Pressing her hands together, Himiko blew softly against them. Winter had always been her least favorite season; it took too much work for her to layer herself in so much heavy clothing and then trudge to school with even more weight in her school bag.

Arriving at school, the girl peeled back every fabric she had coated onto herself and stuffed them inside her locker. There was nowhere else to put them. Sighing, she headed to class like usual, where she would sit and be ignored. Like usual.

Peering at the board in front, she could barely make out the date written faintly in white chalk: December 3rd. Her birthday.

She was never fond of that date—for good reason, too. None of her family members ever remembered, and Himiko decided to just put it off like she was oblivious to when her real birthday was. No one ever asked anything more when she told them that.

Chattering began to grow louder from the back door of the classroom (close to her desk, which irritated her a bit) and Himiko tried to shut it out until she caught two words. Specifically, her name.

"Is Himiko in here? Himiko Yumeno?"

Turning in her chair, the redhead stood up slowly, peeking past one boy who stood in front of whoever spoke.

Ah, she knew him. Kiibo Iidabashi. He was a year older than her, so she never saw him that much. Rather, Himiko didn't even give herself the privilege of calling him her friend.

With a muttered "nyeh", Himiko stepped closer and raised her hand. It angered her a bit that it took a moment for them to even notice her presence.

"Ah! Himiko!" Kiibo pushed past the people in the crowd and greeted her cheerfully, as if they were best friends since birth. She wasn't fond of it, but mostly because people always looked at him and never at her. It made her feel awkward being looked at while he was next to her.

Himiko had tuned the boy out while drowning in her own thoughts for the moment, and snapped back when he held something out.

"Um, happy birthday!" The awkward grin on his face made it clear that he was nervous about whether or not she would like whatever was in the neatly-wrapped box, bow on top to make it more presentable.

Himiko was surprised to say the least, though she didn't show it. The redhead wondered how he had learned it was today and why he had even bothered to remember with how often she dismissed him from her surroundings simply because she didn't want to be looked at by others. Maybe it was her own fear of being 'not enough' to everyone else.

When she opened her mouth, Himiko found her throat dry. She wanted to thank him for being so kind to her even after all the times she was so utterly rude to him and ask why he was still being so kind, but...her lips betrayed her on their own.

"It's not my birthday."

"A-ah, is that so...?" Flinching, Kiibo reeled back, pulling his arms to his chest and leaned away from her. He seemed embarrassed to have apparently gotten the date wrong, and some people even began to mutter amongst themselves.

She tensed. They shouldn't blame Kiibo. He just wanted to be nice. Don't blame Kiibo...

"I-I'm sorry—" Himiko blurted out quickly, looking down. "T-that was a lie." She couldn't do it. She couldn't let Kiibo be at fault for her wanting to isolate herself. He was innocent—just being kind. That's all. She couldn't...no, she wouldn't let him be mocked for that.

"Huh...?"

"I lied." The girl gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly. "It is my birthday."

The chattering calmed now, and a few people murmured "oh"s and "it's today?"s instead. She sighed.

"Then, um—"

"Thank you." Himiko finally looked up, brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. "Just...thank you."
Taking the box from him, she held it gently. That was the first gift she had ever gotten on her birthday, from anyone. No one else bothered to get her anything.

He really was...too kind.

"U-um, Himiko—" Stammering now, Kiibo's face had turned as red as her hair was. That caught her off-guard, and she took a step back without thinking. The chair skidded back slightly and bumped the desk gently, causing a wooden 'clunk' to sound throughout the room.

"Himiko, I—"

The girl's breath caught in her throat; he wasn't doing this. He wasn't.

"I like you, Himiko Yumeno!" Kiibo clenched his fists right and glued his arms to his sides. He was as stiff as a board, and shut his eyes tight; he seemed completely unaware of all the eyes that made their way onto the two of them.

Himiko's legs began to tremble, and she felt faint. He didn't. He did not just do that. Her face flushed bright red and, for the first time in forever, she felt her heart beating intensely within her chest. So intensely that she feared Kiibo might hear it as well.

"U-um—" Reaching backward to level herself on the back of her chair, she almost stumbled over. Embarrassed, her heart only sped up. For a moment she wanted to cry.

"A-ah! I'm sorry! E-everyone's staring!" Kiibo, who had now looked around upon hearing Himiko stumble a bit, blushed even more than before. His face resembled that of a tomato. "I-I'll just wait until you're ready to answer! I-I'm sorry!" He sputtered out again, bowing quickly before making his leave.

That left...all eyes on Himiko. She felt herself shrink down. She couldn't think of anything to say, and once more her throat felt hoarse. Thankfully, the homeroom teacher arrived just in time to save her and called everyone to their seats.

It wasn't long before everyone calmed down and seemed to forget about her once again; it was nothing new for her to be so easily overlooked. The box on Himiko's desk called out to her, and she couldn't help but admire the pretty design on the wrapping and just how neatly it was done.

He must've been serious then, huh...?

A smile crawled its way onto her lips and she reached out to fiddle with the bow centered on the top of the box. If he was serious, maybe she should be too.

It wasn't so bad having someone remember her birthday.