Disclaimer: I do not own Hamtaro

A/N: italics - Cappy's thoughts

Plain text- normal POV

Bold and italics - flashbacks

August 6th, a day of celebration for my friends. It's a special day for everyone in the group, except for me.

Cappy slowly walked along the sidewalk of the shopping district. He tightened the scarf around his neck, it was unnaturally cold for August, then he put his hands back into his pockets. He looked at the watch hoping that time would go faster.

I used to wait for that special to come every year. I would count down the days like any other child would, I was such a baby. Yes… August 6th is my birthday.

Cappy finally exited out of the shopping district area with a shopping bag in his hands. It contained streamers, confetti, and balloons. He was nominated as the 'supplies guy' out of all the others.

No, even though it is my birthday, the decorations aren't for me. It's for…

"Hamtaro's birthday is in a week!!" Boss yelled as he slammed his hand on the restaurant table. "We should throw him a surprise party; he's turning 17 this year." The teen declared.

The group of friends (except Hamtaro) was inside a small café enjoying their drinks and desserts.

Cappy started to sip on his drink loudly so he wouldn't hear the conversation Boss started, but it was hard to do so because his friends were talking so loud.

"We need preparations so the party is going to be bigger and better than last year's." Maxwell stated.

"The girls and I can get the food ready." Bijou volunteered.

"I wouldn't mind help decorating." Dexter added.

One by one, the group of friends assigned jobs to themselves.

"All we need now is someone to get the supplies we needed." Boss said. He eyed Cappy and smiled. "I volunteer Cappy to get the supplies!"

Cappy almost choked on his drink when he heard his name. He set the cup down on the table and looked at Boss with wide-eyes. "Huh?"

"You're going to be the 'supplies guy'!"

'Supplies guy'? Ha, that's funny. The last time I checked I was supposed to be the Birthday Boy. I guess they forgot about it.

Cappy reached a small neighborhood and looked at each house as he passed by.

Every year, my friends would always throw a surprise party for Hamtaro. I would mention that my birthday was the same day as Hamtaro when we plan for his party. Every year, they would look at me in a surprised way, realizing that they had forgotten about it. They would smile and congratulate me then and there, but never on my special day.

That day was reserved for our hero Hamtaro. No one would put my birthday before Hamtaro's, not that I asked for it. No… I never asked for that… it's probably out of the question for the others. I was lucky that someone even remembered that it was also my special day after the huge celebration for the guest of honor.

But I still never complained about it.

Slowly… every year, my expectations from my friends started to decrease as they started to forget. I knew that even though I told them, they'd forget because they had something more important to think about. In this case, it's Hamtaro's birthday.

Cappy finally reached the street he was looking for. The houses started to look larger, but knowing that Bijou's mansion (where the party is taken place) is probably the largest of them all, he'd have to walk a bit more until he finally found it.

On my 10th birthday, I told them about it during our plan for Hamtaro's party. On August 6th, only half the group remembered and gave me half-hearted presents and the rest just congratulated me. But I was still happy.

For the next two years, I started to receive less and smaller things while Hamtaro's gifts started to increase and seemed to get bigger. But I was still happy thinking that some of them still remembered.

It was on my 13th birthday, no one got me anything. I didn't say anything of course, knowing that it was only for an obvious cause. But on that day, I remember sitting in the corner, hoping that someone would remember and at least congratulate me. It never happened.

Again, for the next two years, I didn't get anything and again my expectations started to decrease. And finally on my 16th birthday, I only asked for one simple thing.

Cappy sighed. And he looked at his watch. He only had a few minutes to get to Bijou's mansion so the rest of the gang can put up the decorations before the Oxnard entered with the guest of honor.

For my 16th birthday, I didn't ask for someone to magically give me a party, I didn't ask for the biggest present on earth; heck, I didn't even ask for someone to say 'happy birthday', all I wanted was one, just one person to remember.

"Cappy!"

Cappy quickly turned around, surprised that someone called out his name. He suddenly felt two arms wrapped around his body. He looked down to see who it was and it was none other than Penelope.

"Cappy!" Penelope said as she unwrapped herself from him. "What's in the bag?" She said as she pointed at the bag he was carrying.

"Oh, it's the decorations for Hamtaro's party." Cappy explained as he started walking again.

"I see. Are you stay for the party this time?" Penelope asked.

Cappy turned looked at Penelope and shook his head. "Probably not..."

"Oh." Is all Penelope said as she skipped passed him. "I'm going to go ahead; I was in charge of the ice cream." She said as she lifted a container with melting ice cream.

"You better hurry, it's dripping." Cappy said as he pointed at the container.

"Oh no! I better hurry!" Penelope said as she started to run off. "I'll see you at the party!"

As Penelope started running, Cappy heard a soft 'thud' sound. He realized something fell out of her jacket pocket and onto the ground. He quickly picked it up.

"Hey wait! You dropped…" Cappy looked up and saw the Penelope already was far ahead of him.

He stared at the tiny package. It was decorated with green tissue paper with a yellow ribbon tying it up. "It must be for Hamtaro." He mumbled.

Cappy started to put the small present into his pocket then realized he forgot to pick up the card off the ground as well. He bended over to grab the small hand-made card; when he picked it up, his eyes grew wide. The front cover read:

Happy 16th Birthday Cappy

Thanks for reading 'Remembered'!

I know Cappy's and Hamtaro's birthday isn't for another several months, but I was inspired by my friends, so before I lose that motivation, I wrote this story. Hope you enjoyed it!