Chapter Twenty One – Kunimitsu's Party
"So, Miyako-chan, have you got anything planned for next week?"
Miyako looked at Momo questioningly. "What do you mean? Why would I have anything planned next week? It's the first week of October."
"Ahh, but it's Tezuka's birthday on the seventh." Momo replied.
"It is?" Kara asked.
Miyako frowned. "Why didn't he tell me?" She demanded.
"You know what he's like." Momo replied. "He'd rather that no one knew so that he can just celebrate in peace." He shrugged. "He's crazy if you ask me."
Miyako pulled out her planner and checked the date. "His birthday is on the Wednesday then."
Momo nodded. "And his family only celebrates in the mornings. They'll set up his favourite breakfast and give him their gifts, but that'll be the end of it – they'll probably cook him up his favourite meal but they're not very traditional in that household."
Miyako frowned thoughtfully. "Then I'll just have to plan something. Hmm, I might have to talk to Fuji-senpai about it."
"What do you think you'll do?" Kara asked curiously.
Miyako shrugged. "Anything I can."
. : . : . : .
"That sounds good, but how do you plan to get him there?" Fuji asked.
Miyako sighed. "That's what I'm worried about – it's just a little too obvious if I ask him to come to my place on the night of his birthday. That and I know that he's more than a little apprehensive of interacting with my Dad."
"Can you ask your parents to vacate the house for the evening?"
Miyako raised her eye brows. "I never thought of that."
"Besides, even if you did invite him to your place I don't think he'd ever suspect what you have planned." Fuji reassured her.
"Can I count on you to sort that list out?" Miyako asked.
Fuji nodded. "Yep, I'll get everyone certain on their assignments."
"Awesome. I owe you one, Fuji-senpai."
"Plant one here and I'll call it even." Fuji said teasingly, placing the tip of his finger to his cheek.
Miyako took a step back. "Are you serious?"
Fuji simply shrugged.
Miyako shrugged herself and kissed his cheek. "There we're even."
Fuji smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you."
. : . : . : .
"You want a match against me and Oishi?"
Miyako nodded. "Tezuka and I have been working on our doubles, but we wanted to have a match against you and Oishi-senpai so that we can properly observe the Australian Formation."
Eiji smiled. "This should be fun."
Miyako smiled widely. "Go easy on us, okay? We've only been playing against a wall. Literally."
"I can't promise that." Eiji replied with a cheeky grin. "I'll go tell Oishi."
Miyako laughed and then ran over to Tezuka. "He's going to get Oishi-senpai." She informed him. She squeaked. "This'll be fun. I haven't played against anyone but you since I quit my official lessons."
"They won't go easy on us, even if you asked."
"I know, but it was worth asking."
He rolled his eyes lightly.
"Oh, by the way – you should have told me."
"Told you what?"
"It's your birthday tomorrow." Miyako replied, placing her fists on her hips. "I only found out the other day from Momo-chan."
Tezuka sighed. "It's just another day of the year."
"Well, Momo-chan told me that you don't do anything in the evenings for your birthday so you're going to come to my place, okay?"
Tezuka was instantly apprehensive.
"My parents are going to take Kaiya over to one of their friend's places for dinner and stuff like that. They won't be home until you probably decide to leave." Miyako explained. "It always happens that way."
Tezuka sighed. "Don't over do anything. There isn't much of a need."
Miyako smiled. "No not at all. I'll just make some dinner and we'll hang around for a few hours. That's not too much, is it?"
"No." He admitted.
"Awesome." Miyako said, swinging her racquet and then winced, nearly losing her grip. "Woops." She whispered, clutching her left arm tenderly.
"Are you okay?" Tezuka asked, instantly concerned.
Miyako waved a hand. "No, no. I've just had a little cramp in the muscles for a few days. I've been bandaging it at night and taking all the necessary precautions." She explained. She looked at him and sighed. "I promise. It'll go away in a day or so."
"If you say so."
Miyako smiled. "If it gets worse I'll let you know."
. : . : . : .
She hastily brushed back the annoying strand of hair with the back of the hand that held the knife before she got back to chopping up the red tomatoes into easy to bite pieces and then pushed the pile from the chopping board and into a waiting bowl.
"Are you sure that you've got everything under control?" Tamie asked as she helped Kaiya into a jacket.
"Yep. The boys are helping out too." Miyako said. "They should be here soon."
"I don't know if I like you being the only girl there." Naoko said again.
"I won't be." Miyako stated. "Sakuno-chan and Yori-chan are coming too. Now, please, can you go?"
"Honestly, dear, you're being such a pain." Tamie said, pushing Naoko out the front door. "Have a nice time, Miya!" She called and closed the door.
Miyako sighed. Relieved. Just as she turned to grating the carrot there was a knock on the door and she ran hastily to answer it. Fuji and Eiji stood there with their arms laden with plastic bags full of ingredients. "Fuji-senpai, Eiji-senpai. You're early."
"We gotta make the cake right?" Eiji asked as they were let in and they slipped their shoes off at the door. "Where's Kibachi?"
Miyako smiled at the affectionate nickname. "She's in the backyard – and I'm afraid she'll have to stay there until after dinner. She'll get in the way otherwise."
Eiji looked rather disappointed.
"But Kaiya's cat is hanging around somewhere. She'll probably appear when I begin the mince."
"So what are you making for dinner, exactly?" Fuji asked curiously as she led them into the kitchen and he spotted the bowls of food chopped up.
"A western styled meal." Miyako replied. "Burritos. The meat can be a bit spicy so I'm sure that you'll enjoy it, Fuji-senpai."
Fuji smiled and then looked at the clock. "We should get started Eiji, we don't want to run out of time."
"Do you think he'll suspect anything by you two skipping on practice?" Miyako asked as she piled the bowls together and carried them to the fridge.
"Nope." Eiji replied as he and Fuji prepared their ingredients. "We told him that we were going to do some private intense training for doubles. We've done that a few times this year so he's not fazed by it."
"You know, you guys targeted me." Miyako accused him. "Tezuka had to play all the moves yesterday."
Eiji grinned. "That's just the way it is in the Regular's world."
Miyako frowned. "Either way, Tezuka and I are going to work on our doubles more."
"Miyako-chan, where are the mixing bowls? And uum, do you have an electric beater?" Fuji asked.
Miyako nodded. "Yeah, the beaters are in the bottom drawer there and the mixing bowls are in the corner cupboard near the sink." She explained.
Fuji nodded and began his search.
"So…um. How long have you known Tezuka?" Miyako asked curiously.
"Since our first year at Junior High." Fuji replied, appearing from the corner cupboard with a large bowl. "We were all new students in the tennis club."
"Ahh the memories." Eiji sighed as he added flour to the bowl.
Fuji added the milk and eggs and Eiji set the beaters into the mix.
"We also persuaded Tezuka to finish practice early in honour of his birthday – and though he was sceptical at first he agreed. So the others should be coming around within the next hour." Fuji informed.
"Fantastic. You know how to plan things Fuji-senpai." Miyako said. "I don't think I could have done all of this on my own."
Silence followed, besides the continuous whir of the beaters. Feeling the awkwardness of it, Miyako bustled around the living room and kitchen, making sure that she had cleaned everything and nothing was out of place.
When she finally returned to the kitchen and sat on a stool by the bench, watching as Fuji and Eiji continued to make the cake batter.
"Miyako-chan?" Fuji said quietly.
"Hmm?"
"We really appreciate that you have come into our lives." Fuji said softly, carefully stirring the cake mix to find any lumps. "Tezuka's so much happier now and he smiles. And it makes all of us happy to see that he's got someone special in his life."
Miyako flushed across the cheeks.
"Yeah, Fujiko's right. I don't think I've seen Tezuka smile this much since I met him." Eiji added.
"I'm glad that I met all of you." Miyako replied. "I admit that when Dad transferred me into Seimaku I was a little upset to leave the other school."
Eiji frowned. "Why? Did you have friends there?"
Miyako scoffed. "No. I didn't have any friends there. It was a slightly uptight school – but they didn't idolise tennis. Then without talking to me Dad just transferred me over to Seimaku and I knew of its history and that of Seigaku as well. Tennis for fame was something that I just couldn't stand." She sighed. "But I started to realise that you play because you love it – tournaments are chances for you to show others how much you love the game by showcasing how much you have practiced with your skills and game play." She looked at the pair and smiled. "As for me I won't be joining the tennis club like Hime-senpai wants and keeps bugging me to do. But I will support the club with everything I've got and I will follow them to the Nationals next year."
Fuji and Eiji shared a smile and then smiled at her. "So will we." Fuji said. "When we leave school we'll be keeping in touch with Momo-chan, Kaidou and Echizen just like we did when we left Junior High."
"You'll see us more often than you think." Eiji added.
Miyako laughed. "If you follow Kunimitsu and me on any dates you'll be sorry." She warned.
The cake batter was soon ready and put in the oven to bake and once the clock passed four they began the waiting game: waiting for the others.
Echizen, tailed by Sakuno-chan, with Momo and Kaidou, who was tailed by Yori, arrived with the bottles of soft drinks, was first. Taka-san followed soon after. He'd bought along an assortment of sushi as per asked for the entrées with Inui who had been asked to assist him.
"Oishi called." Fuji announced, returning to the living room after checking on the cake. "He's almost here with the decorations."
Miyako smiled brightly, giggling a little. "I'm so excited."
Once Oishi arrived they hastily put up the banners in the living room and one 'Happy Birthday' banner above the doorway outside the front door.
"So, when was Tezuka supposed to get here?" Eiji asked, as he pet Kohana – she'd appeared and instantly favoured the redhead.
"I told him to get here around five because he insisted that he helped me cook dinner." Miyako replied. "I let him believe I would allow that – but he should know better."
Members of the group laughed a little.
"It sounds weird that someone else would have control over Tezuka-senpai like that." Yori commented.
"Well, someone has to." Miyako said with a smile.
A sound knock on the door alerted them all and Miyako pressed a finger to her lips to her guests, signalling them to keep quiet before she left the living room and casually walked to the front door. When she opened the door her heart, as it always did in his presence, melted. "Hi."
"Good afternoon." Tezuka greeted as she stepped aside for him to enter. After he'd slipped his shoes off he turned to her, circling his arms around her waist. "I missed you today."
"It was a once off, I'll make it up to you." Miyako replied, smiling.
Then he proved just how unaware he was of the other's presence in the house as he shut the front door and engaged her in a vigorous kiss that nearly scattered her mind. But it was when he grew daring and traced her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue, and though she gasped and allowed him entrance, she pulled back.
"You missed me that much huh?" Miyako teased as she detached his hands from around her and walked down the hall and into the kitchen.
"So sue me." Tezuka said, following her. Then he saw the cake cooling on the counter. "Don't you think that's a bit too big?"
Miyako looked at the cake a quickly fabricated a lie. "I'm going to take it to school tomorrow and share the rest with the guys." She explained.
Tezuka looked at her, but shrugged. "If that's what you want to do. So, what masterpiece do you have planned for dinner?"
"Nothing special. A western meal that my Dad loves and I love. I thought that you might enjoy it." Miyako replied as she searched for a pot and put it on the stove. "Burritos. But before we get started on cooking, there was something that I wanted to show you."
Tezuka raised his eyebrows.
"But you have to close your eyes, okay?" Miyako said.
His eyebrows lowered into a frown.
"Please, please, please. Just humour me." She pleaded.
Sighing, he held a hand out and closed his eyes.
She gently took his hand and kissed the tip of his knuckles. "I'm glad that you trust me like this, Kunimitsu." She whispered. He smiled a little as she began to lead him off the tiled floors of the kitchen and onto carpet. "Okay, you can open them."
His eyes opened steadily and them widened, lips parting in shock. All of the Regulars were in the decorated living room, a platter of sushi on the coffee table and glasses filled with various drinks.
"Surprise~!" They all exclaimed.
He turned on Miyako. "What?"
She giggled. "I know I promised it would be just me and you but…when I heard that you didn't have any kind of party – ever – I had to change that. Don't worry, I didn't do everything. Fuji-senpai and Eiji-senpai made the cake, Takasan-senpai and Inui-senpai made the platter, Ryoma-kun, Momo-chan and Kaidou bought the drinks and Oishi-senpai got the decorations for us."
"It was a joint effort." Oishi added.
"But Miyako-chan set it all up and organised it." Fuji said. "We helped, but she's the mastermind."
"Miya." Tezuka said, slightly exasperated.
"No, don't say it. It's my pleasure and there was nothing that you could have done to stop me. Oh, and you're not helping me cook dinner. That's my one and only job." She said and left for the kitchen.
. : . : . : .
The western styled dinner was eaten quickly by all the boys and thankfully there were little leftovers – Miyako placed what was left into bowl and gave it to Eiji so that he could give it to Kiba. Excitedly he agreed to the job.
"You indulge him a bit too much." Tezuka noted as he helped bring plates into the kitchen.
Miyako shrugged. "It's one less thing that I have to do tonight."
Fuji chuckled as he was icing the cooled down cake. "And keeps him away while I'm trying to do this."
She smiled and followed Tezuka back into the living room.
Then suddenly there were slamming car doors out the front and then not a moment later the front door flew open. Tamie ran up the stairs and Naoko followed her in, not bothering to take his shoes off. He stormed into the living room and took Miyako's arm. "Miyako, you need to come with us, now."
"What? Dad it's only seven o'clock, what are you doing home?" Miyako exclaimed. "What's happening? Ow, Dad, that's my sore arm, remember?"
Naoko released her arm like he'd been electrocuted. "You need to come with me and your Mother now. The other's can stay here for the moment, but you need to come."
"No, Dad. I'm the host, I can't leave." Miyako insisted. "Now what exactly is going on?"
Naoko lost his patience. He picked Miyako up in his arms and flung her easily over his shoulder. "Tezuka, we're leaving Kaiya here, can you watch over her?"
Tezuka was frozen, but nodded, unable to disobey.
And fast as that, Miyako and her Father was gone, out the front door with Tamie behind them, carrying a bulging backpack.
Tezuka slowly closed the door behind them, numb to everything as he slowly walked back into the kitchen where Fuji was already entertaining Kaiya. He'd lifted her onto the countertop and was sharing the remnants of the icing with her from the bowl he'd mixed it in.
"Do you know anything?" Fuji asked. "Where are they taking her?"
"Daddy got a call from Miya-neechan's doctor." Kaiya spoke up, chocolate lining her lips and then continued in a voice that spoke of innocence and complete ignorance. "Miya-neechan has to go to the hospital – they think she's sick again."