Daisuke started as the phone rang, spilling hot water from his pot of noodles all over the floor. "Darn it!," he hissed. "This had better be good." Dodging the new puddle and slipping the noodles into the collander he had strategically placed in the sink beforehand, Daisuke dashed around the counter and caught the phone midway through its third ring.

"Motomiya residence. What do you want?"

"Hey, Daisuke, I need your help with something."

"Oh, Ken. It's just you."

"What, are you busy? This'll just take a minute."

"Then tell me now, 'cause I've got to add my special sauce in exactly a minute and a half." Just in case, Daisuke quickly switched to the cordless phone, grabbed the mop, and started picking up the watter from the sopping floor.

"Oh, you're making noodles?"

"Do I ever do anything else?"

"Good point. In any case, I need help with Miyako."

"What's wrong with Miyako?" Ken and Miyako had started dating almost a week after the Chosen Children had saved both worlds, and after three months, Daisuke still hadn't gotten used to the fact that two of his friends were going out, not to mention the fact that both were Chosen Children.

"Well, her birthday's next Tuesday." Ken pushed the words out awkwardly, nervous about his request.

"That's what you called for, Ken? Birthday presents? You know I'm not good with choosing gifts." He winced, remembering when he had gotten Hikari a fancy gilded sailboat for her birthday. Hikari had eyed it for ten minutes before she finally admitted to Daisuke that she had no idea what to do with it. He found out later from Taichi that she hated the thing, but didn't want to hurt his feelings.

"Well, no. I know what I want to get her, and I need your help."

"Uh huh." Daisuke cared, he really did, but he was busy mixing exactly the right ratio of teriyaki sauce, steak sauce, and his secret spice mixture into his creation.

"See, there's an anime convention this weekend, and I want to get the whole group together to do a group cosplay of her favorite show. Maybe we can get the upperclassmen to help out, too."

"There's a what convention?" Daisuke stopped mixing his noodles and started paying attention to the conversation. "And you want to do what?"

"An anime convention."

"I didn't know they even had stuff like that," Daisuke muttered, scooping his finished meal into a bowl. "Anime should stay on TV, that's what I think. And what's a cosplay?"

"Basically, you dress up as your favorite anime character, or at least one who looks like you. And then you hang out with other people who did the same, and you do many anime-related activities."

"Right." Daisuke grabbed a pair of chopsticks, sat down at the table, and started slurping loudly, just to remind Ken that he was eating.

"So, will you help me out?"

"You have to pay for these things, right?"

Ken sighed, exasperated. "Daisuke, I'm sure you'll find something to do there. You won't be completely bored the whole time, I promise you."

"Seriously, Ken? You know I hate anime." He slurped more noodles.

"Well..." Ken's voice now carried a mischiveous tone.

"What is it?" Slurp.

"You can play any video game you want for the whole day if you go."

"They have video games? Why didn't you tell me sooner? Hang on a sec, and I'll get everybody to go!" Noodles forgotten, Daisuke dashed to his room to find his phone book.

***

By the time school got out on Friday, Ken and Daisuke had everything ready. All that remained was to put the plan into action. First, Ken ditched his last period to catch a train to Miyako's school.

"Ken!" Miyako almost shouted. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Miyako, you'll never guess what I got us!" Ken was usually reserved, but he was so excited about the surprise that he felt he was going to burst if he didn't say something, and quickly.

"What is it, Ken?"

"Well, you know that anime convention you really wanted to go to? The one that's this weekend?"

"I already told you I can't afford to go, Ken, as much as I want to."

Ken grinned. "I got us passes!"

"Eeehh? But they're so expensive!" Miyako shrieked. "How can you spend so much money on me?"

"Well, we are dating," Ken pointed out.

"That's true."

"And since your birthday's coming up, I thought it would make a better present than some little trinket."

"Wow, Ken! That's so sweet of you!" Miyako could barely contain her excitement. "Now I just have to make a cosplay! Ooh, what to make?"

Ken smiled. "I took care of that, too. For this weekend, Inoue Miyako will become Inoue Orihime."

"Wow, Ken, I don't know what to say." Tears were beginning to well in her eyes. "Wait, hold on a second. This weekend? Not one day?"

"I bought weekend passes. I thought you might want to go so much that you'd miss a day of school for it." Ken shrugged. "The con starts tonight, too. Want to meet there at eight?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Just...just let me get ready." Miyako dashed away, tears streaming down her face.

Ken grinned. "Don't forget to pick up your costume!" he called after her. "I left it at Daisuke's place." While he wasn't expecting Miyako to be moved to tears, he decided that the exchange went pretty well. Miyako had seemed more and more depressed lately, after all, and he wanted to do all he could to cheer her up.

***

Miyako didn't stop crying the whole way home. She opened the door to the family store, called out that she was home, and slipped behind the counter.

"Hey, Miyako, what's up? I thought you were going to come back late today so you could go break up with your boyfriend. Did you talk to him?"

Miyako didn't answer.