The Fourth Class Is Modern Chinese (Continued)

"Uh, yeah, thanks... Then I'll take it. As for whether I'll drink it, I'm not very confident..."

This girl was incredibly honest... But even if she didn't want it, she still wouldn't waste someone else's kindness. I thought that was great.

"Happy birthday."

I said with a wry smile, letting Iroha take the MAX Coffee.

However, Iroha didn't answer. She stared blankly at the MAX Coffee cupped in both hands.

"..."

She blinked in surprise, and all I could hear was her silent breathing.

I asked what was wrong with a look, and Iroha suddenly snapped back to herself, hurriedly fixing her bangs.

"...S-so you remembered. You didn't say anything, so I thought you must've forgotten."

"Because I couldn't find the right time to say it..."

When I saw Iroha, she'd been too far away, and when we finally got to talk just now, I'd been so startled by the plastic bottle attack that I hadn't had the presence of mind to congratulate her...

Besides, there was no way I could forget Iroha Isshiki's birthday. She was always dropping mysterious hints about it, and more importantly, the Service Club I'd joined had been talking about it these past few days. Apparently, after school today, all the members were going to celebrate her birthday together.

Still, even if there was a surprise planned, not bringing up her birthday at all when meeting her would be too unnatural. A king of sensitivity like me would immediately see through it: "Weird... It's my birthday today, so why hasn't anyone wished me happy birthday... Haha, I get it. You're planning a surprise, right?" And then the day would end like that, with nothing happening.

If I congratulated her now, I could shift Iroha's attention away from her expectations and suspicions about the surprise. That