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"Kiki, pass the balloon!" Kokichi called, reaching out his hand towards the girl who had her back turned to him.
"What? You mean this?" Kiki asked, whirling around with a red balloon in her hand before it suddenly gave a loud pop. Bright light burst out of the balloon before a shower of glittery powder sprinkled across the floor. "Oopsies!"
Nevermind, Kokichi relented, walking over to the table and unwrapping a pack of candles. "I'll leave the decorations to you."
"You... Might... Want to... Be careful with... That," Yuri commented, as she delicately Placed a flour in a vase. "You... Don't... Want... Too... Pop... All of them."
"Yeah, don't want boss's Momo to not have any firework balloons left," teased Shigeri, picking their nose before walking over to the nearest sofa. "He would not be happy if their party got ruined."
"Shut up," Kokichi shot back, though he didn't sound angry. He began placing candles on a large cake that sat in the very middle of the table. "As long as you guys follow my instructions, the party will be fine."
"Shigeri," Natsumi chided, "fucking help clean up the mess instead of sitting down at the sofa picking your nose." She pointed towards the glittery powder that was still on the floor where the balloon had popped.
Shigeri merely tilted their head. "I'm helping to supervise the party preparations," they replied. "Besides, the powder is technically Kiki's responsibility."
Kiki Open her mouth to respond but at that moment, Ayu ran into the room, dragging a disgruntled Tetsuo by the hand behind her. "Sorry we're late!" She said sincerely. "I was having a hard time getting him out of the library."
"I, didn't, want to come," Tetsuo replied, pulling himself away from her grasp.
"He's lying, you’ve been hanging around boss too much Tetsuo," Ayu said. It was a clear lie, since everyone knew that he never left the library, but the obviousness of the statement was what made it funny to her.
Tetsuo ignored her and turned away, revealing a small present he had been hiding behind his back the whole time.
"Aww, looks like you care about the party after all!" Exclaimed Kiki as she noticed the gift. She bounced over to Tetsuo and effortlessly took it from his hand, placing it on top of the small pile of gifts that was already gathered next to the cake.
Tetsuo scowled at her slightly before walking further into the room. "When is this thing getting started anyway?" He asked. "Looks like no one is even ready."
"Kiki still needs to clean up her powder mess," Shigeri replied.
"Oh that?" Ayu asked, noticing the powder on the floor. "Don't worry I got it." She began putting on a pair of gloves before carefully scooping up the powder and tossing them into a bin.
"Oh Ayu, sweeter than we all deserve," Kiki said, giving the girl a grateful look. "I still have to put up the rest of the balloons."
"You might want to be careful with those," Shinji warned Ayu. "They carry explosive energy that can be unpredictable."
"i'm sure they're not so bad," Ayu replied, knowing that Shinji tended to make things sound more dramatic than they actually were thanks to his dad. "I'm sure they're just..."
She was cut off by a sudden, second "pop", as a blue balloon this time burst, spraying moore light up powder on the floor.
"Oops!" Kiki shouted again. "Maybe I shouldn't have filled these with so much firework powder."
"What's firework powder anyway?" Asked Ryu, as a swearing Natsumi rushed to help Ayu with the new mess.
"It's just regular glitter imbued with some glowstick chemicals, and a few other secret ingredients," Kiki replied nonchalantly. "It's one of my newest creations. Thought they would be perfect for parties."
"You... Really... Should be careful... With those," Yuri said again, fixing a brand-new butterfly hairpin into her hair. "Don't... Want some... Getting in the... Cake."
"Holy cricket, you're right!" Kiki gasped, noticeably stepping away from the cake table and deciding to put up her last balloon near the window instead. "That would be a disaster."
"Hey, boss, when is your girlfriend going to get here?" Shigeri asked, earning a glare from the self-declared supreme leader of evil.
"She is hiding under the table, waiting to put a mute spell on you," he said, though again, not sounding too angry. His cheeks were, however, warm from embarrassment.
"Goodness boss, you're even starting to sound like her," Yushi teased. "A few months ago, you wouldn't..."
The door opened and Himiko walked into the room.
"Speak of the devil," Natsumi said, straightening up from the bin. "Looks like she's here."
"Nyeh?" Himiko asked, looking around the room. "Were you saying stuff about me?"
"Kokichi was saying stuff about you," Kiki teased.
"Liar," Kokichi replied almost immediately.
"What? You want us to say that you haven't been talking about your girlfriend? Thought you liiiike her," Shigeri edit with a smirk.
Noticing that her boyfriend was starting to get a little uncomfortable,Himiko spoke up. "I-if you tease him again, I'll put a "miss your mouth with your fork" spell on you so you'll get icing all over yourselves when trying to eat birthday cake later."
"Guys it's almost time!" Called Ayu, glancing at the clock.
"What time are we starting?" Tetsuo asked again, as no one had answered his previous query.
"At 10 am of course," Ayu replied. "Wait, I didn't tell you? Sorry I must've forgotten."
"Everyone, hide!" Kokichi instructed, grabbing onto Himiko's hand and pulling her under the table.
____________
Sam walked up to their house after a long night of work. It hadn’t been a bad work night, but they were still relieved to finally get home and get some much needed rest. As always, they were looking forward to seeing their son again. It had been two years since they adopted him and he was still the light and joy of their life.
As they plays the key into the lock, they quietly wondered to themselves if he was awake yet. Maybe he stayed up all night playing video games and was fast asleep in his room? Or maybe he had woken up early and eaten some fruity pebbles while waiting for them to come home.
What they didn't expect to find was the house completely decorated with balloons, and a large pile of presents sitting on the table next to a large birthday cake with candles.
With all the stress of work in the recent weeks, Sam hadn't even had time to think about what they were going to do for their birthday that year, and they had barely had time to register that it was today with all the work they had to do in the last couple hours.
"Hello?" They called into the silent house. "Kokichi? are you awake?"
"SURPRISE!!!!!!!" many young voices cried, as the young teens jumped out from their hiding spots. Kokichi ran up to and hugged his Momo, while Himiko gave a silent deathglare to the others just to make sure he wouldn't get teased for it.
"Happy birthday!" Kokichi cried, giving Sam a quick hug before taking their hand and leading them to the table. "I bought you a bomb!"
He took a large package from the table and handed it to Sam, who was tearing up from the sudden influx of birthday wishes. "I, no way," they said weekly, grasping the gift.
"Open it open it!" Kiki said excitedly.
Sam nodded as a single tear rolled down their cheek. They grasped the wrapping paper in one hand and pulled, slowly unwrapping their son's gift.
Boom!
The moment the package was unwrapped, the thing inside the box exploded, filling it up with candy.
"Self exploding pinatas!" Kiki said proudly. "It was Kokichi's idea!"
"Told you it was a bomb, nee-heehee," Kokichi giggled, as Sam’s face turn to one of shock, and then surprised laughter.
"That scared me for a second," they admitted, still laughing, "but it's super cool! Thank you!"
Hugging their son again, they turned to the other gifts. One by one, each teen came forward and presented Sam The gift they had gotten them. Even Tetsuo participated, giving a glimpse of a smile as he watched them open a case with a gold necklace.
Shinji had made Sam a cool new set of clothes, as well as a full cosplay of one of their favourite fictional characters.
Yuri had presented them with the vase of flowers that she had freshly picked from the Meadows nearby.
Ayu had made them a beautiful, handwritten card, as well as a beaded bag.
As Sam open one gift after another, they felt their smile widen, and more tears threatening to roll down their cheeks. They had never felt so loved in their entire life.
Himiko's gift was last, and she had gotten Sam a plush dove that she claimed had been imbued with protective magic power.
"When you hug it, it will keep you safe from all curses," she had stated.
After the giftgiving, Sam was being led to sit down at a chair while they all lit the candles and sang them the birthday song.
Before blowing them out, Sam wished upon the candles that these people would be in their life forever.
Then they cut the cake into equal sized pieces, and everyone had a generous slice with more to spare in case anyone wanted seconds.
Shigeri went to the fridge and came back with a whole load of drinks, and set them on the table. Normally they wouldn't get up and do too much physical work, but this was for their best friends parent so it was a special case.
"This has to be the best birthday I've ever had," Sam said, as they rose up from the table after eating as much cake as they could. "And these decorations are amazing. Who put them up?"
"Kiki did," Natsumi replied. "Just be careful not to pop them."
"Oh? Why not?" They asked curiously.
POP!
A balloon sounded overhead, as Kiki giggled. She had snuck off from the rest of the group, waiting for the perfect moment.
Showers of blue and red light cascaded from the balloon, as glittery powder showered onto the floor.
"Firework party balloons! That's why," she said.
They all laughed, including Sam, who never wanted that day to end.
"oh wow," they said in awe. "Well, now we just have to pop them!"