Chapter 76 Memorable Birthday Experience
Nene's POV

I had just arrived in Sekai, and as soon as I did…I was suddenly tackled by Emu!

"Happy birthday, Nene-Chan", she greeted happily.

"Thanks, Emu", I said.

Then I looked up and saw the rest of my troupe members, including Rui.

"Hello Nene", he greeted. "Happy birthday."

After Rui said this…I suddenly became emotional. Then…I ran straight into Rui's chest before wrapping my arms around his torso.

"Are you okay, Nene", he asked in concern.

"I'm fine", I reassured. "It's just…"

Before I continued, I looked up at Rui.

"I missed you so much, Rui."

After I said this, Rui looked down at me sadly.

Then…he cupped my cheek with his hand before placing his forehead on top of mine.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to visit Sekai that much these past couple of weeks", he apologized.

"You don't need to apologize", I reassured. "Shooting a film is a very busy thing. Speaking of which, is it okay for you to be here right now? Because I won't get angry with you if you can't."

"It doesn't matter how busy I get with the shoot", Rui stated. "I'm not going to miss your birthday, Nene."

"Rui", I said in shock.

"Alright then", Tsukasa started. "Enough with this serious talk!"

"Tsukasa-Kun is right", Kaito agreed. "After all, Rui-Kun still needs to show his surprise to Nene-Chan."

"Surprise", I asked in confusion. "What surprise?"

After I asked this…I was suddenly blindfolded!

"Gah", I exclaimed. "What's going on?! Why am I blindfolded?!"

"To make sure the surprise isn't spoiled, of course", Rui replied.

Then, I felt him grab onto my hand.

"Now then", he started. "Please come with me, Nene."

"The rest of us will stay here and let you two have some alone time", Tsukasa added.

"Bye bye, Rui-Kun and Nene-Chan", Emu greeted. "I hope you enjoy your super secret surprise!"

…

After letting Rui lead somewhere for a while, he suddenly stopped walking.

"We're here", he revealed. "You can open your eyes now, Nene."

With that, I pulled off my blindfold, and when I did…I was met with a beautiful sight.

In front of me was a lake, which had the sun setting behind it.

"Amazing", I said in awe. "I've never seen this area of Sekai."

"Len-Kun discovered it a couple of weeks ago while exploring", I revealed. "However, instead of telling you straight away, I decided to wait until it was your birthday."

After Rui said this, he started walking closer to the lake.

I followed him, and when we got to the edge of the lake…I spotted something strange.

"Is that…a canoe", I asked in shock.

"Indeed it is", Rui replied. "I got to work on building it as soon as I discovered this lake. Don't worry. I have already tested it, and it is safe to go into the water with."

"Wait a minute", I started when I realized something. "While you were busy with the film shoot, you also built this canoe? Rui, you didn't have to do that."

"If it's to give you a memorable birthday experience, then It's no trouble for me at all."

After Rui said this, he held up his hand to me.

"Shall we, may lady?"

After Rui asked this, I smiled at him.

"We shall", I replied, before taking his hand.

Then, he led me into the canoe. Afterwards, he pressed a button on the side of it, and it began moving slowly.

"It moves by itself", I asked in shock.

"It does", Rui replied. "Manually rowing it would've gotten tiring."

"You really put a lot of work into this, Rui", I said.

"Of course", Rui said. "I wasn't able to spend your birthday with you in the real world this year, so I wanted to do my best to give you a memorable experience in sekai."

"Rui", I said.

Then, I reached up…and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you so much, Rui", I said. "I love you."

"I love you too", Rui said. "Happy birthday, Nene."