Before he can fall asleep, Maguro has a beef with Ecolo.

happy birthday maguro! this drabble was way too short to post on its own merit, especially since it's so silly, so i'm putting it here!

Birthday Battle

Maguro Sasaki was certainly not happy when he found Ecolo hovering in the corner of his room.

Specifically, when he realized Ecolo was drooling and leering down at him, he screamed at the top of his lungs. Flailing his arms and falling out of bed, Maguro burned bright red while Ecolo smiled and tilted their head. He scrambled to his feet, his phone slipping from his hand as he watched Ecolo hover in place, wispy splotches of black energy appearing and fading around their body.

Maguro brushed his bangs over his eyes and asked, "So, Ecolo, what brings you to my room at-" He checked the alarm clock on his bedside desk. "-oh, at almost midnight? "

"You should know, birthday boy!" Ecolo jeered, crossing their legs.

His shoulders slumped. He knew this confrontation would have happened sooner rather than later. Though, he supposed if he went to sleep earlier, then he could have ignored the problem until morning.

"It's your birthday, and you didn't invite me? Me?" Ecolo crossed their arms. "That's cruel and unusual! I was bothering Satan all day when he mentioned he had to go to your birthday party!" They hunched forward, their mouth curling into a scowl. "Can you imagine the humiliation I felt hearing that from a lonely old man like him? What's with you inviting that guy and not me?"

Maguro sighed. Threading his fingers through his hair, he asked, "Are you being serious? "

Ecolo shot a rounded finger at his nose. "You bet I am! You invited Ringie and Ris and the Tetra crew! But not your old pal Ecolo? Are you outta your mind?" They clapped their hands on their pudgy cheeks. "That's like committing blasphemy, and I would know blasphemy! I'm a byproduct of blasphemy!"

Itching his cheek, Maguro bit his tongue. Arguing with Ecolo was like punching a brick wall. He could do it at the expense of injuring himself. With his eyelids drooping, heavy with the desire for sleep, he sat on the corner of his bed and laced his fingers together.

"You wanna why I didn't invite you? " Maguro slowly asked, hanging his head.

"Duh! Duh-doy! Duh-duh-doy!" Ecolo snapped, channeling their inner Carbuncle and O.

Breathing in deeply through his nose, Maguro gripped his knees. His knuckles tensed and turned white. Rolling his shoulders, he straightened his back and lowered his voice. "Because every single time one of us throws a birthday party, and I don't know how you do it, but you eat the cake. "

Ecolo blinked. "Uh, what?"

"Every time. Every single birthday. Whether it's Ringo, or Ris, or that one doppelganger suffering from severe depression who keeps refusing therapy despite really needing it, when we have our backs turned, you eat the entire cake, " Maguro said all in one breath. Rising to his feet, he cracked his knuckles, and all the color in Ecolo's face drained faster than Nuisance Puyos dropping from above. "Well, Ecolo, were you gonna eat my cake this year? 'Cause let me tell you…" He broke into a wide, fanged smile. "...the triple-layer chocolate fudge brownie cake topped with strawberries that Risukuma's mom made for me was delicious, and you didn't get a single slice. "

Silence squeezed Ecolo's neck. They pulled back, their eyes refusing to leave Maguro's hidden glare. They clicked their tongue and rubbed their palms together. Under the fluorescent lights, it might have looked like their eyes shined brighter than usual.

"Maguro, you've wounded me. I think you know the punishment for that crime," Ecolo finally said. Spheres of dark, pulpy energy appeared out of thin air around them.

"So, we're gonna Puyo battle, right? Just gonna have a Puyo battle in my bedroom while my parents are sleeping because you can't handle being called out? " Maguro sneered, and Ecolo screamed, commencing a Puyo battle in which they lost horribly. Afterwards, Maguro turned off the lights, nestled back underneath his covers and slept soundly while Ecolo writhed under the tremendous amount of Nuisance Puyos smothering them.