KOF Extras

A Wonky Birthday

19 September
It was Aiko's birthday and she decided to rise early. It was unsurprising that her brother was nowhere about, but he apparently got up much earlier and left her breakfast under a cloche on the kitchen table. It was quite unlikely that he would be up that early, but it was true. Iori wasn't in his room and his car was not in the garage.
Aiko shrugged and decided to go on with her yearly tradition. She had her breakfast, prepared a meal consisting of rice and fish, and drove over to Tsukishima. Just like her brother had lost his mother, she did too.

After some time of paying her respects at the cemetery, Aiko made her way to Minamoto's coffee shop not far off. She left her car parked near the temple, and decided to walk over to the shop. Naomi, Minamoto's daughter, had taken over the business ever since her father retired and she recognised Aiko the moment she stepped in.
"Oh, I keep seeing you guys around more often," Naomi chuckled as she greeted. "What will you have?"
Aiko placed a hand on the counter as she thought. "Well... I'd like a bubble waffle with some vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, a nice hot cup of mocha, and a carrot omelette."
Naomi smiled. "Noted. Just have a seat, Aiko, I'll send your order over when it's ready."
"Thanks," Aiko smiled back.
There was a table for two right in front of the counter so Aiko decided on sitting there. Her phone started ringing as she went over, and it turned out to be a call from Benimaru. She chuckled and made sure that there weren't many people about, even Naomi was noisily bustling about behind the counter.
"Heeeyyyy, Beautiful," Benimaru cheekily greeted as soon as she picked up. "How my birthday girl?"
Aiko couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm good. Just arrived at Naomi's coffee shop in Tsukishima."
"I still have no idea where that is, never been to it either," Benimaru said. "Anyway, how was everything?"
"Oh, yeah," Aiko dabbed at her face slightly, wondering if her makeup had smudged. "There were some waterworks, but that's normal."
"It's not good to cry on your birthday, Aiko," Benimaru sighed. "But I don't think I can blame you."
Aiko smiled. "Thanks, Beni." She rearranged herself on her chair to be more comfortable. "So what are your plans for today? I noticed that Niisan is missing. Is he with you by any chance?"
Benimaru let out a panicked squawk, faintly audible, but it was there. "No?"
Aiko sighed. They weren't even good at hiding it. "Well, just don't do anything stupid." She ended up saying.
Benimaru laughed. "Oh, Aiko."
He was about to say more, but she quickly bade her farewell and hung up when her coffee and waffle arrived. Beni can wait, so can Niisan. Right now, Aiko decided to enjoy her meal first.

Benimaru and Iori stared at each other in dismay.
"How did she know?" Benimaru was the first to say something after the call.
Iori nudged him. "You didn't play it cool enough."
"Don't you think we need to distract her?" Benimaru said.
"I already have it covered," Iori raised his phone and poked at it. "Honoka is staking out in front of our place. She will tell us when Aiko gets home, and then execute Plan Distraction."
Benimaru couldn't help but laugh at the way he worded it.
"What, I just ant things to be perfect," Iori smirked. "Don't you?"
"Yeah, I do," Benimaru chuckled.
The two of them were also in Tsukishima and Iori insisted that they visited the cemetery as well. Benimaru decided to tag along since he wanted to give a good impression to Aiko's family, even to the ones who have already passed.
"I'm guessing that's her mom's grave," Benimaru said, pointing a hand at Keiko's monument.
Iori looked at him in surprise.n"How did you know?"
Benimaru smirked. "Has carnations and lilies in front of it. That's your mom's, right? The one with roses?"
"Yep," Iori said. He placed the flowers he was holding in the vase, together with the flowers that Aiko had brought.
Benimaru quickly produced some incense sticks, Iori placed them as well. The blond decided to join in and pay his respects as well.

Honoka spotted Aiko's car coming up and immediately informed Iori about it, then got out of her car and marched up to the open garage.
"Hi!" Honoka greeted just as Aiko got out of her car.
Aiko smiled. "Oh, hi!"
Honoka grinned as she walked up to her, then gave her a hug. "Happy Birthday!"
"Aww, thanks," Aiko giggled. "So, did Niisan sent you or something?"
Honoka had actually prepared for this and she was also way better at hiding the truth than Benimaru, surprisingly. "What? No?" Honoka shook her head, putting on a confused face. "Iori hasn't called me the whole day and didn't reply to any of my texts. That's why I dropped by, thinking he might be busy preparing stuff for you."
"Eh?" Aiko uttered, slightly surprised as she made her way to the door that led into the house. "He didn't?"
Honoka shook her head as she went over to the mechanism to close the garage. "You want me to get that?"
Aiko nodded, opening the door and motioning for Honoka to enter as well. "Thanks, sure." She locked her car and turned back to her. "Niisan didn't speak to you?"
"No," Honoka shook her head again, looking all innocent. She pressed the button to close the garage and followed Aiko into the house, patiently waiting for a reaction.
"Well," Aiko finally said, then sighed. "He got something up his sleeve, that's for sure. And I think he's in cahoots with Beni."
Honoka cracked a smile. "That explains it."
Aiko turned to look at her. "You want some tea?"
"Gossip or green?" Honoka grinned.
"Honoka," Aiko chuckled.
Honoka placed her bag on the coffee table. "Well, I was actually thinking to order some Kixue off PickYou. Do you know that they give you this really cute cooler bag if you order delivery? If you go over, they give you a measly plastic bag."
Aiko sat down. "I didn't know that."
Honoka plopped down beside her with her phone, opening the PickYou app. "What do you want to have? I heard there's this new mint flavour or something."
"No, that sounds disgusting, I'm not really a fan of mint," Aiko shook her head in disgust. "I'll have a jasmine peach tea. It's still early so I won't suffer caffein burnout later."
Honoka nodded and she took those down. "Want a cookie?"
Aiko shrugged. "Sure, never tried it."