A/N: In my mind, for every birthday fic I write, Hiyoshi will always be eternally 14. Unless it's set in high school or some time in the future, then that's a different story. Literally. Ha, bad puns, everyone loves them. As such, every birthday fic I do will be different and specified by year. I also noticed that every time I try to write a fic for this guy, it's always a day late. Oh well, at least I remember? Yeah, not good enough. Also, I still don't know when I'm going to be coming back to Unseal and Underground Rainbow, so please be patient and wait for those, I've been really busy lately with finals coming up, not to mention I gotta get a job to pay for my cat's surgery. Wish me luck.
Pairings: Think about this for a while.
xXxXxXx
"Happy Birthday, you sick and twisted bastard."
Hiyoshi stared at the package that was dropped onto his desk, Matsuoka watching him with dim eyes, looking extremely tired.
"... Thanks?" He said, taking the poorly wrapped gift, turning it over a few times. A card was taped loosely to the back, Matsuoka's messy writing scrawled across the blue surface. Although it was mostly illegibal, Hiyoshi could make out the words "Happy Birthday" along with what he assumed were various names the other boy had called him over the year, along with today's. "I suppose that's a compliment coming from you, usually you put more effort into your insults"
"Not today, not even for you." Matsuoka said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm tired as fuck right now, I can't even see straight. I was up all night working on Hiiragi-sensei's English essay."
"Wasn't that due over two weeks ago?" Hiyoshi said, raising an eyebrow. The blond shrugged, a lazy smile on his pale face.
"Your point?"
"... Your going to flunk the eighth grade and I'm going to forget I know you, like now." He said, shaking his head. "By the way, how'd you know it was my birthday?"
"Ootori told me." Matsuoka shrugged again, turning to his desk on the other side of the room, before looking back at the other second-year.
"By the way," He said, catching the others attention. "Does that team of yours know what day it is?"
"... Hopefully not."
xXxXxXx
"Choutarou, what's in the bag?"
Choutarou quickly shoved the gift bag back in his locker, slamming the cold metal door. He turned to Shishido, who was watching him curiously. He smiled nervously.
"What bag?" He asked as honestly as he could, despite the obvious lie that was about to come out of his mouth.
"The... bag you just threw into your locker?" Shishido said, eyebrow raised. He looked directly into the taller boy's eyes, his own violet ones narrowing. "Are you hiding something?"
Choutarou swallowed thickly. "I don't know what your talking about, Shishido-sempai."
Shishido watched him for a moment before sighing.
"Fine, just don't get into any trouble."
xXxXxXx
The kohai were acting weird, was what Atone first noticed upon entering the clubroom. Hiyoshi was especially quiet, while he would have at least looked up from what ever he might have been reading.
Wait, reading?
"New book?" He asked, taking a seat on the sofa next to the younger boy. It was raining heavily, and as per usual, the regulars were gathered in the clubroom for a day off while waiting for the weather to let up.
Hiyoshi didn't respond immediately like he thought he would, instead reading a few more lines before looking up.
"Excuse me?"
"I asked, is that a new book?" He repeated, wondering why his successor was so spaced out. Hiyoshi looked down at the book in his lap before nodding.
"It's from a series I read, I've been waiting for the new volume to come out, but they're hard to get."
Atobe nodded, standing back up and walking over to his desk, where there sat a stack of club papers needing stamps and signatures. The rest of the team was oddly quiet, with Choutarou sitting on the other side of Hiyoshi, the two talking in low voices. Kabaji was standing to their right, also listening to the conversation. At least, that's what he guessed the large boy was doing.
"Oi, Oshitari." Atobe said, grabbing the back of the other's boy's blazer. Oshitari frowned at the force, turning away from his conversation with Gakuto.
"What." He stated simply, obviously annoyed. Atobe nodded to the second years in the corner, and Oshitari raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yes, nice to see them so quiet, right?"
"Too quiet." Atobe frowned. Choutarou had gotten up and walked over to his locker, pulling something out quickly and hiding it in his jacket, glancing around to make sure no one was looking. He walked back to the couch, his back to the team, handing something to Hiyoshi.
Something was up.
xXxXxXx
"Sorry, I just couldn't wait to give it to you." He said shyly, scratching the back of his head. HIyoshi gave him a small smile, pulling his bag over and unzipping it. He quickly stashed the gift away, making sure no one was looking. Choutarou tilted his head.
"You don't want to open it now?" He asked, slightly disappointed. Hiyoshi gave him an apologetic glance, jerking his head towards the noisier part of the room, where Gakuto, Shishido and Jirou were surfing the internet on the club computer. Choutarou nodded in understanding, taking his seat next to his friend.
"Sorry." Hiyoshi said quietly. "It's just gather too much attention, you know how the sempai are. We'll go to my place and I'll open it then."
Choutarou nodded again, before tilting his head. "But why don't you want the sempai to know it's your birthday?" Hiyoshi frowned, looking up at Kabaji. The taller boy nodded in understanding, obviously remembering his last "birthday" that Atobe had thrown for him. Choutarou chuckled. "I see."
"Don't get me wrong, I know they mean well," Hiyoshi said quickly, shaking his head. "Just too well sometimes."
Choutarou laughed lightly, leaning back on the soft cushions. "By the way, what did Makoto-kun give you?"
Hiyoshi rolled his eyes, sighing. "A new pair of headphones. I don't know how he gets his info, I never told anyone my old pair broke. But I guess it's fine, this way he feels like he did something nice and I don't have to buy one myself."
"I don't know if that's nice or just plain insensitive, but okay."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Both boys jumped at the sight of Jirou crouched down in front of them, watching them curiously. They looked around, his question suddenly bringing everyone's attention to their corner. Hiyoshi shivered at the intense look Atobe was sending him.
"... Nothing, Akutagawa-san." He said slowly, hoping the older boy would get the message and leave. Jirou tilted his head sleepily, not moving from his spot.
"I heard 'birthday', what's up?" He pushed, leaning forward, a mischievous smile on his face. Hiyoshi froze, the words repeating themselves over and over again in his head.
Birthday.
Birthday.
Birthday.
Well, shit...
Immediately, the other two were on them, pressing them for answers. Hiyoshi braved a glance at Atobe, who was watching the scene with mild amusement and... what was with that look?
"Atobe-buchou, what are you thinking?" He asked cautiously. Atobe raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"What are you talking about?" He asked teasingly. Hiyoshi's anxiety rose.
"No, your thinking about something, and I just know it's a bad idea." If anything, his captain's smirk grew.
"Oh, I'm just thinking about how my favorite kohai forgot to tell me it was his birthday, and went on not telling me, nor telling his friends to."
Both Choutarou and Kabaji looked different directions from the glare their captain was giving them.
"Cuz it's none of your business." Hiyoshi said firmly. "If I want to keep my birthday a secret, I can do that. Besides, it's on my file, which you should have." If anything, he was surprised he hadn't gotten some sort of text the moment he woke up from their unpredictable captain. Though, the most shocking part had to be his reaction to not being told. "Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything, I got over my birthday years ago, it's just another day, after all."
Atobe's eyes narrowed at this, before he stood up and pulled out his cellphone.
"No matter what you say, it has to be done." He started, walking towards the door to the next connected room. Hiyoshi's eyes widened, catching on immediately.
"Oi, wait, you bastard!" He said, bolting out the door after Atobe, who had already broken out into a run. "Don't do what I know your about to do!"
Choutarou sighed at the chase continued, the thumping of footsteps echoing through the empty halls.
Yes, Hiyoshi would eventually come to like his birthday. Whether he liked it or not, apparently.
xXxXxXx
A/N: Not really how I expected to end it, but it's definitely a little different from the first one, which will be dubbed the "2011 version". And yeah, I brought Mako back just cuz he's my source of inspiration when I really have no ideas. I wanted to end it off differently, but seeing as it's past 1 am and my classes start early tomorrow, I think it's best for me to save what ever else I had to say for another time. Til then.