When we had gotten to Natsuki's house, she was the first there to greet us.
"Hello, Yuzuru," she seemed very cheery and excited to see me. "and I see that you have brought a friend, Hello Mrs. Otonashi."
"Hello," said Kanade.
"What is your name?" asked Natsuki.
"My name is Tachibana Kanade, but feel free to call me Kanade." she said
"What's the theme for your party this year, Natsuki?" this time my mother had spoken.
Natsuki smiled and said, "The theme for this year would be cats. Could you all wear a pair for me?" She held a box of assorted ears and drew three out.
"Sure," I said as she handed me a purple pair. "hey, Natsuki, do these look right, they feel like they're a little crooked."
"No," she said giggling, " those purple ears look good on you." she smiled at Kanade and gave her a pair.
"Do I look like a cat?" she asked, she had chosen the black pair of ears with white tips.
She looked like a cat, alright, so much that I was expecting to hear a meow out of her.
She realized that I was staring at her too long, now.
"Yuzuru," she said blushing, "You don't have to stare at me that long, they're just cat ears." she looked down at her feet now, blushing even more.
My face had heated up now. "S-sorry," I stammered
My mother had already moved on ahead, helping Miyu, Natsuki's mother.
My mother had accepted the yellow pair of cat ears, they had matched her red hair well.
"Where do you prefer we put your gifts?" I asked
"You didn't have to get me anything, Yuzuru." she said.
"It was no trouble at all," I said, "besides, it's a very special day for you today." Kanade had nodded her head in agreement.
"If you could set them on the kitchen counter," she said, "that would be great."
I had walked into the entry, taken off my shoes, and had set the present on the counter. When I had got there, I had saw some other presents from her friends, who had also brought her gifts. I had assumed they were from some of the girls in the main room.
I had also made sure to put 2000 yen in in case she had wanted anything else, or for her to just save for later.
Me and Kanade had walked into the main room, following Natsuki. She was wearing a pair of pink ears that matched her indigo hair well.
I had just also noticed that Natsuki's hair was put up in blur ribbons, and that the had purple makeup over her green eyes.
I was glad for her, she seemed genuinely happy about his party and to spend it with the people she cared about most in her life, it made me very honored to be one of those people.
She had introduced he and Kanade to her friends whom had smiled up at us from the table they were gathered around. They were playing or were about to start playing some sort of game.
"Hey, what game are you playing?" I asked
"Shadow Hunters." said one of the shorter girls who had blond, curly hair with a pair of blue cat ears.
"This," said Natsuki, "is Yuzuki"
"Would you like to join us?" another girl had chimed in, this time she had green hair with red ears.
"This is Youko." said Natsuki introducing another girl.
"Yea." said another, the third and final so far, she had her dark hair in braided pigtails and was wearing a pair of white cat ears.
"And last but not least," Natsuki, "this is Hideyoshi."
"You guys should play with us," said Natsuki, "we're just about to start and it would be really fun."
"What do you think, Kanade?" I asked "Could you go for a game?"
"Yea," she said, nodding, "that would be fun."
"Would it be too much of a trouble if we joined?" I asked.
"Not at all," said Hideyoshi
"Alright then," I said sitting down at the table, Kanade beside me. "could you explain the rules to me?"
"First, since we have six players, we will put two of each identity card in a small pile that will be shuffled." said yuzuki, continuing "this, she said, is a shadow card, they are the supernatural creatures of the game, I suppose that you could day they they are similar to ghosts or phantoms."
"This," she continued, showing me another card, "is the hunter. They are normal human beings, trying to get rid of the shadows."
"And this," she said holding up the third card, "is a neutral, they are on neither side, but are int hte shadows' and the hunters' way."
"After that," said Hideyoshi, "we will put one of the cards face down on your spot on the gets to know the card you have except for you. Then you will pick a color card, you either choose black of white from this pile." she tapped her finger on the c=section of ht board where the color cards would be."
"When you choose a color," said Natsuki this time, "Then you will place your piece in the circle on the board. These pieces represent your health." she paused for a moment, then continued. "Right, your character card will contain your special ability, and however much damage you deal in each of you attacks. It is also optional whether you want to use your special ability. And also, whoever rolled the biggest number on the dice, gets to go first, then we continue clockwise."
"I know that it seems complicated," said youko, "but we could always help you out if you were in need of any assistance."
"Thanks," I said, " I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," said Hideyoshi, "we love new players joining us on what to do."
We were about halfway through the game when we had to quit. Most of Natsuki's guests were starting to arrive at the party now, and she wanted to welcome everyone inside, making sure that they kept their cat ears on. She was very happy that most of her friends and family had shown up.
The twins, Kokona and Akari had to leave on a vacation to Europe, so they had given Natsuki her present early. Natsuki had wanted to save the presents until Kokona and Akari had gotten back from Europe, but they wouldn't be back until a week, at least.
Natsuki had decided to save the girls and their family some cake in the freezer.
Kokona and Akari's presents were the only two gifts that were left sitting on the counter.
She had received many gifts such as hair accessories, lip gloss, necklaces, and new toys and games. She had also gotten many home made sweets with recipes in case she had wanted to make some herself, for she had recently take up cooking.
After Natsuki had opened up all her presents we had dinner and dessert.
We had to leave early, due to the fact that I had a job interview tomorrow and I didn't want to be late for it.
I had assure my mother that we would get home before dark. My mom had insisted to help Miyu clean up.
I would have stayed too, if not for that job interview.
"Are you sure that you don't want these back?" I asked, offering the cat ears back to Natsuki.
"No way!" she said. "One, you look super-cute in them, and tow, they're hand made so it's a present to you. Oh, you as well, Kanade.
"Thank you, Natsuki," said Kanade, straightening her cat ears. "I hope that you likes the presents and had a good time. I was very honored to be here."
"No problem," said Natsuki, stunned, it was ridiculous how polite Kanade was.
"Have a good evening," I said, starting to head off "See you later, Natsuki." I waved and smiled, Kanade beside me.
