Midotaka and Kiseki feels. Yay.
There is no need for such celebration—birthdays were always quiet affairs… until he came along.
"…but really, practice almost every day of the summer holidays too? I mean, we just got back from that training camp!"
"Takao…"
"Hm?"
"What exactly is this?"
Shintarou was currently in the midst of making himself comfortable on the rickshaw when his right elbow bumped lightly against the side of a cardboard box.
"Why, it's your birthday present, Shin-chan!" The point guard shot him a cheeky grin, from where he was resting his chin on the handlebars.
And Shintarou was instantly on his guard, eyeing the box warily with his arm half-raised. His irritated frown only deepened further as Takao threw his head back and guffawed. The box looked completely ordinary from the outside, but one could never tell with Takao. Already through the four months or so since they met, he had experienced whoopee cushions, a jack-in-the-box, and a toy flower (with its variations) that squirted water into your face when you pressed on the stem.
Of course, on those days he made sure to pay a visit to an antique shop that was quite some distance away from where they stayed, which was situated at the top of an impressive 30-degree inclined hill.
What is it this time? Shintarou scrutinized the box closely, which made the point guard laugh all the more harder.
"Stop this nonsense, Takao. We'll be late." He snapped, turning to glare at the shorter boy. "I also have not acquired my lucky item for today either nodayo."
"Heh~" Takao sing-songed, eyebrow raised. "It's shiruko today, isn't it? Haha, how fitting! Man, how does Oha Asa choose their lucky items anyways?"
"If you know, then take me to the nearest vending machine!"
"Uh, Shin-chan, have you even read the label on the sides?"
He paused in the middle of his angry tirade, the raven's words catching him off guard. When he turned to look at the direction was pointing at, he saw the characters oshiruko neatly printed on the cardboard box. His expression transformed into one of complete and utter bafflement as he turned back to Takao. This set off another bout of laughter in the other, and his eye twitched once as he waited for it to die down.
"Pfft… Hahaha. Seeing Shin-chan's shocked face so early in the morning is really something!" Takao wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. "Ah~ Now my belly aches. How am I supposed to cycle like this?"
"Explain yourself nanodayo." Shintarou crossed his arms, waiting.
"No need to glare at me like that, Shin-chan! I was up gaming last night so I decided to check Oha Asa's webpage for Cancer's lucky item today. Turned out it was your favourite drink, so I made a quick trip to the convenience store and ended up with this nanodayo." He shrugged lightly, a smile playing on his lips. "They were restocking the shelves and had all the boxes out so I figured I might as well get you one since it's your birthday today. That way, you'd have twenty times more luck than just getting a single can, right?"
Shintarou shifted his gaze from Takao to the box then back to Takao again. "How did you know that today is my birthday?"
"I have my sources." Takao almost purred, waving a finger in front of his face. "So? Did you like it? I know you like it cold during summer, but this was too large for the cooler box at home."
"Hmph." Shintarou scoffed quietly, settling back into the rickshaw. "It's… acceptable." He coughed once, feeling the tips of his ears burn as he said so.
At that, Takao grinned indulgently, "Glad to hear it, Ace-sama… Do you need help bringing it in?"
"What are you on about, you fool? It is my lucky item today. Obviously, I'm bringing it to practice." The corners of Shintarou's mouth lifted up ever so slightly, and he hid it with the hand that was used to push up his glasses. "And you said so yourself—there's a chance to get twenty times the luck."
…
"You know what? I take back what I said. The number, heck the size doesn't matter! It's totally unrelated to the quantity of luck you'll receive, alright? Come on, Shin-chan, you're already heavy enough! I don't want to drag you and the damned box back up this hill later! Shin-chaaan!"
Needless to say, the shooting guard was mollified that he now had someone to cart around (pun not intended) the rather troublesome cardboard box for the day. He rested his cheek on the back of his hand, stretched out like a king.
"Enough of your mindless chatter, Takao. Start pedaling."
However, the day didn't just end at that.
Somehow or rather, a small portion of their classmates who were taking supplementary lessons caught wind of the fact that today was the day he was born (really, Takao was an absolute fool) and managed a birthday song as they passed through the hallways on the way to the school gym, pulling at his arms to stay. When he finally escaped from their hands, he found out that the meddlesome teammate of his had also mailed their seniors about it, so during basketball practice, Miyaji led the infamous 'birthday bash' in which all of the regulars plus a large majority of the second-string players participated in. Twice.
…well, to their credit, his entire left arm, right down to the very fingernails, was untouched. But still. Miyaji looked way too happy about it. Kimura too, for that matter. Even the usually reserved Oostubo was grinning as he smacked him on the shoulder.
As a result, he spent the entire ride back home feeling completely drained as Takao chattered continuously about the events of the day, pausing to chuckle lightly or completely guffaw at certain bits. Having spent so much time with the raven, Shintarou developed an auditory filter of sorts—his ears picked up on things that he deemed worthy enough of a response.
"And I can't believe that the coach had me run five extra laps because the birthday bash ate into our practice time!" Takao exclaimed in disbelief. "How was I supposed to know that so many people wanted a piece of our ace?!"
"Hnn."
Although at this stage, he was so exhausted that he was content just to listen to him ramble on.
"Midorimacchiiii! Takao!"
"Good evening, Midorima-kun, Takao-kun."
Instantly, all his weariness was replaced by another emotion—dread. What on earth is Kise and Kuroko doing here?! And the dog?! As if reading his thoughts, Nigou barked twice at him, in cheeky greeting. He stared at all of them, completely flabbergasted.
"Momoicchi and Aominecchi aren't here yet—can you believe it?! Thank goodness I went ahead and bought the cake first! Is Kagamicchi coming?"
"He will come." Kuroko replied with a tone of finality, oblivious to the shudders that went down Shintarou and Kise's spines. "He had to pick up something on the way home so…"
Recovering partially from his shock, he whipped around, pointing an accusing finger at the raven standing beside him.
"What is the meaning of this, Takao?!"
"Huh?! No wait, Shin-chan! I didn't do anything this time, I swear!" Takao raised both of his hands, nervously backing away from Shintarou and his menacing aura.
"We were just thinking that it's been a really long time since we've all hung out together. But obviously Akashicchi is in Kyoto and Murasakibaracchi is in Akita so they can't come." Kise pouted magnificently before he switched to a grin. "But they must've sent their wishes just a few minutes ago! And I'm sure we can use your computer to Skype them!"
Stop making plans for other people! Shintarou gritted his teeth as he pulled out his mobile. True enough, the light on the side of his cellphone was flashing, indicating new mail had arrived.
"You meant to say it was only 'you' who were thinking that, Kise-kun."
"Waaah! Kurokocchi, why are you so cold to me right now?!"
"I've always been like this though."
Shintarou heaved a great sigh at Kise's continuous wails, rubbing his temples to ward off the oncoming headache. He glanced to his side, only to find a smug smile dancing on Takao's lips, and hands holding the back of his head.
"What's with that idiotic expression, Takao?"
"I was just thinking, isn't it great to have friends from middle school to come all the way to your house to throw you a surprise birthday party?"
"No. I want them all to leave." Shintarou quipped, narrowing his eyes. "If not, I will not be able to get any studying done tonight."
"Shin-chan, you cannot be serious." Takao's eyebrows shot up, staring at him as if he had grown three heads.
"I am perfectly serious." The reply came in the form of a huff as he crossed his arms.
"Well, whatever you say~ I'm sure that deep down though," Takao poked Shintarou in the chest twice for emphasis before his finger got slapped away, "that Shin-chan is really happy and grateful that they came!"
"Takao…"
"Well then, I'm off, Shin-chan! See you tomorrow!"
When he registered the meaning of the shorter player's words, he started. The absolute surprise must have been written all over Shintarou's face, because Takao had paused in mid-pedal and was now looking at him wonderingly.
The green-haired teen blinked once at the raven, slow and deliberate, "You're… leaving?"
"Well, yeah." Takao shrugged before grinning again. "As much as I'd like to listen to all the embarrassing stories about Shin-chan's middle school days, there will be some things the Generation of Miracles would like to discuss amongst themselves, right?"
"Kagami is not part of the Generation of Miracles."
"Awwww… Shin-chan, you don't have to look so heartbroken! We'll still see each other tomorrow during practice!"
"I am not…!" Shintarou protested indignantly, before smoothly getting cut off by Takao.
"I've already had you for the whole day too, so now the Generation of Miracles plus Kagami, can have you for tonight. It's called sha-ring, hm?" There was a pause. "Wait, that sounded a bit wrong. Haha!"
When he didn't reply but still remained rooted to where he stood, Shintarou felt Takao's orange irises settle on him for a long time, deeply contemplative. Shintarou had observed moments like these before—they were not uncommon for the supposed carefree joker of the team. Takao was just a lot more perceptive than he let on. When Takao finally lifted his eyes to meet Shintarou's own green gaze, there was something there that Shuutoku's ace could not seem to put a finger on. It left him strangely perplexed.
Moments later, it—whatever it was just now—was gone.
"Anyways, I've got games to catch up on tonight! There's this boss that I have not been able to get pass since like, forever, so you guys enjoy the party, yeah?" A two-fingered salute accompanied by his signature grin.
And just like that, he was off.
Later that night, when all of the (uninvited) guests had finally gone home, he sat on the edge of his bed after cleaning up, staring long and hard at his phone. His long, slender fingers pushed at the buttons with purpose, typing out a simple message. The very second he pressed send however, his phone's shrill ringtone pierced through the much appreciated silence.
"OH MY GOD, SHIN-CHAN! Did you just thank me?! Seriously, did you the biggest tsundere ever just—,"
Click.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the offending object before turning it off for the night.
For the shiruko, you have my gratitude.
