Note: This was originally made back in 2017, two years ago, for Lang's birthday. S&S's plans have since changed from then, but I still look back on this day pretty proudly. Lang was happy too, last I remember. There's a birthday comic sitting around too, but the art has aged quite a bit. Oh well. Here you all go.

Sparkle 14: Appreciate Kei Day

It was difficult initially, trying to hide something from my reincarnation buddy. More so when she's a Tokebetsu Jounin and one of the best chakra sensors out there. And my own open, heart-on-my-sleeve demeanor.

Aaaand I know what you're thinking. No, no, it's not a world-shattering secret or anything that I was trying to keep under wraps, since keeping quiet about Kaguya was ridiculously hard enough.

Just…no on the aliens or any Plot-related reasons. No.

It was a lot simpler than that.

I was just trying to appreciate Kei's birthday. Not her actual birthday, by the way, since July 15th already had a birthday party in place almost every year to celebrate my ninja friend's presence, and that was plenty of time to show my appreciation.

This specific birthday was different. Very different.

This birthday was on November 20th.

I know you're scratching your head right about now, and I wouldn't blame you. But this was special.

Considering our shared reincarnation status, Kei and I essentially had two birthdays. I…just didn't count myself that much since my birthday as Tomoko coincidentally fell on the same day Vy came to be — September 24th.

The person I got to know as Kei…well, Gekkō Keisuke, the ninja, came to be on July 15th. The person she was before then, the one with all the memories and sarcasm, the "shut-in" as Kei put it — she started her life on November 20th.

Kei had told me the date offhandedly one day, when we were together catching up before October Tenth in the Narutoverse. I'm still not sure why she went about saying it, but it was still something I marked down in my calendar.

Even with…even with everything that happened since then, that wasn't going to stop me from bringing what I called, "Appreciate Kei Day," to fruition.

It started with telling everyone I knew first. Mama, Papa, Sakumo-jichan, Wataru-jichan, Hayate, Genma-san, Raido-san, Jim-san, Yamaguchi-sensei, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Gai, Minato-san, Kushina-nee, even little Naruto. Sure, I didn't let them know of the true reason why I had this day in mind because reincarnation was weird and I didn't want to give my loved ones the biggest mind-f ever after October Tenth. That was another can of worms.

I just told them honestly, "Hey, could you all play along with something for me on the 20th?" Before proceeding to give them a verbal list of ideas for possible presents to give to Kei.

Kei didn't realize it, probably never did at that point, but there were a lot of people that appreciated her. Cared for her. Loved her even, if Kakashi's budding feelings and my own familial bond with her were anything to say about it. And October Tenth was hard on everyone. This was my way of mending the wounds, in a way.

But at the same time, I couldn't erase the feeling that if not for Kei taking the chance to tell Team Minato, Jiraiya-sama, and Kushina-nee about her "visions" beforehand, I wouldn't have done the same, and there would've been so many more lost.

If not for Kei, I don't know if Obito would've still been here. If Rin, Minato-san, Kushina-nee, or — hell, even me — would've been either. I just didn't know, because the future was weird like that, but even then.

I couldn't let go of the simple fact that if not for Kei, I wouldn't have hung on in the ninja world for as long as I did so far.

Kei was — is my best friend. The greatest friend I've ever known as Tomoko. Rivaling Josh and Leo even, to Vy.

So, the only way I could show her that, aside from the obvious tackle-hugs that she was getting better at averting (darn), was through this.

And hey. "Appreciate Kei Day" somehow caught on with it being kinda catchy in title.

The concept was simple enough. Since this year had November 20th fall on Kei's usual weekly visit to the cafe, I "conveniently" asked Mama and Papa to close Nagareboshi, whisking me farther than what I hoped was the limit of Kei's sensing range, just for the little search to begin.

…Maybe it was a bad idea to use myself as the finish line/goal post for the day, considering how twitchy Kei could be when it came to any harm on my or any others' parts, but I wanted to save the best present for last and my ninja friends were plenty distracting.

At least, I was hoping so, considering how protective Kei could get.

October Tenth was the first time in a while I saw her get so mad.

Well, back to the present, I'm not fully sure on how things went along on her end. All I did say to my ninja friends and loved ones was, "Try to distract Kei with warm thoughts and gifts when she's trying to look for me!"

Just so that they could show their appreciation on the aptly named "Appreciate Kei Day," and just because I don't think she's appreciated enough.

Call me overbearing or selfless or even strange, I don't mind either way, but everyone needs a day where they can see how much others can care for them. So, if it was through gift-giving, so be it.

Needless to say, by the time I stumbled upon her that afternoon, she was stuffing a new fuinjutsu scroll into the pocket of her Jounin blue pants with a long sigh. Whether to contain all the presents she received today or something else, I wasn't sure.

Heck, I couldn't even stop the happy squee leaving my lips when she turned to face me, effectively blowing my cover for all that it was worth, and her black eyes narrowed.

"Tomoko," she said simply. "Where were you?"

Uh-oh.

I immediately hid the present I was holding behind my back as I tried not to fidget, plastering a smile on my face. "Well, um, hi? You found me?"

"Tomo-chan…" Kei paused, her voice caught between her usual sarcasm and fond exasperation that I had come to expect from knowing her for so long. "What's going on? Are you the cause behind…" she paused again, waving a hand in the air for emphasis. "Behind all the gifts I've been getting? Because everyone was really intent on keeping me from finding you."

Busted. My smile became a bit shakier. "W-Was it that obvious?"

Kei raised an eyebrow at me, pursuing her lip.

I found myself laughing sheepishly, raising a hand to the back of my head. "Well, you caught me. And…welp, found me. Ahahaha…"

Kei sighed before striding forward, and I closed my eyes instinctively, expecting something. A retort, a yell, anything considering how frustration could be—

The last thing I was thinking of was a hand landing on my head.

"I'm not mad, Tomo-chan, just worried." I looked up, and Kei grinned crookedly, ruffling my hair for a mere moment before taking her hand away. "The last time you did a disappearing act was…was…" she paused before looking away.

Shit. I already was shaking my head, reaching over with my free hand to grab hers. At this point, all plans went right out the window as the heart resurfaced on my metaphorical sleeve. "I'm sorry, Kei, I didn't mean to make you worry again. Today was supposed to be…well," I laughed again, drier this time. "I-I had kinda dubbed it, "Appreciate Kei Day," in my head, just to not tune anyone in on this but us."

My reincarnation buddy had turned back to gawking at me now, clear surprise in her black eyes as her hand hung limp in my grip. "Huh?" she said dully. "What the hell?"

Okay then. Reference is a miss.

I let go of her hand, took a breath while stepping back, and then brought the bright present out from behind my back and into full view with the happiest smile I could muster.

"For you, Kei," I said softly. "For your past self being born today and for your current self…well, uh, this sounded a whole lot better in my head," I scratched my cheek sheepishly while still offering the gift. "For you being you."

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Happy Birthday, Kei," I finished. "Or…would Lang be better? Since it's your past self's birthday?"

If I didn't know any better, it was as if someone had hit my best friend over the head with a baseball bat, because her frozen stature wasn't giving me the best of signs. I inclined my head to get a better look while blinking. "Um…Kei?"

"…"

I lowered the present in my hands so that I could take a step closer. "Kei?"

Next thing I knew, my sandals weren't even touching the ground as my waist was squeezed tightly. It took all I had to not squeal from the surprise, but then again, seeing the top of my best friend's head was one thing on top of a bunch of other things.

"K-Kei?!"

Kei laughed almost heartily as the grip on me tightened. It wasn't enough to be uncomfortable, but how long had it been since she…

And then Kei had the audacity to start spinning. I didn't even have the time to ponder the whole situation because laughter was already leaving my lips from the whole thing, my world swirling until all I could make out were blurs of flower petals and Kei's black hair.

"K-Kei — hahaha — heeeeey!"

I couldn't even feel the paper wrapping of the present in my hands anymore because it took all I had to just hang on and hug Kei back for dear life. And for not flopping around like a ragdoll.

But Kei was laughing. She was actually, dear goodness gosh, laughing.

I never thought I would say this, but I never wanted to unhear this moment ever again.

Why couldn't it last forever? Kei needed some happiness in her life.

Once the spinning had stopped, I had to blink the swirls away from my vision, only to jump again as soon as I was set back on the ground and arms encircled me in yet another hug.

I took a huffing breath in an attempt to calm the adrenaline. "K-Kei-chan?"

"Thank you, Tomoko-chan," was the soft, breathy murmur into my hair. "Thank you."

Immediately I found myself smiling and wrapping my arms around Kei's middle, tucking my nose in the crook between her neck and shoulder while snuggling her.

"Of course. Happy Birthday, Lang."

Kei made a soft noise caught between a laugh and a hiccup before pulling away to grin.

"Thank you, Vy."

My best friend was happy and appreciated. My job was done.