A/N- This was written on 1st of January: Tora's birthday, just forgot to put this here...

Summary: Kanae never really celebrated her birthday with much joy, she never had a reason to do so after she was disowned by her family, only needing some alcohol would make her happy, all that changed when Eiji decided to make it the best day she could remember.

Kanae softly groaned in her sleep, turning around to try to find the source of warmth that her boyfriend transmitted but couldn't find anyone else on the bed as she moved her hand around the sheets to try to find him, which caused her to open her eyes, slowly as she was still too tired to process she was alone. As her emerald eyes finally adapt to the light she confirms her doubts: Eiji was indeed missing. She pouted and hugged the sheets close to her figure, trying to warm herself of the cold room. It was frequent for Eiji to be the first one to wake up but it wasn't that often that he would leave her side on the bed without waiting for her to wake up unless he had to go for an urgent job, that would mean she would spend the day without seeing him for sure.
A beep came from her side table and she turned to look, picking up the phone that was on top of it and looking at the alarm, smiling a little when she saw some messages wishing her a great day and other birthday-related texts and only there she realized what day was it: First of January. Her birthday. Her head turned to the place where Eiji slept, wondering if he had forgotten about it but then again, she was never a fan of her birthday, she loved surprising her friends and boyfriend on their days but she didn't have anything worth to congratulation herself on that day, instead she couldn't help to think that she didn't have anything planned for her life. If it wasn't for Eiji she would probably already be drinking at those hours, and probably for the rest of the day, but since the two had got together her tendency to drink had lower with each passing day. She didn't found any reason to solve her problems in drawing herself to alcohol when Eiji was there to help her so she just drank on special occasions... Or when she had a tiny breakdown from time to time.
It didn't past much more of nine of the morning and Kanae didn't know what to do, she pondered on staying on the bed and try to go back to sleep but without Eiji it just wasn't the same thing, what she really wanted to do was just cuddle with her lover and fall asleep on his arms but that plan was out of the list so she simply got up and went to take breakfast.
The first thing she noticed when she arrived was a note on the balcony, attached to a small box. Kanae first looked at the box and then to the note, smiling as she recognized Eiji handwriting

-Happy Birthday my little tigress.
Please open your gift and come meet me at the park's fountain when you're ready.
I'll be waiting. -

So he didn't have forgotten, Kanae smiled and eagerly opened the gift, her happy expression changing to a confusing one as there was another note, above the clothes.

-Also, wear this.-

That was odd, normally Eiji would trust her with her own choices but maybe he was planning something? A birthday surprise would be interesting but it wasn't really Eiji's style. Either way, she shrugged and walked back to the bedroom with the box in her hands, removing the pajamas to change to the set that she had just acquired and looked in the mirror.
Funny, she remembered wearing something similar to this on their first date. A simple orange blouse, covered by a black leather jacket, and a fluffy black skirt that reached half of her tighs, of course she wore some invisible leggings under it due the cold weather outside and her black heels reached knee height so there wasn't much skin left to cover, her neck was also adorned with a scarf whose design seemed to resemble a tiger with the orange and black stripes and to finish the set there was a cute orange wool cap that made her look like a high schooler. It was indeed, really close to what she remembers wearing on their first date and now that she thought about it, Eiji asked to meet at the same fountain... Maybe she was just hungry and was starting to see things, either way, she didn't want to make Eiji wait any longer than needed so she grabbed her stuff and walked out of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, sending him a text that she was leaving to go meet him.

Faithful to his word, Eiji stood in front of the fountain in the middle of the park with two cups of what Kanae assumed was coffee, giving her one of the cups once she was at a decent distance.
"Wasn't it easier to wait for me to wake up?" She glared at him, still a little annoyed that he had left her without any warning but she only got a small chuckle and received a sweet peck on her lips.
"Good morning to you too. I had some business to do and it felt wrong to disturb your sleep since I didn't know how long I would take I choose to let you sleep. Did you missed me, Kanae?"
She blushed a little, both from the affection and the fact he had guessed the missing part fact, turning her head to the side, thankful that her scarf could cover the lower part of her face - cheeks included- and so the chances of showing her blush would be low "Maybe just a little..."
Eiji smiled and took a better look at her, pleased that she had put on the clothes he had left to her "I see you followed my instructions."
Kanae shyly nodded, unsure of why she was being so shy. Maybe it was the fact that they were in the same place where they had met on their first date, with similar clothes that she wore on that day, those reminders somehow made her feel the same excitement and nervous as the first time they had encountered on a more intimate way.
"Oh right. Kanae..." He called her and her eyes met his once again, feeling the warmth of his right hand on her cheek as he lowered his face to meet hers, their lips meeting in a gentle yet passionate kiss, which made Kanae melt and forget all about her shyness and nervously. They slowly backed away, their gazes never leaving each other "Happy birthday"
She smiled and looked down at her cup of coffee, that was still hot but not enough to burn, and took a sip before replying "Thanks. So, is there any reason for why suddenly you want to be here?"
He smiled and gave her his left arm, giving a sign for her to hold onto it as he held his cup on the other hand, thankfully she got the message and interlocked her arm with his, hugging it as she cuddled up with him. Eiji didn't reply to her question but there weren't needed any words as he started walking, her on his side just following the lead still wondering his plans.
The couple walked in a comfortable silence, their coffee fading away after a while as the cold weather only seemed to invite them to warm themselves with everything that was possible; Eiji kept asking if Kanae was cold with that skirt but she happy reassured that she was fine, even if she was happier every time he asked her as it meant he was caring about her well being.
They reached a festive avenue, fully decorated everywhere they could look. Kanae wasn't properly what you could call a genius but, once again, she was sure this was the same street fair they had enjoyed a few years ago on their date, if this was a coincidence then they should play the jackpot that day.
Kanae knew her boyfriend wasn't really one to be seen in really crowdy places but he seemed rather calm, not at all bothered by the crowd that surrounded them and she started wondering if he felt alright.
"Say Kanae, since it's your birthday why don't we see something that you want?"
She looked at him, who was staring back at her and immediately wanted to say something about the lines of ´I don't need anything, I already have you and that's all I ever wanted´ but that would sound way too mushy for her- even if it was true- so she simply smiled and hugged his arm closer "I thought you already gave me this clothes? I don't want you to waste any unnecessary money on me"
She felt a soft pressure on top of her head, identifying it as a kiss, and looked again up to find him smiling "That's nonsense. This is your special day, you deserve everything that you desire"
Kanae softly blushed and buried her face on his arm, growling in an attempt to make him stop making her feel embarrassed but a loud couple of giggles caught her attention. She looked over to the origin of the sound, finding a young couple with a small toddler playing around on a ride, clearly enjoying themselves, which caused Kanae to smile softly at the view, something that didn't escape Eiji.
"They look happy... It must be nice to create a family with the one you love heh?" Her eyes widen as she realized she had said it out loud instead of in her head and looked over at her boyfriend, who had a neutral emotionless expression like he didn't have heard a thing "I-It's not that I don't think it's nice to be just the two of us... I-I mean, what we have now is perfect the way it is, everything is going perfectly right? There's no need to rush" She said with a nervous laugh, feeling herself getting hotter under his stare and Eiji tried his best to not smile or laugh. Oh, if only she knew what he was preparing for her.
"That's right. Everything has their own time. However... Maybe that won't have to wait for much longer" He teased her before walking down the avenue as Kanae stared at his back confused, not getting the hint, but before he could get too far she was already once again by his side, having to run to catch up.
The day was spent shopping for clothes, accessories and handmade jewelry and food - at Eiji's request-, always, or almost all the time, hand in hand and enjoying their time together, finally when the sun was already setting they decided to finish their day with a ride on the Ferris wheel.

They were already on halfway of the ride when Kanae realized something. She turned from the window to her boyfriend, who surprised her by being already looking at her but she failed to notice the small trace of nervous that was present in his features.
"This... This is just like our first date, isn't it? All of this, all day I got the idea of deja vu. Same meeting place, same activities, and now the place where we had our first kiss... I never can tell what you're planning Eiji, you always find a way to surprise me" She smiled as she looked at their intertwined hands, loving the way they seemed to complete each other.
"You can't be one to talk about surprising the others..."
"What do you mean...?"
"I'll be honest, I never thought of myself in a relationship because, being true here, feelings make you weak, and even if I truly enjoy your company, now I live in constant concern if something would happen to you or that you will get tired of me. I never thought of anything else other than help and save the others, even forgetting my own wish to be the one being saved. You are the one that can make my wish true, Kanae, with you I always feel like I was saved. I was blessed with being able to have met you and creating this new life with you. Every day you find a way to surprise me and I find myself thinking that I don't want you just temporarily but yes permanently in my life." He saw her eyes widen slightly and heard her gulping as she stared into his eyes, her hand gripped his and he smiled before lifting them to his lips and placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand "I want to be the one always by your side, and of course, would gladly start a family with you, after all, you were the one that said it should be nice right?" ,before finally kneeling down in front of her, using his free hand to remove the box from his pocket and revel the diamond ring to her, who had removed her previously caught hand to be able to use both hands to caused her open mouth as her eyes started to feel some tears that were threating to escape "Kanae, will you marry me ?"
Kanae stared at the ring, trying to say some reply but no words managed to get out from her lips, instead, she nodded her head furiously and practically launched herself into his arms, who managed to catch her without falling to the floor, and started spreading kisses all over his face, cheeks, forehead, on the tip of his nose and finally his lips, losing herself on a deep kiss as they expressed their passion throught the kiss, enabled to do much more due the place where they were in that moment, otherwise Eiji wouldn't mind to also fully lose himself in the moment.
"I'll take that as a yes" Eiji smiled at her humming to confirm it, both still panting slightly and trying to catch their breath, and gently slide the ring on her finger before placing a small, more quick kiss on her lips and lifting her to sit on his lap when he sat again on his place, looking as she cuddled on his chest while staring at her new ring, smiling brightly as Eiji loved to see her smiling "Happy birthday Kanae"
The soon-to-be bride looked at her now fiancée and rubbed her nose on his, sharing a sweet Eskimo Kiss "Thank you Eiji... For everything"
There wasn't needed any words to explicit what everything meant, but he didn't need any ´thanks´. He just wanted to see Kanae happy and the simple fact just made his day as he took the mission of making her happy his top-priority from the day they first shared their first kiss on this same exact spot.

And it wasn't needed to say that this was, without any doubt, Kanae's new favorite day.