Note: Originally written back in July 2018 on a whim, to celebrate Kei's birthday on the CYB sideblog. Suspend your disbelief, because Tumblr formatting didn't allow much and I didn't want to change what was there. So yeah. Here's the little thing for you to read.

Sparkle 15: Journal Excerpt

What to Give to Kei

(This line in particular is circled in thick graphite pencil, underlined, and highlighted with some small flowers to emphasize it as the title at the top of the page. The following words are found below.)

Hm. July 10th. And then November 20th. Kei has two birthdays, and I have no clue what to get her. She's a Chunin now, and I'm…

(There is some remnants of lines here that are scribbled, almost as if in embarrassment before they were erased vigorously. From the looks of the lines, they seem to make out vague insults before they blend in with the white paper.)

What can a civilian give to a ninja that they don't have?

What can I give to Kei?

…Um. This is harder than I thought.

(The paper crinkles a bit here.)

Food? Money? Stars?

Yeah, I can't give Kei another Wayfinder. That seems ridiculous.

Money just sounds like something cheap. Bruce Wayne didn't put up the best example.

(There is a small scribble of a chibi Batman here, scowling. A pointer finger is drawn to be poking said Batman's cheek, almost scolding from the gesture.) Sorry, Batman, but you have to admit, you're not the best example period when it comes to social interactions.

…Why am I talking to a fictional character in my journal?!

Oh well. The doodle is cute.

But back to the point! Darn it, me! Quit getting distracted!

What would Kei like? I know she appreciates my music, but she doesn't seem like a huge anime fan… Not to mention, her past self actually passed earlier than me, so she missed out on things and I don't know if I want to just ramble about said things on her birthdays…

Food could include cake, but I already did the Portal Cake for Obito. Maybe the Minecraft Cake? Red velvet sounds yummy — Ah, but I need to learn how to handle fondant, and Mama one time mentioned how it tastes bad… Whoops.

Maybe… Cupcakes could work, but then Haa-chan might eat them all. Ouch. Mochi is almost too obvious, and then tiramisu…

Um.

I'll need coffee. Maybe cheesecake for easy go-to? With a strawberry fruit sauce on top? Or I could do banana-nut muffins to make it simple and healthy. I don't want to risk ninja-diabetes…if that still exists here. I think it might.

Okay. So banana-nut muffins is one thing. Yay! That's one decision made!

But that still doesn't seem like enough…

(The paper crinkles here again as the writing changes to a different format, almost as if someone else was writing.)

Tomoko-chan, you could just put on another concert. How about Pokémon? Or Yu-Gi-Oh?

Hisako. Why did you need to take control of my hand? We could've just talked about it mentally like we always do.

(The writing becomes more quick and scrawled here, as if written hastily.)

I got too impatient waiting for you to come up with something. Just make muffins, put on a concert, and put together a photo album for the final present.

Eh? Photo album? Why a photo album?

(A line is skipped here, as if to indicate a pause.)

For memories' sake.

Memories…memories… HEY!

You finally got it?

Yeah! I'll just ask Miyako-bachan about it. Thanks, Hisako!

…No problem, Tomoko-chan.

(The entry ends past this line.)