet they had ended up spoiling her. When Kaoru was younger, she would have most likely done her best to throw out all the stops to give them the best experience possible, and yet now she found fulfilment in an act as simple as making curry for everyone to eat together.
Seeing Hagumi find the rose-shaped carrot with sparkling eyes, Misaki’s almost unnoticeable heartfelt expression as she realised they were eating off their matching plates, Kanon reminiscing over the time they all made curry at Misaki’s grandmas, and Kokoro offering to brush out Kaoru’s hair after she had finished eating. They were all such simple things, and yet they made her feel…warm.
“Kaoru-san, are you okay?”
Misaki had come to the kitchen to put back the glasses from the table, and noticed Kaoru standing still with the towel in her hands, staring into space slightly.
“I count myself in nothing else so happy, as in a soul remembering my good friends.” Kaoru quoted.
There was a moment of silence.
“H-huh?” Misaki laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kaoru turned around with a small, glowing smile. “It means that being with you all makes me feel a joy I can’t put into words.”
Misaki stood in slight awe at Kaoru’s words, jaw slack with surprise. “D-did you really just come up with that yourself?”
“Guys! We’re going to start!” Hagumi called out, waving for the two to sit down.
“Ah, we must go, Misaki! Our companions await!” Kaoru waved back, giving Misaki a small wink as she walked towards the sleeping bags on the floor.
“W-wait, you can’t just say something like that and move on! You need to write that down or something!" Misaki stared exasperatedly after Kaoru who was sat in conversation with their other friends as though she had said nothing at all, sighing in defeat. "She really is quite cool when she wants to be."
With that, Misaki walked over and sat down with all the others as they continued to debate on whether to watch an adventure or mystery film, Hagumi bringing out sweets from her bag and Kanon and Kokoro revealing surprise flasks of hot chocolate.
If anyone were to look in from outside the rainy window, they would see a group of colourful friends talking excitedly to one another, their smiles illuminated by the warm lights of the apartment.