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Today was an ordinary winter day. Cold, snow was scattered across the land. And it was the birthday of a certain girl called Nakasu Kasumi. She wasn’t anything special, she had short ashen hair, pink eyes and was just a little below average height of a Japanese girl. When she entered the school grounds she didn’t expect much, another boring day at school. She entered her classroom, everyone looked at her.
“Oh, it’s Kasukasu.” someone said with disappointment in their voice.
“When will you get a better fashion sense? That haircut is terrible.”
“####-chan is so much cuter!”
Kasumi woke up to her fifth alarm. She looked at the time on the clock. She was going to be late. She got out of bed in panic, rushing to brush her teeth, make herself look presentable and getting a quick breakfast before heading out.
After classes she came to the clubroom and she was met with a loud “Happy birthday, Kasumi! (or Kasukasu)”. She smiled wildly.
“Oh, you guys remembered the greatest and cutest Kasumin’s birthday! Thank you all!”
Setsuna brought a cake closer to Kasumi and said “Think of a wish!”. The girl took a few seconds to think and blew the candle.
“What did you wish for, Kasukasu?” Kanata asked.
“It’s a secret! And i’m not Kasukasu! How many times do I have to tell you?!” she growled.
“You guys could let her off the hook at least for her birthday…” Emma frowned.
“Okay… I’m sorry, Kasumi-chan.”
“Hmpf, I guess I will forgive you. Only if you will stop saying it forever!” she crossed her arms and pouted.
“You’re too cruel, Kasumi-chan…” she whined.
“You’re the one that is a big meanie that won’t listen to me!”
“But it’s such a cute nickname…” Ai chimed in.
“Ughh, it’s about to become the worst birthday ever!” Kasumi yelled.
“E-everyone, how about we eat the cake?” Ayumu tried to calm everyone down.
“Fine.”
After that everything went rather smoothly. The girls ate the cake and Kasumi even received some birthday gifts. As the day was about to end and the girls were leaving the clubroom Kasumi felt a hand grabbing her wrist, which startled her.
“Kasumi! Can you stay for a while longer? I want to talk to you.” Shizuku whispered into her ear.
“O-oh, sure!” the shorter girl blushed.
When everyone was gone they went back into the clubroom and Shizuku closed the door behind them.
“What is it, Shizuko?” Kasumi asked curiously.
The attempt at the conversation was stopped as Shizuku pressed her lips against the other girl’s lips sweetly and tenderly.
“Happy birthday~” Shizuku whispered against her lips, caressing her cheek. Kasumi’s face turned like a tomato.
“S-Shizuko!” she yelped “U-um… Thank you, that was a nice surprise. It nearly gave me a heart attack, but it was nice.”
“You were so cute today it was really difficult to hold it out…” she patted her head.
“I-I’m the cutest, aren’t I! I don’t blame you at all, Shizuko.” she stuttered.
“Is something wrong?” Shizuku got worried. She could feel there was something off.
“...Do you think I’m the cutest?” she cast her gaze to the floor.
“Of course! You’re the cutest in the world!”
“Really? A-are you not lying?” she looked her in the eyes again with a look of a sad puppy.
“Kasumi, what’s wrong? You’re the last person to ever doubt your cuteness.” as soon as she said it a realization hit her “Oh… It’s about your past?”
“Y-yeah. I had a nightmare today. Again in that classroom, with these awful people.” a tear started forming in her eye. Shizuku embraced her softly.
“Do you remember when you helped me out before my play? It’s an unforgettable day for me. For the first time I felt seen by someone. Accepted by someone…” she paused, gathering her thoughts. “I know there are a lot of terrible people in this world, but we all in the school idol club have your back. I love you so much and you’re the cutest thing in this entire universe to me.” She pushed the girl’s bangs away and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I will keep saying it until you finally believe it to be true.”
“S-Shizuko…” tears started rolling down her face “I love you so much!” She hugged her back tightly.
“I love you, too.” the taller girl smiled.
Shizuku gently patted her hair as she sobbed for a minute or two longer. Then Kasumi finally pulled away and wiped her tears off herself.
“Thank you so much, Shizuko. Heh, what a downer way to end a birthday… And you’re supposed to be the gloomy one.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Shizuku pouted. “Anyways, the day isn’t over. I planned to go with you to an aquarium, but now I’m not so sure I want to go anymore…” she teased.
“Shizuko!! I’m sorry, you’re not gloomy at all!” she whined like a puppy “Please, let’s go together!”
Shizuku giggled “Fine, fine. Let’s go.” She took her hand happily and the girls left the clubroom.