As night fell, Cui House closed its doors.
But unlike usual, Cui House was brightly lit and exceptionally lively tonight.
"Happy birthday!"
Looking at Fate and Alicia, Illya grinned as she handed them her gifts. She had given them two lion plushies, each half as tall as a person, fluffy and adorable.
"Thank you, Sister Illya!"
Alicia happily accepted the plushie and hugged it tightly.
"This is so cute! I'll definitely take good care of it. What about you, Fate?"
"Ah, mm, me too..."
Faced with Alicia's question, Fate looked a little flustered. Still blushing faintly, she accepted the lion plushie Illya handed her.
"Originally, Little Black and I were each going to give one, but she went out with MASTER, so I brought hers for her."
"So the teacher really isn't coming?"
Hearing that, Fate was visibly disappointed. Seeing her expression, Illya realized she had said the wrong thing and hurriedly waved her hands.
"Ah, but MASTER said he'd have Sister Tilia come in his place... Don't be so disappointed..."
"I know. Thank you, Illya."
Hearing Illya's consolation, Fate smiled and nodded, letting the matter drop.
After that, everyone else gave Fate and Alicia their presents as well. Nanoha gave them hair ribbons, Sakura gave them pendants, and Tomoyo gave them a pair of charms. After all, they were all still elementary school students and did not care about competing with one another, so their gifts were fairly ordinary.
But some gifts were so absurd that they left people unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Shana had been fighting earlier and had not managed to buy a gift, so she had no choice but to give them the melon bread she had been saving. Kyoko even stuffed a taiyaki into each of their hands. Before the birthday party had