Your friends insist you should have a birthday. You don't have a birth, but they insist that your life is a thing worth celebrating. A life is more than just a beating heart and breathing lungs. It's in the experiences.
You agree. Life is just as much about seeing the butterflies as it is fighting shadows in Tartarus. It's the little things that matter more actually. The moments of your time you have spent with them, the music that they listen to, the sights they think worth sharing with you.
You decide your birthday is going to be July 21st, the day you met them.
And you ask them to gift you things they find meaningful.
Junpei has always sent you video games. Ones that have made him cry, have made him laugh, that he felt a connection to.
He starts with older ones, an old Pokémon game from his mom, Final Fantasy seven and ten (that make the both of you cry over them), and moves to more indie games as time goes on, and he finds himself playing less video games in favor of work, and more on the indie side. But he still finds time. You are going to play Final Fantasy nine with Junpei and Chidori this year, they have invited you to spend time with them to do so. Chidori loves the art, and Junpei cares more about the stories than he wants to admit. It will be nice to see them again. You are looking forward to it.
Yukari often gifts Music. Songs that have made her happy, songs that make her sad, songs that have helped her through hard times. Songs she is excited to hear, like the newest album from Gas Chamber. It's nice to experience different forms of music and talk about them with her. They are different from the songs you first fell in love with, but that is what keeps the experience exciting.
Akihiko sends an unusual combination of things. The first medal he won at a boxing match, an old recipe for ramen, a music box, flowers pressed into a well read chapter book, a photocopy of an old photograph. Some of these he has told the story behind, and others he has yet to even hint at, but they are all stories from his life.
Fukka keeps journals where she writes things that are meaningful in, and gives you one each year. Sometimes they are things about her day, stories from the past, or even little photographs tucked inside. She says they are helping her appreciate life more.
Ken sends you VCR tapes of Featherman, and movies he thinks you will like. He says that Featherman got him through some tough times, and even now he still likes it. After you had gotten caught up on the series, he often calls you up when new ones come out to talk about them. You always watch them to be able to talk about them with him.
In contrast to everyone else, Mitsuru takes you to see things. Fashion shows, sunsets in high places, quiet gardens in fancy parks. Always something she thinks is worth witnessing. The one gift she has given you is a potted plant of flowers from her mother's garden. With help, you have managed to keep them alive.
It's important to see the world you saved together, alongside the people you saved it with. And each of them show you that which they value. Memories, sights, and stories. All of the little experiences that build up to make life meaningful.