"Don't you have a job to get back to? The divorce was finalized last week! Why are you still here?" I looked up from the paper with some noodles hanging out of my mouth precariously. "And swallow your food!" I slurped the noodles up quickly and tried to figure out how to answer her first question.

You see, I was getting around to telling her, I suppose…

I just hadn't figured out how yet.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" My mother loomed over me, her hands planted firmly on her hips. She took my bowl of egg noodles away from me and set them down, juuuust out of my reach. I frowned at it, resisting the urge to get up to retrieve my breakfast. Or lunch, depending on your point of view.

As I thought about this, I glanced at the clock in the kitchen. It was 2 in the afternoon.

Woops. Guess that counts as lunch, even though I've only been awake for a half hour.

"Kokone-ah!" My mother snapped. My head instinctively tilted up to meet her gaze obediently.

"Hmm?" I stammered cautiously. She reached out and smacked me on top of my head, causing me to grimace.

"Did you do something stupid? Did you fight with someone? Ah? AH?" I flinched back with each syllable, nearly falling out my chair.

"Uhmm…not exactly…"

"What does that mean?"

"…Omma. I got into a bit of trouble, you see -"

"I knew it. What was it this time? Disrespect? You need to learn your place in this world, Kokone -"

"No! I – Well, I guess it could be considered disrespectful…depending on how you feel about being targeted with a gun…" Her eyes widened and she only appeared to be angry rather than surprised.

"You shot someone?"

"No, no! Almost…but I didn't. They uh…they kind of fired me because of it though. Think I'm mentally unstable or something." I said this as if it were absolutely ridiculous, but really, who could blame them? Not like I'd want some insane woman wielding a gun running around my workplace either.

"You little -" she grumbled, picking up my bowl of noodles and shoving it back into my hands before she stormed out of the room. I blinked, bewildered, as I had expected her to blow up the house or something a bit more drastic. Though I wasn't entirely able to shrug it off, I sighed and continued to eat, then washed my bowl and put everything away.

Now what? I asked myself. I was busying myself with meaningless tasks these days, the majority of which included some form of sleep. I hadn't seen Ichiro in about a week or so; we talked on the phone occasionally, but I made it apparent to my mother that I was "not home" when he stopped by.

Even I didn't know why I was behaving this way. For some reason it just felt right to seclude myself from the world. Hell, I hadn't even been back to my own damn apartment since before Hyo Yeoung and I left for that party…

I wondered if he had moved out or not. We didn't really discuss anything – I wouldn't let him. Every time he tried to apologize or grovel, I squeezed my eyes shut and blocked out the noise. He eventually gave up and just sat through the whole divorce method, just like I was. We weren't in charge of anything. In fact, our respective elders took care of everything. My mother and his uncle were a team, regardless of what they really thought of each other. It was obvious that my mom was pretty pissed about the whole situation, and was a bit partial to Hyo Yeoung's uncle at this point, if that.

But it was at least over.

Kind of.

Anyway, in the meantime, I stayed inside my mother's house and did mind numbing chores, read, watched TV, ate, and slept. I wasn't even really tired anymore, there was just nothing better to do.

Before I had a chance to consider my options at that point, my mother whirled into the room with a pile of fabric bunched up in one fist while her other one was shaking at me in a rather threatening manner. I backed up quick and tripped over the chair that I had previously been sitting in, falling back and right onto the hard wood floor.

"Get up! You clumsy little -" I struggled to lift myself up as fast as possible.

"Omma, calm down!"

"Don't you tell me when to calm down," she seethed at me through her teeth. "Put this on. You're going to go get your job back. Right. Now." She nearly punched my stomach as she passed the bundle of clothing to me.

"Oof!" I huffed. "Omma, I can't just get my job back…even if I am wearing this dress." My mood was turning sour fast. The dress she had handed over to me was a V-neck halter one with a bunch of floral patterns on it. It would most likely fall right above my knees.

"Put it on." Despite what she was trying to do, she didn't have to tell me twice. The look in her eyes was enough to send shivers down my spine. I quickly obeyed, not even bothering to return to my room to do so. Once it was on, my mother stepped in front of me, somehow much calmer now, and examined my face.

"Hmm…your hair is always such a mess. But does it matter? I wonder…" She reached forward and scruffed up my hair, which probably didn't do me any favors. She was right – it was always a curly mess.

"Aigoo, aigoo…this will have to do. Go. Get out of my sight. Get some fresh air." She started to shove me towards the front door. Needless to say, I protested.

"Omma, do you know how cold it is outside?" I asked as I fought to keep myself steady. She continued to push.

"Then grab your sweater! Don't forget your shoes, and please don't do anything stupid this time."

"Tch!" I hissed at her as I slipped on my white sandals and my black sweater. One would have thought it was summer by the way I was dressing when in actuality it was December, though I didn't know what day, and probably in the 40s outside.

"Well? Get going!" She shooed me with her hand. When I just stood there stubbornly, she frowned and opened the door, then promptly hurled me out of it. I heard it slam shut behind me as I started to fall down the steps –

…And was caught by the elbows.

"Woah there. Where are you headed off to?" I looked up and was met by Ichiro's magnificently green eyes. My mind drew a blank.

"Uhh…" I mumbled, trying to find the words. How was it possible for someone to have so much power over my self-control? Already my knees were weakening, but I pushed myself up and stepped back, crossing my arms tightly across my chest. He looked me over subtly with curiosity burning in his eyes.

"Wow…you look…you look great. Where are you going?" Interesting. I honestly had no idea anymore.

"I…don't really know." He raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He nodded, though it was clear he wasn't buying my answer completely.

"Haven't seen you in a while. You been…getting stuff done?" I grimaced.

"To be completely honest, I've been in this house for the past week."

"Oh. Did you know I dropped by? I don't know if your mom -"

"Yes. I knew. I'm sorry." He was silent for a moment. "So…what're you doing here?"

"Oh, right – I came to get you."

"Get me? For what?"

"Well…come on, let's just go to my house. Get this over with." He seemed nervous about something, and that's when I noticed he was wearing a black collared shirt with a dark green tie and slacks. His hair was sticking up somewhat haphazardly in random places, but at the same time it wasn't anywhere near messy.

He looked pretty damn handsome, if you asked me.

"What are you all dressed up for?" I unconsciously started walking with him down the sidewalk. Surprisingly, it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be outside. Maybe in the 50s, I guessed. The air felt nice against my skin, and I definitely noticed the difference between the pent up air of my house and the fresh oxygen outside.

"I could ask you the same question." He smiled nicely, like he appreciated me, and not the dress itself.

"I asked you first," I teased. He rolled his eyes, but continued to smile.

"You'll see, I guess." I didn't really like that answer. After a second, he fidgeted and stared straight ahead, seemingly anxious about something uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong? Why are we going to your house?" He glanced over at me momentarily, then sighed in a defeated way, his shoulders slumping forward.

"I can't keep it from you. And I'm about to ruin it, but for the record, it wasn't my idea, and I basically had no choice in the matter -"

"Ruin what?"

"…You really don't know?"

"Should I?" I countered, honestly confused. He gaped at me, then nudged me playfully with his elbow while his hands remained in his pockets.

"Kokone, you didn't really forget your own birthday, did you?" My jaw fell open slightly, but I snapped it shut and turned my attention to the house we were passing.

"It's my birthday?" I muttered stupidly, since I was honestly mystified. Sure, I didn't care much for my birthday, and I really, truly hated celebrating it, but that didn't mean I forgot…

"Hey, it's understandable. You've been distracted."

"It's December 13th?" I had definitely lost track of time.

"It is. Don't worry about it though. Everyone forgets things from time to time."

"I didn't…forget. I just didn't know. Wow." He chuckled nervously, which brought me back to what we had been talking about previously.

"So…you dressed up for my birthday?" I looked up at him and I swore he was blushing ever so slightly.

"Yeah, well. So did everyone else." I halted.

"…Okay I know, you don't like this kind of stuff. Believe me, I tried to stop them, but they all wanted to so badly. And they miss you, Kokone."

"Everyone else?" I asked, disbelieving. "You mean…everyone is waiting at your house? For me?"

"Y-Yeah…" He rubbed the back of his head as he regarded me carefully. Poor guy. He knew me too well, and was probably waiting for me to snap. After all, I never wanted to celebrate my birthday. Ever. In fact, I once told Ichiro that the only things he could ever buy for me under any circumstances were flowers. I sighed and started walking again.

"As you said, let's get this over with."

"You're not mad?" He asked hopefully.

"Nah. They don't know any better. And I guess I can understand why they want to do this."

"They really do miss you. We all do."

"That's nice, I guess."

"You don't miss them?" He seemed slightly hurt by this assumption, so I turned to face him, willing him to understand.

"It's not that…I'm just -"

"Tired?" He guessed. I looked down.

"Not really. Not anymore, anyway. I think I'm scared," I admitted shyly.

"Scared?"

"It's not that I don't trust them. And I love them all to death, but…" He waited patiently, as always. I exhaled tiredly and pinched the bridge of my nose. It had been a while since I had actually thought about this.

"I don't want to let anyone down. Disappoint them. Hurt them. I don't know…" Immediately I felt stupid for saying these things out loud. There was no way that they were disappointed in me, right? I mean, they were my friends…

Of course, Hyo Yeoung was my friend. Was.

"There's no way that you could do any of those things. Hey. Look at me." I reluctantly lifted my gaze to find him staring at me with an intense sincerity. "You never let anyone down. No one is disappointed in you. And you definitely didn't hurt anybody. Okay?" I nodded once, and then noticed we were standing in front of his house.

"So…what am I going to find inside exactly?" I asked suspiciously.

"I apologize in advance. When I say everyone is here, I do mean everyone. They all think they're so sneaky too. Presents, a cake, decorations, balloons…The whole deal." I winced.

"Ugh. What am I supposed to say when I get in there? 'Woohoo, I'm a year closer to death, thanks guys'?"

"Aw, come on. Give them some credit. They wanted to cheer you up." He leaned in suddenly and acted like he was telling me a secret as he feigned looking around to see if anyone was within earshot. "I only got you flowers, by the way. I had nothing to do with the rest of it." I snorted.

"Oh, shut up. Let's go, they're waiting."