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“Ayumi-san, you were too good!!!”
“Hmm, I may have won… but you really surprised me with that little trick you pulled at the end…”
Earlier, in a desperate attempt to win against Ayumi in their bowling match, Maya gathered all of her strength and energy—and even called upon the bowling gods—to guide her final, possibly game-changing throw.
With a thunderous battle cry and a mighty swing of her arm, she fired the cannonball—sending it flying…
…towards another lane.
The bowling ball skipped like a stone over the gutter and plunged straight into the neighboring set of pins, knocking each and every one of them down with a bang.
The entire bowling alley went silent, and Maya was stuck in her throwing pose from the shock. Everyone’s eyebrows, including Ayumi’s, were raised so high that they might as well have flown off of their faces.
“…Hey miss! Thanks for getting me a strike!” said the bowler next to them, clapping as he let out a hearty laugh.
Maya’s wide, brown eyes darted around in embarrassment as the applause grew.
“…And then… You even took a quick bow before running off with me!” Ayumi burst out laughing.
Maya made a pouty face, “Ayumi-sannnnn!!! You’re so mean!!!”
“Haha… I guess the birthday gods were on my side this time, but don’t be embarrassed. You won the hearts of everyone in that room. I am sure of that.”
They continued walking past the many small shops that came their way. Their laughing fit only subsided when a particular shop caught Maya’s eye. She lunged at the window in excitement and probably scared the poor cashier inside.
“Wowwwww, look! They’ve gotta have new ice cream flavors in this week! Let’s go in, let’s go in!”
“You sure are excited today! Now I’m wondering who’s the actual birthday girl here?” Ayumi joked as she approached the window too, brushing her blonde hair behind her shoulder.
Her rival gave her a cute little wink and took her hand—making the usually composed lady blush. Heading into the ice cream parlor, the peppy Maya gave a friendly wave to the cashier.
“Hi!~ Can we get two cones for the soft serve, please?”
“Okay,” the cashier responded. “That will be 800 yen.”
Before Ayumi could say anything, Maya looked at her with a determined expression.
“I’ll pay for us today!” She dug furiously into her pocket and pulled out…
…400 yen and a tiny piece of lint. The lint flew off of her hand as she exhaled in disappointment.
“Aww, I guess I spent too much of my money…” murmured Maya, playfully scratching her head.
“How about this, you can pay for my ice cream, and I will pay for yours. How does that sound?” Ayumi’s eyes smiled as she made the suggestion.
“Okay!” Maya’s eyes sparkled back, “Mission accomplished!”
“Hmm???”
“Nothing, haha!”
Placing their coins on the tray, they received their cones in exchange and went over to the soft serve machines. This parlor had the usual chocolate and vanilla, but the hungry, hungry actresses came here for the two exclusives—which turned out to be mango swirl and raspberry swirl. They were of course paired with that classic vanilla flavor.
They trust the customer to serve themselves in this place…? Maybe putting it into a cup would be easy, but a cone…? Ayumi wondered. She didn’t want any precious ice cream going to waste if she were to possibly drop some on the floor out of negligence…
She shook her head; she is THE Ayumi Himekawa… she can do this correctly with ease!
Like always, her fearless rival interrupted her train of thought, “Oh, the flavors of the week look so yummy! You pick first and I’ll pick the other.”
“I will try the mango swirl.”
“Then I’ll have the raspberry one! Let’s have a contest to see who ends up with the best-looking ice cream! Let’s go for five layers on top!!!” Maya’s challenge was not one that she was going to turn down.
The two rivals positioned their cones under the machine and held onto their respective levers.
“Ready? Three… two… one… GO!!!”
With almost absolute concentration, they started filling their cones up. The girls exchanged giggles as they began to make their layers of swirls on top, maneuvering the cone in time with the ice cream as skillfully as they could.
Maya and Ayumi finished at about the same time, swiftly pulling their beautiful ice cream cones out. When they stopped to compare…
“Ahh! I got an extra big glob on top of mine!”
“Hahaha, mine is all lopsided!” Maya pretended to pat her ice cream on the head, “It’s okay Mr. Ice Cream, me and Ayumi-san aren’t straight either!”
“Maya!!!” exclaimed Ayumi as she tried to suppress her incoming bout of laughter.
Hand in hand, they joyfully walked out of the ice cream parlor. They were temporarily surprised by the summer heat that hit them in the face, though it was a bit more bearable at that hour in the evening. The two of them stopped under a small tree to shield themselves—and their sweet treats—from the sun.
The ice cream tasted incredibly good after such a long day.
“Thank you for spending the day with me.”
Maya tucked a lock of her hazelnut-colored hair behind her ear and lovingly looked back, answering gently. “Of course! We don’t usually get to see each other off the stage these days—so I’m really glad that I got to spend some time with you on this special day. It was so much fun!”
“Likewise. So…” Ayumi looked down at Maya’s melting ice cream, “Are you going to share some of your ice cream with me?” The corner of her lips curled up mischievously.
“Only if I get to taste yours too!” Leaning forward, Maya gave Ayumi a sweet raspberry and vanilla kiss on those charming lips of hers.
…and just like that, the Stage Storm stole the show once again.