Sweet Potatoes and Cake in the Wind

Sigelica leaned against the railing, watching Zhou Yu busy himself in the middle of the rooftop.

He dragged two rusty old oil drums out of a corner and set them side by side with a clatter, then found a broken plank that was fairly flat and laid it across them.

Sigelica: (¬_¬)

"You call that a table?"

"You can hold the cake in your hands the whole time if you want. I don't mind."

Zhou Yu dusted off his hands and placed the cardboard box containing the strawberry cake in the middle of the plank, then lined up three roasted sweet potatoes wrapped in wax paper beside it.

The sweet scent of cream mingled with the caramel aroma of roasted sweet potatoes in the cool night breeze.

"All right, come over."

Dania walked over and stared at the cake for a long while, then tilted her head to look at the steaming sweet potatoes beside it.

"How did you come up with putting cake and roasted sweet potatoes together to celebrate a birthday?"

Sigelica: (ㅍ_ㅍ)?

"What's wrong with it? They're both sweet, and they both fill you up. Round it off, and they're practically family."

He rummaged around in his pocket for a while and pulled out a single, lonely match.

"Where's the candle?"

Sigelica looked at the match in his hand, and her temples started throbbing again.

"We went over budget. Make do with this."

Sigelica: (╬☉д⊙)

"My scholarship wasn't enough to buy a cake? Did you pocket some of my money?"

"Did you think that dress was free? I paid for it myself."

Zhou Yu shot her a sideways glance.

"The birthday girl comes first. A little ceremony is all we need."

"You call this a ceremony?"

Sigelica pointed at the match, her voice cracking.

"You've lowered the standards for a birthday celebration below the floor."

"Below the floor is the foundation, and the foundation is the sturdiest part."

Ignoring her, he carefully stuck the match into the reddest strawberry at the very center of the strawberry cake.

Dania tilted her head as she looked at the match.

"Is this a candle?"

"An upgraded candle. Limited edition, the only one in the whole world."

"Really?"

"No, but as long as you believe it."

Dania nodded solemnly.

Dania: (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Scritch.

The match head scraped against the rough edge of the oil drum, and a small orange flame sprang up.

Zhou Yu brought that little light to the end of the matchstick, lighting the birthday match that would serve as a makeshift candle.

The flame was tiny and wavered whenever the wind blew, but it stubbornly kept burning.

Orange light fell across Dania's face, and the flickering flame was reflected in her eyes.

Dania: (o.o)

Sigelica looked at Dania's profile, softened by the firelight, and her throat tightened until she couldn't say a word.

She turned her head away, her cheeks burning, yet softly began to sing in a stiff voice.

"Happy birthday to you..."

Sigelica: (＞_＜｡)

"Xixi is singing."

Dania spoke quietly, a cautious delight in her voice.

"Shut up and listen. Don't interrupt me."

The tips of Sigelica's ears were bright red, but she kept singing.

"Happy birthday to you..."

It was clumsy and off-key, nowhere near the standard expected of a top student at Flamebearers' Academy.

"It sounds lovely."

Dania's voice was muffled.

"I said don't interrupt me!"

Sigelica's voice trembled, but the flame kept dancing, and the song went on.

Dania listened quietly as the flame danced in her eyes.

Just then, a fierce gust swept down from the depths of the night sky.

The wind was cold and fierce, carrying a malice that did not belong to this sky as it bore straight down on the makeshift table.

Aleph One.

It would not allow this little piece of everyday life to sully the sanctity of fate.

The match swayed violently, its flame pressed down to a pinprick of light.

"The flame's going out!"

Dania reached out, then pulled her hand back.

Sigelica's song broke off.

A figure moved faster than the wind.

Zhou Yu stepped forward, placing his whole body in front of the table and blocking the wind with his back.

His logistics uniform flapped wildly, and his hair was a tangled mess, but his feet stayed planted, never shifting an inch as he sheltered the dying flame in a small pocket of still air.

The flame flickered, then straightened again in front of him, burning steadily.

"Done."

Zhou Yu: (￣▽￣)ゞ

"Zhou Yu! Your uniform's about to be torn to shreds!"

"It's just a uniform. If it tears, I'll get another one."

He didn't look back.

"Make a wish, quick. If you don't, the match is going to burn my hand."

Zhou Yu: (;¬д¬)

His urging tone was exactly the same as when he pressed a coworker to turn in a weekly report. The grand will in the sky mattered less, coming from his mouth, than getting a finger burned.

"What should I wish for?"

Dania's voice was so soft it was almost swept away by the wind.

"Wish for whatever you want."

The wind bent Zhou Yu's back a little, but his voice stayed firm.

"This is your wish. You don't need anyone's approval."

Dania looked at the back hem of his uniform, distorted by the wind, then at the flame dancing quietly in front of him.

She closed her eyes.

The wind was still blowing.

But she could no longer hear it.

For the first time, she had a wish of her own.