Yuuna and I brought everyone to the kitchen and revealed the cake. 3 tiers, vanilla, and nicely decorated. We"re not bakers in any way but we pulled an amazing job!Cynthia: "Woah! That cake looks amazing!"
Yuuna: "We worked for hours while everyone was asleep. It wasn"t easy, especially since we"d have to keep it quiet."
Steven: "Yuuna helped ma.s.sively so I say she has the honor of cutting the cake."
Yuuna: "Me? Are you sure? You"ve done the same amount of work I did."
Madelyn: "Oh, come on. Is it that big of a deal?"
Allowing someone to cut a cake is a sign of respect. At least that"s how it works here in Everhand.
Since the cake was my idea and Yuuna helped me on such short notice, she deserves to cut it more than anyone.
Steven: "Yes, it"s Everhand"s little culture."
Yuuna: "Well, alright, I"ll be happy to."
She grabs the largest knife we had and evenly cuts it into 8 even pieces. Since there were 7 of us, one piece would be leftover. I wanted the Elder and Esmond to have a slice, which meant sacrificing my own. I"ll have to settle on only cheesecake then…
Maybe a third cake would"ve been a good idea…
Cynthia: "What about the cheesecake?"
Steven: "You brought it when I asked, you can cut it."
Cynthia: "Really?"
Livia: "I agree with Steven."
Cynthia smiles and cuts the cheesecake. Everyone else got their piece and Yuuna reaches for her wine rack and procures a bottle for us to drink.
Yuuna: "Does anybody want wine?"
Steven: "We also made lemonade if n.o.body wants to get drunk."
Cynthia: "You guys did everything!"
Madelyn: "What about Lawrence and the Elder dude?"
Yuuna: "I"ll save them both a piece. I think Steven hasn"t got a piece of the cake we made for that very reason."
Steven: "That"s right."
Yuuna: "But my brother doesn"t like vanilla. I"ll save him a slice of cheesecake instead."
Not to be a hard-a.s.s but doesn"t cheesecake usually have vanilla extract?
Does the Elder even know that fact?
Steven: "Are you loving the cake, Joan?"
She nods, smiling while having a fork in her mouth. Her smile alone tells me what I wanted to know!
We returned to the living room and all gathered around. It"s already 11 and we"re barely having a good time. I sat between Kanna and Yuuna on the couch, while everyone else sat on the loveseat and chairs pulled from the kitchen.
Yuuna: "This day is going by wonderfully."
Steven: "I hope we can keep it this way."
Yuuna: "Yes, I wish days like these would be more common."
Steven: "You"re not getting sentimental, are you?"
Yuuna: "Maybe, maybe not. I"m 39 years old and I"ve never been so at peace in so long. Leave me alone."
Someone like Yuuna definitely has her own troubles but I"ve always seen her with a smile. One would a.s.sume that she"s always at peace because of how carefree she is.
Yuuna: "I just want you to know this: I"m glad you came into our lives."
Madelyn: "Aww~"
Cynthia: "Aww~"
They both collectively said.
Steven: "Wow… I…"
I was too stunned to speak at first.
Steven: "Do you really mean that?"
Yuuna: "I do."
I never once expected anyone to say something like that to me, especially from Yuuna, so it has me very quiet. The best I could do was slowly eat my cake while fighting back against the tears.
Madelyn: "He"s too emotional to say anything. I know he feels the same towards you."
Yuuna: "You can tell?"
Madelyn: "Of course I can."
Kanna slowly leans on me, resting her soft cheek on my arm.
Kanna: "Don"t cry… you"ll make me cry…"
Madelyn: "What"d he do that makes you glad he"s a part of your life?"
Yuuna: "A couple of weeks before he was kidnapped… he actually sat down and listened to me one time after I dealt with a difficult customer. He cooked a small meal, handed me a gla.s.s of wine and took over the store until I cooled down. I"ll be honest, it had me gobsmacked."
Madelyn: "You actually did that, Steven?"
I nod.
Steven: "It"s what my mother did one time when a waitress was having a horrible shift. Yuuna works all day without taking a break, so she deserves some time to herself."
Yuuna: "Not a lot of people are willing to do that on their own accord. Not even my late husband. I"m not romantically interested in Steven, to make it clear, I just think he"s a great man."
Madelyn: "You were married?"
Yuuna: "Yeah, I was…"
Madelyn: "I"m sorry."
Yuuna: "Enough about me, I want to hear why Kanna loves him."
Madelyn: "Yeah, let"s hear the good bits!"
Kanna: "Well…"
She looks down at her plate and struggles to speak.
Madelyn: "Nothing?"
Steven: "Give her a minute, she"s bad with questions like that."
Kanna looks back at Madelyn.
Kanna: "I love him. I know I do. It"s not even the big things like jewelry. He just does these things that make me happy. Like… he can communicate with me. I feel sad, he makes something small and delicious and talks to me. I"m happy, and his smile just makes things even better. I feel lonely, he invites everyone and we hang out. I told him that I thought orange was a cute color and he comes back with orange juice a few minutes later. Do you know what I mean? He just does things like that like it"s natural to him."
Madelyn: "Oh, he"s more thoughtful than he lets on!"
She points over to me.
Madelyn: "And now I want to hear it from the big man! Steven! Why are you in love with Kanna!?"
Steven: "Kanna…"
There"s so much I want to say but I can"t find the right words for it. Kanna"s my savior but they already know about her saving me that if I bring it up again it"ll be redundant.
Steven: "You all know about her saving me… but there"s more to it than that. I do what I do for her because seeing her happy makes me happy. She"s my best friend. I…"
Madelyn: "Wait. Do you 2 have a contract where you can feel each other"s feelings?"
Steven: "No, but it"s possible to have one. The contract we have is that of a Master and a Servant. I"m allowed to have my own input and be independent."
There has to be a way to sum it up without getting too into a monologue.
Steven: "I just know that she"s the one."
Yuuna: "Ohoho~!"
Steven: "I… uh~ meant it… not… in a weird way—"
Yuuna: "Steven… relax."
Madelyn: "Aw, I like to think the both of you were meant for each other."
Her fingers fly in the direction of Cynthia and Livia.
Madelyn: "Alright, Cynthia and Livia! Don"t think you can hide from me. Who in this room is important to you and why?"
Livia: "Ehh?"
Cynthia: "Kanna, obviously. She"s my best friend and the only person, really, that I can talk to about anything."
Madelyn: "How did you meet her?"
Cynthia: "At a ball. Long, long, time ago. I remember her and Aunt Yuuna and thinking she had cute ears."
I thought her ears were fake before. I wonder what Madelyn thought too.
Madelyn: "Nice. Nice. And you, Livia?"
Livia: "My best friend, Steven. He was the first guy I met who hasn"t tried sleeping with me or bullied me. He nearly got expelled because he defended me."
Madelyn: "A guy like that is pretty rare, huh?"
Yuuna: "There"s one more and it"s you, Madelyn."
Cynthia: "Yeah! Who"s important to you?"
Madelyn: "What about Joan?"
Joan, who was taking little bites out of cake this entire time, looks at Madelyn and points to me. She was serious about enjoying her cake that I couldn"t help but laugh.
Yuuna: "We knew who she"d pick. We don"t know who you"ll pick though."
Madelyn: "So, someone important then? Can it be more than one person?"
Yuuna: "Keep it to just one person, dear."
Cynthia: "Someone in this room?"
Madelyn: "Steven… he"s my brother."
Steven: "They don"t have to be in this room, Madelyn."
Madelyn: "Then it has to be Young Mi. She"s like a mom to me and taught me how to survive."
The more I think about it, the more I"m certain that Young Mi sees us like her own kids. Dai-tai and Niroja are still her favorites but we"re her kids.
Madelyn: "Oh, actually, Steven, were there any other women before Kanna you liked?"
Steven: "Where"s this coming from?"
Madelyn: "You came from LA, you had to crush on someone."
Steven: "Yeah, duh, but they were just crushes."
Madelyn: "You were a loser in love?"
Steven: "No, don"t say it like that. I just hated the people I went to school with. They all knew I lived at a restaurant so they tried to get free food off me."
Madelyn: "Were you at least friends with any women?"
Steven: "Uhh, I have a cousin named Emily. Does she count?"
Madelyn: "Hmm, I guess so. You weren"t trying to get with her, were you?"
Steven: "…the f.u.c.k?"
She can come up with some of the most ridiculous things!
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Yuuna: "Anyways…"