"Happy birthday!" the guardians coursed as Kuukai got ready to blow out the candles on the birthday cake Amu, Yaya and Rima made for him.
"Wait!" Yaya exclaimed. Kuukai paused mid breath, so he looked like a blowfish. "He has to make a wish first! Go on, make a wish!"
He thought for a second, really taking this seriously. What did he want? An image of a certain blonde haired pop idol crosses his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. Another thought popped into his head. He closed his eyes and blew out the candles.
Everyone clapped and Amu decided that it was the appropriate time to smash his face into the cake. There was a flash of a camera and hysterical laughter as Kuukai lifted his head from the cake. He laughed and gave her a thumbs up.
"Nice one, Hinamori!" he said, wiping some of the chocolate frosting from his forehead and licking it off.
"Okay, time to give presents now!" Yaya said, handing him a brightly wrapped box. "Open mine first!"
Kuukai ripped the paper off (because why would he need to save the paper for?), and opened the box.
"It's a soccer ball pin!" Yaya exclaimed before he got the chance to pull it out. "What do you think? Do you like it?"
"I like it. Thanks Yaya." he said, pinning it on.
He opened the rest of the gifts and thanked each person, his smile growing with each one.
The next few hours were spent talking and running around DASH-style and just having fun. The cake was gone in minutes, despite being smushed. All in all, it was a pretty fun day. The sky took on an orange tinge by the time the group split for home.
That was fun. Can't wait until the next birthday. Kuukai thought, walking home. He wasn't paying attention, and so didn't see the person in front of him until they smacked into him and caused them to crash to the floor in a painful heap.
"Ow. Hey, what where your going you idiot!" the person yelled at him, pushing him off of her.
"I'm sorry miss- hey I know you!" he said, pointing at her. "You're Ramen Girl!"
She looked at him like he was an idiot. "Ramen girl? My name isn't Ramen Girl, it's Hoshina Utau, you got it, boy?"
"Sure do, Idol-san." he said, picking himself off the floor and offering a hand to help her up. She just glared at him and stood up by herself. "What are you doing around here? There's no concerts scheduled around here are there?"
"No, not that it's any of your concern." she said, reaching into her pocket and fingering something in there. Not broken. Good.
"Oh, okay then. See you around, pop star." he said, walking away.
"Wait!" she called, reaching out a hand to stop him. He turned to look at her, curiosity in his eyes.
"Um, do you want to grab a bite to eat?" she asked, looking away as she said this.
"Uh, sure." he said. "Where to?"
And so they found themselves in the same ramen shop where they had their first competition.
Two steaming bowls of Ramen were placed un front of them, and the two promptly started eating.
"So why did you bring me out here, pop idol?" Kuukai asked, slurping up a very long noodle.
"No real reason. I just wanted to eat some ramen and talk to you." she said, sipping some broth.
"What did you want to talk about?" he asked
She stayed silent, continuing to eat her ramen.
They stayed in a slightly awkward silence until Utau finished her ramen.
"So Amu told me you broke your watch while playing soccer." she stated.
"She told you that?" he asked, confused as to where this was going.
"Yeah. So I thought you might need a new one." she said, pulling out a box from her pocket. "Here. Happy birthday, ramen boy."
He opened the box and saw a brand new, durable looking watch.
"Wow, thanks, Utau. This is great." he said putting it on.
"It's not that big a deal. You needed a watch, it's your birthday, so I got it for you." she said, a red tinge on her cheeks. She turned away before he saw.
They fell into silence again, but this time it was a comfortable silence. Kuukai finished his ramen and pushed Utau's hand back when she reached for the check.
"My treat." he said, grinning his trademark grin. She smiled back and let him pay.
Kuukai walked her home, both of them chatting amiably as if they knew each other for years. After he dropped her of, he walked home as the sky slowly turned purple.
"Hey little brother, how was your day?" his eldest brother asked him as soon as he stepped in the door.
"It was great. My birthday wish came true." he said, a secret smile on his features.
"And what was your wish?" his brother asked.
"To hang out with my ramen girl."