The Tenth of April
The tenth of April. A date circled in red marker, now stared at by Chika with an intensity that seemed to pull the air from the room. For most people, it would pass as nothing more than an ordinary day in the middle of spring, just another square on the calendar to be flipped without a second thought. But for Chika, it was anything but ordinary. The mere mention of April tenth sent a quiet tremor through her chest, and into her mind drifted the shadow of a man with hair the color of blue twilight.
A flood of thoughts rushed through her head whenever she turned the date over in her mind. It was the birth day of that man who never seemed to run out of teasing remarks for his friends, the one who wore his true feelings like a hidden treasure buried deep beneath layers of playful smile. The man who, in ways both subtle and persistent, had helped Chika rebuild her confidence piece by piece, until she found herself standing a little straighter, speaking a little more boldly than before. The man who had become the quiet occupant of her thoughts more and more these past weeks. Every time Chika remembered him, every time she let herself dwell on the shape of his smile or the tilt of his head, a warm vibration stirred low in her chest, tender and unfamiliar, like the first ray of sunlight after a long winter.
She tilted her head back against her sofa and let her gaze drift up to the ceiling, watching the slow play of light and shadow across the white plaster. Now came the difficult part: how to surprise someone like him. Tsukishiro Yoshiya. A man who seemed to possess everything the world could offer. Chika was not at all confident that any physical gift she could give would ever measure up. Whatever she bought, whatever she wrapped in pretty paper and ribbon, would surely pale in comparison to the treasures already lining Yoshiya's collection. Just thinking about it made her want to shrink into herself, to abandon the whole idea before she even began.
Chika closed her eyes, letting the soft darkness behind her lids settle over her thoughts as she tried to imagine what on earth could possibly make Yoshiya happy with a gift from her. She wanted to think of something that could not be measured in stacks of yen notes, something no amount of money could buy. For five full minutes she wrestled with her own mind, turning possibilities over and over like smooth stones in her palm, until finally an idea surfaced from the murky depths. She reached for her phone and immediately dialed Yuto, silently praying that he was not currently standing next to Yoshiya.
“Hello, good afternoon, Chika-sama,” Yuto answered in his usual polished, respectful tone.
“Good afternoon, Yuto-san. I'm sorry for disturbing your day off,” Chika replied, guilt already creeping into her voice.
“Ah, no, it is quite alright. What can I do for you, Chika-sama? Do you wish to go somewhere and require a driver?” he asked.
“I don't want to go anywhere, actually. I just wanted to ask if Yoshiya-san has anything scheduled on the April tenth,” Chika said, her hesitation bleeding clearly through every syllable.
“Ah, please wait a moment while I check.”
There was a brief pause, several seconds long, and during that silence Chika could hear the faint murmur of a television from the other end of the line. It sounded like a baseball game was playing, she caught the distant roar of a crowd and someone shouting about a home run. A small pang of regret struck her for making Yuto miss such a moment.
“Hello, Chika-sama. I apologize for keeping you waiting,” Yuto finally returned.
“It's fine,” Chika answered quickly.
“As for April tenth, Sachou happens to have no particular plans that day. Are you thinking of going out with him?” Yuto asked, his tone genuinely curious.
“No, I... I want to surprise him for his birthday.” Chika finally decided to lay her cards on the table. After all, Yuto was likely the only person who could help her pull off this plan without everything falling apart.
“Ah... ahem.” Yuto cleared his throat delicately. “Very well, then. What would you like me to do?”
“Mmm... would it be possible for you to make sure Yoshiya-san does not come to L&L until I am finished preparing a small party for him?” Chika could not explain why, but she had the distinct feeling that Yuto was smiling on the other end of the line.
“Understood. I will carry out this mission properly.”
“Thank you.” Chika ended the call only after making sure she had expressed her gratitude properly, her heart already beginning to beat a little faster at the thought of what she had just set in motion.
The tenth of April arrived, and with it came something completely unusual at the L&L cafe. That day, the cafe and all its other services closed their doors earlier than anyone could remember, and the reason was simple: they wanted to celebrate their boss's birthday. This entire affair had been Chika's idea from the very beginning. She had gathered the courage to ask the staff at L&L for their help in preparing a small, intimate surprise, and to her quiet relief, they had welcomed her plan with open arms. They, too, had long wished to catch their slightly mischievous employer off guard, to give back just a fraction of the warmth he so casually scattered among them.
The people gathered there threw themselves into decorating the cafe with all sorts of ornaments and trinkets, their enthusiasm so infectious and unrestrained that before long, the decorations looked less like an elegant adult gathering and more like a child's birthday party, complete with too many colors and an abundance of joyful clutter. Chika could only smile as she watched the L&L staff buzz around her like happy bees. Their excitement spoke louder than any words could: Yoshiya was truly loved by them, perhaps more than he himself would ever realize.
Her phone buzzed against her palm, and when she glanced at the screen, the name Yuto lit up in soft blue light. She answered immediately, and his polite voice came through the receiver with its usual crisp formality.
“Hello, good evening, Chika-sama.”
“Good evening, Yuto,” Chika replied, her eyes still tracking the workers across the room.
“Is everything ready on your end? Sachou will be heading home shortly, and I will bring him there,” Yuto informed her.
“Ah, we will be finished very soon. You can go ahead and bring him over,” Chika said, her gaze sweeping over the remaining tasks the staff were hurriedly completing.
“Very well. In that case, we should arrive in about thirty minutes,” Yuto reported.
“Mhm. Thank you.”
She ended the call and turned to announce the news to the gathered employees. Their faces lit up with barely contained excitement. A few looked visibly nervous, anxious that their carefully laid plan might somehow crumble at the last moment, but one thing was certain: a bright, joyful spark shone in every pair of eyes, a shared anticipation that wrapped around the room like a warm embrace, waiting for the birthday man to walk through the door.
Thirty minutes passed, and through the cafe window they could see Yoshiya walking toward them, his face etched with the soft weariness of a long day. The staff scrambled to their hiding places in a flurry of hushed whispers and stifled giggles, some ducking behind the counter, others pressing themselves flat against the walls. Everyone held their breath, waiting with barely contained anticipation to spring their surprise on Tsukishiro Yoshiya.
When Yoshiya pulled open the cafe door, confusion flickered plainly across his features. He turned to glance at Yuto, who stood just behind him, and asked where everyone else had gone, because Yuto had lured him here with the promise of some kind of problem that needed his attention.
“Please, just step inside, Sachou,” Yuto urged gently, offering no further explanation.
Yoshiya did not fully understand what was happening, but still he stepped forward into the dim room. His hand reached out instinctively for the light switch, but before his fingers could find it, the lights blazed on all by themselves, accompanied by a shower of confetti exploding toward him and a chorus of happy birthday shouts that filled his ears from every direction.
His usual composed demeanor cracked. His eyes widened, his lips parted slightly in genuine astonishment. He was truly, deeply surprised by what had just happened, and while he was still struggling to process the scene unfolding around him, Chika emerged from her hiding place carrying a birthday cake adorned with flickering candles. Everyone in the room began singing the birthday song with warm, enthusiastic voices as Chika walked slowly toward him, the soft candlelight dancing across her face.
When she finally stood before him, Yoshiya smiled. He closed his eyes, made a silent wish, and blew out the candles in one breath. The room erupted in applause and another round of happy birthday wishes, Chika's voice blending softly with the rest.
He opened his mouth to thank her and his employees, but Chika spoke first.
“Thank you, Yoshiya-san,” she said, her gentle voice humming like a warm breeze in his ears. “Thank you for being born into this world and for bringing so much happiness to others. Thank you for giving so many people hope.” Her tender smile never wavered as she continued. “Thank you for helping me in so many ways. Thank you for being born as someone I love.”
Her last sentence landed like a stone dropped into still water, sending ripples of stunned silence through the room. Everyone stood frozen, processing what they had just heard. None of them had expected Chika to confess her feelings tonight. No—they had never imagined that Chika, who always seemed so shy and awkward, would possess the courage to declare her love in front of a crowd.
“Chika? Are you serious?” Doubt laced Yoshiya's voice, but the moment he saw her nod, that uncertainty dissolved like morning mist under sunlight.
His hands trembled slightly. For so long, he had been trying to assemble the scattered pieces of his feelings for her, piece by painstaking piece, trying to understand what it was he truly felt. He had been afraid that what stirred in his chest might only be guilt. But in this moment, all those fragments finally clicked together into a complete, undeniable shape, and what he felt was not guilt at all.
Yuto, ever sensitive to the atmosphere, quietly took the birthday cake from Chika's hands and stepped back, giving his master the space he needed to speak freely with the girl before him. Yoshiya took one step forward, then another, and pulled Chika into his arms.
“I love you too,” he whispered into her ear.
His voice was barely a breath, but the room had fallen so completely silent that every single person there heard his whispered confession. A heartbeat later, cheers erupted. Someone even let out a playful whistle, teasing the newly confessed couple. Chika's face flushed a deep pink as she suddenly became aware that all eyes were still on her, while Yoshiya simply laughed at her flustered reaction.
Tonight, on the tenth of April, in the middle of spring, the hearts of Yoshiya and Chika blossomed like the cherry blossoms they had once admired together. And in that quiet, joyful moment, they made a silent promise to tend to those blossoms together, to keep them blooming all year long, through every season yet to come.