January 6th — the day of the planned New Year gathering.
After breakfast, Ichin got straight to work preparing the birthday cake for Yukino.
Utaha had already contacted Haruno secretly in advance, letting her know they planned to make today's get-together double as a belated birthday celebration for Yukino. After hearing that, Haruno told them what Yukino's birthday had been like this year.
There hadn't been any kind of formal party at home — it wasn't her milestone eighteenth birthday, so the family just had a simple meal together to celebrate quietly.
This gave Ichin and the others the perfect chance to hold a more lively celebration, something cheerful yet comfortable since everyone attending was close to Yukino. Knowing that, Haruno was delighted to help. With her as an "inside agent," everything could be arranged more smoothly — such as ensuring that she and Yukino arrived later than the others, giving Ichin's group enough time to prepare.
After lunch, around one in the afternoon, Kō Yagami and the others who lived downstairs came up first. Soon after, Aoba and her team arrived one by one.
Munching on chips, Kō walked into the kitchen just as Ichin pulled a freshly baked cake out of the oven. She swallowed hard and said, "Smells amazing! And wow, that's a big cake."
"Well, we've got a lot of people — everyone needs a slice, right?" Ichin replied, setting the cake aside to cool. "Kō, Haruno and Yukino will be here around two. Make sure you all get ready before then!"
"Relax, no problem!" Kō grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "Umiko just got here, and everyone's asking about how her work's been going in Shanghai. Once they're done chatting, we'll start setting up. With this many people, we'll have it all ready in half an hour!"
"Alright, you said it — I'm counting on you," Ichin said with a smile before shooing her out so he could focus.
He pulled out the decorating tools and began whipping the cream for the cake.
As time passed, while Ichin worked in the kitchen, Utaha and the others began setting up the decorations in the living room.
They hung up the colorful party streamers they'd bought that morning. When Kō caught Peppa the cat trying to paw at the ribbons, she immediately scooped it up and carried it away.
"Hey, don't mess with those! Go play with your toys!"
Peppa looked up at her, then simply turned and wandered off toward Eriri.
Eriri hadn't been assigned to decorate — she was instead on cat-duty, trying to manage the growing herd of cats in the house.
During the New Year break, Yukino hadn't brought her four cats home since her family lived right next door, so she had asked Ichin and Utaha to take care of them. Now they'd all been brought over for the party.
Four from Yukino, one from Kō, one from Eriri, two belonging to Ichin and Utaha, and one from Hazuki — a total of nine cats. Poor Eriri was completely overwhelmed trying to keep track of them all.
When Peppa wobbled over, Eriri immediately called out,
"Peppa! Come take care of your kids, I can't handle them all by myself!"
But of course, the cat didn't understand a word. It pawed at a yarn ball, plopped down, and began playing on its own, paying no attention to the kittens running wild around the room.
There wasn't much to be done about it — Peppa had only fathered them while they were very small. Once they were weaned, he'd mostly stayed at Ichin's place, so he wasn't that attached to them anymore.
Thankfully, Peppa wasn't very territorial; otherwise, nine cats in one apartment would've been a recipe for disaster.
At least they were only noisy, not fighting — a small miracle in itself.
Seeing Eriri's frazzled state, Hifumi quietly approached with a fully inflated balloon in hand.
"Hang in there, Eriri. We're almost done with the setup," she said gently.
"Really?" Eriri asked, glancing around the living room.
The letter balloons were all up, and the streamers and regular balloons were mostly in place.
She finally let out a sigh of relief. "Good, that's—"
POP!!!
"AHHH!!!"
The sudden explosion of the balloon in Hifumi's hands made Eriri shriek, which in turn sent all the cats scattering in panic.
As for Hifumi, she stood frozen, staring at the shredded remains of the balloon — which George, one of the cats, had just pounced on and clawed open.
After that small "incident," everyone eventually got back on track. By 1:50 p.m., the living room was finally decorated.
Aoba stood with her hands on her hips, surveying their work.
"It was supposed to be a simple setup, but everyone just kept adding things here and there, and now look at it — it's totally over the top!"
"Looks great, though," Hazuki said with a smile, snapping a photo with her phone. "Yukino's going to be so touched when she sees it."
Next to her, Utaha glanced at her phone and said, "Haruno just texted me — they're on their way, should be here in about five minutes."
At that, everyone grabbed one of the small handheld confetti poppers, faces full of anticipation as they waited for Yukino's arrival.
Five minutes later, the Yukinoshita family car pulled up in front of the apartment building.
Haruno and Yukino had brought no luggage, just small bags with their electronics and a few books.
After sending the driver off, Haruno turned to Yukino.
"Come on, let's drop our things off, then head to Ichin's place. The others should be there by now."
"Alright," Yukino said softly, looking up at the familiar building with a faint smile.
Home life had gotten much better over the years, but even so, she still preferred it here — her cats, her friends, and the warmth she'd come to love.
They rode the elevator up and first went to Yukino's own apartment.
As soon as she stepped inside, Yukino noticed her cats weren't there.
Haruno immediately said, "Eriri and Kō brought them over. I checked the security feed earlier — Ichin took Sesame and Mochi over this afternoon. Come on, once you put your stuff away, you can see them again."
Yukino nodded, set her things down in her room, and followed her sister next door.
Just as she reached for the doorbell, Haruno said with feigned surprise,
"Huh? The door's not closed properly? Well, they should be home. Let's go in, Yukino."
She pushed the door open and gestured for Yukino to go first.
Without thinking much of it, Yukino stepped inside.
---
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