Chapter 16
"You want to know my birthday?" Miyuki cocked an eyebrow at Shima's question.
"Yeah, come on! Just play along, Miyuki," the pinkette grinned. Miyuki rolled her eyes. After a short pause and mental debate, she sighed, caving in. Exactly how much harm could be done?
"Fine. It's December sixteenth," Miyuki crossed her arms. Shima scribbled something down into his notepad.
"Blood type?" he asked.
"A?" Miyuki was unsure of her answer but went with it. Shima took a second to write before smiling and rereading his notes.
"Sagittarius, blood type A...According to my calculations, you're ambitious, honest, and alluring!" the boy beamed. Miyuki raised an eyebrow. Maybe this was worth it.
"You have a cold and truthful exterior with a soft but self-conscious interior. Some of your more negative traits include secrecy, jealousy, and anti-social tendencies," Shima continued. Miyuki felt a smile form on her lips before she let out a short, breathy, laugh. That short laugh turned into full-on giggling.
"Close enough, Shima," she chuckles. Shima grinned, not moving from his sport in front of her.
"You made the Ice Queen laugh," Suguro elbowed Shima as he entered the classroom and passed by to walk to his desk. Miyuki shot him a glare. In doing so, she saw Rin observing the situation from the other side of the room. They made eye contact for a second before Miyuki abruptly turned away.
Miyuki had been avoiding Rin and everyone could tell. It wasn't that she didn't like him or anything, but his brother did threaten her. She wasn't scared of Yukio but she knew he was a man of his word and she was scared of being offed by the Vatican. She narrowed her eyes sadly at the thought. Her mind was forced out of her thoughts when Shiemi squealed. She spun around to see her standing next to the chalkboard.
"Kamiki's birthday is coming up!" she said. Miyuki facepalmed.
"Your sense of urgency surprises me," she sighed before flopping down into her chair. Shiemi called everyone up to the front of the room. Miyuki did as told and sat down on the other side of Suguro.
"We're throwing a surprise party for Kamiki!" Shiemi blurted out. Miyuki paused. Of course, it was that simple...
"Of all the people why do we have to celebrate her?" Suguro spat. Miyuki rolled her eyes.
"Everyone deserves to be appreciated and a celebration of life is a simple way to do so," she said. Suguro frowned at her words.
"Now tell me..." Miyuki rested her chin in her palm, "What happens at a birthday party?"
"What?!"
"Are you serious?"
The class seemed surprised that Miyuki would ask that. She shrugged, not seeing the big deal in her question.
"What did I say?" she quirked an eyebrow.
"You don't remember what happens at a party?!" Rin shouted. Miyuki paused then shook her head.
"Never had one," she said simply. Konekomaru gave her a quizzical look.
"Didn't you have parties when you were little?" he asked. Miyuki shook her head once again.
"The orphanage I lived in would throw them but they were very simple since they didn't get much money for that sort of thing. The only one I can remember had a small cake and paper cut-outs made by the other kids," she said. It was silent. Everyone took in the words she spoke.
"That's right...you didn't have anyone to celebrate with," Rin muttered. Suguro hit him in the back of his head.
"Idiot, you don't just say that out loud!" he reprimanded. Miyuki sighed.
"It's fine. I mean, he's not wrong. I ran away from the orphanage and had to live on the streets, so it wasn't like there was much for me to use in the sense that it would even seem like a party, not to mention the fact that I was the only one," she explained. The cram class nodded, understanding where she was coming from.
"But throwing a surprise party for Kamiki is a good idea, Shiemi," she smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Shiemi nodded before turning around to face the board.
"Everyone will be assigned a task," she said.
"There's food, decorations, cake, presents..." Rin listed what he could remember. Miyuki began to tune out the situation when the rest of the class tried to figure out what they needed to do for the party. She looked towards the date written on the chalkboard.
'September twenty-seventh...' she narrowed her eyes. Her thought was put on hold when Suguro pointed towards her.
"Miyuki, you're in charge of decorations," said the boy with two-toned hair. Miyuki raised an eyebrow before accepting.
"Sure, but I have to do something, first. I'll be back," she said. Suguro nodded. Miyuki walked out of the classroom and began making her way to the office of someone she didn't want to talk to...but she needed to.
"I'm here," she said as she walked into Mephisto's office. The demon smirked.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Mephisto asked in his usual cheery attitude.
"I need Mika's cell number," Miyuki said. Mephisto raised an eyebrow.
"That's not information I can just give out," he said with a sly smile. Miyuki crossed her arms.
"You still have it, then?" she asked. Mephisto paused, narrowing his eyes.
"Your observation skills still astound me," he said, grabbing his phone from on top of his desk. After a few buttons were pressed and Mephisto scribbled something onto a slip of paper, Miyuki was given Mika's phone number. She grabbed the paper and nodded.
"Thanks," she turned around and headed for the doors. She was about a foot away from them when Mephisto called to her.
"Oh, and sister?"
Miyuki gave him an over-the-shoulder glance.
"Do you know where your loyalties lie? I'm sure father would like to know what path you decided to follow," the demon said. Miyuki paused. She was silent for a minute, simply glaring at Mephisto. She turned around without saying a word and approached the doors. She grabbed the handle but didn't open it. Mephisto quirked an eyebrow at her hesitance.
"I am not your sister and I never was," she spat before finally opening the doors and exiting the room. Mephisto's smile never faltered. He let out a light chuckle.
"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into."
Later...
Miyuki walked out of the party store holding a few bags. She was walking towards a small café that was right across the street. There weren't many people inside but the few that were there had their undivided attention focused on their computers in front of them. Miyuki walked inside and grabbed a booth.
A few minutes after she sat down, a lady came by, took her order, then left. She came back with a cup of coffee. The Yuki-Onna heard the door open and she smiled to herself, taking a sip of her hot beverage. The approaching footsteps told her all she needed to know.
"Why the hell did you call me?"
"I wanted to talk."
Mika huffed as she plopped down into the booth. She crossed her arms and furrowed her eyebrows, studying the raven-haired girl before her. After a moment of silence, she put her arms up on the back of the booth.
"Well...start talking then," she said. Miyuki gave her a soft smile.
"I want to start over," she said calmly. Mika raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" she chuckled, "After everything, you wanna just forgive and forget?"
Miyuki shook her head, "I'm not asking for you to forgive me or forget Isaki."
"Then what? What are you wanting me to do?" Mika gave her a spiteful look. Miyuki sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.
"I just want you to see that I've changed and-if you wanted to-maybe see if we could be friends again," she said, digging some money out of her pocket. Mika scoffed.
"You can't buy-" "I'm paying for my coffee," Miyuki deadpanned. She stood up and put the money on the table.
"Mika," she smiled.
"Happy birthday."
Mika's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She turned her head to face Miyuki but the raven-haired teen was already gone. Instead, Mika found a box wrapped in red paper and a bow. She warily took the box and began to unwrap it. When she opened it, she found a switchblade. To any normal person, it might have seemed like an unusual gift, but it was perfect for Mika.
She always liked to protect people. While that principle may have been lost to her when she started seeking revenge on Miyuki, deep down she still wanted to be that strong figure.
The six-inch switchblade that Mika was gifted was black with a blood-red dragon winding around the handle. Where the mouth of the dragon stopped the blade began, making it seem like it came out of the dragon's mouth. The eye of the dragon was a red pyrope garnet gemstone. After Mika admired the knife, she noticed a note inside the box.
'I can't apologize enough for the trouble I've caused you. I hope that one day we can work things out.'
"Yuki..."
