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"Happy birthday, Sano!"
A popper went off, and Sano's eyes widened at the decorations set up in the classroom. His eyes trailed down to Mame who was snickering at he clung onto his arm.
"Oh, so this is why you kept me from heading in, early, eh?" He chuckled and kissed Mame's forehead.
"Hehe, maaaaybe!"
He smiled and hugging Beniko and Hijita on his way into the classroom. He took his seat and leaned back as several of his classmates surrounded his desk.
"Here, we got you a ton of presents!" Tama held up his own.
Sano laughed. "Jeez, what did I do to earn this kind of treatment? Well now, bring them in!"
Tama set the small box on his desk. "Open it!"
Sano unwrapped the gift and opened the box, seeing a tanuki keychain inside of it. He smiled softly and patted Tama's head.
"Well now, this is nice! Thanks Tamao." He looked up. "Mujina, were you as nice as our resident cat?"
Mujina rolled his eyes and tossed a card onto the desk. "This is what I got you, kay?"
Sano read the card and cooed at what he read inside. To the shock of everyone, he grabbed Mujina and pulled him down, pulling him close.
"Awww, Mujina, you big sap! You're suprisingly adorable when you wanna be nice!"
"Let go of me, loser!"
He laughed and then pushed him away, setting the card on the desk. "Who's next?"
"Kuniko and I worked together on ours, Sano."
Nyuudou set a medium sized box on the desk and Sano cocked an eyebrow. He looked up the couple and chuckled quietly.
"What did the lovebirds get me?" He unwrapped the gift and opened the box, seeing a small book inside. The cover reads "The Best Year Ever" and it makes Sano cock an eyebrow.
"We put it together a few nights ago!" Kuniko clapped her hands.
Sano opened it up and felt his face flush at what was inside. Various pictures across their second year. Class picture day, the sports festival, various times the class went out and about and other festivals they all went through. When he felt tears welling up in his eyes, he wiped at them furious before leaning back in his chair.
"It's fine."
Nyuudou smiled and patted his head. "Glad you think that."
"I'm next, dude!"
"We're next, Hijita."
Sano looked up and saw a flatter, yet wider box set on his desk. When he opened it, something sprung up and he fell back, shouting out. He landed with a thud on the ground and groaned before feeling something land on his chest.
"Huh...?"
"We named her Hana!"
His eyes slowly opened and he saw a small dog on his chest.
"...Wait, what?!" He quickly sat up and held the dog in his hands. "Is this- Is this dog real?!"
"Well, her barking sure as hell is." Beniko shook her head. "But as for a genuine answer- er kinda." She shrugged. "It's an inugami. A spirit dog. It was the only-"
They watched as he pet her fur up and down, cooing and making baby talk as he did.
"Ooooh, you're such a good girl, aren't you? Aaaren't yoooouuu?" He giggled and pressed several kisses against her fur and head.
Kuniko watched them and stepped over to the other duo. "Um... where exactly did you guys find the inugami? Aren't they usually made by like affluent human families?" She gave them a look. "Please tell me it was legal."
"Yeah, yeah, it was. There's this pet shop in town where you can by bakenekos and inugami and other animal youkai."
Nyuudou made a face. "That's... a little morbid. A youkai owning an animal youkai when he has animal youkai as friends."
"Eh, only if you think about it."
"Mine next, Sano-kun!"
Mame rushed up to him and Sano looked up to receive his kiss. A card and small box were pressed into his hands and Sano looked down to observe them. Opening the card, Sano began unwrapping the gift, smiling softly at the writing inside.
"Sweetheart. And inside here-" His eyes widened at what was inside. A small, silver ring that had "Mame's Boyfriend" inscribed on it. "...How much did-"
"Oh c'mon, Sano, that's not what you ask when it comes to gifts! Besides, it would put everyone else's gifts to shame! You don't even have to wear it, I just wanted to show you how I felt and proclaim it to the world!"
Tiny arms wrapped around his neck, and Sano didn't need a mirror to tell his face was red as a tomato. He looked away from Mame as he slipped the ring onto his finger.
"...I love it, Mame. I love you."
"I love you too, Sano-kun!" Mame pulled him into another kiss.
"Alright, Sano-kun, stand up!" Haruaki held up his phone. "I'm gonna take a picture of you guys!"
Sano and Mame stood up, and they all decided to huddle together while Haruaki had held his phone up at them.
"Alright... say, unluck!"
They all smiled as Haruaki took the picture of them and smiled brightly. "I guess you can add this to your photobook, Sano-kun! Happy birthday!"
After classes, Sano walked around with all of his gifts, smiling softly down at them. He passed by someone who tapped his shoulder and when he saw them, he realized it was Tenmaru.
"Hey, the old men are having a party for you later."
"Aren't you also old?"
"Not as old as them." Tenmaru rolled his eyes. "Come on."
Sano followed after him, saying his goodbyes to his friends. The two made their way to one of the floors, and walked into a room hidden from everywhere else. The moment he walked in, another popper went off, and he smiled at everyone inside.
"Happy birthday, Sano!" The four men inside cheered as he walked in.
Sano laughed quietly and set his presents down on a dresser.
"Well then, thank you old men."
Douman rolled his eyes and patted Sano's head. "I hope your day at school was- Wah!"
Hana jumped out of Sano's bag and onto Douman, yipping quietly.Sano laughed and picked her up.
"Right! Beniko and Hijita got her for me! Her name's Hana and she's soooo cute!!" He rubbed his face against her. "Aren't you, aren't you!"
Ranmaru helped Douman stand and took a picture of Sano's face. "I wonder if I can sell this..."
"Don't. Come now, set her down and we'll have our small celebration here."
"Alright, alright." He walked back to his room, taking everything with him. He set Hana on his bed and gave her a few more pets before sighing softly. Thinking back on the whole day along with what was to come, he smiled brightly.
"I love my life."