Red Roses: Здравствуйте! (Zdravstvujte!)...if you can read Russian, bravo. Anyway, I told you in an earlier chapter about a surprise chapter. I wonder if any of you have expected it~

Anyway, my replies to my faithful readers.

LateBloomers: I'm so glad you like my story. I can understand why you would stop at that chapter, Shinako did seem a little cocky back then. I'm always grateful for my wonderful readers. Don't worry, nobody in this world is not lazy.

CherryPop0120: Any father would be shocked of his son crossdresssing for the first time. Have they ever shown Katou's dad?

Light27: I love those song suggestions! I might just make a songfic for each and every one! Good luck on your own stories.

LightSpeed Athlete24: It's alright, though I did kinda miss you. It was like not hearing from a faraway friend. Thank you so much for noticing the grammar mistake. I can't believe I missed that! Hmm...Rose-san...I guess I'm alright with that :) To describe Takeshida...imagine a lazy but cool college student in a white doctor's coat.

For anyone who wants to see my (crappy) drawing of Shinako, kindly go to my profile page and click on my deviantart address. Warning, really crappy stuff in there.

Now, for my disclaimer...

Harumi: Red Roses does not own Sket Dance. She only owns the OCs like me. I'm kinda annoyed with the lack of romance.

Red Roses: I'm getting to it. Don't rush me *huff*


"What?! What did you say?!"

Hibiki shook his ear in annoyance. "Sheesh, this is why I can't tell you anything."

Ignoring the ice-eyed boy's cold words, Harumi ran to Shinako's side, frantically pushing her shoulders back and forth.

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Harumi-san, I'm getting dizzy!" Shinako yelled out to her senior who was forcibly rocking her. Harumi immediately let go, freeing Shinako though a little-headed. "I didn't think it was important."

"Are you kidding?!" The jade-eyed brunette yelled out. "It's your birthday, for goodness sake!"

Every year, a week after Valentine's Day, Shinako tends to forget her own birthday. If it weren't for Hibiki constantly reminding her, she would probably still think she's 10.

"I guess I never found my birthday so important" Shinako answered honestly as she continued to fill out the Health Committee paperwork.

Cue Harumi's facepalm. "Of course, it's important! It's the day of your birth, hence the name"

Shinako sighed at her senior's slight overreaction. "Harumi-san, I deeply appreciate your concern but I don't want much for my birthday" She then smiled warmly.

"If at least one person greets me happy birthday, I'd be the happiest girl in the world" Shinako quickly tuck her bangs behind her ear as she got up from her seat, documents in hand.

"I have to bring this to the teacher's staff room. Excuse me" She politely excused herself as she left the room, leaving Hibiki and Harumi.

The short-haired brunette let out an exasperated sigh as she fell limp onto the infirmary bed. "She can so unconsciously frustrating sometimes."

"Give up while you can. She's been this way since we were kids" Hibiki advised her but Harumi wouldn't hear of it.

"Never! I'll make this year her best birthday ever. She will be so surprised and happy, she will scream with delight!"

Hibiki rolled his icy-blue eyes. "Seeing that it's Lady Shinako, it won't be that hard."

Ignoring the blunt butler, Harumi rubbed her chin in thought. "I'm gonna need help though..."


"Bossun, quit lazing around" Himeko scolded Bossun's laziness as the messy-haired leader loitered around on the bench.

"I'm so bored" Bossun yawned to emphasis his point. "There hasn't been a request in a while."

"Well, you could try these cookies I made in class" Himeko held out a plate of cookies to Bossun. "Switch, you should try some too."

As the boys reach out for a cookie, the door slided open to reveal Harumi at the other end. "Sket-Dan, I have a request"

The jade-eyed brunette finally noticed the trio's actions and raised an eyebrow. "Is this all you guys do?"

-One Explanation later-

"Oh, it's Shinako's birthday!" Himeko exclaimed happily. "We have to throw her a party!"

"My thoughts exactly. We're gonna have a surprise birthday party in her home and you guys are coming. I already invited the Student Council to the party."

"What?!" Bossun said loudly, standing up in surprise. "No way am I going to a birthday with that stupid president there!" he blatantly rejected his invitation.

Himeko, irritated, pulled on Bossun's ear like how a mother would to a stubborn child. "Don't be such a child. You're going!"

"But, if it's in Kikuchi's house, how are we supposed to keep it a surprise?" Switch, silent till now, asked to which Harumi smirked in reply.

"Don't worry, I have a plan" Harumi chuckled darkly like a scheming witch on a Haloween night, leaving the Sket-Dan in the dark.

"I don't like the way she's laughing" Bossun quietly commented while Himeko and Switch silently agreed with him.


"You want me to do your grocery list?"

Shinako, confused, held a list of items Himeko gave her as she stared at her blonde senior. "But, why?"

"Ahhh...well, you see..." Himeko nervously laughed then pulled at Bossun's arm. "I need to take Bossun to the hospital."

Shinako gasped as Bossun gave Himeko a strange look.

"What?!" they both said in unison.

"Bossun-san, are you alright?" Shinako asked the Sket-Dan leader worriedly.

"What? Of course I'm fi-eee!" Bossun let out a cry of pain when Himeko twisted his arm backwards, careful not to let a certain female samurai notice.

"Ow, that hurts!" He cried as Shinako seemed upset.

"Oh no, is there anything I could do?"

Himeko quickly stepped in and smiled sweetly at the naive samurai.

"Don't worry about him, I'll take him to the hospital right away. So, thanks for helping with the grocery, bye!"

With that, Himeko left in a hurry, dragging a still in pain Bossun by the arm.

Shinako stood there in the dust confused as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She looked to the grocery list Himeko handed to her.

"I guess it's the least I could do."


"Let's see...snacks, biscuits...candles? How strange" Shinako looked through the list as she walked down the crowded isle. She have already gotten half of the list done. Most of which seems to be preparations for a party.

During her search for the requested items, she have lost sight of her surroundings until a mean, familiar voice called out to her.

"Oi, troublesome samurai."

Almost instinctively, a vein popped up on Shinako's forehead as she turned around to see a certain white-haired boy.

"Katou" she glared venomously at him. "What are you doing here?"

What was he doing here? Let's backtrack a bit, shall we?

In the Student Council room, Harumi paid a small visit to the group Shinako often visits herself.

"It's Shinako-chan's birthday? How joyous~" Unyuu clapped her hands in glee. "I'll order the best birthday cake in Europe~"

"That's too much, Unyuu!" Tsubaki said but Harumi thought otherwise.

"No, I like her. She thinks big" The optimistic brunette said, smiling dreamingly. "I want this cake to be something out from Shinako-chan's dreams!"

Harumi described her surprise party for her favourite junior to everyone and they all (one maybe forced) agreed to come.

"Now, I need someone to follow Shinako-chan so she won't come home to soon." Her green eyes darted to Katou with a sly smile. Truthfully, she was lying. She would love it if a little spark happened between the ninja and samurai and by spark, she didn't mean a heat glare-down.

Katou saw her glance at him and he knew what she was thinking (maybe not everything) and bluntly rejected. "Not me. Get someone else."

"But if you were with her, she'd be too blinded by her hatred towards you to get home earlier" Harumi said and looked to Tsubaki, her only hope. "Tsubaki, you have got to get him to say yes."

Tsubaki, oblivious to Harumi's true intentions, immediately agreed with her. "If it's to help with Kikuchi's birthday, I agree with her. Kiri, go with Kikuchi and that's an order"

"Oh, and don't tell Shinako-chan why you're following her. She might get suspicious" Harumi warned him as he grumbled under his breath.

That settles that, back with the story.

"...Onizuka told me to follow you to the market" he lied.

Shinako found that hard to believe. "Are you lying to me?"

"What reason do I have to lie to you?" He retorted.

The black-haired samurai opened her mouth to speak but no words came. She shut her mouth and silently continued her grocery with Katou following her.

"Can you not stand so close?"

"Shut up, woman."


"I wonder why would Himeko-san need party streamers?" Shinako wondered to herself as she picked out party streamers from a party store.

While she was looking around the store with Katou following behind, girls were whispering albeit loudly about them that Shinako and obviously Katou could hear.

"Look at that hottie. Is that his real hair colour?"

"Who cares, he's a keeper~" one girl giggled.

"Do you think he has a girlfriend?" one of them questioned.

"I think it's that girl he came with" a friend answered.

"Her? You got to be kidding me. She's not even using lipgloss"

Shinako couldn't care less of their indirect but implied insult (or how they know she wasn't using lipgloss), she wanted to scream at them so badly.

"What do girls see in that delinquent ninja?!"

Shinako roughly flicked her bangs aside as she checked the prices, trying her best to block those gossipy hens. While she did so, Katou took a glance at her before walking towards the cashier counter. The girl operating it saw him coming towards her and she quickly spruce up her appearance before he reached there.

"Hello~ How can I help you?~" She asked sweetly, batting her eyes.

He blatantly ignored the counter girl's obvious attempts and pointed at something on an item stand on the counter. "How much for that?"

"Huh?"


"Well, that takes care of the list. I guess we'll head to Himeko-san's house now" Shinako said, carrying the bags containing the items she recently bought. She looked to the silent ninja and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with you? You're acting like you're hiding something from me."

Katou didn't reply to her. Instead, he tossed something small her way and Shinako quickly grabbed it with her free hand. She uncurled her hands and she gasped at what she caught.

It was a simply blue hairclip with small white stars on them. It wasn't too flashy so Shinako could wear it wherever she likes.

"Katou..."

"You kept flipping your hair back today. This will keep your hair in place" he answered while not looking her way. She couldn't believe it. Katou actually noticed something as trivial as that about her.

Shinako felt her cheeks blush as she took the hairclip out of the wrapper. She walked to the nearest store window and clipped her bangs to the side. Shinako smiled at her new appearance in the window's reflection. The hairclip complimented Shinako's naturally sweet smile and made her hair look cuter. The ponytailed samurai looked to Katou.

"How do I look?" She asked, honestly hoping for a nice reply.

"It keeps your hair in check. So, it's not annoying" Katou shrugged as Shinako glared at him. She huffed as she turned her heels.

"Why did I ever ask for your opinion?"

Suddenly, Shinako's phone rang from the inside of her schoolbag. She pulled it out and answered her phone. "Hello, Shinako speaking."

"Shinako, it's terrible!"

"Father?"

Her father was on the other line. He sounded frantic and nervous. "Your mother...she collapsed on the kitchen floor!"

Shinako nearly dropped her phone in shock. "W-What?! What happened?!"

"I don't know but you should come home as soon as possible!"

With that, the phone cut off. Her father hung up, leaving his daughter confused and scared. Could something terrible happened to her mother? Regardless of her surroundings, Shinako rushed to the direction of her home.

"Oi, woman!" Katou called out to her but it fell upon deaf ears. He easily caught up to Shinako but the chocolate-eyed samurai couldn't care about that. All she cared about was her mother's safety.

"Mother, please be alright..." Shinako begged the heavens not to take her mother so soon.


The samurai and ninja quickly reached to an traditional Japanese house. As Katou lingered at the sight of it, Shinako quickly run through the front gates and slided opened the front door.

"Mother, are yo-"

"SURPRISE!"

"Huh?"

Shinako was shocked to see all her friends in her living room decorated to a birthday party theme. Harumi squeezed through the crowd and went up to hug the stunned samurai.

"Happy birthday, Shinako-chan!"

"W-What is all of this?" Shinako mumbled out, eyes widened with surprise. Katou walked in, noticing the samurai's shock in her face.

"What do you think, silly? We're celebrating your birthday!" Harumi grinned as others started greeting her happy birthday as well.

"But, my mother..."

"Sorry about that, sweetheart."

Shinako turned to see her mother and father, perfectly healthy and smiling.

"Mother! You're alright!"

"Of course, my sweet child. I would never go down like that so easily" The older woman smiled warmly at her daughter. "Happy birthday, dear child."

"But, father told me-" Shinako didn't have to finish her sentence when her dad started to explain.

"I'm sorry, Shinako but we need a reason to get you to come as fast as you can the only way was to tell you one of us was in danger" Shinako's father looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry to have deceive you but I had no choice."

"So...you guys did all of this for me..." Shinako said and her parents nodded with a smile.

After that, the black-haired female samurai couldn't hold her feelings any longer. Shinako fell down to her knees and started crying. The guests started to worry.

"S-Shinako?"

"What's wrong?"

"Are you ok?"

Harumi yelled out with concern. "Oh no, I wanted you to scream with joy, not cry."

Then, Shinako giggled as she wiped her tears away. "Harumi-san, these are tears of pure joy."

"Huh?" Everyone was confused.

Shinako nodded. "I can't believe you guys went to the trouble to make me a surprise birthday party. My feelings started overflowing. I'm sorry to make you worry just now."

Harumi laughed as she embraced Shinako. "All is forgiven. Now, let's party!"


They partied for hours. They laughed, mingled and ate Shinako's delicious (and expensive) cake from Belgium.

She opened up presents from each of her friends. Unyuu gave her a beautiful necklace, Usami bought her ribbons for her hair, Daisy bought a cute teddybear, Tsubaki gave her a new notebook, Himeko knitted her a scarf, Switch gave her a DVD of a highly recommended anime show, Bossun bought her an action figure with a samurai sword (to which Himeko commented was a stupid gift to give a girl), Shinzou and Shinpei bought her new armour for her sword practice, Hibiki changed her ringtone to her new favourite song since Shinako was terrible with cellphones. Harumi gave her a white rabbit plush doll and her parents gave her an envelope with money.

Shinako thought her face would split in two from all that smiling. It was truly an unforgettable birthday as seeing all her closest friends made it special for the sweet samurai.

As she got ready for the night, she placed each present to a place suitable for them. She place her new teddybear and plush doll on her bed where she could cuddle them in her sleep.

Though not trying to be unfair, Shinako found Harumi's gift to be the best since she had a major soft spot for rabbits. The fair samurai hugged the white rabbit doll tightly in her arms as she laid down on her bed.

She loved the soft white fur and it's black shiny eyes reflect the light of her lamp, almost as if the rabbit was alive. And the cutest part was that it wore a cute black sweater. It strangely reminded her of...

Shinako immediately sprung up from her bed as her face turned deep volcanic red. She was screaming in her head as she hid her scarlet face behind her hands.

"HAARRUUMMMIII!"


Red Roses: I wondered what made Shinako so flustered?~ Sneaky Harumi...she will have her OTP soon...

Anyway, sorry for the late update. I'm thinking of another story (yes another story, I'm way over my head) I've always dreamed of making a Pokemon story as a kid but didn't had the imagination for it.

Time for this kid to have her wish granted!

So, До свидания! (Do svidanija!) for now...