Today, on this day, Sho was ten years old.
Sho had gone to bed nine and woken up ten. Ten! A one and then a zero! Two digits! He was, officially, a big kid now…though he got the feeling that big kids didn't go around calling themselves big kids. No, it just went without saying that he was a big kid now. Ten. He couldn't believe it…well he could because he hadn't been expecting to wake up dead on his birthday….but this was still so awesome! He was ten now and it was his birthday and he had presents coming to him and pancakes too! He didn't particularly like pancakes but they were for his birthday and everything tasted better on his birthday so….pancakes!
"….and you get ten pancakes because you're ten today Little Suzuki! You're ten…oh…time just keeps passing….I'm ok, I'm ok." Said Shibata rubbing his eyes on his apron and turning back to the stove. Sho didn't get what he was so sad about but he was glad that he had gone back to the stove. There was a worrying amount of smoke coming from it. It would have sucked if he died in a fire on his tenth birthday. Also big sis was there and she would have been sad if he died…and also he didn't much want to burn to death. Especially not in front of Shimazaki. No, he would think that Sho wasn't in any way cool or best friend material if he burned to death in a pancake fire on his birthday.
"Stop crying, it's not that sad." Said Minegishi from their spot at the counter. Sho didn't know why they were there. Maybe big sis had dragged them out of their room for this. Big sis had woken them up, it had been her job since they were her best friend, but maybe it would have been better if they had been asleep. Sho got the feeling that they didn't much like him…or anyone.
Anyone who wasn't Shimazaki, anyway.
"I hear it's your birthday…..it's my birthday too…" sang Shimazaki as he teleported over to the pancake stack and stole one. Sho didn't care. He didn't know if he could even eat ten pancakes. Shimazaki could have one if he wanted, or two, or however many he wanted. Anything so long as he was on the opposite side of the kitchen as Minegishi…and Sho didn't get why he was so mad that they were friends…but this was his birthday and he was not going to be mad on his birthday. Not even if all of his pancakes were black on one side and big sis made him use a fork and knife and didn't let him drink the syrup and also if Shimazaki sat next to Minegishi and talked to them and…and stuff.
Sho was going to be happy on his birthday.
"No it isn't, your birthday was back in October." Said big sis. Sho didn't want her to talk to him either. He wanted to spend his birthday just hanging out with him, just him and Shimazaki, but pancakes were good too. He had been planning on spending the day playing in the snow and the ice with Shimazaki, he might have even been able to get the drop on him since he said that snow and ice made the world look fuzzy, but big sis had woken him up in the morning saying that Shibata was making him pancakes so he had to come…and also he liked Shibata and he liked pancakes and he liked big sis and Shimazaki lived there and he liked Shimazaki and also Minegishi was there and…and they were ok…they were big sis' friend and they were boring and stuff but they were ok.
Just so long as they talked to big sis and not Shimazaki.
"So stay away from Little-Suzuki's birthday pancakes or I swear to God-" said Shibata as he picked up the pancake stack and put it on the other side of the counter. Shimazaki just teleported to the other side and stole another pancake…well he tried to but big sis took it out of his hand with her powers and put it back on Sho's plate.
"I had no idea that you were religious." Said Shimazaki as he stole another pancake. This time Shibata tried to hit him with the spatula but he teleported away…to sitting right next to Sho. He tore off a piece and shoved it into Sho's mouth like he was a parrot or something. Sho wasn't a parrot, or any other kind of bird, but he ate it anyway even though it was a way too big piece.
"Sho, chew." Said big sis. She was bossing him around even on his birthday. Shimazaki probably thought that he was such a little kid and that…well he probably just thought that Sho wasn't cool at all. He probably thought that Sho wasn't cool and that he wasn't best friend material and….
"Hey, come on. It's your birthday, lighten up. You only get so many of those before they stop being fun and you start feeling the cold clammy hand of death on your shoulder…" said Shimazaki. He leaned in close while he said that and he put his hand on Sho's shoulder…and he was glad that Shimazaki couldn't tell that he was turning red…though maybe he could because he could sense things and feel them and…and stuff.
"You're thirty, Ryou, not ninety." Said Minegishi. Sho was about to say something mean but he didn't. Why did they get to call him Ryou? He didn't like to be called Ryou. He liked to be called Shimazaki. If he wanted to be called Ryou then he would have asked Sho to call him Ryou but he didn't like to be called Ryou he liked to be called Shimazaki and he should have told Minegishi that so they would stop calling him Ryou.
"Toshi, Toshi, Toshi, my young friend. When you're my age you'll understand. Life is so short-" said Shimazaki. Minegishi didn't like to be called Toshi…so he was getting them back for calling him Ryou…but then why didn't Minegishi tell him not to call them Toshi? Why didn't they say anything? They should have said something. Not even big sis called Minegishi by their given named and she was their best friend.
"And it's about to get a lot shorter if you don't leave little Suzuki's birthday breakfast alone." Said Shibata. He was trying to sound scary but he was the least scary person in all of the history of people. Also nothing could scare Shimazaki. Like the time when they had been shot at and the guy had his gun right on Shimazaki but he didn't even flinch because he knew his barrier could stop a bullet and then he let the guy unload his whole gun, Shimazaki could tell types of guns by how they sounded when they fired, and then once the gun was empty he beat the guy up really bad…but it was ok because he had been trying to kill dad and stuff…which was a bad thing. A very bad thing. Even though dad hadn't even said happy birthday to Sho or left him a note or a text or…or anything. He must have remembered. Mom said that dad had been sitting right next to her when they had been cutting him out of mom's stomach. You didn't forget a thing like that. He knew that if he had a baby and they were cutting out of whatever lady felt like having a baby with him he'd remember that.
Whatever. Dad hated pancakes anyway.
"Yeah, leave his food alone or he'll never turn eleven." Said Minegishi. Sho glared at them. He would totally turn eleven with or without pancakes! He didn't need their help! Also they were his pancakes and Shimazaki could have all the pancakes that Sho had coming to him! It was Sho's birthday and he could decide who had which pancakes and when.
"It's my birthday and Shimazaki can have my pancakes if he wants them." Said Sho. Shimazaki reached up and petted his hair like he was a dog but he didn't mind. Shimazaki liked dogs a lot and if he wanted to pet Sho like he was a dog then it was alright.
"You heard the kid, pancake me! I'm starving." Said Shimazaki. Shibata's aura looked mad but it was more funny than scary. He was too nice of a person, dad even said so, so the best thing would have been if Shibata never let anyone see how nice he was. That way people would just think that he was big and scary. Shimazaki said that most of the fight was how the other person saw you. That was why he was at an advantage when it came to fighting and why Sho would always be at a disadvantage when they fought.
"You can have pancakes from the stack on the counter after we sing happy birthday to Little Suzuki. Not before. Because it's his birthday and he's ten and he only has so many years of his life left where he can enjoy his birthdays so he's going to enjoy them." Said Shibata. Sho didn't know what he meant by 'only getting so many birthdays that he liked'. Birthdays were awesome. Well some were better than others, the ones that he'd had with mom had been the best, but every birthday was awesome!
Especially the ones with the giant stacks of pancakes.
There were ten candles and whipped cream words that said 'Happy Birthday Sho' with the right character and everything…and it was nice. This whole thing was nice. Even he part where Shimazaki sang happy birthday to him in English…and also a different version than the normal happy birthday song….actually that was really nice. He was really nice. Sho would have thought that he would have been upset having been woken up so early, he hadn't even had time to put on real clothes but then again nobody was in their real clothes so he just didn't feel bad about it, probably. Or about being up so early because everyone was up early.
It was worth it for the pancakes.
Sho didn't care if some of them were black on the bottom and that some of them had lumps…but it was ok. These were ok. This whole thing was ok. This was sort of like the special breakfasts that mom made back on his birthdays…or even on normal days. She made good pancakes. Hers weren't burnt on the bottom or lumpy or stuff like that. She was such a good cook…but Shibata was a good cook too. Even if his weren't round, either, like mom's had been…they were good pancakes. They were good pancakes and this was a good birthday and he was happy that everyone had gotten up early to celebrate his birthday. Especially Shimazaki who Sho was never supposed to wake up on days when he wasn't needed because he liked to sleep in and stuff.
This whole thing was nice.
Present time was…not as nice.
"You made me a….dress?" asked Sho. Presents had come after pancakes and Shibata wanted Sho to open his first. It had been in a big bag that said happy birthday on it in glitter, which was kind of a girl's bag but Sho wasn't going to complain because that would have been rude, though maybe it had been in a girl's bag because it was…some kind of dress made of green yarn with a yellow blob on the front.
"It's a sweater. I just made it big so you'd have room to grow." Said Shibata. Sho raised his hands above his head. The sweater fell down to below his knees and the sleeves touched the ground…well one of them did. Shibata must have made this thinking that Sho would be as big as he was when he grew up…which would have been so awesome….but Sho got the feeling that he was going to be the same size as dad when he grew up. Still not big enough for this sweater.
"I helped." Said big sis. Sho didn't tell her that maybe she should have told Shibata, while she was helping, that Sho was never going to end up growing up big enough to fit into this sweater.
"Thanks guys. I really like it." Said Sho. He hugged big sis and he hugged Shibata and he wondered, though, how long he had to keep this on for. It was hot and itchy and also he must have looked so dumb and Shimazaki must have thought that he looked so dumb and…and maybe he didn't because he couldn't see clothes that well….wait, did that mean that he saw through people's clothes too?
Sho didn't want to think about that for too long.
"Here, Sho, open mine next." Said big sis. She handed him a lump all wrapped up in the same paper that she used for his last birthday. He knew what this was. The same pencils that he had gotten last year. That was…ok. He always needed more pencils and it was nice of her to notice that he needed more pencils…
So he hugged her again.
"Thanks big sis. I needed new pencils. Thanks for thinking about me." Said Sho as he hugged her. She always got him the same thing for every gift holiday but that was ok. She knew that he liked to draw and that was…good. She wasn't dad. Dad got him, well he had other people get him more art stuff, but that was because he liked how Sho drew pictures and stuff. He liked to steal the stuff that Sho drew so he could tack it up on his office walls for some reason. Big sis liked his drawings too but she never stole them. She always asked if she could keep them first before she took them.
She was nicer than dad would ever be.
Dad hadn't even said happy birthday or even bothered to wake Sho up before he went to work. He went to work super early and told everyone to leave him alone. Sho didn't know what was wrong with him…well he kind of did. Big sis had decided that she was going to talk to dad to see why he hated her and how she could fix it. Even though Sho had told her that dad didn't hate her and also even if dad had hated her he wouldn't have told her why or how to fix it. That was just the sort of person who dad was. He just sort of hated people for his own reasons or reasons that a person couldn't control…like being born wrong and stuff….
He was glad that dad wasn't there.
His gifts sucked too because he wasn't the one who gave them. Minegishi's gift wasn't even as bad as the ones dad picked out for him. Dad always just got him random art stuff…well he sent the Awakened to get the random art stuff and wrap it and then give it to Sho…and it sucked. Minegishi may have gotten him a book and stuff but at least they had picked it out for themselves in a store all on their own. Which was kind of nice…even if they only wrapped it in newspaper and also even if they kept on calling Shimazaki by his given name.
"Memorize it." Said Minegishi after Sho opened his gift. It was a book about…he read the title. Oh. It was a book about what to do if you got mad. 'Anger Management Made Easy'. Sho didn't know that they made books like this…but it was nice. That he could just read this book and then…and then he would be able to be less mad. That…that was nice. Even though he felt bad that Minegishi of all people had noticed how mad he was, he hardly ever talked to them, so then it must have been really mad if someone he hardly ever talked to noticed…but this was still a good book. Even though he didn't really like reading and also he didn't know if he could memorize a whole book…but this was still a good gift.
"Thanks." Said Sho. He went in for a hug but Minegishi held up their hand and stopped him.
"We're not hugging but I accept your 'thanks'." Said Minegishi. That was fine. Sho had only wanted to hug them because that was the polite thing to do. That was all. He didn't know why anyone would want to hug them anyway. They were mean a lot of the time and also they smelled not so good, like the time he and Shimazaki found that skunk, and so he had no idea why anyone would want to hug them. Especially not why Shimazaki would want to teleport next to the and start hugging them like…like it was nothing…
"Toshi loves warm hugs, don't you?" asked Shimazaki. Sho could have told him that Minegishi didn't want a hug. Also he shouldn't have hugged them like that because they didn't want to and you shouldn't hug people when they didn't want to be hugged. That just…wasn't what you were supposed to do. If he wanted to hug someone so bad then he should have hugged Sho. He was right there and he was always up for a hug.
"Give the kid his present before he turns eleven, Ryou." Said Minegishi. Sho wanted to tell them not to call Shimazaki by his given name but he decided not to because he had another present coming to him. He could have if he had wanted to, though, he hadn't forgotten words when Shimazaki teleported next to him with a big box in his hands. There was a brail label on the front and Sho had no idea what it said but now he wished that Minegishi had gotten him a how to read brail book instead of a how not to be an angry jerk all the time book. Then he could have known what was in that box.
That he needed to take.
His arms wouldn't work. His brain wouldn't work. Nothing worked. Shimazaki was so close to him that he could see all the little details in his tattoos and he wondered why Shimazaki never slept in a shirt but he wasn't about to question it now because his tattoos were so cool and that was why he was staring like that and….and stuff…
"Are you going to open this or not?" asked Shimazaki. Now Sho's brain decided to work. He took the box really fast and if not for his powers he would have dropped it. But he didn't, he held on to it, even though it was heavy…which was good. Heavy was good. He ran his fingers over the top before he took the top of the box off and there was….paper?
Paper?
"I know you like to draw and you said that you went through a lot of paper so here's some paper. It feels really nice. I have no idea what paper is good for drawing, you know, because I can't draw." Said Shimazaki. Sho just nodded while Shimazaki talked. This was the best gift that he had ever gotten in his entire life. He had never been so happy to have gotten a gift as he had in this moment. That was why he couldn't move. That was why he couldn't think. That was why he was standing there like an idiot holding a very heavy box of paper and-
And now he was being hugged.
He was hugged quick and from the side and he wished that he had put down the box of paper so then he could have hugged Shimazaki for real. He didn't hug Shimazaki that often and on his birthday he gave hugs and he got hugs…and he would have been in his rights as the birthday boy to hug Shimazaki…because he was the birthday person and…and he could hug whoever he wanted…and he wanted to hug….but was it weird to want to hug Shimazaki? Was it weird to want to put the box down and hug him? He wanted to hug him but not like how he wanted to hug other people…but Shimazaki wasn't other people, he was Shimazaki, he was cooler than anyone else on the planet. He was the coolest guy ever so of course Sho would want to hug him.
This was normal…right?
It was normal to want to hug your friends. Shimazaki hugged Minegishi all the time and they were friends…and Sho was probably much better at hugging than Minegishi was. Shimazaki should have hugged him if he wanted to hug someone so bad…and…and Sho wanted to hug him right now but everyone was there and watching him and he didn't know what was so weird about everyone being there and watching him hug someone…and he felt so weird…and he didn't get it and…
And then he felt a familiar aura.
He felt the aura before there was a knock on the door. Sho had never been so glad to see Fukuda in his life! He didn't know why but he felt like he had been saved from something or he had avoided something or…or something. He didn't know. All he knew was that in the three seconds between Shimazaki teleporting away to get Fukuda and bringing him to the kitchen with everyone Sho felt more relieved in his entire life.
"Thanks." Said Fukuda after Shimazaki let him go. He should have been nicer but maybe he was just upset that nobody had invited him to Sho's birthday. That would have made sense. Sho would have invited him if he knew before this morning that he was even having a morning birthday party. Still, though, there were plenty of pancakes left if Fukuda was hungry so it was all ok.
"He doesn't have a gift. Should I kick him out?" asked Shimazaki. It took Sho a minute to realize that Shimazaki was talking to him…and then another minute to realize that he had to say something back. Words. He needed words. Ones in Japanese.
"He can stay. He can have pancakes too." Said Sho. Fukuda didn't seem any happier now that he was invited to join them all and have pancakes together. That was sort of normal, though, because Fukuda never really had a lot of fun with Shimazaki and the rest of them. Also for some reason he didn't like big sis all that much…well Sho got the feeling that he didn't, anyway, especially now. Big sis had said 'hi' and all Fukuda had said was 'Suzuki-san' even though they weren't at work and he didn't have to be so formal. They were having breakfast in their pajamas on Sho's birthday. This was the least formal time ever. Well maybe Fukuda had to be formal because he was in daytime clothes.
"I'm not going to stay. I'm actually just here for Sho." said Fukuda
"What do you mean?" asked Sho. On the one hand he liked hanging out with Fukuda but on the other hand he liked hanging out with his other friends. They let him curse, for one thing, and also Shimazaki was a lot cooler than Fukuda.
"Come on, I thought we could do something fun for your birthday." Said Fukuda. Sho didn't know how to feel. On the one hand he liked Fukuda but on the other hand he liked Shimazaki…and also everyone else. It would have been rude to leave his own birthday party…but it also would have been rude to tell Fukuda to go away…and he didn't want Fukuda to go away, either, he wanted Fukuda to stay and have fun…if that was even possible. Fukuda didn't like Shimazaki for reasons that Sho had never understood. He could understand not liking Minegishi, they were sort of mean, and also Shibata could be scary before you got to know him….and Sho didn't even know what was happening with Fukuda and big sis…so Fukuda would not have been happy with them all. Probably.
"Hey! We're fun." Said Shimazaki. Sho felt like he was looking at him when he said that, even though he was looking at everything at once and not Sho specifically, but his aura did this weird hiccup thing. He didn't know why but he felt….embarrassed. Very embarrassed. Fukuda gave him a look, there, so maybe…maybe it was something that he was supposed to be embarrassed about. Even though he didn't even know what 'that' had been.
"Something that would be fun for a ten year old boy." Said Fukuda. He had a tone there. Shimazaki held up his hands like he was surrendering. Sho didn't get it. Shimazaki didn't have to surrender. He could totally take Fukuda in a fight. Not that there was going to be a fight…but maybe there was. Maybe they were going to fight…because Fukuda's aura seemed sort of mad.
"We have pancakes, those are fun." Said Shibata
"Stay and have fun with us." Said big sis. Fukuda's aura got weird when he talked to big sis. He didn't look at her either. She was just being normal…but maybe Fukuda was just…in a bad mood. Yeah, that must have been it. Fukuda did a lot of administrative stuff, which meant a lot of paperwork, and he said that he had a lot more work since big sis filled in for dad and messed up a lot of stuff. So maybe he was tired from over work…and also from not being invited.
"You and I have different ideas of fun, Suzuki-san." Said Fukuda. He had a tone, there, and Sho hadn't liked it. He should have been nicer. Everyone here, well not Minegishi, was nice. Everyone was nice and this was a good birthday and Sho just wanted to hang out with them and also Fukuda…and he didn't want to hurt Fukuda's feelings but…but he always wanted to stay here and enjoy his birthday. He knew that Fukuda would be nice to him and do something fun with him but he did fun stuff with Fukuda all the time. They were friends but Sho wanted to have more than one friend. Big sis got to have more than one friend so why didn't he?
"You like pancakes. I've seen you eat them." Said Sho. Fukuda totally could have stayed. Then everyone he cared about, also Minegishi, could be in the same room. He wanted all the people who cared about him, plus Minegishi, to be in the same room and happy and…and stuff. But Fukuda wouldn't be happy, maybe, because he was never happy around Shimazaki for some reason. Well, he was like that around all of them even big sis, but he especially didn't like Shimazaki for some reason. Maybe he was jealous that Sho wanted to be best friend with Shimazaki and not him.
"Sho, come on. Wouldn't you rather go to an animal shelter than stay here all day eating burnt pancakes?" asked Fukuda. His nose wrinkled at the pile of pancakes on the kitchen table. The worst of them hadn't gotten eaten. It wasn't fair that Fukuda had judged everything based on only the worst of them. Also he should have been nicer to Shibata. He was a very sensitive person. He was so sensitive that he cried during movies and also during TV shows and one time when there was a sad song playing in the lunchroom…Shibata was a really big person so he had really big feelings, Sho figured. Still even if his feelings were easily hurt Fukuda should have been nicer…not that Sho was the person to be telling other people what was and was not nice.
"….they aren't all burnt…said Shibata. He looked sadly over at his pile of burnt pancakes. Sho wished that Fukuda would have kept that to himself but he understood how easy it was to have mean words just come out of your mouth. Sometimes things that shouldn't have been said, that only should have lived in your head, ended up being said anyway. It happened. Maybe Sho should lend Fukuda his new book after he memorized it.
"That sounds like fun. Come on Sho, we'll get dressed and-" said big sis. She went to take his hand but then Fukuda stopped her. He didn't grab her, he just held his hand up, and big sis stopped. Minegishi said some bad words. Sho also felt like cursing. Big sis should have been able to come too. It was his birthday and he could decide who could and could not come with.
"I'm sure that you'd be more happy here with your friends, Suzuki-san." Said Fukuda. Sho wanted to tell him not to call big sis that. What was it with people and calling other people things that they did want to be called? He didn't understand adults sometimes…and he didn't understand Fukuda sometimes. He said that he liked big sis but then he went and talked to her like she was dad. She could act like dad sometimes but that didn't mean that she was like him. Dad was a jerk. She was bossy but also nice. Dad was never nice.
"Um…ok." Said big sis. Sho didn't get it. Why couldn't she come? He didn't know. Maybe Fukuda just didn't want to hang out with her because she was a girl. That made sense. Fukuda had never even mentioned a girl once in the whole time that he'd known him. He didn't have a wife or kids so maybe he just never got over the whole 'no girls allowed' thing. Shimazaki said that they shouldn't make their forts 'no girls allowed' because that was something that little kids did and Sho was not a little kid. Also he said that if there were girls around that would bring guys around, so that would have been good.
"Come on, let's get you dressed and then we'll head out. How's that sound?" asked Fukuda. Sho wanted to stay but also…also Fukuda didn't have any friends. He had no friends at all and Sho was his only friend and…and when you were someone's only friend then you had to hang out with them.
"Uh…sounds good." Said Sho. He wanted to stay. He wanted to stay and hang out with Shimazaki and stuff but…but he also had to be a good friend and a nice person. Even though he hung out with Fukuda all the time….he was going to hang out with him again. Even though Shimazaki could have come with and also big sis and everyone else loved animals…well maybe not Minegishi….but everyone else could have had fun…
Or just him and Shimazaki.
Maybe it was best that he left, then, because his brain got all…weird…when he was with Shimazaki. He wanted to hang out with Shimazaki all the time but when they did hang out he got all…weird…and when they didn't hang out he spent all of his time thinking about Shimazaki. About being near him. About talking to him. About being near him and being carried by him and hugging him and…and other stuff that he had no idea what his brain was thinking by making him think about all of that stuff.
His brain was so weird sometimes.
It had been weird since he was nine but he was ten now. Maybe it would get better. He didn't know. He did know, though, that he loved animals very much and that he loved going to the animal shelter…and he did know that this was going to be a great birthday.
Ten was going to be a very good year. Hopefully.