Roughly a week had passed since the couple found out about an abandoned elven village, where a group of fox beastpeople was living. This was of little interest on this specific day, though, because it finally was Maya’s birthday.

“Thanks for coming by! I’m sorry that Maya’s not here.” Sophia, Anna, and Ari were standing in the entrance hall of the couple’s mansion.

“That’s alright.” Anna didn’t seem to mind it.

“Yes.” Ari agreed. “We just wanted to bring over a little present and the cake the two of us made together. I’m sure the two of you want to be alone today, anyway.”

“Yeah, thank you very much. I’m sure she’ll love it. We’ll come over tomorrow or so to celebrate a little more.”

“Sounds great.” The princess liked the idea.

“I’m looking forward to it.” So did the jaguar. “Also, good luck later. I’m sure you’ll pull it off perfectly.”

“Ehehe, thanks! I trained a lot over the last week when I was alone, and I’m quite confident now.”

“Great.” Ari showed her a full smile.

“What’s this about?” Anna seemed a little confused.

“Ah, I guess it’s fine to tell you now, I guess.” Sophia didn’t see any harm in letting her in on the secret plan. “Our Ari here has been teaching me a little cooking lately because I’m awful at it. Maya’s always the one who cooks for our group, and I was even too stupid to help her out. As a surprise, and to thank her for that, I want to cook a dish for her today.”

“Aww…” The princess liked this a lot.

“She’s adorable, isn’t she?” The jaguar had been a fan of the idea since the beginning.

“Absolutely!”

“Ehehe…” The blonde let out a bashful giggle.

“Good luck!” The duo was rooting for her.

“By the way,” Anna looked at her fellow tiger again. “Don’t you think you were blonde enough already…?”

“Ahh…” Sophia grabbed a few strands of her hair to look at it. There wasn’t a hint of orange left as it had fully turned into a really light blonde. She still had the tiger ears, the characteristic tail, and the black signature-like striped pattern, but her hair color was something else entirely by now. She was still blonde, but when comparing the hair and fur of Anna, who also had considerably lightened up, and Maya, she’d actually be way closer to the cat-girl now.

“It looks great!” Ari also had an opinion on it.

“Definitely!” The princess nodded a few times.

“Yeah!” Sophia started smiling. “I love it, too! I actually hope that it stays that way once it gets warmer again!”

“That would be awesome!” Anna nodded again. “Mine always turns back in spring, though.”

“Well, I’ve always been a bit of an exception when it comes to being out of the norm.” She somehow sounded fairly confident that her hair was going to stay like this.

“True.” The duo didn’t hesitate for even a second with their reply.

“Hey!” The blonde got loud. “Just because it’s true, it doesn’t mean that you have to agree to it so readily!”

----------------

After a little more chatting, the duo left Sophia alone again. They didn’t want to hold her up today, after all. Anna also mentioned that the two wanted to visit the beauty store because she volunteered as a test subject to get her hair straightened, and she was more motivated than ever after she saw Sophia’s smooth hair today. Roughly half an hour after the two left the mansion, Maya finally came back home.

“I’m back~.” Her cheerful voice echoed through the entrance hall.

“Welcome home!” Sophia stuck her head out of the kitchen to greet her. “What’s in that bag?” She noticed that the cat-girl was holding a white shopping bag without any text whatsoever on it.

“I’ll tell you later~.”

“Oh?” That only made her more interested in it.

“More importantly, why are you in the kitchen?”

“I’ll tell you later~.” The tiger used the same tactic on her.

“Okay…?” Maya looked a little suspicious but decided to ignore it for now.

“You missed Ari and Anna earlier. They brought over a present for you and even baked a cake.”

“Really? They sure are sweet.” The cat-girl looked touched. “I’ll have to thank them.”

“Yes, I already told them that we’ll come over soon.”

“Great! Thanks.”

“Not today, though. We’ll be busy, after all.”

“I like the sound of that. By the way, what’s the plan?” Maya still had no idea what was going on, after all.

“Hmm~.” Sophia’s lips curled into a smile. “Do you want your present first? Or the other thing I’ve been preparing for the last two weeks~?”

“Oho?” She raised her eyebrows in interest. “That second thing sounds really interesting.”

“Hehe.” The tiger liked her reaction. “Okay, how about the present first, and we’ll save the best for last~?”

“Sure, I leave it to you. It’s your surprise, after all.”

“Ehehe. Okay, go to the living room first. I’ll go and get your present!”

“Okay.” Maya gave her a nod.

“Alright!” With a big smile, the blonde joined her cat in the living room after a few minutes while holding a neatly wrapped and decorated bag in her arms. “Once again, happy birthday~.” While saying so, Sophia gave her a quick kiss before handing over her present. “It’s not the most creative one, but I hope you still like it.”

“You didn’t have to give me something in the first place, so I’ll be happy about whatever you got me~.” Afterward, Maya opened her present and was greeted by an assortment of bottles, flask, and many other containers. “Oh~, someone went on a shopping spree in the beauty store, huh? Thank you!” It contained various bottles of shampoos, conditioners, cremes, and other care products. “I haven’t seen a ton of these products before.”

“Hehe.” Sophia looked quite smug all of a sudden. “Most of them are specially made for you!”

“Really?!”

“Yep! When I was back in the store to discuss more about my hair iron, I borrowed Sarah, the black-haired cat-girl, for the rest of the day to create some products just for you. Well, the shampoos and conditioners, at least. The hand cremes and skincare products are the royal ones because you love them just as much as I do. They’re scented a little differently, though. You’re into vanilla lately, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, they’re great! I especially like the hand creme! Yep, vanilla’s great! How are the hair products specially made for me, though?”

“Sarah’s been working on perfecting their formula for the hair of the cat-tribe or something like that. It’s based on that, but it also has some coloring pigments in it, together with some stuff to increase the shininess. She already had a version for her own black hair ready, but we made a version for your white one. We also added some sort of nutrients for hair as long as yours. If you use these products, your hair will be whiter, shinier, and healthier than ever~.”

“Ohh!” Maya liked the sound of that. “That sounds amazing! Thank you so much! I love it!”

“Ehehe~.” Sophia seemed happy. “I haven’t given a present to anyone outside my family in forever, so I had no idea if it’s any good. Especially when taking into consideration that it’s a gift for my girlfriend.”

“If you think this is a bad or boring present, I have no idea how I’d be able to ever get a present for you when you’re getting good at it. This gift here is amazing!”

“Thank you!” She was glad that Maya liked it this much.

----------------

The couple chatted a little longer about the present and the care products until the two eventually changed the topic a little because the cat-girl was curious about Sophia’s birthday.

“By the way, when’s yours?”

“My birthday?” The tiger pointed at herself. “Right before the start of spring. March 15, to be exact.”

“Oh, that’s still a while away, huh? That means I have enough time to find a good present for you~.”

“Ehehe, I look forward to it.”

“Wait, right before spring started?” Maya tilted her head. “Isn’t that around the time when you came to this world? Did you actually arrive here around your birthday...?”

“Actually, no.” Sophia shook her head. “It was the end of summer when I left my old world.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep. Pretty confusing, huh?”

“Very!” Maya nodded. “Well, it’s a different world, after all.”

“Sure is.” The blonde agreed. “While we’re at it… Ever since I came here, I lost completely track of the date… Is it still October? It feels like it, at least. The very end of it. I at least want to remember the date of my girlfriend’s birthday.”

“Yep, it’s actually the very last day of October, the 32nd.”

“Oh, I see. I guess my sense of time isn’t completely dest- Wait, what?” Sophia stopped mid-sentence once the actual date registered in her brain.

“Hmm?”

“Did you say 32 just now?”

“Yep, October 32, today’s date.”

“October only has 31 days, though?”

“No?” The cat-girl disagreed with her. “I have to know. It’s my birthday, after all.”

“…” She needed a moment.

“What’s wrong?”

“In my old world, it only has 31 days… Wait, what about the other months…?”

“Pretty much alternating between 31 and 32 days, with February being a few days longer.”

“Seriously…?” Sophia looked extremely confused. “It was 30 and 31 days, and February being shorter… Wait, it felt normal, but a day still has 24 hours with 60 minutes each, right…?”

“Yep.” The cat-girl only nodded.

“How… How many days does a year here have?”

“380.”

“Seriously?!” She got loud. “That’s 15 whole more days than in my old world with 365 days. WAIT!” The blonde got even louder all of a sudden. “15 times 23… That’s 300… 345 days! I’m 345 days younger in this world… I’m 22 again~. Oh, that also means you’re actually older than me, Maya.”

“Eh?” The cat-girl needed a moment. “What…?”

“You’re the older one between us~.” Sophia’s voice sounded extra cheery for some reason.

“Is that really how it works…?”

“If the days are the same length, but a year has more of them here… 345 days after 23 years is almost a whole extra year, after all. By this world’s standard, I’m halfway through 22. Or, by my standards, you’re about to turn-”

“Don’t you dare to finish that sentence.” Maya glared at her.

“Ehehe.” She liked her reaction. “I’m just kidding. We live in this world, after all~. Whether I’m half a year younger or older than you, does it really matter?”

“I suppose… not…” The cat-girl still looked a bit miffed about it, though.

“Uhh…” Sophia suddenly looked confused again. “When is my birthday now…? Is it still March 15, or do I have to use some advanced math now…? That won’t end well for any of us.”

“Err…” Maya, too, tilted her head. “Can you stop being so damn complicated already?!”

“Ahaha… I wish…” She could only laugh.

“Hmm… I think it’s still okay. After all, that’s still the day, or date, you were born. It also kinda matches the time when you arrived in this world. It should be fine.”

“I see. Yeah, that makes sense.”

The couple chatted about the topic for a little longer until it slightly made sense for both, which made it quickly become the late afternoon.

“I’m getting a little hungry… Your surprise, or whatever you planned, doesn’t include a nice dinner or something like that, doesn’t it?”

“Actually…” Sophia scratched her cheek. “That is my surprise.”

“Ohh!” Maya liked the sound of that.

“I’m going to cook for us.”

“Eh?!” The cat-girl quickly changed her mind. She didn’t like the sound of that.

While the cat-girl was petrified, Sophia got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen after she forbade Maya to follow after her.