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Tsukasa was by no means a child. His sweet tooth and constant supervision from his family’s maids aside, he was a young adult brimming with confidence that accepted all challenges thrown his way with earnest promise to turn anything into a success. He performed well to his parents’ expectations, which for one half of his daily life meant he was the biggest and brightest star in the world. Yes, there was a lot to learn still with the family business, but anyone would look at him and comment on his maturity and finesse.
His idol life, on the other hand, was where he wished to receive the same treatment and respect. It’s not short of his own faults that he’s treated like a ‘shitty brat’; he started performing as a teenager and has nothing but a year of experience under his belt. A year spent mostly chasing around his unitmates to do anything , but regardless, a year of work and knowledge gifted to him.
He strived for improvement, for the acknowledgement from his unit and peers that he is a formidable idol. It was still a long way off, nothing to be accomplished in a single year, or even two or three, but it was his ultimate goal to be treated like a mature, responsible, and capable adult in all aspects of his life.
It was what Tsukasa told himself at least.
He stared at his phone, the messages from each member of Knights adding a lonely weight to his shoulders. Each one contained some explanation of the work they had planned for a particular day in early April, that it was something last minute, great exposure, or some other amazing opportunity.
Tsukasa understood very well that work came first compared to this other early April obligation , if it could even be called such an important word. So, he responded with polite words and assurances that it was only curiosity piquing him, and that his dear members of Knights had no reason to reschedule their conflicts.
Birthdays happen once a year, and Tsukasa had plenty more of them to come. What deal is it if he spends one more alone?
It was a big deal, actually, said the pile of tissues making a nice home for themselves on his nightstand. He was just lucky his roommates are out for the night, a shocking accomplishment considering the introversion of them both.
He sniffled and picked up another tissue to blow into- the hot tears falling down his cheeks frustrating him, making his chest tumble and twist. It was something about the most mundane things to shed tears about that made them feel all the more painful. He hadn’t cried like this since the time he had bought a limited one day only crepe from a food truck only to trip and spill it all over the sidewalk.
He was not a young adult brimming with all the confidence in the world at all, he was Tsukasa Suou that cries because his unit was too busy to be with him on his birthday.
The idol side was the one that’s crying these tears, he told himself. He hasn’t spent every birthday alone, his parents could make some, but it was not an expectation he held onto. This past year at Yumenosaki he had seen all sorts of birthday events thrown for his peers. He’d been invited to a few celebrations, something he relished in since before this the only ones he’d received invitations for were some family members he didn’t know too well, random business associates he was invited to only if his parents were, or to Tori’s .
Knights, for as independent as they acted, usually had celebrations for each member’s birthday. Of course, situations arose where it became impossible, and Family Tsukasa was used to that, but Idol Tsukasa was not. Family Tsukasa could handle anything, of course. Idol Tsukasa was nothing but an infant child, the baby of Knights.
He unlocked his phone again, quickly home screened out of his message app so as to not ignite more tears, and he swiped across the screen looking for the best app one could have at a time like this. His favorite food delivery app, only to be used in case of an emergency, and the blubbery tears he’s struggling to ease down definitely counted as such.
Ice cream never sounded so good.
“Screw you, Sena-senpai! Who cares about modeling in Milan,” Tsukasa muttered, finding the closest ice cream shop with the shortest delivery time. “Stupid, stupid! I’ll eat three ice cream cakes on my birthday and he won’t be able to nag me at all.”
Tsukasa browsed the menu, delighted to see a wide variety of fruit based and chocolate-y options. “And I won’t worry about breaking out or touching any of my skincare since Narukami-senpai won’t even be here to see it!” He added a banana brownie batter sundae to his cart.
“Ritsu-senpai loves making cakes so much he better approve if I put myself into a food coma!” A strawberry shortcake flavored 3 scoop added.
“And who cares about Leo-san’s one man orchestra! He finally books something for himself and it’s that!? On my birthday of all days!” He tapped hard on his phone, adding 3 more ice creams of whatever flavors came up first. “I’ll do five birthday cakes for myself! One for each senpai disappointing me day by day!”
His cart total was well beyond a number that will trigger an alert on his parents phone, but he throws his care out the window since they at least may have the sense to know what time of year it is and give Tsukasa this little bit of leeway.
He pressed the check out button, paid with his card, and waited ever so patiently with the company of his tissue box for his ice cream cakes to arrive.
Screw Leo. Screw Izumi. Screw Ritsu. Screw Arashi. Screw all of his lousy senpai.
Tsukasa’s face does in fact break out the next morning after his midnight sugar rush. Although in the moment he had been peeved off enough to curse Arashi’s skincare she’s set Tsukasa on, he still feels guilt prickle at his chest when he tries to leave the bathroom in the morning without going through his steps. This, he tells himself, is just because he is a good, hardworking man that should take care of his face.
His face got progressively worse as the days passed by, but Tsukasa was used to the cycle of his acne flaring up from his sugar indulgences. He paid it no mind, even forgoing makeup since, well, he had no plans today .
None at all.
Nothing.
April 6th is just like any other day in the calendar year, though he supposed it is one of those days where it can really start to get hot outside for the first time in a while.
He wasn’t quite sweating yet as he trekked across the courtyard of ES, but it was starting to feel uncomfortably warm in his current clothes. Spring is an annoyingly fickle season at times; for as beautiful as it is, it really can’t make up its mind between frost in the mornings or heat waves by noon.
But he was on a mission, so he perseveres through the mild uncomfortableness and tells himself he’ll be inside soon. He had received a message from Hinata, something urgent about limited time sweets in the ground floor conference room of the East building, so he was walking a little faster than usual. The message made it unclear whether Hinata had been experimenting and created new treats to try, or if some meeting had leftovers (not that asking Hinata to clarify helped, since his vocabulary changed from words to only winking emojis in an instant).
Either option was worth the walk though. Hinata’s sweet tooth aligned perfectly with Tsukasa’s, or if it was company leftovers, then Tsukasa could assume the quality was that of an expensive professional.
Making it across the lawn and pulling open the glass door, the metal handle refreshing and cool beneath his fingers, he stepped inside. He offered a small smile and nod to the receptionist, no need to check in, and made his way to the conference room.
There was no one occupying much of the space of the lobby or any of the chairs scattered throughout the hallways, so he started to lean away from there having been a meeting in the conference room to Hinata had been baking instead. There would be more buzz around, even if the meeting had already happened.
The East building’s conference room was one of the more private ones though, no glass walls to see through or windows looking in from the outside. It was downright stuffy , but it was the best option for having more privileged meetings.
Tsukasa’s hand lingered at the doorknob for a moment, trying to listen in, but all that met him was silence and the slight hum of the air conditioning above.
If Hinata were here, he’d be humming to himself or playing music, or making any sort of noise, so maybe Hinata wasn’t here after all. But he still doubts there was a meeting due to the emptiness of the hallways. But then again it was awfully odd to serve experimental sweets in the private East building conference room unless-
A prank .
On his birthday no less!
A sudden heat of rage flared through his chest and he gripped the doorknob with a huff, swinging it open, already collecting venom on his tongue and shouting into the room.
“You mighty scoundrel inviting me here only to mess with me on today of all days! You insignificant clown, I shall have you erased from this world! You idiot-”
The sight before him carried all the flashy colors and abrupt loudness that goes with a typical Aoi prank, but he finds his voice strangled in his throat and unable to finish his sentence when he sees who was occupying the room.
The rest of Knight's stood at the other side of the room, all looking to be in a variety of shocked states that must be evident on Tsukasa's face as well. Arashi held pompoms in both her hands, stopped midwave with a terse smile on her face. Ritsu's typical lazy expression, eyes in a constant smirk even when his lips remain flat, is taken over by the neon noisemaker in his mouth. Leo’s raised arms were frozen still, and his smile hung onto his face awkwardly like it was unsure whether to run away or not. Izumi had turned his head away, arms crossing across his chest and his loud sigh breaking the silence that had overcome the room.
“Oh, Tsukasa-chan, you’re rather- I can only hope we weren’t the company you were expecting..?” Arashi asked.
Tsukasa went to open his mouth to respond but a strangled honk cut him off. The offended party also looks surprised by it, grabbing it out of his mouth quickly.
“I forgot I was holding that,” Ritsu said. “Anyways, maybe we were the company he was expecting. I told Secchan this was a bad idea.”
“It is not my fault-”
“It is Sena’s fault! Wow, and we all tried to warn him! What an idiot~”
“Oi, I am not taking being called an idiot by you.”
“Well, Ritsu-chan said so too. And I’ll agree with him and Leo-kun fufufu~”
“Now, what the hell is with this-”
These people were going to give Tsukasa a headache, but at least in the time they spent arguing, he was able to digest the scene before him a bit better. They fell short of writing letters on the wall, but the party favors they’re holding and the small stack of presents on the table are something of a tell about their intentions.
His brain congratulated himself on its quick deductive reasoning, that this was a surprise party. He’s never had one before, and he was pretty sure surprise parties were a trope for movies and not an event to take place in the real world. But here it was right in front of him, his precious Knights having lulled him into a dark world where they weren’t here to celebrate his birthday only to surprise him like this.
The feeling squeezed itself around Tsukasa’s heart in an instant, and while his skin heats up at the sudden emotion, his lip began to wobble.
“If you all thought this was such a bad idea then why the hell didn’t you say anything, huh? It’s because you’re all a bunch of bums.”
“Hey, Nacchan is not a bum.”
“What about me Rittsu~?”
“Let’s face it, we’re both bums, Tsukipi.”
Tsukasa sniffled, trying his hardest to keep his increasingly wet eyes from spilling, but as soon as he made a noise all four pairs of eyes snapped back to him. Being observed with wet eyes was one of the fastest ways for the tears to really start, and in an instant a thick drop rolled down his cheek.
He swallowed around the raw emotion in his throat. “You guys- you- you did this? You threw me a…” And he can’t finish the sentence, his shaky breaths not cooperating, but it’s hard to care much with how happy he feels.
Arashi’s already come across the room, opening her arms wide and pulling Tsukasa into a tight hug. He feels her nimble fingers comb through the top of his hair, and he thinks about how Family Tsukasa would shy away from this to whine about his reputation, wanting nothing more than to be an independent young man that doesn’t ever cry. But Idol Tsukasa sniffled against the touch, appreciating her kindness.
“Tsukasa-chan~” She sing-songed. “Thank you for the cash prize~”
He blinked. “Wh-what…?”
“Ugh Nacchan, I really wanted that money. That was supposed to go towards my exotic tea fund. Secchan, you owe me.” Ritsu groaned.
Even though Tsukasa wasn’t following along at all with what his senpai’s were talking about (which happens more often than he cared to admit) he at least knew the pattern of their conversations. Ritsu just moved pawn to E-’Insult Secchan’, so Izumi would be moving his to F-’Fuck you’. He waits for it, and when a moment of silence passes by, he waits for another member to interject and jump on the insult Izumi train.
And then there was a sniffle, followed by a curse, followed by Leo yelping.
“Hey! Why me?! I didn’t even say anything!” Leo shouted at the same time as Tsukasa brought his head out of Arashi’s chest, seeing Izumi covering his eyes with his hand. Confusion lasted only a moment, Tsukasa just barely being able to spot a tear on Izumi’s reddening cheeks.
“Sena-senpai is crying..? Why is he- no, I don’t really care. What were you all talking about money for?” Tsukasa frowned, his tears on pause so he could get a better handle on the situation. There was nothing that irked him more than being left in the dark.
Ritsu scratched the back of his head. “Mmm. A bet.”
“A bet you helped me win, Tsukasa-chan~ Thank you~”
“Okay, but what was the bet?” Tsukasa questioned. “What could have possibly been something to bet on in this situation?”
“About Secchan. And you. Let me stand over here with you guys so Secchan doesn’t hit me like he does Leo.” Ritsu walked over, sighing along the way. “See, Secchan let me down. He’s a really emotional guy, so he was supposed to start crying before you did.”
“Kuma-kun, you-” Izumi’s outburst was cut off by his own voice cracking. “Fuck you.”
“Mhm~ See, Suu-chan? He’s emotional.”
The remaining wells in Tsukasa’s eyes dried up pretty quickly at that, and he stepped out of Arashi’s arms and leveled both her and Ritsu with a blank stare. “That’s idiotic.”
The two of them are both too good at being evil, some Knights they are, for they give Tsukasa only the nicest smiles and faux innocent acts.
“No, no, Tsukasa-chan~ Let’s just open your presents now and forget all about this~”
“A great idea, Nacchan~ C’mon, Suu-chan, let’s go, let’s go~”
Tsukasa ignored them, turning his eyes to Leo. “And did you bet too?”
“What? Of course not! Betting is so crude! Undignified! I would never ever do that!”
Ritsu pat Tsukasa’s shoulder, smugness lilting through his voice. “He bet too, against Secchan. We have too much faith in him it seems.”
“Rittsu!”
“I see,” Tsukasa said. Really, what was he going to do with these idiots? “Alright, we may resume festivities. But none of you are getting a slice of my cake, except Sena-senpai but I am assuming he will have only a small slice. And no , none of you can have what he doesn’t eat. And if there isn’t cake I am leaving.”
Blank stares come back at him.
“....There is cake, right?”
“...”
“Right?!”