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With a relationship as big as the one Yusuke Kitagawa found himself in, birthdays were usually a large-scale production. For Futaba's birthday, everyone chipped in to buy her components for a new gaming PC, and they had gotten a motorcycle for Makoto a few months prior. Phantom Thieving was a surprisingly profitable enterprise, it turns out. But now that the Metaverse had been shut down, Yusuke didn't expect much for his birthday. He would've just been happy to see his partners on the anniversary of his birth.
Stepping onto the train platform on his way to school, Yusuke didn't see the short, blonde, and boisterous figure approaching him from behind. He only noticed when that same figure bowled into him, knocking the both of them on their butts. Yusuke's favorite punk was smothering him in a crushing hug. "Happy birthday, Yusuke!!!" Ryuji hollered, drawing the eyes and the ire of a few passersby., especially when Ryuji grabbed Yusuke's collar and kissed him hard. Pulling back, Ryuji reached into his school jacket and pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded several times. "I drew you something as a present! I *know* you'll 'effin' love it, dude." Yusuke unfolded the slightly crumpled paper, revealing a drawing of himself in a large lobster costume. Yusuke blinked at the paper a few times before looking up at his boyfriend.
"This is... truly artful. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Thank you, my love." Yusuke said, without a hint of irony in his voice.
"Yeah!" Ryuji exclaimed, overjoyed (he was usually over- something when it came to his emotions) "I'm so glad you love it! That's not all though, Haru booked us a fancy dinner at a restaurant in Shibuya! She's going to text you the directions later. It's going to be friggin' sweet!" Ryuji glanced down at his watch and jumped. "Oh crap! We're gonna miss our trains!" He jumped up and started running towards his passage to school. "See you tonight!" He called back. "Love ya', dude!"
Finally arriving at school after that brief, though welcome, distraction, Yusuke went to his classes as normal. He received a few miscellaneous gifts here and there, a package of nice pens or an expensive pallet of paints. Welcome gifts, and wholly appreciated, but Yusuke's mind was more focused on his upcoming dinner. He was truly excited. He got to have a nice evening with all his loves AND get free food in the process? Truly, he was blessed. Sitting down to eat lunch, he saw Hifumi approaching his isolated little corner, holding a white envelope. (Surprisingly, not many people wanted to eat lunch with Yusuke. Their loss.)
"Ah, hello dear." Yusuke said, setting down his utensils. "Have you a birthday gift for me as well? Rest assured, your company is gift enough." At that, Hifumi blushed a little. "Hello Yusuke. While my being here may have been enough, I wanted to get you something to celebrate. As a matter of fact, this present does involve my presence." Hifumi handed the envelope to Yusuke, smiling. Opening the envelope, Yusuke found two little paper strips: tickets to a prestigious art museum not far from the church where Hifumi practiced Shogi. "They're for a week from now. I thought it'd be fun for us to go together." Yusuke carefully tucked the tickets back into the envelope before rising.
"I'm sure it'll be a date for the ages. This is a wonderful gift, and I thank you." Yusuke leaned down to give the Shogi Queen a quick peck on the lips. "Now, I must finish my lunch and you must return to yours. I trust that I'll see you at the dinner tonight?"
Hifumi beamed. "Yes, you will. I look forward to it. I love you, dear." She stood on her toes to return Yusuke's kiss before returning to her lunch table. Truly this was shaping up to be a wonderful day for Yusuke.
After school and on the train station once more, Yusuke was surprised to see Mishima approaching him. While they were both a part of the romantic conglomerate that had formed around the Phantom Thieves, due to Mishima going to a different school and not being a Thief himself they hadn't spent a lot of time together. Yusuke did think Mishima was quite cute though.
"H-hello, Kitagawa." Mishima stuttered, clearly a bit flustered. "I-I heard it was your birthday so I got y-you this." Mishima moved his hand away from his back to reveal a small action figure dressed in Yusuke's Phantom Thief clothes. He knew that merchandise for their group was prevalent, especially a few months back, but he'd never seen a toy of one of himself before. He gazed at it in amazement, rotating it in his hands. "I-it's maybe a bit t-tacky, but I th-thought it was maybe a bit funny... A-actually, no, I'll t-take that back and get y-you something better." Mishima reached for the doll, his hand being stopped by Yusuke grabbing his wrist.
"No, there is no need, I am quite a fan of this. It is charming in its imperfections and mild tackiness. Thank you." Yusuke punctuated this by leaning down to give Mishima a brief kiss on the cheek. Mishima's face was now fully overtaken by a blush, his eyes wide. "I'mSoGladYouLikedItI'llSeeYouAtTheDinnerTonightBye!" He rushed out in a jumble of words before rushing off himself.
"What a cute expression."
An hour or so later, Yusuke was wandering the streets of Shibuya when he literally ran into Ann. One of her bags flew up into the air and Yusuke managed to catch it, though he fell over in the process. Sitting up, slightly dazed, Yusuke looked into the bag. It was a DVD box depicting a smiling man with large poofy hair standing in front of a painted canvas. He couldn't make out all the English on the cover, though he could read the word "painting".
"Oh my god, Yusuke, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" Ann hovered over Yusuke, trying to see if he was in any way bruised.
"Yes, darling, I am quite alright. I hate to pry into your purchases, but what might this be?" Yusuke asked, holding up the DVD box.
Ann's face lit up, happy that Yusuke was both okay and interested in her present for him. "Oh! It's this American TV series my dad used to watch! It's called "The Joy of Painting". It's a really relaxed show where you watch Bob Ross, the guy on the cover, paint for like 40 minutes. His voice is so soothing and he's so nice! He also encourages everyone to paint along, so I thought we could make a date out of it! I was hoping to give this to you at dinner, but oh well!" Ann smiled and gave Yusuke a hand up, as well as a smooch on the lips. Yusuke could feel the lipstick residue left behind. "Oh, I'm going to be late for a shoot! I'll be at dinner on time, I promise. Love you, bye!" Ann waved at Yusuke as she turned to jog for the train station. Yusuke tapped his fingers to his lips and smiled. He was really looking forward to that dinner.
Finally, the time for dinner arrived. Haru was the first one there, followed by Makoto and Yusuke, then Ryuji and Mishima, Hifumi, and finally Ann. As Makoto and Yusuke got to the restaurant at around the same time, she decided to give him his gift there.
"Here you are, Yusuke. Considering our exploits at the beach over the summer, I figured that you'd appreciate this." The gift she had handed him was a decently sized and glossy hardcover book. The cover read: "The anatomy of crabs, lobster, and other crustaceans". Yusuke gasped. His love of lobsters was well known and often joked about among the Thieves.
"This is phenomenal. You know, this is the second lobster-based present I've received today. I must draw one of these immaculate creatures immediately." Pulling a drawing pad out of... somewhere, Yusuke began sketching as the rest of the guests filtered into the booth.
When they were all seated, Haru cleared her throat to address everyone at the table.
"*ahem* Hello everyone, thank you all for coming. I'm very glad we could all be here to celebrate our dearest Yusuke's birthday. I'm also glad that there was a booth large enough to fit all of us." The party chuckled at that. "So, happy birthday, Yusuke! Don't worry about the bill, I'm covering it all as a part of your present." With that, Haru leaned down to kiss Yusuke. There was a lot of kissing around Yusuke today, wasn't there.
After dinner, Yusuke returned to his dorm. Normally, he'd slip into his usual routine, but there was an unexpected letter taped to Yusuke's door, addressed to him. He took it into his room and opened it. Out fluttered a picture and a letter written in the trademark scratchy handwriting of a certain incarcerated leader of theirs. Yusuke sat on his bed and began to read.
"Yusuke:
I hope this letter reaches you in time. I sent it a bit early, so it should arrive on time, but when was the last time a governmental department ever worked right for me?
It really pains me that I can't be with you and the others on your birthday. I always make a production out of the others' birthdays because my parents never really made a big deal for mine, and I wanted to make it fun for others. Trust me when I say that, given the chance, I'd make just as big a show of yours.
I miss you more than I can really articulate, especially because I was only given one piece of paper by the wonderful employees of the Tokyo juvenile detention facility. Getting back on track, though. Each day I find myself missing you more and more. Your picture is the only one they let me keep. Apparently pictures of me kissing my partners is contraband.
I'm putting a picture in the envelope alongside the letter. I've had a lot of time to work on it. I hope you like it. It was the only thing I could gift you from juvie.
Give the others my greetings and affection, and know that I love you, Yusuke.
Yours, always
Akira"
Attached was a pencil drawing of Yusuke's profile. It was obviously painstakingly drawn over a long period of time. All of the love from the day's events seemed to hit Yusuke at the same time as he started crying beautiful tears of joy. He really hadn't expected anything big for his birthday. A few knick-knacks or trinkets, maybe. But what he got meant far more than any expensive presents he could've been given.
He was given love.