Disclaimer: Thank goodness Blu Rose doesn't own the Blue Exorcist series!

Summary: Today was Kazuki's birthday party. It was a day that Rin had worried may not have come and a day Kazuki had once prayed he wouldn't see. All Rin wants is for his son to be happy, while all Kazuki wants is...

X-X-X

Part 6: I'm glad I have you

It had been a wonderful idea: a beach party. The perfect way to surprise Kazuki for his birthday. What teenager—hell, what person didn't want to spend a hot summer day at the beach cooling off? Rin thought it was wonderfully genius. What a way to cheer him up about all the crap that had happened over the year! To make him forget about what had to be done and what had to be left behind, even if only for a little while. Yes sir, just a little family gathering involving Rin, Kazuki, Yukio, Kuro and Ouji.

"Ahhh…! Are we there yet? I feel like I'm gonna die back here!" And the annoying little interloper who managed to worm his way into this delightful family affair.

Rin glared at Kuroba from the rearview mirror. Or at least, he glared at the pile of items that he forced onto the boy as a minor revenge for inserting himself into Kazuki's birthday. He used the excuse of being Kazuki's "caretaker" and threats of telling Pheles that he wasn't allowed to go to force himself into the group. The fact that Kazuki didn't seem the least bit upset over his roommate's intrusion just added to Rin's annoyance with the kid.

"I can already see water…so where's the beach?" Kuroba continued to moan as he rested his forehead on the window.

"Shut up and be patient," was all Rin muttered to the whining brunette. He adjusted the rearview mirror to get a look at Kazuki. He was staring out of the window with an unreadable expression, mindlessly petting Ouji, who sat on his lap, and Kuro, who was on his shoulder. "You doing okay, Kazuki?" His son made a grunt that didn't really say if he was okay or not. "We're almost there, so I hope you're ready!" No reply. He would've engaged in conversation with Yukio, but his younger brother had decided at some point that a nap would be the perfect way to waste time until they made it to the beach. Rin sighed and his eyes went back to the road again, reminding himself that it would all be worth it in the end so long as Kazuki was even the tiniest bit happier than he had been in an almost a year.

X-X-X

Their arrival at the beach started out amongst most of the people who were there already, but the Okumura family and their tagalong nuisance wound up retreating to a part of the beach where the only population had been wild animals like gulls and crabs. If Yukio didn't have the typical gall to come out and say "A boy who's disgusted about his own body won't want to go swimming amongst strangers who seem 'normal' to him," Rin would have probably tried to push Kazuki to swim with total ignorance of the sensitive fact that he had a tail now. Luckily, Kazuki seemed to relax a little bit once they were far enough from the crowd and only the sounds of screaming and loud music in the distance denoted that any other human life was in the area.

"Alright, you!" Rin snapped at Kuroba, who was struggling with carrying a cooler topped with containers and various beach stuffs. "We're setting up here, so you can ease up!" Kuroba dropped the cooler, somehow managing not to completely wreck anything before he fell to his knees, complaining quietly to himself. Rin planted the giant beach umbrella into the sand and opened it up, providing plenty of shade. A foldable table and some chairs were set up—only three, because that was all Rin bought before Kuroba wormed into the whole affair—and containers of varying sizes holding food, including Kazuki's birthday cake, had been unpacked. "Well, this looks nice. Should we eat first or cool off in the water for a little bit?"

"If we eat, we'll have to wait a bit to start swimming," Yukio pointed out.

"That's just a myth, isn't it?" Kuroba asked, but no one but Kazuki paid attention to him. By this point, Ouji and Kuro were playing in the sand.

"Kazuki!" Rin raised his voice a bit. "You're the birthday boy. How do you wanna do this?"

Kazuki seemed a bit surprised to be asked his opinion. Suddenly, all eyes were on him—even Ouji and Kuro. "Um… I-it's the afternoon already, right? So…let's just have lunch first."

Rin smiled and clapped his hands together. "Okay then! You heard the birthday boy! Let's eat! Oh, but first, we'll light the candles for Kazuki to blow out…after I put 'em in place, anyway." Within a few minutes, everyone had a plate of food in front of them. Kuroba was forced to eat on the ground along with the familiars while the Okumura men sat at the table. As Rin lit the candles on the birthday cake, Kuroba, Kuro and Ouji began to eat from their plates, completely unnoticed by the family. "Alright. Time to make a wish, son," Rin said as he clapped a hand onto Kazuki's shoulder.

Kazuki stared at the cake—its vanilla frosting which had been decorated with fancy-looking flowers of icing and a cartoonish face of Kazuki's with the phrase 'Happy Birthday, Kazuki!' written on it. It had been made from scratch, which Rin tended to do. Hell knows what sort of trouble he went through to find the time to make it, if he hadn't done something as stupid and crazy as preparing it the night before along with the rest of the food. Really, Kazuki found himself thinking about how unnecessary it was to go through all of this trouble for a party for him.

Rin looked a bit worried at the way Kazuki was just staring at the flames on top of the candles. "Kazuki." He tapped the teen on his shoulder to get his attention. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah." Kazuki took a deep breath and blew out the candles. His father and uncle gave him some light applause, which Kuroba was late to give with a full mouth.

"Alright! As soon as we're done eating lunch, we can cut the cake!" Rin announced, patting Kazuki on the back. "And you've got dibs on the very first slice."

"Mm? But I'm finished with my food right now!" Kuroba announced as he held up his empty plate.

Rin glared down at the brunette. "You ate before Kazuki even blew out his candles. You'll be lucky if you get any cake!"

X-X-X

Later, Rin, Yukio and Kuroba were swimming in the sea. Kazuki sat on the shore, playing in the sand with Ouji and Kuro. Most of Rin's time in the water was spent staring at his lonely-looking son. He'd call out every once in a while, trying to entice the boy into joining the rest of them, but Kazuki would say he was comfortable where he was and go back to looking uncomfortable.

Rin waded over to Yukio and forced him to stop floating on his back. Despite the way he flailed in the water and cursed Rin, Kuroba and Kazuki paid him no mind. "Stop fussing about! Your plan isn't working! I knew I shouldn't have listened to you!" Rin hissed as he kept Yukio in a headlock while his brother kept clawing at his face.

"My plan?! All I said was that Kazuki wouldn't like to go swimming in public!" Yukio growled. "It was my suggestion to just give him a normal party, maybe at your house for the sake of familiarity! When you turned down that idea and came up with the idea of a beach party, all I did was suggest that he might not like being out in public, especially in a place where most people feel comfortable showing off their bodies!"

"Well, you should've given me more input!"

"You didn't act like you wanted input!"

"Bah, to hell with you!" Rin released Yukio and shoved his head underwater before wading into the shallow water right in Kazuki's field of view. "Kazuki! Come and swim with us already! You need to cool off eventually!"

"I'm fine." By now, Kazuki had managed to build a large mound of sand decorated with shells and dead coral. Kuro and Ouji had made smaller, messier mounds on either side of it and now they were off poking and sniffing at things they found on the beach shore. Rin huffed and walked onto the shore. He approached Kazuki and wordlessly threw him over his shoulder. "HEY! Put me down! Let me go! I told you I don't wanna go in the water!" Rin walked into the water, regardless of Kazuki's complaints and flailing. With ease, his father tossed him into the seawater, where he splashed madly until finally settling down.

"There we go! Doesn't that feel nice?" Rin asked with a smile, completely ignoring the way Kazuki was glaring at him. "I know you're angry, but I just want you to lighten up. You're too young to be acting like your uncle!" Ignoring the way his younger brother glared at him, Rin continued, "You should be happy on your birthday."

"I am happy!" Kazuki snapped and tried to get out of the water, only for his father to grab him from behind in a bear hug.

"No, you're not! So just tell me what's bugging you and making you so miserable!" Rin said.

After flailing around for a few minutes, Kazuki stopped and started glaring at the awful-looking sand castle on the shore as a substitute for his father. "Fine! I feel uncomfortable being around other people and I feel weird about being given a party after I burnt you to a crisp!"

Rin frowned. "You're still on about that?"

"It hasn't even been a week since it happened! It literally happened earlier this week and you're just—!" Before Kazuki's ravings could get louder, Rin squatted and ducked his head underwater for a few seconds. When he stood upright, Kazuki's head came back above the surface and he was coughing out water. "…I really hate you," he muttered in a flat tone. "Fine, I'll stay in the water…"

"That doesn't sound like you mean it~!" Rin sang cheerfully as he let go of Kazuki. "But I'll still let you go. Because it's your birthday and you need to enjoy it." His eyes suddenly brightened as he realized something. "Wait a sec! I'll go get the beach ball!" He said as he move back towards the shore.

"…He really is trying to make you happy today," Yukio spoke when Rin was far enough away.

"I know. He always tries to make me happy," Kazuki spoke glumly as he watched his father blow up the inflatable beach ball while Kuro and Ouji watched in amusement. "I just don't think I'm worth the bother, considering what I've done so far this year…"

"If you want to make up for that, you know what you have to do."

"I know. I'm trying. But I can't change my feelings."

"I wouldn't expect you to. Just do your best and…tell us if those feelings mess with your head. Really, that's all I want of you—and I'm sure your father feels the same." Yukio waded over to Kazuki and patted him on the head. "Even if you say that you hate us, we'll understand."

"…I hate what we are," Kazuki spoke at a low enough volume so that only his uncle could hear him.

"I know. I've been there."

Before Kazuki could ask anymore, Rin waded back over to the group, holding the inflated ball over his head. "Alright! Let's have a match!"

X-X-X

By the end of the day, it was easy to say that the beach party wasn't exactly a rousing success. Despite Yukio's attempt to assure Rin that nothing was wrong with the party and Kazuki didn't exactly hate it, if his son hadn't cracked a sincere smile all throughout it, then it had been a fruitless attempt. After dropping off Yukio at his apartment, rather than dropping the boys back onto the campus, Rin found himself driving Kazuki over to his house. Kuroba, who had fallen asleep on the car ride back, woke up when the car stopped and stared at the Okumura family home in confusion. "Where are we…and why are we here?"

"Why are we at home?" Kazuki asked from the backseat, looking at his father through the rearview mirror.

"This is the second part of your birthday present from me," Rin said with a smile. "A nice home-cooked dinner, the chance to watch TV together on the couch…like we used to do when you lived at home. Maybe even spend the night…if you want." Rin's smile faded as he looked as his son through the rearview mirror. "But if you don't want to, I'll just drop you back off at the academy—"

"No, I… I wouldn't mind spending the night back at home…with you." Rin's smile returned and when he noticed that Kazuki was smiling a bit as well, it got brighter. "Okay then." Both Rin and Kazuki got out of the car and approached the front door of the house, followed by Kuroba, Ouji and Kuro. "I'll get started on dinner. You can go upstairs and rest up or watch TV. Rin whirled around to point a finger at Kuroba. "You don't mess with anything and behave." He turned back around to unlock and open the door.

"You really don't like me, do you?" Kuroba asked. He then turned his attention to Kazuki as they entered the house. "So this is where you used to live, huh?" He looked around the living room and his eyes fell on a shelf with some photos. "Looks cozy."

"Uh, thanks?" Kazuki answered after a moment of hesitation. He wasn't sure if his roommate was teasing him or being sincere with his compliment. "Um…if you want, you can just stay in my room and sleep."

"You got a bed?"

Kazuki looked at Rin. "Do I still have a bed?"

"Of course your bed's still in there! I won't throw out a perfectly good bed just because no one's there to sleep in it!" The half-demon snapped. In truth, a part of him had always hoped for this scenario—Kazuki coming home to visit and spending the night there—and kept his son's room almost unchanged from the moment he moved out.

"Then I'm stealing it. Wake me up when your so-called 'birthday gift' is finished." Kuroba headed up the stairs, saying, "No need to direct me. I can find it myself."

"HEY! Nobody gave you permission to—! Just don't mess with anything while you're up there!" Rin shouted as Kuroba disappeared upstairs.

"Riiin! Kazuki's bed is mine now! Where am I going to sleep?" Kuro asked as he pawed at Rin's leg.

Rin looked down at the cat sidhe, saying, "You can sleep in my bed if you're tired, okay?" He started to make his way into the kitchen as Kuro made his way upstairs, but looked back at Kazuki, who was sitting on the couch with Ouji already. "I'm gonna get started on dinner. Anything in particular that you want?"

"Anything you make is fine with me."

"Alright. Better not hear any complaints if what I make isn't to your liking."

As Rin disappeared into the kitchen, Kazuki settled into the couch. He took a deep breath and sighed as he turned on the television ad began flipping through channels. Aside from the absence of his mother and knowledge of Kuroba sleeping upstairs, things felt the same as they used to be before all this exorcist-related madness began. It felt like it could've passed as one of the many, uneventful days of the past. So nice and normal…just the way Kazuki would've preferred things back then.

Eventually, father and son had dinner together. It was quiet and they didn't exactly talk, but Kazuki looked a bit happier than he had been at the beach. That alone made Rin content to leave the silence as is. A short while after dinner, when the dishes had been washed and put away, the pair sat down to watch television together.

"What's this show?" Kazuki spoke up after Rin stopped on a channel.

"Mm?" Rin looked at him for a moment before looking back at the television. "Oh, it's a new drama that premiered."

"Oh. I see." There wasn't exactly a proper TV up at the old boys' dorm on campus for him to watch, so Kazuki hadn't seen anything televised since the winter season ended. A few seconds into the show's recap of what happened on the last episode, Kazuki found it in himself to speak again, "Thank you for the party. I didn't want it…or think I deserved it…but thank you for caring enough to go through the trouble."

"It wasn't any trouble at all," Rin said with a smile as he looked at his son, who was staring at the show's intro on TV. "I'm just sad that it wasn't enough to make you happy… Now that I think about it, we've never done that before: having a party in a place as public as a beach. In comparison, the parties we had for you before were smaller and quieter. It must've been unsettling for you, huh?"

"I just…didn't like being around a bunch of strangers. I like spending my birthdays like this more."

"You've been homesick, haven't you?"

"I guess I have. Even after Mom died, when everything settled down…life felt almost normal again while I was living at home." Kazuki continued to stare at the television screen, but he wasn't really seeing the show happening. His mind went back to the last fall and winter he spent at home. And when those days were coming to an end, Kazuki couldn't help but get angry about how unfair it felt—about being forced to live as the True Cross wanted him to when it seemed that he could've lived a normal life with no demon-related problems despite those stupid flames.

Rin continued staring at Kazuki intently. "You could always come home to visit. Nothing's stopping you from leaving the campus."

"Cram school would."

The smile faded from Rin's face. "…Oh. Well, you can always come visit for the holidays or whenever you find the time. This is still your home. It always will be."

Kazuki took a deep breath and looked at his father with a small smile on his face. "Sometimes…I'm glad you're my dad."

Rin snaked an arm around Kazuki's shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "And I'm always glad that you're still here. But you probably won't be so happy with me tomorrow when we continue your training." He chuckled as he patted his son on the chest. "Ah, I just remembered. I think I had some ice cream there that I decided not to bring along. You want some?"

"What flavor?"

"Coconut." Kazuki sniffed and rubbed his eyes in response. Rin let go of him and stared in surprise. "Huh? Why are you crying? And over ice cream, of all things?"

"I'm not crying! I'm just…" Kazuki sniffed again and his smile became a bit bigger. "Thanks…Dad."

X-X-X

…Well, at least it's finished now. I hope everyone who stuck with reading this story to the not-so bitter end enjoyed the ride and I'm thankful to those of you who did so, regardless of whether or not you reviewed. Because just knowing people liked the story enough to fave it and follow it made me happy to realize I wasn't just writing this for my twisted little self.

Originally, the story was gonna end with Kazuki going off the deep end and killing people after somehow passing the exam to get promoted to exwire, leading to him being put down. Then the ending was going to have Kazuki imprisoned for the rest of his days and either going mad or just losing the will to live. I started this story with the goal of ending with an unhappy ending (a mourning Rin, a dead Kazuki, a Mephisto who insinuates that Kazuki dies in every timeline he exists in that he knows of), but I wound up being a sappy person and going with a happy ending. Curses! I'm not sure if there's gonna be a sequel to this particular storyline, but I do have other stories in mind involving a non-demon Kazuki and Father's Day and arranging dates for Yukio via the internet…but only time will tell if these will ever appear. Well, time and my general procrastination.