Archive of Our Own

It was a quiet morning in the Express.

Hundreds of stars were visible through the giant window right in the middle of pale pink walls and decorative pastel blue frames. When the room owner wasn’t watching, there were still inanimate dolls—some still in the works—gazing at the sight.

Pink hair popped out of the bed covers with a yawn before her hands reached her phone sitting on her nightstand. Her eyes were still half open when the screen lit up, and a smile appeared on her face once the date appeared on the screen.

March 7th.

It was the date she chose for her assigned birthday as well as her name. Or in other words, it was her special day.

The bed cover was thrown to the other side of the bed when she hopped off her bed.

Thumping sounds echoed in her room as she paced around to get herself dressed for the day, before finally stopping in front of the mirror as she always did every morning.

March was wearing her usual outfit even though she knew it was her special day. She thought, at the very least, she would show her gratitude to Himeko by wearing the first clothes she had ever had. Not that it had any noticeable difference compared to her recent spare sets, but it felt like it had more nostalgic value.

There were some signs of wear and tear on the outfit, given how long she had had it in her wardrobe. Not to mention the trailblazing experience she had, especially since they had new members on board.

“Oh,” Her hand reaches for the button on her sleeve, only for it to almost fall off, “Aw… I need to sew it back…”

With a sigh, she dug her fingers into the sleeve to try and pull the loose strings and keep the button in place temporarily. At least, until she found the time to fix it herself.

March took another look at herself in the mirror.

She couldn’t help but smile as her head played the many possible events happening on her birthday. No celebrations in the previous year because she was out of commission, so for this year she hoped for… more. She wasn’t sure what exactly her heart was yearning for; perhaps her inner desire wanted some sort of double surprise to compensate for the previous year.

But, she wouldn’t be mad if she didn’t get the grand surprise she wanted. Probably.

“This is fine, I think,” she sighed, straightening the barely-visible wrinkles on her top. “Whatever they plan this year, I’m sure it’ll be a memory worth remembering.”

Her gaze landed on the photo wall where various photos of her trailblazing adventures were displayed. The photos flashed briefly as they changed from the moment Caelus boarded the Express until they landed recently in Planarcadia.

She stepped outside her room, just as the photo wall showed the scene of her and Caelus as students in Graphia Academy. The same scene when she asked him about what he wanted to do in campus.

“I want to experience a sweet school romance.”

“Morning!”

The only response to her energetic, upbeat voice was her own voice, which was the result of an echo in the empty car. Aside from herself, there was not a single living soul in the car.

“Where is everyone…?”

Her heels clicked against the car’s sparkling floor as she curiously poked around the tables and couches. There were no signs of them being used since dinner last night at least; only with fewer traces of dust as she recalled the conductor cleaning the car when she was heading for her room. There wasn’t any other trace of anyone being there yet, save for the small note stuck on the table near the guestbook.

“Welt and I have a sudden meeting with other investors in Penacony. Please let the conductor know if they asked.”

She set the note down with a sigh. So much for a lively party, but she couldn’t complain when she knew the trailblazing life was filled with unexpected events.

Her steps led her back to the passenger cabin, and without hesitation, she slid the first door open. With a big smile on her face.

“Dan Heng!”

March called out with a raised arm to greet her rather introverted companion, but the room owner was also absent. Rather than annoyed sighs and grunts, all she could hear was the light beeps of the device running the data bank. Unlike Himeko and Welt, the former Vidyadhara elder didn’t leave a note about his disappearance.

March closed the door again with a disappointed sigh and made her way to the party car, which was also empty. She would expect to see Sunday at least hanging around in the party car somewhere, but she couldn’t spot his halo poking out of the car seat. The only moving resident in the car would be the robot behind the bar, which she hoped hadn’t noticed her presence.

Her attention now turned to the stairs leading up to the last place she hadn’t checked yet: Caelus’ room.

If the parlor car was empty, then chances were he was still asleep. It wasn’t the first or second time for her to sleep in until lunch and her supposed junior would be up even later after everyone finished lunch. If she didn’t check on him after lunch, he would probably be asleep until it was nighttime again.

But if waking him up was a normal routine for her, why was she feeling nervous now?

March was halfway up the stairs, and she could see his door from there. The light outside his room was on all day long, so that wasn’t an accurate indicator of whether he was awake.

And she still couldn’t shake her anxiety. Nor could she calm her heartbeat.

It wasn’t like the first time she came into his room to wake him up. She was always the one to wake him up whenever he was way overslept and she would be the one to lecture him as he drowsily ate his breakfast-turned-lunch. Except, it never happened on her birthday. Moreover, it was more like the other way around even though he looked like he had forgotten her birthday.

Slap!

“Keep it together, March!” Her face was between her hands as she took a deep breath, “It’s just him being himself. Don’t get your hopes up!”

“Sorry I forgot it was your birthday. Uh… wanna play a game?”

The memory of her first birthday after his boarding flashed in her mind. Surely it was one of, if not the most lively birthday she had, even if she ended up being the butt of the joke when she was playing against him and Silver Wolf. A veteran and a cheater were out of her league as a new player.

That was two years ago. Many things had changed since then, not excluding how much closer they were.

But how close? She wouldn’t dare to admit. Not yet.

Shaking her intrusive thoughts away, she faced the closed door in front of her.

“C-Caelus?”

March called out his name outside the door—bracing for some sort of response—but got nothing. No sounds of rustling or annoyed grunts and groans. Complete silence.

She tried knocking on the door, but there was still no reply.

“Awake or not, I’m coming in!”

She slid the door open and was greeted by the pitch-black room. The gigantic screen on the other side of the room was still on, as well as the light coming from the bathroom. The moment she closed the door behind her, she was barely able to see anything in the unlit room.

Her hand reached for the light switch on the wall, trying to get some lighting in the room so she could surprise the trailblazer still sleeping in.

“Ugh, are you kidding me?” She tried flipping the light switch on and off, but the light wasn’t responsive.

Or at least, not immediately.

Her eyes closed shut as the light turned on suddenly after several attempts to switch it on. Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, she immediately went to his bed only to find it empty.

She looked around, still on guard in case Caelus suddenly popped up to scare her.

The room was messy with everything thrown all over the place. His gaming console was still plugged in and turned on, hinting that he had been playing not too long ago. Some spare pillows were on the floor along with most of his blanket. Various other gadgets and knick-knacks were strewn all over the floor as if the room owner never had the time to sort and put them on proper displays.

All in all, she felt like she could find anything in the room except the resident himself.

“Ugh…” she threw herself into the couch that was mostly item-free, “Where is everyone?!”

The sky was clear.

The Phantasmoon was moving around as its shades moved up and down, covering and uncovering its eyes. The car horns added noise to the already lively city of Duomension, combined with the sounds the passing wispae were making.

The sky, reflected in the yellow eyes of a certain trailblazer, was soon covered so suddenly.

“Gah!”

A colorful flyer flew into his face, snapping him out of his thoughts. He grabbed the piece of paper to check what it was that had surprised him.

“What is it… The Mercator Files? Wait, it’s already out? Maybe I’ll check it out with March later…”

He folded and kept the flyer as a reminder in his pocket, along with other items he ended up forgetting inside. He patted the packed pocket and continued gazing into the distance. There was barely anything to do but wait.

But the waiting game was interrupted by the notification on his phone.

He checked his phone to see a new message in his inbox, coming from none other than the pink-haired girl left behind in the Express.

“Where did you run off to???” “I can’t find anyone in the Express, even Pom-Pom!” “At least leave me a note or a message!”

What followed the three chat bubbles were a bunch of crying and angry stickers.

“Yikes, she’s up already!” Caelus frantically turned to the store he had been standing in front of, looking for familiar faces, “C’mon Dan Heng, Sunday! Just cut the queue already!”

Just as he was about to message the former Vidyadhara elder, his and Sunday’s silhouettes were visible on the glass door. It opened and caused the bell above to ring as the two of them came out of the store, but both were empty-handed.

“Where’s the–”

“No strawberry shortcakes here either. They just sold the last slice to the customer in front of us,” Dan Heng crossed his arms and sighed, “This is the third store we visited. Should we get her a different cake instead?”

He clicked his tongue, “Before that, what’s their recommended cake?”

“Here, I have brought out the menu,” Sunday handed Caelus the menu book he was holding, “I learned from one of their staff that their best seller is the Phantasmoon Cheesecake, which is only sold five slices daily.”

Caelus flipped the menu book until he found the cake, which had the colors exactly like the Phantasmoon itself. The image of the cake slice also showed the cheesecake beneath the thick glaze layer. There were promotional texts on it claiming how it was made with premium ingredients and various other trivials before he reached the big printed number as the price at the bottom.

“Uh…” he turned the menu over to the other two and pointed at the price below, which was enough to make even Dan Heng wince.

“E-Even if we all pitch in for the expenses, the total won’t reach half of it,” he sighed before letting Sunday return the menu. “Let’s find another store. This one is over our budget.”

Caelus replied with a nod, “Yeah. Hopefully, the next one has a strawberry shortcake. March mentioned to me that she wanted to eat one after she saw someone having it in a cafe here.”

The trailblazer’s room, which initially had too many items littered around the floor, wasn’t as cluttered as it was.

Some of the pillows were messily piled on the couch, leaving a couple on Caelus’ bed. The knick-knacks of their trailblazing adventures found their temporary home on some empty spots on the couch, while some had to settle in the small space left on his nightstand. The gaming console was on top of his gaming chair, still plugged in.

“Oh March, your room is so messy!” March barked as she tried pulling Caelus’ blanket back to his bed, “Yeah right, as if yours is any better!”

She threw the blanket to the top of the bed. While it wasn’t neatly covering it, at the very least, most of the blanket was on the bed instead of off the bed. The pillows she previously put there were left covered under it as she didn’t bother to take them out.

She decided she would, but then stopped.

“Wait, why am I cleaning his room?”

The room was—in her eyes—tidier than when she first came in. There was nothing to do, there was no response to the messages she sent some time ago, and she was getting tired of waiting. She happened to be there, and she had nothing better to do, not that she wanted to help him clean up his room.

Perhaps not anymore. Not like there was anything else she needed to clean up anyway.

Her gaze fell on his desk, which didn’t look as cluttered as the rest of his bedroom. She came closer to check, seeing that the place didn’t have too many items on it.

There were a couple of picture frames set around a familiar thick book with a blue hard cover. As for the pictures, she noticed that both of them had her in them. One was a group photo along with the rest of Astral Express Crew, and the other one was a picture of both of them in her room. Although both pictures were framed, the one with only the two of them had something like a hand-crafted frame instead of a regular one.

“Not a scratch. Not even a single speck of dirt on it,” she ran a finger on the frame’s surface, and the finger was still left dust-free. “Thanks for taking good care of that fond memory… As you promised to…”

March carefully set the frame back down, but her hand accidentally knocked something off the table. The light ‘thunk’ on the floor made her nervous, thinking she might have broken something. Taking a deep breath, she went to check on the fallen object, which was a bag filled with many smaller bags containing things of familiar color.

“Are these six-phased ice shards?” She curiously took a few pieces out and left them on her palm, “I don’t feel anything special… Maybe these are crystal shards resembling the six-phased ice…?”

Upon closer look, there were numbers on the bags. As the numbers went higher, the shards became bigger, but not much bigger than her fingernail. When she moved the book to try and compare the shards, there was a piece of paper hidden beneath it with some numbers and notes on it.

“Number 1. Wrong colors, looks off from March’s ice,” she read the note out loud. “Number 2. Too much glitter, can’t see colors, and shards too fragile. Note: sprinkle on Dan Heng’s experimental cloth, it will look better with some extra shine!”

She almost blew the shards when she laughed at the last part.

“Sorry, Dan Heng, I don’t know anything!” she chimed before continuing to read through the notes.

She didn’t expect Caelus of all people to be able to document whatever experiment he had with those shards, but she could tell that he was trying to make something.

“Number 37. Looks better, more sturdy. Need more materials to remake.”

That was the end of the note.

“Remake? Remake what?” She took another look at the most recent shard, which looked a lot more like her special ice than the first ones she saw.

There were moments in her recollection of him sitting on his desk, but he would quickly hide it whenever she came by. As curious as she was, she couldn’t get anything out of him, and he would end up teasing her to the point she dropped the subject entirely.

“Huh… Is this what you’ve been hiding…?” She rotated the shard as the glitter inside the shard slowly moved following the gravity. “It looks… pretty…”

She ran her finger across the shard’s surface without leaving any traces.

“Uh, wait. I need to put this back,” she stuffed the shard back into the bags and put it back near the frame. “Guess that’s where it used to be?”

March took another look at his desk. Compared to the rest of his room, that spot looked like it was the most well-maintained one. Especially the picture frames, much to her surprise.

“Nothing else to do, huh…” Her gaze landed on the bathroom door, “Maybe… maybe I should spend some time in the bath…?”

“Finally! And I still have some budget to spare!”

Caelus proudly raised a pink box above his head, an action that caught the attention of a few passing pedestrians.

“It seems like Miss March will have the cake she wants for her birthday,” Sunday was the first to comment while trying to avoid the unwanted gazes around, “We should return to the Express soon. Aside from attracting unwanted attention, she should have already been awake at this hour.”

“True. She already sent me at least ten messages asking where everyone was,” Dan Heng nodded and looked at the ashen-haired trailblazer, “Although, I’m not sure why she is on her own in the Express. Shouldn’t the conductor be there?”

Caelus froze in place, with a tense grin on his face.

“W-W-What are you on to, Dan Heng?” he stuttered as his eyes blinked rapidly. “I-I don’t know any missing conductor!”

Dan Heng’s gaze turned stern.

“Hm, now that you mention it, I believe I haven’t seen them at all this morning. Usually, they would be cleaning the parlor car in the morning, but instead, we met Caelus, who then asked us to join him in buying Miss March a surprise cake,” the halovian added as he looked deep in thought. “There was no mention of the conductor being somewhere at dinner last night. None that I can recall.”

“Caelus?” The former elder’s voice softened slightly, “Did you lock them up somewhere?”

“N-No? I saw them in the engine room this morning,” he could feel his companion’s piercing gaze even as he avoided making eye contact. “C-C’mon now, shouldn’t we focus on March’s surprise party now?”

Dan Heng, without further comments, nodded. Then, he turned to Sunday, “You should go ahead with the plan. I’ll take Caelus personally to the engine room to free them.”

“‘Kay, fine…” the trailblazer sighed as his hand instinctively reached for his pocket. Upon realizing that it was empty, his eyes grew wide, “Wait. Where is it?”

“What… is it?” The halovian looked puzzled.

“Her birthday present,” Caelus frantically dug into his other pockets, “it’s missing!”

He emptied his pockets of items in front of the two, who were still clueless. The item that was supposed to be the star of the show was nowhere to be found.

“Y-You guys go on ahead and take the cake back to the Express! I… I need to look for something I might drop somewhere!”

He shoved the cake box to the unsuspecting Dan Hemg, who almost dropped it in surprise. Caelus didn’t bother saying anything else and sped off before he could catch whatever his companions were about to say.

He stopped right in front of the store selling the expensive cake from before. There were people queueing inside until it almost reached the door, which was at least twice more people than before. There were a few passersby walking by, but aside from all those, the place was mostly as they had left it.

Caelus began by checking the pavement, especially the gaps between them. The benches nearby didn’t escape his inspection as well. Neither did the trash cans. No luck.

“Where is it?!” He grew frustrated as he looked around while the hope of finding the missing item grew thin, “I must’ve dropped it somewhere here when I took out my phone earlier…”

He started asking around, but none seemed to have seen what he was looking for. He asked the staff, a few passersby, and even the wispae which happened to be there, but nothing.

“Damn it… After weeks of working on it, only to go missing today!” He let out a sigh, “There’s no time to make another one from scratch…”

He looked around, but as he watched people come and go, he felt hope slowly slipping away. How could he hope to find such a small item in the middle of a big city?

With a big sigh, he settled on the bench.

Fine, he needed an alternative present. Preferably, one that didn’t require him much time to prepare. He didn’t plan on coming home to March’s fury for being missing during her birthday.

Glancing around for ideas, a child crossing the street caught his eye.

As the child’s dad walked by her side, the little girl was hugging something that looked like a plushie. Not just any plushie, but one resembling the bunny character in Fluffy Across the Blue. Or in other words, the character after March’s image.

He looked further into where the parent-child duo came from, and there were claw machines with plushies of those familiar characters. Most of them were occupied by enthusiastic fans except for one.

Caelus didn’t waste a moment longer and dashed toward the unoccupied machine, ignoring the honks of the cars that had to stop abruptly before they ran over him. His eyes were set on the prize, even though said prize had a minimum price tag on it.

“10 credits for a game? Not a bad deal,” he brought his face to the protective glass. “Let’s see here… Why is Dan Heng’s character more popular than mine? Not fair, mine is supposed to be the main character!”

Baseball Raccoon plushies were scattered in the box. One was pretty close to the prize hole, but that wasn’t his main priority. March Bunny plushies were mostly buried under the raccoons and Himekat, while Mr. Yang—Welt’s character—plushies were almost as popular as Woof Woof Dan.

He took out his phone but decided to look at other machines first. The machine on his right had just switched players from an empty-handed middle-aged man to a young couple. Looks wise, maybe they weren’t so different in age compared to him and March.

Getting his attention back to the machine in front of him, he scanned his phone to pay.

The machine let out a loud clang as if a giant coin had been inserted. 8-bit music started playing as colored lights lit up the box’s seams before a gray pixelated claw came into being inside.

Caelus’ finger fidgeted with the control stick as he gazed through the pixelated popups trying to obstruct his vision. His yellow eyes were glued to the ear of the bunny plushie, which had poked out of the pile near the prize chute. A single drop of sweat dropped into his hand as he was carefully moving the claw, positioning it right above the plushie.

He took a deep breath and curled his hand before his fist dove into the catch button, “Go get it!”

A falling sound effect played. The colors of the lights turned yellow as they blinked quickly. The claw opened wide to grab the tip of the plushie’s ear and lifted it out of the pile.

His eyes widened as he held his breath. He felt he could almost hear his own heartbeat in the middle of the suspense.

Then, the plushie slipped out of the claw’s grab before dropping nothing into the prize chute. His shoulders dropped followed by a long sigh.

“That was just the first try! I’ll definitely get it next time!” Caelus pounded his chest with a raised chin, but he did it a little too hard and ended up coughing before catching the brief attention of the couple on the next machine.

“Hey, don’t you think he looks like Baseball Raccoon from The Fluffy?”

“A bit, yeah… How about I get that character for you, my dear shortcake?”

That nickname sounded… tasty.

As if reading his mind, his stomach started growling. He hadn’t had anything since morning, but his hunger would have to wait a little longer as he had already paid for another round.

The familiar music blared from the speakers, so loud that it was a little deafening. He remained unblinking as he focused on the claw’s position to the now-exposed plushie before deciding to lower the claw. Again, the plushie slipped out of its grasp.

“Third time’s the charm!”

The third round of payment was in, and Caelus had a slight change in his strategy. Instead of aiming for the plushie directly, he directed the claw to grab the Himekat plushie right below it. The claw dug into the new target, and the action slightly pushed the bunny plushie a little closer to the chute. The cat plushie slipped off the claw, but his original target plushie remained unmoved.

“Oh, come on!” He slammed his face into the protective glass. “That was so close!”

“I got it!” Caelus had his attention on the couple as the guy took out the raccoon plushie out of the prize chute, “Here’s my present for you, my precious shortcake.”

“Thank you, my hero!” The young lady hugged her given plushie before wrapping her arm around her significant other affectionately, “Come, let’s go for a coffee date next!”

His eyes followed the couple until they were blending into the crowd, “Huh, maybe I should take her out too sometime. Just the two of us.”

Like a date? Maybe, depending on how she would view it.

“Now,” Caelus rubbed his palms together before paying for another round, “gotta get that replacement present, get some takeaway food, and go back to the Express!”

His ears were slowly adjusting to the loud noise as he tried for another chance at the plushie.

Steam was rising from the bathtub.

The heat from the bath water penetrated her skin as tension slipped off her muscles. The golden water bath was a pleasure to watch as much as it was pleasant on her body.

Water trickled down her hands as she tried cupping the water of luxurious color. Every droplet of gold looked mesmerizing even in the dark, as the only source of illumination would be the blanket of stars outside the window.

A sigh escaped her lips.

“Caelus… surely can’t forget about my birthday, right…?” Her eyes caught a yellow rubber duck floating by and lightly bounced off her arm, “What do you think? The last time I celebrated my birthday was two years ago, and so many things have happened already… Maybe he did forget…”

The duck remained silent. It wiggled with her slight movement underwater. The small ripples from moving her limbs made the duck float away, but not without giving her its tail.

A splash turned the duck upside down as March slapped the water’s surface, “Ugh, why am I even talking to a rubber duck now?”

Her breath turned heavy from the thick steam as she slid deeper into the bathtub. Her eyes closed shut with a sigh as the bath water soaked her hair. Ripples splashed some water out of the tub as she turned; her eyes reopened and gazed at her silent phone.

No calls, no messages, and not even a single sticker in reply to her chats.

“I’m bored,” A frown had been on her face for the past few hours already and she felt like she had sighed more than she would in a month. “I… want someone to talk to… I want…”

Sinking deeper into the water, her mind wandered to a certain ashen-haired trailblazer. Even though he found plenty of ways to annoy her, he had more ways to make her smile. He made her feel like she belonged somewhere even without memories.

She can’t even forget the warmth when he–

“That’s it! I’m coming out!”

Her sudden movement when she stood sent more water out of the tub with a loud splash.

Her face was burning—both from the heat of the water as well as embarrassment—as she dried herself. The floor was wet—very wet even—but she ignored it as she got dressed. She would deal with it later, knowing that it wasn’t her personal bathroom.

She headed out of the room and down to the party car with a frown still glued to her face. Her mind was set on going back to her room and staying inside for the rest of the day. Perhaps everyone, and especially him forgot her birthday.

She reached the bottom of the stairs, and she was surprised by the sudden ‘bang!’ nearby. Confetti fell in front of her with some stuck on her still-damp hair, and she saw Sunday handling the confetti.

“Happy birthday, Miss March,” He greeted with a calm tone, “I… hope the surprise didn’t shock you too much…”

Still recovering from the light shock, she saw that everyone was there. Well, most of them.

Next to Sunday, Dan Heng was carrying a box of strawberry shortcake that she had been craving for a while. Behind him, Himeko was holding a fancy-looking pink box while Welt was carrying a paper bag with a few video tapes sticking out of it.

“Sunday, Dan Heng…” Her eyes were then on the veterans behind, “But wait, should Himeko and Mr. Yang still be in a meeting in Penacony?”

Welt brought a hand to fix his glasses, “Well, you see…”

“It was a short meeting, so we still have ample time to prepare for an important passenger’s special day,” Himeko intruded before pointing at the door leading to the parlor car. “Pom-Pom should be done preparing the special lunch and dinner for today. Shall we?”

“R-Right!” March tried forcing herself to smile wider as she could clearly see that someone was still missing.

As the group started moving, her ears caught the hushed whispering between Dan Heng and Sunday.

“We shouldn’t say anything about the conductor being trapped in the engine room. Caelus should be the one to say it as well as his reasons for doing so.”

The clear, lively sky of Planarcadia remained as it always had, even after many hours had passed.

The lively streets were now much quieter and fewer cars were occupying the streets. More and more kinds of imagenae now roamed the streets, more than the people passing by.

Caelus lightly bumped his head against the protective glass as the thousandth sigh escaped him. Palms were stuck on the glass as well when he struggled to look at the glass’ contents.

Since his first attempt at the claw machine, the prizes’ positions barely changed. The bunny plushie only moved an inch closer to the chute and he had no more successful attempts to lessen the gap. The raccoon plushie at the edge refused to fall despite his many attempts ended up poking it into the prize chute. Apparently, the red cat plushie was holding it back.

“C’mon… please…” He groaned before he raised his phone to check his remaining credits, “10 credits… only one more try…”

His hand held the phone and shakily hovered above the machine’s scanner but his mind was still racing through the worst possible outcome.

He only had enough for one more try. If he failed, he would have to return empty-handed; no surprise presents for March. Should he succeed, she would still probably be upset for ignoring her most of the day and turned up only with a single plushie. Not the absolute best outcome, but it was at least better than being empty-handed at least.

Caelus looked around the area briefly. The claw machines were packed hours ago and he would at least encounter 50 different people in total. Some came home with a prize or two, but some weren’t so lucky. Yet, none was loaded or determined as he was.

He was about to bet on his last attempt when he noticed a newcomer occupying the machine next to his. A little girl, all alone, with thick red hair that reached her back. It was the color that reminded him of someone in the Express, but there was also another familiar color on her person.

Hanging on her black and gold-rimmed backpack was none other than the very same item he had been searching for. The color of the glitter reflected the light from the machine as the girl struggled to grab the control stick that was out of her reach.

“Hey, that’s my pendant!” Caelus immediately tried snatching the pendant, only for the girl to stop him by slapping his hand, “Ouch!”

“Finders keepers!” The girl stuck her tongue out before she was back struggling with the controls.

The red-haired girl was moving the control stick, but the claw didn’t even appear. Of course it wouldn’t; she hadn’t even paid to play.

“Hey, little girl, you need to pay to play the game,” He was met with another stuck-out tongue, “I was telling you that it was the game’s rule!”

“Nu-uh! Rules are made to be broken, just like the raccoon trailblazer said!”

No disagreements there, girl.

“R-Right, so…”

“And I got no money here,” the girl was intent on trying to move the stick. “Dad’s the dean but he’s stingy!”

“Huh…”

He looked at his phone again.

10 credits. No change at all.

Then, an idea struck him.

“Look here, little girl,” Caelus showed the girl his phone. “If I play a round for you, will you give the pendant to me?”

The girl looked at the pendant, “Why?”

“That pendant is for an important friend. Don’t you have any friends?” He looked at her, hopeful that she would agree with the deal.

“Mmm… ‘kay…” The girl nodded and smiled before pointing at the plushie sharing the same color as her hair. “I want that one!”

“Oh, you want the Himekat plushie?” The girl nodded frantically. “Sure, I’ll go get that one for you!”

Not that he was guaranteed to get it, though. He didn’t promise her he would get the plushie in exchange for the pendant, just a single attempt. If she ended up wanting a trade, he could probably break the rule and hit the machine with his bat until the prize came out.

After all, rules were made to be broken, right?

Caelus confidently bid off the last of his money and the machine started working again. His eyes carefully watched the claw’s movement and aligned it with his new target: the cat plushie blocking the raccoon plushie. His fingers carefully moved the claw back and forth, making sure he got the position right because he only got one try.

His finger twitched slightly before finally pressing the button to lower the claw. The claw grabbed the plushie in a firm position, and as it went up, the raccoon plushie finally came down the prize chute. The claw then released the cat plushie down the chute as well, but not before it knocked the bunny plushie he was aiming earlier and took it down to the prize chute as well.

“Oh wow, a trio win!” The girl was excited as she dug into the chute and grabbed the fox plushie, “But I only want this one!”

“Hey, it’s called a ‘triple win’, y’know,” Caelus held out his hand, “A deal’s a deal, so now I want my pendant back.”

The girl, without hesitating unhooked the pendant from her bag and handed it off to him, “Thanks, mister!”

“Sure,” he was smiling as he got what he wanted and more, but his excitement couldn’t compare to the girl’s as he could still hear her squealing in glee.

He took out the two other plushies he had won: the raccoon and the bunny. The raccoon plushie was wearing a baseball hat and carrying a plastic tube modeled like his own bat. The bunny plushie had March’s hair color as well as her signature emblem.

Cute designs, if he had to admit, but he could imagine that someone would say something like:

“It’s cute, but the real me is cuter!”

“Right, I should head back soon!”

Sounds of guns and explosions echoed in the parlor car as a mecha anime was being shown in the car.

Most of the food on the table was gone, save for the last two slices of the shortcake. Dan Heng had the opportunity to listen to Welt’s explanation of the animation quality from his own experience and knowledge. Sunday was having a discussion with Himeko about the earlier meeting’s topic, though he was mostly asking about his sister’s well-being. As Pom-Pom was sweeping the car, the birthday girl had nothing else to do but watch them work.

The anime being played started out strong, but she slowly got disinterested. She wanted nothing more than to talk with people, but in this rare case, she couldn’t think of much to talk about. Her mind was off elsewhere—or on a certain someone—as one of them was still missing.

“March?”

Her wandering eyes immediately went to Himeko as she called her, “Y-Yes?”

“Are you feeling okay? You haven’t touched your cake,” March followed her eyes to her hand as she was playing with her fork, leaving the cake untouched.

“I-I’m okay…?” Her voice didn’t seem to convince the red-haired navigator. Nor did her fingers that failed to juggle the fork without letting it fall on the plate. “I… I think I’ll be in my room now…”

March put the last two cake slices back into the box they belonged to and stood up, attracting other passengers’ attention. She held the box close and tried smiling.

“Thanks for the party, everyone. Sorry, I’m just… a little tired today…” She waved her hand before departing for her room.

The cabin car remained mostly quiet; only the battle sounds from the ongoing anime—though slightly dampened—could be heard. If her other companions were talking after she left, she surely couldn’t hear them.

The door to her room opened with a slight whirr. She set down the box on her desk and immediately threw herself into her bed. Her back was facing the door as she herself faced the window.

Her bed cover was left as is; the girl didn’t bother putting it over herself. Her boots were messily thrown over by her bed.

The party didn’t feel the same when he wasn’t around. Even if Caelus had his fair share of silliness, he still knew the right thing to do to make her smile. Maybe he wasn’t doing it for her, but she was happy he did it anyway.

At the very least, she hoped for a response, or some kind of message, even if he forgot. But he wasn’t obliged to, right? He was a friend, just a friend. Nothing more.

“March?”

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on her door and calling her.

“Dan Heng?” March stayed on her bed, lying on her side as the door slid open. “No need to check on me, I’m okay.”

“Himeko asked me to check on you, but I also have something to tell you,” The distance of his voice remained as she assumed that he stayed by her door, “Caelus planned all this surprise party for you. I’m not in the place to tell you this, but I don’t know when he’ll be back to tell you himself.”

She remained silent, unmoving. Dan Heng didn’t sound like he was trying to lie to her, but the story sounded a little unrealistic. Not that she didn’t trust his abilities, but more like his absence. If he did plan it, he had to be there to make sure things went as planned, right?

“Uh-huh. Then, where is he now?” Her tone came out a little harsher than usual as she was starting to feel annoyed.

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t reply to my messages anymore,” She heard her companion sighing, “Duomension City was the last place we saw him. He said he was looking for something, but he never told us what it was.”

“Mmm ‘kay, thanks for the info,” her tone was flat in response. “I need my beauty sleep now. G’night.”

There was a brief pause before his response, “Goodnight, March.”

Her door slid close, leaving her to her thoughts.

If he got into trouble, their friends wouldn’t stay still. From what she could see, everyone didn’t seem to worry about their missing companion. She could safely assume that he was doing fine, but he was not being responsive on purpose.

Light murmurs were heard outside her door before a frantic knock came to her door. Of course, she knew who was on the other side of the door.

“Uh… this is Dan Heng outside!”

March put her pillow on her head as the knock continued, “Don’t bug me at this hour, Caelus!”

“Caelus was… uh… sucked into a black hole?”

She clicked her tongue and slammed the pillow beside her as she got up from her bed. She slid her door open and glared at her missing companion standing outside, “What do you want?”

“Er… can I come in?” Caelus was avoiding her glare as his hands were behind him. She didn’t hesitate when she tried closing the door without a word, “Wait, March–ow!”

His foot prevented the door from closing, even if it meant that his foot was going to get crushed when she forced-closed the door. March couldn’t help but wince a bit from the tiny incident.

“Fine,” she responded and rolled her eyes. “Just make it quick.”

Caelus—with his goofy grin—slid into her room, but not without revealing whatever he was hiding behind his back. His eyes wandered inside her room until he noticed the cake box on her desk.

“Do… do you like the shortcake?” He tried smiling as he asked, but she remained unfazed. “No? Is it not that good?”

“Haven’t tried it,” March was crossing her arms, “Do you know how many times I’ve asked where you were?”

His sheepish laugh gave it away.

“It’s late, Caelus,” She wanted to push him out, but her companion remained resistant. “Get out of my room! I want to get some rest!”

“W-Wait, March! I can explain!” His eyes were everywhere, and his stature wasn’t like the tough guy he usually was. “Look, I know you’re upset, and mad, and disappointed, but I swear I’m not trying to ignore you. Not on purpose, anyway.”

The poor choice of words at the end earned him a glare from his pink-haired companion, which was enough to make him flinch.

“L-Look, the plan was to surprise you with the cake when you woke up, but the plan had a… bit of a setback because the original bakery was closed,” he held his breath and checked on her expression, though her frown and glare were still like pointy thorns poking him. “So uh… me, Dan Heng, and Sunday looked around for a different one that sold a strawberry shortcake at an affordable price.”

Her gaze softened slightly, but she kept her face stern, “Right, go on…”

“Well, we found one that wasn’t too expensive, and that’s what we ended up buying,” they set their eyes on the cake box. “That’s mostly the story behind me being unresponsive.”

“Now let me guess,” March’s attention was now on his hands hidden behind him, “the other part of unresponsiveness had something to do with the thing you’re hiding behind you, am I right?”

He nodded and smiled proudly as he revealed the two plushies he had been holding, “Feast your eyes on the awesome trailblazing raccoon and his adorable bunny companion!”

“Awww… they’re so–” her eyes, sparkling in excitement upon setting her eyes on the plushies, caught his eyes as he felt like he had gotten through her. She quickly cleared her throat and shook her head before forcing herself to look as upset as before, “Ahem! You can’t just bribe me with a pair of plushies! You were missing for the entire day, on my birthday of all days!”

Yet she took them anyway.

Caelus’ grin was replaced with a look of guilt. Once more avoiding her eyes, he put a hand in his pocket.

“There’s… something else I want to give you for your birthday,” he took a deep breath as his fist came out of his pocket, “It’s a different surprise I’ve been working on for a while, so… close your eyes.”

March hesitated. Her eyes scanned him from top to bottom for anything suspicious. She wouldn’t risk him giving her a fright, but his expression told her otherwise. Nothing mischievous on his face, and she could only hope he wasn’t hiding anything scary in his palm as she shut her eyes.

In the pitch-dark surroundings, she could hear his footsteps as he approached her. Her shoulders felt the tension for the unknown that was about to come. Her fists curled as she felt something cold against her skin.

She peeked out of curiosity and was greeted with the sight bearing colors similar to her special ice. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips, audible enough for Caelus to notice.

“Hey, you cheated by peeking,” she felt his breath on her neck as he positioned his other gift around her neck, “Sorry for making you wait so long. I spent weeks crafting this only for it to go missing at the most crucial moment.”

“A pendant…? But… but why go all through that trouble to–”

“Because you are my precious gem.”

Another gasp—less audible this time—escaped her lips as she instinctively put her hand above her chest. She could almost feel her racing heart, ignoring the ‘click’ sound of the pendant being fixed into place.

“Happy birthday, March. Hope this is enough to compensate for your last birthday when you were still frozen,” he held her shoulders firmly and then tapped when she wasn’t moving in response. “March?”

A genuinely happy smile finally found its place on her face.

The notes she found in his room made sense. No dates to indicate how long he had been working on her present, but it couldn’t be a mere day or two. From the many times he had almost been caught, it was at least around the time after they departed from Amphoreus.

But he still remembered, even her previous birthday.

Before she gave him the chance to see her expression, she had already thrown her arms around him.

“Silly,” her voice muffled as she buried her face in his coat. “All I want… is for everyone to remember… to talk to all of you…”

Caelus’ shocked face softened before he returned the gesture, “Hey, there’s no way we can ever forget the lively member of the party.”

“Lively and cute!” She added with a chuckle as she found comfort in his embrace.

Growl…

The intruding sound made her push him off her, “Seriously? Way to ruin the moment.”

“Sorry, I haven’t had anything,” he rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “Too busy trying to win the plushies.”

March looked at her gift plushies, which she had set down near her pillow on her bed. Before she turned to the cake box she had left on the desk, “Well, at least we still have two slices of cake if you want to eat it.”

“One slice each,” he mentioned as she was getting the box. “Consider it my late present for your last birthday.”

“Sure, I’ll share,” she shrugged before sitting down on her bed. She then looked up at him and patted the empty spot next to her. “Here. Just don’t be a messy eater or the conductor’s gonna be mad we made a mess.”

He did as he was asked to while March opened the box. The last two slices were still intact; there were traces of frosting and cream from the edges of the slices on the round bottom plate and some on the walls of the box. Several unused plastic forks were scattered around the bottom plate.

March took one of the plastic forks and used it to take a small piece of the cake. The frosting melted on her tongue and the softness of the cake was exactly as she liked. The sweetness of the cake wasn’t overwhelming; just the right amount that suited her tastes.

“This is so good!” She looked in the box to take a bigger piece, but not without seeing the other slice was more than halfway eaten. “Can you eat more slowly?”

“Hwhath?” His cheeks were puffed, asking with a mouthful of cake before he swallowed. “Can’t be helped, I’m starving!”

March watched the other slice slowly being devoured while she quietly ate her share. As good as the cake was, she preferred to maintain her image rather than devour it as her companion did.

“Even if you skipped dinner, at least you didn’t skip lunch too, did you?” She brought up the question and waited for him to swallow.

“Nope, no time to get lunch either,” Caelus used his frosting-covered fork to point at the plushies, “Those two refused to come down until it was late and I was on my last few credits.”

“Come down? Wait, don’t tell me they’re from the claw machine we saw the other day?” Her companion was busy with his cake and only nodded to her question. “And how much did you spend on them?”

He gave her a look with his cheeks puffed like a squirrel hiding acorns. Then he swallowed, hard.

“I… can’t say,” he turned his head around. “But if spending my entire savings meant I get to see you smile more, then it’s money well spent.”

March fell silent.

She never asked anyone to spend anything for her. All she ever wanted from them would be their companionship; to trailblaze together. Even from Caelus, especially from Caelus. But the fact that he pretty much emptied his pockets for her…

“I…” she sighed and moved the cake box closer to him. “You should finish the cake. I… I feel bad for you after you spend so much money and even skip meals for me…”

He turned when he felt the box touch his fingers. Smiling, he pushed the box back to the birthday girl, “Nah, consider this a bonus after you skipped a birthday party.”

“No, really, I’m good–”

“Here,” he plucked the strawberry from his slice and lifted it in front of her mouth. “Another bonus for me. There’s an extra strawberry on my share so I’m giving it to you.”

March eyed the fresh strawberry in his hand. The fruit was plump; the leaf part was cut off. On its red surface, there was some frosting left sticking on it. Her face felt warmer as she scooted closer and allowed her companion to feed her the strawberry.

The red fruit left a sweet aftertaste in her mouth, more delicious than any other strawberries she had ever had. She had to wonder if Caelus being present had anything to do with how much she was enjoying her post-dinner snack.

“It’s good, right?” She only caught him smirk as she was too embarrassed to look at him after what he did, “Wait, I think I saw some of the cream stuck on your face.”

She immediately turned, “Where?”

“Right,” Caelus was still smirking when his finger nimbly poked the remaining cream off the cake and stuck said cream on her nose, “here!”

“Hey!” March wiped the cream off her nose as her companion was laughing out loud, “Ugh… you’re so annoying!”

Even with his laugh in the background, she decided to finish her share of the cake. A frown was on her face while she ate and the laughter died down not long after. She could see from the corner of her eye that he was finishing his cake too, but not in silence.

“It’s been a while since we ate alone like this,” he dug his fork for another small piece of the cake. “We’re usually the last ones awake in the morning so we often end up eating breakfast without anyone else.”

She didn’t say anything in response. Only the sound of them munching could be heard in the room.

“Then we went to Amphoreus,” he continued while staring at the last piece of his cake. “I remember checking the date on my phone when it was your birthday. Dan Heng had already left for an errand, so I ate the cake alone while looking at our photo on my phone. I thought that, even if you weren’t there, I’d still celebrate your birthday.”

“That’s… so sweet of you…”

He let out a nervous laugh, “W-Well, I ended up having a stomach ache after finishing that whole tart alone. Dan Heng didn’t come back until after dinner, so I ate everything.”

“You ate the entire cake?”

“Just the cake, not the box too.”

She sighed and shook her head, “You should take better care of yourself! I swear, something just has to go wrong with you and Dan Heng when I’m not around.”

“Eh, things always go wrong in every trailblazing expedition,” he shrugged. “But hey, things aren’t the same without you around. It’s not fun teasing Dan Heng on my own, y’know.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. Their poor companion had to put up with their antics so often that he looked like he had lost hope for them. Despite their mishaps, they were always there for each other.

Reminiscing about their journey made the room fall silent once more. The now-empty cake box had been pushed to the middle of the bed as March had slid closer to him. Her fingers were fidgeting while she avoided brushing them against his own.

Her eyes were on his hand as it rested on her bed. Her heart was thumping as she was holding back the desire to feel his warm hand in hers. She glanced up, and her eyes met the same pair of amber orbs she saw the first time when he woke up.

“What is it?”

Her heart almost skipped a beat when he suddenly asked; intense eyes looking at her.

“S-Say, Caelus,” she pointed her finger at his face. “I think I spotted some leftover cream on your face.”

Caelus tapped his face and wiped it blindly, “Is it gone now?”

“Not yet,” she shook her head. “Let me.”

March cupped the side of his face and rubbed the non-existent stain on his cheek. Her eyes were on her thumb, which then slowly moved to the side, right on his lips.

She shut her eyes and closed the gap between their faces. Her lips caught his by surprise as she could feel a light gasp from him on her lips. Their lips still had the lingering scent and sweetness of the cake.

Her thigh was brushing against the side of his pants as he reciprocated by putting his arms around her and pulling her closer. Her other hand was resting on his other cheek as her lips were exploring every inch of his with tiny, quick kisses. A light moan escaped her lips as his hand reached the side of her rear, which was then silenced by his lips.

They slowly parted with their eyes still longing for each other’s taste. March’s hands slid down his face, landed on his shoulders, before she clasped her new pendant hanging on her neck; it was still cold to the touch. Moments later, Caelus reached out and held both of her hands.

“I don’t remember how many times I failed making this,” they opened their hands together to reveal the pendant, “but whenever I failed, I’d look at these pieces and imagine that they were your eyes. Those strong, gentle eyes I’ve grown to love. They always gave me the strength to keep going and try again.”

She chuckled softly, “I figured. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I accidentally found your failed pieces. Even if you didn’t give me this, the cake, or the surprise party, I’ll still be happy to have you by my side.”

“It won’t sit well with me if I gave you nothing, not after skipping a birthday,” he held her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. “But even if you didn’t skip a birthday, I’ll still go through the trouble for your birthday present.”

“Thanks, Caelus. Thanks a lot, from the bottom of my heart,” she found a comfortable place next to him and leaned against his shoulder, “I guess… next time we should expect a birthday date?”

“Sounds nice… oh, hey!” Caelus stood up suddenly, almost making her fall sideways to her bed. “How about we go on a dinner date now?”

“Now? As in, right now?” Her question earned her a nod, “Caelus, it’s late already. We should go on a date some other time.”

“Oh come on, I’m still hungry,” he clasped his hands together and lowered his head in front of her. “Please?”

She sighed angrily, “No? A pretty girl like me needs her beauty sleep!”

“Fine, fine… I’ll dig into my fridge and see if there are any leftovers I can eat,” he opened his arms wide. “Well, I guess this is goodnight?”

She smiled in return as she gave into his arms, “G’night, Caelus. Sweet dreams about me, okay?”

Caelus chuckled in response, but his smile turned into confusion as her arms slipped out of his grasp, “Wait, no goodnight kiss?”

“Here,” she teasingly put her fingers on her lips before putting them on top of his. “There you go.”

“Nah, can’t feel it,” he shrugged, but she could spot a hidden grin beneath it.

“Ugh, what a flirt and a tease,” she motioned him to get closer. “Just… lean down a little.”

He leaned down as he was told, and March planted a kiss on his cheek. She saw him open his mouth again, and she stopped him by putting a finger over his lips.

“Don’t push your luck, Caelus,” she teased. “That will be saved for the promised date.”

“Alright, you win,” he laughed as she had just read his mind. “Last question, though. What’s your favorite present for this year?”

“My favorite?” Her face was flushed as it was warmer before her finger pointed at her lips. “This.”

“That’s…?” He stared at her a while longer, puzzled, until he realized what she meant. “O-Oh, that one…”

“I mean… I love all the effort you put into everything for me, but…” March shuffled her feet nervously, “I don’t… I don’t think there’s anything more special than having your first kiss with the person you love right on your birthday… and it’s also your first too, right?”

Her nervousness suddenly shifted into a glare, “Well, duh? I haven’t kissed anyone until you!”

“Well, you are quite popular among our female friends…”

“March, I’ve never viewed any of them more than just friends and acquaintances,” Caelus let out a sigh, “Look, I promise you, my second, third, fourth kisses and so on will be with you. There are many female friends we’ve met, but the first and only girl who has stolen my heart is you. Happy now?”

He gave her the finger guns and a wink, which only caused her to be weirded out.

“I would feel much better if you didn’t have to add that last bit at the end,” March’s fatigue was slowly catching up as she had to hold back a yawn, “I’m tired, Caelus. Let’s just talk tomorrow, ‘kay? G’night.”

“Sure,” he nodded and walked toward the door, but stopped once he opened it and turned to her once more, “Goodnight and sweet dreams, my precious gem.”

The door slammed shut and she was left on her own in her room. Her smile returned to her face as she sat down on her bed with a contented sigh.

That was just the normal Caelus. Sometimes he would be annoying, other times he would be teasing her to no end. But when she needed comforting words, he always knew the right thing to say.

His words were able to make her face warmer than needed. His words were able to make her heart race. His words were able to make her feel butterflies in her stomach.

And today, right on her birthday, her heart was full. His words, his actions made her feel special.

“As annoying as you are sometimes, Caelus, not once have I regretted falling in love with you.”

The pair of gift plushies, which were put on her bed, were leaning against each other, as if mirroring the feelings of the people they were based on.