White Day (2)

"First off, these are for you, Yunxue," Yasushi said, extending two bags of creampuffs toward her. Turning, he handed Layena a small notebook. "I'll help you make these when I get back, but feel free to get started before then, Layena."

Yunxue took the bags with a grin that lit up her face, her voice almost carrying a hum of pleasure. "Mmm, thank you, I'm gonna love this," she said, her steps light as she walked off, already savoring her gift.

Layena flipped through the notebook, her eyes growing wide. "There's... more in here?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Yasushi said, nodding toward the book. "I figured you'd like a few more. I wrote them down before we ate the other night, but wanted to wait until today to hand them over. Hope they come in handy."

Yinhaie and Jingliu stood by, eyes expectant. Yasushi looked over at them and added, "I'm going to give Xinyi hers first. Once that's done, I'll meet you two in mine and Jingliu's room for the rest. Hope you don't mind waiting a bit longer."

"Thanks, I'll give them a shot," Layena mumbled, walking away quickly. Yasushi turned toward Yinhaie and Jingliu, who were waiting patiently, clearly on board with the plan.

"So, who's first?" Jingliu asked, standing beside him. She wore layers to keep out the cold, even though the snow was beginning to ease up. The heat would come in a few months, making the long snowy season a distant memory.

"Alicia," Yasushi replied after a pause. "Her place, where she's staying with Bhaqui, is close enough to ours that we can walk over." They agreed, then grabbed their coats and set out together.

They passed through several streets, the ground still piled with snow. Kids were busy throwing snowballs at each other, while some adults stood around talking. It was Saturday, which meant they didn't need to rush. They could take their time walking, enjoying the quiet stroll as the snow crunched underfoot, the cold nipping at their skin as they made their way forward.

They finally reached the apartment complex. The building stood there, a bit unimpressive, but it did the job. Yasushi spotted the small control panel next to the door. A screen flickered on as he pressed the buzzer and punched in the number for Alicia and Bhaqui's unit.

A brief pause, then Bhaqui's voice crackled through the speaker, "Hello?"

"It's me. I'm with Jingliu and Yinhaie. We're here for White Day," Yasushi replied, his tone casual.

"Oh, right! Just a sec," Bhaqui responded, caught off guard but quick to react. After a few seconds, a buzz sounded, and the door unlocked.

They stepped inside the building, the space felt dull, nothing exciting about it at all. White walls surrounded them, paired with a white tile floor that looked like it had seen better days. A couple of dim fluorescent lights hung overhead, doing their job but not adding any life to the place. A row of private mailboxes was embedded in the wall near a small desk.

At the center of the room stood the elevator, boxed in by the same white walls. Without a word, they headed straight for it, navigating through the mundane surroundings, ready to get upstairs.

They stepped into the elevator, the doors sliding shut behind them. Yasushi hit the button for Alicia and Bhaqui's floor, and the machine whirred, pulling them up without a hitch. As soon as they reached their destination, the doors slid open, and they stepped out.

The hallway stretched ahead of them, and after a brief glance around, they figured out the right way to go. They walked down the hall, finding the door they were looking for and rang the bell.

A moment passed, and then Alicia opened the door. She wore her casual clothes, nothing fancy.

"Good morning, Lady Jingliu, Yasushi, Yinhaie. Come in," she said, stepping aside to let them in.

They greeted her as they walked into the apartment, heading straight for the living room. Bhaqui was already there, busy making tea and coffee. He gave them a nod as he worked. Once everyone was seated, he poured them each a cup — tea for some, coffee for others.

Yasushi reached into his bag and pulled out two boxes, handing one to Alicia and another, to Bhaqui.

Bhaqui blinked in surprise, his hand hovering over the box. "Uh... Why'd you get me one too?" His voice carried an awkward edge.

Yasushi waved it off. "I figured I'd give back to the people working with me. Even if it's just a small thing. Got something planned for the rest of the staff, but I'm saving that for later." He leaned back, arms crossed, his tone straightforward.

Bhaqui stared at the box in his hands, eyes widening as he finally saw what was inside. "W-wait, are you serious? You really got me this!?" His voice cracked, disbelief in every word as he took in the limited edition Gundam model — the one he'd been going on and on about with Yasushi and Furuya for weeks.

Yasushi shrugged, though he couldn't hide the grin spreading across his face. "You wouldn't shut up about it. You and Furuya wouldn't stop talking about it, so I figured, why not? I picked it up a few days after you mentioned it again."

Bhaqui fumbled for words, eyes still glued to the box. "T-thanks... a lot!" Unsure what else to do, he rushed to a nearby table, tearing into the box, already setting out the parts like he was ready to build it right there in front of everyone.

Alicia, sitting beside him, watched with amusement before turning her attention to her own gift. She lifted the lid, revealing two items that instantly brought a smile to her face. Without a word, she hugged the box, holding it close for a moment. "Thank you, Yasushi. I was expecting some kind of chocolate or something simple, but I didn't think you'd actually get me this."

She looked down at what he had picked out: a set of perfumes, and a pair of matching phone cases shaped like teddy bears. She had mentioned the cases to a group of friends, and Yasushi remembered it because both Jingliu and Yunxue had told him about Alicia's obsession in passing.

Yasushi didn't feel like the gifts were anything special. They didn't cost him much, but after hanging around with the filthy rich for so long, his sense of money had gotten skewed, and the price seemed insignificant to him now.

They hung around at Alicia and Bhaqui's place for a little while longer, making small talk, sipping tea and coffee. Soon after, they decided to head to their next stop. Reina's place wasn't too far, but they knew the day would involve a lot of walking, so they braced themselves for the trek ahead.

After about thirty minutes of walking, which included a quick break at a small shop where they grabbed some coffee and snacks, they found themselves getting closer to Reina's house. They figured they were only about ten minutes away now.

What struck Yasushi as odd was how close Reina's home was to his old place. He hadn't given it much thought before, but it seemed strange now that he was walking past familiar streets.

Out of nowhere, Yasushi spoke up, more to himself than anyone else, "I haven't been home in a while. I wonder if it's still in one piece."

Yinhaie, walking beside him, glanced over. "We keep it clean, Yasushi. No need to stress about that," she said. "We used to do it every week, but since no one's really living there, we cut it down to twice a month. There's not much to clean besides the dust that piles up."

Yasushi nodded, brushing off the thought like it was nothing. "Yeah, thanks for that," he muttered. There had been too much going on lately for him to remember small details like that.

When they finally reached Reina's house, Yasushi rang the bell. The door opened, and Reina stood there in her everyday clothes. Her two younger brothers peeked out from behind her legs, curious but excited to see who was at the door.

Yasushi stepped forward, holding up the bag of snacks as if he were offering some grand gesture. "I've come to repay the blood debt for White Day," he joked, flashing a grin.

Reina chuckled at his words and motioned them inside. "Come on in, then," she said, with an amused tone.

Her brothers' eyes lit up as they spotted the familiar faces. "It's Yasushi!" one shouted. "Jingling!" the other yelled excitedly before dashing off down the hall, leaving the group to follow them. Jingliu rolled her eyes, tempted to correct them, but let it slide and exhaled in exasperation instead.

They ended up in the dining room where Reina's parents sat at the table. Her mother glanced up, recognizing Yasushi, and gave a small wave. "Yasushi, it's been a while. Welcome," she said in a friendly tone.

Her father smirked and leaned back in his chair. "Blood debt, huh? And for White Day, no less. I hope you brought gold with you to pay it off," he teased, flashing a grin.

Yasushi laughed, dropping the bag filled with food onto the table, passing it around as everyone dug in. After a moment, he pulled out a small gift wrapped in simple paper, handing it to Reina. "Here, this is for you. I think you'll like it," he said without much fanfare.

Reina took the gift, curiosity on her face as she started tearing away at the paper. Her brothers and parents were already devouring the snacks brought over, paying little attention to the exchange. As Reina opened the box, she saw a stack of books along with a folded piece of paper resting on top. She glanced at it, puzzled.

"What's this? Login info to some website?" she asked, looking up from the paper. "Oh, and thank you for the books, I've been wanting these for a while now."

Yasushi shrugged, brushing off her thanks. "No big deal. But yeah, you're right. The paper has your login details for DeToolz, that site you kept talking about — the one you use for looking up authors and all that stuff for your writing."

He crossed his arms, leaning back a little. "I got you a one-year subscription. And threw enough in there to cover renewals for, like, the next ten years," he added casually.

Reina froze for a second, then squealed, throwing her arms around Yasushi in a tight hug. "Thank you! This is going to be so helpful!" she almost yelled before finally letting go. She grabbed her phone and immediately logged onto the site, her excitement bubbling over into another loud squeal.

Her dad chimed in, throwing a hand in the air like he was in some kind of play. "The Blood Debt has been settled! Now begone, foul spirits!" he declared, only to get smacked lightly on the shoulder by his wife, shaking her head.

Yasushi, Jingliu, and Yinhaie hung around for a while, catching up with Reina's parents, playing with her younger brothers, enjoying the snacks, before deciding to head out. As they walked away, two minutes from the house, Jingliu turned to Yasushi, curiosity written on her face.

"Who's next on the list?"

"Next up is Laura. We'll be surrounded by cats, so get ready for that," he said with a slight grin.

Jingliu's face lit up at the mention of cats. "Shirayuki Neko Hiroba? We haven't been there since last year... I'm kind of excited for it."

Yinhaie chimed in, keeping her steps in sync with theirs. "I've been near it a few times but never actually stepped inside. This'll be my first time getting to see what it's all about," she said, a trace of excitement slipping into her words.

Yasushi spoke up, "We might have some time to stop and hang out with the cats, as long as there aren't any big crowds."

He couldn't help but notice Yinhaie's reaction. She had a soft spot for their cat, Azari. She'd been the one most focused on taking care of her, though everyone spoiled Azari to some degree. But Yinhaie seemed to take it to another level, always going the extra mile. It wasn't hard for Yasushi to figure out she really liked cats.

"Do you like cats, Yinhaie?" Yasushi asked as they crossed over to another street, their shoes pressing down the snow with a crunch.

"Yeah," Yinhaie answered after a beat. "I had one when I was younger. I don't remember much about it, just that I loved the cat. I can't recall the name or if it was male or female, though." Her voice dropped a little when she mentioned it.

Yasushi didn't want her to dwell on that, so he said, "Well, I'm glad you're able to take care of Azari now. She seems to like you a lot too."

"I love her," Yinhaie answered, her tone back to normal. They kept the conversation going, sharing stories about Azari as they walked through the streets. After about an hour, they finally reached Laura's place, which doubled as her family's business.

They stepped into the shop, the door chime barely audible over the chatter. Near the entrance, Laura was finishing up with a family — two kids tugging at their parents, eager to explore. She gave them a nod and pointed them toward a staff member who guided them further inside. Then her eyes landed on Yasushi and the others, a puzzled look crossing her face.

"What're you all doing here?" she asked, clearly not expecting them.

"It's White Day," Yasushi explained without missing a beat, his voice casual. "I'm here to return the favor."

Laura's expression shifted as realization hit. She smacked her fist into her palm in a gesture of understanding.

"Ah, got it. Well, come on then," she said, gesturing for them to follow her. "Let's head to the lounge." She turned and led the group through the shop, weaving past a few displays and into the back where employees usually took their breaks.