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It was common not to attend classes at Hope’s Peak Academy in favour of honing one’s talent. Cases of students only appearing on the day of their practical exam, only to disappear again, were recorded in the past. In spite of voluntary attendance inspiring such extreme instances, they were still considerably rare. The majority struck a balance between their mundane highschool studies and the Ultimate focused activities. At least most of your schoolmates did.
Alas, maintaining the perfect equilibrium of those two worlds wasn’t always possible for you. Given the nature of your Ultimate, you often didn’t have the luxury of choosing if you’d rather stay at Hope’s Peak or not. Even on the day of your boyfriend’s birthday, no less! Gonta was understanding of your busy schedule, aware that it was outside of your control. Yet missing out on most of the time you could’ve spent together was hardly pleasant.
Back at the campus (finally!), you quietly entered the dormitory. Navigating through this dark maze was impossible this late. So, you switched the lights on, and your path became illuminated. Staggering back to your humble dwelling became a much easier task now. Once inside, you put away your gear before taking a short bathroom break to freshen yourself.
Marginally revitalised, it was time to head out once more. Thankfully, this trip was much shorter in distance. Stepping outside, you began heading towards your boyfriend’s room. After all, Gonta’s birthday present wasn’t going to deliver itself…!
For real? Oh, come on!
Lacking the ability to will the bag into existence, preferably into your hand, you took a sharp U-turn. You were already halfway there and had to backtrack! It was already a long day, a very long day. The gift had better be still sitting on your desk by the time you got there.
Luckily enough, it remained in the same spot as it was a few minutes ago. Phew, had that not been the case, you wouldn’t have known what to do next. But dwelling on it was redundant at this point, since everything was going to fall into place from now on. A complete no-brainer; wish Gonta a happy birthday, give him the present that you almost forgot about, chat for a bit, and at last, drop dead in your bed after returning. Preferably in a figurative, not literal sense.
Anyway, you quickly got back on track and arrived at Gonta's room. Just as you were about to knock, you picked on some muffled sounds coming from the inside. Before jumping to any conclusions of its possible origins, you carefully put your ear against the door, and listened.
Upon realisation of what was going on, you took a step back, shocked by your discovery.
Gonta was… crying.
There was no doubt about that—not after it had happened before.
Then, worry and anger washed over you. Did someone have the gall to upset him? Especially today, on his birthday?! Though, you had to remember that, while it was one of the possible scenarios, the truth might be very different. Taking a few moments to simmer down, you resumed your previous objective.
“Gonta?” You whispered, gently knocking on the door. “Is everything okay in there?”
The sobs ceased momentarily, soon replaced by some shuffling and footsteps. After a brief pause, Gonta called out your name before following with a longer response.
“Y-Yeah, Gonta just finish crying,” he said. “But no worries, they happy tears, not sad tears.”
To be fair, Gonta was very emotional and had cried both from sadness and happiness before.
“Is it okay if I come in?” you asked. “We can also talk tomorrow.”
But happy tears or not, you’d rather take it slowly.
“It okay, Gonta want to see you today,” Gonta replied.
Hearing the door unlock, you were able to enter and shift your attention to Gonta. His current outfit was his usual leisure wear—plain celadon shirt with matching short pants. Lifting your gaze, you noticed that his eyes were still red. But aside from that, neither his expression nor overall body language suggested he was hiding something.
“Aw, look at you.” A tender smile grew on your face as you stepped closer, holding up the gift bag. “Has the birthday gentleman grown more handsome today or is it just me?”
His eyes darted from the bag back at you as a faint blush dusted his cheeks at your compliment. “Oh, you think so? Gonta glad his gentleman studies pay off! Even bug friends say Gonta grew a lot!”
“Of course I do. Happy birthday!”
Given how compact the dormitory rooms were, Gonta got onto his bed to examine his present more comfortably. He immediately identified the depicted insect as the seven-spotted ladybug. And soon enough, Gonta began unpacking the birthday goodies. An ornate terrarium decoration, a sleek tie, and some snacks might not seem like much, but they were all picked out with care.
“Thank you, Gonta very happy with your gifts!” he said. “Oh, maybe you wanna see gifts friends gave to Gonta? They on Gonta’s desk, behind you!”
Oh, right! You weren’t paying too much attention to your surroundings until Gonta mentioned it. Turning around, you couldn’t believe your eyes.
“Wow, that’s a lot of presents!” You briefly looked over the impressive heap of gifts before looking over to Gonta again. “It’s a shame I couldn’t be there to see it unfold in real time.”
“Hmmm, maybe ask Mahiru? Cuz she took lotsa pictures today!” Gonta jumped off his bed, fired up. “You can see what happened, then! Let’s go!”
You protested, “Gonta, wait, it’s almost past the curfew!”
Gonta raised his eyebrows, realising how late it was. His excitement was still evident, though he did his best to remain calm.
“You’re right, Gonta sor—!” He stopped in his tracks when he noticed you stifling a yawn. “Sleepy?... Hmmm, tomorrow then!”
“Sounds like a plan.” You nodded approvingly.
“Gonta gladly escort you back like a gentleman! Your… hand, please!”
“Thank you, Gonta.”
Having shared a little goodnight kiss when you reached your room, you parted ways…
A few minutes later, you were done with your nighttime routine and lay down in bed. You closed your eyes with a smile. All the stress of trying to return as quickly as possible without neglecting your Ultimate practice had been worth it. Gonta's happy expression was the best reward you could imagine. And tomorrow, you would be able to enjoy even more of it. What a beautiful feeling it was to be in love.