ayame's flower realm . JUJUTSU KAISEN

thirty five . surprise

"hakari-kun, maybe move it more to the right?"

"like this?"

"uh, wait." a pair of sharp eyes, similar to a fox's, squinted at the positioning of the banner. the owner's fingers were framing the sight, as if trying to catch the best angle of a picture. "oh, yes, that looks fine."

footsteps shuffled around to the point where only a blur of a figure was seen - the figure was moving so fast, and when compared to hakari kinji's unusually slow movements it was similar to that of a cheetah running across a deserted land to a hundred years old tortoise with moss painting its shell a beautiful but grim green. akarui shinju skidded to a stop at the end of the long table filled with snacks and drinks as well as a cake with candles in the middle. she glanced around, before nodding to herself.

"we're done now, right? or is there anything else?" hakari kinji asked as he stepped down from the poor chair that had somehow supported his body that seemed to be built more out of muscle than fat. he crossed his arms over his chest before sitting down onto the same chair, and it produced a worrying creak from the weight.

"yup, that's all! we're done now - thanks a bunch, hakari-kun, knew i could count on you!" akarui shinju gave the first year a pat on the shoulder, though it was more of a punch. at least, hakari kinji didn't seem to be affected by it. "now... i think you can call the others."

hakari kinji let out an 'oh' at the command.

sensing something, akarui shinju lifted a brow. "'sup?"

"ayame left earlier with yasuhiro-senpai."

akarui shinju blinked once, and then twice. then she looked at the table, and then towards her phone screen. one message. she opened it, and saw the words 'sorry, a case came up. i'll be back soon with ayame! sorry shinju! i tried my best!' written by a contact named 'hirohiro' - takayuki yasuhiro.

'what kind of bad luck is this?' akarui shinju thought before pocketing her phone into her hoodie, though not before texting back saying 'be back soon or i'll eat all the cake. >:('.

then, she turned to hakari kinji. "hakari-kun, you didn't tell ayame-chan anything, right? you kept this a secret, right?"

hakari kinji scoffed. "of course. what else do you expect from me?"

"good, good."

hakari kinji glanced at akarui shinju who was busy admiring her work - their work, - the second year had somehow managed to find the time to not only buy ingredients, but also bake a whole cake for this occasion. thinking back on it, wasn't it the same for the other two birthdays?

she had somehow managed to bake a cake for takayuki yasuhiro and hakari kinji's own birthday parties too... though hakari kinji's cake didn't look as good as the one in front of him at the moment.

"i'm sorry, i'm still practicing!" akarui shinju had cried to him. she was bowing several times to the point where hakari kinji thought she might just hit her head onto the table. hakari kinji simply just shrugged and at the cake - it might've looked sloppy, but it was edible.

however, there was a running trend between these parties.

the main characters of the parties would somehow find out about it... accidentally. for hakari kinji, it was the fact that he was trying to find the white cat of the school, sashimi, since he had some cat treats on hand. he opened a door randomly and, chances were, the room was filled with party decorations. the three people inside the room - akarui shinju, takayuki yasuhiro, and ohashi ayame, - stared at him with wide eyes like deers caught in the headlights.

as for takayuki yasuhiro, it was akarui shinju's own fault.

her blabber mouth couldn't keep itself shut, which usually was the case whenever she was around takayuki yasuhiro. she had somehow spoiled the entire birthday party to him - "are you sure? are you sure you should be telling me about this?" he had asked her countless times in the middle of their conversation, and she just seemed to be able to keep going even down to the process of buying the ingredients.

and funnily enough, takayuki yasuhiro had been upset about it. after all, he had quietly come to hakari kinji personally just to vent about it.

"i was looking forward to the party," takayuki yasuhiro said, his face buried in his hands. "i knew there was a party, but i didn't know about anything else. why did she spoil it to me?"

hakari kinji could only pat his senior on the back, with his shoulders trembling suspiciously and his hand covering his mouth. he really didn't expect takayuki yasuhiro to be so disappointed.

back to the present, hakari kinji glanced at his watch. it was an hour before midnight.

"eh, if they don't make it back soon, we'll just call them," he said.

akarui shinju finally sat down as well, melting into the chair.

meanwhile.

a chilly breeze flew past, gently swaying the quiet night with its presence. as people got ready to return to their warm homes and waiting loved ones, two teenagers and one adult stood in front of the entrance of an old park. the park is quiet as the rest of the night, with only the sound of the flickering street lamp beside them and the hum of the wind.

yasuhiro sighed at the reply from shinju, though with a small smile. he shoves his phone into his coat pocket before rubbing his hands together to warm them up. white breath could be seen each time he exhaled, and his nose and cheeks are covered by a layer of red.

ayame was beside him, stretching her body to get ready for whatever they'll be facing inside. unlike yasuhiro, she had discarded her coat and was only wearing her usual uniform - 'for ease of movement,' she said, yasuhiro gaping at her.

"i'm... truly sorry for this." finally, the third person of the group spoke up, - a window by the name yoshimura hana, the one that had brought them here - her hands clasped together as she apologised. "ah, it's so late too, and with the cold weather... i'm really sorry, you guys. you should've been chilling at your dorms instead of... this... but you both happened to be there, so i - "

yasuhiro shook his head, cutting through the woman's rambling. "it's alright, yoshimura-san! we'll just have to wrap this up quickly, right ayame?"

"of course." ayame nodded. then, she fished out her phone - a flip phone she bought recently specially for missions like these because if her real phone broke then she will definitely cry and scream at herself - and grinned. "i bet shinju-senpai is losing her mind right now. let's try and get back before midnight."

yasuhiro chuckled. "so you knew about the surprise?"

ayame spread her hands. "she was being too obvious with it, how could i not? wouldn't i be the bigger fool, then? haha, i'll pretend i'm genuinely surprised for her, though. she was pretty excited..."

after reconfirming the details of the mission, - a cursed spirit about second grade; confirmed no civillians or normal humans in the park; curtain has been casted, - the two students entered the park, with yoshimura waiting outside. the park is, as expected, empty, and though it was a large area, the two chose not to split up.