Kurama's Surprise Party

Kurama, the crow tengu, presented himself to the humans as a fallen angel of darkness when he descended from Mount Kurama seventeen years ago. His manager booked a CD signing at Toranomon for June 6th, which coincidentally was Kurama's birthday. Kurama was less than pleased to be working that day but there was no backing out and his fan base were all excited about the upcoming signing. Kurama swallowed his displeasure and braved his masses.

The night before was the concert. The girls were screaming their full heads off, the crowd was entranced by Kurama's tengu wings, and Kurama's voice surrounded the entire hall. The fifteen minute intermission finally arrived. "Alright everyone," Kurama announced, having just completed the last song, "I'm going to take a little break and I'll come back and rock the house some more. I love you all, you're all wonderful." The crowd screamed louder as Kurama left the stage.

When he finally reached his dressing room, he slouched back in his chair and sighed; he was exhausted. He wiped his forehead dry and slouched even further into the couch. He hated having to work for his birthday and a concert before a CD signing was always a pain. With the release of his new album, he had more work than ever. He pulled out his phone and stared at his picture; it was of Brother Suiro and Kurama; they took it when Suiro, Jiro, and Botanmaru came down from the mountain to celebrate the new year with him.

As he gazed at Brother Suiro, he remembered the last birthday he spent with him. It was the day Kurama turned ten years old. His brothers were picking on him again and this time, they beat him. Suiro found Kurama lying on the ground and picked him up. He brought him back to his home and cleaned him up. "Shinjuro, isn't today your birthday?" He asked, wiping the last of the blood off his face.

"Who cares? It's not like it's a big deal or anything." He responded.

"Not a big deal? But Shinjuro, of course it is. And as it just so happens, I have a special surprise for you." Shinjuro tried to hide his curiosity; he found it difficult. Suiro came out of the kitchen with a big cake. "Happy Birthday Shinjuro." Suiro said.

"Is that really for me, Brother" Shinjuro asked.

"Of course." He set the cake down on the table in front of Shinjuro. "And you can eat as much of it as you like. And for your present, I shall play your favorite song." Suiro pulled out his flute and it whistled the most beautiful notes. Shinjuro smiled through the bites of cake as he listened to Suiro playing. Suiro also played happy birthday, just for him. It was the happiest night of Shinjuro's life.

"Kurama, you're on in two minutes." Kurama's manager announced, breaking through Kurama's memory. "Break a leg Superstar." Kurama sighed and put away his phone. He put a fake smile on his face and got back into the show.

The next day, on Kurama's actual birthday, he snuck away to attend school. He wanted some normalcy for his birthday. Upon arriving, he realized that every girl in his class, except for Nanami Momozono, surrounded him.

"It's Kurama! He's finally back at school!" One of the girls screamed. Kurama looked over the crowd of girls and spotted Nanami and Tomoe. They were sitting close together, like usual, but Tomoe was staring at Nanami. "So Kurama, we read online that it's your birthday. I got you this." She handed him a small box. The rest of the girls tried to hand him their present too and the roaring grew louder. The professor calmed the girls down and started class. Kurama sat back and relaxed; he did enjoy this attention after all.

After class, Kurama spotted Nanami and the fox; he went over to say hello. "Hey Kurama, I made you these chocolates for your birthday." One of his classmates interrupted. "Happy Birthday Kurama." Kurama took the chocolates and thanked her. He passed by her and met up with Nanami and Tomoe.

"What was that about?" Nanami asked him.

"Who cares? It's just the tengu." Tomoe sighed and stared down at his book for the first time today.

"Tomoe," Nanami scolded. "So Kurama, what's going on today?"

"Oh nothing. It's just my birthday." Tomoe looked up and glared at Kurama. He knew what this meant; after the fuss Nanami made over her own birthday in February, he knew she would want to celebrate Kurama's. That also meant Tomoe would have to tolerate being in the same room as him.

"Happy Birthday Kurama." Nanami said sincerely.

Kurama lifted her chin so that she had to gaze into his eyes. "Thank you so much Nanami. It means so much coming from you." Tomoe got angry and jealous so he threw a leaf in Kurama's face; this one however was filled with fox magic to sting Kurama in the face. Kurama grunted in pain and clutched his forehead where Tomoe struck him. Tomoe smiled in pleasure as he watched Kurama.

"Tomoe, stop that!" Nanami said. Tomoe snapped his fingers and the leaf disappeared.

"Damn sacred word binding." Tomoe muttered under his breath.

"You damn fox! You're going to regret doing that." Kurama screamed, enraged. Their exchange had the attention of everyone in their class.

"Kurama, please calm down." Nanami begged. Kurama and Tomoe noticed that they were being watched and reined in their hatred for each other. "Anyway, how are you going to celebrate?"

Kurama brushed off the idea. "I have a CD signing after school. It will take up most of my afternoon so I'm not even worried about it." The bell rang to start classes again and cut off Nanami's next question. Kurama went back to his seat and rested his feet on the desk. Nanami turned to Tomoe.

"Tomoe…" Nanami began.

"No."

"You don't even know what I'm going to ask yet." Nanami protested.

"That's the problem, I know exactly what you're going to say and absolutely not."

"Aw come on Tomoe." Nanami reasoned.

"No. I will have no part in it." Tomoe flipped through the pages of his book without looking at Nanami. "Count me out."

Nanami glared at him until he peeked over. When he saw her expression, he was speechless. He though she would use sacred word binding to force him to bend to her will. He braced himself for what would come next but Nanami surprised him and just focused on the lesson. At first Tomoe was relieved but he grew more frustrated because he had no idea of Nanami's true objective. He finally gave in.

"Alright fine." Tomoe agreed.

"What do you mean Tomoe?" Nanami asked.

"We'll do something for the tengu's birthday." Tomoe hated the taste of those words out of his mouth but he knew it would please Nanami. Nanami smiled warmly at him and together they started making plans.

After school, Kurama left to attend his CD signing. Lots of fans came over with their copies, posters, and all kinds of merchandise with Kurama's face on it. They told him how much they loved his music and how amazing he was; Kurama loved it. Kurama's manger came over after awhile and handed him a card.

"What's this?"

"Did you really think I would forget your birthday, Kurama?" He asked. Kurama smiled and ripped open the envelope. It was signed by everyone on staff, wishing him the best of birthdays. He thanked his manager for the thoughtful card and was pulled back into the excitement of the CD signing.

When the music store finally asked to call it quits, Kurama stretched his arms. He looked forward to a nice quiet evening at home; but upon arriving, he received quite the surprise. Kurama opened his door and saw Mizuki, Nanami, and even Tomoe in his living room. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"It's for your birthday Kurama." Nanami said. "Happy Birthday."

"You really did all of this for me?" He asked.

"Of course we did." Nanami smiled warmly.

"Thank you Nanami." Tomoe was less than amused. "You too stupid fox."

"What?" Tomoe asked, irritated.

"Easy Tomoe, that's his way of thanking you." Tomoe huffed and ignored Kurama for the rest of the party. "But that's not the whole surprise Kurama."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone else is here to wish you a happy birthday." The doorbell rang; Suiro, Jiro, and Botanmaru arrived.

"Brothers?" Kurama was shocked to see the three of them. "Thanks for using the doorbell this time."

"Damages to your wall is not our present." Jiro said. Suddenly he spotted Nanami and Tomoe. Tomoe was furious, Nanami was just nervous. Jiro strode over to Nanami. "Hello." He said to her.

"Hello Jiro, how are you?" Nanami greeted.

Jiro blushed and turned away. For some reason, he still felt nervous talking to her. "Well," Kurama interrupted, "Now that we have that awkward moment out of the way…what do we do now?"

Suiro lit the candles on the cake that he brought with him. "It's time to sing." He led everybody in the Happy Birthday song. After the song, Kurama blew out the candles. It wasn't the quiet birthday that Kurama wanted; it was even better.