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takemichi sits up on his bed, breathing in the fresh air of his stale bedroom air. he’s only happy like this on one day of the year: his birthday. he’s turning sixteen this year. physically, at least.
mentally, he’s like… thirty?
“weird,” he grumbles out loud, climbing out of bed slowly. he can’t wait to spend his birthday with all of his friends. in his original past, his birthdays were always met with shifts at his part time jobs or sitting alone in his room, singing to himself.
this year, he thinks, is going to be different. he actually has people to hang out with: mikey, chifuyu, draken, inui, the list could go on…
takemichi checks his phone, noticing how empty his notifications are. not a single happy birthday text, even from his parents.
he shrugs. “s’fine. i still have the rest of the day, you know!”
he heads toward the kitchen, crafting the perfect bowl of cereal. 75% frosted flakes, 25% milk. he hears a chime from his phone, and quickly jumps up to answer.
his first text of the day comes from chifuyu.
“u busy later today?”
uhm.
takemichi blinks. that’s it?
no happy birthday? not even a sad little cake emoji?
still, takemichi responds politely.
“not really… what’s up?”
chifuyu texts back almost immediately.
“great! gonna need ur help later, thx!”
takemichi sets his phone down, disappointment settling in. there’s no way they could forget his birthday, right? right??
he spends the rest of the day staring at his phone, hoping, wishing, willing for a text to come in. it doesn’t.
and what help could chifuyu possibly need? chifuyu couldn’t possibly let takemichi get beaten up and jumped on his birthday.
“of course he wouldn’t!” takemichi responds to his thoughts, letting out a loud laugh. maybe he’s going crazy. he really needs to get out the house…
so that’s what he does. he hurriedly puts his shoes on, and heads down to his favorite cafe to get his favorite sandwich and sit in his favorite seat.
he enters through the cafe doors, hearing that familiar bell ring above the door.
he spots a familiar face in the corner of the store.
“hm? draken?”
as if he heard takemichi speak, draken turns his attention towards him. he waves, a blank expression on his face.
ok. weird.
takemichi waves back slowly, then turns back towards the cashier patiently awaiting his order.
“uhm… can i please get a hot chocolate and the turkey and cheese sandwich?” he fumbles with his wallet as he speaks.
“i’m so sorry, but we are actually out of that sandwich today. was there anything else i can get you?”
takemichi looks up from his fumbling hands, pouting. “seriously? could i possibly get a chocolate muffin then?”
the cashier smiles sheepishly at him. “we’re actually out of that too, sorry…”
takemichi sighs. “that’s fine. just the hot chocolate will do.”
the cashier tells him the total, and takemichi reluctantly hands over the cash. a few moments later, his hot chocolate is ready. he grabs it, and heads to sit with draken.
“yo, draken! haven’t seen you in a while!” he greets, beaming.
“we just saw each other two days ago.” draken replies curtly.
“oh, that’s right, haha.” takemichi stares at him awkwardly. “uhm… anyways, what are you up to today?”
“not much.”
“where’s mikey? you guys are usually inseparable, especially at restaurants.” takemichi looks around, expecting the blond to pop out of nowhere (and hopefully wish him a happy birthday).
“he’s at his house. like normal. not doing anything special.” draken stands up, frantically grabbing his things. “anyway, i gotta go. i gotta meet someone for something somewhere. bye!” by the time he is finished with his sentence, he’s already out the door.
takemichi is left sitting there, a small frown on his face. today is not the day he was hoping for.
first, nobody texts him. the only text he got was probably calling him to a fight later that evening.
second, his favorite sandwich is sold out.
third, one of his best friends leaves him hanging after acting really weird.
seriously, can anything go right for takemichi?? why is he still a loser, even after getting the chance to go back in time??
he sips on his hot chocolate, burning the top of his mouth.
at last, he gets a text from chifuyu letting him know that the boy is in front of his house.
he huffs, and leaves his house slowly. he waves dejectedly.
chifuyu smiles, waving back. “hey, man. what’s up? you look off.”
takemichi rubs the back of his neck. “yeah… this whole day has been kind of weird for me.”
“that sucks. sorry dude.” a twinge of guilt from chifuyu. “anyways, i really needed your help taking this thing,” he gestures towards a mysterious package on the sidewalk, “up to my place.”
“that’s fine.”
for the cherry top on this absolutely perfect day for takemichi, he had to do physical labor for his lazy friend.
fifteen minutes later, they finally arrive at chifuyu’s front door. both of them are drenched in sweat.
“dude, what is in that thing? a fridge or something? why was it so heavy? how’d you get it to my house in the first place?” takemichi always began to rapid fire questions as he got more and more irritated.
“don’t worry about it.” chifuyu says, a mischievous glint in his eye. “can you bring it in while i hold the door?”
“like i’m gonna say no now.” takemichi steels himself, and picks up the heavy ass box (no really, what is in it).
the house is dark, and he almost stumbles over himself as he finds a place to put the package. he hears the door shut behind him, effectively sealing the entire house in darkness.
“hey chifuyu, why do you keep your house so dark-”
“surprise!”
the light turns on suddenly, almost blinding takemichi. once his eyes adjust, he looks around to see all of his friends looking at him, smiles on their faces.
chifuyu comes up behind him, clamping a hand on his shoulder. “happy birthday, dude.”
it takes a second before the tears start falling from takemichi’s eyes.
“woah, are you crying? did we scare you or something?” mitsuya worriedly asks.
takemichi chuckles, wiping at his tears.
“no. i’m just really happy. thank you everyone.”
“of course, man. we love you.” draken replies.
mikey interrupts. “see? he’s fine. now where’s the cake?”