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March 4th. It was late at night, with the clock audibly ticking on the wall. Hinata was curled up under his sheets, staring at his phone. The room was quiet, with his roommates, Hiiro and Niki, sleeping soundly in their beds. He didn’t wish to wake them up, so Hinata stayed quiet as well, listening to chill music on his headphones.
It was his and Yuta’s birthday in a few minutes.
He didn’t know if Yuta was even awake, or if he noticed that midnight was coming. But he definitely wanted to be the first one to wish his younger twin a happy birthday, even if Yuta wasn’t awake for it.
Since they were born, they would celebrate their birthdays together. They would bake a cake for themselves, and give each other small gifts. Since they were alone most of the time, without any other friends or people they wanted to count as a family, they didn’t expect to ever get anything more for their birthdays. Just being with each other was enough for the two.
But now, they’re not alone, yet they still don’t expect anything. Hinata would just wish Yuta a happy birthday, maybe buy him a slice of cake, and a new CD or something. He didn’t get any gifts yet, due to the two of them being busy recently, so he only has a chance to go shopping on their birthday. It’s a little late, but not too late, unless he can’t find anything, and disappoints his brother. And that cannot happen, since Hinata wants Yuta to be happy. ... But, now that Hinata thought about it more, was he just going to ignore Yuta until he buys something? How would that turn out?
As the clock turned to midnight on March 5th, Hinata sent his message to Yuta.
Hinata, 12:00 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUTA-KUN! let’s go out somewhere later (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
He waited for a moment, observing if Yuta would read his message or go online, but his own eyes were getting droopy. He couldn’t stay awake for much longer, falling into a deep slumber shortly after sending the message.
────୨ৎ────
“Hinata-kun! Wake up, good morning!” Someone lightly shook Hinata’s shoulder, and the voice sounded familiar, yet it wasn’t Yuta.
Hinata wiped his groggy eyes, yawning slightly, and forced his eyelids to open, only to see his roommates standing next to his bed with small gifts in their hands.
“Happy birthday, Hinata-kun!” Niki placed his gift next to Hinata’s face. It was a small, pink box, with a yellow ribbon. Neatly packaged, and undamaged. Hiiro still kept his gift in his hands, probably wanting Hinata to open Niki’s gift first. But Hinata didn’t know what to say, slightly taken aback.
It wasn’t his first year at ES. It wasn’t his first day living with roommates either, since just two months ago he was gifting Hiiro a present together with Niki. So why was this so surprising? To be given something from someone else other than his little cute brother? He was very happy about it, of course! It was just… unexpected. Maybe he felt like he didn’t deserve it? What if he gets gifts but Yuta-kun doesn’t? What if Yuta-kun gets upset that he got better stuff?
… Hinata knows Yuta is kind, sometimes even overly kind. Which wasn’t a good thing at times, making Hinata feel pushed against the wall in their arguments. Well, they were of course not arguing right now, and Hinata wasn’t even sure where this thought came from, but he just… was worried about all of this, slightly. He’s aware he’s the worse brother, wanting his little brother to live a better life, and most importantly, freely. So the chance of getting gifted something better was slightly upsetting.
… He was getting nowhere with this conflict in his head. And he didn’t want to seem impolite.
“Thank you, you two!” Hinata smiled, unsure anymore if his smile was real or not. He got up from the lying down position, and sat up on his bed, taking Niki’s gift into his hands. He proceeded to untie the ribbon, unwrapping the packaging as well.
Inside were a few macarons, most likely handmade by Niki. They all seemed fresh, and all of them were in blue, pink and orange colors, just like the two Aois.
“Made them myself… It’s not much, but in Otouto-san’s gifts there’s also something from both of us!” Niki pointed out.
“Thank you, Shiina-senpai, I’ll eat them after breakfast!” Hinata jokingly added, putting the small box down, and opening Hiiro’s gift next.
Hiiro’s gift was also small, but the box was made of wood instead of cardboard. It was tied with a ribbon as well. Hinata curiously unwrapped it, opening the small box. It was a bracelet with orange beads, and a lucky clover charm.
“Huh…? Is this really for me?” Hinata observed the bracelet and the macarons, amazed. It all seemed… slightly unreal. Wouldn’t a bracelet be usually quite expensive? Could Hiiro really afford that? And give it to him out of all people?
“Yeah! Also, look.” Niki and Hiiro rolled up their sleeves, showing similar bracelets, except Hiiro’s had red beads, and Niki’s had grayish-purple.
“It’s kinda like friendship bracelets!” Hiiro added, admiring the three bracelets. “Since we’re roommates and all… Kagehira-senpai helped us out with making these. They’re handmade!”
“Huh… Handmade?” Now Hinata started feeling even worse about all of this. Handmade bracelets? Friendship bracelets? Did he really deserve them? What about Yuta-kun? Would Yuta-kun be upset about not getting something similar?
“Umu! Do you like it…? You seem a little off, Hinata-kun.” Hiiro pointed out, seemingly worried. Oh, great. Now he was making someone else worry, too.
“Yeah, I like it! Thank you!” Hinata smiled, putting on the bracelet. He admired it, taking a closer look at the charm.
“It’s for good luck! Since we all wish you happiness! It kinda fits a birthday gift, at least I hope so.” Niki pointed out. “Also! Yuta-kun got one too, don’t worry.”
“O- Oh, he did?” Hinata’s face brightened with relief. “I’m glad… I didn’t want him to feel bad, or something!” Hinata chuckled, trying to play it off as a joke, but it only worried the other two.
“I’m sure he’s gonna get good gifts too, though.” Hiiro pointed out. “Are you worried?”
“I just don’t wish to get more than Yuta-kun, I guess…” Hinata scratched his head nervously.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Hinata-kun.” Niki pointed out. “He wouldn’t want you to worry about something like this, you know.”
“Yeah… I’m aware.” Hinata pinched his cheeks. “Alright! No more worrying! It’s our birthday!”
Hiiro and Niki smiled towards Hinata.
Hinata headed towards Yuta’s dorm, still slightly nervous. How was he going to show up in front of Yuta with no gifts? He didn’t want to go at like, 8 PM to go see him. So he thought he’d just tell him he’ll get his gift later. But that’s also a little awkward.
He knocked on the door to Yuta’s dorm.
Yuta opened the door, seeming a bit groggy, but with a smile on his face. “Aniki? Happy birthday…” Yuta yawned, slurring the words slightly.
“Yuta-kun… did you not get enough sleep?” Hinata asked.
“It’s fine, I’m just a bit tired…” Yuta admitted. “Wait, I have a gift for you… Come in.” Yuta went back inside, looking for something under his bed.
Great, he was about to get the third gift, and he still didn’t get Yuta anything.
“For you, open it.” Yuta stared at Hinata, handing him a big box. It was light, but somewhat tall. A small pit formed in Hinata’s stomach. Was Yuta expecting something back right now? He felt bad. Even worse than before.
“O- Okay…” Hinata put down the box, unwrapped the orange packaging, and opened the box.
Inside was a huge, fluffy teddy bear, with a pink ribbon around its neck. It was light brown, resembling every other teddy bear. Yet this one was special. It was from Yuta-kun, after all.
He looked inside the box more, and noticed there was some other 2wink merch inside. A 2wink CD, acrylic stands, two pins of Hinata and Yuta respectively, and a few photocards. … That must’ve cost a lot. Oh, oh no.
“Yuta-kun… Happy birthday, but you didn’t have to… You shouldn’t, even…” The guilt was growing more and more. He didn’t get Yuta anything. He was thinking of maybe buying something small! Since Yuta-kun probably didn’t have much funds either! And he didn’t want to outprice him too much! He just wanted to give his brother a good time, probably… But…
“What are you talking about, Aniki? Do you not like it, or something?” Yuta questioned, seemingly more awake now. “You look upset…”
“No, I’m very grateful, really! I’m just… I didn’t…” Hinata looked away, putting the box with the gifts down on the ground. “I didn’t… get you anything, yet. I’m sorry.” Hinata was playing with his hair.
“Is that all you’re worried about? I don’t need gifts from you, Aniki.” He sighed. “Also, what do you mean by not yet?”
“I wanted to take you out somewhere, maybe I could buy you something sweet or spicy if you wanted. And I just kinda wanted to spend the day together, but… Now I’m realizing, you have other friends too now, and… I don’t know if you even want to spend the day with me, so I basically have nothing for you. I’m sorry.” Hinata looked down at the ground. He was rarely open about his feelings with Yuta, so this was difficult. His heart was racing, even.
“... Aniki.” Yuta looked over at Hinata, probably sensing his stress. They knew each other better than anyone else, as they believed, so Yuta could probably tell how Hinata was currently feeling.
“... Sorry, sorry! I said too much…” Hinata tried to play it off, but he knew there was no point.
“Aniki.” Yuta sounded more serious now. “I didn’t have any plans for today, anyways. If you want to hang out, I’m more than happy to. Just, please don’t feel bad about any of this. I only wanted to get you a gift, I wasn’t expecting anything in return.”
“... But I’ll still buy you something.” Hinata pointed out. “Wait, did you get any gifts, by the way?” He seemed curious. Niki and Hiiro mentioned the friendship bracelet for Yuta, but did he get it already?
“Um… A small box of macarons, some type of rock from Ran-senpai and a box of spicy noodles from Hakaze-senpai. And, this friendship bracelet from your roommates.” Yuta looked down at his bracelet. His and Hinata’s were the same.
“Mhm! They’re nice!” Hinata smiled towards Yuta.
At least Yuta-kun got more than him, Hinata smiled to himself.
“They said they’ll get you something too, by the way. I’m pretty sure both of us will get a lot of gifts…” Yuta smiled. “I’m not used to it, really. But it feels nice, doesn't it?”
“Mm… It does. Am I still special to you, though?” Hinata blurted out.
“What? Of course you are.” Yuta frowned. “Stop thinking about things like that, stupid Aniki. You always try to put yourself down, or something. Of course you’re important. So let’s go out, as we always did before. You can buy me cake or something. That’s enough of a gift for me from you.” Yuta added.
“Are you sure, though?” Hinata seemed upset with only giving his brother so little.
“I’m sure. Unless you want to buy me some 2wink merch too, or something~” Yuta said, jokingly.
“Alright, that’s a bet! Let’s go, Yuta-kun!” Hinata dragged Yuta out of the dorm by his hand.
Maybe he should really stop worrying so much.