Chapter Five – Happy Birthday!

I sat in my usual place in Fu-chan's room, holding her hand. Even though it was her birthday, I still managed to beat the Yoshinos to the hospital, so I had some time alone with her.

"I figure your sister and brother-in-law will be here soon, so I just wanted to wish you 'Happy Birthday' now. I wish you could be here to enjoy it, but…" I really didn't know what else to say. I wasn't sure if she'd be at the school or not, or I could've gone there. I couldn't afford a gift, and it wasn't as though she could enjoy it, anyway.

It was quite disheartening.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Kouko appeared. "Oh! Hi, Okazaki-san!" She always seemed surprised to see me. "I didn't think you'd get here before us." Yuusuke followed behind her, and he and I exchanged nods in greeting.

"I got here at my usual time," I said. "I just wish that I had a gift for her, and that she could enjoy it."

Kouko nodded sympathetically. "I understand."

"Not to one-up you kid, but Kouko has been wishing that kind of thing for about two years longer than you," Yuusuke added.

I nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry; I didn't mean for it to seem like I'm the only one waiting."

Kouko laid a hand on my head. "It's okay. I'm just glad to have one more person waiting for her to wake up." She looked over to her husband, who nodded. "It means a lot to us."

Knock-knock

All three of us looked over at the door in surprise. I wasn't expecting anyone else and, based on the Yoshinos' surprise, they weren't either.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see Yukine appear. "Hello? Is this okay?"

A smile spread across my face. "Miyazawa-san! Hey, come on in!...That is, if it's okay?" I asked the Yoshinos.

Kouko smiled and nodded excitedly. "The more, the merrier!"

So Yukine entered carrying a large box, with a bag hanging from one arm.

"Hey, let me help you with that," Yuusuke offered.

Yukine let Yuusuke take the box with an expression of gratitude and led him over to where she wanted to set up her things. As usual, her 'things' consisted of a cooking set enough to feed a small army, as well as the food to feed said army. "I purchased the food after getting off of the train," she explained.

"Still, that's pretty heavy," Yuusuke observed, to which Yukine simply giggled.

"Let me help set that up," Kouko offered. "Yuusuke, go keep Fu-chan and Okazaki-san company."

Just as Yuusuke resettled down on the other side of the bed, there was another knock at the door. All of us looked at each other, then the other three looked at me. "Come in?" I guessed that I had been unofficially elected the head of this gathering.

The door opened and in came Kotomi, carrying a decent-sized bag. She paused and bowed to all of us. "Tomoya-kun, good morning. Uh…" She apparently wasn't sure what to make of the other three.

"Good morning," the Yoshinos answered, almost in unison.

"Good morning!" Yukine replied cheerfully with a bow.

Kotomi quickly made her way over to me and tried to hide. "Are they bullies?" It hadn't occurred to me that the two of them hadn't met yet.

Yuusuke quickly rose to his feet. "Hi there. I'm Yuusuke, but you can call me Yu-san. The beautiful woman over there – well, the one with the shorter hair – is my wife. You can call her Kouko-san."

Yukine apparently heard Kotomi's question as well; she walked closer to the two of us and bowed again. "I am Miyazawa-san. Pleased to meet you."

I nudged Kotomi; she stepped forward and bowed. "Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Ichinose Kotomi, a senior in Class A. My hobby is reading books. I would be happy if you would become my friends."

I silently applauded for my old friend. Yukine would be a great friend for her, and the Yoshinos were good people.

The older couple smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, Ichinose-san."

Yukine smiled brightly. It seemed like it was the only way she knew how to smile. "Ichinose-senpai, I would be happy to be your friend." She gestured to the bag. "Is that for the party?"

Kotomi hugged the bag to her chest. "I heard that Tomoya-kun would be celebrating Fuuko-san's birthday today, so I brought food to share with him."

Yukine nodded and gestured to her cooking supplies. "Would you be willing to add your things to what I've brought? I'm sure it would help our party greatly."

Kotomi looked at me as though she was asking permission.

"It's up to you Kotomi-chan," I said. "Even if it's more than just you and me, I'd like it if you'd stay and celebrate with us."

She seemed to ponder my statement for a moment before nodding once. She then went over to Yukine's makeshift workstation and placed her bag on the counter. She then returned to my side.

While I got up from my chair and slid it over so Kotomi could sit in it, I saw Yuusuke leave the room, probably to get more chairs. Hopefully the room wouldn't get too full; I didn't want to cause any problems for the hospital staff.

Several minutes later, the Fujibayashi twins arrived. Even after introductions, Kotomi hid herself behind me to avoid Kyou. Not that I blamed her. Thanks to the twins, even more food was added to the growing pile at Yukine's workstation. Apparently they intended to keep me company on Fu-chan's birthday as well, though they, like Kotomi, weren't expecting all of the other people.

I was starting to wonder how word was getting around when Tomoyo entered the room. She took one look at the group, another at Yukine's workstation, and finally at me and we shared a smile as she held up a box before making her way over. "Heard about a birthday and thought I'd keep you company," she said. "Looks like someone beat me to it."

"If you don't mind the company, you're welcome to stay," I offered. Fortunately, Yuusuke had been bringing in chairs from somewhere.

After introducing Tomoyo to the others, she gave her box to Yukine and started chatting with her.

I found myself wondering who would arrive next.

Surprisingly, Sunohara came through the door. He looked around the room in amazement. "Okazaki, I don't know how you do it; you have every beautiful woman from school in this very room. It's like paradise!"

"Well, thank you!" Kyou exclaimed, as she and Tomoyo simultaneously flipped their hair with a smile.

Sunohara appropriately paled before quietly making his way over to Yukine with his bag. I was surprised to see the typically self-absorbed friend sharing anything, let alone food.

At this point, I wasn't surprised to see Nagisa come in a few minutes later; everyone else I knew was here, after all. What surprised me, though, was to see both of her parents with her.

"Whoa! This place is rockin'!" Akio yelled as he looked around the room.

"My, my…" Sanae observed.

"Okazaki-san!" Nagisa greeted.

The Furukawas added their considerable contribution to the party food, and Kyou and Sanae helped Yukine with food preparation.

Nagisa made her way over to Kotomi and I. "Looks like everyone's here!"

"Yeah, looks like it," I agreed. "What I don't get is how everyone knows about Fuuko's birthday. I only told you, and-wait a minute…" I turned to Nagisa, who was giggling uncontrollably. "Did you tell everybody?"

Nagisa nodded, still giggling. "Sorry, Okazaki-san; I just thought it was wrong for you to celebrate this alone. I thought you'd be lonely, so I let everyone know."

I looked around the room and was impressed. Maybe they had some lingering emotion tied to Fu-chan and decided to show up because of that? The possibility brought a lump to my throat, but I swallowed it back down.

"Well, regardless of the reasons, I'm glad everyone's here." I smiled as I watched my friends talking with each other.

Yukine, Kyou and Sanae were still organizing the food. They seemed to work well together, with the way that they coordinated their movements and delegated responsibilities. They could probably run a restaurant if they put their minds to it. Tomoyo too, when I thought about it.

Akio had found his way over to the Yoshinos and Ryou and was having what appeared to be a lively conversation with them, judging from the way that he was waving his arms around. Though, that could just as easily have been because that was the kind of person he was.

Kotomi stayed right next to me, quietly watching everyone else, just like me. It was fine with me that she wasn't talking to anyone; just being outside of the library and around all these people was impressive by itself.

Nagisa, Tomoyo, and Sunohara were at the far corner of the room. After seeing his efforts in trying to out Tomoyo as a man, I was glad to see him having a serious conversation with the two girls. Maybe not having me around for a while gave him a chance to think about stuff? Maybe.

I felt a gentle pressure on my arm, and looked to see Kotomi holding on to my sleeve. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "I am. I am not used to being around so many people, so…"

I smiled. "You needed me to 'ground' you?"

She nodded again. "Yes. Touching you is keeping me from feeling overwhelmed. Thank you, Tomoya-kun."

"That's what friends are for," I replied.

"Yes," she said thoughtfully. "Friends…"

I must have missed when the food was ready, because Kyou abruptly appeared with two plates of a variety of food. "I see you two were busy, so I brought you some food." She handed Kotomi a plate before handing me mine. "You should see the cake that Yukine made. It just screams 'Fuuko'. At least, from what I hear about her."

I chuckled softly. "I'm looking forward to it." I then heard another knock at the door; fortunately, I was close enough to hear it. "Come in!" I couldn't think of who else it could be.

My face fell as I saw my dad enter the room. "What the…"

He smiled as he saw everyone. "Hello, everyone. My, my, this is quite a gathering!"

I bolted to my feet, nearly dropping my plate. "What the hell are you doing here?" I growled under my breath.

His eyes settled on me and my skin crawled. "Ah, Tomoya-kun. Your friend Furukawa-chan was kind enough to stop by our house and invite me to Ibuki-chan's birthday."

I ground my teeth. "You. Are. Not. Welcome. Here!"

"Naoyuki-san, we're glad that you could make it!" Sanae had made her way over to us. "Tomoya-san has told us so much about you, but it's so good to finally meet you!"

"I'm sorry young lady, you are…?"

"I am Nagisa-chan's mother. Please, call me Sanae. And this…" she gestured to her husband, who had just walked up, "is my husband, Akio-san."

"Call me Akio."

My dad bowed to the Furukawas, which surprised me; I had never seen him talk to anyone but me, so it was like seeing a new side of him. "A pleasure to meet you both. Please call me Naoyuki. So you are Nagisa-chan's parents? Thank you for raising such a polite young lady. She has been a good friend to Tomoya."

I was surprised again. Dad hadn't called me 'Tomoya' since the fight that injured my shoulder. He must have been putting up a front or something.

"…so is the family of the birthday girl here?" He asked. "I'd like to meet them if I could."

"This way, please," offered Sanae, as she led him over to the Yoshinos. Their voices faded into the noise of the conversations as I sat back down next to Kotomi and buried my face in my hands.

I felt another pressure on my arm. "Tomoya-kun?"

I flinched at the name before I realized that it was Kotomi who was talking to me this time, and so I relaxed. "Yes, Kotomi-chan?"

"Is that…your father?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's my old man." I frowned. "What the hell was Furukawa thinking, inviting him like that? She knows how I feel about him!"

Kotomi shook her head. "I don't understand. How do you feel about your father?"

I gave her the short version of the story, about how Mom died when I was young, how my dad and I fought and, finally, how our last fight damaged my shoulder and how we grew apart.

"…so that's how it is," I finished. "Dad treats me slightly better than a stranger now that he's damaged me too much for me to have a career. I'm living with the Furukawas now."

Kotomi appeared to be deep in thought. "That's so sad. I'm sorry, Tomoya-kun."

"Don't be. At least I have a chance at a real life, now." With the way I was eating, I probably looked more like I was destroying my food instead of eating it.

"But to be estranged from your family like that…" she seemed hesitant to continue. "At least you have a chance to have a relationship with your father. I'm jealous."

My anger drained away. Here I was, complaining about my father to a friend who lost both of her parents. Couldn't I think of anyone besides myself? Well, Fu-chan sure, but… "I'm sorry, Kotomi-chan."

She shook her head again. "It's okay. We all have our own challenges. I do wish there was some way for the two of you to reconcile. I at least have closure since I have the teddy bear from my parents. I don't know what I'd do if they were still alive but separated from me by anger."

"Yeah, I know I'm just being a jerk about it. Damn, the whole reason I'm a delinquent is because of him-well, us. But what can I do?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Let's play some ball!" Akio announced with perfect timing, as though he was answering my question.

"Akio-san, we don't have enough people for two teams," Sanae said.

Akio grunted and left the room.

I jumped when my dad addressed me. "Tomoya, if Akio-san can put this together, you should go and play."

I managed to suppress my usual annoyance. "I'll think about it."

Just then, Akio rushed back into the room. "Okay, we have opponents!"

My jaw dropped. That was fast! "Where…how…?" It seemed as though Nagisa's dad could find people to play ball anywhere.

"Nine members of the staff are on break. What are the chances?" Akio laughed. "Outside in five minutes, everybody!" He left the room, followed by Sanae and Nagisa.

"Go on ahead; I'll be there shortly," Kouko said to her husband, who then left.

Kyou and Tomoyo looked at each other and smiled before getting up and leaving the room. Ryou quickly followed her sister.

"Time to strut my stuff!" Sunohara bragged as he, too, left the room.

Yukine set her cookware to a lower temperature and left as well.

That left Kouko, Kotomi-chan, my dad, and me.

Kouko went over to Fuuko's bedside. "I'll be back shortly, Fu-chan," she said while fixing her sister's hair. She then also left the room, much to my surprise. Kotomi-chan looked at me for a moment before following her.

This just left me…and him.

Dad made his way over to the other side of Fuuko's bed. "Two years?"

I blinked at his question. "Two…? She's been in a come for two years, if that's what you're asking."

He nodded. Something about him seemed…different? I never smelled alcohol on him during that party, for one. Maybe he decided to sober up, at least for this?

"Why are you here?" I had to know.

He looked at me briefly before looking back at Fuuko. "She is the one you care so much about?"

I felt vulnerable for some reason. "Yeah, she's the one."

He nodded again, more slowly this time. "It's such a shame, for young lives to be lost like this. So many opportunities missed, so many possibilities…"

What was he talking about? "…Dad…"

He looked up at me again. "Tomoya…I'm…very sorry for what happened. I…took part of your future from you, and I regret that."

I had to clench my eyes shut and swallow the lump in my throat many times. "Why are you bringing this up now?"

As usual, he wouldn't answer a direct question. "Tomoya…why don't we go play ball with the others?"

"What do you mean, 'we'? And I'd rather stay here with Fuuko on her birthday."

He smiled. "I don't think she's going anywhere. But from what I've heard, if you go play, she may be out there watching you."

"How do…?" I was stunned. I didn't think Nagisa knew anything about that. So how did Dad?

"Wouldn't you like to impress the girl you like? I always liked impressing your mother when we went bowling."

I clicked my tongue. "Tch. Fine. Let's…go play."

Our team did surprisingly well, even considering that our opponents were nurses and aides; we won the game 12-3. Tomoyo knocked every one of hers out of the park. Unfortunately, because of her spot in the rotation, it usually only amounted to single runs. Sunohara, of course, struck out every time, even when he tried bunting. Go figure.

The others did so-so. I got a couple of hits, one of which was a homerun that won us the game, and as I heard everyone cheering I realized that...well, I liked coming through for people.

But…How do I say this? My dad…he, uh…used to play baseball. Apparently.

"Hey," one of the hospital staff asked after the game. "Aren't you 'Grand Slam'?

As it turned out, Dad had apparently made a name for himself in high school, so much so that his name was still well-known years later He was an excellent baseball player, particularly at hitting home runs. His position in the batting lineup ending up earning him the nickname 'Grand Slam'.

I was impressed. And a little annoyed at being impressed.

I was still annoyed and impressed as we made our way back to room 225. I looked behind me to see Akio talking excitedly with my dad. Of course he usually talked excitedly, but he probably had a good reason this time: He was likely trying to get Dad to join his team. Sanae and Nagisa were right behind them, raising a cloud of giggles.

As I entered the room, I saw that Yukine was already there, setting candles on the cake. I walked over to get a better look at it. Sure enough, it was shaped like a starfish, and a big one, too. I looked over at Fuuko and blinked in surprise.

She had a party hat on. For a moment I thought that it was her spirit before realizing that the hat was the wrong color. It was kinda like double-vision for a moment.

Eventually the candles were lit, and I found myself wondering how we were going to have Fuuko blow them out.

My question was answered as Kouko-san made her way to Fuuko's bedside. As we sang 'Happy Birthday', Yoshino-san brought the cake over to the bed. Kouko looked over at Fuuko briefly, like she was giving her sister time to make a wish. Then, she leaned forward and blew the candles out herself. We all cheered, of course, and I suspected that we were all wishing for Fuuko's recovery. I know I was.

Since everybody other than the Yoshinos thought they were going to be keeping me company, nobody brought presents for Fuuko, which was just as well.

After the cake, everyone continued to make small talk, but it looked as though things were starting to wind down.

Sunohara was the first to leave. "I wanna get back to my place before the rugby team gets back from their game." He explained. "I'd like to enjoy the quiet before they get back."

I didn't keep track of how long or anything, but after Sunohara left the twins left next. Kyou made it a point to let me know when her sister would love to help me with tutoring Fuuko. "We class reps are really smart, right?" she hinted, though the same could be said about Kyou as well. Those two worried me sometimes.

Nagisa and her parents left shortly after, though Sanae practically had to drag her husband out, who wouldn't stop talking to Dad. He was likely still trying to get Dad to join his team.

After helping Yukine with some of the clean-up, Tomoyo briefly stopped by Fuuko's bed, then walked up to me, smiled while clapping a hand on my shoulder, and left with "See you later, Okazaki." Short and to-the-point as always. I appreciated that about her.

Surprisingly, the Yoshinos were next to leave; I would have guessed that they would be the last. "I need to get home to make dinner," Kouko explained. "But please, feel free to stay as long as you like."

"At least until the staff kicks you out," Yuusuke added.

I almost missed seeing Yukine leave. After packing up her stuff, she made her way to the door, stopping just long enough to give Dad a kiss on the cheek. What?! My curiosity would be eating me alive for a while because of that.

I had become accustomed to the pressure on my arm, so I felt a sense of loss when Kotomi-chan let go of my sleeve to collect her stuff. She walked to the door and turned and bowed to us. "Tomoya-kun, Naoyuki-san, have a pleasant evening."

"Good-night, dear," said Dad.

'Night, Kotomi-chan. See you later," I replied.

She smiled at us as she left.

That left Dad and I alone again.

He made his way over to Fuuko's bedside again. "Such a sweet girl. If you weren't already taken by Fuuko-chan, I would suggest you talk to her or Yukine-chan."

I grunted. "What was that kiss about?"

"Ah, from Yukine-chan just now? We talked about her situation with the gangs, and I guess I gave her some good advice."

At first I was irritated again, but then I realized: Dad liked to come through for others, just like me. Or I guess it would be 'I'm just like him' when it comes to that. Not that I would admit it.

After a few minutes of silence, Dad got up from his chair. "Well, I guess should be going. It's getting pretty late. I assume you won't be coming home, so…good night, Tomoya."

After he left, I realized that he only called me 'Tomoya-kun' when he first saw me. After that, I was 'Tomoya'.

What caused this sudden change in him? Is this change permanent? Why can't he make easy for me to hate him? Gah, I have some thinking to do!