"Eiji, that's a terrible idea. He'll kill us! Don't you remember the Halloween incident?"

Kong stood there as if he'd rather wanted to be anywhere else but here and never stopped looking at the hallway where Ash was still talking to Alex in a commanding tone, giving him orders that he would pass on to the rest of Ash's gang later.

Kong's voice was barely a whisper as he stood there with Bones, trying to stop him from putting his plan into action. Both desperately tried to explain their reasoning to him.

Eiji felt a bit bad for them, but at the same time, he thought it was hilarious how scared they were of Ash. Not one of them saw the hurting teenager. They only saw the ruthless gang leader, his cold-blooded leadership, his iron willpower.

"Boss hates his birthday and doesn't care for it at all. If he even remembers it.", Bones said in a low voice while gripping Eiji's shoulders to put some sense into him.

"The last time Shorter surprised him on his birthday, Ash threw the cake into his face. Shorter had expected that reaction, though, and the cake landed in my face instead.", Bones complained. "Although the cake was delicious."

Eiji grinned. "That sounds like Ash."

"But that's not the point, Bones!", Kong chastised him. "Don't you remember what happened after that?" Bones paled and put his arms around himself while shivering.

"Don't remind me. I'll never forget that for the great of my life."

"What happened?", Eiji asked curiously.

"After that cake incident, Ash announced that the next person trying to surprise him on his birthday would play Russian roulette with him." Bones' voice cracked at the end.

"You didn't see his eyes, Eiji. They were glowing ominously like pure poison. Deadly.", Bones eyes were bulging out of their sockets, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead.

"And he had that vicious smirk on his face as if he wished that someone would challenge him.", Kong elaborated further, who looked as scared as Bones, which was pretty funny given his bulky appearance.

"That was just a joke. Don't you think you're overdramatizing things?"

"Overdramatize? Our boss doesn't joke. If he told you the consequences for your actions, he would hold you to that. Without mercy."

"He's a wild beast, not a damn kitty. He's the perfect example that looks can be deceiving. He may look frail and handsome, but he's stronger and more deadly than anyone I know. And I don't want to mess with our Boss, that's for sure. No one pulls the trigger as fast as him. His skills are beyond human.", added quietly.

"While grinning like that, Ash had turned his revolver's cylinder a few times and then had fired to prove his point. The chamber had been empty, but I've never trembled so much as on this day. He had aimed right next to my face! It had sent shivers down my spine. He had looked like a prince of darkness. Or the Lord of the underworld. It was terrifying. It's a miracle we're still alive. Please, whatever you're planning, don't do it. We'll suffer the consequences, not you!"

"You're exaggerating. Ash is just bad at displaying emotions. He'll enjoy his little party.", Eiji said, radiating pure confidence. "Don't worry, I'll protect you.", Eiji winked at them. "Ash is one of the good guys. He has always protected you and had your back, right? Don't you want to thank him?"

"He's only nice to YOU, Eiji.", Bones reminded him.

"But he does have a point. Ash saved us plenty of times.", Kong whispered to Bones.

Seeing their resolve was breaking, he grinned and put his arms around both of them.

"I can count on you, right?", Eiji asked them with shining eyes. "Ash won't be mad; he'll love it. I promise." He let go of them and waited for an answer, knowing perfectly well they wouldn't say no to him. They spent a lot of time with him as his bodyguards and were close friends by now, so they wouldn't refuse him.

Kong and Bones looked at each other one last time, then shook their heads in resignation.

"I have a bad feeling about that."

"Me, too. But can you say no to Eiji if he looks so damn happy with those huge, sparkling eyes?"

Bones shook his head, then sighed in frustration.

"Damn, we're getting soft."

~ ~ ~

When Ash came home in the evening, Kong opened the door, as usual. Yet, instead of letting him in, he remained standing in the doorway, blocking his path. Despite his burly aspect, he looked flustered.

"We really tried to stop him, Boss."

"What do you mean? Move, Kong! Now!", Ash ordered in irritation. He walked past Kong through the dark hallway to the living room. Suddenly, when he entered, two party poppers exploded over his head. Before he could react to that, Eiji had put his arms around him.

He felt his cheeks burn up and hesitated, totally caught off guard by Eiji's greeting. After a moment, he slowly hugged him as well.

"Happy birthday, Ash!"

Ash stared at him incredulously before realizing what he had just said. He let go when he saw that everybody was staring at him in surprise.

"My birthday? That's today?", he asked quietly, half-smiling.

"Yes, I baked a cake and some brownies for you. And those other sweets and desserts are from Mrs. Coleman, and the pie is from Mrs. Owen downstairs. When I mentioned that it was your birthday, they brought those over. Aren't they nice?", he beamed at him.

"You are friends with the housewives here?", Ash asked in pure disbelief.

"Well, we meet at the supermarket downstairs all the time. And since I can't leave the apartment, everyone here thinks that I'm your Chinese houseboy."

"Come on, blow out the candles.", Eiji said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the cake.

"That's stupid. I'm not a kid.", Ash exclaimed too harshly while glaring at him.

Eiji pouted, utterly unimpressed by his outburst, then stubbornly turned away from him. The rest of his gang had put some distance between them.

"You're no fun. And I even put 18 candles on the cake for you. That wasn't easy, you know? The cake is too sma - "

Ash ignored his blabbering, took a deep breath, and blew all the candles out at once.

"Happy now?"

Eiji's eyes sparkled. "Yes." Then he put an arm around his shoulder. "Now close your eyes and make a wish. It has to be something abstract. Like happiness. Or health. It can't be material." Ash sighed dramatically, then closed his eyes.

"Ok, I wished for something. Now what?"

"Great! Don't tell anyone, or it won't come true." Ash rolled his eyes at him but couldn't hide his smile in time. He was such a kid at times. Or maybe it was because he had grown up too fast...

Ash looked at his gang, who stared at him in awe. "What are you morons waiting for? Start eating."

"Wait!", Eiji stopped him. "We have a present for you."

"If that is a picture of last Halloween, you'll feel my revenge.", Ash threatened them. Some of them flinched. Not Eiji, of course. He just smiled and handed him the present.

Ash unwrapped it and took a good look at it.

"That's a picture of all of us together.", exclaimed Bones happily. "Isn't it cool? Eiji took the photo in secret. We all signed it at the back."

"We wanted to tell you with this photo that we're all proud to have you as a leader. You gave us a home. It may not be perfect, but it's as close to a family as we can get. Thanks for always looking out for us, Boss."

It was Alex, his second-in-command, who had said that. Ash stared at him in disbelief but could see he wasn't joking. He had really meant that. He saw the same sentiment in everyone's eyes as he looked around. Ash wiped a tear away that had pricked his eyes before anyone saw them. Except for Eiji, who gave him a knowing glance but didn't say anything.

"Thanks, guys. It's great. Let's hang it somewhere where all of us can see it."

"You're not mad?", Bones asked carefully. I don't want to play Russian roulette with you.", he added, a slight tremble in his voice. Ash smirked mischievously at them.

"No, just for today, I'll let it slide. You can thank Eiji."

Then he looked at his gang more seriously. "I'll only say this once, so listen up. You're also the closest thing to a family I have, just so you know. So, I'll always look out for you. As your boss, your safety is my responsibility. That's why I'm so harsh with you. To make sure you listen to me and return home safely. And that's as emotional as I'll get, so start celebrating. And if you ever tell Shorter or anyone else what I've just told you, I'll kill you.", he said, grinning devilishly at them.

Most of them just stared at him, open-mouthed. Ash just shook his head, unable to hide his amusement.

"And now start eating! Before my good mood ends.", he smirked at them before he took a piece of the cake Eiji had made. His gang finally started eating and celebrating. They began chatting and teasing each other and didn't notice at all that Ash and Eiji didn't take part in their shenanigans anymore.

"Thank you, Eiji!",

"Do I have to duel with you now? Russian roulette? Or will I only get a cake thrown into my face?" Eiji challenged him, smirking.

"Oh, I've just thrown the cake at Shorter because he dared to paint a pumpkin on top of it.", Ash explained. Shorter knew what would happen."

As for the Russian roulette thing, I just wanted to make sure no one would plan surprise parties anymore."

"Not even me? I could see in your eyes that you enjoyed yourself."

Ash nodded, then leaned on his shoulder.

"I did enjoy it. And your cake was delicious. I enjoy surprise parties planned by my Chinese houseboy."

Eiji smacked him on the back of his head. "Watch it! Or my next surprise party will be a Halloween party with pumpkins everywhere."

"Ouch!", Ash exclaimed, rubbing his head. "Don't you dare!", Ash exclaimed in pure horror. He could feel how all color drained from his face when he just imagined his apartment full of pumpkins.

"Thank you, Eiji! This was the first birthday I've truly enjoyed."

"I"m glad to hear that. Birthdays exist to celebrate and make wonderful memories together with people who love you. It's also about hopes, dreams and wishes about the future. About precious moments in life, you can look back on with a smile. I hope your wish will come true." Ash nodded quietly.

Then, Eiji looked at him. "I only wanted to achieve one thing by planning this party for you. To make you forget reality for a moment and enjoy yourself. Like a normal teenager. And I wanted to see it again. Your beautiful smile. I've missed it, you know?" He leaned on him, his head resting on his shoulder.

Ash wanted to reply something, but Eiji was already sleeping soundly. Ash put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer. That idiot had probably spent weeks planning this party and keeping it secret from him.

Thank you, Eiji. If I spend time with you, I feel like a typical teenager for once.