Title: Kimi no Happy Birthday
Disclaimer: I do not own Bakuman. I do own the story though.
A/N: As always, please R & R. ^_^
It was another late dinner for Takagi and Moritaka in a 24-hour convenience store. The pair sat opposite each other on the pavement outside, quietly eating their share of food. After a whole day of working on their manga, Takagi felt as if energy had been drained from him, but looking at the person on his side and seeing his best friend's nonchalant expression powered him up.
'Eating like this with him as if we have all the time in the world is the best gift I can have,' he thought contentedly.
Behind them, a group of high school girls were talking loudly about a birthday party they were planning. The two overheard the entire conversation and looked at each other with an 'oh well' look all over their faces.
"You want some ice cream before we head back? My treat." He winked as he went off to order two ice creams.
It was a quiet evening. The boys were walking home when Takagi suddenly stopped. "Saiko," he called to his friend who was walking ahead him. "Look at the moon. It's beautiful."
The blue-haired boy stared at it, astonished with what he saw. "It seems like we are a couple walking under the moonlight," he said dreamily. Takagi's puzzled glance at him snapped him back to his senses. "Oh man, what the heck was I thinking?" he said laughingly, and then suppressed a little blush that formed in his cheeks.
"You shouldn't read shoujo manga a lot," the other boy said, taking his cellphone from his pocket and focusing the phone's camera at the sight. "I'm going to mail it to Azuki," Saiko murmured cheerfully, oblivious to the scowl his companion made.
"Let's go. It's late already," Takagi stated dejectedly.
"Hey Shuujin, I think I've never asked this before. When is your birthday?" The question made Takagi stop and he turned around curiously; meeting those equally curious slated blue orbs. "I know this is random but when I heard those girls from before, I realized I do not know your birthday."
"January 25," Takagi answered rapidly. Then, he walked past his friend and heading back to their place, leaving Moritaka behind.
"Wha-? Wait Shuujin. You mean today? Hey!" Saiko shouted. A pang of guilt crept over him. He let his friend work so hard even on his special day. Takagi might just shrugged it off but he wanted to do something for him at least.
Takagi drifted to sleep right after he had finished his part. Albeit the amount of work was too much for a day, Moritaka couldn't sleep. His mind was working too fast, thinking about a perfect gift for Takagi given his limited time. Out of the corner of his eye, a bag caught his attention. An idea came to him and he rushed to the direction of the bag, careful not to make any noise.
When he was in front of it, he lifted his right hand just like when taking an oath. "I swear I will only get a single notebook and won't touch anything else," he solemnly promised. He quietly opened the bag and grabbed the first notebook he saw. Moritaka walked back to his working table and started working on his plan.
The sunlight that beamed through the window woke Takagi up. On his side, he noticed a familiar notebook. Takagi picked it up with utmost curiosity. He was very certain that it was HIS notebook and he remembered putting it inside his bag. 'Perhaps an alien suddenly invaded while we were sleeping, took our things and left this notebook as a clue?' he thought, his irises widening. He, then started flipping through the pages and when he reached the last few pages, he realized something was scribbled on the lower portion of the paper. It was a 'chibi' Takagi with his usual boyish grin. The drawings were moving as he flipped through the pages. It contained different expressions of him. Then, there was also another character moving in to the picture. It was his best friend. The last part was chibi Shuujin and Saiko with a 'Happy Birthday' written above them.
Takagi couldn't help but smile widely at Saiko's present. He glanced on the direction of his friend who was still very much asleep. Unconsciously, he walked towards Saiko's direction and leaned slowly to the sleeping figure. Their noses were only an inch apart when Saiko's eyes burst open. His expression was as surprised as his. "Err… Shuujin?"
Takagi was taken aback, surprised at his own actions. "Hey! I swear, it's not what you think it is!" Regaining his composure, he coughed shortly and beamed shyly at his best friend. "Thank you," he said. "This is indeed the best present I've ever had."
~End~
A/N: Thank you for reading! This fic was written last Christmas (yes, took me long enough to post this). That time, I was so into NewS' 'Happy Birthday' and I got my title from one of the lines of the song. Kimi no happy birthday can be translated as 'It's your happy birthday'. I hope you enjoyed reading this one too! ^_^
Many thanks to Nami-chan and Jaye-kaachan! :D
