A/N: Thank you for all your reviews, faves and follows!

Enjoy~!

Chapter 34

Happy Birthday, Kise!

…

…

"So Yu-chan, what's the song that you were writing for me?" Takao asked with a yawn. He walked into the living room where the captain had been sitting, strumming his guitar. It was early in the morning and the other boys were asleep.

"Ah...let me..." The captain trailed off as he rummaged through his guitar case. "...here."

He handed the paper to the lead rapper for him to be the judge of it. Since he was the one who was going to sing it, Kasamatsu felt that Takao should get a feel of the song first before anyone else. If he liked it, he'll finish it. If he didn't, then back to the drawing board it is.

When Takao took the paper and read the lyrics, his eyes widened in shock. Part of the song was written in English. He looked at the captain and made a whimper, but it seemed as though Kasamatsu didn't care.

"What? Don't like it?"

"It's not that. It's partially in English. Why?!" Takao nearly screamed. While he was good in English at school, he wasn't so confident in his skills when it came onto reading it. It took a lot out of him, and looking at some things here, Takao felt as though Kasamatsu wanted to kill him off.

"Because..." Kasamatsu started, "...didn't we agree on world domination?"

"Yes."

"And what's the universal business language? Or rather, the language that is being taught the most now?"

Takao smirked. "Mandarin is being taught the most now. And I think French."

Kasamatsu twitched. "It's English you fool!" If he had had a paper fan, he would've hit Takao across the head with it. "Every non-English speaking country is teaching it in schools as a mandatory subject! Look at us, Japan!"

"Right. I knew that. I was just pulling your strings." Takao laughed.

Kasamatsu shook his head and inwardly, he wondered how did he manage to get riled up by Takao's teasing. He should've been used to it by now. "Anyway, as I was saying, the reason for some of the song to be in English is for our prospective English-speaking fans and other countries who's language is unique to them. That way, everyone is supposed to know at least a little English and can sing-along with those parts."

"Until they welcome the Japanese lyrics."

Kasamatsu nodded.

"So, will all our songs be like this?"

"Of course not. It takes time to write English you know. So, just a few songs might have the English and some don't."

"Ah that's a relief." Takao exhaled.

"Yeah."

The two descended into silence and soon their heads turned to look at the window. The moon gave out a bright luminescent glow, casting shadows down on the Earth.

"It's going to be a wild ride for us, huh." Takao spoke up to break the silence. "I mean, being a pop idol group and a rock band at the same time."

Kasamatsu chuckled. "Well, naturally." he said. "We'll have double the work, double the songs to remember; I guess the only good thing about this is that as Idols, we'll have to remember choreo while in a band we'll have to remember the music and play the right thing."

Takao blanched. "Yu-chan, that's not a good thing at all. While we could bullshit our way through a choreo and look cute, we can't do that in a band performance. It'll be a disaster!"

The captain looked at Takao with a scary face. "Obviously," he said, his voice seeming a bit deeper than before. "And that is why, during rehearsals, I'll personally work you like mules. When I'm done with you, you should be able to play the set pieces in your sleep."

"Yes Sir." Takao saluted. He'll never get used to a scary Kasamatsu.

…

…

"Kise. Kise."

The blond's eyes slowly cracked open to see Kasamatsu looming over him. He rubbed his brown eyes to clear his vision, thinking that he may be seeing doubles.

"Get the hell up!" The captain barked, giving him a soft punch on the shoulder.

"Senpai? What are you doing in my bed?" Kise rolled onto his sides to reach for his phone beneath the pillow. He checked the time and saw that it was minutes after eight o'clock. "At this hour?!" he then shrieked. "Do you know how early it is?!"

Kasamatsu was unperturbed. He grabbed his ace in his shirt and hauled him up to his face. "Go freshen up, get dressed and eat breakfast because we're going out." He said with a dangerous aura emanating from him. "And don't you dare delay any further. You know I'll kill you."

"Yes Sir!"

And like that, Kise flew out of his bed and dashed towards the shower. He had been so frightened by Kasamatsu that he failed to realize that the captain was well dressed and that the other three members weren't in the house.

Roughly an hour later, Kise emerged from the bathroom, glowing and sparkling. It was nothing surprising, this was a regular thing anyway. The blond then searched for his clothing, but he remembered that it was his birthday, and no one gave him any well-wishes. It was then that the blond began to feel down, as usually his family would flood his phone with a shit-ton of messages.

So with a shrug, Kise picked out a knee-length khaki pants and donned a simple black polo t-shirt. Of course he had his accessories.

When he reached out into the living room, he found Kasamatsu sitting in one of the armchairs and texting. The captain was dressed in a blue denim jacket over a white t-shirt with black ripped jeans and white sneakers. His hair fringe was down this time, covering his forehead to rest on the top of his eyebrows.

"Senpai..." Kise came out in shock, but there was a huge grin on his face. "You look damn good."

The captain smirked, playing along with his ace. "I learned from the best."

Kise smiled, knowing full well that his captain was referring to him. These days, he had been helping the others to mix and match their clothing. "So where are we going?" the blond asked as he sat down to eat. Then that's when he noticed how quiet the house was. "Where's everybody?!" he nearly shrieked.

"Takao is off with Aika-san, Kagami and Kuroko headed somewhere I didn't bother to ask about." Kasamatsu replied nonchalantly without looking up from his phone.

The chopsticks fell out of Kise's hand and the food out of his mouth. Hearing the clatter, Kasamatsu looked up at his ace. Brown eyes stared at steel-blue ones, unable to believe what was happening.

"Takaocchi took out Aikacchi?" The blond ace gaped. Kasamatsu nodded. While Kise was not entirely surprised that Takao and Aika were out together, what shocked him was how quickly it happened. "So, are they out on a date?!" He inquired.

Kasamatsu smiled. "Believe what you may." Of course the two in question weren't on a date, in fact, everyone was waiting for the blond at Makio's place to surprise him.

Kise gaped once again. "I can't believe it."

"Then don't."

"Senpai!"

"Hurry it up, we don't got all day!"

"Fine."

But now, Kise had gotten suspicious. Of all the days for everyone to be out, it was today, his birthday. And to top it all off, Kasamatsu was carrying him out somewhere. The only place the two had ever been to is the supermarket or some clothes store when they're shopping. And currently, they don't need to do any form of shopping.

"Really Senpai, where are we going?" Kise asked again, becoming uneasy.

Kasamatsu sighed. "We'll be stopping by Makki because he suped up your drum set. Then we're going to be heading to a café live house because we need to get our band name out there. So I thought we'll start covering songs at some open mics and ―"

A shriek made the captain stop. Kise flung himself onto the older teen in sheer joy. Although the former part of the sentence had been an outright lie, the latter wasn't. They were serious about becoming a rock band, so it's best that they try to get some exposure as early as possible. However, what Kise didn't know was that Kasamatsu wasn't thinking about doing that now. They had Inter-High to deal with soon.

"Are you serious?" Kise shrieked, still encasing Kasamatsu in a tight hug. "Are you really serious?!" He asked again.

"Ye―yes..." Kasamatsu wheezed out. "But...please… I can't...breathe!"

With yet another shriek, Kise released his captain who was gasping for air. "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine. Now let's go." Surprisingly, Kasamatsu had recovered quite quickly.

"But what about the dishes?"

"Leave them."

Soon, the two put on their shoes and exited the house, Kise was still a little concerned about today's events. This was unusual, and he wasn't even informed of the others' outings.

They took the elevator down to the basement floor, which served as the parking lot. Kise followed behind Kasamatsu to a parked silver car, one he doesn't recognize.

"Senpai, you got a car?!" he shrieked in shock, thinking that the vehicle was his captain's. "Since when?! And it isn't even your birthday yet!"

"Kise, you'll damage your vocal chords if you keep shrieking like that." Kasamatsu deadpanned as he headed to the drivers seat, ignoring the blond's sentence. "Get in."

By this time, Kise had totally given up, as he's not getting anything out of his captain. Quickly, the blond sat in the passenger seat and fixed his seatbelt.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

Kasamatsu grinned. "Don't wet your pants."

Confused, Kise looked at his captain. "What do you mean?"

However, his question was left unanswered as Kasamatsu turned the keys in the ignition and drove out.

…

…

Over by Makio's, everyone was waiting eagerly for the arrival of the birthday boy. There was a rather big crowd, ranging from Seirin and Kaijou (inclusive of Akagi) to the Miracles, Aika, Amari and Hirose and even Perfect 5th. Kise's parents and sisters were even in attendance as well, as this was something that they shouldn't miss.

During the time that they waited, Perfect 5th were hounded for autographs in which the five men willingly signed. There was a very amiable atmosphere about them, and for some strange reason, Reiya found Izuki's puns hilarious. This only set-off the eagle-eyed point guard even more, Hyuuga nearly bursting a fuse. Of course, Takao lived for these moments and found it very funny. However, a message came in to his phone soon after.

"Alright, Yu-chan said they drove out." Takao said as he looked at the message. But then his brows furrowed in confusion. "But ten minutes? There's no way they'll be here in ten minutes!"

"Ha!" Akagi roared with laughter at the seemingly absurd statement. Naturally, he'd be attending Kise's birthday because he was like another member of the club ―one that just didn't play the sport. "You've never driven with Yukio, have you?"

Everyone, even those from Kaijou, shook their heads, ignoring the fact that Akagi addressed the captain by his given name.

Akagi laughed even more. "Trust me, he'll definitely bring Kise here within ten minutes or less."

Daigo whistled, "I wonder if we could employ him to be our driver. We'll need skills like that to get away from our crazy fans in car chases."

The rest of Perfect 5th couldn't agree more. While it is a known fact that idols are sometimes locked in dangerous car chases with their fans, most times, their drivers ―be it their manager or someone else―aren't reckless enough to drive like speed demons in order to escape.

"Well, since that's the case, shouldn't we be getting into position? I mean, it would be such a spoil if they arrive and we're not ready." Makio said, getting everyone back in the mood.

With that, everyone scattered to their places, awaiting the arrival of the birthday boy and his captain.

…

…

The silver car drove into the parking lot, where a very frightened Kise exited on wobbly legs. He then leaned on the bonnet, seeming to be catching his breath.

"Oi, what's the matter with you? Let's go." Kasamatsu said without compassion.

"Senpai, you do realize how..." he trailed off, trying to find the right word. However, he didn't. "...wild you drive, right?"

"I don't drive wild. I'm in perfect control of the car."

"That speed! What if...what if..."

"What if you had just believed in your Senpai and kept quiet about it? Besides," he smiled. "My Mom drives even faster. She's got a shit ton of speeding tickets piled up." he said with an eye roll.

Kise blanched. "I'm never driving with you again for as long as I live!"

Kasamatsu smirked. "We'll see about that. Aren't I your future brother-in-law?" he said in a mocking tone.

Kise clamped up at that. He didn't know whether to start fretting for his life, or rejoicing that Kasamatsu had accepted his fate. Either way, it'll be a win-win because who knows? Maybe Reiko will tame that monster of a driver.

The two then reached towards the door where Kasamatsu allowed Kise to go first. He knew what was about to greet the blond on the other side of the door anyway.

With a gentle push, Kise entered the space, when he heard a rather loud, "Happy Birthday!" being shouted at him. Confetti rained down from above, everyone jumping out from their respective hiding places with a bright grin on their face.

"Aww thank ―" he trailed off when he saw Kagami spring up from behind a table, with a small cake in hand. Without getting a chance to react, the cake was in Kise's face, coating the blond in sugary sweetness.

"You idiot! Watch where you're throwing that thing!" A voice roared from behind Kise. Everyone stopped immediately, upon seeing Kasamatsu. Some of the cake had flew from Kise and onto the captain, given the sheer force which Kagami used.

The captain slowly wiped the icing from his face, everyone cracking up with laughter at the sight. Even Tobio, was revelling in Kise's cake covered face.

"Kagamicchi..." Kise started in his usual whimper. But this time, it was devoid of hurt and sadness, instead, it was full of joy. "...thank you."

"So, now that the birthday boy has arrived, and got covered in cake..." Makio started, "Let's get this show on the road!"

Cheers rang out as the blond was ushered further into the space.

"Alright, first off," Makio started, "Let's play!" He grinned when he walked over to where the speakers were. Most of them present knew what game they were about to play ―Guess that tune.

That said, chaos ensued.

As if on automatic, Catal Rhythm gathered at one side of the table while Perfect 5th took the other. Both teams faced each other with menacing glares and hurried Makio to begin.

Of course, in the midst of this, Riko and Momoi were ecstatic with the turn of events, as in the outset, this game was supposed to be done in pairs. But as they say, the more the merrier.

That said, the game turned out vicious.

Perfect 5th ―especially Tobio―were still a bit hung up about what happened in the Tokyo Dome last year. So, they used this game to vent out their pent-up anger. However, Catal Rhythm were not to be taken lightly.

Growing up in music, Kasamatsu basically owned the game, but not with Perfect 5th giving him a fight and winning. Of course, Takao and Kise helped where they could, Kagami too, but the majority of the points earned were from Kasamatsu.

The next game that they played was the typical Truth or Dare. And this was rather interesting. At first, Amari had suggested that they played Dare or Double Dare instead, because according to him, everyone were cowards and would've only stuck to Truth.

However, with Ryouhei emitting a dark aura, no one dared to change the game. They knew that if something bad happened to Kise on his special day, there would be hell to pay.

So, it started off with Reiko and she had chosen truth. Reiya, the most perceptive one of his group, had asked her, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

And typically, whenever someone asks another individual whether or not they were in a relationship, it usually hinted at something. Kasamatsu, who had been drinking juice squeezed the tin can so hard that it dented. The boys around him panicked at first, wondering what could've incited the captain's rage. But then, they realized it.

Kaijou grinned like savages instantly.

"Ah, no. Not yet at least." Reiko answered a bit shyly.

"So is there anyone you like?" Reiya asked again. The others were enjoying this so they didn't tell him to stop. Kasamatsu, on the other hand, looked absolutely murderous.

Reiko fidgeted. "I dunno."

"Is ―"

"Alright, I think that's enough." Kasamatsu's voice resounded in the room. His face was not pleasant, almost glaring at Reiya. A part of him didn't realize what he was doing, but then again, another part of him didn't like how Reiya was questioning Reiko about her love life, or the lack of an existence thereof.

"Right...I got a little bit too carried away."

But one thing stood out like a sore thumb to those perceptive enough, Kasamatsu Yukio seemed to be crushing on Kise's sister. Akagi couldn't believe it. He's always thought that the captain would've been single for the rest of his life, given how he shies away from the female populace or breaks out in cold sweat when he has to talk to them.

"Alright! Next victim!" Makio shouted, overly happy at the turn of events. "Kasamatsu Yukio!" he called as though he was an announcer. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare." The captain didn't even bat an eyelid.

"I dare you to kiss Reiko-chan." Makio didn't hitch.

"What?!" Kasamatsu shrieked, face instantly reddening. Reiko covered her face as well in an attempt to hide her blush.

"Come on~you were pissed when Reiya kept asking her questions, right? So it must mean that there's something going on with you two that you're not telling us about." Makio smirked. He absolutely loved when things like this happened. Plus, he was glad that another unfortunate soul had fallen for a Kise female. God knows he wasn't the only one going to be suffering in the years to come.

Reiya, who had been ignorant of Kasamatsu's behaviour was shocked. "Oh shit! I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything by it! I was just curious!"

"Yeah, Rei already has a girlfriend that he plans to marry next year anyway." Akio said nonchalantly. "Although, in my opinion, Reiko-san is prettier than her but rest assured, Rei doesn't ―"

Akio broke off when he saw the dark aura seeping out of his leader's body. And within an instant, Reiya pounced on the lead rapper, attempting to strangle him.

"You son of a bitch! How fucking dare you!"

"Rei! I..." Akio couldn't even speak properly. "...didn't mean...it…like..."

"Rei! You're gonna kill Akki!" Tobio shrieked, trying to pry the enraged man off the other. "Or worse, you'll damage his vocal chords!"

"That's even better!" the leader snarled.

Daigo, however, took out his phone and called their manager, "Hey, there's a high chance that we'll be turning into a four-member group soon. Tell everyone to make preparations."

"What? What happened?!"

"Rei is strangling Akki to death because he insulted Maya."

"You fucking brats just don't grow up, do you?"

Daigo didn't answer but only grinned.

"I can hear your grin, you shameless cunt."

The fight continued on, with almost everyone trying to separate the two, but failed every time. Reiya was relentless with Akio, but many thought that he deserved it. In an instance like this, one should always keep their opinions of another man's woman to themselves.

Tobio, trying to use the reasoning technique, had said, "But Rei! It isn't like he said Maya was ugly! It's just Reiko is more ―" he cut himself off as he never wanted to end up on the leader's hit list.

However, in the nick of time, their manager showed up and immediately, the fight stopped.

"Get your asses in the damn car, now." Their manager ―Suzuki Erin practically snarled at her men.

"Yes Ma'am!" Without hitch, they bade their farewell, leaving their presents for the blond and left the venue. But before she exited, Erin turned to face Kise's direction and said:

"Happy Birthday, Kise-kun."

"Ah...Suzuki-san is as vicious as ever." Kenji said nervously. He remembered his encounters with the woman and frankly, he had always wondered how her husband keeps up with her daily.

When the group left, things had quieted down a bit, but they had still continued with Truth or Dare. Ryouhei looked overwhelmingly pleased when Kasamatsu had declined to kiss his daughter, saying that it was inappropriate to do that to her and he wasn't her boyfriend yet.

And since it was all fun and games, everyone seemed to overlook one word in the captain's sentence: yet.

The day continued in fun and games and of course, war. The next game that they played was "Footsy Pop", in which everyone participating had a balloon tied to their foot and had to run around trying to pop the others.

It was nothing but chaos and laughter.

Kagami and Aomine almost went into the zone trying to pop theirs, Kise dished out his perfect copy and preyed on the innocent ones like Aika, Amari, Hirose and Akagi. Akashi managed to somehow ankle break a few from Seirin and easily popped their balloons, Murasakibara was too lazy and allowed his to be taken, Midorima sat one side grumbling that this was a game for hooligans and the uncivilized. Takao had blast running around trying to catch Kuroko and trying for himself to escape the others…

The list goes on.

However, during round two of the game, they changed things up a bit.

"So how are we going to be doing this now?" Moriyama asked. "Are we going to be doing this in teams? I mean..." He trailed off when he looked around the space. The only two (full) teams present were Seirin, Kaijou (even though Moriyama and Kobori had graduated, they still were counted as such) and the Miracles. The others present were Momoi, Akagi, Amari, Hirose, Aika along with Ryouhei, Reiko and Ruiko. Kenji and Makio were serving as the MC.

"How about a revenge match?! I'm still smouldering from Winter Cup last year." Moriyama grinned.

"Moriyama-senpai, shouldn't that be done as a basketball match? Not this..." Kise chuckled. "Plus, I'm all game for that match. It's been a while since we played together."

Ryouhei, who loved to see his sunshine in his mood, started up, "There's a street court a few blocks from here, why don't you ―"

"What the hell are we doing here then?! Let's go!" Kagami roared.

"That's right! I want a one-on-one, Kagami!" Aomine shouted, storming out of the room behind Kagami.

"Oi! Get back here! It's Kise's ―" Hyuuga broke off when the idiots from Kaijou followed suit, shouting out things like "Kise's gonna beat your asses" and "Seirin doesn't stand a chance" which of course, even though it wasn't directed to the Tokyo team, it still got them riled up nonetheless.

Hyuuga, entering into clutch mode barked out, "What are you fools doing loitering here! We've got their blue asses to beat! Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

Makio nor Reiko could believe what just happened. Akashi smirked to himself as he watched them walk out, Momoi could see like a mischievous glint in those red eyes. She knew he was up to something.

Soon enough, everyone trickled out, leaving the non-basketball players. Ryouhei then said, "Why don't we move the food to where they are? They're bound to be hungry after this."

Makio narrowed his eyes at his soon-to-be-father-in-law, "You instigated this, right?"

Ryouhei feigned ignorance. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Let's just go." Akagi sighed.

…

…

By the time the group reached at the street court, Seirin and Kaijou were locked in a heated match between each other. Both teams were fierce, unrelenting, and it was here that Reiko got to see Kasamatsu up close in action. While she's been to Kaijou's matches before, she only paid attention to her little brother. But now that someone else caught her eye…

"He's good." She breathed out to herself. She watched how Kasamatsu handled the ball with ease, how he fluidly and effortlessly transitioned from attempting a three-point shot to turnaround and a full drive. And when he wasn't scoring points, his passes are precise. While not as magical and frightening as Kuroko's, but still, there was a reason that Kasamatsu was a recognized point guard of the national level.

To think that she's always ignored him prior to this whenever Kaijou was playing.

Akagi heard and smirked to himself. Ara? What's this…? Looking at Reiko's expression, he could tell that this was more than just surprise. This was something else. Something deeper. He planned to have a field day with Kasamatsu when this is over. "Prepare yourself, Yukio-kun~."

…

…

After the series of basketball matches, the boys were all dead tired. After the Seirin and Kaijou match, the Miracles decided to team up to play as well. And their team included Kuroko. That said, Seirin, Kaijou and Takao tackled the beasts, even though their team was a mix of the three. In one instance, the team consisted of Hyuuga, Izuki, Kobori, Hayakawa and Kagami.

Of course they put up a fight, but against all the Miracles at once, to say that it was overkill would be an understatement.

The other team consisted of Kasamatsu, Moriyama, Takao who often time switched between point guard and small forward, Mitobe and Koganei.

But after all those matches, the boys were beat, well, all except Kagami and Aomine. They were still at it, but everyone left them be.

That said, everyone crowded around the food table, stuffing their faces, chatting and often time choking.

Reiko looked at the group with sheer amusement. The way the boys were hovering over the table of food and stuffing their faces, with Riko barking at them to slow down and chew their food. It was a futile effort, as the moment Riko scolded them, they paused a while before devouring the food yet again.

Reiko herself was standing in a corner a far off from the group, with only a cup of Kise's favourite drink in her hand.

"What are you doing here by yourself?"

A voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She whipped her head around to see Kasamatsu, with a rather thick slice of cake on his styrofoam plate, his drink in his other hand.

"Yukio!" she shrieked, but thankfully for the music, the others hadn't heard her. "Can't you appear normally?!"

Kasamatsu tilted his head playfully. "What?" he drawled with a smile. "I walked over here. It's not my fault you were staring at them."

Reiko's face puffed. "They only caught my eye!"

"Whatever you say." He shrugged and took his space beside her. "Cake?" he offered as he thrust the fork towards her mouth.

"Ah, thanks." Reiko allowed herself to be fed by the captain, which neither of them saw as anything wrong. However, it didn't unnoticed by the others.

"Holy shit, look, he's even feeding her!" Akagi exclaimed in a hushed tone. "What the hell?!"

"Kasamatsu...you backstabber!" Moriyama hissed, while watching the two interact. He gripped the paper cup a little bit too tightly, crushing it and spilling the contents on the table.

"Uh, this is nothing to envy him about." Nakamura joined in. "I mean, look at her. At first glance, she looks just like Kise only with a rounder face, lipgloss, longer hair and breasts! She even shrieks like him too!"

The boys at the table looked at him with a deadpan face. "No wonder you're still single."

"What?!"

"How can you say she's like Kise?! Look at her bright eyes, and chubby cheeks!" Moriyama shrieked.

"Look at her long flowing blonde hair, it looks like silk!" Akagi added.

"Look at her figure!" Hayakawa barked. "She's perfect! Kise isn't. As a matter of fact, he's full of flaws!"

"Right!"

Nakamura face-palmed. "You. Are. Hopeless." And vicious.

"But anyway, it's the ―Holy Shit, he's kissing her!" Akagi screamed as he rose to his feet. Kobori choked on his cake, Nakamura quickly gave him a cup with some juice, hoping it would help. It was almost as though time stopped, because everyone froze and looked in the captain's direction.

His face was in front of Reiko's, but what they didn't know what that the captain wasn't kissing her, he was just wiping the icing off her face. And of course, the icing was on the opposite side so naturally, he had to lean across her.

A screeched escaped Ryouhei's lips, which startled them, forcing Kasamatsu to lean back. It was here that they saw the napkin on her cheek, and heaved a sigh of relief.

"You shitty bastards." Kasamatsu snarled when he picked up what was happening.

"Senpai..." Kise said as he looked at the two. Then, a nasty grin appeared on his face making Kasamatsu shiver. It was here that the captain knew that once they returned home, he was in a rough time.

"Alright, alright!" Makio shrieked. "We can scream at these lovebirds later."

"Hey!" Reiko retorted. Her eyes scanned the court only to see Takao and Aika standing a far off from everyone else and seemingly chatting. "Look at those two! What about them!?"

"Who?"

Reiko pointed in the direction of Takao and Aika. They were chatting casually a far off from everyone else, and like Kasamatsu and Reiko, the single men felt that they were too close for comfort.

Moriyama, close to tears, screeched, "What the hell is going on here?!"

The two stopped and looked at him, thus seeing that everyone's eyes were now trained on them.

"You bastards! We're just talking! Can't two friends talk?!" Takao shrieked, realizing the situation.

"Not in a corner all by yourself! We need to hear the convo too!" Akagi shouted. "Don't be like Yukio and Reiko-san who were sucking off each other's face not too long ago!"

"What?!"

And once again, they ascended into a scream fest, everyone barking out their thoughts and opinions, fingers pointing and turning into hearts at the "couples", and the mad list goes on. And in all of this, Kenji and Akashi just sat back and watched the festivities before them. It was rather funny, how flustered Kasamatsu got because of the accusations but he still didn't deny whether or not he liked Reiko.

That said, the manager made a mental note to give his boys the talk when they get back, as even though their company allows their idols to date, the fans aren't too happy about it.

"This day is progressing quite favourably." Akashi said calmly with a smile on his face.

Kenji couldn't help but agree.

…

...

Thanks to them arguing, the time ran off and Ryouhei had to urge Kise to start opening his presents. If the man hadn't, then it would've only gotten worse, and seeing how red the "couples" were getting, Ryouhei didn't want to see them explode.

But, having the experience that he has, Ryouhei could easily see that the Kasamatsu boy was indeed crushing on his younger daughter. And hearing the stories from Kise about him, and doing his research, he found that Kasamatsu wasn't a bad match for his daughter. He was responsible, caring, shy but vicious when he needs to be.

Plus, according to his research, Kasamatsu was the son of an entrepreneur in Yokohama so he's gotten a good background and upbringing there. He'd just have his son watch him more closely to see if he was truly worth his daughter.

"Papacchi! Why are you zoning out?!" Kise's shriek took the man out of his thoughts.

"Hurry and open the present you brat!" Hyuuga roared. He was growing impatient since the blond held the present that he and the rest of Seirin had bought. The team had thought that it was easier to buy one gift instead of searching for one individually.

"Young man, my precious sunshine is no brat." Ryouhei hissed.

With a perk, Kise ripped open the present and pulled out a watch. The blond didn't look too happy about it, given that he already a shit ton of them at both his houses. However, what Riko said next, moved the young ace.

"We didn't know what to get you, so we just bought you a customized watch."

"Customized?"

"Look in the watch face, you idiot!" Izuki slightly hissed while turning it to show the blond.

"Oh." Kise's face brightened at it. There was a picture of him doing his famous one-handed dunk in the centre of it, and to say that the blond was moved would be an understatement. "Thank you."

He smiled genuinely here.

"So the next present!" Makio screeched. "I want to see what our beloved Captain got his ace!"

Kasamatsu huffed. "Well...I got him two things, actually."

"Two?!"

"Yeah, although one of them is in partnership with Reiko."

Silence engulfed the room as all eyes turned to look at the blond-haired girl. Before, the group had been teasing him about falling in love with Reiko, but lo and behold, he's partnered up with her to get Kise a gift?

"What a surprise." Akagi smirked. "I can hear the wedding bells ringing already!"

"Wedding bells?!" Reiko shrieked while her face reddened to that of a beet. "How-how-I-I-WE—WE..."

"Look! She's stuttering!" Nakamura shouted in joy. "It's true!"

"No!" She buried her face in her palms and attempted to run but then, she felt a dark aura from beside her. Looking up, she saw Kasamatsu looking extremely pissed and glaring at everyone there. They were silenced by the intimidating look of the captain, so she exhaled a sigh of relief. She's often time heard from Kise how scary Kasamatsu could be but to see it up close and personal was quite the sight to behold.

"Kise." Kasamatsu looked to his blond ace and issued an order, "Open the presents already. We don't have time to waste."

"H-ha-hai!" Kise shrieked in fright.

Kenji hummed as he saw what transpired. He knew that they had made the right choice to put Kasamatsu as the Leader of Catal Rhythm but to see his dominance in action was a whole new kettle of fish. With just one look, everyone (minus Akashi of course) quivered beneath the captain's gaze. He was impressed, truly, as he knew that in later times, this trait of Kasamatsu will come in real handy.

The blonde ripped open Kasamatsu's gifts only to see a pair of drumsticks. However, the sticks held signatures on them. Upon closer inspection, Makio let out a screech of shock and looked at the captain.

"You asshole, how did you manage to get this?!" He nearly screamed.

Kasamatsu smirked. "I have my sources."

"What? What's so special about the drumsticks?" Kagami asked.

Makio, Kasamatsu and Akagi glared at the redhead.

"These were signed by none other than the Great Mimi-chan! She's one of Japan's best drummers, if I do say so myself." Akagi huffed.

"So you got drumsticks signed by a female drummer." Kagami said, albeit lacklustre.

"This...is..." Kise looked at the drumsticks with a gleam in his eyes. "These were signed by Mimicchi?"

Kasamatsu nodded.

Ever since Kise returned to the drums, the blond has been watching numerous videos of drummers, those in a band and those that aren't. And among those, there was one drummer that stood out the most in Kise's eyes ―Hayasegawa Minami―famously known as "Mimi". She was a part of a band called "Femme".

"Senpai..." Kise gasped out as he clutched the drumsticks close to his heart. "...you're my hero."

"Uh, thanks?" The captain said in uncertainty. Although he mentally prepared himself for Kise's reaction, he never anticipated this. The blond was basically latching onto him, threatening to squeeze every breath out of his lungs.

"Our gift! Open our gift!" Moriyama shrieked, holding the large present in his hands. This gift was bought by Kaijou, the entire team going out and searching painstakingly for a gift. After all, it isn't easy buying a gift for someone who already has almost everything they could think of. Kise released his captain and viciously ripped the wrapping from the box. Lifting the cover, the blond found a silver digital camera.

"Since you like taking pictures so much, we just decided to get you a camera." Kobori said. "That and, we really didn't know what to get you that you didn't already have."

"Awww, thanks guys."

"You're welcome."

Kise then turned his eyes to the Miracles' present, and wondered what could be inside. He unwrapped it and saw that it was a Rollbar Bluetooth Speaker that came with a stand too. The next gift he opened was Reiko's, which was a personalized mug that read:

Kise Ryouta
Awesomeness est. June 19

"This is now my favourite cup."

"It's a mug, Kise." Midorima corrected.

"It's still a type of cup, isn't it?"

"Tsch."

Kise continued to open the gifts he received and he loved all of them. He got a personalized pair of running shoes, new earrings (since he said he was going to pierce his other ear eventually), an electronic drum set...the list went on.

However, when Makio headed to the fridge and pulled out the giant Ferrero Rocher chocolate that Reiko and Kasamatsu made, the blond totally disregarded everything else and made a lunge for it.

Of course, Kasamatsu and Reiko were teased that they made something so special for Kise, together when no one was watching, but the captain gave out that his grandparents were there which made everything even worse.

But nonetheless, Kise was an even brighter ball of sunshine.

After the gift wrapping was done, everyone dispersed and did their own thing. The girls ―Aika, Reiko, Riko and Momoi gathered at a table and chatted about varying things ―Riko gushing about Aika's toned body thanks to her doing dancesport.

The boys on the other hand were split doing many things. Some were playing "Old Lady", some were just doing idle chatter. The adults were watching over the teens while at the same time having their own conversations as well. There was even a point where Catal Rhythm were asked to perform, which the boys did out of gratitude for their close friends. Amari and Hirose did what they could for their D:FI songs being that they were only two out of the six boys present. But all in all, Kise's birthday party went well, even with all the chaos and shenanigans that happened.

…

…

By the time Catal Rhythm reached home, they were dead tired. They collapsed into their couch and armchairs, unable to move even an inch further. Kenji looked at them and sighed. So much had happened today, so he decided to let them rest. After all, their schedules were going to be packed from now on.

Once again, he called Perfect 5th for help to move the boys, but the idols had called for reinforcements ―Diverse. The men lifted the teens with ease, since this time, there were more carrying each boy.

"Damn, Ai-Ken, what in God's name are these boys eating? They're massive!" Alto screeched as he resigned in the sofa.

Kenji could only chuckle. "They're all muscles."

"Oh no." A deep voice came from the kitchen. He was Diverse's Main Rapper, Chrome. "I think you should take a look at this, Ai-Ken. For idols, they're eating the wrong foods." He was before the fridge and had all the cupboards opened as well. Both Perfect 5th and the remainder of Diverse along with Kenji headed to the kitchen, the latter could only look on with shock and horror.

"Your boys are fat, Ai-Ken."

Kenji fainted.

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