Birthdays and Kisses

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis not mine, uh-uh. Never will be. The Life Goes On Alti-verse belongs to Stormy1x2.

Giftfics seem to be coming out of my ears right now. For Stormy1x2's LGO-verse. Also, this started out as a one-shot and has apparently ballooned out of my control.

Warnings: Sap. Pure, total sap. And the occasional potty-mouth.

Chapter One:

Rolling his eyes as he rose from the couch, Akira pulled Akaya into the kitchen with him to clean up the mess from dinner. "I wish they'd stop playing that stupid preview," he grumbled wearily as he picked up the last few dishes from the table. "It's all Michi and Sachi talk about lately."

Unable to completely hide his grin, the Rikkai Captain set about putting the dishes in the drainer away and filling the sink with fresh hot water. "They want to go see it, don't they?" he asked wryly.

Nodding, the red-head wrapped up the now-cool leftovers and put them in the refrigerator. "Yeah. And since the opening day is on Michi's birthday, she's been especially persistent," he replied unhappily. He sighed and shrugged. "I keep trying to tell her there's no way I can scrape together the money. Movies are expensive. Truth to tell, I'm not even sure I can score the money for a freaking cake, let alone movie tickets or a party. It's not like Mom would let me raid her wallet for something so unimportant." he told his friend, imitating his mother's scornful tone on the last word.

Scowling, Akaya shook his head. "Man, that sucks. What's a birthday without cake?" Or a party, part of his mind added, coldly angry. At least his mother always made sure to be home and have presents ready for birthdays, even if she worked like a machine the rest of the time.

"I know, but there's not much I can do about it. Mom actually does keep track of the money, so I can't sneak it out. Fuck," he muttered quietly. Plopping himself down into a chair he leaned forward and banged his head on the table a few times. Looking up out of the corner of his eye at his friend, he asked jokingly, "Is it a bad thing that I keep kind of hoping she'll drink herself to death some night?"

Pulling over a chair, Kirihara settled himself next to the red-head. "Naw," he replied, all casual seriousness, not looking directly at Akira. "I think you'd have a good case for petitioning the courts for custody of the girls, instead of sending them to foster care. I mean, obviously you've done a good job so far. The grubs certainly act like normal kids, in spite of the lack of adult care." He flung an arm across the other boy's shoulders. "You've made sure they never lack for the necessities and it's obvious that you love them. You may not believe it but that actually does have a lot of sway with the family court judges." He paused, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I could get my mom to represent you."

Akira stared up at his friend, flummoxed. "I wasn't serious!" he protested weakly.

Grinning, Akaya ruffled his hair. "I know that, dummy. I was just telling you the truth." Raising and putting his chair back under the table, he gave a long stretch. "Well, I hate to run so early, but I did promise my mom I'd be back early this evening. It's one of those rare occasions that Dad's in town and I guess she wants to have a family-bonding night. I told her I'd already promised making lasagna with the girls tonight, since they'd never had it before, but I promised I'd be home as soon after that as I could."

"Alright. Tell her I said hi." Akaya's recent constant absence from home had finally driven his mother to ask him where he'd been spending his time. Akira had sniggered for days after hearing Akaya's recounting of that conversation. It seemed his mother had made some … assumptions about their relationship.

Gathering up his bags, Akaya got hugged within an inch of his life by the girls when he told them he had to go, and Akira shut the door behind him.

Walking the few blocks to the bus stop, Akaya turned over an idea in his head, considering the angles. If he managed it, Akira might just beat him to death with his own arms for spending the money on it, but he rather felt it would be worth it. His mother gave him a sort of stipend (he couldn't really call that amount of money an allowance), and he had quite a bit saved up. Decided, he pulled out his cell phone and hit a certain speed dial number.

As soon as the other end was picked up, he grinned. "Hey, Yanagi-senpai. Could I ask a favor?"

A sigh. "As long as it doesn't involve hiding bodies or providing alibis."

"Naw, man. I just need a phone number. Tachibana An's."

" … And why would you need her number? I would rather think she'd not want to talk to you at all." He couldn't be sure but he thought he detected a hint of interest in the older boy's voice.

Nibbling his lip, he debated how much he should tell Yanagi. Finally he sighed. "How much do you know about Kamio's home life?"

"Enough. I know he's pretty much the sole caretaker for his sisters. Why?"

"Weekend after next is Michiko's birthday, and Akira's pretty sure she won't even get a cake, let alone any kind of party or presents." Ok, so Akira hadn't actually said anything about presents, but he could extrapolate.

"I see." There was something is his senpai's voice he couldn't quite read, but it sounded just a bit … upset.

"Anyway, I thought I could talk to Tachibana-san about it and see if the Fudomine team would throw a party for her."

"Paid for by you, I presume."

"Well … yeah."

He heard pages flipping and then Renji was back. Giving him the girl's number, the older boy ended the call with "I'll talk to Marui about the cake." Then he hung up, leaving Akaya blinking at his phone just as his bus pulled up. Shaking his head, he boarded and then dialed in the number he'd gotten.

An picked up on the second ring. "Moshi-moshi?"

"Ah. Tachibana-san. Hi... It's Kirihara. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

After hanging up the phone, Yanagi allowed himself just three seconds to shake his head in astonishment. Akaya's friendship with the Fudomine Captain was apparently growing stronger, which could only be good from his point of view. Akaya … was not the easiest person to get along with. But it was obvious he cared about the siblings past the point of mere friendship. Good. His kouhai needed more friends outside the team.

"Renji?"

And he had company at the moment. Dragging his mind back to the business at hand, he turned and met Yukimura's frank gaze.

"So what is our baby-brat up to?" chimed in Niou before Yukimura could open his mouth.

"And what's this about cake?" added Marui.

Barely avoiding rolling his eyes, Renji set aside the notebook with everyone's tennis calculations in it and flipped another notebook to a blank page. Even after being separated by high school, the team still wanted to look out for the one they'd had to leave behind. "As you know, Akaya has befriended Kamio Akira of Fudomine. Kamio … well, I'm sure those of you who were there recall that conversation at the park tennis courts. He has two younger sisters, of which he is the primary caretaker. I'm not certain of all the details. But Kamio has enough difficulty making sure the bills are paid that there isn't much left in his budget for … extraneous expenses. Akaya just learned that it is unlikely the youngest sister will be getting any kind of birthday party and has chosen to take it upon himself to ensure she does."

Marui's eyes had gone wide as saucers. "No party? No cake?" he stage-whispered. Leaping up, he punched a fist at the ceiling. "That is just not to be borne!" he announced with an extravagant flourish. Facing Renji he demanded, "What can we do to help?"

Jackal spoke up from the corner where he'd been catching up on his history assignment. "The first question that needs answered is "where"," he stated quietly.

Keeping his mouth closed for a moment, Renji cautiously looked around the room at the rest of the team. Yukimura was smiling, but had that little crease around his eyes that said he was thinking hard about something. Marui was looking at him with the happy expression of an excited puppy. Niou wore that little grin that promised mayhem. Jackal still had his head buried in his history text, but the tilt of his head said he was listening avidly to the conversation. Yagyuu was staring right at him with that interested gleam in his eyes.

… And Sanada's left eye was twitching, which meant he'd best get this strategy meeting back underway as soon as possible.

"I'm certain we will have time to discuss what our contribution to Akaya's cause will be later. He wished to call Tachibana An and make arrangements with the Fudomine team. If everyone is agreed, we may call him later to find out what was decided on their end."

There was some grumbling, but a gentle cough from Yukimura was enough to get everyone back on track. Within a few minutes the line-up and strategy was worked out for their next game, the conversation immediately turned to Akaya's … problem.

"So?" drawled Niou as he absently flipped through a comic book, one leg thrown over the arm of his chair.

Suppressing a sigh, Renji picked up his phone from where he'd set it and dialed the demon-puppy's number. "Akaya? Yes, it's me. Let me put you on speaker so everyone can talk to you."

"Hey, guys!" came Akaya's voice through the speaker.

Everyone started talking at once and finally Sanada had to bark at the babblers to shut up.

Into the sudden silence Yukimura chuckled, easing some of the tension. "We wished to know if we might be of some aid you in your endeavor. Your team is more than willing to help out."

"Yeah," piped in Niou. "We'd never leave a man down!"

A long, suspicious silence took over before Akaya's voice was back on. And it was … strangely soft. "Thanks, guys."

"You are welcome. So, what has already been discussed?"

"Well, An-chan was all for it. She said she wouldn't have any trouble getting the Fudomine team together, but wasn't sure what they might be able to contribute. Ah … Marui, Yanagi-senpai said he'd talk to you about a cake? You know all those specialty shops. Maybe you could … I don't know … maybe take me to them so I can see what they have for birthday cakes? Or pass me the address if they have an online photo gallery?"

The red-haired teen started nodding before remembering that Akaya couldn't see it. "Gotcha! You busy … umm … Friday evening after tennis practice? My parents will be out of town for their anniversary, so I'll be free to take you around. "

"Great! Huh. Michi's birthday is two weeks from now, so if we ordered it then, there'd be plenty of time for them to make it." A pause. "Hey, I'm just about home now, so I've got to go. Call me … eh, around ten thirty? Dad's actually home tonight, so I'll be busy until then."

"Of course. Tell your family we said hello."

"I will. And … Thanks. Again."

Hanging up, Akaya swallowed against the lump that had formed in his throat. Rubbing his hand across his eyes he told himself he wasn't going to cry. His team, his real team, was the best.

He stood as the bus came to a stop and disembarked. Shifting his bag a little further up on his shoulder, he took the shortcut through the alley and was soon looking up at his home. He looked in through the window and smiled at the sight of his dad sitting on the couch with the day's paper up to his nose. He always jibed at his dad that he looked like he'd stepped out of a Fifties-era American sitcom when he did that. Pushing open the front door he called out "Hey, I'm home. Sorry I'm so late." He poked his head into the living room. "Hey Dad. Impersonating Mr. Brady today?"

That got him a chuckle, as he knew it would, and Mr. Kirihara put down the paper. He was dressed casual in dark khaki slacks and a polo shirt of a rather arresting shade of aqua. And Nike sneakers. In neon-bright lime green. Akaya clapped a hand over his mouth the try to contain the chortles that wanted to escape. Mr. Kirihara merely raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?" he questioned his son solemnly.

"Uh. Dad. You do know that lime green and aqua don't really go well together, right?" That was the thing about his dad. Mr. Kirihara might be Mr. Conservative while he was working (which was most of the time) but when he was home he loved mixing the most outrageous colors in his wardrobe. Akaya still remembered one particular dinner out with his family a few years ago to which his dad had sported a neon pink dress shirt, white slacks, and a dark purple tie. Over all of that was a deep brown, tailored leather jacket. Half the servers of the restaurant kept giggling every time they'd looked at him. Although, that might have been for the boots he'd been wearing. Black cowboy boots with some teal leather inlay. There was no doubt about it. His dad was weird.

"Your mother tells me you had a prior engagement, so I wasn't expecting you earlier. And I rather don't think I fit the part of Mr. Brady as I don't have enough children," Mr. Kirihara drawled. "As far as the colors go … I like it. Of course I was given the shoes for my part in negotiating a new business contract for the Nike company. It would be … rude not to use them."

Rolling his eyes, Akaya plopped down on the sofa next to him. "Right. I know how that works, Dad. You get to choose from the store. So you picked that particular pair out."

"Of course I did." the elder Kirihara returned with a flash of a grin. "It's not like anyone else would have bought these."

That did it. They both broke up into near hysterics.

While the pair were laughing themselves sick, Mrs. Kirihara walked in, grinning at the high spirits. "Welcome home, Akaya," she said over the laughter. "How was your dinner? You said something about lasagna, right?"

"Mom! How was work?" Akaya asked, lurching up to give her a hard hug. It wasn't often that both of his parents were at home at the same time and he was determined to make the most of it. "Dinner was great, we had a blast making it."

"Good! I'm glad. It's good to see you making so many friends." she answered, pushing him back down on the couch and wedging herself in at his side. "We got the Matsuda case wrapped up, so things should be slower for a while now. Thankfully. But we're not going to talk about work anymore." She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and squeezed. "Tell us what's been going on with you."

Now virtually trapped between his parents, Akaya gave an expressive roll of his eyes and leaned back. "Well, the guys all say hi. I was talking to them earlier today. School is … bleah, school. My doubles two team is finally starting to get their act together and pulled off a win against Ginka last week. Not that that matters much. Ginka is pretty much the worst team in the region."

"Yes, you've complained about that before," interrupted Mr. Kirihara.

"Anyway … uh … oh, hey can I pick your brains on something?"

"Ask away."

"Um. I'm planning a birthday party for one of Kamio's sisters. This Friday Marui is going to take me to some of his shops to see if I can find a cake. An-chan, from Fudomine? She said she and their team would take care of decorations and suggested we have it at the park close to Kamio's house. She said she'd take care of invites, too. But what else should we do? I don't know … games maybe?"

He felt more than saw the glance his parents exchanged and tried not to scowl. But before he could say anything his dad reached over and hugged him. And sighed. "I know we aren't home much, and you're probably pretty lonely here by yourself. If … finding another family to be … part of makes you happy, then we will be happy for you," he said resting his head on his son's.

Akaya could feel the blush that rose up trying to reach his toes. Okay, so yeah, he was going a bit far in trying to help out … but he liked Kamio and his sisters. They were a great little family, if one ignored the difficulties with their mother. That woman was a nasty piece of work, for sure. "Kamio's a great guy. Takes on too much responsibility, but he deals with it well. And the girls are sweethearts. So. Birthday party?"

"Hmmm," mused Mrs. Kirihara. "Pin-the-Tail was always one of your favorites. Although you had a tendency to want to stick the tail on the poor donkey's face instead. Your sister preferred hide-and-seek. Or tag."

The messy head shook a denial. "I … kinda need the girls relatively energetic after the party," he muttered. "Um. There's that new movie coming out, the kids' one with all the hype? It opens on Miki's birthday. I'm going to get tickets and take them to see it. That's ...kind of what started the whole birthday party thing." He huffed. "Kamio's budget is pretty tight and it looked like Michiko wasn't going to get a party so I thought I could do it for him." That was the third time he'd had to explain it. It was starting to look like he'd be explaining till doomsday.

Over his head, his parents shared a hearty chuckle and wrapped him from both sides in a hug. "Oh, my little wyrmling is such a sweetheart," cooed his mother in the same tone she'd used when he was a baby, knowing quite well he'd hate it.

"Aw, Mom!" he grumbled, but endured the squishing with good grace. Once they'd let him go he stood and cracked his neck. "So, what did you two have planned for this evening?"

At this prompting, Mr. Kirihara leaned over and pulled something out from under the coffee table. Akaya bit back a laugh. Monopoly. Why was he not surprised.

At least with all the house rules his family used it was fun as hell. Settling himself on the other side of the table as his dad began to set it up, Akaya deliberately set aside all thoughts of parties and mothers who weren't worth the title. He was here to have fun with his family and he wasn't about to let a first-class bitch ruin it.

The End ... For Now.

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