Hakkai's Birthday Surprise
"Ow! Hakkai, it hurts!" Goku mumbled through clenched teeth, as Hakkai continued to apply stinging disinfectant on the many cuts on his back from the tiring fight earlier that day, "How many more?" "Just one more, Goku," said Hakkai patiently, putting a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. Goku braced himself as the last contact came. It stung more horribly than the others did. Goku let out a small whimper and clenched his teeth. "There," said Hakkai, placing a bandage, "It's done." Goku rolled over to face the healer. "Thanks Hakkai," he said. You really didn't have to do that you know, he thought as he stared at his friend, well... someone had to...
"My pleasure, Goku," said Hakkai, smiling. He yawned then. "I'm going to get some sleep, dinner is in the kitchen, and Goku, please insure Gojyo and Sanzo sort their laundry and make sure their rooms aren't a total mess. I'd like to clean them in the morning."
"Sure Hakkai," said Goku.
Gojyo and Sanzo found Goku under the table.
"Uh... what are you doing?" said Gojyo. Gold eyes met the ruby. Gojyo was stunned to see how serious those gold eyes were; serious instead of innocent. Not even the food on the table was disturbed. "Trying to figure out what to do in order to make Hakkai happy," Goku explained, "he's done a lot for us, and with a sky of patience."
"You're right..." said Gojyo as he thought for a moment, "It's his birthday tomorrow, want to do something for his birthday?"
Goku thought for a moment before answering. "How about I do his chores?"
"Do you even know what he does?"
"Write them down then..." said Goku patiently. To Gojyo, he sounded like Hakkai, but he did as Goku asked and wrote down the three chores Hakkai had to deal with everyday.
"Think you can handle that?" asked Sanzo. Goku winced at the three chores in the list. "Let's just say, at least we're not staying here permanently," he said calmly, which surprised his guardian, who refused to show it. He must be thinking about Hakkai's exhaustion, thought Sanzo, looking at the partially visible bandage on Goku's shoulder. "Idiot," he muttered softly, with the smallest hint of affection.
The sun shone dimly the next day when Hakkai woke up. He felt well rested and ready to move. He glanced over to the clock as he stretched. He frowned and looked at the clock again. It cannot have be so light at six o'clock in the morning. He stood up and headed towards the window. Opening the curtains, Hakkai saw that the sun was setting in the west.
How could they have let me sleep so much, thought Hakkai, I'll not get everything done by tomorrow. He headed towards the laundry area. What he saw made him pinch himself, hoping that he was dreaming. All the clothes were freshly cleaned and folded neatly. Hakkai stared with utter confusion. "Eh, the laundry's done?" he murmured. A small strip of paper was laid on top of the pile of neatly folded laundry. 1. Laundry
I guess I'll clean the rooms then, Hakkai thought. He wondered what was going on. As he stepped into Sanzo's room, he found it surprisingly clean, even the ash tray was empty, as was the room Goku and Gojyo shared. Hakkai's confusion added when he found another small strip of paper, this one was on Goku's bed. 2. Clean the rooms
Either someone up there likes me, or the guys are just waiting for their dinner, Hakkai thought again, hoping he was right. He went down to the and found it clean, with dinner made. "Dinner's ready?" he questioned. The dishes were covered, and the utensils were in place. On one plate was a third strip of paper. 3. Dinner
The table was complete with... "A cake?" Hakkai mused. On the cake, with green icing, was written: Happy Birthday, Hakkai!
Not that Hakkai had forgotten his birthday, he was very tired on that particular day
"Am I dreaming or something?" he asked himself. A soft snore made Hakkai turn around. Goku was sleeping beside the counter, crayons in hand. Hakuryu curled up next to him.
Hakkai shook his head at the sight and covered the boy's tired shoulders with a blanket. The boy was either an idiot or he wanted something to eat. He saw then, in the boy's other hand was a coloured picture. It looked like a card. Curious, Hakkai gently lifted the boy's arm and took out the card from underneath.
On the front picture, Hakkai knew was a badly but carefully drawn picture of him. Smiling... happily with Hakuryu on his shoulder. He opened the card and softly chuckled at the picture of a white cake decorated with leaves the colour of his eyes.
Though there are times when you mother us,
I'm grateful that you are there when we needed you...
And happy that you are my friend
Happy Birthday... Hakkai
Goku
Hakkai looked at the small boy. Did Goku really do all this?
It can't be. The boy could draw pictures, true, but for him to clean, cook and laundry clothes was... pretty unbelievable.
"Thank you," he whispered, running his fingers through Goku's soft brown hair.
Sanzo and Gojyo came in then, from shopping. When Gojyo saw Hakkai near Goku, he put a finger on his lips and jerked his thumb upwards. Indicating that Goku had wanted to surprise him with that card.
Hakkai was in the room for only a few minutes before Goku called for him, "Hakkai! Hakkai!"
"Yes, Goku?" he said calmly, pretending to snap out of a day dream.
"Come it's dinner time," the boy urged, "I'm pretty sure you haven't eaten all day,"
"As a matter of fact," said Hakkai as the walked to the kitchen, "I am kind of hungry..."
"Happy Birthday!" chorused Gojyo, Goku and, surprisingly, Sanzo.
They had a good dinner together, and cake. Though Goku was was not the best cook in the world, they managed to eat without choking. They stayed up for a bit and played Mah-jong. Goku went to bed after the third game. What made it perfect, to Goku, was to see Hakkai smiling happily.
"Goku didn't really do all that did he?" asked Hakkai as Sanzo went to check on Goku an hour later. "I'm surprised you didn't hear anything," Gojyo chuckled, putting down a full house in their game of poker, "How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you," replied Hakkai putting down a royal flush, thus winning the game. And he did, he was not as tired as he was the day before.
"It took a lot from Goku to restrain from eating the food," Gojyo explained. "I can see that," Hakkai chuckled, "Now, maybe we should do the same with Sanzo."
"Don't even think about it," Sanzo snorted, as he came into the kitchen, "Chimp's asleep,"
"I'm not surprised," Hakkai replied, "Thank you for today. It meant a lot to me,"
"As Gojyo said, Goku did most of the work, we just bought the supplies," muttered Sanzo. "He's a good kid," Gojyo murmured. "Agreed," sighed Hakkai, giving them one of his rare happy smiles again.