Work Text:
Nearly throwing himself at the bed after a long, tiring day, Genda groaned as his head hit the pillow. With his clothes carelessly thrown into a corner and nothing but his boxers on, he almost was ready to go right to sleep there and then, no care for anything else.
Yet somehow, he managed to push himself just enough to at least reach for his phone, despite the ache in his muscles that urged him to just pass out for a few hours. He couldn’t go to sleep just yet, no matter how much he wanted to. He needed to talk to him first.
As soon as he had typed in the number and pressed ‘call’, Genda just set the phone to speaker, letting it rest next to his head, too tired to even hold it to his ear this time.
“-Koujirou?”
“Hey, Jirou…” He was already more at ease hearing his voice, hints of a smile on his lips. “How are you?”
“I’m fine, just eating right now- and no, before you ask, it’s not take out this once.”
“Just don’t let it kill you, alright?”
“I’m not that bad at cooking!” There was much huffing on the other side of the line. “Anyways- what about you?”
Genda just groaned, not even moving to get comfortable under the blankets just yet.
“Tired. And sore. We’ve been training hard lately…”
It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it- he already had gone through more than his fair share of harsh training before, this was nothing in comparison… but that didn’t mean he wasn’t pushing himself well beyond what he should, regardless.
“Don’t push yourself so hard, please.”
He could picture the frown on Sakuma's face.
“I know, I know, sorry… I guess I just didn’t really think about it.”
Except that was a lie, a terrible one.
It wasn’t the first time Genda pushed himself so much just to get his mind off things. Something Sakuma was reluctantly used to, now more than ever when Genda was so far away that he couldn’t just push him to lay down and rest.
“What’s on your mind?”
“Wh- I-I’m fine, really-! You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
“Koujirou…”
“I-I’m serious…”
“… It’s not a big deal, really. Just… thinking a lot lately. Don’t worry about it.”
He knew Sakuma wasn’t convinced, was sure of it when he heard the sigh.
“Alright… if you’re really sure, then… just- let me know if anything’s wrong, alright?”
“Of course…” He couldn’t really hold back a yawn anymore.
“I want to keep talking to you too, but you need to sleep now. I don’t know how you’re still awake.”
“Fine, fine… I love you.”
“I love you too. Sleep well, Koujirou.”
Genda could almost hear the smile in his voice, his own dropping just a bit as the call ended.
There wasn’t more than a week until his birthday. His first birthday spent abroad.
Even if he tried, there was no way for him to return to Japan for the occasion. With the season in full swing, he had to stay there, had to train as much as he could- he couldn’t allow himself to slack off and let the team down, no matter how down he might feel. He’d just have to put up with it, hope the day would pass by without anything happening and try to forget about it.
It was harder said than done, but now he had no choice, did he?
And so the week kept going, the day got closer and closer, and Genda kept pushing himself near exhaustion just to be able to go to sleep quickly without lingering on those thoughts.
He knew that by then Sakuma had already caught on at least part of the issues, his voice over the calls sounding more and more concerned and his texts getting more frequent. It was taking more and more effort every day to convince Sakuma that he didn’t need to worry as much- or at least try to, he knew it wasn’t really working.
After their last call, he looked at the date again. Just three more days. That was all it would take, then he could just get over his own silly issues and go back to his normal life. This was nothing, he could do this.
And then he woke up the next day in an absolute mess of a bed, blankets nearly more on the floor than on himself, the shirt he could’ve sworn he did put on laying on a chair and something hard and buzzing digging into his side- oh, that was his phone. He forgot to put it back on the nightstand and charging. Or, the more likely option, he passed out without meaning to before even doing any of the things he was supposed to do. Or even before getting under the blankets at all, barely managing to drag himself to the bed as it was. Did he get to eat something the night before…?
The phone was buzzing again, at least having enough battery left to answer.
“Uh… hi?”
“Koujirou-! A-are you alright? You didn’t call or text last night, you had me so worried!”
… Oh no.
“I- s-sorry, I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed- I-I didn’t mean to-!”
And now he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide for that. Sakuma's sigh didn’t help much.
“Fine… I was hoping that was the case. Just- take care of yourself, please…”
“I… I’ll try harder.” It was the only thing he could really say. “A-anyways- how are you doing? Is everything ok over there?”
“I’m fine, just… kinda bored here. Oh, right- I was going to tell you earlier, but I forgot!”
“What?”
“Just- keep an eye out for deliveries, alright?”
Genda was sure Sakuma could pretty much see his confusion over the phone.
“Ok…?”
"Just trust me on this, alright?"
"Well, since you're the one asking…”
Honestly, Genda had no idea what to expect. It couldn’t be… could it?
With no idea what to look forward to, Genda just waited, back to his routine, at least making an effort not to push himself enough to be ready to pass out, if anything for Sakuma's sake.
And then, before he could even realize it, that day had arrived.
It wasn’t any different from any other day, same as usual. Wake up, get ready, practice, go back home. Nothing new, nothing different.
He wasn’t sure what he expected to happen.
Idly scrolling through his phone on the way back, wondering whether or not it was the right time to call, Genda started looking for his keys to get the door- and he blinked once he looked away from the screen, finally noticing the package innocently sitting there on his doorstep. Confusion growing, Genda stepped closer and looked it over- it said it came from Japan. Oh. Oh.
Eyes wide and heart suddenly beating faster, Genda picked it up, fumbling with the keys in his free hand to open the door and rush inside, leaving the package on the table and nearly forgetting to lock the door behind him. All he did was grab a knife from the kitchen, almost feeling like he didn’t have the time to look for scissors, cutting off the tape as carefully as possible.
And inside, there was another box, much nicer than the package, wrapped in paper decorated with silly cat faces and paws. There was a little note resting on top of it, handwritten on the nice, pale orange paper.
‘ I hope this isn’t getting to you late,
I know it’s not the same when we’re so far away from each other, but…
Happy birthday, Koujirou. I love you <3
- Jirou ‘
For a moment, all Genda did was stare at that little note, tracing the words with his gaze over and over, almost committing them to memory just like that.
Of course Sakuma would still try, he refused to let a single birthday without something to celebrate all these years, no matter how small or big what they would do might be. Taking a deep breath, Genda slowly and carefully pulled the gift box out of the package. And right as he was about to tear the paper and open it, he stopped, reaching for his phone instead.
“Koujirou? What-”
“How long have you been planning this?” He had to bite his lip to hold back a tiny laughter, barely even knowing how to react to the whole thing, a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest.
“Oh- it arrived? Is everything alright? I tried to plan and pay for it to be delivered on the right day, but I didn’t know if-”
“Yes, yes- it’s here, I have it right here on the table, I… thank you. I just…”
“You don’t need to thank me, you know I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing for your birthday.”
“I… I really don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
And Sakuma just giggled on the other side.
“That’s my line. Come on, have you opened it yet? And I want to hear you ordering something to eat, ok? No sulking around today! I might not have been able to get there today, but we will celebrate next time I go visit, no matter when that is!”
“Alright, alright… I just got the box out, I still haven’t touched it…” For a moment, he was quiet, thinking. “… Can I video call you now? Or are you too busy?”
“I’m never too busy for you. Just give me a moment to get the laptop.”
As soon as they were settled on the call, Sakuma squinted at him, frowning at the sight.
“You look like shit- you haven’t even changed clothes yet?”
He wasn’t exactly wrong, Genda had rushed in and to opening that package, sitting there at the kitchen table still in his sweaty and dirty uniform, hair barely pulled out of his face in an even messier than usual ponytail. He just tried to awkwardly laugh it off instead.
“I- I just wanted to see what this thing was, alright?”
“Fine… but order some food first! You won’t spend your birthday eating leftovers, you heard me?”
“Fine, fine, I’m on it-”
“And don’t forget a cake!”
With Sakuma watching him so closely just to make sure he’d do it, Genda didn’t exactly have much of a choice left, did he? He could settle for a pizza and a small chocolate cake, at least for now.
“Did you order?”
“Yes, yes- I did, happy now?”
Sakuma happily nodded, grin on his face. Genda just huffed to hide his laughter.
“Aren’t you going to open your gift now?”
“No one opens their gifts before the food, Jirou.”
“Of course.”
They filled the wait with idle chatter and quiet ‘I love you’s, Sakuma refusing to so much as step away from the screen once while they waited. Finally, when there was a knock on the door and Genda had to reluctantly get up, Sakuma took the occasion to get himself something to eat too, insisting that at least that way Genda could feel like he wasn’t eating alone. That and it wouldn’t be as awkward to just watch him eat.
“So, how’s the food? It looks great.”
Genda nodded between bites before swallowing.
“It’s great- I should buy you some when you come visit, I saw some cookies in that store that you’d love.”
“I’ll be waiting then! It’s a promise, so don’t you dare forget!”
Genda just rolled his eyes, a smile on his face.
“As if you’d let me forget.”
And as soon as they were done eating, Genda brought the box back on the table and in full sight, Sakuma looking a bit too excited to see it.
“Come on, open it, open it!”
“I’m on it- what did you even put in here? This thing is heavier than I thought.”
“You’ll see.”
Well, there was no reason to put it off any longer. And so Genda started carefully peeling away the paper, then cutting away the tape, taking a peek in once he opened the box- and his eyes widened.
There were all sort of little gifts inside, from the snacks he liked, to some round and cute cat plushies, to even stickers and keychains, filled to the brim with as much as could be fit inside.
Yet, that wasn’t the most surprising part. It was the little notes tied to every gift. He picked the first thing he could reach, a bag of cookies he tried to buy whenever he went to the store, reaching for the note hanging from it.
“This… Narukami?”
And just to be sure, he looked at another one. It had Kidou’s name on it, another happy birthday wish next to it. The more he looked, the more names he found, even from Fudou and some old friends that never were part of Teikoku.
“Jirou? What…”
“Do you like it?” His smile had turned so warm and fond seeing the surprise on his face. “We all got together to get you something. It was a bit hard to organize everything and get the box ready, I was starting to fear that it wouldn’t get there in time. I’m glad we managed, though.”
“i… I don’t even know how to thank you for this…”
“Just keep working hard like you’re doing, ok? We’re all proud of you here.”
At loss for words, Genda could only nod, smile so big by now that his cheeks were starting to hurt and his hands full of gifts by now. Even with all the distance between them, they all were still there for him. And despite the distance, Sakuma's refusal to let him drown in his own misery and thoughts had done so much more than he ever expected, had helped him feel less alone on that day.
It all meant more than words could ever express.
“Happy birthday, Koujirou.”
“I love you too.”