I was staring manically at the game I was playing and trying to ignore my silent phone. I was getting nowhere. I didn't care what I was doing on the game that I was playing; I didn't know what I was playing at this point. But my phone wasn't ringing and the more that it stayed silent the more I was convinced that I was going to have to kill my boyfriend.

Maybe I should call him?

If I had to call him and remind him what day it was I was going to have to decide whether I wanted Otani fried or diced. He should have called me at midnight and instead I had gotten calls from everyone, but him.

Maybe he was already dead. That would make sense. He wouldn't be in trouble if he were dead. Then again if he was dead I highly doubted that Otani being in trouble with me going to matter, that was going to be the least of his problems really. I started to panic when I really started thinking about all the things that could have happened to Otani.

I picked up the phone to call Nakao and ask him if he knew were Otani was.

He picked up on the third ring, "Hey Risa. Happy Birthday!"

Well if he could remember then Otani should know. "Hey. Thanks. Ummm…. Have you heard from Otani at all today?"

Nakao coughed, "Yeah, I talked to him earlier today. He was on his way to school."

I frowned. It was Saturday. Why was Otani at school on a weekend? If he was working on weekends to get through school he was really in trouble. He studied enough that he barely had a life as it was.

"Why was he going to school?"

"I don't know. I think he forgot something or had to talk to a teacher or something."

On a Saturday?

I flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Okay…" I really wanted him to ask if Otani knew what day it was but I didn't want to have to ask. "Was there anything wrong with his cell phone?"

There was noise in the backround now and I could barely here Nakao. "No, I don't think so. Is everything all right Risa?"

I almost told the truth and said that yea everything sucked because my boyfriend forgot my birthday but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. "Yeah, everything is fine."

Nakao wished me another happy birthday and I hung up the phone and looked at the clock. It said that it was five o'clock. I flipped over on my stomach and stared at the game I didn't care about. I pushed the remote to the floor.

I should be giving more Otani more credit. We had been dating for three years now. He wasn't going to forget my birthday now. It was only five o'clock. He was going to call.

I must have fallen asleep somewhere in between my denial and my depression because when I opened my eyes again it was getting dark outside and the clock said that it was eight thirty. I grabbed my phone before I could even think and I looked to see if I had missed any calls but when the screen lit up…

…there was nothing.

MY BOYFRIEND FORGOT MY BIRTHDAY!

I couldn't believe this! Otani was my life and I didn't mean anything to him, because if I did mean something to him then he would have called. It wasn't only my birthday that he forgot about it was the fact that he didn't seem to remember that he we got together three years ago today.

Otani was a pig. He was scum. He was… going to be dead when I got my hands on him. I sat in the middle of my bed thinking about all the free time I was going to have being a newly single woman. I tried to ignore the tears that were running down my face.

I was in the middle of bawling my eyes out when phone rang.

I couldn't help myself.

I jumped for the phone.

And it was Nobu.

"Darling told me that your boyfriend forgot your birthday."

No hello's from Nobu. Just straight to where it hit most. I sniffled, "He's just busy." I excused.

"We'll kill him tomorrow. We're going to take you out. You only turn twenty once."

I really didn't feel like going out and I told her so, but then she got scary. "We're going out even if I have to go to your house and get you ready myself! Just because Otani's scum 

doesn't mean that has to ruin today for you! You're going to be ready when I get there or so help me I'll get you dressed myself!"

She hung up before I could try and get out of it. I thought about just not getting ready and try to change Nobu's mind when she got to the house, but I figured that wasn't the best idea and so I took a short shower and went to go pick out something to wear.

In the end I ended up wearing a short, silk, red dress that made my legs look like they were going on forever, and I wore a pair of heels that made me a couple of inches taller. If I wasn't going out with Otani why shouldn't I? I loved these shoes but I never wore them. I left my hair down and I curled it. I wore my makeup a little heavy and I made my eyes look smoky. If I did say so myself I did look pretty sexy.

The makeup hid the red eyes pretty well.

I was a stylist in the making. I could do anything with clothes and makeup. I looked damn good tonight. No one looking at me would be able to tell that I was miserable. Maybe Nobu would miss it and I wouldn't even have her worrying about me.

When Nobu showed up and came through the door she gave me a second look, and she had to look up to really see me. I smiled despite myself.

"Wow! I thought I would have to shove you in the shower myself. You look like a model."

I shrugged, "I work around them all the time so it would only make sense that I would pick something up."

Nobu wasn't as dressed up as I was but she was in a black skirt and a white blouse. She looked like she was getting ready to work when I thought of it.

"What's with the outfit?"

Nobu looked down at herself, "Just felt in a black and white mood I quess."

I didn't think that Nobu had ever been in a black and white mood in her whole life but I didn't have the energy to argue with her and find out what was up with the outfit. I really didn't care. I was going to make the best out of the rest of the night, but I knew I wasn't going to enjoy myself much.

When we left the house I saw that there were fireworks exploding in the air and I wanted to start bawling in the middle of the driveway, but instead I just checked my phone to see if I missed any calls. There weren't any, but I didn't have to worry about checking my phone after that since Nobu took my phone away from me and put me in her car.

"We're not going to spend the whole night looking at our phone. You're going to have a night to remember."

I tried to take my phone back, but she wouldn't give it back. Which figured that should would do that now that I was ready to call Otani. I gave in. I wanted to call Otani and find out what was going on. Maybe something had happened to him. Maybe he was dead in a ditch.

"Have a little faith in him. If he calls, he calls. If he doesn't then we'll kill him tomorrow. I told you."

I was keeping my eyes on my phone, which was sitting on the dashboard, the whole time. I didn't notice that we pulled over in the middle of the street until Nobu turned the car off.

She got an evil look in her eyes, "You're going to have to trust me."

Before I knew it there was a blind fold going around my head and I couldn't see anything.

"What are you doing?!" I tried to take it off but she slapped my hands away.

"I planned something. Leave the scarf."

I tried to take the blind fold off and she slapped my hands away. I sighed and sat back into my seat. I wasn't able to see a damn thing and I wasn't happy about it, but if this is the way she wanted to do things then she could do whatever she wanted. I wasn't arguing. I didn't care. I wanted my phone. When this thing came off my face I was getting it back and I was calling my boyfriend. Until then I was just going to go with it. I was tired.

"Did Otani happen to have anything to do with this?" I asked hopefully.

She snorted in response, and I gave myself credit for not crying again. Ten minutes later we stopped and I heard Nobu get out of the car and then she was kind enough to remember to grab me.

"This is stupid. I could just take it-"

"No."

Well fine.

Nobu lead me to where ever we were going and while I was being "walked" I thought about what my best friend had said. She told me to have a little faith and I realized that Otani had something to do with all of this. I didn't know how I knew but I realized that I wasn't giving my boyfriend enough credit. It was a moment of clarity. It Nobu had planned this she would have added hand cuffs just for the added amusement.

I shouldn't have worn my heels.

I smiled and felt my spirits lift considerably.

I wasn't going to have to kill anyone tomorrow… except maybe Nobu.

I was led upstairs and we stopped and my blindfold was taken off.

It was a scene that I was never going to forget for the rest of my life. There was a table set for two with a candle in the middle and Otani was sitting in front of the table waiting for me with a dazed look on his face. Which pretty much matched my feelings exactly.

We were on the roof of our old high school.

"I can't believe that you did all of this." I was half in a daze.

Otani's face dropped into one of annoyance, "I can't believe you thought I forgot your birthday."

I forgot about Nobu and walked up to Otani. "I came around. It just took awhile."

Otani smiled at me, "Took you long enough though. What did you realize it on the way up the steps?"

He knew me to well.

"You could have called me today. I would have been just as surprised." I pointed out.

Otani sighed, "It wasn't intentional. Trust me."

I realized in that moment that I trusted Otani with my life. I was never going to doubt him again. Otani pulled my seat out for me and I sat down and Nobu came out of nowhere with a platter of food looking slightly less than amused and her Darling was right behind her.

I looked at Otani, "What is this?"

He looked pretty proud of himself, "That's what the two of them get for letting you believe that I forgot about you today. It was an idea that the two of them ran with."

Nakao pointed at his girlfriend while her back was turned. I laughed and found that once I started I couldn't stop. I had my food place in front of me and it was just Otani and I. I couldn't stop looking at him. He was dressed in a tux and he looked really good. I told him so.

"You look pretty amazing yourself."

I blushed and went back to eating my dinner. Fireworks started going off in the distance and I looked over at them. Fireworks had a special place with me. They had been going off when Otani had screwed up my first confession and it had been in the background when we had first gotten together. They went off in my head every time we kissed.

I had to stop a blush when I thought of the other time fireworks went off for me. Otani must have read my face because he was giving me a look. I threw a pea at his head and he laughed. He looked amazing when he laughed.

Later Nobu walked up with a cake that was lit up with candles and my face almost cracked in half because I was smiling so hard. The three of them started singing happy birthday and then I got to make a wish and blow out the candles.

Nobu and Nakao disappeared again. I wondered I they were making the most of their time alone. They hadn't been able to spend a whole lot of time together considering Nobu was still taking care of her grandma.

I was finishing my cake when I saw Otani glaring at the floor. I looked down and saw that he was glaring at my feet. I couldn't help myself and I snickered. "I'm going to have to get out a step ladder just to kiss you."

I took my shoes off. "Better?"

Otani smiled, "Yes."

We finished eating and we went over to the side of the building were we had first gotten together and we sat down. I cursed my dress because it made things harder for me. Otani went over to get his jacket and he put it down for me.

"Thank you."Otani blushed, and then we cuddled.

Fireworks started blowing up in the sky again and they had never looked better to me then at that moment. They looked like they were blowing up larger then before almost like they were just for the two of us. It took me a second to figure out that they were spelling out:

MARRY ME RISA

I screamed and I finally noticed that Otani was about to fall over. I screamed again.

I couldn't believe this! It was amazing!

"Will you marry me?" Otani looked like he wasn't going to breathe until I said something.

I was in a daze and I was so very happy at that moment. "Yes!"

I didn't even have to think about the answer. I started crying and laughing. Otani thought ahead and gave me a tissue. I started crying more. He came up and his lips met mine and I didn't pull away and laugh. I didn't start crying harder. I just kissed him back and realized that my wish had been granted.

I was going to spend the rest of my life with Otani.