Chapter 89 Little Seaweed's Birthday... I think I'm going to be silenced by the minister...
Three days after the Haiyuan Festival ended, it happened to be Xiaohai's birthday.
A week earlier, the tennis club's regulars had secretly formed the "Seaweed Head Birthday Operation Group," and Risa was also pulled in. Renji Yanagi even created a 12-page plan for it, detailing the event's schedule down to the minute.
On his birthday, after school, a group of boys carrying tennis bags gathered at the gate of Rikkai University.
Meanwhile, the birthday boy, completely unaware of what was going on, forgot to hand in his homework because he was having too much fun at the Haiyuan Festival, and was detained in the office by his English teacher.
"Is everyone here?" Sanada Genichiro looked around at everyone, his gaze pausing for a moment. "Too lax! Akaya that guy—"
"He was kept after school by the English teacher." Liu Lian closed her notebook. "Given how much he played around these past few days, this result was expected."
Risa stood to the side, holding a gift bag: "Is it really okay for so many of us to suddenly bother you?"
Yukimura turned to her and smiled: "Don't worry, it's alright."
The group arrived at the Yukimura family residence in a grand procession.
"Huh?" Risa stopped in the entryway. "Is no one else home?"
Niou Masaharu popped out from behind her, grinning mischievously: "Pfft, the minister has 'destroyed your five senses'."
Yukimura calmly took off his leather shoes and explained, "They all have something to do and won't be back until tomorrow."
Liu Lian'er calmly added: "To be precise, it's a 'reasonable diversion' with a 100% probability."
Risa: "...Something feels off?"
"Ara~" Marui Bunta bounced in, blowing bubblegum. "I remember last year it was a Hakone hot spring trip, and the year before it was an academic conference?" He nudged Yukimura with his elbow mischievously. "What excuse did you use, Minister?"
Risa was shocked: "The whole family is also tacitly in cahoots, cooperating in this performance?"
Yukimura smiled, avoiding the question altogether: "Everyone, come in and get ready."
-
Jackal Kuwabara, Yanagi Renji, and Marui Bunta are in the kitchen, busy preparing dinner and cake.
As Marui Bunta squeezed cream onto the cake, he blew bubble gum and muttered, "That Akaya guy is probably gritting his teeth as he writes 'I hate English'."
Sanada chimed in, "Too lax! For a student to be so..."
“Sanada,” Yukimura interrupted with a smile, “today is Akaya’s birthday.”
Sanada immediately fell silent and continued his struggle with the balloon in his hand. Every time he tied a knot, a balloon would pop open with a "pop," much to the amusement of Niou Masaharu standing nearby.
In the courtyard, Risa was kneeling on the lawn, adjusting the positions of the flowers and LED strip lights.
"Do you need any help?"
Yukimura's voice suddenly came from behind, startling Risa so much that she almost knocked over the characters she had just arranged.
"Ashi! Don't you make any noise when you walk?" Risa clutched her chest and glared at him.
Yukimura chuckled and squatted down beside her: "It's because Risa is too focused." His gaze swept over the dazzling crimson, "The idea of using red spider lilies and sunflowers for birthday wishes is very much in line with Akaya's tastes."
“That child once said in his chuunibyou way that he was both an angel and a devil, and I was thinking…” Risa stopped and noticed that Yukimura was gazing at her with eyes so tender they could melt water.
She hurriedly looked down and continued fiddling with the flowers. "Weren't you...were you adjusting the projector?"
“It’s all ready.” Yukimura tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “Including the ‘chi-version Akaya raising the flag’ animation you requested, Yagyu even added animated effects.”
"...Yagyu is very kind."
"Huh? Is the main point praising Yagyu?"
"......"
"Aka has arrived!"
From the living room came the jackal's shout: "Repeat, Akaya's here! On your marks!"
-
Kirihara arrived at Yukimura's house at 6:30 p.m.
The one who opened the door was Kuwabara, a jackal wearing a chef's hat.
"Amazing! Bunta said you wouldn't be back until seven o'clock."
Kirihara scratched his head and chuckled.
After changing his shoes and entering the living room, the sight inside made Kirihara instantly freeze in shock:
- Vice Minister Sanada was seriously tying knots in the balloons, but each one burst as soon as he tied it.
- Senior Liu was assisting Senior Marui in the kitchen, using an electronic scale to precisely weigh the sugar in the cake.
- Nioh-senpai spelled out "Happy Birthday" on the banner as "Happy Seaweed Head Day".
The glass door slid open, and Yukimura walked in, holding a camera.
"The birthday girl is here. Risa is setting up a final surprise in the courtyard, you can go ahead first..."
Before he could finish speaking, Kirihara was already being lifted up by Jackal and Yagyu on either side: "Before the birthday party begins, the birthday boy needs to remain enigmatic."
Everything was pitch black.
When Kirihara was blindfolded and led to the courtyard, he smelled the fragrance of flowers, heard suppressed laughter rising and falling, and...
Is it just my imagination?
Is that the sound of a camera shutter?
"3, 2, 1—"
Risa's voice rang out in front of me.
The moment the blindfold was removed, Kirihara's eyes widened.
Hundreds and thousands of red spider lilies spread out like flames, spelling out a giant "Happy Birthday, Akaya!" on the lawn. In the center of the flowerbed, a few deliberately placed sunflowers stand out, like angels surrounded by demons.
Warm golden LED light strips twined among the flowers, like flowing lava, making the crimson sea of blossoms appear even more eerie. The petals, slender as claws, trembled gently in the night breeze, like fire from hell dancing for a birthday celebrant.
"This, this is..." The boy's pupils trembled.
"Happy birthday—!" everyone shouted in unison.
Niou conjured up a glowing birthday hat from nowhere and placed it on Kirihara's head.
Risa quietly pressed the remote control, and the heavy metal rock version of the birthday song instantly blasted out. The red spider lilies seemed to be ignited, and a cloud of red smoke (harmless dry ice) rose from the flower bushes, just like his aura when he was "demonized".
A giant backdrop descended, and the projection clearly showed a chibi version of him holding a "Rikka Future" flag.
"Hey, is this decoration meant to make me look like a demon?"
"...But it's arrogant enough! I like it!"
Kirihara complained while excitedly taking out his phone to take pictures.
“It’s a dance between demons and angels~” Risa, holding a gift box, reached out and tapped the boy’s shoulder.
"Happy birthday, Akaya!" She handed over the gift.
"I really couldn't think of anything to give you. I just bought this randomly, I hope you like it."
Kirihara eagerly opened the package, his eyes lighting up: "Adidas collaboration sneakers, wait, this is a limited edition..."
Tennis Club Members: As expected of an SSS-level brother-complex, he's willing to spend money.
"You're too lax!" Sanada said sternly as he handed over the gift. "If you fail the English exam again this month, you won't be able to participate in the U-17 training camp."
Kirihara opened it with trepidation:
The book, *English Perfect Score Guide*, has the phrase "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain Learning Method" written on its title page.
• "How to Memorize Vocabulary Using Tennis Terminology," includes a free bamboo sword-shaped bookmark.
• Sanada personally inscribed the words "One-hit kill".
Filled with a mixture of gratitude and fear, Kirihara choked out, "Vice-Vice Minister..."
"Pfft~ Guess which one is the real gift?" Niou Masaharu magically produced three identical gift boxes. "Hint: One contains a modified version of willow juice~"
Renji Yanagi interjected, "According to the data, there's a 100% chance that Niou is lying."
Kirihara's hand hung in mid-air, sweating profusely.
The gentleman presented her with a pair of sunglasses, saying, "My gift is more practical."
Marui Bunta: "Ta-da! My gift is—a special seaweed cake!"
Jackal Kuwabara gifted him a deluxe sunscreen set, adding in a motherly tone: "Akaya, you got sunburned and your skin is peeling during summer training."
Yukimura gave him Wilson's smart tennis ball, which could help him practice ball control.
......
At the height of the party, Niou held up his phone: "Hidden footage of Little Seaweed is coming up."
A mobile phone screen was projected onto the screen, and "The Most Bizarre Behavior of Kirihara Akaya" began playing:
• Practicing the "Demon King's Smile" in front of a mirror in the club activity room.
• During training, he misheard "extinguish the five senses" as "extinguish five bowls" and ran to the cafeteria.
• Draw tennis tactics diagrams on the test paper during the English exam.
"Senior Niou!!"
Delete it! Delete it now!
Kirihara lunges at Niou to grab his phone, accidentally knocking over three gift boxes in the process.
Splash—
All three boxes were opened, and the gifts inside were scattered all over the floor.
Colorful racket tape; knee pads, wrist guards; and most eye-catching of all, the Q-version crocheted keychain featuring the "Big Three & Sister"—
Sanada is depicted as a serious samurai, Yukimura as a smiling angel with a halo, Yanagi as a scientist holding a data notebook, and Risa as an energetic girl wielding a tennis racket.
The only thing missing was the willow juice that Niou had mentioned.
Niou whistled: "Surprised? All three boxes are full of gifts~ Puri!"
Liu calmly added, "I told you long ago that he was 100% lying."
Sanada's dark expression and Yukimura's laughter rang out simultaneously:
"Too lax!"
Ah, youth!
In a corner of the courtyard, a camera mounted on a tripod was operating silently.
-
The party continued until 9 p.m.
The living room was filled with the sounds of game consoles and laughter.
After a fierce battle of three hundred rounds in the fighting game, Kirihara Akaya and Marui Bunta finally put down the controller, grabbed a juice and took a big gulp.
"Huh?" Kirihara looked around and noticed something was missing. "Where's Risa-nee?"
Marui chewed on his bubble gum and casually pointed to the backyard: "It looks like he went out to answer a phone call."
Kirihara wiped the sweat from his brow, grabbed a can of drink, and headed towards the backyard: "I'll go check it out."
"Sigh—" Marui Bunta didn't have time to stop her, and the little seaweed had already strode away.
The moment I pushed open the glass door, a gentle breeze greeted me.
Under the moonlight, Kirihara could vaguely see two figures beside the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard—
Risa was pinned against a tree trunk by the department head, his hand cradling her cheek, his other hand around her waist. The two were pressed tightly together, the moonlight outlining their intertwined silhouettes, and even the night breeze seemed to stand still for them.
The minister, who was usually calm and elegant, was now like an enraged beast, his back view exuding an oppressive aura that could not be resisted.
This was the first time Kirihara had ever met a minister like this.
No, perhaps it should be said that this is a Yukimura Seiichi that no one has ever seen before.
Kirihara's pupils dilated, his brain went blank, and the beverage can in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
The sound startled the two people under the tree. Yukimura slightly turned his head and looked directly at Kirihara.
"I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!" Kirihara turned and ran, almost tripping on the steps, and staggered back to the living room.
"What's wrong? Did you see a ghost?" Marui asked curiously, looking at his junior who had turned pale.
Kirihara grabbed his senior's shoulder, his voice trembling, "I...I think the club president is going to kill me..."
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