Work Text:
Shoichi was working away in the truck, humming a small tune, when he looked up and spotted two teenagers in the distance, making their way towards him.
He gave them a quick wave. “Aoi, Takeru, you're finally here!”
Closing up the truck temporarily, he exited it and sat down at one of the tables, staring at them expectantly.
Aoi spoke as the two reached the table. “Afternoon, Kusanagi. What's so important that you had to drop everything and call us out?”
Takeru looked around as he took a seat. “Where’s Yusaku? Doesn't he usually help you around now?”
Shoichi frowned, staring at the table. “Actually, I called you both here to talk about him.”
Takeru leaned forward with a concerned look on his face. “Did something happen to him?”
Shoichi hurriedly waved him off. “No, no, it's not anything bad. It slipped my mind until this morning, but it's his birthday tomorrow.”
His head fell. “I already have plans to go and visit Jin, so I can't do anything for him.”
The two stared at him, eyes wide.
“He didn't say anything.” Takeru murmured. “Are you sure?”
Shoichi nodded. “You noticed he's been quiet lately, right? I mean, more than usual. It's like he's just shut down.”
His statement got two nods and a hum from Aoi. “He hasn't really been talking to us at all. Usually, he sticks around at the duel club but the last couple of days he just went straight home instead.” She glanced at Takeru. “What about you?”
Takeru frowned. “He has been eerily creepy. Whenever I talk to him, he just stares back and it sometimes doesn't even seem like he's hearing what I'm saying.”
Shoichi sighed. “That's what I was afraid of. It's probably not my place to tell you this, but I doubt he'll tell you what's going on while he's in this state.”
He looked towards the sky, breathing deeply for a moment, then brought his head back down to stare at the two of them.
“Yusaku hasn't celebrated his birthday in over ten years.”
The declaration made an unsettling silence fall upon the table. Shoichi watched their faces morph into a look of shock and confusion.
He didn't continue. He simply waited for them to process the information.
Eventually, the silence was broken.
“What?” Aoi asked softly. “Why?”
Shoichi simply tilted his head in Takeru's direction. The boy had a hand over his eyes, breathing deep breaths.
“Because of the Lost Incident.” The boy eventually spoke, in slow, deliberate words. “Aoi, I don't know if you know this, but,” He took another deep breath before continuing. “The eleventh anniversary of the Lost Incident was last week.”
Shoichi nodded. “I only know a little bit about why Yusaku doesn't celebrate his birthday, but assumably, he was looking forward to it when he was suddenly kidnapped. After the incident ended, he never got reunited with his parents, then never managed to fit in. When I asked him about it last year, he told me he didn't care because he had nobody to celebrate it with.”
His head hung. “I think, this year, he's forgotten that he actually has friends, and not just people he's acquainted with.”
Takeru slammed his hands on the table, shooting out of his chair. “Then we should remind him!” He turned to Aoi, a smile on his face. “Come on, let's go and get him something! We need to get supplies for a party, too!”
Aoi stared back at him, keeping calm despite his excitement. “Calm down, Takeru. We both know what he's like. He won't appreciate it if we make a massive celebration out of it.”
Her words popped Takeru's enthusiasm like a balloon, and he slouched slightly. “But it's his birthday! It's meant to be a fun occasion!”
“You can make it a fun occasion without making him uncomfortable.” She slowly stood up, nodding at Shoichi. “Thank you for letting us know.”
Shoichi smiled. “Let him know I said Happy Birthday, as well.”
She smiled back. “I will.” She turned to Takeru. “We should get going. There’s only a couple of hours left in the day.”
“Thanks, Kusanagi!” Takeru shouted with a wave as he and Aoi walked into the distance.
Shoichi returned the wave with a smile, moving back into the van to continue working.
He hoped it would work out.
---
Yusaku cracked his eyes open, but made no move to leave his bed. There was no point, anyway.
It was that day again. Try as he might, he couldn’t avoid the memories coming back to haunt him again. When the Lost Incident had first started, he had hoped that he would be rescued quickly, before his birthday, but it didn’t happen.
The torture had lasted far, far longer than he’d hoped. The only reason he’d hung on as long as he had was because of Ryoken’s words.
But afterwards, he had nothing. No parents, no friends, and certainly nobody to celebrate with.
He’d slowly gotten used to it. While he’d never felt happy about it, at least he’d stopped crying himself to sleep every night leading up to his birthday. Now he simply felt nothing.
Rolling over, he closed his eyes again in an attempt to fall back to sleep.
His attempt was soon interrupted by a ringing noise. Groaning, he tried to identify what it was, but it quickly subsided. Glancing at his phone, he noted that it was silent. Not that he expected anybody to call or message him, anyway.
So the noise had to have come from somewhere else. As he searched the room for possible sources, it came again. This time, he was able to recognise the direction. It was coming from outside of his room.
The noise did seem vaguely familiar, and as he left the room and it continued to sound, he realised that it must be the doorbell. It was rarely used, but once the thought passed through his head it immediately clicked.
Someone was visiting him.
Multiple someones, he discovered upon opening the door. He stared, confused at the turn of events.
“Takeru, Aoi? What are you two doing here?”
Takeru had a wide grin and looked like he was itching to speak, but Aoi forestalled him. “You seemed a bit down during the week, so we decided to visit. Can we come in?”
Yusaku shrugged. “Sure, I guess.” He moved out of the way, showing the two of them in. Leading them to his room, they all sat down on the floor. “Did you want anything?”
The two responded negatively, and Aoi reached into her bag, pulling out a small box. She pushed it towards him, and he blinked at it.
“What’s this?”
“It’s for you. Open it.”
Taking it into his hands, he lifted the lid, placing it to the side. Inside was a simple bracelet, woven equally from three different colours of thread. Blue, red, and purple.
He frowned. “What’s this for?”
Takeru and Aoi both lifted up their arms, and he saw for the first time that they had matching bracelets on. The meaning slowly began to sink in.
“It’s to remind you that you have friends!” Takeru said, leaning forward.
Yusaku jerked back at the statement, staring wide-eyed at the two of them.
Aoi gave a small smile.
“Happy Birthday, Yusaku.”
Yusaku moved his stare back and forth between them and the bracelet, stunned.
His eyes began to tear up, and he raised a hand to wipe them away. “I’m sorry. I guess, I became too used to spending the time alone that I forgot.”
“Don’t worry about it! We’re here now, aren’t we?” Takeru clapped a hand on his shoulder, smiling.
“Thank you.” He took a deep breath, then looked back at them. “How did you know?”
“Kusanagi told us. He already had plans to visit his brother today, but he said to tell you happy birthday from him as well.”
“Oh.” Now that it was mentioned, he remembered telling Shoichi about it last year.
He fell silent, unsure of himself. What was he supposed to do now?
“Yusaku.”
Hearing his name, he looked back at Aoi.
“Is there anything you’ve wanted to do for your birthday?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never thought about it. I only ever wished I could have someone to celebrate it with, and even that faded over time.”
“Well, you’ve got two people to celebrate it with now, so let’s go do something!” Takeru said in excitement.
Instinctively, Yusaku hesitated. Was it really okay? But he cast the thought aside and nodded. “That sounds great, but I need to have a shower and get changed.”
“We can wait! We can discuss some ideas for what to do while you do that.”
Yusaku smiled, then stood up, collecting some clothes and making his way out.
He was glad to have friends.