An extremely (ten days) late birthday fic for Raven. Happy birthday, I guess? His birthday was on the eighth, if I remember correctly.

Rena: Grand Archer (17)

Raven: Blade Master (17)

Everybody else is up to you.

What, he wondered, exactly was he supposed to think? He wasn't a person to get upset very often, but it had been ten days since his birthday and sure, he'd gotten gifts, but there was one person in particular he was hoping to get a gift from and it had yet to arrive. Raven wasn't sure if it ever would. Rena wasn't the type of person to just not get people gifts, but she seemed entirely nonchalant about the whole thing. It made him a little sad and depressed as the days went on by, something that went unnoticed by the cheerful Rena.

But not to the eyes of a few. It was obvious that Eve had noticed immediately, and soon afterwards Raven noticed that Chung was looking at him a little differently, too, almost pityingly. It was boring and tiresome to drag himself to his crazy high school every day, only to be looked empathetically by his underclassmen. Elsword, his good friend, had also noticed and apparently had told his girlfriend, too.

Ugh.

The day was dark and damp, and it played a couple scores on Raven's mood, too. He didn't feel particularly snazzy today, especially after Rena had waved him a simple hello, a snippet of news she'd caught Aisha talking about earlier before bounding up to catch up to Chloe, her good friend.

It had been ten days. What was he expecting? Ten days, and not a single gift from Rena. Not even a simple 'happy birthday'. As childhood friends, Raven didn't think Rena would forget such a thing. But it had been some time.

He was probably overthinking this. Rena was the forgetful type, anyways. He shrugged his backpack into his locker, moodily shoving things out and back into the locker. As he just about slammed his history book into his locker, a hand caught his arm. Raven whipped around to stare into a pair of exasperated crimson eyes.

"Seriously? You're that upset about not getting a gift?" Elsword asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Raven snorted, shoving the book back in, gentler this time. "If you didn't get a gift from Aisha, wouldn't you be disappointed?"

The crimson-haired boy crossed his arms. "Okay, point taken. But really, it's been a while and it's obvious that she totally forgot. Just get over it. Oh, by the way, class starts in a minute if you're going to keep moping around, you know." He leaned against a locker, red eyes boring into Raven's. He merely shrugged it off.

"I'm going to skip today. Not feeling up to trig today."

"Suit yourself. I'd go with you, you know, if Aisha doesn't – "

"You!" A high-pitched, shrill shriek echoed from across the room and both guys turned around. Thankfully, they were the only ones in the hallway. Aisha stood next to the math classroom's door, looking annoyed. "Class starts now, douchebags! You'll be marked absent if you don't get in here now."

Elsword chuckled sheepishly. "Okay, okay, I get the message. Coming." He trotted obediently over to Aisha, and the girl looked at him expectantly.

"Skipping," He informed her. Aisha's mouth twisted into an irritated line, but she didn't say anything. She knew how moody Raven could get, especially when it came to Rena.

Then she abruptly turned and stormed back into the classroom. Elsword shrugged apologetically and followed her in. The closing of the door was the loudest sound in the hallway. He stared expectantly at the door for a few minutes, not really looking for anything, and then went up to the school roof.

It was cool out there, but the clouds were still gray and a damp froth still floated around in the air. Raven knew Aisha didn't mean to get mad at him, but that woman took her school duties way too seriously. He flopped out on the ground, huffing a little angrily to himself. Okay, maybe he was overthinking things.

But Rena was special to him. He didn't know if she felt the same, but she was important. He squeezed his eyes shut in a moment of concentrated embarrassment, and then let loose an annoyed huff. He was so irritated with himself and for letting Rena make him feel this way.

"I'm such a fool," He sighed.

"O~h?" A voice giggled from behind him. Raven jerked upright and whipped his head behind him. Rena sat on the bench to the side opposite of his, her green eyes shining with amusement. "Don't belittle yourself so easily like that, Raven. You're not a fool."

He tensed. When did she get there? Rena smiled serenely, as if she realized his strain. She stood up, tucking a loose strand of green hair behind her ear and slowly moved closer to him, eventually ending up sitting on the ground next to him. "Sometimes I want to skip, too," She said to him, looking at the town layout in front of her.

"Never done it before," He murmured. She laughed. It was like wind chimes.

Then suddenly Rena tensed next to him, her fingers reaching towards her pocket. Raven glanced at her. Her cheeks were stained a light pink, and she sighed. "Um… I'm sorry, Raven. For not saying happy birthday. I just… I just couldn't find the right time to say it… So, um, here you go."

Squeezing her eyes shut, her fingers quickly darted from the inside of her coat pocket and pressed a small box into his palm. Then Rena quickly turned around to face the other way, refusing to look at him.

He was stunned. What was that? But a small burst of happiness blossomed in his chest when he looked down at her present. "Thanks," He said, glancing backwards. Rena turned her head, her cheeks bright red, and squeaked a 'you're welcome' back. Raven studied the box curiously for a moment, wondering what could be inside. It was small, small enough to fit his palm. But then again, he'd been told that his hand was large, so…

Raven flipped it open. Inside was a single ring, plain and gold. His breath hitched, and his eyes watered. She'd gotten this for him? He smirked slightly and turned around to stare at Rena, who'd moved to behind him. "Are you proposing to me?"

She blushed furiously. "N-no, it's just that – aggh! I knew you'd say something like this... This is why I told Eve that I shouldn't g-get you something like this, but she - "

Rena was cut off when Raven grabbed her arm, pulled her closer and pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes widened. Time seemed to stop as Raven gently deepened the kiss, smiling softly against her lips. He never wanted his moment to end; it was just as if time had stopped just for them. Rena gently reached up to cup his cheek with one hand, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. Her breath was warm against his, and he inwardly sighed contentedly before pulling away. Rena sat there, frozen, and then her face burst into flames.

"Y-you…" She mumbled, leaning closer until her face was pressing against his chest. "I-I mean… That…"

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. "Thanks, Rena. I love you," His face got hot, but he didn't mind. His fist enclosed around the ring case; he'd have to tease her about it later.

After all, Rena was frankly the only thing that mattered.

Underneath them, in the history classroom below, Eve smiled. Chung stared at her curiously, but she merely gave him a placid smile and held a finger up to her lips. He smiled back and gestured upwards. She nodded.

"It looks like Raven got the gift he wanted after all." Eve told him, placing her hands calmly on her lap.

Chung beamed, and then said, "I guess so."

Eeeeeeggggh. I felt a little weird when I wrote this. I can't write kissing scenes... Eeeeeeeeeehhhhh.

Enjoy, I guess. Eeeeehhghg.