Chapter 30: Limited Cake and Caffeine Trouble

There are two things Airi usually avoids like the plague.

Coffee, and photo booths.

Today, she dragged me into both.

It started after school, which by some miracle ended without explosions.
I was walking toward the gate, mentally preparing for a quiet walk home, when Airi suddenly grabbed my arm.

“Let’s go.”

I blinked. “Go where?”

“Limited edition cake,” she said, showing me her phone screen.
A picture of a fancy strawberry shortcake. “Only a few left. We need to hurry.”

“…Why do I feel like this is going to turn into a boss fight?”

She ignored me and started walking ahead. I sighed and followed, as usual.

We arrived at a little café near the station, One of those trendy ones with twinkly lights and overpriced drinks.
Airi marched inside, scanned the glass display, and spotted the last piece.

Unfortunately, so did another girl.

They both stepped forward at the same time. The air tensed like a showdown.

“I saw it first,” the girl said.

“I got here faster,” Airi replied.

They stared each other down like it was a national championship. I was considering pretending I didn’t know her when the café worker coughed awkwardly and said, “Uh, we actually have one more in the back.”

Crisis averted.

Airi turned to me with a triumphant smirk. “See? Victory through patience and intimidation.”

“You were two seconds away from jail time,” I muttered.

We found a spot by the window, and Airi took a bite of the cake royalty style.
Then she sipped from a tall iced coffee and immediately shivered.

“Ugh… bitter…”

“Don't you hate coffe?”

“I need to stay awake... Just a little longer.”

“…You really are plotting something.”

We ended up walking to a nearby arcade afterward, Airi pointed at the old photo booth near the entrance.

“We’re doing that,” she said.

“You... also hate those things.”

“Not today,” she said, already dragging me inside.

The booth was cramped, and the lighting was way too bright.
Airi start poking at the screen settings. Filters, sparkles, hearts our faces were basically just a stickers now.

“You’re not gonna post this, are you?” I asked.

“Nope.” She grinned. “Just one for the collection.”

We took a few silly shots.
One where I sneezed mid picture. One where Airi blinked. One surprisingly cute where we both smiled at the same time.

Afterward, she slipped the best one into her phone case. “Only the perfect one survives.”

I didn’t say anything. But my chest felt kind of… warm?

As the sun started to set, we made our way to the nearby park.

We found a bench and sat down without saying anything.

She was quiet.

Her hands were in her lap, Her head tilted slightly as she looked up at the sky.
I watched her from the side and realized… she looked tired.

“…You okay?”

She turned to me slowly. “Mmhm. Just a little sleepy.”

“You chugged bitter coffee for this.”

“I know,” she said, her voice softer now. “But I wanted to stay awake ...Just a little longer.”

We sat in silence again, The kind that wasn’t awkward but peaceful.

After a few minutes, her head started leaning toward my shoulder.
I thought she was teasing me at first, but her eyes is closed, her breathing slowed, and before I knew it—

Airi was asleep.

Just her head gently resting on my shoulder, like this was the most natural thing in the world.

I stared at her for a long moment.

“…Seriously?”

I tried to shift her gently, but her fingers clings into my sleeve.

“You’re not letting go, huh…”

So I sighed and let her stay like that.

The wind was cold. Her hair tickled my arm. And for once, I didn’t mind.

Getting her home was… a challenge.

She didn’t wake up even when I tried shaking her, So I ended up giving her a bridal carry.

Somehow, I made it to her house.

The door opened, And there stood Hina.

She looked at us. Then looked down at Airi snoring softly in my hands.

“…I see,” she said.

“Please say nothing.”

“I won’t,” Hina replied with her usual calm voice. “Come in.”

She stepped aside, and I carried Airi into the house. I gently laid her on the couch while Hina got a blanket and covered her.

Then Hina motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen.

“…You’re surprisingly cald about all this,” I said.

“I’m used to it at this point,” she replied, pouring us both a glass of juice. “Airi does what she wants.”

“I noticed.”

She looked at me for a second, then smiled faintly. “Thanks for being kind to her.”

I paused. “I didn’t really do anything.”

“You stayed with her. That’s more than enough.”

There was something about the way she said it, Like she knew more than she let on. But as always, she didn’t explain.

“I’ll walk you out,” Hina said, after a pause.

At the door, she gave me a little bow. “Good night, Yuuji.”

“…Yeah. Good night.”

Yuuji’s Mental Diary – Day 31

Airi Status: Dragged me around town, won a cake war, passed out mid sunset
Mental State: I feel weirdly calm. Is this character development?
Cake Rating: 9/10 – strawberry magic
Surprise of the Day: Airi owns a sparkly heart-filled photobooth picture of us. It’s in her phone case. I saw it.
Final Thought: When she leans on me like that, I kinda forget she’s a menace. Just for a moment.