Business Relationship

Chapter 15 - Birthdays

Minato was born on February 8th. Mai went over to Minato's place that day, bringing gifts and a fancy cake. The cake they shared with Minato's parents, while the gifts Mai wanted her to open in private.

Minato started with the smaller of the two gifts. She shook it lightly and heard some rustling. She carefully unwrapped it and opened the box, revealing a jar full of strips of paper.

"What's this?" Minato asked, opening the jar as well.

"My thoughts and feelings."

Minato pulled out one strip of paper. One side had typed characters that didn't really make any sense while the other had a hand-written note, "I only truly feel comfortable when I'm with you."

Minato smiled, then flipped it over, examining the typed characters closer. "What did you write these on?"

"I cut the contract you signed into strips," Mai explained. "We don't need it anymore, right?"

Minato grinned. "Yeah! Hehe, you put a lot of care into this. I'm gonna savour it."

She return the paper to the jar, sealed it, and set it aside, turning her attention to the larger gift. She pulled it into her lap, the weight quite substantial.

"This is probably something expensive, isn't it?"

Mai smiled. "Perhaps."

Minato tore away the wrapping, then froze, her eyes widening. "A drawing tablet?!"

And not just a drawing tablet. A high-end model, one that had a large screen to show the drawing canvas. Minato had looked at drawing tablets before, so she knew it probably cost around two hundred thousand yen. Her mouth hung open.

"Well, don't expect something of this level every year," Mai said bashfully. "It's our first time celebrating birthdays together, so I wanted to make it special."

"I'll make really good use of it!"

"I'll look forward to seeing what you draw."

After that, Minato felt pressured. Mai's birthday was March 26th.

"Okay. To make your birthday special, since I can't use money, I'll just put a ton of time and effort into your gift!" Minato declared.

"Don't push yourself," Mai warned. "I'll be happy as long as you're there."

"No! I'm gonna make sure you have an extra special gift!"

Mai sighed and pulled Minato in, rubbing her head. "Well, okay. Do your best."

Minato kissed Mai's neck. "I will!"

Minato had a clear idea of what she wanted Mai's present to be. It would just take a lot of time and effort, as she'd said. She temporarily had to cut down on her Mai time, spending her weekends and after school hours working on it.

After a few weeks, Mai came over to Minato's house during the school lunch break, holding a plastic bag. Minato's parents were at work, so Mai let herself in and strolled over to Minato's room. She knocked on the door a few times before entering.

Minato rose up in her bed. "Eh? Mai? You came to visit?"

"Naturally. You didn't come to school." Mai sat down on the bed. "What's up?"

"It's nothing serious." Minato shook her head. "I think all the late nights finally caught up to me."

"Dummy." Mai pulled Minato down, resting Minato's head on her thighs. She rubbed Minato's cheeks. "Idiot."

"Mrr..."

"Stop pushing yourself so hard," Mai scolded. "You can keep working on it, but get to bed before eleven. If you collapse like this again I'm confiscating your tablet."