Ichigo woke up to the loud, rapid sound of someone knocking on her front door. She groaned a little at the bright sunlight streaming in through her window but opened her eyes anyway. She sat up, stretching and yawning, running her fingers through her messy red hair while rubbing her eyes open. It wasn't until she heard another knock that she really got up out of bed, stumbling around like a zombie, still half asleep.

She made her way towards the door, opening it and squinting through the sun to see who was there. In front of her stood a woman and two little girls looking brightly up at her.

"Morning, Ichi-chan!" Luna and Mana cheered happily.

Ichigo chuckled at them and hugged them both tightly.

"Mm… good morning."

Sara laughed as she jumped up and brought Ichigo in her arms.

"Oh, good morning Little Ichi!" She shouted with stars in her eyes.

Ichigo blushed lightly but smiled at her nonetheless.

"Good morning Sara-san. Um... if you don't mind me asking, what are you guys doing here?"

They all giggled before Luna spoke up.

"It's Taka's birthday!" She exclaimed loudly.

"Oh," Ichigo yawned as she stretched her arms.

"That's ni- Wait, it's Takashi's birthday!" She yelled, jumping a bit from surprise, almost tripping over her feet.

"Yup!" They yelled back together. Sara laughed brightly at the younger girl's reaction.

"Ugh…" Ichigo threw her head back as she mentally kicked herself. "I didn't get him anything."

They grinned as if they knew something she didn't.

"Well... if you want to get him something, you can help decorate the house!" Sara suggested with enthusiasm.

Ichigo blinked at her, confused, "What? Decorate what?"

"The house," Sara explained. "Do you think you could come over and help watch the girls while they decorate? I have to go to work. Do you think you could help watch the girls until I get back? I know it's really last-minute."

Ichigo laughed as Sara gave Ichigo her best puppy dog eye look.

"Sure thing, Sara-san."

"Really?" Sara asked excitedly.

Ichigo smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I mean, why not."

The three girls screamed together and hopped around the red-haired girl.

"Thank you so much!" Sara cheered as she pulled her into a hug. "Oh, you're just the best!" She hugged her tightly. "Let's go, let's go, we have a lot of work to do," she dragged the others off, and Ichigo followed after them happily.

Ichigo's eyes widened with surprise as she saw all the decorations that needed to be put up.

"Woah…" She murmured quietly under her breath as she took in all the lights, balloons, streamers, and banners. "Do we really need all these decorations, though? Don't you think it's a bit overkill?" She wondered out loud as she picked up a banner that had so much glitter on it that the glitter fell off the banner as soon as she picked it up.

Mana and Luna nodded in response, Sara just laughing and rolling her eyes playfully at Ichigo.

"Of course it is! Taka turns 17 today!" Sara cheered as she grabbed more decorations from the boxes and placed them on the table.

Ichigo looked curiously as she picked up a streamer trying to figure out where she would put it.

"So, um, all we need to do is put the decorations up?" Ichigo asked as she stared at the colorful decorations.

Sara let out another laugh as she opened up the kitchen cabinet and took out some dry ingredients.

"Well, not really. You'll also need to make dinner and the cake," Sara pointed at the food supplies she had laid out in front of her.

Ichigo's mouth fell open as Sara pulled out the last of the ingredients, placing them in front of her.

"Oh… umm… Sara-san, I don't think you want me doing that," Ichigo trailed off, knowing that there was a huge possibility that she would end up burning the house down.

Sara waved off the comment with a smile.

"Don't worry, it's not too hard. I left out the instructions and everything. It's Taka's favorite, chicken katsu. And the girls are going to help too. Aren't you girls?" Sara questioned as she turned to the girls and gave them a smile.

The two girls grinned widely, nodding their heads quickly in excitement.

"Yes!" They replied enthusiastically, making Sara grin even bigger.

"Perfect! I told Taka's friends to bring him back around six. I'm going to try to get back before then. I just have to run and pick up his present before I come back."

Ichigo felt nervous as she looked at the ingredients on the table. She couldn't cook to save her life, let alone make a full-on meal and cake. This was not going to end well, but she had already promised Sara that she would help.

"Okay," Ichigo answered unsurely.

Sara gave her an encouraging smile before grabbing her purse and kissing her daughters on the forehead.

"Perfect, well, I'll be back. Have fun!" She told the girls as she rushed out of the house.

After closing the door, Mana and Luna turned to Ichigo, smiling up at her as they grabbed some of the decorations.

"Come on, let's get started," they cheered at the same time. Ichigo smiled nervously, nodding along.

"Oh, Okay then. Let's do this," she announced as they set off to work.

The girls got to work quickly, putting up the streamers and placing the balloons and confetti everywhere. There were lots of colors and sparkles everywhere. Ichigo smiled as she lifted Mana on her shoulders, as Mana taped the streamers on the ceiling while Luna struggled to blow up the balloons.

"This is hard, Ichi-chan," she whined as she struggled to blow the balloon up.

"Oh, I'll help you," Ichigo offered as she set Mana down on the ground.

Luna looked at her gratefully and handed her the balloon.

"Thanks," she smiled up at her.

Ichigo blew up the balloon and helped Luna tie the ribbons around one of the balloons before sticking a big pink bow onto her head. Luna giggled and shook her hair out, making Ichigo laugh softly.

Luna finished tieing her ribbons on the balloons as Mana taped the remaining streamers on the wall, and Ichigo hung up the banner. All the girls smiled brightly at each other as they looked around the decorated house covered in bright-colored balloons, streamers, and glitter.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Mana cheered excitedly. "You think Taka will love it, Ichi-chan?" She questioned, turning to Ichigo hopefully.

Ichigo smiled softly at the little girl's excitement and nodded gently.

"He sure will, Mana," she answered cheerily.

Luna gasped.

"We should get started on the cake now! Taka says that you always have to make the desserts first. That way, they'll be cooled down enough to decorate them," Luna explained quickly, pulling Ichigo by the wrist away from the mess in the living room and towards the kitchen, ignoring the look of fear on Ichigo's face.

Ichigo gulped slightly as she followed Luna to the kitchen.

"I'm going to burn down this house," Ichigo whispered nervously to herself.

The two girls walked into the kitchen with determination on their faces, Ichigo behind them nervously. Mana grabbed a few baking bowls while Luna grabbed a measuring cup and gave Ichigo the wooden spoon for her cake batter.

"So, um, have any of you ever cooked before?" Ichigo asked nervously as she looked over at them.

Mana and Luna stopped what they were doing for a moment to stare at her.

"Well... yeah. But we've never done it on our own," Luna answered her. "Taka always helps us," she smiled as she crawled on the counter, pulling the supplies out of the cabinets.

Ichigo sweatdropped.

"Right," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head slightly as she started measuring the ingredients. "So, looks like this is going to be a first for all of us," Ichigo commented.

"Yeah!" The sisters chimed with enthusiasm.

Luna started filling the bowl with flour as Mana added the milk, eggs, and sugar while Ichigo mixed all the ingredients together.

"It says we need two teaspoons of baking powder. Mana, can you pass it to me?" Ichigo asked as she looked over at Mana, who pulled out a small container of white powder.

"Um, I don't see the baking powder, but can we use baking soda?" Mana asked curiously as she searched through the contents of the container.

Ichigo shrugged her shoulders.

"Eh, I don't see why not. It's both white and starts with baking." Luna nodded her head, agreeing with her.

"Okay," Mana hummed. She handed her the container of baking soda. "But it says we need two teaspoons of baking powder and 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda. Should we just add them together?" She questioned.

Ichigo chuckled lightly as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, I think it's fine," Ichigo smiled as Mana poured the remaining ingredients into the mixing bowl and mixed it. "This isn't so hard," Ichigo smiled brightly at the girls, who just smiled back. Ichigo watched them for a short moment enjoying the sight of them happy.

Ichigo stood beside the mixing bowl and stared at the mixture when they finished.

"It kinda tastes funny," Luna admitted as she put her finger in the mix, licking off her finger.

Ichigo frowned.

"What do you mean it tastes funny?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"It doesn't taste like cake, does it?" Mana asked, also tasting the batter.

Ichigo blinked and glanced at the mixture carefully. She stuck her finger in the batter and licked it off. She cringed slightly. The girls were right. It didn't taste good.

"Umm… not really..." She answered slowly as she tried the mixture again. "But we followed the instructions. Maybe it's one of those cakes that taste better when you bake it?" Ichigo suggested.

Mana thought about it as Luna giggled.

"Maybe so," the girls answered cheerfully.

They looked at each other before looking back at the oven, letting Ichigo put the pan in.

"Now we just wait!" Luna exclaimed happily.

Ichigo let out a deep sigh.

"We did it!" She grinned triumphantly as she looked at the two girls, who grinned at her widely and gave a thumbs up.

"If we can make a cake, then we can definitely make dinner!" Luna cheered.

Ichigo's eyes widened at the idea, and she grinned at the girls, who seemed more than eager to try their skills.

"Okay, let's do it. It says we need chicken. Does anyone know where it's at?" Ichigo asked as they headed for the fridge.

Both girls shrugged as they opened the fridge to pull out the chicken and placed it on the chopping board before grabbing the knife.

"Let's do this!" They cheered as they chopped the chicken together.

Ichigo bit her lip nervously as she watched the girls cut the chicken. Was this okay? What if it didn't turn out right? What would happen if Takashi hated it? Ichigo shook her head, clearing her thoughts as she took a deep breath and continued to cut the chicken. She shouldn't be worrying. She had been doing everything correctly so far.

"Okay, now we have to panko it," Luna announced as she took a bag of panko out of the pantry.

"That's right," Mana agreed excitedly as she held her hand out, and Luna tossed her the bag.

The girls continued to follow the instructions, and once it was how it needed to be, Ichigo turned on the stove and put oil on the pan waiting for it to heat up so that she could fry the chicken.

"It's okay," Ichigo nervously told herself. "You've seen Yuzuha do it many times before," she reassured herself as the pan heated up. "All you have to do is heat up the oil and then put the chicken in and then take it out," Ichigo recited as she flipped the chicken in the oil and began to watch it cook.

She could hear the girls laughing excitedly as they watched her cook from the sidelines, occasionally adding a comment here and there on how she was doing a good job. Ichigo was nervous, but she knew that the girls were watching her every move. They would give her pointers when they thought one of them was going to burn or if they thought one of them wasn't cooked enough.

But just as Ichigo thought everything was turning up okay, they smelled something burning. The girls looked towards Ichigo, whose face had contorted into one of horror. Her eyes widened in panic as she looked down at the oven and saw smoke seeping out of it.

"Shit! Shit! The cake!" She yelled loudly, dropping the chicken in the pan as she bent down and grabbed an oven mitt, and pulled the cake out of the oven. "Nooo…no…" she whimpered as she pulled the cake out.

The girls looked up at her worriedly. Ichigo was holding a readable expression of terror on her face as she stared down at the pan in horror.

"Oh no," she whispered. "I burnt the cake." She ran a hand through her hair frantically. "What are we going to do?" She panicked, her hands still tangled in her long red locks.

Mana and Luna shared glances, worry written all over their faces. Luna was biting her bottom lip in worry as she kept glancing towards Ichigo as Mana was chewing her thumb nervously.

"Don't panic! Calm down! Don't panic! Think!" The redhead told herself, trying to calm down. "Think," she repeated. She then looked over and saw the girls crying next to her. Her eyes softened. "Hey, hey," She smiled gently as she went to them, wrapping her arms around the two girls.

"It'll be alright," she muttered, hugging them tightly, feeling them hug her back. "It's okay, it's okay. Don't panic," she repeated calmly, hoping that the two girls would believe her.

The girls sniffled and slowly calmed down. Ichigo sighed sadly at their sadness and hugged them tighter as she stroked their backs gently, making sure they wouldn't cry anymore. Eventually, they both calmed down. She pulled back slightly and looked at them, smiling at their tearful faces.

"There's got to be something else we can do," she mused to herself quietly as she looked between the two girls.

"Um, Ichi-chan..." Mana started hesitantly.

Ichigo looked at her expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Ummm, I think the chicken is burning," she pointed out at the pan that was smoking and oil popping franticly out of it.

Ichigo's face scrunched up.

"Ahh!" She screamed as she dropped the cake pan, quickly spinning around and pushing the black smoking frying pan off the burner. "This can't get any worse," she muttered to herself angrily. Then to make matters worse, they heard the loud screeching sound from above her and saw the fire alarm blaring loudly.

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed as she ran around the counter. "Quick, open the door and fan out the smoke!" She shouted hastily.

The girls nodded their heads as they pushed the door open and started fanning out the smoke.

Once the house was free of the smoke and the alarm turned off, Ichigo and the girls walked back into the kitchen and slid onto the floor.

"Well," Ichigo looked at the girls. They all looked like they had lost a fight with a bear. "At least nothing caught on fire… But it still looks like crap. How are we supposed to fix it now?" Ichigo wondered sadly.

The sisters looked at each other before Luna patted Mana's head and opened up a drawer, and pulled out a paper menu.

"Taka also likes pizza," Luna smiled sheepishly as Mana giggled at her sister agreeing with her.

Ichigo smiled at the two sisters, feeling a little less stressed. She felt her cheeks flush slightly as she watched them read the menu out loud.

"You know pizza sounds really good right now," Ichigo smiled as she pulled the girls into a hug ruffling up their hair.

The girls smiled as they sat around the counter, frosting up the cake. Once the pizza came, they cleaned up the kitchen, threw away the burnt chicken, and cleaned up the flour and panko that covered the ground.

"You know the cake doesn't really taste good, Ichi-chan," Luna commented as she spread the pink icing on the top of the cake.

"Yeah, it tastes bad… Are you sure Taka's going to like it?" Mana wondered as she spread the blue icing on the sides of the cake.

"Of course he will. And if he doesn't, then we'll just shove the cake in his face, and he'll be forced to eat it," Ichigo teased, causing them to laugh.

"I now hope he doesn't like it," Luna laughed as she made little happy faces on the cake with yellow icing. "I want to push his face in the cake."

Mana laughed harder.

"Me too," she laughed behind her hands.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the girls' happiness. It felt so nice to see them smile genuinely and having fun again after being sad and miserable for most of the day. Ichigo leaned against the wall, thinking about what was going to happen next. She hoped that things would go well. She wanted to make Takashi happy.

A sudden noise made her jerk her head up and look behind her to see the front door opening. Everyone stopped working, and the three girls glanced behind them. Seven boys walk through the door, joking and laughing with each other. It was Takashi and his friends. But she only recognized Hakkai. She didn't know who the other five were.

"TAKA! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The sisters shouted as they ran over and surrounded him, hugging him tightly.

Takashi blinked, surprised by their sudden enthusiasm. It made him smile as he returned the hug. He chuckled as he rubbed the back of their heads, giving them affection back.

"Thank you," he grinned at them brightly. He then looked around and saw all the decorations hung up around the house.

"Wow… It looks like a unicorn threw up in here," Takashi joked. His friends laughed along as they walked further inside. "You girls and mom must have spent all day working on this," he smiled at them.

The girls just laughed as they shook their heads.

"No, mom's at work. She'll be home soon," Mana explained.

In confusion, Takashi looked at his sisters.

"You're home alone?" He asked them worriedly.

The girls smiled at him in amusement.

"Nope, Ichi-chan's here!" They chorused happily.

"What?" He questioned in shock. He then looked around and saw Ichigo trying to hide in the kitchen corner.

He smirked as she nervously waved over at him.

"UmHam… Happy Birthday, Pretty Boy."

He gave her a small smile as Hakkai came over and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"Hey, Ichigo, what are you doing here?" Hakkai asked teasingly.

Ichigo narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms.

"Didn't you hear the girls, Bean Pole? I was watching them while his mom was at work," she replied, irritated.

Hakkai rolled his eyes as he smiled back at her, not fazed at all by her attitude.

Takashi smirked as he looked back over at his friends.

"Everyone, this is Ichigo. Ichigo, this is Mikey, Draken, Baji, Kazutora, and Pah," he introduced.

The boys smiled at Ichigo as they greeted her.

"So, what is she, your little girlfriend?" Baji teased as he elbowed Kazutora's shoulder, the two boys grinning at each other.

Ichigo glared daggers at him.

"Oi, shut up! I'm not his stupid girlfriend!" She snapped as she pushed herself out of Takashi's grip and glared at the boys.

The boys all looked at Ichigo, shocked by her sudden outburst.

"Uh…" They all trailed off.

Everyone except Hakkai looked at her nervously as he stood next to Takashi, grinning widely, waiting for Ichigo to punch Baji.

Ichigo turned away, looking at Takashi in annoyance.

"Now that you're here, I'm going to leave. I bought pizza for you and your stupid friends, and your cake is on the counter. You better like it. The girls worked really hard on it!" She stated harshly, pointing at the table where the rest of the food was.

Takashi laughed as he grabbed her arm.

"Don't be stupid, Little Strawberry. You're staying here and celebrating with us," He ordered jokingly.

She huffed, annoyed at how stubborn he was, but decided to humor him as she stayed put. He grinned smugly and released his hold on her arm, ignoring the nasty look on her face.

Baji whistled playfully at Ichigo.

"Little Strawberry?" He mocked, chuckling at her.

Ichigo glared at him as she raised her fist and tried hitting him in the gut, only to be held back by Takashi.

"You wanna a-," but before she could finish her sentence, the door was slammed open with a very happy Sara running inside with a giant present in her hand.

"TAKA, YOU'RE HOME!" Sara screamed with excitement as she shoved the present into Draken's arms before running over and giving her son a huge hug. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!" She yelled loudly and happily.

Takashi was startled by the surprise hug but smiled happily as he hugged his mother back. The others smiled at each other at the display. Everyone knew how loving and wild Takashi's mother was, and it made them happy every time they saw her.

She then looked up and smiled at all the decorations placed around the house.

"Oh, you girls did such a good job. This place looks amazing!" She exclaimed joyfully. Then her eyes fell on something behind Ichigo, and she gasped softly. "Little Ichi, why did you buy pizza? Did something happen to the dinner?" She asked worriedly, placing her hands on Ichigo's shoulders.

Ichigo and the sisters nervously looked at each other before Hakkai and Takashi busted out laughing.

"Wait, you had Ichigo make dinner?" Takashi snorted in laughter as he stared at the scene in front of him and his friends in disbelief.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Sara asked, confused as they continued to chuckle in amusement.

"Sara-san Ichigo can't cook to save her life. She can't even cook rice!" Hakkai laughed as he and Takashi leaned on each other for support. Both had tears of laughter in their eyes.

"Hey, shut up!" Ichigo shouted at him as she punched them both on the arms.

Hakkai and Takashi both laughed harder, commenting on how they were surprised that the apartment hadn't burnt down.

"Oh, Little Ichi, why didn't you just say so? I wouldn't have made you cook," Sara told her innocently.

Ichigo sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, pinching the brim of her nose.

"I did tell you that, Sara-san," she grumbled in annoyance.

Luna and Mana laughed as they looked up at everyone.

"You should have seen it. The fire alarm came on, and there was smoke EVERYWHERE! We had to open the door and air out the whole house!" The girls laughed as they waved their hands dramatically.

The girls continued to laugh as they told the group all about their failed cooking attempts. Ichigo groaned as she hid her face behind her hands out of embarrassment. She unnoticeably left the group and hurried to the door, ready to leave, but before she could walk out the door, Takashi grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into him, laughing as she defeatedly dropped her head onto his chest.

"Hey, it's okay Little Strawberry. You tried, and that's all that matters," he spoke smokingly into her ear.

Ichigo blushed bright red and glared at him as he dropped his hands down to her waist.

"Let go, Pretty Boy," she demanded, attempting to free herself from his tight grip.

"Hmm, no way," he shook his head as he smiled down at her. "I want you to stay here with me and celebrate my birthday."

Ichigo hid behind her hands out of embarrassment as she blushed even harder.

"Please, I'm the birthday boy. You have to do what I say," he whined as he continued to hold her.

His grip on her waist got tighter, and she couldn't move anymore.

"Okay!" She finally gave in. "Fine. But no more making fun of my cooking skills," she stated sternly.

"You mean your lack of?" He chuckled at her as she pulled away from him and punched his arm.

They let out a soft laugh at their childish behavior as Takashi led them both back into the room with the others, who were all gathered around each other, eating the pizza Ichigo had bought.

They were all very close and never had any problems talking to each other or spending time with each other. They all shared jokes and stories and just talked about life. After a while, Sara jumped up from her spot, surprising everyone.

"Oh, present time!" Sara squealed excitedly, clapping her hands happily as she ran over and grabbed Takashi's gift.

She took it carefully in her arms as she handed it over to him. He smiled at her, gratefully accepting the gift from her. He carefully unwrapped it as everyone else waited in anticipation. Inside he found an expensive new sewing machine.

The others cheered in happiness as Takashi stood up with wide eyes holding the box close to his chest.

"Wow.." His mouth hung slightly open. "Mom, this is..."

Sara smiled at him in happiness as she looked over at the sewing machine.

"It's pretty cool, right?" She asked him with a proud smile.

He nodded enthusiastically as he looked down at the sewing machine and walked over, and gave his mother a huge hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Mom!" He thanked his mother over and over again as he squeezed her tight.

His mother laughed happily, hugging him back tightly.

"Of course, Sweetheart! I know your old one broke, so I got you this new one. Now you can make me all sorts of beautiful dresses!" She gushed proudly.

Luna and Mana laughed as they ran over to the kitchen and made a dramatic entrance back over to the group carrying the cake that they had made.

"CAKE TIME!" The girls cheered.

Everyone cheered in excitement as they looked down at the rainbow frosting cake with frosting doodles all over it.

Sara then gathered everyone around Takashi as they started singing Happy Birthday to him. Takashi cocked his eyebrows, and he watched Luna and Mana giggle to Ichigo about something as she nodded her head to them. She looked up and caught his eye, giving him a wink before looking back down at the girls. He blinked and felt a warm feeling in his chest as he smiled at her.

Ichigo and the girls walked up to him as Ichigo cut a slice of cake for him and handed him a fork. He smiled in thanks as he took a big bite of the cake before gagging and choking. He started coughing loudly as tears formed in his eyes. The girls all rushed over to help him as he coughed. Everyone laughed as he finished coughing up the cake.

"Um... That was interesting..." He choked.

Mana and Luna smiled as they stood next to him as Ichigo leaned over the cake holding it in her hands.

"Did you like it, Taka?" The girls asked him eagerly with smiles plastered on their faces as the others laughed at their cuteness.

"Yeah, Pretty Boy, did you like it?" Ichigo teased as she kept a firm grip on the plate.

"Be honest. We worked really hard on it," the girls announced in unison as they grinned at one another and at him, waiting for his answer.

Takashi swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to face the girls.

"It was amazing!" Takashi lied with a large smile plastered on his face. "It tastes so good," he added, trying to not gag as he took another bite.

The sisters' high-pitched squeals of happiness filled the house as they hugged him tightly. Takashi hugged the girls back with a small smile on his lips as he looked up with sparkling eyes.

The rest of the night went by in celebration, with laughter filling the room as they enjoyed each other's company. They laughed and joked together, sharing memories and stories with each other until it was time for the girls to go to bed. Once the girls were in their rooms, they all said goodbye to each other, leaving Ichigo to clean up as Takashi and Sara put the girls to bed.

Ichigo finished cleaning up the rest of the dishes when she heard the jingling sound of keys twirled behind her. She turned around to find Takashi leaning against the door frame smiling at her with his dimples popping up.

"You heading out?" She asked as she finished cleaning up the last of the dishes.

Takashi nodded his head and smirked at her. He slowly moved towards her and took the dish out of her hand, drying it off for her as he put it in the dish rack.

"Yep. You know, a little late-night birthday ride."

Ichigo nodded as she shyly looked away from him and went back to cleaning the dishes.

"Oh well, have fun," she told him softly.

She froze as she felt the gentle hand squeeze her shoulder as Takashi leaned down.

"Come with me," he whispered deeply in her ear.

Ichigo instantly stiffened in shock and bit her lip nervously.

"I don't know. It's really late, and I haven't been home all day," she answered hesitantly, still not looking over at him.

She heard Takashi playfully huff before moving his hand off of her shoulder and putting it under her chin, turning her face up to meet his gaze.

"Oh, come on, it's my birthday," he begged softly.

Ichigo blushed deeply as a tingle went down her spine as he stared at her, waiting patiently to receive her answer.

"Alright, fine," she sighed as she threw her hands up in defeat.

Takashi grinned widely at her as he took her hand gently and brought her outside. She didn't resist this as she followed after him quietly.

She softly smiled as she sat behind Takashi with her chin on his shoulder and arms wrapped around his waist.

"So tell me, birthday boy. Did you have a good day?" She asked, smiling, watching the scenery pass by them.

"Of course. It was the best birthday ever, and it was all thanks to you and your delicious cooking, Little Strawberry," he chuckled as he felt her pinch his side teasingly.

Takashi felt himself relax as he reached down and gently squeezed Ichigo's hand before taking his attention back onto the road.