Hey, minna-san! So, this is my first Bakugan fic, and also my first Runo x Dan fic…so yeah. Hope you guys'll go easy on me if ever (though it's really likely) I make any mistakes, particularly with getting their character down…so yeah!

Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

Oh yeah, and if anybody asks where the actual Bakugan are, they all went back to Vestroia, 'kay? Don't worry, they'll make an appearance near the end.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Warm rays of sunlight hit the blunette's sleeping face. Said blunette started stirring in her sleep. Soon enough, the alarm beside her bed went off, leaving the girl completely awake.

She never really woke up to alarm clocks; she tried her best to not listen to them. But today was different. Today she really wanted to wake up early.

Of course, today was her birthday.

Sitting up, the first thing she did was to look beside her, expecting a sleeping brunette next to her.

Strangely enough, nobody was there.

"Dan?" she called out.

No response.

"Dan? Are you in the bathroom?" Runo called out again.

Still, no response.

She looked around their shared room. Nope, no trace of her boyfriend anywhere. It was odd; normally Dan would still be there, next to her, sleeping either in boxers or, most of the time, naked.

(A/N. If you guys know what I mean…teehee…;3)

She checked the bathroom to see if Dan was there, taking a shower. Nope. Empty.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. It was her birthday, right? It wasn't that impossible that Dan had prepared a surprise for her. Most of the time her surprises involved only two of the many rooms they had in their house, either the bedroom (A/N. Again, if you know what I mean, LOL…;3) or the kitchen, where Dan would always prepare one of her many favorite dishes.

The bedroom was out of the question, since it was still so early in the morning, and, Dan was nowhere to be found in the room.

That left her one option, the kitchen. Grabbing her robe, she went downstairs to see if anyone was there. Nope, still empty.

Where on Earth could Dan be?

Shrugging, she decided to forget about the fact for a moment and resume with her normal schedule. The next thing she had to do was bathing, so, up to the bathroom it was.

Shredding her body free of every article of clothing on it, she slipped into the shower, lifting her head up to meet the downpour of cool water. Mist soon enveloped the entire shower, shielding her from view from the outside. It blocked everything from her view, as well.

After bathing, she went back outside and headed to their bedroom to get dressed.

Upon getting there, she noticed a stack of clothes lying on the bed and more than five pairs of shoes next to it.

She went closer to see, then she noticed a card lying on top of the clothes.

It read:

Happy birthday, Runo!

Since it's your birthday, you've got to look extra beautiful, right? Here you go, some clothes I thought you might like! Take your pick!

Love, Julie ;)

And under that:

Happy birthday, Runo!

So, Julie gave you some clothes to pick from…as you can see, next to them are some shoes that might be to your liking…they're all yours, and you can pick whatever you want to wear for today.

Love, Alice

And then under that it read:

P.S. After getting dressed, try looking in the garden. Happy birthday again!

"Huh." She said, then placing the card on her bedside table, she proceeded to look at the clothes and shoes Julie and Alice gave her.

She looked at Julie's gifts first, the clothes.

"Hmmn…I have to admit, Julie picked really good clothes!" she said to herself. It was true. Normally, whenever Julie would offer to give Runo some fashion tips, they clashed with Runo's own style. This time, however, it was almost like a blend of the two styles, making her look more feminine at the same time not losing her classic tomboy-ish style.

She skimmed through the clothes, and found one she liked the best, a baby blue halter-styled dress reaching down to her knees, with a light pink jacket similar to what Dan used to wear.

(A/N. Forgive me, I have horrible fashion sense…honestly, I only grab what's closest in the closet and wear that. Mostly I'm just in shorts and any shirt, so yeah. Sorry if the dress part is disappointing…)

She looked at the pair of shoes and saw these nice doll shoes that were dark blue with white ribbons on them.

Then she decided to style her hair in a braid, put on her favorite necklace, the star locket she got from Dan when they first started dating. Then she headed off to the garden.

She reached the garden, when she noticed pieces of paper with arrow signs on them. She followed them and they led her to her favorite part in the garden, the secluded area with the old fountain. She had long since wanted to pretty-up the place, plant some flowers, particularly some violets and some orchids, and some forget-me-nots, and have the fountain fixed.

Reaching the said part, what she saw was not what she was used to seeing there, no more old fountains, or rambles of thorns and bushes, instead, were all the things she had wanted seen in there: the working fountain in the middle, a colorful array of flowers, violets, orchids, forget-me-nots, there were even some irises there.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, heading over to the fountain. There she noticed yet another card, taped to the edge of the fountain.

It read:

Hey, Runo, happy birthday!

Dan told me you had wanted to fix up this part of a garden for such a long time now. So, as a good friend, I decided to help you. Consider it as my birthday gift.

Shun.

The below that it read,

P.S. Now go over to your café. Somebody left their gift there for you.

So, carrying the card, she left their place and walked over to their family's café. It wasn't so far, since she and Dan decided they'd still live close to their families.

Entering the café, she attracted a lot of stares from the guys, all of which she ignored. She did have a boyfriend, as most of those regulars knew.

Her parents, who were manning the bar area, greeted her with a smile and said in unison, "Runo! Happy birthday, dear!"

She approached them, giving them both warm hugs.

"You're looking very pretty today, Runo! What's up? Are you going somewhere with Dan?" her mom asked.

"Actually, I haven't seen Dan all morning! I have no idea what he's doing, but all day I've gotten gifts from my other friends! These clothes were from Julie and this pair of shoes was from Alice. Then Shun fixed up the garden for me. But I haven't seen Dan all day!"

"I see dear. Oh, speaking of gifts, here's our gift to you." Her mom replied, giving her a small box. Opening it, she saw a pair of beautiful earrings that matched her eyes.

"Thanks, mom, dad!" she exclaimed, hugging them again.

"Oh yeah." Her dad spoke up, "Someone left this for you." He said, handing her a bigger box and a card attached to it. Looking at the card, it said:

Hey, Runo! Happy birthday!

So, the company's developed some gadgets, some of them you might like, like this one! It's one of the very latest phones we've developed, and of course, it's got special features, like being able to contact the Bakugan all the way in Vestroia! You can also contact the people there!

Oh, and, this gift isn't from me, it's from Mira and the others in Vestroia. You won't be able to see my gift until later on.

From, Marucho

She opened the box, and, like Marucho said, it was a phone. A message flashed on the screen. It said:

"GO BACK TO YOUR HOUSE NOW. BIG SURPRISE THERE! :)"

So, she headed back to the house. By the time she got back there, it was already time for lunch.

She opened the front door and was surprised to see a big banner saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUNO!" and decorations, and gifts, and a big cake, and, of course, everyone there.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" they yelled in unison, then each giving Runo a hug.

"Thanks, guys!"

Marucho stepped forward. "So, Runo, about my gift, here you go, close your eyes first."

Runo obeyed and closed her eyes. After a while Marucho said, "Okay, you can open them now!"

Opening them, she saw the Bakugan right in front of her.

"Happy Birthday!" the Bakugan said in unison.

"Guys! I'm so glad you could make it!" she exclaimed.

Tigrerra moved forward and hopped onto Runo's awaiting hand. "Of course! Anything for you, Runo!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you, guys!"

So, they celebrated Runo's birthday. Later on, Runo noticed something.

"Guys, where's Dan?" she asked. When nobody answered, she asked again, "Seriously, guys, where is he? I haven't seen him all day and it's already the afternoon!"

The others exchanged looks. Shun was about to speak when the doorbell rang.

"Saved by the bell." Julie muttered.

"Why don't you get that, Runo?" Alice said.

Runo nodded and went to get the door. Opening it,

"DAN!" she exclaimed, giving her boyfriend a hug.

"Happy Birthday!" he whispered. Parting, he handed her a bouquet of flowers.

"Where have you been all day?!" she yelled, hitting him on the head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed. "Aren't you going to let me in first?"

Then they went back to the room to their friends.

"Runo, you should really take it easy on Dan. He planned all of this! Stop hitting him, will ya?" Shun said, laughing.

Runo stopped immediately, facing Dan now. "You planned this?"

"Well of course I did! I wouldn't be a good boyfriend if I didn't plan something like this!"

"Thanks, Dan." She said, kissing him.

When they parted, Marucho asked a question.

"Hey Dan, what did take you so long? Did it really take that long to buy a ring?"

"Ring? What ring?" Runo asked.

"Well," Dan began shyly, "I was going to do this later, but darn it, Marucho, I guess I have to do this now."

"Hehe, sorry." Marucho uttered.

"Do what now? Dan?" Runo asked.

"This, Runo." He said, then taking out the ring. It was, of course, the traditional diamond ring, which he held up towards Runo.

Runo, in shock, blinked her eyes and asked herself if this was real or not.

"Well, will you marry me, Runo?" he asked.

By that point, Runo was already trying not to cry.

"Well?"

"Of course, you idiot!" she said, hugging her now fiancée.

The group cheered and congratulated the couple.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Afterwards, when the others had gone home and Dan and Runo were the only ones in their house…

"So, how'd you like your birthday, Runo?" Dan asked Runo, who leaning against him on the couch.

"I loved it. I can't imagine it getting any better than this. Thank you, Dan."

"Well, it's not over yet. There's still part two of your surprise." Dan whispered, leading Runo up to the bedroom.

"Happy Birthday, Runo." He said, before kissing her.

~~~~=w=~~~~

Well, I don't need to tell you what happens next! Hope you liked it! Jaa, any comments are welcomed, just review. Thanks!