Honkai of Fate
Chapter 20: Kiana's Birthday
It was the next day after yesterday, meaning Shirou only has 2 days left before Kiana's birthday comes up. The boy already has a plan on what he was going to do for his little sister's birthday, he just needed some help to get a head start. And right now, he's scribbling on a piece of paper the things that he would need for the surprise.
*SCRIBBLE!*
*SCRIBBLE!*
"Okay…" Shirou started to mutter to himself. "First of all, I need to get the ingredients sorted out for these two things." He started scribbling again. "One is for a birthday cake and the other something special for all of us to eat. The ingredients themselves should be easy enough to get in the nearby village, but the problem for the birthday cake is that I need to practice making one."
Shirou placed the pencil down on the table as he stood up from the floor of the small living room. "But, I guess I could just get Mama to help me with the cake situation…" He placed his right hand over his mouth and started thinking. "But what could be a proper gift to give her though…? Clearly these things ARE enough, but from what I've heard from Pat-nee before; this is going be Kiana's FIRST birthday after being found and got out of Otto's hands. It needs to be special…"
That was the thing that was worrying him the most. Clearly these things that he already thought of first ARE already special for Kiana, but he needed something even greater. Something that can make her quote-on-quote "First Birthday" that can live in the girl's memories for as long as she can remember. Something that can also mark their sibling bond.
"It's clear that I'm going overboard here, but I can't give up just yet." Shirou started to fold the paper into 4 folds before placing it in his pockets. "I better not overthink this way too much as well. It's best that I get the ingredients for the food first." He muttered to himself before rushing to Cecilia who was outside.
Once he was outside, he saw that Kiana and "Sirin" are playing with each other with one of the gifts that Siegfried had been given by one of the villagers, said gift was a rubber air inflatable ball that had the design of a soccer ball, both girls were busy throwing and catching the ball at each other.
*POKE!*
Shirou gently poked Cecilia on the back of the Former Valkyrie's left thigh, which got her to turn around to Shirou. "Oh! Shirou! Good to see you, dear. Have you finally thought of what you want to give to Kiana on her birthday?" The mother kneeled down and asked. "Want me to help you with it? Mama's trying to prepare something for our little girl as well."
Shirou nodded his head before taking out the paper out of his pocket and giving it to Cecilia. "This is the things that I've been thinking about giving to Kiana on her birthday." Cecilia flipped open the paper and analyzed it as Shirou continued. "Although, there's one problem that I've been trying to solve. I don't know what to give to her as a gift."
Cecilia nodded her head several times when she read the paper before smiling at Shirou. "My dear boy, in my own opinion, you don't need to give Kiana a single gift anymore. The things you've wrote in this paper are more than enough of a gift for her. The cake especially is going to be one that I never thought to create, although I do have some practice with baking cakes, this one is an extremely special kind. And this "special surprise" that you've written, it already sounds amazing!"
The mother praised her son before asking. "Why would you need to give Kiana a gift if all of these things here are already enough of a gift for her? I'm sure that she'll very much appreciate all of these things, especially if came from her big brother."
"I want to give her something that can make her remember this birthday for as long as she lives." Shirou answered while looking at his little sisters' play with the rubber ball. "I've heard a bit of what happened to you, dad, and her, and how you got separated. So I wanted to make something and give something special to her so that she can remember this day as the most joyous day of her life while also marking our bond as siblings."
Cecilia nodded at her son's answer. "I see. Quite a deep answer there, Shirou. Very well, my dear. I'll help you out with picking something special for her." Shirou's eyes sparkled with a shine at Cecilia's answer.
"Really? Thank you, Mama!" The boy hugged his mother and she hugged him back.
"No problem, my dear!" After letting go of the hug, Cecilia stood up. "Well I think we should head back inside for a while so that we can prepare to leave and go to the market at the nearby village. We only have 2 days left and we don't want to waste a lot of time."
With a nod, Shirou headed inside the house first to get changed while Cecilia was still outside before calling the girls to head back inside. Kiana pouted a little as she wanted to play with her big sister some more but the white-haired girl couldn't really argue back and entered the house. Once the girls were inside, Cecilia told them to not go out as she and Shirou are going to buy somethings at the nearby village.
At the Snowy Village…
After arriving at the nearby village that Siegfried usually protects, with Cecilia from time to time, Shirou was amazed because of the village. It's not that lavish like Las Vegas nor that modern like Tokyo, but it was still a proper town for a village that's out in the middle of nowhere. The houses themselves were well-built, with Shirou seeing a few brick houses here and there. The land was naturally covered with snow. And the villagers are extremely nice to each other and to other foreigners and travelers who somehow managed to find their small village.
"This village is more developed than I thought." Shirou commented with amazement. "I didn't expected that a village in this place of snow wouldn't be like this."
Cecilia chuckled at her son's comment. "Oh? And what were you expecting Shirou? Houses of wood and stone perhaps?"
Shirou nodded his head. "To be honest, I really wasn't expecting this like I said. Back then I was always inside of my house and only leaving when it's time for me to go to school or to buy a few groceries for myself and for a few people that visit, so I never really managed to go out into the world and see the small villages. I've only ever seen what they look like in the internet, which weren't saying a lot."
Cecilia full out giggled at that. "Ara Ara~. It's seems like Shirou's curious about the outside world." She teased before focusing back on what they were here for. "But that's enough chitchat for now. Let's get back to our main objective: getting the ingredients needed for the things you wrote in the list along with finding a proper gift for little Kiana."
Shirou nodded his head. "Right… Sorry, Mama. It seems like we got a bit sidetracked there because of me." He apologized but Cecilia didn't minded it.
"Oh no! I didn't mind at all, dear! Don't apologize for something as harmless as this. Besides, that curiosity of yours about the outside world is quite fitting for the dream that you've always been wanting!" Cecilia placed her hands on Shirou's shoulders. "Now let's get those ingredients before they get sold out!"
Cecilia then ended up dragging Shirou deeper into the village as they go and look for the different ingredients that they would be needing for the cake and for the "special surprise" that Shirou wanted to give to Kiana along with looking for a perfect gift that would suit the girl's birthday for it to become as memorable as ever as time goes by.
First of on their list are the dry ingredients, most importantly; all-purpose flour and unsweetened cocoa powder. The cocoa powder itself was quite hard to find since most of the ones in the village's market are mostly sweetened.
"Although the village is quite big, not many new brands are shipped here and it seems like some ingredients aren't mostly here as well." Shirou said as he grabbed a pack of strawberry and cookies. "We got lucky when we found the unsweetened cocoa powder."
Cecilia nodded as she grabbed a small pack of baking soda and baking powder. "Yup. The village here isn't really known, nor is it quite developed. Honkai attacks in this village isn't common but that also raises the danger for the folks here." She then grabbed a pack of 400 grams of ground meat. "The people here aren't fighters, so if any Honkai Beasts did attack, this village is doomed."
"All the more reason for dad to protect this place, huh…" Shirou commented. "No wonder the villagers appreciated his efforts. Those gifts that he received were a lot."
After that talk and a while later, the two paid for their groceries and left the market with their bought items in bags of plastic. Cecilia was holding 3 bags while Shirou held 2. The bags were a bit heavy themselves but not too heavy. The both of them walked around the village until they were walking past by a toy store and Shirou saw a plushy in the corner of his eyes.
"Shirou?" Cecilia called to her son when he suddenly stopped. "Something caught your eye?" Without any answer to her, Shirou walked towards the store and eyed on the plushy while he was still outside. Cecilia then started to get why Shirou was staring. "You want to make that as a gift to Kiana, don't you?" She asked with a smile.
Shirou nodded his head slowly. "Yeah. I've figured out what I want to give to Kiana as a birthday present. But I don't need to buy that. What I want… is to make my own plushy to give to Kiana." He answered his mother.
Cecilia felt delighted at that answer. "Then let me help you with making it! I've learned a bit on how to sew a doll, all that we need to do is to buy the right equipment. That being; the fabric with different colors and the cotton." She then asked his son when he turned to her. "So what design are you choosing?"
"I want it to look like…" Shirou hasn't thought of it that far, but if he has to choose a design, he'd pick… "I want it to look like Sirin. I'm planning to create three; one that looks like Sirin, one that looks like me, and one that looks like Kiana." He answered. Cecilia clearly wasn't expecting that, she only thought that one would be enough.
"You want it to look like Sirin?" Cecilia asked softly. "Any reason for it, Shirou?"
"Well…" Shirou was a bit quiet for a while before answering. "This is a bit embarrassing to say but… Kiana and I have a deep bond with Sirin together, right? She thought of her as a sister and I thought of her as a close friend, so I want to create these plush toys for Kiana to remind the bond that we have towards her."
"You've thought of it that far, huh?" Cecilia smiled softly and agreed on the idea. "It's certainly a wonderful idea, dear. Then as I said before, let me help you with creating these." She then grabbed Shirou's left hand. "Now let's go and buy the materials for this gift of yours!"
Back at the Kaslana household…
After going shopping for groceries and other items, Cecilia and Shirou went back home to create the plush toys first. There was still two days before Kiana's birthday after all, so there was really no need to start making the cake and the "special surprise" that Shirou had listed down to create, so they placed the ingredients in their designated areas first before the two headed straight into Cecilia's and Siegfried's bedroom.
"So who do you want to create first, Shirou?" Cecilia asked as she sat on the bed before placing the sewing kit, fabrics, and cotton right beside her. "We have all the items that we need, all that's left is to create the plushy itself and don't worry, I'll help you through the procedures!"
"Then…" Shirou picked up a piece of white fabric. "Let's start with Kiana first. The birthday girl's gotta be first after all." He said with a smile on his face as he took a needle.
"Sure thing, dear!" Cecilia then grabbed a piece of pale brown fabric that matches Kiana's skin before taking a needle with an already tied thread before she started sewing. "Let's be careful with the needle now, my dear. Also, if you need the scissors, it's right over here." She stopped sewing for a bit and pointed where the scissors were.
"Thanks, Mama." Shirou grabbed the scissors and carefully cut small pieces of darker brown fabric.
The two continued to cut and sew the fabric one by one together. As soon as all of the fabric was finished cut and are now tied together, thanks to the thread, they then filled the plushy with cotton before sewing the back all together and it was now complete. The Kiana plushy was done and from the looks of it, it looks like a fumo plush.
The design wasn't much, it had the same hair and eyes as Kiana along with the same skin color, her outfit was a white dress with flower patters, and the fabric on her feet was dark brown and designed to look like a pair of shoes.
"This came out a lot better than I thought it would." Shirou commented at the sight of the plushy. He was no expert in making these things and neither was Cecilia, who only had a few experience at making them. "I certainly didn't expected this doll to THIS successful."
"It certainly does looks a lot like Kiana, doesn't it?" Cecilia eyed the doll with adoration, she could clearly see the resemblance to Kiana on the doll despite her actual daughter not wearing an outfit like this. "And the outfit fits her perfectly as well. We really outdone ourselves with this one, Shirou." She said with a satisfied smile.
Shirou nodded his head in agreement. "Yup. Again, I really didn't expected for this to be THIS successful. My first time with making a plushy is a success, I guess. Of course, with your help Mama." He said to Cecilia, the mother accepted the compliment by patting his head. "Mama, this is embarrassing."
"Oh hush, dear~." Cecilia retorted as she kept patting his head. "There's no one here other than us, so don't be embarrassed."
"Ugh…" Shirou groaned in defeat but he still let out a small smile. "I guess this isn't so bad." Cecilia smiled at that. Shirou then took a different colored fabric along with the needle he used. "Come on, Mama. We still have two plushies to make before we can wrap them up."
"Fufufu~. You're absolutely right, my dear boy." She then grabbed her needle. "So who do you want to create next? We still have time before dinner, so we can create one more before I start preparing."
"I'll help out at dinner as well. I know how to cook, remember?" Cecilia accepted Shirou's help with a nod. "As for the next one…" He thought for a few seconds before deciding. "Let's go with Sirin. She was the first that I initially thought to create, so let's go with her next."
"Got it, dear." With that, Cecilia took a purple fabric before she placed down her needle, taking the scissors, and cutting the fabric.
Shirou got a hold of making the plushy thanks to their first try and is not making the next one with a bit more ease. "This one… I want this one to be one that resembles you a lot, Sirin. One that can make Kiana happy and one that can make me remember our times together…"
Shirou then got extremely focused and started cutting the fabric before sewing them one by one.
"Hey Shirou. It's lunch time already, let's eat." Words of their conversation suddenly came back into his mind.
"Why are you smiling like that, you dork?" The time when he sang her a song.
"You're alive…! You're really alive! You're safe! I was so worried, Shirou! Please don't do something like that again!" The time when he came back after the experiment where his Herrscher Cores were implanted in him.
"I'm so glad you're alive! Please… Don't leave me as well…" The words that she said to him when he was freed from his cell.
Memories and the words that they had together kept on coming back to him. Word after word, every conversation and every action, everything that had happen in the past kept coming back as he kept his focus on sewing the plushy that he planned to give to Kiana.
He missed her.
He missed her dearly that the thought of creating this plushy that resembles her a lot made his mind rewind the memories that he had created with her. Everything came back like a tidal wave, but it was one that he can handle. He was working in so much focus that he didn't notice how Cecilia was staring at him with awe.
"He's so focus that he doesn't even notice that he's making the plushy all on his own." Those were Cecilia's thoughts as he saw Shirou tie up a piece of fabric.
The boy didn't noticed it either. His hands were subconsciously moving on their own at his will despite his mind deep down in the memory lane. It was clear that his body understood what he wanted to create, what his memories are telling him. He wants this to be the best one that he can give to Kiana and one that can remind him of her in every sense.
"No! No! No! Why did you do that?! Why did you protected that insect again, Shirou?! Answer me!" Even the time when he was stabbed through the heart with her own Subspace Lance.
Before he knew it, he was done. The plushy was finished with him doing it all by himself. It was a combination of her forms when she was the Herrscher of Void and the Herrscher of Seraphs. The hair was mainly purple with a few strands of white hair and a single orange streak on her bangs. Her dress was a combination of her Herrscher Dresses.
The eyes were central heterochromia with yellow in the middle and orange in the outside. The pupils however was white and in the shape of hexagrams.
Shirou didn't knew how Sirin really looked like in her Herrscher of Seraphs form, but the reason why he somehow knew was probably because of the memories that flashed in him when he went berserk.
"This is…" Shirou was in complete awe at the beauty of the plushy. "Did Sirin really looked like this?" He asked himself.
"Nope." Cecilia answered quickly as she stared at the plushy while hugging Shirou behind him. "Sirin didn't look like this in any way. It seems like a combination of her Herrscher Forms." She smiled at her son, a pure motherly and loving smile. "You really care about her, don't you?"
Shirou nodded slowly. "Yeah… She was there for me after all. Yet… I wasn't there for her." He answered with guilt. "I tried… but… I still failed."
Cecilia hugged her son tightly. "Don't worry, dear. We all did. I tried to be the mother that Sirin never had, Ziggy tried his best as well, but ultimately we failed."
Shirou leaned into his mother's embrace and closed his eyes. "We did ultimately failed… But at least you and dad managed to save the people to give them a brighter tomorrow, despite the consequences." Shirou separated himself from Cecilia's hug and opened the door. "Come on, Mama. Let's go and make dinner, we can finish up afterwards."
"Oh right! Sorry, dear, it seems like I got caught up again!" Cecilia followed Shirou and the both of them headed out of the bedroom and went straight to the kitchen.
At the kitchen…
Shirou and Cecilia arrived at the kitchen and saw Siegfried with Kiana and "Sirin" at the center counter of the kitchen.
"Dad?" Shirou called which made Siegfried turn to him.
"Oh! Shirou! Perfect timing, come over here! I'm teaching the girls how to make Pizza Toast." Siegfried said and Shirou with Cecilia headed towards him.
"Pizza Toast?" Cecilia questioned. "Is this another one of your own recipes, Ziggy?"
Siegfried nodded his head. "Yup. I've been doing this for a long time actually. Usually only making them whenever I want a light snack." He placed then placed a pack of bread on the counter. "First up is the bread, obviously."
*CREAK!*
Siegfried then opened the fridge door and grabbed a pack of bacon. "Next up is bacon." He then placed the pack on the counter. "Good thing that we still have some fresh bacon there. Now, tomato sauce is next."
"Here you go, dear." Cecilia placed the bottle of tomato sauce on the counter right next to Siegfried.
"Oh! Thank you, dear." Opening the lid, he grabbed a butter knife and then used it to scoop a good amount of the sauce before spreading it evenly on the bread. The next step is the cheese. Shirou, do you mind getting me the cheese? It's right at the drawer in front of you."
"Here?" Shirou asked as he opened the drawer in front of him and grabbed the pack of cheese. "Here, dad." He then went to Siegfried and gave him the pack of cheese.
"Thanks, my boy!" The father thanked him as he opened the plastic bag. "Now we add the cheese." Siegfried then sprinkled the cheese on top of his bread.
Kiana had been following her father's lead ever since the start and was now about to add the cheese as well. "Hmm… Hehe…" Her grin was showing. "How about I add a few more sprinkle of cheese—." She muttered and just as she was about to add more of the cheese.
*SWOOP!*
"Ah!" Shirou grabbed the cheese pack from her hands and raised it up high. "Big bro, stop! Please give me the cheese!" Kiana begged.
"If you were planning to add more cheese than what was needed, you could've gotten a stomach ache. Too much cheese can cause that, y'know." Shirou then gave the cheese pack back to Siegfried.
"Thanks for that, Shirou." The Former Knight grinned as her daughter pouted. "Hahaha! Shirou's right though, Kiana. You won't get any more cheese next time you do that."
Kiana pouted even more before starting to gently punch Shirou on his chest. "This is your fault, big bro! I could've gotten more cheese on my pizza toast!" Shirou just sighed in defeat and accepted his fate.
Cecilia herself giggled at this little moment all the while "Sirin" let sigh out of her mouth. "Seems like Kiana didn't liked that one bit."
"Mou! I wanted more cheese!" Kiana still kept pouting but stopped when Shirou patted her head.
"Then maybe next time." The boy said as he kept patting his sister. "But I wasn't lying when I said that too much cheese is bad for you, Kiana. Don't get used to it, understand?"
Kiana sighed with her shoulders lump. "Fine…" Shirou just kept patting the girl's head.
Siegfried just let out a light laugh again. "Now, now, let's not get all upset over this. Come on…" Siegfried took a whole onion out from one of the top shelves before peeling it with a knife and cutting it in half. "Let's add some onions next. Kiana, help me cut then, will you?"
"Okay, Papa." Kiana took half of the onion, grabbed another knife before she started to cut the onion… very slowly as her eyes started to cry. "Hngh… *SOB* Hngh… Why does cutting an onion making me cry?"
Siegfried saw this and decided to teach her something. "Alright, Kiana. How about I teach a super-secret Kaslana Technique of cutting onions?"
"Eh?" Kiana stopped cutting and turned to Siegfried. "Papa's super-secret technique? Actually, I don't want to know about it."
"Why do I get the feeling that something's about to go wrong?" Shirou thought to himself. He turned to "Sirin" and she just shrugged her shoulders and shaking her head.
"Just cut the onions with your eyes closed to keep out the burns!" Siegfried said loudly with a grin on his face. "Awesome, right—? AGH! I CUT MY FINGER!" However that grin turned into panic when he accidentally cut his finger instead of the onion.
"I knew it." Kiana muttered.
"Yup, I was right about that bad feeling." Shirou thought.
"Aw, deary…" Good thing Cecilia was quick to act and got a bandage roll a cotton ball. "Here, let me stop the bleeding." She then placed the cotton ball on the injury before wrapping the bandage around Siegfried's injured finger. "There. All good as new. Just be careful next time, dear."
"Thanks, Cecilia. Now where was I? Ah yes. Back to cutting this onion…" Siegfried now carefully cut the onion with one eye closed as Kiana went back to cutting the onion with her slow pace while letting out tears because of said onion.
Shirou watched and feel sympathy for the two of them. "This does happen to me once in a while whenever I cut onions as well. To be honest, it was annoying."
"Well that's just normal when it comes to cutting onions, dear. You're not the only one." Cecilia answered Shirou.
After the onions were cut, Siegfried went ahead and opened the fridge again. "Uuh… Where was it again? Ah! There we are!" After searching for a while, he found what he was looking for. "Green and Red Peppers! Cutting these babies won't be much of a hassle, let's just cut them into small pieces."
"Sirin" went ahead and grabbed the peppers away from Siegfried before she proceeded to cut the peppers into half before cutting it into small pieces. "Thank you, Sirin." Siegfried thanked his other daughter and placed the pieces of peppers on his and Kiana's bread.
Shirou was still watching them finish up with this snack that Siegfried is teaching them, when a question popped into his head. "Wait, dad." He called and Siegfried turned to him. "Where are you going to cook that? From what I can see, you're supposed to use an oven to cook that."
"No need to worry about that, my boy!" Siegfried pulled out a single Judgement of Shamash from his back pocket. "We'll use this baby to cook them! Now watch closely!"
"Wait! I don't think that's—!"
*FWOOSH!*
""AH!"" Both Kiana's and Siegfried's eyes widened when the flames went ahead and slightly burnt the toast.
"I knew it…" Shirou sighed while Cecilia giggled.
Siegfried laughed nervously while Kiana pouted at him. "Seems like Papa burnt it. But, Pizza Toast is also very tasty when it's slightly burnt! Hahaha!"
"Mou… Papa is such a dummy." Kiana said.
"Now, now, let's not get all angry here." Cecilia defused the situation and cut each Pizza Toast in the middle. "Come, let's eat this snack that you two gladly prepared for all of us." With that, Cecilia took the other half of Siegfried's Pizza Toast and took a bite out of it. "Mm~. It's delicious, dear!"
"I know, right?" Siegfried didn't hesitate to bite deep into his. "This is just for a light snack, but it's also perfect for a main dish!"
*NOM!*
"Mmm~!" Kiana took her time to savor hers. "Big bro, big sis, here!" She gave the other half to Shirou. "You two can share this one."
"Thanks, Kiana." Shirou took the Pizza Toast slice before turning to Sirin. "Let me just cut it in half, Sirin." He took the knife that's on top of the counter, he then sliced it and gave the other piece to Sirin before he took a bite of his. "Mm. Not bad, dad. This is quite delicious."
"Haha! I'm glad that you enjoy it, Shirou." Siegfried said with a grin. "See? Even this old man of yours can create something delictable!"
"Yeah well, you still need a bit of practice, Papa."
"Don't worry, Kiana. Your Papa here is trying his best to improve." Cecilia said with a smile on her face.
The evening ended there and the night passed by very quickly for the Kaslana Family.
The next day…
With only 1 day left until Kiana's birthday, the family were already starting to decorate for the occasion as early as possible. They all came up to the conclusion that they'll celebrate Kiana's birthday right at midnight when the clock strikes exactly at 12.
Shirou right now, is inside his parents' bedroom again and is finishing the last plushy that he wants to give to Kiana, the plushy that looks like him. "You finishing the last one, Shirou?" Ddraig asked.
"Yeah." Shirou pierced the needle into the fabric. "This is the last plushy that I'm going to give to Kiana. Since we're going to celebrate her birthday tonight, I have to make sure to finish this as early as possible."
"You really care about her, huh kid?" Albion asked as he continued. "Not to mention the way that you act towards her, it's almost like you're blood-related. Haha." He chuckled lightly.
"Well, I care about her. So it's really the only way to act towards her." Shirou answered. "Although I never really had an actual sister, I'm going to at least try my best to be the best big brother that I can towards with her." He then stabbed the needle into the fabric again. "The closest thing that I ever had to a big sister is Fuji-nee. Although she was more of a freeloader in my house."
"But what about your actually big sister?" Ddraig asked, Shirou instantly knew who he was talking about. "Illyasviel, if I remember correctly, is your actual big sister from Kiritsugu's earlier family before he adopted you. Yes, there isn't much that you know about her, but she was STILL the closest person to a big sister that you'll ever have, equal to that or maybe even greater than Taiga." The Red Dragon added.
"I…" Shirou started with an uncertain tone of voice. "I don't know how to feel about her. Yes, I've never actually met her and I've only heard about her through Kiritsugu, but she is STILL my big sister… But… I don't know." He sighed before grabbing another fabric and sewing it. "Sure, maybe I should feel sad for not really knowing her properly, but why would I be sad for someone I haven't even met in person?"
"I know that sounds hypocritical of me since I want to be a Protector of Humanity, and a Protector of Humanity protects the ones he doesn't even know personally." Shirou continued. "But I don't know how to REALLY feel about this situation. I am sad, yet… I'm not at the same time."
"A complication between two feelings about something, or in this case someone that you never knew properly. One of the common challenges of Tranquility." Albion said with groan and a shake of his head inside the boy's Reality Marble.
"Not really the time for this talk, Albion." Shirou said as he kept sewing the plushy. "Just a few more stiches and… there!" The plushy was done and it looked pretty similar to him with a white shirt, black pants, and brown shoes. The white shirt had a sword pattern coming down at the left side of the plushy. "This looks pretty good enough."
He then stood up on his feet and searched around the bedroom. "Now for the box that I'm going to place this in…" Shirou searched every drawer that he can reach and even under the bed, but he just couldn't find it. "Where is it? Last time I checked, Mama placed it under the bed. The others that we created are also inside that box already. It can't be lost, can it?"
"I think I've found what you're looking for, Shirou." Ddraig said and continued. "It's over on that shelf." Shirou quickly turned his head upwards and saw the large rectangular box where the other plushies that he made with Cecilia are in.
"It's way too high up… No matter." Reinforcing his legs, Shirou jumped and grabbed the box. "Got it! UWAH!"
*THUD!*
What he didn't planned for though was the landing. He fell completely on his butt. "Ow… That hurts." Shirou rubbed his rear with the plain still lingering.
*KNOCK!*
*KNOCK!*
"Shirou, are you alright in there?" Cecilia asked from the other side of the bedroom. "I heard a loud thud, did you get into an accident?" She asked again with a worried tone.
"I'm fine, Mama." Shirou reassured her while standing up. "I just fell for a bit. Other than a hint of pain that still lingers on my rear, I'm fine. No need to get worried."
"I see. Well, hurry up and finish the last plushy, dear. I'm sorry that Mama can't help you with making it today, there's just so much that needs to be done to prepare Kiana's birthday."
"It is fine, Mama. This is Kiana's special day, I know how much preparation we need. I'll be out soon once I've finished wrapping my gift. I'll head to the kitchen soon after so that we can create the cake and my "special surprise" for Kiana."
"Okay, dear. Just call me when you need me. I'll outside with Kiana and Sirin." With soft footsteps being heard at the other side, Shirou knew that Cecilia already left to go outside of the house to guard Kiana and "Sirin" play.
"Alright…" Shirou took a deep breath before exhaling. "Let's get this gift wrapped up." Taking a roll of tape and a pair of scissors from the drawer of the dressing table along with a gift wrapper inside the wardrobe drawer, Shirou started to carefully wrap the box.
Soon after, at the kitchen…
"Alright, I got all the ingredients ready." Shirou said with a white apron on and the ingredients all on the counter in front of him. "First of is the cake. The special surprise can come in later tonight. So right now, it's best that I focus on this cake first."
"Let's start with the cake itself." He went ahead and turned on the oven to 350°F, preheating it before he greased cake pans that's 9-inch wide and placing parchment paper on both. "Next is for the layers. I might need a bigger bowl than the one I have right now, though." He did grab one that's bigger before he continued.
He then placed the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the big bowl before he sifted the ingredients slowly and carefully, making sure that the dry ingredients all blend well together. "Now for the wet ingredients… Maybe I should add an extra half-cup of sugar for this. Kiana does love sweet things."
Grabbing another bowl, Shirou placed in sugar, 2 large eggs, a half cup of vegetable oil, 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract into the bowl in that order before mixing it all until it's well combined. "Alright, the wet ingredients are done. Combining them should be a bit easy." Bringing the other bowl, he carefully and gradually added the two mixtures together, slowly mixing until combined.
"Good. Now all that's left for the layers is the boiling water. This last ingredient is way easier." Grabbing an electric kettle, he filled it until full before turning it on. "Now, we wait…" After 10 minutes of waiting, the water has been boiled and gently poured in with the mixture before Shirou stirred it. "The batter will be thin because of this. But it's normal, from what I saw in a video at least."
Taking the mixed batter with him, he divided it evenly on the two prepared cake pans before placing both inside the oven, baking it for 30 minutes. "While that's baking, I think I should start with making the filling next."
"Hiya, dear!" A new voice entered and Cecilia hugged Shirou tightly. "I see that you've started baking the cake. Need Mama to help you with something?"
"Mama." Shirou leaned into Cecilia's embrace, even if he tried to escape, Cecilia just won't let him. "Yeah. Can you start making the filling for the cake, Mama?"
"The filling? What flavor is it going to be?" Cecilia asked
"Vanilla." Shirou answered.
Cecilia nodded her head. "Then let your Mama handle the rest from here! You can help with the decorations after, okay?" When Shirou nodded, she carried him out of the kitchen and sat him down on the living room sofa before she returned to the kitchen. "Now, let's begin with a simple vanilla filling for this cake!"
"If I remember correctly, I prepared a chilled bowl last night…" She opened the freezer on the fridge and the chilled bowl was there. "Yup! Alright then, let's get started!" Placing the chilled bowl down on the counter, she placed sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract before whipping them.
"Hmm… Maybe a thicker filling is much better for this." Cecilia opened a shelf on the counter and took out cornstarch before adding it onto the mixture. "Now let's whip this well." After whipping the mixture until stiff peaks formed, she placed the mixture inside the fridge to cool. "15 minutes should be enough, but it's probably going to be in there for a bit longer considering the cake still isn't ready."
Cecilia thought for a while on what to do in the meantime. "Oh well. Might as well play with Kiana and Sirin for a while. Shirou might want to play with us too." She left the kitchen immediately before she took Shirou while he was sitting on the sofa and dragging him outside.
Outside…
"Hahaha! Big sis, take this!" Kiana threw a snowball right at "Sirin" and hit her face. "Hahaha! Gotcha, big sis! Your face is covered in snow!" The little girl laughed but her laughter stopped when a snowball hit her face. She turned to see Shirou holding another snowball in his right hand with a grin. "Oi! You'll pay for that, big bro!"
"All's fair in love and war, Kiana."
"What does that even mean—? Wah!" Kiana tried to ask but she barely managed to dodge a snowball by ducking down. "Big bro! Not fair! I wasn't ready for that one!" Grabbing a handful amount of snow from the ground, she shaped it into a ball before throwing it at Shirou. "Take this!"
*SWOOSH!*
Shirou leaned to the left and dodged the snowball before he threw the snowball that he had on his right hand right back to Kiana. The snowball hit her right in the face before she dusted the snow off her face.
"Try to do better at dodging, Kiana." Shirou said with that grin that's annoying Kiana.
"I'll show you who's the one better at dodging!" Kiana grabbed the snow again before rolling it and throwing it at Shirou in fast speeds. "Dodge this, big bro!" She shouted with a grin of her own.
As the multiple amounts of snowball coming at his direction, Shirou managed to dodge some of them while other times he had to parry them with his hands. "Try better next time, Kiana—."
*POMFP!*
What he didn't expected though was for a single massive snowball to hit him on the face and make him fall to the floor. "Hahaha! I finally got you, big bro!" Kiana shouted with joy in her voice. "That's what you get for throwing a snowball at me!"
"Fine, fine. You got me!" Shirou sat up from the snowy ground before wiping the snow off his face. "You got me there, Kiana." Despite the loss, he didn't feel defeated but just accepted. "You win this time."
"Hehehe!" Kiana ran towards Shirou before she sat beside him with a smug smile on her face. "You lose this time, big bro." It was then that "Sirin" sat next beside Kiana. "Big sis! You didn't even join us with throwing snowballs!"
"Let's not get mad at Sirin, Kiana." Shirou defended. "Maybe she just didn't wanted to play right now. Besides, it's your birthday today. Well, tonight actually, but you get it." He turned to Kiana. "Maybe she's just reserving her energy for later. Both Sirin and I have never actually been to a birthday before, so think of this as our first time ever celebrating. And from what I know, birthdays are usually chaotic."
"Alright, fine. I forgive you, big sis." Kiana then pointed at "Sirin" before adding. "But you better celebrate with us properly tonight or else I won't forgive you, do you understand me, big sis?!" Despite not really knowing how to answer, "Sirin" just nodded her head, making Kiana smile. "Good! And big bro, you better celebrate properly as well! It's both of your first time ever celebrating a birthday party, so I want you two to celebrate mine with as much energy as you can!"
While the children were chatting and laughing, Cecilia has her back leaned on the wooden wall of their house with a smile on her face as she watched her children. "They've really gotten close. I really wish YOU were truly here though…" Her smile became sad as she reminisced about a certain purple-haired girl. "I'm so sorry, Sirin… I'm sorry that Mama let you down." Just as she was about to close her eyes—.
*DING!*
Her phone let out a bell-like sound, signaling that the cake was finished baking. "Would you look at that, it's already finished." Cecilia then shouted. "Shirou, baby, come in! It's ready!"
"Oh right! Sorry, Kiana. But I have something to finish. Just wait until your birthday arrives, I promise you that it's something amazing and special!" Without hesitation, Shirou quickly stood up and ran inside the house.
"Ah! Big bro, wait!" Kiana followed right behind him with "Sirin" tagging along. The two then entered the house just as Shirou and Cecilia came in.
Inside the Kaslana Household, at the kitchen…
*DONG!*
The loud clanging sound of two 9-inch cake pans rang through the kitchen when Shirou had placed the cake pans on top of the center counter with the help of Cecilia, the pans were already cooled off since Cecilia deliberately set the timer on her phone to be a bit longer than what it initially was supposed to be.
"These things are way heavier now that the layers are made…" The boy said while panting for a bit.
"Big bro! Mama!" Kiana came in to the kitchen as she was following Shirou earlier. "Is that?"
"Oh, my baby doll!" Cecilia called to Kiana. "I thought that you and Sirin were still playing outside." She sighed but smiled as she shook her head. "I guess it's no use trying to hide it to you now. Yes, dear, this is your birthday cake. Shirou and I are preparing it right now."
"Woah~! Really?!" The white-haired girl ran towards them and looked around the counter. "Are you two going to assemble it now? Let me help!"
Shirou didn't know how to answer so she looked at his mother's direction, when she shook her head, he sighed and nodded his head. "Okay, you can help. But follow my instructions carefully, understand?" He lifted his index finger on his left hand when he said that.
Kiana nodded her head. "Uh-huh! Got it! I'll follow big bro's instructions carefully! I won't disappoint!" She said with an enthusiastic tone, one filled with glee.
Shirou got a large plate in one of the drawers below the counter and placed it on top. He then instructed Kiana to take the first layer and placed it on the plate, to which she did so. Cecilia then added the first layer of filling before she placed the second layer of the cake on top. Shirou then coated the top with the remaining filling before he coated the sides.
Using the back side of a spoon, Shirou instructed Kiana to spread the filling evenly. Once that was done, both Shirou and Kiana decorated the cake with strawberries and cookies that had been cut in half by Cecilia, decorating it with a pattern of strawberry then cookie before Cecilia added some whip cream. Once the cake was done and completed, Cecilia placed the cake in the refrigerator for it to cool.
"Phew~. We finished that cake a lot easier. Thanks for helping out, Mama, Kiana." Shirou thanked them as he sat on the sofa in the living room.
"I was glad to be of help!" Kiana said with a smile while her head was laid down on Shirou's lap.
"I'm glad to be of help as well, dear." Cecilia said with a smile as well while sat next to him.
"Sirin" then entered the room, she was actually listening in earlier and wanted to help but knowing that everything was alright without her help, she went to Kiana's room earlier to play before coming back out into the living room. She then sat right next to Cecilia with her head leaning on the mother's shoulder.
"Are you excited for your little sister's birthday celebration, Sirin?" When Cecilia asked that while patting "Sirin's" head, the Quantum Figure nodded. "It's our first time ever celebrating a birthday like this all together. I hope that it can be extremely special for all of us."
*SLAM!*
"I'm home!" Siegfried shouted loudly with a grin and a bag over his right shoulder as he slammed the front door open. "And I brought gifts for our birthday girl!"
"Yay! Papa's here!" Kiana got up and hugged Siegfried on his leg. "Papa! You came home early like promised!"
Siegfried let out a light chuckle before patting Kiana with his left hand. "Of course I did, baby doll. Papa always keeps his promise, y'know? Hahaha!"
Shirou sighed before letting out a light chuckle while shaking his head, Cecilia giggled at her husband's enthusiasm, while "Sirin" let out a smile at her father's actions.
Midnight came by…
Midnight came in much faster than what the Kaslana Family expected. To be fair, their excitement couldn't be contained for much longer either, especially for little Kiana. The preparations were already done by afternoon and the gifts were all lined up on the table, all that's left was to wait for midnight. So when the time finally came, everyone enjoyed it to the fullest.
"""Happy Birthday, Kiana!""" Everyone shouted loudly as Kiana blew the lit candles.
"What did you wish for?" Cecilia asked her daughter.
"That's a secret, Mama. A wish doesn't come true if I tell you." Kiana said with a smug look on her face and her hands on her hips.
"Hahaha! Seems like our baby doll wants to keep her wish a secret." Siegfried grabbed a large wrapped rectangular box. "Here's your first gift from me, Kiana! Open it up!"
Kiana excitedly took the present from her Papa's hands before she opened it. "Woah~! Is this…" She took the wrapped handle of the metal and gripped it tightly. "A baseball bat! And there's two of them inside! Thank you so much, Papa!" Kiana hugged Siegfried tightly.
"You're welcome, baby doll! Now you and Shirou can play even more. There's also a glove and a baseball inside so that Sirin can join in as well."
"Thanks again, Papa!" Kiana took the other bat before turning to Shirou. "Here big bro! We can play baseball at morning later!" She then turned to "Sirin" before taking the baseball glove with the baseball itself inside and giving it to her big sister. "Here your go, big sis! You can have this!"
"Don't forget this one too, Kiana." Cecilia took another wrapped rectangular box. "This is one is from both me and Shirou. Shirou did most of the work on this, I only helped a little." She then whispered to her daughter's ear. "This one is very special, dear. I'm sure you'll love it."
Without hesitation, Kiana opened the present and saw three plushies that looked like fumo dolls that made her eyes sparkle with joy. "Is this…" She took the first plushy in her hands. "Me? This looks exactly like me!" Her eyes then scanned inside the box and saw two other fumo plushies. "And this is big bro! And big sis too! Although…" She took the Sirin plushy. "Big sis looks so different. Is this how she looks like?"
"Yup." Shirou answered while his eyes were also on the Sirin plushy. "Sirin looks exactly like this. She looks amazing, doesn't she?"
"Of course, she does!" Kiana raised the plushy up high. "Big sis is one of the most amazing person that I've ever known! And if this is what big sis really looks like and not like that." She pointed at the Quantum Figure. "Then I'm even more amazed by her!" Kiana rushed to "Sirin" before she grabbed her hands. "So big sis, when are you going to show me your true form, huh?!"
"I don't think Sirin's going to show you even if you beg her like that." Shirou answered and Kiana pouted. "I can't tell her that this is just a Quantum Figure… Bleh! Even though I'm saying this in my mind, saying that this is just a Quantum Figure puts a bad taste in my mouth…" He really misses the real Sirin.
"Hahaha! Now, now, Kiana. No need to push Sirin way too much." Siegfried grabbed a plate with the cake that Shirou and Cecilia made. "Come on! Let's eat! Shirou and Cecilia placed a lot of effort to making this, y'know. Don't waste them."
"I helped too, Papa!" Kiana pouted as Siegfried laughed.
Soon the family ate a piece of the cake and were satisfied with the sweetness of its taste.
"This is delicious!" Kiana shouted as she took another bite. "This is probably the best cake that I've ever had in my whole life!"
"Well, if that's what you say…" Shirou stood up. "There's one last meal that I want you all to try." He then went to the kitchen before coming out moments later with a giant Hamburger Steak on a giant plate.
"Let me help you with that!" Siegfried took charge quickly and helped Shirou place the big plate on the table. "Man, look at the size of this thing! Shirou, you really outdone yourself."
Cecilia took a look at the giant burger steak. "So this is the special surprise that you wanted to create. I gotta say, dear, you really did outdone yourself."
"This is big!" Kiana shouted while "Sirin" nodded her head.
"Well, I wanted to make something special as well. So I thought that maybe I should create the food that my old man liked the most and give it to you all as well. Don't be shy now, have a taste." Without any more time wasted, everyone took a fork before slicing a piece each and digging in.
"Mm~! This is so good~! As delicious as the cake, maybe even better!" Kiana couldn't help but melt on the taste of the hamburger steak that Shirou made. "And the sauce is delicious as well!"
"Man! Shirou, you made this by yourself?!" Siegfried asked before taking another piece and biting it. "Seems like you really are good at cooking!"
"It's nothing much, really. Just a Hamburger Steak that my old man liked to eat. This isn't really my first time making one either." Shirou humbly said.
"But to think that you could make something like this at such a young age." Cecilia muttered as she melted into the taste as well. "You've got a lot of potential for cooking, Shirou. Now I'm wondering how much your cooking skill is going to improve when you grow up. As a mother, I won't lose to you easily, dear!"
"You guys are over exaggerating this a bit too much." Shirou said in a deadpan voice and a sweat drop from his forehead. But despite his little protest, his family just laughed before digging in again for to them, it is true that Shirou's cooking is extremely good for a child of his age.
The night soon ended there and then. With a full stomach in each and every one of them, a joyful spirit that came and lasted until the end, the Kaslana Family knew that this birthday is going to be one that's going to be remembered for as long as they live.
The gifts that Kiana received made the girl extremely happy, especially the plushies that she received and the baseball set that Siegfried gifted to her. She went to bed with a smile and a satisfied feeling while everyone else followed suit only after a few more minutes.
The night ended while the moon kept shining high in the sky as they all slept in their beds with a contentful sigh.