A/N: So, Kanae had a chapter for herself on her birthday so of course Eiji wouldn't get left out on his day. Celebrating the Ox's warrior birthday here's one more fic. Also, for this fic I was kinda inspired by an image of Twitter, just a little disclaimer.
Side note: After this, I kinda like to see Takeyasu x Kanae x Eiji triangle... Well, next fanfic idea.
...
That day, the second day of the second month could be seen as a normal day for many, the same went to Eiji who didn't care about the importance of the day that meant his celebration of the day he had been born. However, the day started in an unexpected way when the smell of pancakes awoke him. He checked the clock and it saw it was a little past seven, which made him confused about why there was smell of food coming from the kitchen, since the only way that would be possible would be that someone was on his kitchen, and there could only be one person that he trusted enough to give the key to his apartment and it was becoming quite frequent for her to come to his apartment, he didn't really mind her presence anyway.
He got up and walked to the kitchen, not even brushing his hair like usual and letting it in a complete mess, something he didn't like to do as he took pride in his long (*cough*fabulous*cough*) hair but his curiosity got the best of him as he wanted to get his doubts clear.
And true to his theories there stood Kanae, happily humming softly to a melody as she flipped one pancake to the top of the mountain of pancakes that were already on a plate. As she turned around to let the plate on the table again she saw a still half-asleep Eiji and blushed a little when noticed how his messy hair made the fearful warrior look actually adorable and his sleeping shirt had a couple of buttons unbuttoned, which allowed quite a generous view of his defined chest, was also a bonus. She sent him a smile as she notices his questioning expression "Happy birthday!"
Eiji couldn't help but return the smile with a small one of his own, it was impossible when seeing the cheerful mood that Kanae emitted "Thanks. Isn't this too early for you? I know you like to sleep"
She hummed and turned around, much to her dismay as she lost her image of the day, to continue doing Eiji's breakfast "It's fine. I wanted to surprise you and make sure you wouldn't try to skip this, after all, I managed to gather all the other warriors so you'll make me look bad if you don't show up"
He could almost imagine a small pout on her lips and couldn't help but make his smile grow. He took the opportunity to admire how Kanae was when focused on something. She always seemed a new person when she had something on her mind and that actually managed to impress him, that was why he gave an opportunity for the two to get closer, to the point that he was allowing her to come to his apartment everytime she desired and, if he was honest with himself, her presence gave life to the place, which seemed always so dark whenever he was there by himself - something that he never minded before this thing with Kanae had started.
A plate in front of him on the table broke his thoughts and Kanae sat down on a chair in front of him, only after that Eiji also sat down while Kanae teased him "I never thought you were one to be staring at a girl's back when she isn't looking... "
He contained a cough that threatened to escape as he had been caught, not that he had exactly stared at the part that she was referring but at the woman herself "That is too unpolite. I'm just surprised that you decided to make me breakfast." He took a bite of the food she had prepared for him "And it's actually good and not poisoned..."
She pouted and kicked his leg under the table, half offended by his remark "I know how to cook. Unlike a certain genius of slaughter..."
"Fair point." He admitted as he continued munching on the pancakes, only then noticing how Kanae wasn't eating anything and was instead checking her phone with a small smile on her face "Aren't you going to eat?"
The ginger-haired looked at him for a couple of seconds before returning her attention to the phone, returning to write the message she had left on "I already ate. Hurry up, we need to go meet the others. So, how is the non-poisoned food that I made?"
As she pressed the send bottom she looked at him again, expecting the answer and a little nervous to hear it, but she is surprised when Eiji sticks out his fork with a piece of a pancake out to her, blushing a little when realizing what it should look like in a third person perspective, but she took a bite anyway, pleased with herself as she let herself savour the food.
The next few minutes were as normal as any other day between the two, Kanae making all the talk, with Eiji replying with a short answer before the female continued her chat, not missing the chance to show him her new nails design - that she was clearly proud of by the look on her face- until Eiji finished the pancakes and, with Kanae pushing him to his room as she defended that she was the one that was going to clean the dishes, went to prepare himself.
The two walked side by side from Eiji's place to the place set to meeting the rest of the group, even if Eiji still thought if it was a good idea to reunite the warriors.
"Don't worry Eiji, this will be fun. It's not that we're trying to murder each other... Also, we two get along, right? So why shouldn't the rest also be able to be likable?" She tried to reassure him, looking straight ahead as they walked so close to one another that their sides bumped slightly but none of the two seemed to mind.
"I guess you're right. Where did you even get this idea to start with?"
"Oh, it was actually Takeyasu that gave me the idea. We have been talking for a while and he thought it would be a good idea to meet again."
"Takeyasu?" Eiji looked down at her, stopping in his tracks as he didn't expect such answer, he never thought that Kanae kept contact with the rest of the warriors, especially male warriors so it had come out as a shock and an unfamiliar feel of hate at the mention of the twin's name "You've been talking with him? Since when?"
She stopped a little ahead of him and turned around to be able to face the taller male and shrugged, not understanding the confusion and the questions that Eiji was throwing at her.
"Takeyasu, you know, the younger Tatsumi twin. And a couple of months I guess. Although we have only met three or four times, we mostly talk by messages or calls."
If Eiji had little will to go meet the other warriors now, for some reason he couldn't understand, his will was just to go back to his place and just spend the day like it had been during breakfast; he was happy with just Kanae's company; but he didn't want to disappoint the warrior of the Tiger and so he just ignored the tingling feeling he was now having and continued walking in silence but the comfortable mood from before had disappeared, instead there was a strong aura that was emitted by Eiji, one that Kanae simply remember seeing when he was in battle, ready to go straight to the kill.
It didn't take too long for the two to reach to the spot and met, as predicted, the other warriors, with the exception of the sheep that Kanae had refused to invite as the "old man would only ruin the fun".
Everybody gave the congratulations to Eiji in their own way, some more friendly than the others and some more comfortable while the others still had some doubts about being so close to a genius that could kill them in a blink of the eye.
As he was talking to Misaki, who seemed to clearly treat him as a friend more than a warrior, he noticed how Kanae was talking with the Tatsumi brothers, the younger of the two had his arm around her shoulders playfully and Kanae just let him be like nothing was wrong, in fact, she was actually laughing at what he assumed that Takeyasu had made a joke.
"Eiji? Is everything ok?" Misaki called out to him, worried to see that his hand had clenched into a fist but before she could look in the direction he was looking he had already gone back to his stoic expressionless self.
"Everything's fine. Thank you for the concern." He mumbled to her before walking to the trio he had been watching and carefully grabbing Kanae's wrist and dragging her to him, which made both Kanae and Takeyasu confused at his sudden appearance.
"Eiji?" Her emerald eyes looked up at him and she gulped, blushing when noticing how close their faces were but her face was soon filled with disappointment when he first released her wrist and then backed off.
"Shouldn't we be going somewhere?" He asks her, his tone more cold that she ever remembered hearing and she couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong or maybe this had been a mistake since she knew Eiji would prefer to be alone.
"Oh right. I rented a Karaoke room just for us! Doesn't that sound fun?"
"Karaoke...?" The tall man stared at her, processing her words but an indignant Toshiko cut him off.
"Are you really expecting me to put my feet in such kind of place? Aren't we too old for that anyway?"
"Come on, come on! Where is your adventure spirit Toshi?"
Much to Eiji's displeasure he saw how Takeyasu's arm was once again around Kanae's shoulders and pat her head with his hand "Kanae here had so much work planning this day. But we completely understand that your voice isn't appropriate for this kind of stuff after all the Inou's heiress can't have all the talents."
The blonde huffed and puffed her chest out, crossing her arms as she looked at him with a determined look "What do you even think you're saying? I'll let you know that I'm an amazing singer, much better than all of you together."
"Oh, that is a good idea. Say Kanae, later we'll sing together." Takeyasu said as he turned to the girl in his arms with a huge grin on his face which made her laugh.
"You'll just ruin my song. Well, let's just get going so I can order food. I'm so hungry" She whined slightly but that was enough to let the group know it was time to go.
Eiji, unlike the most part of the group, stood behind, looking at the backs of the short warrior of the Tiger and the warrior of the Snake, trying to realize the reason of why he was so bothered by them.
Ryouka smiled innocently and even laughed a little at the situation "It seems the famous warrior of the Ox is jealous~"
"Jealous...?" He muttered to himself while looking at how Kanae and the younger Tatsumi seemed to have fun while chatting with each other "I shouldn't be jealous... Especially when someone is not even mine to start with"
"Oh?" Ryouka looks at him shocked "Are you saying that you two aren't a thing yet? Man... I think I just lost my money..."
Eiji turned to her to ask what she had meant but the green-haired female has gone, talking with the older of the Tatsumi brothers with a defeated look at handling him some money from her purse.
The room was simple, with just the basic things you would find in a typical Karaoke room, along with too much food - mostly as Kanae's requested- and some drinks to "help" making some sing. One thing that both Kanae and Eiji noticed about each other was that neither had drunk, in Kanae's case or eaten, at least not as much as Eiji usually did.
Leaving Takeyasu's side as the younger twin challenged the older one to a karaoke battle, which was denied but he somehow managed to get Toshiko to sing with him, Kanae moved to be able to sit next to the birthday boy, giving him a smile as she sat down "So, did I managed to find a way for you wanting to kill me?" She joked, trying to cheer up the situation as she noticed him sulking, even if she wasn't sure if it was sulking or him just being Eiji.
He smiled a little at her company, feeling happy with just her presence near him again and giving her full attention to him "Not yet but I believe I would prefer something calmer... Either way, it would be hard to kill you, I would miss your cooking skills."
Eiji saw a pout growing on her face and smiled, petting her head which made her blush in surprise, it was rare for Eiji to show any emotions, let alone affections and even rarer on public places, full of familiar faces. "Aren't you going to drink?" He asked her but only received a smile in return and a small shake of her head.
"It's your birthday and I want to remain conscious so I can make sure you're having fun"
"Why do you care so much if I'm enjoying my birthday?" He asked her and saw how a little tinge of pink adorned her cheeks even more before she looked away from him.
"I... I want you to be happy, you know? Not just today but every single day. I really like when you're smiling and I want to make you see that you can also have a normal life, without the need to focus only on your job... This might sound creepy but I actually thought that maybe if you realized that you can enjoy a normal life you would stay more time... with me... " A strong yet comfortable silence stood between them, ignoring the loud screams that would be considered singing by some but the two were more focused on each other than Toshiko's singing abilities. "Crap. I forgot your gift" She sighed as the thought finally hit her, early in the morning she had been so excited to not get late that she had totally forgotten the gift she had gotten to him but his laugh told her that it wasn't any problem.
With his hand, he turned her face to him and rested his forehead against hers while his thumb gently caressed her cheek.
"Kanae... There's nothing else you can give me. Your presence is all I need. Nobody had ever made this effort to give me a day like this... I don't remember the last time I had some reason to be this happy and right now, there's nothing else that I would rather do than to kiss you..."
She was pretty sure her cheeks were beat red as she felt herself on fire "W-What is stopping you..? It's your birthday, you should just do what you..."
He didn't let her finish. Her eyes closed shut as she replied to his kiss. The kiss was soft, teasing. It was making her drunk more than any alcohol or blood could and she was already addicted. It made him forget about everything: the battles, the wars, all the evil that was still in need to tear down. In that moment he could only think of how soft those lips felt against his and how addicted he was already.
Slowly, they backed away, noticing how Kanae's hands rested on Eiji's chest, more precisely over his beating heart, while he wrapped his arms around her to pull her closer to him. She gave him a soft smile that was enough to melt his heart and snuggled on his chest, watching as the other warriors either were passed out drunks or were singing their lungs out ( or in Tsugiyoshi's case, was just sleeping on the couch while resting his head on Misaki's right shoulder) and in that moment, with Kanae on his arms, Eiji was sure of one thing: he had finally a reason to celebrate.
On the other side of the room stood an upset Ryouka that demanded her money back seeing that after all, she had won the bet that Kanae and Eiji would get together until the next time they all met.