Chapter 226

"Including today, seven days..."

"There's still time!"

Kanade Kotone stood up with high spirits, walked around the table and sat down next to Yukina. "Shiomi- san, I think you can give the 'engagement ring' as a final gift to your sister, and you can prepare some other surprises for her birthday."

"Other surprises?"

Yukina seemed to understand, but not quite.

"For example... a birthday party!"

"Huh? Um..."

Yukina was taken aback; she really had no experience in this area.

Before her relationship with "Yanase Naoto" cooled, she spent her time at home; after that, she spent it all on "Magical Girl Efnir." Forget birthday parties, she had no friends and wasn't very sociable—she'd never even gone to karaoke with her classmates.

"So... how exactly should we organize the party?"

"Your sister has many friends, right? I think you could try to get their help," Yukina said, still looking confused. Kanade Kotone thought for a moment and then added, "I remember you attended the Magical Girl Efnir anniversary celebration before, didn't you?"

Yukina nodded.

"Then you can think of a birthday party as something similar to an anniversary celebration! Basically, it's a group of people getting together to celebrate for Ms. Yanase, where blessings and joy accumulate, creating a unique and touching experience..."

Kanade Kotone rehearsed the entire scene in her mind, and she was already moved. "Then, at this moment, you dressed in your finest attire and walked gracefully before Miss Yanase, kneeling like a loyal knight guarding her, presenting her with the diamond ring you had prepared for her, a symbol of love and vows..."

"Wait, wait..." Yukina blushed and quickly interrupted Kanade Kotone's solo stage play, "I'm not very good at these things... Um... Kanade, could you help me?"

It must be said that although Kanade Kotone's performance was somewhat exaggerated, her suggestion did indeed move Yukina.

Kanade Kotone and smiled smugly, patting her chest.

"Relax, I'm familiar with this. Since Miss Shiomi is willing, I naturally have no choice but to accept!"

"Thank you, Kanade..."

Yukina gratefully grasped Kanade Kotone's hand and said earnestly, "I will definitely treat you to the most delicious meal, I promise!"

"No need..." Kanade Kotone smiled, "Just don't forget to invite me, Shiomi- san~ Okay, okay, we can talk about other things later. Since there's still some time before school ends, let's start planning for that day!"

"How... do it?"

"This needs to be made known to everyone involved except your sister!" Kanade Kotone placed her phone on the table, making a "1" shape with her finger. "So the first thing we need to do now is contact everyone and seek their help!"

"Then we..."

"Wait a minute Shiomi- san," Kanade Kotone added, "This matter absolutely needs to be done by you, because you are Yanase's sister. If you extend the invitation, everyone will definitely take it seriously!"

142. Candidates

"Before inviting anyone, we need to decide on the venue," Kanade Kotone, clearly more experienced than Yukina. She chewed on her straw and analyzed for Yukina, "You've already decided to have a birthday party at home, right?"

"Um."

Yukina nodded.

She didn't have enough money to rent a larger venue, and Yukina's original intention was to celebrate Efnir's birthday at home.

Home is a warm and welcoming place, and that's irreplaceable.

"In that case, let's limit the invitations to a 'small group'—your sister's closest friends, family, and partners. If we want the party to be lively, we'll need them. Ideally, we should design a game that everyone can participate in, or we could devise a script to lure your sister into a trap, and then surprise her with the truth at the end."

Yukina nodded, also thinking that this method might work.

"But speaking of which, Shiomi- san," Kanade Kotone suddenly looked up, her brows furrowing thoughtfully, "We'll need several more days to prepare this. Your sister shouldn't notice anything during that time, right?"

"Maybe... I don't know."

Yukina gave Kanade Kotone a worried look, "Naoko will be locked up for another five days—until her birthday. During this time, we have to be extra careful and try not to let her find out anything."

"How about we devise a code? Let's use 'school festival' as our code, just like you told her. That way, your sister shouldn't be so easily suspicious."

"This method is feasible."

"Then you should decide who you want to invite first!"

"Who should I invite? Hmm... let me think."

Yukina lowered her eyelashes and hesitated for a moment, but after thinking it over, she still couldn't figure it out. "But... who are Naoko's friends? I don't know them very well..."

First, family members— the Yanase couple—can be ruled out immediately.

Yukina couldn't get in touch with the Yanase couple. They might remember Naoko's birthday and call her, but it's probably unlikely they'd attend.

So what Yukina needs to consider are Efnir's close friends or colleagues.

Ke Yukina had only been a member of the Agent System for a little over a month, and spent most of her time at headquarters. Although she had some contact with Efnir's social circle, she didn't have a "detailed understanding" of it.

"If we invite people who seem to have some connection but aren't actually that close, or ignore friends who should be very good friends, wouldn't that embarrass Naoko...?"

Although it's just a simple invitation, if handled improperly, it can put both the inviter and the invitee in an awkward position.

Yukina didn't know how to finalize the list either.

"Perhaps... we could ask the director?"

Kanade Kotone offered some advice.

Nishizaki Yuki and Eve's Efnir have a very good relationship; they consider each other important friends. Therefore, the information obtained from Nishizaki Yuki is very likely to be reliable.

"That's indeed a good idea... In that case, we could also ask Ms. Siyejian and Bushiyuan; they know the headquarters better than I do."

"Then I'll take care of the director. She's still resting. I'll ask her about it later."

"Yes, thank you."

Yukina pondered to herself, "As for the agent... Senior Canary and Senior Furan are both here, as well as Senior Yanilasi..."

Do you have any ideas?

"Hmm, I'd like to ask one of the agents my sister interacts with most often. I'm relatively familiar with them, so perhaps they can give me some advice."

"That's good," Kanade Kotone thought for a moment, then suggested, "We can also take this opportunity to ask them what kind of gift your sister would like—if you want to save your performance for last, you'll have to prepare some other gifts as a 'smokescreen,' something your sister wouldn't expect would be a real surprise!"

"That's definitely a good idea..." Yukina thought for a moment, then nodded seriously. "Maybe it really would work. Oh, right, Kanade, do you think we should make a greeting card? Everyone could leave a message like that, or would it be better to prepare a guestbook?"

"I think we can ask for their opinions and involve them all."

"Okay, sure."

Kanade Kotone glanced at the time. "It's just past noon, and there are still three hours until school lets out. After school, it'll be the time I'm meeting with my senior. Let's start preparing now!"

Kanade Kotone and Yukina are finally getting their birthday party operation on track.

The first step is to contact other people.

"I can't help with this, Shiomi- san, you'll have to do it yourself."

Kanade Kotone is only relatively close to Nishizaki Yuki, but Nishizaki Yuki is currently resting, Kanade Kotone will not choose this time to disturb her.

This task naturally fell to Yukina's shoulders.

When it came to choosing someone to invite, Yukina's first thought was Canary, the vice-captain of the Main Sequence Star Squad, a comrade-in-arms whom Efnir deeply trusted.

"Huh? It's Efnir's birthday?"

Yukina dialed Canary's number, and Canary's slightly surprised voice came from the other end.

"In that case, Yukina, please count me in!"

Surprisingly, Canary showed great interest—in the sense of wanting to attend Efnir's birthday party.

This put Yukina at ease.

In short, the first participant won.

Yukina quickly seized the opportunity to ask, "Um... does Kiri-senpai know what kind of gift my sister would like?"

"A gift that senior would like..." The person on the other end of the phone fell into a brief moment of thought. Canary pondered for a while before speaking uncertainly, "Hmm, could it be a handgun? I remember she hides a handgun in several places as a spare. Would that be considered a hobby?"

It was indeed a suggestion very much in Canary's style, but it was clear that a pistol was not a suitable birthday gift at all, and besides, Efnir didn't need it at all.

Perhaps sensing, consciously or unconsciously, that her suggestion was somewhat inappropriate, Canary smiled awkwardly, "Sorry... I don't really know what your sister would like."

This is true.

Efnir rarely talked about herself, so others naturally knew very little about her.

"No, it's alright. Anyway, thank you so much for coming to my sister's birthday party, Kiri-senpai! My sister will definitely be happy to have you here."

"Haha, I'm really looking forward to it!" Canary laughed loudly on the other end of the phone. "I should be thanking you; I'm so happy you invited me."

Next, Canary recommended the next candidate. "I'm a bit oblivious... but Siyejian is our operative and also your sister's manager. You might be able to get the advice you need from her."

Shinomiyami Nami Efnir's manager, as well as a combatant and a vanguard member of the special forces.

She was probably the person who spent the most time with Efnir.

143. Such a surprise

Yukina tried calling Shinomiyami Nami.

--At this moment, Shinomiyami Nami was at headquarters reviewing operational and investigation documents when she received Yukina's call. She was taken aback at first, but after Yukina explained her purpose, she realized what was going on.

"Oh, so Efnir's birthday is coming up soon..."

To be honest, Shinomiyami Nami didn't know when Efnir's birthday was before.

"As for what she likes..." Yukina's phone call took Shinomiyami Nami by surprise. She thought for a moment, then her tone suddenly became serious, "Yukina, isn't what your sister likes you?"

"Um... Siyejian, please don't joke with me..."

Even when others say such things, Yukina still inevitably feels embarrassed.

"I'm not kidding," Shinomiyami Nami recalled Efnir's usual demeanor, teasing her with righteous indignation, "She was always talking about you, always hoping you would come before going on stage, back when you didn't even know she was Efnir ..."

Yukina remained silent.

So, during that time, Naoko was also happy about things like this... While being misunderstood by her but unable to explain, she stood on the stage waiting for her appearance, watching her from another perspective.

I wonder what Naoko was feeling at that time.

"Hehe, don't be shy," Shinomiyami Nami laughed. "By the way, you must have won quite a few limited edition photobooks and even received handwritten letters, right? Did you notice anything when you looked at those things?"

"Why?"

"Do you feel like you always win prizes? And you're always incredibly lucky to get the rarest one?"

The "collection" in Yukina's possession has always been "of considerable value".

Although she might not win the grand prize or first prize in the lottery, she would at least be able to win the limited-edition "one-of-a-kind rare item" in the second prize. Just that swimsuit photo and the "Valentine's Day letter" alone would be enough to fetch an astronomical price in the fan club's trading market. Both the "rare" photo, which was almost like a private photo, and the pink letter written in the style of a lover's voice, were unique. Naturally, countless people would fight for them, but Yukina got them all.

Therefore, Yukina is considered a celebrity within her fan group.

"... Hmm, that seems to be the case."

"It seems so...?" Shinomiyami Nami smiled gently.

Yukina hesitated for a moment, then she sensed the Shinomiyami Nami's tone. Connecting these fragments of the past, she quickly realized that something was amiss.

"Could it be that this isn't actually because I was lucky, but rather... Naoko deliberately..."

Every stroke of luck has a reason; how many strokes of luck in this world will just happen to fall into your lap?

Yukino might not have thought about it carefully before Efnir revealed her identity, but now that she knows Efnir is her older sister, Yukina will immediately start looking for other possibilities.

Shinomiyami Nami quickly gave a positive answer:

"You guessed right, those were actually prepared for you by your sister at her special request."

"Ah?"

Yukina was stunned.