Work Text:
En winced at the noise of the alarm clock that woke him up an hour earlier than usual from his deep slumber. He turned over in his futon, trying to block out the noise. His eyes glanced at the calendar on the wall in front of him. He smiled as he noticed the red circle he drew weeks before, highlighting the day October 5th. En squinted his eyes to read the words “Atsushi’s birthday”. He scrambled out of his futon, and went into the bathroom.
“Okay, En, listen up. You’re going to get ready, dressed and all before Atsushi comes, got it? Do something good for once. For him.” En said, giving himself a little pep-talk in the mirror. He splashed his face a couple of times shortly afterwords, and began to get dressed for school. A short while later, he ran into the kitchen to greet his mother.
En’s mother was shocked to see her son up and ready, almost out the door this early in the morning. Normally, he would still be asleep, waiting for Atsushi to come and wake him. But here he was, a spoon in his mouth, eating the food that was set out.
“What’s with you today? Normally Kinugawa-san would come to get you.” She asked her son. It took En a while to swallow all the food he was having, and that gave time for his mother to think about the possibilities leading up to her son’s sudden energy. She looked over to the calendar.
“Ah! It’s Kinugawa-san’s birthday today isn’t it?” She looked to her son for approval, earning her a slight nod from the boy. En swallowed his food and stood up, gripping onto his bag and started to make his way to the door, remembering to grab Atsushi’s present on the way out.
“Yeah, it is. I want to do something for him for a change. I’m off, see you later mum.” With that, En was out the door and on his way to Atsushi’s house. It was strange for him to be out this early, but he was doing it to give Atsushi a surprise.
En opened his phone and went to text Io, Ryuu, and Yumoto about his plan for the day, earning him shocked and confused messages from them.
Yufuin-senpai? What are you doing awake at a time like this? Shouldn’t someone of your kind still be sleeping? Was a text sent from Io.
Huh? Yufuin-senpai? Are you okay? What happened to you? Are you not feeling well? I didn’t think you’d be awake at this time! Ryuu responded.
Wow! En-chan-senpai is awake! Was a short text sent from Yumoto, who went through the trouble of adding various emoticons at the end of the sentence.
En became a little ticked at the responses he got.
Just read the message! Do NOT tell Atsushi about it! En replied to all of them. He looked at the time at the top of his phone and quickened his pace, realising that Atsushi would be leaving his house soon.
Atsushi woke up happily. He slowly rose up from his bed and stretched. He smiled as he remembered what day it was.
Ah, October 5th, my birthday.
Atsushi didn’t feel resentment, or utter happiness whenever his birthday came around. He just felt that it was a normal day.
Atsushi made his way to the bathroom and splashed his face with the cool water. It was refreshing. He wiped his face down and put on his glasses so he could see clearly. Atsushi quickly walked out the bathroom and back into his bedroom so he could get ready for school. He rid himself of his pyjamas, and went to find his uniform.
Once Atsushi was finally ready, he walked downstairs to talk to his mum for a while. His mum was due to come home from a business trip last night, so he expected her to be there. He turned the corner for the kitchen, only to find it empty. Atsushi felt a little dissapoined, but brushed the feeling off, thinking that she was in some other part of the house.
“Mum? Where are you?” Atsushi called out, walking into the hallway to get his voice across. No response. He sighed. Atsushi didn’t think that his mum would leave him alone on his birthday, but alas, she had. The blue haired boy made his way back to the kitchen to cook himself something to eat. His plans dissolved once he remembered that there was plate of rice with some vegetables left in the fridgefrom last night. Although they were leftovers, he didn’t feel like cooking this morning, so he decided to eat the small meal. He turned on his phone, and was greeted with a notification from his mum.
Good morning, Atsushi.
I’m so sorry that I wasn’t able to make it back for your birthday. The flight has been delayed until at least the 8th because of the recent storms in Kyoto.
Make sure to have a good day today. Happy birthday!
Atsushi was glad that his mother at least texted him. He was disappointed that she wouldn’t be back for a few more days. Oh well, there’s nothing I can do to help it.
Atsushi quickly finished his meal, began to wash up, humming to himself a recent anime opening. He cursed. That tune was so catchy, it was sure to be in his head for the whole day. Atsushi dried his hands and picked up his school bag. He began to make his way to the front door when the chime of the doorbell startled him.
Who could it be at this hour?
En finally arrived at Atsushi’s front door, a little puffed out as he began to jog halfway through his journey to see Atsushi.
Atsushi was shocked to see En. Of all people, it was En. And at this early in the morning too? He must be dreaming.
“Eh? En-chan? What are you doing here? I was on my way to get you.” Atsushi asked, genuinely confused as to why En was here at such a time in the morning.
“Happy birthday, Atsushi.” En said, handing his gift to the bespectacled boy.
“Can I open it now?” Atsushi asked.
“Of course.” En replied, smiling as he watched the other’s eyes light up at the sight of the gift. It was only something small, but nevertheless, it made the birthday boy extremely happy.
“Thank you! En-chan!” Atsushi beamed as he gripped his new book in his hand, and hugged the blonde boy in front of him.
“Hm, I knew you’d be happy. It came out yesterday, didn’t it? It’s your favourite series right?” En said as he hugged Atsushi back. Atsushi ended the hug with a small peck on En’s cheek.
“Oh come on. That’s all you’ve got? Come here.” En said. He brushed Atsushi’s bangs behind his ears and lifted up his glasses. With his spare hand, En cupped Atsushi’s cheek, and pulled him into a sweet kiss.
Atsushi blushed as the taste of En lingered in his mouth after they finished. Atsushi looked back down to En’s lips, then up to his blue eyes. En’s eyes sparkled in the early sunlight, making them look surreal. Atsushi had fallen in love with those eyes over and over again, and he couldn’t seem to stop staring at his boyfriend.
“Hasn’t anyone told you it’s rude to stare?” En smirked, pulling Atsushi with him as he .turned around to put his arm over his shoulder.
“Shut up.” Atsushi blushed, looking away from the beautiful boy standing next to him.
As the pair walked to school, En had to endure many thank you’s from Atsushi.
“No, seriously. You didn’t need to get me anything! This book was expensive too!” Atsushi said, probably for the millionth time. En silenced him with a kiss, not realising that the two had almost made it to school.
“Oi, you two get a room!” Yelled a familiar voice. It was Ryuu, who was accompanied by Io, who silenced him, and greeted the couple politely.
“Happy birthday, Kinugawa-senpai.” Io and Ryuu said almost at exactly the same time as each other. Ryuu’s loud, energetic tone came out over Io’s more quiet and reserved one.
Atsushi smiled at them. Mainly because of them greeting him with such a thing, and partly because of how in sync they are. They’re perfect for each other.
The group of boys made their way to the familiar grounds of their high school, talking about all sorts of things. Their conversation was cut shot by an energetic Yumoto jumping onto Atsushi’s back.
“Happy birthday Atsushi-senpai!” Yumoto beamed. En wondered how on earth Yumoto was this lively in the morning. En managed to free his boyfriend of Yumoto, and the five of then began to walk to school together.
“Excuse me sir, I need to go to the bathroom.” En said, standing up during the middle of the lesson.
“Fine. Make sure to come-” The teacher answered, before giving up and sighing. En was already out the door.
Hey president,
It’s En. Before you delete this, read it. It’s for Atsushi.
Could you come to the bathrooms near the cafeteria? I want to tell you something.
En took Kinshiro’s number from Atsushi’s phone a few days ago. Atsushi didn’t know, but En was sure that Atsushi wouldn’t mind.
Kinshiro heard his phone buzz. He thought nothing of it, and continued to do his work. He heard the buzz happen a few more times, and gave in to take a glance at the screen.
The only word he saw was Atsushi, and he immediately lit up with joy.
“Sir, may I go to the bathroom?” Kinshiro asked his teacher politely. He waited for the approval, and snuck his phone into his pocket when the teacher turned around.
He was angry once he read the words “It’s En”, but read on, seeing as it had to do with Atsushi, and made his way to the bathrooms.
“Ah, there you are,” En said as he spotted Kinshiro.
“I know you hate me, but just listen. It’s Atsushi’s birthday today, and I think he’ll be happy if you came to a little surprise I’m going to do for him.” En said. He explained what was going to happen after school in the club room, and told Kinshiro to invite Arima and Akoya too. Kinshiro couldn’t deny En’s offer, and went back to his class. Not before scolding En.
“I accept, but you do realise that it’s the middle of lesson time, right? Don’t come out here again during these times.” Kinshiro said boldly, and walked off back to class.
The end of the school day finally came. En acted lazy, pretending to be tired because he woke up so early, but really, he was the most excited he had been in a long time. Atsushi stayed back with En, and when En thought it had been long enough, he finally stood up and slowly walked to the club room.
When the two got to the Defence Club, Atsushi noticed that it was quieter than usual. By now, you would hear Yumoto jumping around the room. Atsushi dismissed these thoughts, and decided on the possibility that Yumoto was running late.
“After you, birthday boy.” En said, trying to hide the pride of keeping this a secret for so long. Atsushi smiled, and opened the door to the room.
The quiet room erupted into mixed shouts of “Happy birthday, Atsushi!”. Atsushi was amazed, there was even a small cake on the table. Atsushi looked over to En, and noticed that he looked proud of himself.
“Was this your doing En-chan?” Atsushi asked with disbelief.
“Of course. I’m doing this for you, Atsushi. I love you. Happy birthday.” En replied, stealing a kiss from the astounded boy.
Kinshiro couldn’t help but smile at his childhood friend being so happy. Although he hated the boy he was with, he dealt with it in order to make Atsushi happy.
“Right, okay, that’s enough. You’ve got plenty of time to do that tonight guys.” Ryuu said, smirking at the pair kissing in front of the door. Io chuckled as the two pulled away, with the shorter one blushing and apologising.
“Wow, Zaou-kun. Leave them be for a while. Just because you haven’t kissed anyone in a while doesn’t mean you can stop others from doing it.” Akoya shot back at Ryuu, twirling his pink hair around his finger.
Ryuu began to go off at Akoya. Io laughed at the boy’s childish remarks and kissed him to silence him.
“Can we all stop fighting? It’s Atsushi-senpai’s birthday! Let’s have some cake!” Yumoto yelled, breaking the silence that everyone held as they say Io kissing Ryuu.
“Hm, I knew they were perfect for eachother.” Atsushi whispered proudly to En as the two made their way over to the cake. En chuckled and agreed. Yumoto shouted above the small talk everyone was having.
“Speech! Speech!”
Atsushi quietly laughed at Yumoto’s child like personality and stood up.
“Um… Thank you, everyone for surprising me and coming to celebrate my birthday. And thank you, En-chan, for organising all this.” Atsushi smiled as he finished he short speech. He was awarded with an applause, and a demand for cake from Yumoto. Atsushi cut the cake, and evenly divided it for the group of eight to all have a piece.
“I still don’t understand why you’re going through all of this trouble for my sake, En-chan. But I’m grateful.” Atsushi exclaimed, looking over at his boyfriend.
“I’m glad you’re happy, Atsushi, but I’ve already told you; I’m doing all this for you.”