The Loner's Birthday Bash
by BrDPirateMan
The coffee table had been set. Some pop song was playing on TV, the volume kept low to leave the neighbours at peace. The cramped one-room apartment had been cleaned and for once it actually looked nice.
The single tenant, a young man, was struggling to put up decorations around the room. For him, today was… well, it wasn't usually an important day.
But lately he had been bored out of his brains. He figured a little noise and cheer would help to liven up his life, even if it was just a teeny bit. So what better day to do that than today?
"C'mon, birthday boy," he mumbled to himself. "Last piece. You can do it."
He reached up and stuck the last streamer high on the wall. Then he stepped back and looked all around at his handiwork, full of praises for himself and a smile on his face.
"Awesome. We're all set. Neku Sakuraba, this will be the best birthday party ever!"
The doorbell chimed. His smile grew even wider.
"Just in time too!"
The pizza delivery boy stood with a lazy slouch at the doorway, extending two orders of margherita pizza towards Neku, which he gratefully took.
"That'll be 3200 yen, please," he said with a yawn.
Food could be so expensive in this day and age, as Neku had lamented so often. But this was a special event in his life, and he didn't usually splurge, so it was fine to spend a little more than usual. It still pained him to have to burn a hole in his wallet, though.
It's fine, he tried to convince himself repeatedly, I've been saving every day! This is alright!
With the delivery boy gone, he set the pizzas aside and brought out a single cupcake from the mini fridge. It was a tiny little thing, barely even bite-sized, and this he placed in the middle of the table. He wedged a candle on top; it ended up at a slight angle, but he wasn't going to be a nitpicker. It'd have to do.
Someone was at the door again, knocking too rapidly. Neku recognized who it was.
He could barely say two words before he was cut off by the visitor.
"Hey! What gives?" screeched the portly middle-aged woman. "You haven't paid the rent for this month yet! How long are you going to drag this out?!"
He was hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with his grumpy landlady today of all days. It was his freaking birthday, for Pete's sake. Good things were supposed to happen on birthdays. But he had been putting it off for a while, that much was true. With barely enough money to himself, he always hoped she'd forget. She never did.
Not willing to spoil the joviality of the evening, he promptly forked over the rent without a single word. The landlady, also without a single word, snatched the cash out of his hands. Then she was gone from his life for another month.
His wallet was more hollow now, but he tried not to let it bother him. When the candle was lit and the lights were off, all the negative emotions he had been hoarding seemed to vanish with the darkness. The flame flickered, coating the room in an eerie dim glow. It was still a heartwarming sight for him though, for what it was worth.
He sat cross-legged at the coffee table, and after a moment of hesitation and a clearing of the throat, he broke into song.
By himself.
"…Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to Neku,
Happy birthday to me."
He clapped his hands – a lifeless sound – and his expression of joy was as flat as a table.
"Yaaaay."
The lights came back on. That's when it suddenly hit him how empty the place was. Even the decorations were drab – with limited funds for himself, he had to make do with strips of cheap printer paper to stand in for streamers. To be fair, he did try to make them livelier by doodling shapes on them in permanent marker, but that was about it.
"I guess this is the part where I cut the cake," he muttered. "But, heck, I might as well just eat this."
He tossed out the candle and wolfed down the cupcake in one go. Chocolate. An all-time favourite of his. But it was dry. Very dry.
"And that's it for cake," he said, pretending to address a roomful of guests. "Oh, I've got pizza. Help yourselves."
Neku did not invite anyone to his birthday party. He only knew a few people from his workplace and he wasn't close to any of them. As for the nice souls he used to call his friends, they were all but gone from his life.
Part of him wished someone would barge in and surprise him, but deep down he knew he was more suited for solitude.
That's the main reason he didn't have any friends. He may not hate the world, but he loved being alone too much. Every time he was invited to hang out he would decline and give some poor excuse to stay home and be by himself. Sooner or later everyone knew better than to bother him anymore.
He couldn't help but feel that this was one dull birthday party, though.
Meanwhile, he was making small talk to his imaginary guests.
"How's the pizza, guys?"
Silence.
He kept talking like he had actually gotten a response.
"Pretty good, huh? Cheap, too."
Five minutes in with nothing groundbreaking whatsoever, even Neku was starting to tire of the flaccid atmosphere. He decided to spice things up with a joke.
"Listen to this one, fellas. What did the goldfish ask for when he went into the bar?"
He waited a few seconds to give them a chance to guess the answer. When he received none, he delivered the punch line.
"…Bubble tea! Ha, get it? Goldfish and bubbles? Yeah? Because goldfish live in the sea, and they're always surrounded by bubbles… Did… Did you get it?" Then, when he realized it wasn't catching on, he said self-deprecatingly, "Went over your heads, didn't it. Oh, okay. That's cool."
Neku never had a flair for humour. His jokes made little sense and were simply not funny. And he knew. He just cracked that little number because of the faint hope that someone would finally laugh, even if it was completely in his mind. Apparently he was too grounded in reality to even imagine that happening.
"You know, I'm trying my best to liven up the party. Least you can do is give me some support… Huh? You want to know why I'm even holding a birthday party in the first place?" He scratched the back of his neck, stalling for a good answer. "True, I used to think birthdays were nothing but trash, but lately I've been thinking they might not be so bad after all. If anything, they at least keep things from falling into a rut.
"Didn't see the bright side of them before, though. Especially during my teenage years."
XOXOXOXOXO
Back in high school, Neku hated birthday parties. He reasoned that they were just an excuse for people to engage in all manner of shenanigans and generally act like idiots. He didn't like how they would go overboard and make a fool of themselves all in the name of "good, clean fun".
He had mentioned to his friends now and again about his dislike for birthdays but they would tease him and try to change his mind. Needless to say it irritated him to no end.
Then came the one birthday when they actually threw a surprise party for him. It was Shiki's idea. Together with Eri and the Bito siblings she arranged for the use of one of the club rooms at school as the venue. It was to be a simple affair with just the five of them, but it'd be a fun distraction from the tedium of schoolwork.
When he was asked to go to said club room via an ambiguous request by Eri, he shrugged and did so but got the shock of his life when a quartet of party poppers burst in his face, showering him in confetti.
"Surprise!" they shrilled.
"Don't just stand there, yo!" guffawed Beat, grabbing Neku in an uncomfortable headlock. "Get in and join the fun, birthday boy!"
"We've got pizza," said Rhyme. "Help yourself!"
Eri was whooping enthusiastically and really digging the party mood. "C'mon, stop being a stick-in-the-mud and let your hair down! Birthdays come but once a year so they're precious!"
Neku struggled to speak as he stayed trapped in the crook of Beat's strong arm. Rhyme noted as such and the burly skater boy let go of him, giving him a rough but friendly pat on the back.
"Sorry dude," said Beat, high on excitement. "You looked like you – "
"What is the meaning of this, guys?"
Neku's question was cold and straightforward, but his friends were oblivious to his irritation. They just assumed he was still reeling with surprise and piled on even more jokes and laughter to try and welcome him into the happy atmosphere.
"It's your birthday," said a smiling Shiki. "Or did you forget? Even if you did forget, we sure wouldn't!"
The boy didn't take too kindly to the festive cheer. Noise was his least favourite thing in the universe; everyone annoyed him with their useless banter about nothing in particular, and he'd just shut out the world with his trusty headphones and be at peace. But he was at school and headphones weren't allowed, so he couldn't rely on his safety blanket. He was quickly getting agitated and Shiki was the first to notice.
"Neku? What's the matter? Are you – "
"Look, guys." He heaved a sigh and raked his fingers through his hair. "I did tell you I don't do birthday parties. And it's not that I forgot. I just don't care."
"Why wouldn't you care?" asked Eri. "Birthdays are awesome!"
"If I don't care, then I don't care. Is it so wrong that I want to relax by myself?"
"You always chillin' by yo'self, man," Beat countered. "Better you chill with us and have some good food too! C'mon, have some pizza and stuff! And stop givin' reasons, you're makin' my head hurt."
Eri approved of Beat's words in a heartbeat. "What he said. Don't be shy, Neku! It's time to have fun! Um, we're kinda borrowing one of the club rooms, so we can't really stay too long or make a mess of the place, but we promised the Calligraphy Club that we'll be good… so! What are you waiting for?"
Neku looked at all the smiling faces around him and groaned inwardly at his unavoidable situation. He wasn't the type to crave excitement. What's a guy got to do to get some peace and quiet these days?
He took his seat reluctantly and the party began. As everyone started goofing around, he observed everything from a cynical angle. Beat was acting like a total idiot as usual; he wasn't the class clown for nothing. If Neku was the reason they were even here in the first place, why were they just chatting among themselves and leaving him out of it? Shiki was the only one who paid him some attention. The decorations they had put up were tacky – some streamers here, a couple of balloons there… nothing outstanding at any rate. The pizza they had bought for this occasion, he noted, was margherita. Cheapest on the menu and his least favourite. And if they could only use the room for an hour at most, exactly what kind of birthday bash was this supposed to be? So unremarkable and badly arranged. If they were going to throw him a party, he thought disgustedly, they should put in some more effort.
How much longer? He wanted to get the hell out.
Shiki saw how gloomy he was and tried her best to cheer him up. She exhausted every best effort but all it did was to annoy him further. He simply refused to get into the groove.
"You can't go wrong with free food," she said, out of earshot of the others. "Think of it as a guilt-free all-you-can-eat buffet!"
"I'm still not a fan. I'd rather stay home and catch forty winks."
"Neku, you can't always do… nothing. That's not what life is about."
"You've got your way of life, I've got mine. Anyway, I hate to be a wet blanket, but how much longer do we have?"
Disappointed by his attitude, Shiki sighed, "Do you really hate birthday parties that much?"
But his response was cool and collected. "Let's just say I'm very… pragmatic. I don't like doing things that aren't worth my time."
Saddened and frustrated by his response, she hissed at him, "Neku, I threw this birthday party all for your sake. This was my idea. The others were reluctant given the unenthusiastic way you go about your business, but I managed to rope them in… We got together and organized this all for you – booked this room, got the food and decorations ready. I even managed to get them all pumped and ready… and this is the thanks we get?"
"I never asked you to throw a party for me," was his blunt reply.
"It's a surprise party for goodness' sake!"
The others began to notice trouble brewing between Neku and Shiki. Initially they quietly decided amongst themselves to let the two be so as not to make things awkward, but when they saw the pain on her face, it was more than they could take. They stepped in and asked what was up.
"Oi, birthday boy," said Beat darkly, "whatchu up to? I'm picking up some bad vibes, yo."
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Beat," said Neku tersely. "It's… my business."
"What do you mean, 'your business'? And I been watching you, man. You didn't even touch the pizza."
The interactions between the two boys was growing tense and Rhyme felt uneasy. Eager to clear up the stuffy air, Eri asked in an innocent way to avoid unnecessary conflict, "Is there something the matter? Sorry if the pizza's cold, but – "
Neku rose from his seat all of a sudden and made a beeline for the door, stunning everyone into statues. No one was more shocked than Shiki, the mastermind behind the party. They gathered together for the sake of a friend, but he didn't appreciate it. The novelty was crumbling to dust.
"I got something to do," he mumbled insincerely to everyone over his shoulder. "Thanks for everything."
"Oh no you don't!" Eri slapped her hand onto his shoulder, stopping him. "Where do you think you're going?! We haven't even started!"
"You leavin'?! For real?!" No one was quite so riled up as Beat, who already had his voice raised. "What the hell! What's yo' problem?! Get back here, man!"
Neku shrugged Eri's hand away. "Sorry. I just remembered I have an errand to take care of. I'll be off now."
Beat and Eri tried to protest while Shiki and Rhyme just stared, jaws dangling loose as he ignored them completely and left. It was the last they would see of him for the day. The party was a complete waste of time and effort.
Following this incident, it would be a while before his friends would even talk to him again.
XOXOXOXOXO
"Ha ha, yeah, I wasn't a fan of birthday parties. And now I'm holding one myself."
The air was filled with a laugh as hollow as an empty tin can. None of his guests had anything to say. He kept talking, his voice tainted with regret.
"On hindsight, I might have overreacted back then. They went through all that trouble and I just up and left. No wonder they hated my guts."
He picked up another slice of pizza, trying to make out shapes within the bumps in the cheese. "Kinda ironic, huh? I remember looking down on the margherita that they ordered, and now it's the only thing I can afford." Munching it through, he admitted, "Honestly, though, it's not that bad. It's… alright."
The silence he was sitting right in the middle of was one he'd be happy to get rid of sooner rather than later.
"Um, since we're getting… nowhere… I guess I'll talk about myself? I get that all of you are dying to know all the dirty details about this birthday boy."
He swept a glance over the empty seats.
"What's this? You want to know about my love life? Ha! I'm no Casanova, guys. I've only ever had one girlfriend."
Wistfully, he added, "And I was dumped."
He took a swig of soda to cleanse his throat. "But hey, it's cool to be single! It's the hip thing now! Freedom! It doesn't get better than that."
Thinking back to old times, he let out a sigh. His stint as a boyfriend was woefully short. He wished he'd made it last a little longer.
"Oh, hell, I can see you want a story. Fine then, here you go: The Miserable Love Life of Neku Sakuraba."
XOXOXOXOXO
The problem with Neku was that he had led a solitary existence for far too long. The singlehood mentality had been practically ingrained in him since birth and it was hard to shake off bad habits.
He couldn't recall how he even got hooked up with Shiki in the first place. It was a long time back, that was all he knew. What he did remember was the frustration and disappointment his lackadaisical attitude constantly gave her.
"What do you mean, you're not free?!" she grumbled one day six years ago. "You've got all the time in the world and you know it!"
"Come on," yawned Neku. "I've had a busy week at school. Cut me some slack, will you? I'm all knackered out."
Shiki had asked him to meet up with her after class to discuss their summer plans. Although he showed up, he wasn't interested.
She folded her arms and her frown was as deep as a gorge. "That's what you always say when you're feeling lazy. For goodness' sake, what is with you? We're a couple, are you aware of that? Why can't we go on dates like everybody else?"
Neku drummed his fingers on the table to a slow, nondescript tune. It was a hot afternoon in the beginning of summer and he wanted nothing more than to go home and watch his favourite anime show. But she had been hounding him for days, saying that the weather was perfect for going out. The poor girl had been begging for another date, but he never fulfilled her request because he never felt like it. Eventually she saw through all of his excuses and was growing impatient with him.
Again she tried to get through to his thick skull, but it pained her to have to compromise part of her own happiness to accommodate to his distant lone wolf ways. Relationships shouldn't work like this.
"Look, Neku, it doesn't have to be anything complex. Just a quick meal at a ramen joint… How about it?"
"But I'm tired."
"N-Not even that?!"
"Hey, come on. I just want to – "
She buried her forehead in the palm of one hand and let out a prolonged groan. "I don't understand you. What's wrong with dates? You hate them much?"
"I don't hate them," he mumbled, wishing she'd just drop the topic, "but I do have to be in the mood. Besides, wasn't it just a little while ago that we went on one?"
"That last date was over three months ago," she hissed. "And I had to practically drag you around. You just didn't want to participate."
"Uh… sorry."
His ambiguous apology did not work with her. If anything, she was now angrier than before.
"It's bad enough that you've neglected our friends. Eri, Beat, Rhyme… Whenever we wanted a fun day out, you'd always find a way to worm out of it. You wouldn't even join us for lunch anymore! No person can be this lazy!"
"Like I said, I gotta be in the mood – "
"I'm not trying to be mean," said Shiki sadly, "but they already don't like you for staying away from them when they're just being nice… among other things. They keep telling me how bad it is for you to keep lying and dodging your pals. I'm honestly quite ashamed."
"…Huh."
"And now you're trying to do the same thing to me! Sometimes I wonder if you're even my boyfriend!"
Her rants quickly got on his nerves. When he next spoke he raised his voice.
"Quit it already!" he snarled. "Geez! You need to learn to give people their space!"
Shiki didn't want to ruin her day by getting into a fight with him, so she smartly backed down and left him be. He couldn't be reasoned with anymore, in any case, so why bother? She did leave him with some cud to chew, though.
"You need to take care of your girlfriend better or you'll regret it." Then she walked out of the classroom, slamming the door in the process.
Naturally, he didn't think much of it. Just ignore her pointless jabbering. That was his plan. The matter would resolve itself every time.
However, he would come to regret his apathetic behaviour about two weeks later.
Shiki asked Neku to meet her at the school gate after class. He was under the impression that this was going to be another one of her tiring attempts to force him into action, so he braced himself for what he thought was… nothing new.
When he approached the gate, he was surprised to see her standing beside another person. A guy, much taller than her, almost by a head.
What was this feeling that was bubbling up from inside his gut? Neku couldn't pinpoint what it was. But for the first time in a long while this felt a great deal like… dread. He'd never felt like this before.
Shiki also had a different air about her, he noticed. One of determination and confidence. The frown she always greeted him with was no longer there. He admitted it was strange. And he would know why soon enough.
"I know we both don't like to waste time," she said with a ghost of a sneer, "so I'm just going to be straight with you, Neku."
"Huh?"
"We're done."
He thought he heard her wrongly. Did she just…? No, ha ha, very funny. He made the mistake of asking her to repeat her words.
"Come again?"
"You heard me, Neku. We're done. I don't want to be with you anymore, as a girlfriend or otherwise. I'm through with you completely."
Suddenly the gravity of the situation crashed upon him like an anvil and his knees started to go weak. He tried to say something, but nothing came out of his gaping mouth. Was Shiki, the love of his life, dumping him? That wasn't possible. They were partners, the best of friends… lovers, even. And now here she was, ready to just drop everything like hot coal. He couldn't believe his ears.
"Wait, why?" he stammered. "Give… Give me a reason!"
She gave him a very good one. "The whole time I was your girlfriend, you didn't care one measly bit about me. You were always too lazy to do anything for our sake. When I looked back at what little you've done, I came to realize just how useless you were as a human being.
"I thought we could work something out. I thought we could give and take and come up with a relationship that would work for both of us. But you wouldn't do anything, and being around you was starting to get stressful for me. I'm tired, Neku. Please try to understand."
"Shiki," he begged. "Please, just give me one more chance. I'm sorry. I can change."
"No. I already gave you plenty of chances. You just threw them away. In a sense, I'm kind of a fool myself. I should have dumped you when you made a mockery of your own birthday party."
His heart sank deeper. He had dug a hole he couldn't climb out of.
By now the remaining students who were about to leave were aware of the drama that was taking place at the gate. They whispered amongst themselves, thick in gossip.
"What's going on?" said one. "Is Shiki giving Neku the boot?"
"I heard he wasn't a good boyfriend to her… Makes sense she'd find someone else."
"Heck, anyone's better than Neku."
"Speaking of which, would that 'someone better' be the tall dude standing with her?"
"Whoa, he's good-looking. You go, girl!"
All of the onlookers were bristling, glad that he had finally gotten his retribution. There was no one on campus who was on his side. He could sense the whole school against him. The humiliation alone was a living nightmare, but there was worse in store for him.
Shiki, now developing a haughty edge to her voice, delivered the group de grace. She motioned the young man standing nearby to step forward.
"Neku, this is my new boyfriend."
The guy had his hands firmly in his pockets, as if to suggest that even if Neku stretched out his hand, he wouldn't shake it. His greeting was similarly curt, just a simple "hi". He must have heard the horror stories about Neku's anti-social behaviour from Shiki beforehand, because he was clearly disgusted by his presence.
Neku couldn't say anything. What was there to say? It was all over.
"That's all," she said. "Don't find me. Bye."
Then she turned and left, arm in arm with her boyfriend, each step marked with pride and newfound joy. She had finally gotten rid of the cancer in her life.
Neku just stared at them as they walked away, still unable to accept what was happening. He was in total shock. He had taken her for granted, expected her to conform to his ways and mannerisms. But he had gone too far and the last straw had broken the camel's back. There was no one to blame but himself.
As if the hurt from being dumped wasn't enough, Eri and Beat showed up to twist the knife in his wound. They cast contemptuous glances at him.
"I always knew Shiki would be better off without you," scoffed Eri, "and you know what? So are we."
Beat gave him one last withering glare. "Stupid piece a' crud! You think you're some kinda hotshot, gettin' on yo' high horse and spouting stuff about birthdays bein' useless and all? Well, tha's just – "
Eri tugged at his arm. "Stop it, Beat. He's not worth our time. Let's go."
Then the duo sauntered past him and that was the very last time he ever spoke to them.
XOXOXOXOXO
"And that's how my relationship with Shiki ended," sighed Neku. "I lost everyone in the bargain too. It was hard coming to class when I knew my… ex-friends were there in full view. Let's not forget all the gossip I kept hearing about me. It all got a bit much for me, and I eventually had to transfer to another school so I could have some peace of – hey, is anyone even listening?"
There wasn't anyone to begin with. He broke into a grim laugh.
"You pester me to tell you about my love life, but you've been sleeping the entire time? What a waste of breath! …Eh, I'm glad you came though. Would've been boring otherwise!"
He grabbed another pizza slice.
"So… who's up for another joke?"
XOXOXOXOXO
Next up on the agenda for his birthday bash was games. He had his ten-year-old laptop fired up and running. But because it was an outdated hand-me-down from his uncle, it was only possible to play the simpler, older games of yesteryear. His wallet was too light to shoulder the price of a brand new computer. He had to make do with the nostalgic joy of blasting aliens to bits in Super Alien Shooter.
"Take that!" he screeched, as he gunned down an enemy. "Ha! You like it?!"
His imaginary guests were huddled around him, watching him play and presumably being wowed by his skills.
"Oh, sorry, guys," he piped up in the middle of an alien massacre, "do you want to give it a go?"
He took the silence as a cue to keep playing.
"I'm gonna beat this highscore. Watch and be amazed!"
Stage Three went blazingly by but he finished with a few hundred points shy. It was as good a win for him as any, though.
"I'll get it next time."
As he fired up his engines for Stage Four, he fancied one of his guests asked him a question. Without pausing the game, he gave his reply.
"What's that? Why aren't my parents here at my party? Oh, that. Ha ha… Bit of a long story, but it's cool. I don't mind telling you."
A wave of aliens descended upon his spacecraft as his tale began, but he dispatched them gracefully.
"After Shiki left me, I lost interest in everything. Especially my studies. So I kept failing my college entrance exams and eventually my parents became so angry and disappointed that they actually…"
One of the aliens was threatening him with aggressive maneuvers. He launched a photon torpedo at it, watching it explode into a shower of sparks.
"…they disowned me. Now I'm… no one."
"Stage Four complete!" sang the laptop's speakers cheerily. "New highscore! Congratulations!"
His eyebrows were raised in surprise. "Heh, that was fast. I wasn't even trying. But anyway, they don't see me as their son anymore… Makes sense that they wouldn't be here, right?"
Regretfully, he continued, "My uncle took pity on me when he heard about my situation. As soon as I was kicked out of the house, he gave me this apartment as well as a job as a secretary at his office. It's… minimum wage. Not the best-paying job in the world, but without proper credentials, what else could I do? I took the damn job.
"And that's why I barely have enough money to feed myself."
Suddenly all of his less pleasant memories rose to the surface and they clouded his mind so much he could no longer concentrate on the game. He was missing his mark too often and taking one too many hits. Although he kept fighting, hoping to get over it, he ultimately lost the game and had to quit. He didn't even know what to say anymore to his make-believe guests.
"Um… there's more pizza, if you're hungry."
XOXOXOXOXO
With nothing left to do, Neku simply lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Even his merry batch of party-goers had been shooed out of his mind.
Boredom was the order of the evening. And as he kept thinking back to the past years of his life, he gradually became sadder.
He thought the Reapers' Game had changed him for the better. He really did think that. In reality, it didn't change him that much and he still preferred to go solo.
All it would have taken was a paradigm shift and he could have everything he ever wanted: a girlfriend who loved him, a circle of close buddies, a solid educational background and even a job that paid well. But he refused to change. And so his way of thinking sent him into a downward spiral that cost him his friends, his family, and his future.
The sadness consumed him until he was reduced to a whimpering wreck, clutching at his hair and rolling around on the bed in self-inflicted agony. It was too much, too much! He thought he had embraced solitude, but couldn't bring himself to forget the people who were once his pals. He missed them, warts and all. Beat, who was always slow on the uptake. Rhyme, who was super-nice. And Eri, the perpetually lively girl with a wealth of crazy ideas.
But most of all, he missed her.
Shiki.
She was the one who burned the brightest in his life, and he just tossed her aside thinking she'd forever be his. When he was proven dead wrong, the whole world collapsed around him and he wanted nothing more than to bring her back into his life.
Maybe he couldn't have her anymore, but the least he could do was to hear her voice again.
His fingers shook more and more as he dialed her number. Six years had passed. She might have changed it. This probably wasn't going to work. It was a long shot but damned if he didn't give it a try. The sweat trickled down his neck as he waited in silence.
Miraculously, after a few seconds that felt way too long, the dial tone purred in his ear. He was getting through! His hands went all clammy and white-knuckled. She may have told him to get out of her life, but he was banking on that slim chance that she might have forgiven him. It had been a long time, after all. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so he heard. Excited and brimming with anticipation, he went over all the possible things he could say to her to rekindle their broken bond and show that he was still worth her attention.
"Hello?"
Her voice… It was really her! Neku was so overcome with joy and relief he almost forgot what to say.
"Sh-Shiki!" he blurted. "I-It's me, Neku! Do you remember me? How… How have you been?"
There was a small gasp at the other end of the line. The initial surprise in her voice, however, quickly turned to disgust.
"You?! I thought I told you to leave me alone."
The bite in her words took him aback. That's when he knew she had neither forgotten nor forgiven him. Six years of not seeing each other have not dulled her hate for him. Patching things up with her was just wishful thinking at best.
His voice became very quiet and subdued, reflecting his diminishing self-confidence. "Sorry, Shiki… I didn't mean to disturb you or anything – "
"Look," she snapped, "I'm not free to talk. I'm spending the night at my boyfriend's place, and we're about to get into our second round of sex. Can you keep it brief?"
Even after all these years, even after she had broken the news to him herself that she had found another person in her life, he still pined for her. He was, at one time, someone she used to love, after all. It came as a great shock to him to hear that she was spreading her legs for someone else. What made it worse was that it sounded like she was boasting about it, indirectly declaring that she was with someone miles better than him. The venom she had subjected him to made tears well up in his eyes, but he steadied his voice as much as he could so that she wouldn't know how weak he had become, even when it was plainly obvious.
"I… Shiki, I just need a little favour from you."
"A favour?"
In the face of such spite, Neku would have been better off ending the call and never bothering her again. But he was a desperate man in need of a respite from his harsh life, no matter how small. He went ahead and put forth his last request.
"It's my birthday. W-Will you… wish me 'happy birthday'?"
There was no answer. He tried again. By now it was getting hard to contain the tears.
"J-Just that will be enough. I… I know I used to be a total jerk about birthdays, but I don't think they're that bad now. If you're still mad at me, I can understand, but I need this. Then I'll be outta your hair for good, I promise. Please… p-please wish me… 'happy birthday'… Th-That's all I ask, nothing more…"
Unfortunately for him, she was completely unsympathetic. All of her hatred was condensed into one succinct line:
"Sorry, we're not friends."
Then she hung up. The beeping tone taunted him cruelly. The phone slipped out of his hand and clattered to the floor. He spent the rest of the night curled up in a fetal position, weeping uncontrollably and moaning her name over and over again.
It was the best birthday party ever.