It's been years since I've written. I..unintentionally wrote a birthday fic for Sousuke. I seriously have no idea where this thing came from. Unbeta-ed but hopefully this piece still turned out okay.

Happy birthday Sousuke, you beautiful dork. I hope you'll be happy.

Today is Sousuke's birthday.

And he's safe in his hiding spot, avoiding the hell out of everyone.

It was a close call just this morning, when he was getting out of the dorm. Sousuke took the advantage of Rin's routine of jogging every morning, and had planned his escape. Unfortunately, he stumbled upon Momo and Nitori, whose nervous, excited energy and sad attempt of hiding birthday hats and party poppers behind their backs warned Sousuke just what his dorm mates are up to.

Sousuke gave vague answers when the two underclassmen asked where he was going, and he practically skittered out of there. The faster he hid himself, the better.

So now, he's hiding under a slide, in a park three stations away from Samezuka.

It's not that Sousuke hates birthdays, exactly.

Fine, he absolutely loathes birthdays. Especially his own.

It's not that he hates the birthday cheer, that he can tolerate. It's the gift-giving custom that is stressing him out. Sousuke is not that grumpy of a man who hates presents, oh no. What he hates is the obligation which comes with the presents.

Receiving a present during your birthday means you have the obligation to return the gesture, to give the one who gave you the present a present during their birthday. And Sousuke is not up to that kind of commitment.

Sousuke let out a long sigh. Even the thought of this is stressing him out. Sousuke himself knows he's being ridiculous. It's completely ridiculous. Who the hell stresses out over presents?

Now, gift-exchanging Sousuke can do. Gift-exchange is a once-off thing, totally commitment-free. You get a present, you give a present. It's the one night stand of presents. That kind of thing Sousuke is totally down for. Why can't every events be like Christmas, sure looking for presents is a pain, but at least-

During his moment of contemplation, Sousuke's phone starts to vibrate. He didn't need to see the caller ID to know who it is, so he reluctantly answers it.

"Yeah..?"

"Where are you hiding, you ass." Rin barked at him.

"Like I'd tell you."

"Sousuke, I'm serious. Where the hell are you."

"And I'm being serious. I'm not going to tell you."

Sousuke can hear Rin's groan of frustration through his phone.

"One minute I take my eyes off of you, and you're already gone. Jesus."

Sousuke only gave a noncommittal hum.

"Get your ass back here, Yamazaki." Rin's voice hardened. "Captain's orders."

"Punish me all you want later, I'm not going."

"You-"

"Have you seen Nitori and Momo? They have birthday hats. And party poppers."

"Get over it, we're celebrating your birthday, you ungrateful asshole."

"I didn't ask for it." Sousuke whispered.

"Well you're getting it anyway."

It's Sousuke's turn to let out an irritated groan. "Can't you let me off, just this once."

"Nope."

"It's in the dorm, people are going to be there."

"Yup."

"I just know you and your sadistic tendencies will let those two invite the whole swimming team."

"Yup. And Gou and the others will be too."

"…what, why are they coming?"

"Apparently Nagisa can't resist birthday parties. Especially ones with chocolate cake involved."

Sousuke groaned even louder.

"Christ, will you just get over it already. It's not that big of a deal."

"You don't even understand my pain."

"…and they call me the dramatic one. Goddammit Sousuke, it's not like everyone will be bearing presents."

"You'll never know that."

"I'm your best friend and I don't have a present for you."

"Only because we have the no-present-during-birthdays pact."

"Which I still think is ridiculous, and doesn't have anything to do with celebrating your birthday." From Rin's tone, Sousuke knew he's getting increasingly annoyed at him. "Damn it, Sousuke! Just get your ass back here, right fucking now."

Again, Sousuke only gave out a noncommittal, refusing sound.

"You'll make Gou cry when she knows you ran away from your own birthday party."

Sousuke flinched at the image. Gou is like a sister to him, he would've punched anyone who made her upset. She was the reason he still did Christmas parties and the like, though he disliked buying presents for people. Knowing he will make Gou upset is just unacceptable. Rin knew this and pointing it out is effective, though a bit low for him.

"You'll make both Nitori and Momo cry because of their wasted efforts to give you a surprise party."

Again Sousuke flinched. Sousuke have grown attached to the two underclassmen, despite the short period of knowing them. And he only has little time with them, until graduation comes. It will definitely be a dick move if Sousuke skips on the party they arranged.

"And most of all, I will be disappointed in you." Rin said with a tone of finality. "And maybe, I'll just buy you a present, out of spite."

"We have a pact, Matsuoka-"

"Yeah, yeah, no presents during birthdays. But what if I give you a present out of nowhere. Just because I want to give you something."

No. No. Rin wouldn't dare.

"I guess that would be inconvenient for you, huh. Receiving a present all of the sudden like that. Like, when would you even reciprocate it?"

Sousuke grit his teeth.

"And I wonder how long that would go on. I mean, if you give me a present back, that means I have to give something back too, right?"

Sousuke clenched his free hand into a fist and ground his teeth. No, no. Rin wouldn't do this to him. He knows exactly how troubled Sousuke feels with this gift-related thing.

"Hmm. I wonder what I should buy you, sometime later…"

"Fine. Fine! I'll go back." Sousuke conceded, with a defeated voice. "Just…just make sure not too many people bring presents."

"There! Did we really have to go through that? You're such a pain in the ass, you asshole."

"Rin. No presents if it can't be helped."

"Jesus, fine. It's not like every single person went out of their way to buy you presents. You are such a narcissistic weirdo." Rin let out an annoyed sigh. Sousuke was just as exhausted of arguing as he is. He just wants to hide in peace, damn it. "And anyways, people who are going to give you presents will already have it, it's already your birthday, you big idiot."

Now it's Sousuke's turn to lets out a long sigh. He really has to do this, doesn't he.

"So are you coming back or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going now." Sousuke said as he ducked out of the slide. "What time do I need to be there?"

"Make sure you get here after 1. Oh, and go buy a lighter while you're at it."

"Lighter? Why the hell would we need a lighter?" Except if Rin suddenly starts smoking, which he most probably will not do as an athlete.

"That dumb Momo forgot to get a lighter to light your candle. And apparently no one here has a lighter. Can you believe it, not even one! So go buy one, alright?"

And now Sousuke needs to buy his own lighter to light up his own birthday candle. This year's birthday is definitely looking up. "Alright, alright. I got it."

Sousuke was going to hang up the phone when suddenly Rin spoke up again. "Oh, and one more thing."

What now, does he have to buy his own cake too? Buy his own presents while he's at it?

"Happy Birthday, Sousuke."

Sousuke's eyes widened a bit. Rin just sounded so heartfelt that he couldn't help smiling. How many years has it been since his best friend wished him a happy birthday, he wondered. It's been too long that it felt like a privilege.

"Yeah. Thanks, Rin."