Birthday Reminder
By eliza natsuko

Pairings : SenRu

Disclaimers : As far as I can remember, it's still doesn't belong to me.

Summary : It's Valentine's Day also Sendoh's birthday but someone important to him seems to forget. That would definitely upset our beloved spiky but the sly kitsune seems to have something hidden under his sleeves. What could it be?

A/N : It has been a while since I posted a fic here. Well, I guess you've figured out that this fic is specially written for Valentine's Day and Sendoh's birthday. This is perhaps the shortest fic I've written so far. Anyway, thanks for reading and Happy St. Valentine's Day to you! Special thanks to rans/joys for the encouragement! Arigato! Now, to the story...

Scene 1: Bedroom, 7.11 am

A sleeping figure was having fun in his dream land until a spiky-haired young man glomped on him.

"KAE-CHAN! WAKEY WAKEY!" Sendoh shouted with enthusiasm. Upon seeing no reaction from the still sleeping figure, he raised his voice. "OHAYO, Ruru-chan! WAKE UP! RISE AND SHINE!"

"What is it?" Rukawa rubbed his eyes sleepily. He was trying his best to keep his eyes open.

"Ne, do you know what day it is?" Sendoh asked happily. A bright smile formed on his face, brighter than the morning sun, perhaps.

"Mmm.. Tuesday?"

"…." Sendoh was speechless. He didn't expect such an answer from Rukawa. "No, no. I mean-"

"Go away Akira. Let me have a peaceful sleep." With that, Rukawa dozed off to his dream land once again.

"Kae-chan! It's the 14th of February! Kae-chan!" Sendoh shook the shorter youth gently.

"Zzzzzz…"

'Ah.. I guess it's ok. I'll just have to wait till he wakes up.' Sendoh's eye softened at the sight of his sleeping Kaede.

-&-

Scene 2: Shopping Complex, 11.07 am

Sendoh dragged Rukawa to a shopping complex though Rukawa said it was better to stay at home and watch some NBA matches. 'NO! It's our day off and we should do something beneficial!' was the reason Sendoh gave. Being an obedient boy that Rukawa was, he followed Sendoh (or it was more like Sendoh dragged Rukawa) to the shopping complex.

"Kae-chan, look at what that salesgirl gave me." Sendoh handed the flier to Rukawa. Rukawa looked at the flier with a pair of I'm-not-interested eyes. Sendoh read the message out for Rukawa. "VALENTINE'S DAY special! Buy one get one free." Sendoh purposely emphasized on the word 'Valentines Day'

"Hn." Was the only reply he received from his bored Rukawa.

'What! He's playing dense with me? YOSHI! One more try!'

"Oh! Look at that banner Kae-chan!" Sendoh pointed at a pink coloured heart shaped banner with capital and bold red colour writing that read 'Happy Valentines Day'. "Kae-chan, they wished us 'Happy Valentines Day.' Aren't you happy?"

"Yea.. Whatever…" Rukawa answered monotony.

'He still didn't get my message ka?' Sendoh sighed inwardly. "Kae-chan, let's go for lunch."

"Sure."

-&-

Scene 3: Café, 12.45 pm

The two youths sat facing each other. A waitress brought them the menus and left them to choose the food they wanted and promised to return to take their order in a few minutes.

"What do you want to eat, Kae-chan?" Sendoh asked, eyeing the menu.

"Hmm…" was the indication that Rukawa hadn't made his decision yet.

"AH! This, Kae-chan!" Sendoh pointed at the menu Rukawa was holding. "VALENTINE'S PROMOTION! Lover's set only 1500 Yen." Once again, Sendoh emphasised on the word 'Velentine'.

"Yada. I don't like that." Rukawa answered bluntly.

"…."

"I'll take set C."

"Demo, Kae-chan…" Sendoh called with his pleading voice and eyes.

"Excuse me, sirs. May I take your orders now?" The waitress asked politely.

"Set C please." Rukawa ordered even before Sendoh could say anything.

"Would you like to try our Valentine Couple Set?" asked the waitress. "It's only for this hour and you'll have a 25 discount."

"Yeah! Kae-chan it is VALENTINE'S DAY after all." Sendoh added.

"Fine. Whatever is fine." Rukawa sighed and closed his menu, which was taken by the waitress before she left them.

'Kae-chan! Come on! It's the 14th of February! Realize that will you?' Sendoh was having a conflict in his mind. "Ne, Kae-chan."

Rukawa looked at Sendoh, showing that he was listening. "Let's go catch a movie after this ok?" Sendoh laughed inwardly at that idea. 'Of course, we'll watch a movie of the romance genre and a valentine theme!'

"Hn." Coincidentally, the waitress brought them their food. "Ittadakimasu." And they dug into their delicious Valentine's Couple Set.

-&-

Scene 4: Theater, 2.17 pm

The two basketball players, towering others could be easily spotted queuing up at the ticket counter.

"Kae-chan, what do you want to watch?" Sendoh asked sweetly, praying that Rukawa would answer him with a love story.

"Fearless. It's a new screening." Rukawa answered to Sendoh's disappointment.

"How about Loving You, Loving Me (1)? It's a new screening too." 'Buy it. Buy it. Please…'

"Sure. Just get the tickets. It's our turn."

"HAI!" Sendoh almost jumped for joy but decided not to as the ceiling was so low it was about to graze his head by just standing. After getting the tickets, both of them proceeded to grab some soft drinks and popcorns before getting their seats.

"Kae-chan, do you know why they screen this movie today?" Sendoh asked with mischief.

"The producer can screen whenever they want to, Akira." Rukawa answered while stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"Nope! The real answer is…" Sendoh let his sentence hang for a while before he continued. "It's Valentine's Day today! And do you know what doe-" He was cut off by a hush from Rukawa.

"Shh.. Akira, it's starting." Rukawa placed his index finger on Sendoh's lips which earned him a kiss on his finger before he heard a soft 'Hai'

'Kae-chan… You're a big meannie! How can you forget this special day? It's a two in one! A package! How can you..?'(2)Sendoh was in the verge of tears. He had his big watery puppy eyes right now but thank Kami-sama the theater was dark enough for Rukawa to miss that.

-&-

Scene 5: Park, 5.18 pm

"Akira, why are we here?" Rukawa asked. Feeling weird that Sendoh actually brought him to a park they don't often visit.

"Hmm.." Sendoh pretended to ponder for a while. He quickly dismissed the question by his own question. "Kae-chan, why are there so many people here?"

'You'll realize it's my Birthday and also Valentines when you see people.. no, COUPLES lingering in this park, won't you?' If one concentrated on Sendoh's blue iris, he could see his eyes sparkling with a glint of evilness.

Rukawa shrugged. "Oh! I remember!" Sendoh answered his own question. "It's probably because it's the 14th OF FEBRUARY today!"

"Yea.. Maybe." Rukawa quickened his steps and walked ahead of Sendoh.

'Why you baka little kitusne! Pick up the hints!' Sendoh begged and quickly caught up with Rukawa.

"And do you know what 14th of February means?"

"Err.. Tuesday?" Rukawa answered like it was the most matter-of-fact question in the world. "Akira, let's go home. I'm tired."

'Fine. Fine. I give up. Throw all your fantasies away, Akira.' Sendoh's usual 100 mega watt smile disappeared from his façade. "Hai.. Hai.. Let's go home and rest."

-&-

Scene 6: In the car, 6.30 pm

Sendoh was driving with a dejected look on his face while Rukawa, who was sitting next to Sendoh was singing his favourite song.

"Akira?" He stopped singing and looked at Sendoh with a concerned face.

"Yes?"

"What's wrong Akira? You're being very quiet. It's not you at all."

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." Sendoh lied. "Kaede, you have no idea what day is today?" Sendoh gave one last try. Rukawa averted his gaze to the other side, away from Sendoh. His eyes were apologetic. "It's ok. It's just a question."

Rukawa turned on the volume higher when he heard their theme song (3) and he sang along with it.

If there were no words
No way to speak
I would still hear you
If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I'd still feel for you

And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine

Rukawa gently placed his hand on top of Sendoh's and smiled at him when Sendoh looked at him.

All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You've opened my eyes
And showed me how to love unselfishly

I've dreamed of this a thousand times before
But in my dreams I couldn't love you more
I will give you my heart
Until the end of time...
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine

-&-

Scene 7: Sendoh and Rukawa's Apartment, 7.11 pm

"Akira, could you please fetch my coat? I left it in the car." Rukawa requested.

"Sure. It's getting rather cold. You get in and make yourself warm, ne?" Sendoh handed Rukawa their house key and proceeded to fetch Rukawa's coat from the car.

Sendoh was walking up the stairs when he realized the lights in his apartment weren't on. 'Hm? Why didn't Kaede switch on the lights?' He twisted the door knob and opened the door slightly.

"Kae-chan? Why didn't you switch on the lights?" Sendoh asked while reaching for the switches. Upon hearing no reply, he asked again. The lights flicked. "Kae-

"SURPRISE!" He was shocked. He was shocked out his life.

"What the…" Sendoh was first flabbergasted when he saw his house was filled with his teammates and the Shohoku basketball team members surrounding him but things started to register in his mind when he saw Rukawa walking out from the kitchen holding a cake.

"Happy Birthday and Happy St. Valentine's Day, Aki." A rare smile was craved on the raven haired boy as he approach Sendoh.

"Yeah! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEDGEHOG!" Sakuragi shouted from behind and soon, everyone sang the birthday song for the birthday boy and start pouring presents to him when he blew off the candle lights.

Everyone started to enjoy their party with Sakuragi and his army swallowing the food into their bottomless stomach and Miyagi flirting with Ayako again. Akagi and Uozomi were discussing tactics and strategies while Kogure was busy serving the others though he wasn't the organizer. To everyone's surprise, the Kainan and Shoyo basketball team turned up as well. They enjoyed themselves with the food, music, jokes and their rivalry friends. When it was almost 11 pm, one by one, the guest started to disappear. Soon, everyone called it a day and went home after thanking Rukawa for the invitation.

"Kae-chan, I thought you've forgotten about it." Sendoh asked, sitting on the bed.

"Hmm… Let's just say I'm testing you, ok?" Said Rukawa who just walked out from his shower and was currently drying his hair.

"Heh! Playing dense, aren't you? You big meannie! You planned the party all by yourself?"

"Iie. Some of them helped." Rukawa climbed onto the bed joining Sendoh.

"Arigato, Kae-chan. I'm so touched!" Sendoh hugged Rukawa tightly and pretended to sniff.

"Do'ahou." Rukawa gently pushed Sendoh away. "It's getting late. Let's sleep." Rukawa lied next to Sendoh and covered both of them with the blanket.

"Koi?" Sendoh snuggled closer to Rukawa and encircled his long arm around Rukawa.

"Hm?"

"I love you." He gently kissed Rukawa's hair before resting his head on Rukawa's shoulder.

"Love you too, Aki." Rukawa placed both his hands on top of Sendoh's and slowly dozed off to sleep.

Notes :

(1) You got it right. There's no such movie. It's created by me! (Hahaha…)

(2) This actually means Sendoh's birthday and Valentines Day in a same day. So, a two in one package.

(3) This song was originally by Martina McBride, titled 'My Valentine'. I set it as the theme song for this lovely couple (specially for this fic only) since it's a Valentine's fic and I think this song suit both of them.

Once again, thanks for reading and Happy Valentine Day to you and of course, happy birthday to Sendoh! Reviews are very much accepted. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.