Author's Note: Here's a long chapter since it's Emiko's birthday month. I hope you guys enjoy!

Emiko sat on her bed hugging her knees. It was 8:00 am and it was a Saturday, not to mention, it was also her birthday. Her parents had meetings but they said they'll back by dinner and her mother made a reservation for a nice restaurant where they'll celebrate. Emiko sighed. Silence made her remember things like her last birthday. It wasn't a happy one.

She remembered sitting in her room, or cell for that matter. Singing herself a sad happy birthday. Where she was, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was invited to become a scholar for this institute that recognised young, extremely gifted individuals. Either they were unbelievably intelligent or if, like her, they had powers or strange abilities. Against her grandmother's wishes, she attended the school and everything seemed fine during the first quarter, they actually schooled her. Then the second quarter came and they trained her for combat though she wasn't made clear on as to why. Third quarter happened and they took her blood for medical reasons saying the school needed her records. Then they just kept taking her blood, then her hair, her nails, scraped some of her skin. This went on until the fourth quarter where they congratulated her on doing well on her first year saying that it was all part of a process for something bigger than all of them and she should be proud of herself and that the next year held much more and would really increase her potential. When she got home, she refused to go back no matter how much they pleaded.

One day, she just woke up in the institute with no recollection of how she got there. Her only clothes were suits of black and red for training and white medical gowns for testing. Each had a symbol of a wing and a snake together. She counted the days she was there wondering if her family knew where she was or if they were looking for her. She was cuffed with power limiters so she wouldn't escape. Every week, they'd bring her to the lab and and test how her body would react to different kinds of matter and energy. Many, if not all, were extremely painful.

Luckily, she made three friends. A blonde boy that was two years older than her, he was known as the genius who the institute ordered to make tech, a purple haired boy that was four years older who had the power of memory altercation. He was the kindest one to her and his presence soothed her and finally, a girl a year younger than Emiko whose blood could heal almost any injury, she was like the sister she never had. She was the one taken most to the lab and they tried their best to make a serum out of her blood but she weakened every time they took a sample. It was on Emiko's birthday (the one she is recalling) that her friend had died out of her weakened state. Emiko was furious and went out of control that she broke her limiter and destroyed almost the whole building. She was then sedated and put in a cramped cell where she sang a pitiful happy birthday to herself and then made the promise that she would do anything for the people she cared about. That she would stand up for those who were being wronged no matter what.

She stopped there. Her memories of her past were mostly in fragments and it hurt her head when she tried to remember them all which is why she kept them suppressed sooner or later, she vowed she will remember them all so she can return and destroy the place that killed her friend and many others.

She's grateful that she met Kusuo, because he can really help her control her powers so that one day, she can remove the limiter that is pinned to her spine.

She stood up from her bed and sighed. She stood in front of her mirror and looked at the roots of her hair. She saw that her natural hair colour was starting to show.

"Mmmm.. We can't have that." She softly to herself. "Where did I put my dye... Oh here."

She sat in front of the mirror as she mixed her dye. When it was ready, she lathered it to the roots of her hair before waiting for an hour.

She looked at her reflection and spoke to it. "Right now, you need to enjoy your life because you might not get an opportunity like this when you avenge your friend. Starting tomorrow, you will train twice as hard but you won't forget all the precious people in your life."

As she calmed her mind, she received a text from the true pink haired friend of hers.

*Busy?* He asked.

*For an hour.*

*No plans today?*

*I can do anything as long as I'm back by dinner.* She replied.

*Can I take my best friend out for her birthday?*

Emiko snorted. What an un-Kusuo thing to say. *I feel special since you're being extra nice.*

*I can revert back.*

*No no! I wanna spend time with nice Kusuo! :D*

*I'm starting to dislike your birthday.*

*:(*

*You're so annoying sometimes. Message me when you're ready.*

*Ok!*

Emiko waited moments in her living room before Kusuo arrived via teleportation.

'Happy Birthday.' He said as he stood there.

Emiko pretended to pout. "Aw! No hug?"

Saiki glared at her and then sighed. 'Let's go.'

"You really won't hug me?"

'No.'

"Tch, whatever." Emiko said pretending to be mad. "Kidding! Where do you plan to take me?"

'Anywhere you want to go.'

"Okay, so uhm, that's a bit tricky. See, you can teleport us anywhere. Is that literal or just anywhere we can walk or commute?"

'Anywhere in Japan.'

"Whoa for real?"

Kusuo just gave her a look that said hurry up and choose.

"Let's go to Hokkaido. The town Biei. I lived near there."

'All right.'

"Wow..." When they arrived at a less secluded area, Emiko stopped to breathe in her familiar surroundings. For a few minutes, she remained quiet and Kusuo couldn't help but notice that her aura had changed a bit. She was still happy as she usually was, but there was something else, she looked more at peace, more comfortable in her environment.

With glassy eyes, she looked at her best friend and whispered a quiet and grateful "Thank you."

Kusuo didn't know how to handle a situation like this. He knew Emiko was happy but it was a different, quiet kind of happy. He didn't understand it as teleporting here was no big deal really. He could teleport halfway across the globe in a blink so it was really quite a simple thing, but this obviously meant a great deal to her and although he couldn't really read her mind to say a situation appropriate thing, he would just settle with

'You're welcome.' He replied. He couldn't help but think that he was a self sufficient being who never really sought out the company of others, but Emiko was a different case. He enjoyed being in her company and would go with her on her errands if she requested him to. For all his genius and powers, emotions and feelings weren't something he was used to handling, thus, he chose not to look into it. All he knew was that he was grateful to have someone as wonderful as her for his best friend and he'll be there for her as long as she wanted him to.

"Do you like soft serve ice cream?"

He nodded.

"Well, Hokkaido is known for its milk so the soft serve here is uh-mazing!" She said happily. "There is a good place near here." She lead him down the street and they walked four blocks from where they were. When they arrived she gaped at the place. "It got bigger. It used to be a quaint stall. One of my good friends from middle school took me here once. Well, actually her dad owned the place. I told him it was the best and I became their every day client. They even gave me a discount because of how often I'd come." She giggled at the memory and stepped in the store.

"Hi, good morning and welcome!" A middle aged man greeted.

"Good morning!" Emiko said cheerfully. "How are you doing today?"

"Quite well, thank you! And you?"

"Doing great! Can we order two Hokkaido Milk soft serves, please?"

"Certainly!" The man took two cones and skilfully twirled it to make a tall delicious treat. When he finished, he handed to both pink-heads.

Emiko happily tasted her ice cream and if you looked closely, you could probably see her eyes sparkle. "This is the best ice cream in the world!" She exclaimed.

The man chuckled. "I'm glad you think so. Just now, you reminded me of a cute little thing that used to come here with my daughter. She said the same thing."

She smiled knowing that that cute little thing was her. "She's not wrong." She looked at Kusuo. "What do you think, Kusuo?"

Being the man who spoke no words, Kusuo lifted his hand and offered a thumbs up to the man, flattering him.

'Why didn't you tell the guy that you were that little girl?' As they walked from the store.

"I have my reasons." She said.

Another reason why Emiko was never boring, Kusuo thought. She's full of mysteries.

"Have you ever been to Shikisai-no-oka?"

He shook his head.

"No? What!" She looked bewildered. "It's only one of the prettiest places on earth. They have a restaurant there that serves good food!"

'I can teleport us there.'

"Hahaha! Let's walk there instead. I want to bask being in this town."

Kusuo nodded and allowed her to lead the way. Their journey to Shikisai-no-oka was an eventful one as Emiko would tell him about the history of a certain place or her experience with it. He felt glad to know these little things about her and seeing it through her eyes only added more charm to the quaint town. Still, he couldn't help but wonder why she left the place she seemed to love so much. She did mention the first time they hung out that they moved because their parents had better career ventures in the bigger city, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it.

Arriving at their destination, Kusuo saw that Emiko wasn't selling it short when she said that Shikisai-no-oka was one of the prettiest places on earth. Fields different kinds of flowers were planted to colour the land.

If possible, Emiko's smile got even wider. "It's a good thing I was born on April. That's one of the peak seasons of this place. It's pretty no?"

'It is.'

"Hungry?"

He nodded as she lead him to a quiet little restaurant that had a beautiful view of the fields. They entered a restaurant where a waiter lead them to a quiet table by the window side.

An old woman who took their order looked at the both of them and smiled.

"Ah, you make a lovely couple."

Emiko laughed and shook her head. "We're not."

"No? Ah, well you both have pink hair. Are you siblings?" She asked.

Emiko found this funny and shook her head again.

"Friends? Cousins?"

'What a nosy woman.' Kusuo thought to himself.

"He's my best friend." She smiled kindly at the woman.

"Forgive me. One of you are about to confess, yes?"

Kusuo rolled his eyes mentally. 'Leave the matter alone. Nobody needs your two cents.'

Emiko laughed. "Nothing like that at all."

"Really?" The old woman asked. "It's just you both have an energy around you. I'm sorry, dear." She chuckled. 'Perhaps they haven't realised it yet.'

'Nothing to realise, now please get us our food.' Kusuo thought again to himself.

As the woman walked away, Emiko giggled. "I think you scared her off with that glare of yours."

'I didn't, but I should have.'

"Hey, I know I thanked you already, but thank you again. I haven't been able to do this here in a while."

Saiki didn't say anything because, well, that's just how he was and Emiko understood. They were silent for a moment when Emiko started chuckling to herself.

'What is it?'

"I just remembered that time we watched the Healthy Warrior Specialiser, and then there was this man who was ruining the movie by repeating the lines so loudly and then he started spoiling the movie for everyone because it turns out that he was the script writer. I was just remembering the way you glared at him because it really shut him up."

'Of course I had to glare. It was my first movie experience in a while and I wasn't going to have him ruin it after Makoto ruined it.'

"It was just funny how scared you made him. He left cinema before the movie ended."

'He's seen it anyway.' Kusuo thought amused at the memories.

They spent their time recalling memories that the two had went through. Some aren't necessarily written in this book (although if you have a suggestion of a bonding experience between the two, you can let the writer know). When their food arrived, they enjoyed a quiet and content lunch.

Someone came and took away their plates and brought a dessert menu when he saw Emiko and gasped.

"Tengoku-san?"

Emiko froze for a split second at the name. Kusuo saw this and narrowed his eyes. She smiled and pretended to be confused and looked up and saw a very familiar face. He was the son of the restaurant owner.

"Oh, you must have confused me for someone else." She smiled sweetly.

"You're right. Well, you really reminded me of someone who used to come here. She was my first crush. Hahaha!"

"She was, was she?" She said about herself in third person.

"Yes, Ma'am! Loveliest person there was if I do say so myself. She stopped coming about three years ago."

"What happened?" She asked to know what kind of rumours have spread about her disappearance.

"Not sure. It's only a rumour, but it is said she was offered a scholarship abroad. But a lot think she went missing when her grandma died."

"I see." Emiko said icily. Quickly realising her behaviour, she warmed again and said "Well, I do hope it's more positive than that."

"I hope so too."

The guy took their orders and disappeared into the kitchen. Emiko knew that Kusuo put two and two together and suspected that she is the one they were talking about.

'I'll tell you soon.' She said in her head knowing that Kusuo would hear her.

'Okay.' He replied. He wasn't going to lie, he was extremely curious but knew that Emiko had her reasons not to tell him.

"I can't believe we've been classmates for seven years straight." Emiko lied. "To think I didn't like you when we were in middle school."

'What?' Kusuo asked confused.

'Just go along with it.' She pleaded.

"Tengoku-san?"

He froze. The Tengoku? The one his boss had been looking for? He turned back to see who the boy was talking to only to see a pink haired girl's back. That couldn't be her, could it?

"Oh, you must have confused me for someone else." The girl replied.

Well, Tengoku wasn't pinked haired. If she was trying to escape, she wouldn't have coloured her hair something so eye-catching. She even asked what happened instead of changing the subject so that couldn't be her. When the waiter left he saw the girl talk to a pink haired boy.

"I can't believe we've been classmates for seven years straight. To think I didn't like you when we were in middle school."

Well, they've been classmates for seven years and Tengoku was with them for two. False alarm. The man resumed eating his lunch and decided to forget about the incident.

After lunch, Emiko and Kusuo walked around the flower beds enjoying the peaceful sounds of the country side. They spent a lot of time doing so and went to see the alpacas in the farm afterwards. Offering Kusuo a wide grin she asked

"Alpacas are so cute, don't you think?"

'Physically, I see their charm. But hearing their thoughts makes them less appealing.'

"Oh?" Emiko asked curiously "What are they saying?"

'Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Food. Stupid humans, give us food.'

"Then let's feed them!"

They fed the alpacas hoping to satiate their hunger, but it never stopped and Kusuo said that they were becoming terribly annoying. Emiko laughed at his and suggested they explore the farm some more.

They came across a bunch of geese and the birthday girl thought that they were very cute. She went closer in hopes of petting one not hearing Kusuo warn her that they were a very unfriendly bunch.

The one goose she tried to pet raised its neck and bent it down with the intention to charge at her.

'We should run. They want to kill us.'

Emiko didn't believe him. "How can a cute animal like this want to kill?" She went closer.

'Not just her. They ALL want to kill us.'

The geese started to honk and run towards Emiko and Kusuo.

"Oh god, you're right." She said, terrified and took off grasping the psychic's wrist.

When the geese stopped chasing them, Emiko breathed heavily. "Why are they so evil? They don't look evil!"

'Most animals have undesirable qualities.'

"Cats?"

'Evil.'

"Dogs?"

'Stupid.'

"Hamsters?"

'Annoying.'

"Lizards?"

'Creepy.'

"Damn. That changes everything." She said, then she started laughing. "I've never seen you look so terrified."

He glared at her. 'If only you heard what they said.'

"Oh yeah, Mr. Almighty?"

'I wasn't half as scared as you.'

"I wasn't scared. I only ran so I wouldn't have to use a power too great it would blind you." She said cheekily.

'Shut up, Kaido.'

"What did you call me?"

Kusuo shrugged and started to walk ahead leaving Emiko hanging behind.

"Hey! Don't leave me here!"

"Thanks, Kusuo. I had a great time. When I woke up this morning, I wasn't sure of myself that I gave lil old me a pep talk. Thanks for making this day a thousand times better than I thought it would be."

'You're welcome. Though you owe me an explanation for many things.'

"I suppose, I do."

They stopped by the convenience store near their houses before walking back to Emiko's house.

"When people recognised me back in Biei, that's probably because I do know all of them. What a stupid thing to say. I'll start from the beginning. I'll be brief and give you details another time since we're near my place."

'Okay.'

"I was invited to be a scholar for this institute. They exploited my powers, trained me and took genetic samples. They allowed me to go back home after a year with the assumption that I would return. When I refused, they kidnapped me, and treated me and my friends terribly. One of my friends had blood that could heal almost any injury. They abused that fact and kept taking her blood in an attempt to create a serum. She died because of blood loss and neglect. She-she died on my birthday..." Her voice trailed off.

Kusuo felt anger and sadness like he never had. How did she hide all of this under a bubbly exterior?

"Anyway, the moment I heard about her death, I made a promise to myself to protect the weak whenever and however I can."

'I'm sorry if it pained you tell me this.'

"It's okay. After all you've done for me today, it's only right that I tell you a little bit more about mysel so you can understand why I did what I did today. You trust me enough to call me your best friend even if you don't know my past and that means a lot." They stopped in front of her gate.

'You parents are waiting to take you to dinner. I'll just go in and say hello.'

Emiko smiled. "Well aren't you sociable?"

'I'm not, trust me.'

When she opened the door to her house

"SURPRISE!"

She jumped back in shock and then started to grin widely.

"You're all here!" She exclaimed.

Her parents were there (naturally as they were the parents and head planners), Kurumi and Kuniharu were as well, Yuuki, Tora, Rei, Chiyo, Kokomi (the five helped plan), Kaido, Mera, Nendou, as well as Reita, Noa and Hina were there as well as Hiroaki-san, Haku and Kimiko and even Yuuta and his mother who she's gotten to know better because of Kusuo.

As they all crowded her to wish her happy birthday and hand her her gifts, Kusuo smiled and went to sit away from everyone else. He felt a tap (an energy tap from the birthday girl) on his shoulder and looked back to see Emiko standing a few feet away smiling at him. Then suddenly everyone's voices and inner thoughts quieted down as she said

'Thank you, Kusuo.'

'Happy Birthday, Emiko. I'll always have your back.' He said as he turned to walk away from everyone else.

"Hey, buddy!" His path was blocked by his three annoying friends. 'I guess I won't get some quiet after all.'

Emiko thanked the people who came and greeted her, she took pictures with her friends, they ate happily and when they finally brought out her cake (curtesy of Haku and Kimiko) she looked around and saw all the people she held dear and made a wish.

'May I be strong enough to protect them all if need be and strong enough to achieve my goal in the future.' Then she blew it.

'Granted.' Saiki joked her telepathically.

'Shut up, Kusuo.'

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Had a hard time writing it because I was experiencing a block. If you guys have tips on how to overcome writer's block, please let me know! Take care, everyone! Hope you're all doing well.

Also, I would personally like to thank all the guest who reviewed. You're all so sweet! But I'm afraid I can't message you guys individually. So, thanks!