"Happy Birthday, Shuu!" Yuuka exclaimed and she hugged her son tightly. Shuu blinked in surprise, as he turned to look at his mother, and he smiled.
"Thanks, Mom."
The house was decorated with colorful banners and balloons, which was the tradition that Yuuka did for every one of their birthdays. Most banners and balloons were reused from the 'parties,' but some were brand new.
The day couldn't really be classified as much different from other days. It just so happened to land on a weekend, so the boys didn't have school, and Shuu wasn't sure whether the celebration was considered a party either. Not that he wanted a party, nor was he at all ungrateful; the day was special to him nonetheless.
Normally not the center of attention, Shuu would never get used to the attention his brothers paid him on his birthday. Where they would make him little cards of paper and include him in things he otherwise would not be in. He was confused whether he should like it or not, but for some reason, it felt endearing. It was days like these where the feeling of love towards his family would be clear and refreshed again, so he would never forget.
"Did you make the cake yourself, Mom?" Shuu asked curiously, staring at the mango cake before him. Yuuka chuckles.
"I did, but it's not that great, eh?"
"No, it looks fine." Shuu reassures her. He didn't care for the cake's design, and he didn't really think much of what it would taste like. just the fact that there was a cake made for him, and made specially for him, was enough.
Reiji paused to examine it. "Amazing. You did an impressive job, Mother."
"Aha, don't put it that way."
Yuuka cut the cake into slices and distributed it amongst everyone, beaming as the brothers all talked and smiled whilst eating.
"Oh, and Shuu, I got you a present." Yuuka states brightly. Shuu blinked twice.
"Did you really? You shouldn't of, I didn't really want one.." He mumbled, a rosy blush painting his face.
"Shut up, nii-san." Subaru replied. The white-haired grabbed his brother's arm affectionately and grinned cheekily. "Don't turn down something from Mom. And it's your birthday."
Yuuka couldn't stop smiling as she placed the case in front of Shuu, watching his eyes sparkle in hidden excitement. He reached forward, unlocking the case's clasps and lifting it open.
The violin inside glistened, looking splendidly new and beautiful.
"No way." Shuu breathed.
Subaru practically hugged his brother's arm. "Nii!" He exclaimed.
Yuuka clasped her hands together. "Do you like it?" She asked.
Shuu broke free from Subaru and embraced Yuuka. "Thank you!"
Yuuka returned his hug. "Well, I'm expecting you to play your taste in music for us sometime, okay? I've always wondered whether you enjoy the music on the player."
Shuu laughs, his eyes brimming slightly with tears of happiness.
Ruki and Yuma appear next to Subaru.
"Oh, you like classical music?" Yuma asked.
Shuu hurriedly wipes his tears away in embarrassment. "Yeah. I've always been a fan." He responds.
"I see.." Ruki spots the violin in the case. "In that case, you'll be good at the instrument."
Shuu shrugs. "Perhaps."
In that time, Yuuka had made her way over to the couch, where she sat besides Kanato and Laito. As Shuu walked over, she gestured for him to sit on the couch as well.
The night continued, as Ayato managed to convince Laito, Subaru, Reiji, and the Mukamis to put on a skit for entertainment. But Ayato disliked the idea of having scripts, since he thought it would waste the night away by writing them, so everyone agreed to act out a fairytale in a storybook Yuuka occasionally read to them as a bedtime story. The group set up blankets as curtains and hid behind the 'stage' as they quickly discussed which characters they would each play
As Shuu, Kanato, and Yuuka waited and chatted, Ayato settled everyone's characters. The story they played out was the gods, angels, and demons, and the century-lasting war between the angels and the demons.. They made little crowns for Kou and Subaru, as they were the two gods Asura and Kruru. Yuma and Azusa were angels called Sariel and Crestia, and they dressed in oversized white shirts. Reiji, Laito, and Ruki played the demons named Maou, Alciel, and Urushihara, and they wore bowls as 'horns' and battle armor. And Ayato insisted to be the narrator.
And so, Reiji and Ruki pulled the curtains open on the side and quickly ran behind the 'stage.' Thus, Ayato's 'professional' narration began.
On the 'stage,' Kou and Subaru sat in high yellow chairs (taken from the dining table), faking a long and heated discussion about the war between the angels and the demons. They agree that the Demon King, who ruled over the demons, must be stopped at all cost. But simply fighting the demon army would be dangerous and cost lives. So they decided to infiltrate the demons' largest base, hidden on the planet Earth. They call for the angels (Yuma and Azusa stumble clumsily onto the stage) and command them to leave Heaven and search for the demons' base and destroy it stealthily.
The two angels agree, descending onto Earth through a portal. The portal closed unexpectedly, and the angels found themselves stripped of their powers and vulnerable on Earth's ground. With no way to contact the gods, and without the ability to recall to Heaven, the angels set out to find the demons anyway.
They befriend three humans, who claim to have a similar goal to them. The bond between these humans and the angels grow stronger, and they set out across Earth to protect other humans in danger.
However, when encountering the evil who was behind the great disruptions on Earth, the three humans are paralyzed, which surprise the angels. When the evil calls to the three humans, they return to their original forms. To the angels' surprise, the three humans were not humans at all, but rather demons the entire time, and were stripped of their powers just like the angels.
In the presence of the great evil, the angels regain their powers, but they are surrounded by the demon army. The three demons who befriended the angels make a risky decision; to betray the demon army for the time being and protect the angels. The angels' powers diminish, as they are working with demons and their power will only flourish if they are 'pure', but it is enough to sustain their escape.
The five, two angels and three demons, were able to flee the battle scene, but as they hide in the countryside, the gods send a messenger down to search for the angels. The messenger acts shadily when realizing the angels are with demons, and sends a message to the gods that the angels were traitors and teamed up with the demons.
The gods appear on Earth in anger, finding the two angels and threatening to destroy them and the Earth, including the Underworld. The angels desperately try to explain, but the demon army appear suddenly.
The final battle between the gods, the Demon King, the demon army, the angel army, three traitor demons and two traitor angels began.
The gods grew fed up with the three interfering demons, and fired a beam at them, but Sariel (Yuma) dived forward and 'took the bullet.' As the Sariel, the First Angel, lay dying, and the three demons and Crestia rushed to Sariel's side, the gods subdued the Demon King and his army, forcing them back to the Underworld.
The gods felt pity and empathy for the dying angel and his 'traitor' comrades. They made the decision to revive the angel. The three demons were presented the option to become angels, but they declined the offer, feeling as if they would never fit in and were never born to be angels. The gods compromised, and changed the five to humans. As the gods fixed the broken Earth, they returned to Heaven, and allowed the five to fix the world and the humans' perspectives, if they so wished to.
Yuuka, Shuu, and Kanato clapped at the end of the play as her sons and adopted sons bowed together, and the curtain fell. The boys emerged from the curtains anyway, talking excitedly about their performance on-the-spot. Ayato was practically glowering with pride at how well it actually turned out.
"That was amazing! How did you manage to replicate the story so well?" She asked. Ayato laughs sheepishly.
"You read that story to us a lot! I really like it, so I would sometimes read it myself until I memorized it." Ayato confesses.
Laito pursued his lips. "Ayato doing something that involves using his brain?"
Reiji shook his head and chuckles. "Perhaps Shuu's birthday is a day of miracles."
"Shut UP!"
Yuuka burst out in laughter. "I see." She continues. She gets up, and suddenly, she wobbles in place. Yuuka's face pales, and she nearly falls if it weren't for the ten children rushing to her side.
"Mom?"
"Mother! Are you alright?"
Yuuka blinks, confused at the sudden raging headache that appeared. Her legs felt distorted and weak all of a sudden. "I.. I believe so.. But.." Her voice wavers.
Ruki presses his hand against Yuuka's forehead. "I believe she's caught a cold."
Subaru sighs. "Jeez. Looks like you've overworked yourself again, Mom." He mutters. Shuu, Subaru, Ayato, and Laito help Yuuka into her bedroom.
Kanato walks towards them, but Reiji grabs him. "Eh? But I want to help!" Kanato whines, wanting to be by his mother's side, but Reiji shakes his head.
"You'll catch her cold if you're by her. Besides, she might need some space from everyone to cool off and feel better." Reiji explains, ignoring Kanato's unhappy pout. But the purplette gives in, for his mother's comfort.
Little did they know that Yuuka's sickness was nothing they could catch. Nor was it a cold at all.
"Hey, Azusa-san!" Kanato was hopping up and down. "Mom said we should go shopping for her!"
Azusa peered out of the blanket he was snuggled in. "...Hmm..?" He hummed in response. Ruki walked over.
"She said you two? Maybe I should come with you." Ruki suggests. Kanato beamed.
"Okay!"
Azusa rolled out of the blanket and stood up. "That… sounds… fun…" He says, smiling.
Kanato guided the two out of the house cheerfully, following a map Yuuka had sketched for him. She didn't tell them that the route she told them to follow was the safest way to get to the grocery; which meant it didn't go through that part of the town at all. Ruki wanted to avoid the town anyway, so when Kanato gave him the map, he was relieved.
He wondered why he was still worried about the orphanage finding him. He looked entirely different almost; he's been living in a safe home for more than a month, and he attended a good elementary school. And besides, Yuuka bought him, so it'd be against the law for him to be taken again.
Ruki almost spat on the floor and laughed.
Laws? Since when did anyone ever follow the laws?
"Is… that… it…?" Azusa asked as they approached a walkway with lots of shops.
Ruki's eyes scanned the shops.
"Oh, there's the grocery there, next to the toy store."
The three kids entered, earning a strange look or two from a few customers, but they shrugged it off.
"Erm, Yuuka said to buy these items…" Ruki mumbled to himself, glancing at the list Yuuka gave him.
Usually, the boys wouldn't go shopping for Yuuka, since she'd just do it herself. Ruki sighed. But she couldn't leave the house lately due to being sick.
She's been for around a week and a half since Shuu's birthday, hasn't she?