"Ah, Oniichan! What are you doing? You'll be late!" said Kimiko, who was walking to school with Sanae-chan.

She stopped and looked at him. "You ok?" she asked.

He looked up. "Yea! Just fine. I just forgot something."

She sniffed and walked on, and whispered to Sanae, loud enough for him to hear, "I betya he forgot that my birthday's right around the corner."

"Bai!" she waved, and the two of them walked on.

He laughed uneasily and inwardly groaned. It was a not-so-subtle hint, especially since he'd forgotten to get her something for her birthday the previous year.




. high resolution image . preliminary sketch . japanese version .