Keeping Track
-- Tennis no Oujisama is copyrighted property of Konomi Takeshi, et al.
An knew that Momoshiro was hardly the romantic type. They had, after all, been going out for several months now. Plenty of time for them to get to know each other. She also knew that while girls tended to make much of memorable dates, boys would more likely than not forget them. Momoshiro was no exception.
So when he handed her a box wrapped in plain white paper on her birthday, her initial reaction was to blink.
"For me?" she said.
He ducked his head, his mouth forming an embarrassed half-grin. "Yeah."
She looked down at the box, at a momentary loss of words. "Really? I mean, it's just that...I - I wouldn't have guessed - "
He was eyeing her, half teasing, half anxious. "You're not going to faint or anything, are you?"
She pouted playfully. "Of course not. It caught me by surprise, that's all. Can I open it now?"
"Sure."
The paper was peeled away to reveal a rectangular box bearing a brand name she recognized. "A box of chocolate? How sweet."
"Er, no. I found that box lying around in the house, and it fit, so I used it. Would you rather have chocolate, then?"
"I'll accept anything if it comes from you," she assured him. "So it's not chocolate but something else. Let's see...what can it be?" She opened the box with a flourish. Her stare fell into the inside of the box and was riveted there.
Nestled amidst a crumple of tissue papers was a small notebook. Its cover was of a shade that wistfully leaned toward purple. A ballpoint pen lay next to it. She touched the notebook, fingering it with wonder. Then she turned to Momoshiro, eyes wide and questioning.
"Well," he began, not meeting her eyes, his grin now lopsided. "It might be just me, but we seem to have had great times together. You know, when we go out and stuff? I figured you might want to, you know, take notes? So I bought you this, where you can write about our dates. Girls like keeping a diary - right?"
She gazed at him, speechless. "Thank you. Thank you, Momoshiro-kun." She held the note with both hands, then hugged it to her chest. "Thank you so much."
"Glad you like it. Now I'll have to think of what else to give you for your birthday."
"Eh? You mean you don't know when my birthday is?"
"I think you told me once - but I forget."
Her laughter pealed out, startling him. "Momoshiro-kun, you're the best. Can I give you a hug?"