Nana's last wish was to celebrate my 18th birthday with me.
We used to celebrate all types of events together. Especially we had a lot of fun on New Years. So I thought if there was an occasion she wanted to enjoy with me, it would be the New Year.
But surprisingly, she chose my birthday. When asked why, she replied that she wished to be with me when I turned an adult.
Her nostalgic smile as she said this reminded me of a promise we had made a long time ago. The time when we were young enough to play house.
Even as we both didn't know the proper meaning of marriage back then, we had agreed to get married. We simply thought of it as a way to live together forever.
Since Nana was younger, it was decided that we would marry each other after she turned into an adult.....
So many broken promises, so many unfulfilled wishes, so many regrets...
But the cause was only I.
"Wow. How pretty." Nana said as she stared outside the full-sized window in the living room.
I approached her and looked out of the window too.
There weren't any visible stars but the moon shone particularly bright. As if filling in for the absent stars.
I glanced at Nana whose eyes twinkled like stars watching its beauty.
"Yeah, really pretty," I said and slid the window open.
A cool breeze blew in soothing our bodies.
Or only my body?
Because Nana didn't even flinch. Maybe she couldn't feel such things anymore....
A twinge of pain hurt my chest.
I exhaled.
"Reminds me of the time we lit fireworks by the river," Nana said as she looked at me. "The full moon that day was really bright too."
I nodded. "Yes, I remember. It was a wonderful night."
I had photos of that day. She probably saw them but maybe we could look at them together again. I should ask.
"Oh!" She pointed towards the wall clock. "It's almost twelve! Kou-chan, bring the cake!"
"Okay," I said and went towards the fridge.
I took out the cake and placed it on a nice plate chosen by Nana.
It might be weird to do these things for one's own birthday. But it couldn't be helped.
Such works weren't possible for Nana anymore.
It was fine, however. Birthday surprises were not our thing. Since before it was like that.
We knew each other's birthdays as well as the fact that one would make arrangements to celebrate the birthday of the other. It was difficult to keep things hidden when we were always together.
So we gave up.
I decorated her house with her being present and she did the same for me. We enjoyed it nonetheless.
But yeah, I never ordered and received a cake for my own birthday. And I hoped that I wouldn't fall under such circumstances in the future either.
I placed the cake on the living room table and sat in front of it.
Nana who was sitting beside me pointed to the candles on the table and said, "Kou-chan, light the candles! There must be eighteen!"
