Chapter Sixteen
"Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years."
-Ausonius
Ruri glanced down at the clock on her phone.
"February 8th, huh?" she mumbled to herself as she walked home.
She passed by the old bookstore run by a kind old couple, the little market near her home, and the big cherry tree. Everything was so familiar after 16 years of living in this world. Soon to be 17 years, though.
Ruri could still remember her life as Janet, passing each day, alone and in her room, watching anime. She remembered how cold her house had felt when her parents had died. Living alone and having no friends. She tried to spend as little time thinking about how lonely she felt those days. She spent her time going to conventions, working on nothing but cosplay costumes and the like.
Ruri opened the door to her house and was greeted by her parents.
"Hello, Ruri!" Aki hugged her daughter.
Ruri lightly hugged back.
"Welcome home," Tomoharu smiled, stepping out from inside the kitchen.
"Have you decided what you want for your birthday?" Aki asked, untangling herself from Ruri.
"Anything is fine, Okaa-sama," Ruri smiled.
Aki pouted a bit.
"I'll be in my room," Ruri walked up the stairs and into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.
Aki looked worriedly at the stairs and walked dejectedly into the kitchen where her husband sat at the table.
"Ruri always gets depressed around her birthday," she told Tomoharu.
"Perhaps she just doesn't like her birthday?" he suggested, taking a sip of his coffee.
"But all kids her age like their birthdays..."
"Ne, Ruri-chan!" Aoko called as the girl walked into the classroom.
Ruri looked up and gave a weak smile. She silently walked over to her desk without another look.
Kaito and Hakuba looked over at Aoko and then over to Ruri.
"Is something wrong?" Kaito asked, popping up beside Ruri in a cloud of smoke.
She looked up slowly and smiled weakly again.
"No. Nothing's wrong," she replied, trying to put on a happy face.
Kaito watched her for a moment, definitely seeing something wrong, but unsure about whether or not to pry.
Instead, he opted for making a poinsettia* appear and putting it on her desk where Ruri looked at and then smiled sadly.
"Thank you. I'll try." she told him.
Kaito resolved to find out what was making her unhappy.
Kaito had placed several bugs on Ruri and on her bag so that he might be able to learn more about Ruri's depression. He also had a dove follow her.
Right now, she was heading home looking rather tired.
She paused in front of a bookstore and then went inside. Kaito's dove sat in a tree just outside, giving him a rather clear view of the store.
He watched as she perused the shelves in a the fantasy section before her expression lit up and she pulled a book off the shelf. She repeated this process about 3 more times before she went to the back to pay.
Shortly after, Ruri walked out of the old looking shop holding a brown paper bag and looking significantly happier. And yet... still kind of depressed.
The magician's little dove followed the girl all the way home and perched right outside her window.
"Welcome home, Ruri," Kaito heard Ruri's mother say.
"I'm home, okaa-sama," Ruri replied.
"Ruri... are you sure you don't want anything for your birthday?"
Silence.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Kaito clenched his fist. Ruri's birthday was coming up? How come she didn't tell anybody? Normally, whenever it was Aoko's birthday, he couldn't get her to shut up.
He heard a sound that was probably Ruri walking to her room and then the sound of door closing softly.
"... I would've treated myself to all sorts of things if it was my birthday back home..." she mumbled.
Back home? Wasn't she at home? This WAS where she lived... right? Kaito was baffled at her words.
"February 10th...huh?" Ruri whispered before falling silent.
Soft even breathing filled the headset Kaito was wearing.
Ruri needed a birthday surprise.
"And that's why we're going to surprise Ruri today," Aoko explained.
It was early in the morning on the 10th of February and Kaito hadn't even needed to try and convince Aoko and Hakuba to throw a party. Aoko had already convinced Hakuba.
"So... you're mail friends with Aki-san?" Kaito asked, absolutely stunned. Poker Face be damned.
Aoko nodded.
"And she wanted us to come over tonight to throw a party for Ruri-chan?"
Another nod.
Kaito pinched the bridge of his nose. All that *ahem* "stalking" was turning out to be a total waste of time.
"Fine. Just-just don't tell her anything."
"What kind of gifts should we get her?" Hakuba asked, voicing a very good question both Aoko and Kaito had overlooked.
Ruri opened the door to her house, surprised to find it dark and empty looking.
"Is anyone there?" she called.
When no one answered she crept past the kitchen but a little light made her stop and cautiously look around.
"SURPRISE!"
Streamers and poppers all simultaneously coming at her made Ruri fall backwards and onto the floor.
"You-" she started before realizing it wasn't just her parents this year.
Kaito, Aoko, and Hakuba stood beside them, all smiles and grins.
"What are you doing here?" Ruri asked, collecting the shreds of her pride.
"We're here to celebrate your birthday, what else?" Aoko smiled, her head adorned with a little party hat.
Ruri looked around. The ceiling was covered in streamers and a sign read, "Happy 17th Birthday, Ruri!"
Before she knew it, tears were welling up and blurring her vision.
Aki and Tomoharu were at her side, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"Thank you," she sobbed, huge tears streaming down the sides of her face.
Everyone smiled and laughed a bit.
After a quick recovery, Ruri blew out the candles on the cake and the delicious chocolate pastry was served.
After cake came the gifts.
Hakuba got her a complete set of Sherlock Holmes books.
Aoko got her a little rabbit plush.
Aki got her a new light crème color dress.
Tomoharu got her some money.
And Kaito gave her a pair of four leaf clover hair clips.
Ruri couldn't remember being as happy as she was that day when she was Janet.
And another mini chapter is finished! I'm not all that proud of it, seeing as I came up with the idea while half asleep. I wanted to give Ruri some bonding points with everyone seeing as she didn't really bond at all with Aoko. Next chapter we'll be seeing a little more of Ran and Sonoko shall have her debut!
Coming up, KID has scheduled another heist! This time, he's going after The Heart of Aphrodite! A giant, heart sized pink sapphire. Also more teaser shipping for KID and Ruri! XD
NEXT CHAPTER: HEART OF A GODDESS (PART 1)
DFTBA EVERYONE!