December 24th
Kyoko woke at 5am, one second asleep, the next wide awake and excited for the day. As she ran down the list in her head of things to do today she let out a small squeal. Part of her excitement stemmed from a text she had received a few days before from Maria. Maria had given it some thought and had invited Kyoko to afternoon tea for her birthday. Kyoko had instantly replied yes, excited at the prospect of tea and thrilled that Maria was celebrating her birthday.
She laid in bed for a few moments, feeling the excitement bubbling up.
Afternoon tea and then the Grateful Party!
(A/N I'm trying not to use the word excited to much but Kyoko is currently like a kid at Christmas who has already gotten into the chocolate.)
She practically levitated off of the bed and into the bathroom, but when getting dressed she did so slowly and methodically, afraid that she would miss a button from the fine tremor she appeared to have developed. She checked the mirror twice before leaving her room to make sure she hadn't missed a button.
As she stepped into the kitchen, she realised that she was the first one awake. She pushed up her sleeves and started on breakfast for the 3 of them. She glanced around when done, still full of energy and decided to tackle lunch for Okami and Taisho and make a start on the days prep. She was so engrossed in carrots that she didn't hear Okami and Taisho come down.
"Good morning Kyoko-chan."
Kyoko spun round and swept Okami into a hug.
"Good morning Okami! Breakfast is ready, your lunch is prepared and I made a start on the prep for today."
Taisho cast a critical eye over the preparations she had done before grunting his approval and sitting down for his meal. Okami steered Kyoko to a seat before taking her own. Kyoko practically vibrated in her chair. Okami and Taisho smiled at her. They noticed her own breakfast was untouched.
"Kyoko-chan. You must eat something. You have a long day ahead."
Kyoko snapped to attention and looked at them with a vague expression of surprise, as if she had forgotten they were there. Taisho simply pointed towards her breakfast, which she began.
When all done she bounced up out of her chair to help with the washing up and flitted between the couple, helping them both set up the restaurant for the day.
At 11am Kyoko dashed upstairs and grabbed her bag. She skidded into the kitchen to say goodbye and flung herself out of the backdoor. She came to an abrupt halt outside because she nearly ran into a rather upset looking Ryu.
Bowing, she apologised.
"Good morning Ryu-san. Sorry Ryu-san."
"Good morning Kyoko. I know you have a very busy day today but if you have a spare moment I could really use your help."
Kyoko tilted her head and scrutinised her.
"What's wrong?"
Leading Kyoko to the car Ryu explained that her outfit for the party tonight was ruined. She'd gone to get it out of her closet only to find that a pipe in her neighbours place upstairs had burst and flooded her closet. Her dress was ruined.
Kyoko slid into the car with a thoughtful expression on her face before suddenly exploding and diving into her bag. She yanked out her phone and began texting furiously.
Ryu had just started the engine when Kyoko shouted from the back,
"Turn left, 3 streets down, then a right."
Ryu gave her a confused look, but Kyoko simply smiled, waved a hand and sat with a vague smug expression on her face.
Ryu dutifully followed the directions and pulled to a stop where Kyoko told her. They were outside a small seamstress shop. Kyoko almost dragged Ryu out of the car and threw her into the shop. Two women appeared from the dim interior and swept her up and bundled her into a changing room at the back of the store. Kyoko waved to the ladies and took a seat.
20 minutes later Ryu re-emerged. She was now dressed in a very elegant, dark red kimono. She looked like she was going to cry.
"How?"
Kyoko gestured to the two women who owned and ran the shop.
"They're regulars at the restaurant. We always talk and they give me tips and they are amazing at what they do. They made mine for tonight as well."
The women blushed at the praise.
"It's beautiful and comfortable. Where do I pay?"
One of the women spoke.
"You don't"
Ryu looked at her then Kyoko, who was putting her bag back on her shoulder.
"I paid for it ages ago. Merry Christmas!"
"This is my gift?"
"Yup. I couldn't think of what else to get you and the President is known for his themed parties and Moko-san pointed out its always good to have something ready. I just didn't realise it would be so useful so soon."
She was still talking when Ryu crushed her into a hug.
"It's beautiful, thank you."
Ryu went and changed and as they were leaving she grabbed a huge stack of business cards from them.
"This was if anyone compliments it or such, then I can direct them straight here."
Everyone bowed with the shop ladies a fabulous red as Ryu was still singing their praises. Back in the car she was beaming.
Ryu groaned when she looked at her watch.
"We don't have time to run by LME to grab your outfit now!"
Kyoko shrugged.
"That's okay."
"OH! I have a lot of errands to run before the party starts anyway, so one more won't make any difference and I'll be back at the Presidents before the party starts."
She pulled up at Lorys front door. Kyoko was very excited about this. Maria had decided that she wanted to give celebrating her birthday a go and much to Lorys disappointment, decided that a nice afternoon tea would be a lovely way to celebrate.
Sebastian appeared at the door before Kyoko had even knocked. He escorted them to the dining room.
Lory was there with Maria and her father, Ren and Yashiro.
"Nee-san!"
Kyoko caught the small blonde bullet that had just launched itself at her.
"Happy Birthday Maria-chan!"
The small girl giggled, and when released literally dragged Kyoko over to the table. She greeted everyone.
The table was indeed set for afternoon tea.
Each place had a beautiful willow patterned cup, saucer and a small plate. Alongside was a silver knife, a silver cake fork and a small spoon. A white linen tablecloth lay beneath it all and in the middle of the table was an arrangement of assorted wildflowers. Kyoko smiled. Very Maria.
A tray contained a variety of small sandwiches and two huge cake stands held a large, varied selection of cakes and scones. Kyokos stomach growled.
She was led to her place and then Maria took her place at the head of the table. She thanked everyone for coming and invited them all to dig in.
Kyoko was a few slices of cake in, planning on hunting the chef down and demanding his recipes when she heard laughter and looked up to see Maria almost glowing with happiness.
The table was full of conversation and laughter. Kyoko glanced at Ren who was openly staring at Maria. He had a soft smile on his face at the beaming gloriousness of happiness pouring out of Maria.
Everyone looking at Maria couldn't help but smile. All were glad that Maria was starting to make good memories about her birthday.
After tea, Ren handed her her present. He had brought her a very large box of curse supplies with which Maria was ecstatic. He looked over at Kyoko and smiled smugly. She smiled back, simply shaking her head and when an appropriate amount of time had passed (a couple of minutes) she produced her gift.
It was a travel sized version of the new idol Maria was infatuated with now that Ren was off the table.
Maria saw it and everything else ceased to be. She clutched it tightly to her chest and began extolling how detailed it was, how she loved it, the outfit.
Everyone laughed at the crestfallen look on Rens face while Kyoko did a small victory dance.
After a while Ryu and Yashiro approached Maria and thanked her for inviting them but they had some errands to run before the party. Maria gave them a look until Ryu added that one of her tasks was to collect Kyokos outfit. That was an acceptable reason.
Yashiro coughed and Maria rounded on him with her look.
"Unfortunately Maria-chan, I also have to steal Ren back for a few hours. He has a job this afternoon."
Maria eyed Ren who had moved up to Yashiros side.
"I am sorry Maria-chan, but I will be back for the party. I promise."
"It's okay Ren-san. Good luck with your job. Thank you for coming."
She bowed to all 3 who bowed back. She grabbed Ren collar and whispered in his ear.
"You can dance with me at the party to make up for it."
He smiled at her.
"Of course."
He stepped up to Kyoko and gave her a kiss telling her he'd see her later. He left chuckling at the redness of her face.
Maria looked at her and laughed.
"Very nice colour Nee-san. Now ready for some work?"
Kyoko rolled up her sleeves and nodded.
They descended into the chaos of putting the party together while stopping Lory from 'helping'.
