A/N: JP gets the honour of having his birthday in February. I figured it was time he had a birthday party. Though not this "chapter".
The Curse of the Cat
081. Emblem
Koji glared at the rack of jackets. He'd never had to think too deeply about presents before, but that was because he didn't have special friends to give them to. But now it was JP's birthday, and Koji was having trouble finding something adequate.
A lot of trouble in fact.
When no jacket jumped out, he abandoned that rack and tried a different one. The jumpsuits all looked too similar to the ones he already had…and why was he thinking on the lines of clothes anyway?
He rolled his eyes at himself. Because Takuya and Shinya found some "awesome" magic tricks, and Tommy was getting some mechanical tool or gadget. He didn't know what Zoe was planning, but he was fairly sure it would not involve clothes. So clothes seemed like the best option: something personal and usable.
Although he was very tempted to just get a voucher with the luck he was having.
Still, he stuck a hand into the rack and flicked through a few hangers, pulling jumpsuits out at random before replacing them again. He almost gave up on that rack as well before he pulled out something that looked promising. Unlike his usual bright blue and yellow attire it had a more natural blend of a darker blue and gold with streaks of brown. The only thing bright was the emblem over the chest pocket – but when Koji looked at the size, it was far too small.
He tried to hold back a groan, but a passing salesgirl heard him anyway. At least some fruit came out of it, as she managed to find the exact same jumpsuit in the size he needed.
082. Elephant
Zoe looked at the little crystal elephant, then shook her head and moved on to the next. She shook her head again; the glittering rat was cute, but she was trying to find a present for JP, not Koji. Besides, she wasn't too sure how Koji would react if she gave him such an ornament, so it probably wasn't a safe present.
The next one was a crystal ladybug. She considered it, but the salesgirl put a new ornament up on display and she immediately gravitated her way towards it.
'That's a rare one,' the salesgirl commented. 'Those beetles aren't found in Japan.'
Zoe forked over the yen she needed; thankfully, "rare" in this case didn't mean expensive. After all, they weren't exactly collectables, but it would go nicely with JP's collection of insects (and not one of them alive or dead, thankfully).
She hoped they looked alright with the plastic ones though.
083. Monopoly
'Monopoly?' Koichi repeated.
He'd been surprised when he'd opened the door to find Zoe in the hallway with a large bag and two other boys, one he recognised by face but not by name and the other he knew not at all. And he'd been doubly surprised when, after letting them in, Zoe plunged into conversation as if nothing had ever happened. Then she'd pulled out the board and practically ordered them all to play…after the introductions and a small explanation to why her two remaining friends (including Koji thankfully as he had no idea what would happen if his mother came home)
He wound up picking the boot, and was surprised a third time when JP laughed at him.
'Sorry,' he chucked as three pairs of eyes turned to him. 'You just reminded me of Puss in Boots.'
'Puss in Boots?' Koichi mentally winced; he was sounding like a parrot.
'You know, the English cartoon.'
He shook his head.
'You don't?' JP almost shouted. 'How could you not have heard of him? You haven't seen Shrek?'
Another shake of the head.
'That's like the best cartoon.'
'I think that's an exaggeration,' Zoe muttered, but JP didn't hear.
'Come over some time and we'll have a movie marathon. Actually, come over on my birthday; the others are all coming over too. It'll take all night to watch them all…'
'JP,' Tommy interrupted, having rolled a double 6 and moved off the GO square in the meantime, only to land on a square already housing a green piece. 'How much rent?'
84. Reality
JP and Tommy left ahead, but Zoe hung around for a bit.
'I hope you don't think I'm being too…' She fished for a word. 'Pushy, but…' She shook her head and started again. 'You needed company, and Tommy and I needed to keep JP occupied, and Tommy wanted to see you again as well…but I really should have called ahead and…aargh, my thoughts are getting all scrambled.'
Koichi laughed a little at that as she tried to pet down the hair she had messed up.
'Hey, I'll let you know we just got stuck with each other and we didn't have the problem of not seeing each other 24/7 until we were inseparable!' she exclaimed. Seeing the look of confusion, she further explained: 'It was a stupid dare, and we were the only ones idiot enough to fall for it and stubborn enough to see it through. You didn't hear about it at school? I thought everyone knew. The girls in my class talked about it more than last week's reality show.'
Koichi shook his head. 'I was probably sick then.'
'You miss out on quite a bit, don't you?' She sighed through her nose. 'Would you come to JP's birthday? We're sleeping over at his house…and we probably will wind up watching all the Shrek movies. He's been threatening to since we met him.'
'It wouldn't feel right,' the other disagreed. 'I don't know you all that well.'
'You're not going to know us any better by not trying,' Zoe pointed out. 'And I know it's hard, but if you don't live your life now, you'll always regret it…' Her voice trailed off.
'Zoe…'
'Oh, am I interrupting something?' Tomoko's voice suddenly said.
Both teens jumped at the unexpected entrance.
085. Serenity
'Really,' Tomoko laughed in amusement at the two startled teens. 'You two look like a pair of mischievous chicks…or lovebirds.'
They both blushed and stuttered something, and she had to keep herself from laughing harder. But it really was a heart-warming sight, watching her son act like any other boy his age for once and with someone willing to look past his walls and try to dig out the real Koichi underneath. It was especially heart-warming when they snapped back to look at each other, caught between denying and awkwardly trying to work out exactly what they felt and were trying to say.
Sadly, they sorted themselves out a little too soon.
'You'll come, won't you?' Zoe asked.
'Umm…sure.'
Once Zoe had left, Tomoko turned to grilled her son. 'Where exactly are you two going?'
'Nowhere!' the boy exclaimed, waving his arms. 'A friend of hers is having a sleepover on his birthday and he…well, he sort of invited me I guess…'
'And Zoe insisted you take up the invitation?' Tomoko shook her head lightly. 'Not many people bother with written invitations for anything short of a wedding nowadays. You should go.'
A pause. 'I already agreed.'
'I know, but children normally ask their parents before accepting invitations.'
Koichi went a little red and mumbled something again. Tomoko chucked and ruffled his hair. 'Don't forget to get a nice present.'