Birthday wishes did come true, and you didn't even have to blow out the candles!

"Make a wish, Mukai, you remember how." Said Mama as she pushed the cake closer to Mukai. It was a pancake cake, which was the best kind of cake ever, even if they weren't having it at breakfast like she had wanted to. Breakfast had been fruit and oatmeal, which was not something that she had wanted to have on her birthday, but Mama had told her that if she didn't eat it then she couldn't have her pancake cake later and everyone would have to go home.

That would have been the worst!

"If you don't know what to wish for just wish for more wishes, that's what I do." Said Sho. Mukai looked at him for a while and pushed her pancake cake away. He was thinking about his own wishes, wasn't he? Like he was trying to steal her birthday?

She pushed the cake closer to the other side of her, towards Shigeko. She would never have stolen a birthday, she wasn't a birthday thief.

"Are you allowed to do that? Wish for more wishes? Isn't that against the rules…or is that just genies?" asked Shigeko

"Genies." Said Mukai. Maybe she could wish for a genie, like the one from the movie, but the good one. The blue one was good but the red one was bad…but maybe she had it backwards. She hadn't seen that movie in a while…maybe a genie wouldn't have been a very good birthday wish at all now that she really thought about it…

But then what was she supposed to wish for?

"It's my birthday and I'll wish for whatever I want to wish for." Said Sho, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"No, Sho, no. Your birthday isn't today, mine is!" said Mukai. She kicked him as hard as she could under the table. It must have been very hard because Sho made a noise like it hurt and then scooted away from her so fast that he nearly bumped into Hatori. He didn't even look up from his game, though, so maybe Mukai needed to kick Sho harder. Hard enough, at least, that he knocked Hatori down.

Because, really, it was her birthday and he should not have been playing games at the table on her birthday.

"Mukai, no. Come on, what did I tell you about fighting?" asked Mama as she grabbed Mukai's leg. She was standing behind her, watching her, trying to stop her from having any kind of fun. Mamas didn't seem to like fun that much. Shigeko was like Sho's mama and she didn't have fun, and then that lady who's house they stayed in had no toys or videogames and her Netflix and Youtube had all been full of boring stuff so she hadn't really liked fun much either…maybe that was just something that happened when you turned into a Mama, you forgot how to have fun.

Maybe that was a good wish, wishing that she always knew how to have fun even when she grew up and got all old and boring.

"Fighting is fun, Mama, and Sho started it. He tried to steal my birthday!" said Mukai

"You can't steal a-" said Mama

"She's only four years old, it's not like she could actually hurt anyone…" said Shibata quietly. He was talking to the stove, it sounded like. Maybe instead of telling the stove what was going on he should have got on with making everyone else's pancakes. A bunch of them were too brown, or not brown enough, or shaped weird…maybe that would have been a good wish, for all of her pancakes to be big and fluffy like the kind at Disney World…or maybe she could have wished to have gone to Disney World…

Too many wishes!

"Hiroshi…" said Mama in that voice she used when people were in trouble.

"But she still shouldn't be hitting anyone, I mean kicking them, I mean…" said Shibata. He looked over at Caterpillars before he turned back around. Caterpillars didn't look back at him, even though you were supposed to look at people when they looked at you. He was just giving Sho mean looks, now, with his colors. Some people used their faces and some people used their colors. Mukai mostly used her face.

Maybe she could wish that she knew how to use her colors better.

Caterpillars had said that because she was a girl it didn't matter that much is she knew how to use her colors, just that she had them. She wanted to use them, though! She wanted to use her colors to be strong like Mama or Shibata, or to be able to be the best hide and seek player in the world like Ryou, or to be able to lift things without touching them like Sho and Shigeko and Caterpillars could. She would even have taken being able to yell at plants like Minegishi, or being able to turn the TV on without touching it like Hatori…but she didn't want to accidentally break things like Serizawa did. Then she would have had to wish for more things and that would have taken up her wishes…unless she wished for more wishes…

But she still wasn't sure if that was allowed. If it wasn't then that was a waste of a birthday wish and she would have had to wait until she turned five before she got another chance at it. Unless she saw a wishing star, of course, but if she hadn't seen one before and she was already four whole years old then she was probably never going to see one in her entire life.

"See what you've done, Sho? And what do you even need to wish for? On your birthday or hers? You have everything you could ever want." Said Caterpillars

"None of your business, Dad." Said Sho. He was making that face he made before he said a lot of bad words and broke things. He had better not have been planning on breaking any of her things, she had just gotten most of her toys unpacked yesterday and she had a whole bunch of new birthday presents coming to her today. If he wanted to break something then he could have broken his own things, or Serizawa's, or maybe Minegishi's since they were a dickhole and didn't want to come to her birthday party.

"Fair enou-" said Caterpillars

"You know what I'd wish for?" said Shibata quickly as he turned around. The pancakes came flying off of the plate in his hands but Shigeko caught them with her colors…she was so lucky like that….

"Careful." Said Shigeko as she put the pancakes back onto the plate with her powers. She was so good at that…maybe that was what she should have wished for after all.

"Hatori can have any of the ones that touched the ground." Said Sho. Hatori didn't say anything, he just kept on looking down at his game…so that meant that he did want to eat food that had been on the floor.

Gross.

"That's gross and you're gross!" said Mukai, pointing at Hatori.

"For Shimazaki to stop messing with your stuff? I mean I think that's what you'd wish for, since he likes to mess with stuff. I mean he's not trying to be mean, he just gets bored…and that's what he told me, anyway, we haven't really talked in a…in a while….um…is that what you would have wished for?" asked Shigeko. Caterpillars gave her a mean look there with his colors. He didn't like Shimazaki very much, none of the grownups did besides Sho and Shigeko. She didn't get it, he was so fun! Even if he had been in timeout for a really long time now.

Grownups were so weird.

He had even been punished from her party. He was the one who'd gotten her the present in the boy's wrapping paper. It had robots on it, which were only for boys unless they were girl robots, but that was ok because he couldn't see pictures or anything like that. He didn't even know any of his characters. He was actually lucky like that, Mama had been trying to teach her the characters and it was such boring work. It wasn't lucky, though, that he couldn't see….maybe that was what she should have wished for, for Shimazaki to be able to see…or at least for him to not be in time out anymore…or maybe for everyone to stop being mad at him.

She didn't know exactly what everyone was mad at him about but she knew that he had been on punishment since before Christmas and that was way too much punishment for one person to be under.

"No, well yes, but no. If it were my birthday I'd wish for everyone I cared about to be happy and, I don't know, just have a good day. Just one day without an argument. Just one day." Said Shibata

"That's beautiful…that's really just so…so beautiful." Said Serizawa. He sniffed like he was going to cry. He had better not have been planning on crying. This was not his party and he could not cry if he wanted to. It was Mukai's party and if anyone was going to cry it was going to be her! But not really because she was four and four was way too old to be crying like a baby.

"It really is, Shibata. I'd wish for that too if it were my birthday." Said Shigeko as she held Serizawa's hand in one of hers and patted it with the other like she was afraid he was going to cry or explode…maybe that was what she should have wished for, for everyone to remember exactly who's birthday it was today.

"If it were my birthday, and I were still a child, I would have wished for everyone to get on with it already. It shouldn't be so difficult to chose a wish, especially since they don't-" said Caterpillars

"Birthday wishes DO come true, Dad, they come true all the time. They…they really do, Mukai." Said Shigeko quickly.

"I know they do. I'm not a baby anymore." Said Mukai

"I never said that you were. I just meant that-" said Shigeko

"Yeah, that's right. You just keep on thinking that, Mukai, and don't let anyone change your mind. Dad's just being a dickhole-" said Sho

"If wishes really did come true then I would wish for you to expand your vocabulary. Honestly. I have no idea where you get this from. You certainly don't get it from me…never in my life have I-" said Caterpillars

"Dad, please stop fighting with Sho. We don't fight on your birthday so why are you fighting on Mukai's?" asked Shigeko

"If this had been my birthday then of course I would not be extended the same-" said Caterpillars

"It's not your birthday! It's my birthday and I get to make all the wishes! Not yours, not Sho's, not Shigeko's, not Mama's, not Shibata's, not Seri's, and-and not even Hatori's either!" shouted Mukai. She stood up in her chair and slammed her hands down onto the table so people knew that she meant business right now. She was NOT going to lost her birthday to anyone else! Everyone was looking at her, and at the big pancake stack that had tipped over…it was bigger than hers. Maybe that was what she should have wished for, more pancakes.

Or maybe just for people to take her birthday as seriously as people were supposed to take birthdays!

"Huh? What?" asked Hatori

"Pay attention. It's your sister's fourth birthday. She will never again at any point in her life have a fourth birthday. This moment will never happen again. Enjoy it." Said Caterpillars

"…you never gave a fuck about any of our birthdays…" muttered Sho

"You never gave a fuck?" asked Mukai. About birthdays? But they were the most important day of the year. They were even more important than Christmas. If you never had a birthday then that meant that you were never born and if you were never born then…then that would just be the most awful thing ever!

"Mukai, no. We talked about this." said Mama

"But birthdays are important, Mama." Said Mukai. She knew that she wasn't supposed to use grownup words like Sho did but this was really important! Mama should have been able to see that! Without a birthday you were never borna and that meant that you never made friends or played with toys or…or had anything good happen to you at all!

"See what you've done? And for your information, Sho, I always sent you presents and there was one birthday in which I ordered-" said Caterpillars

"I know, I know, the time with all the cakes…but it's not the same. You didn't want to be there." Said Sho

"Don't presume to speak for-" said Caterpillars

"Mukai, how about you wish for everyone to be here with you and happy and not fighting?" asked Shigeko. She was really loud, there, and she shouldn't have been interrupting people. Mama should have told her something like 'Shigeko, we talked about this' or 'go to your room' or 'you can't have any candy or cookies or ice cream today' but instead she said nothing…maybe she should have wished for Mama to pick on someone else for once…no, no, that would have been a mean wish and she didn't want to waste her wish on meanness.

She didn't know what she wanted to use her wish up on.

She looked at everyone sitting around the table. Maybe she should have wished for a bigger table, that way Minegishi and Ryou could have sat with them too…or maybe she should have wished for Ryou to be off punishment…or maybe she should have wished for Minegishi to be nicer? Maybe she should have wished for all the grownups in the world to be nicer to each other and to figure out how to have fun. Or maybe she should have wished that life was all fun and games, Mama always said that life wasn't all fun and games and that Mukai had to do her work and stuff, so maybe she should have wished for no work…but no work would have been a dumb wish if she didn't have any friends to play with…or if he friends weren't happy.

Shigeko kind of did have a good idea. For her birthday Mukai was going to get her something nice.

"I think I wish for everyone to be here and happy and not punished…but I like fighting so we get to fight, but not for real. Fighting for fun." Said Mukai before she leaned down and blew out the candles. There wasn't a lot of candle left for her to blow out, birthday candles melted faster than the normal kind, but she knew that there had been enough for her wish to come true…and they did come true.

They would come true.

Most of her friends were at the table now and everyone was in the house together. This was the way that things were supposed to be. She was supposed to play with all of her friends all day and the only thing that they were supposed to worry about was having a good time. Also going places, that was something else that they had to worry about…maybe she should have wished that they were at Disney World or something. The one where she understood what people were saying, of course, not the one where people talked funny and looked funny and acted funny. No, she was going to stay right here.

But also somewhere fun.

Fun with everyone. Even people like Caterpillars who didn't know how to have fun. Shigeko, too, had trouble having fun. They didn't know that parties were supposed to be fun and to last all day. That was why they left as soon as their pancakes were done…well as soon as Shigeko's pancakes were done. Caterpillars didn't like pancakes. He didn't like a lot of things…but he did like her. Right? He had said that he did. He told her that out of all of his kids she was his favorite because she was little and good and stuff and didn't do stuff that worried him. He was one of her favorite people, too, but not her one hundred percent favorite.

He would have been if he stayed…if he didn't give her stuff to worry about…if he didn't leave her party.

Mukai wasn't going to let them! she climbed down out of her chair while Mama was distracted and followed Shigeko as she followed Caterpillars out of the kitchen and to the genkan. She got there while he was putting his shoes on. His colors seemed a little mad…but not as mad as Shigeko's. Mukai couldn't remember the last time, if ever, that she had seen Shigeko's colors looking so mad.

She hid behind the coat rack. She didn't want Shigeko to turn around and be mad at her, next.

"Dad, where are you going?" asked Shigeko. Her voice was normal but her colors gave it all away. Caterpillars must have seen it too…but he was still putting his shoes on.

"Singapore" said Caterpillars

"Why?" asked Shigeko

"I have business there, Shigeko, business which does not affect you in the slightest. My business is none of your business." Said Caterpillars. He finished putting on his shoes and reached out for his coat with his powers. Mukai hid behind it and hoped that he didn't see her. She didn't want him to go, actually she wanted to kick him until he had to stay because it hurt too much to walk to leave, but Shigeko was mad. She knew what happened when Mama got mad, and Shigeko was practically a mama. She didn't want anyone to be punished for anything, not on her birthday…actually not on any day but especially not on her birthday. Maybe that was what she had wished for, no more punishments ever for anyone in the whole world…

Maybe next year, if she remembered.

"You're not going to stay? Mukai really missed you…and I missed you, too, kind of…" said Shigeko as she stopped Caterpillar's colors before they even reached his coat. Now his colors got kind of mad too…and he was even worse than Mama when he got mad. He yelled at people and said really mean things…and she didn't want him to yell at her or tell her any mean things! That would have been the opposite of a birthday wish!

"I have work to do. I'm already behind thanks to…everything that happened….and I can't fall even further behind. I'd like to wrap everything up by my birthday at least, if not yours." Said Caterpillars

"What's so important about taking over the world before your birthday? That's in March, Dad, it's really close and I don't…I don't think you should leave. Maybe push it back so that I….so that Mukai can spend time with you." said Shigeko. Now her voice was starting to match her colors…Mukai couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I'm not getting any younger, Shigeko, and neither are you. I'd like to get this done before I'm fifty…or at least forty seven. Our enemies are becoming bolder, even you should be able to see that, and I need to end this before it gets any more out of hand." Said Caterpillars

"But you beat all the bad guys already, Dad, and they aren't going to come back and try again. It's over..." Said Shigeko

"It's never over." Said Caterpillars

"Yes it is, Dad, we saved Shiori and now she's in her own house and she's safe and…and you can ask Hatori if you don't believe me. He could watch her through her phone camera or…or something." said Shigeko

"I know he can, he is, and there are others watching her too." Said Caterpillars

"So, if you know that it's over then why…why leave?" asked Shigeko

"There will be more, now stop questioning me and enjoy your younger sister's birthday party. She's only going to turn four once, you know, and before you know it she'll be your age and then…well you'll know when it happens. Now go." Said Caterpillars. That time his colors were stronger than Shigeko's. He took his coat, put it on, and left. Shigeko didn't try and stop him. Mukai didn't either…even though she really wanted to.

Why did everyone have to leave!

It just wasn't fair! She had thought that her wish for everyone to be together had come true. If she had known that he was going to leave again then she would have wished for everyone's feet to be glued to the ground or something! This was so bad, so fucking bad…so bad that she was going to use all of the words Sho knew that she wasn't allowed to say!

But not now.

She went back to the kitchen before Shigeko could see her. Her colors were still mad. She didn't want to know what Shigeko did to people when she got mad. She had never been mad before, Mukai couldn't remember a time when she had been mad anyway, and this…this was not something she wanted. Not something that she had wished for. She had wished for everyone to be happy…but then why was Shigeko like this?

Maybe birthday wishes didn't come true after all…and that really sucked!