"Damn kids..." Kazuma grumbled as he trudged into the run-down, filthy stables, also known as his home. A trail of water could be seen behind him. He stripped off his cape and twisted it, causing a stream of water to drip out.

The reason for his wetness, as well as his miserable mood, was one and the same. For some reason, while he was heading home from work today, every kid he passed had the idea of throwing water balloons at him, soaking him completely. He would have chased after them, but after the sixth kid had disappeared down a alleyway, he gave up on it.

He carefully took off the rest of his dripping clothes, and tossed them into a nearby wooden bucket. He hoped that was the laundry bucket and not the manure one.

'We really need to start labelling them.'

Right now, all Kazuma wanted was to dry himself off and hit the hay. Aqua would still be down at the Adventurer's Guild drinking their week's pay away, so he needn't worry about her seeing him half naked.

As he neared his 'bedroom', he heard a soft humming echoing throughout the stables.

"Happy birthday to.. Me... Hic... Happy... Birrh... Day... T'me... Hic"

'What the hell? Who's singing the birthday song at this time? And here, of all places?"

To his surprise, the singing seemed to originate from the stable where he and Aqua slept. He pushed open the gate, intending to give the unwelcome singer a piece of his mind.

"Aqua?"

The water goddess was sprawled over the hay, gripping a bottle of cheap wine in her hand. She was drooling as she began another bout of incoherent singing.

Kazuma sighed and moved to tuck Aqua into her corner of the haypile.

"Happy Birthday to me..."

"Hang on, it's Aqua's birthday?"

He hadn't really expected her to have a birthday. He wasn't even sure how goddesses even came about. He wasn't sure he cared.

Just then Aqua turned around, and as if realising Kazuma was there, sat up and stared at him with a dumber than usual grin on her face.

"Ka... Zu..Ma…"

"Yes, it's me, Kazuma."

"Where's my... Hic... Birthday... present?" Aqua inquired sweetly.

"Aqua, I didn't even know it was your birth..." Kazuma tried to come up with an excuse.

"Of course you didn't. Why would you? Nobody else did so why would you remember? Or even care?" There was an bitter undertone in Aqua's speech now, which Kazuma had never heard until now, despite having been roommates and party members with Aqua for months now.

"I mean, why should anyone care? I'm just a stupid, useless goddess..." Kazuma saw that a stream of tears had begun slowly rolling down her pale cheeks.

"All the other gods have important titles... Goddess of Life... God of Death... Goddess of the Earth...And on their birthdays, all the mortals hold grand ceremonies in their name. But me..."

Kazuma realised that Aqua was soaking wet as well, down to her socks.

"I get kids throwing water balloons! I'm a fucking joke." She sank to her knees and took another swig of wine.

"Even a small prayer would be nice. A little appreciation now and then..."

"Aqua…I had no idea..."

The wine bottle suddenly found itself into orbit, with its trajectory headed straight for Kazuma's face. He yelped as he ducked away. The wine bottle hit the stable wall, exploding in a burst of purple. Aqua stood up and turned towards him, a sickly grin on her face.

"You of all people have no right to talk!" Aqua shouted. "Every single day, it's 'Useless Goddess', 'Stupid Goddess', 'Goddess of Party Tricks'! No matter what I do, you still treat me like I'm a third-rate cleric!"

Kazuma was at a loss for words. He had never seen Aqua so upset. He didn't think she had the mental capacity.

"I heal you and the others on every quest. I killed the Duhallan. I even resurrected your headless ass when you got killed by a snowman! But nooo, after all that, I'm still useless!" Aqua spat out that last word like a Giant Toad in its death throes. She began sobbing louder.

Kazuma slowly got up and walked over to her. He put his arms around her and stood as her tears begun to wet his pajamas.

Aqua rubbed her eyes and sat up. The sun shone brightly through the barred window, burning brightly on Aqua's hair.

"Aaaaa... That was a good sleep...Kazuma.. "

It was just then she realised that Kazuma was nowhere to be seen.

'He probably went off to work already. I should get going too.'

As Aqua fumbled for her clothes, she realised that on the crate functioning as their only table, there was a slice of chocolate cake with a note leaning on it.

Curious, Aqua reached for the note and gingerly opened it.

'Aqua

I'm sorry I didn't know about your birthday. To be fair, we never really exchanged that sort of information with each other, did we? Regardless, I thought I should do something in honor of it.

For today, you don't have to go to work. I'll do your share of work just for today. Just head down to the pub and enjoy the rest of the day off.

Oh yeah, and come back by 9, okay? I have a surprise for you.

Kazuma'

Aqua hugged the little paper close to her chest. She picked up the little cake and took a nibble. Smooth, cocoa cream flowed out and coated her mouth. It was the most delicious cake she'd had.

Aqua didn't head out of the stables the entire day, opting to instead idle around the stables. She was too excited about what Kazuma had in store for that night to even think about going out drinking. When Kazuma came back with a bag full of bulky apparatus at 8, he was surprised to see Aqua in the stables, and quickly rushed back out, mumbling that he didn't want to spoil the surprise.

'I wonder what he's up to.'

About ten minutes later, Aqua heard Kazuma calling for her to come out. As she stepped out of the stables and looked around, she couldn't see Kazuma anywhere.

A sudden zipping sound caught her attention and she turned her head upwards towards the source.

A little rocket streaked across the twilight sky, a blazing white trail behind it. As it reached its peak, it exploded into a burst of aqua blue, forming a caricature of Aqua's face. Two more rockets followed suit, marking the night sky with images of the water goddess.

As Aqua watched, captivated, she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

"Happy Birthday Aqua..."

She turned around to see Kazuma standing behind her, nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"I know I might have been a little harsh on you. It was my fault in the first place that you're even here. I know this isn't much, but I wanted to show a little appreciatation for you, especially since it was your birthday.."

Aqua lunged forward, enveloping Kazuma in a deep hug.

"Thank you, Kazuma. It's the first time anyone did something nice for my birthday."

"Didn't Eris send you a birthday card this morn…"

"Shhh…dont ruin the moment for me."