Kioku bit at the inside of her cheek, peering down into the gift bag as she strolled down the hall. Inside was her default little gift set: One DVD (The Apology King, directed by Nobuo Mizuta. She hadn’t gotten around to seeing it yet, but she’d heard it was good and incredibly funny), some packages of unpopped popcorn (she didn’t get the hype but popcorn was apparently essential), some assorted little bags of chocolates and fruit candies and gummy candies (as well as one or two or five little packets of Citrus Golden Blend Kit Kat bars – her personal favorite), and, to top it all off, a little notebook with a pen slipped into an elastic along the spine – just in case he wanted to write a review of the film, like Kioku had a habit of doing.
And, of course, a card, wishing Komaeda the happiest of birthdays as expressed with a tiny cartoon of a little messy-haired filmmaker.
The girl’s only regret at this point, since she had everything she’d needed in the little bag, was that she could not stick around. She had a meeting downtown this evening. Ever since her spat with Shimakage things had been a little precarious around Kadokawa, and local peacemaker Shozo Kodama had since stepped in and settled things down. It was at his request that Kioku was going to this meeting – if it weren’t for him, after all, she’d probably be out of a job by now.
So, with a heavy heart, she stopped briefly at Komaeda’s door, taking only a moment to hang the gift bag on his door knob. With a quick knock to let him know something was waiting (perhaps in vain – maybe he wasn’t home), Kioku slipped away, down the hall and around the corner, muttering an apology under her breath and hoping that, if nothing else, he at least liked the gift.
‘Happy Birthday, Komaeda! May your day be full of sunshine and good things! – Kioku Higa’
Returning from his meeting with Maizono, Komaeda could have sworn he saw the figure of Kioku Haga retreating around the corner. He thought nothing of it until reaching his dorm room and finding a gift bag placed in front of his door. Placing Sayaka's gift aside, Komaeda dug through the bag to find all you could ever need for a movie night, including a DVD, a various assortment of snacks, and a notepad and pen that he wasn't sure how they fit in with the whole movie-themed present but still just as nice. He involuntarily smiled at the rather extravagant gift; there was no reason to go to such lengths for someone such as himself, but it made him pleased nevertheless.
Ah, how thoughtful, and so very... fitting. Just the sort of thing the filmmaker would do, she always treated him such such undeserved kindness that he didn't understand. First a cake from Maizono and now this? Maybe people didn't hate him as much as he thought. After scrimmaging through the bag a bit more, Komaeda located the card depicting a cartoon Kioku and chuckled to himself. He didn't need the card to know who this all was from, even if he hadn't seen her leaving. It was a shame he'd just missed her, but he had the feeling she wouldn't have been able to stick around anyway. If she was going to, she would've called when he didn't answer his door, so it was obvious she had better things to do.
Komaeda sighed softly. He was happy, of course, he'd never gotten so much recognition on his birthday, but still he felt a bit empty. It reminded him of his parents, and how distant they were, even on a day like this. Shrugging off his negative thoughts, Komaeda carefully picked up both gifts and struggled into his dorm where he placed them on the table.
The boy pulled out his phone and typed out a message for the filmmaker:
'Thank you for the gift, let's have a movie night and watch it together!!'
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