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Harumasa had never truly enjoyed his birthday. He was too young when his parents had left him at the hospital to remember if they had ever done anything special to celebrate him. Or was it — much like himself — something they forgot about and abandoned to the back of their minds. In one way he was thankful he couldn't remember those early birthday's. He was thankful that the already challenging first few years in the hospital — the years where he still held hope for their return — wasn't made harder by memories of family filled celebrations.
Too much of his life had been spent within his hospital room. His because his condition wasn't always stable enough to have other people placed with him. His because as he grew older he was less of a patient and more of a test subject — a reality he was blind to at the time. A reality he was thankful he was unaware of until he grew older. A reality that still existed for others who suffered with Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome. He had saved a few of them: Tsubaki, Ryosuke and Hana. But he had also failed others.
He knew his stunt while dealing with Kirishima had put the rest of Section 6 on edge, and he couldn't blame them. When he had asked them to continue to treat him the same as before they all agreed and quickly the four of them fell into their normal behaviours. It was almost too easy for him to forget what had happened. But if any day were to test that promise it would be today.
His birthday.
He barely celebrated it anymore. While he didn't want to die, didn't want to throw his remaining time away. His birthday always felt like the most obvious passage of time. The most obvious sign that his time was running out. No one with Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome had survived past 26, he still had time left, but it was finite and forever running out with no way to stop it. Perhaps his masters medicine had bought him more time in the long run. Perhaps he had already squandered it by going into Hollows. He didn't know. And he didn't regret his decisions.
Usually Harumasa was the last to arrive to the office. He had tried to improve upon that behaviour recently, but it was caused by habits too ingrained to change easily.
Today however was an exception. Instead of being the last to arrive he had been the first. Struggling to sleep was nothing new to him, not only had it taken him hours of laying in bed to even fall asleep be he had only barely managed an hour before a nightmare woke him up. Deciding it was better to be productive rather then mourn the common lack of sleep had directed him to get ready and head into work early. He still had some reports to write, and if was productive enough he could likely get through a nap without any comments being made.
The office was, as expected, silent and empty when he arrived. While he would never claim to dislike the ambient noise that came from four people working and existing in the same space, the silence was nice to. It gave him time to fix his mask, to force down the memories and emotions that came with his nightmare. Gave him time to prepare for the day ahead. Plus he didn't have to feel guilty about humming while filling in his reports.
When the rest of Section 6 had arrived he had nearly finished the second report. Yanagi and Soukaku arriving together wasn't too surprising, but Miyabi being with them kind of was. When he looked at the time he realised that it wasn't the three of them arriving that was necessarily the shocking part. Instead it was the fact that Yanagi was late enough to be arriving alongside the other two.
"Ah, Harumasa, you're already here." Yanagi asked, he saw her eyes taking in the state of his desk, more likely taking note of the open report details he was using to fill in the proper report.
"Yep, early morning. It's not that surprising is it?" He knew he probably didn't look the best, he didn't feel it either but it wasn't anything for them to worry about he was just tired. He hoped his smile and jokey tone was enough for her to know he was joking.
"It is," Miyabi answered, "but only because Yanagi forced to to go home early yesterday. I expected you to take today off as well." Harumasa laughed in response.
"I won't say Yanagi was wrong for sending me home. But I took some medicine and I feel much better after a well deserved nap." A nap because that was all he had managed, and he knew he looked tired, so he might as well answer the inevitable question now. Yanagi nodded, before moving over to her own desk.
Harumasa continued to watch her, she seemed… tense didn't seem like the right word, but she wasn't relaxed. There was something on her mind, something that she deemed important, but it wasn't work related. He had seen her stress about work related issues too often. No this was personal. And for all the times he would swipe some work off her desk, or finish up reports quicker to remove some of that stress. There wasn't much he could do for her private life.
Miyabi had made her way to her own desk, looking at something on her phone once she had sat down. It was early enough in the morning she had no meetings to attend or avoid, and her desk was currently clear of paperwork. She would likely leave soon to go do some training or meditation — whichever she deemed more necessary in the moment.
Soukaku had, instead of going to her own desk, came and sat in the empty seat beside him. She turned the chair around so it faced him and leant forward. He turned to her and gave her a smile, which was the sign she apparently needed to ask a question he didn't know she had.
"Do you want to celebrate your birthday?" From the corner of his eye Harumasa saw Yanagi's head shoot up, no longer busying herself with something on her desk she was instead staring at Soukaku.
"Soukaku!" Her voice filled the room, shocked more than angry or annoyed.
"What? You were stressed trying to figure out whether we should celebrate or not. So I figured I would ask ," Soukaku had turned to look at Yanagi as she explained her logic, but once she finished she turned back to Harumasa continuing to talk as if nothing had happened. "I know for my birthday I get excited weeks in advance and am always talking about it. I find it hard not to. Miyabi and Yanagi are both quieter about their excitement, but they have their own signs."
Soukaku continued to talk explaining how Miyabi would invite them out more around her birthday happy to spend more time with those she considers friends. How she always seemed happier when they let her treat them instead of when they would give her gift. Unless they were melon flavoured sweets, Soukaku made good emphasis on how that was an exception. A quick glance at Miyabi revealed a slight blush and her ears pinned back slightly,
Yanagi on the other hand was always kinder when her birthday came around, letting them get away with more. Apparently her behaviour changed even further at home, but Harumasa didn't get to know anything about that as Yanagi herself cut Soukaku off, talking directly to Harumasa.
"I remember the promise we made you. I have no intention of treating you differently. But…" Yanagi paused for a minute looking away from him, "I noticed that you didn't seem to enjoy your birthday much last year. And I can understand that it is probably hard to celebrate it… given what it means in the long term. It felt wrong to ask you, and with you being in the office so early…" She cut herself off. Whether it was because she didn't know where else to take it, or because she didn't want to voice the obvious fact that the day had started out poorly, he didn't know. He didn't care really. He was just surprised.
It was true he hadn't enjoyed his birthday much the year prior. He had suffered a major flare up just a few days prior. It had calmed down the day before his birthday, but a visit to his doctor gave him news he never wanted to hear, even if he knew it was always coming. If his health continued to decline as it had been doing he wouldn't make it through the year. The day after, his birthday, had been filled with him debating telling Section 6 the truth behind his health. Telling them there was a high chance of him dying soon. But seeing them so happy to celebrate with him, he couldn't tell them. He was happy, the happiest he had been in days. But clearly he hadn't shown it.
His health had improved significantly since then, his Master's cure having bought him more time. He had never told them about the initial diagnosis. There was no point. But he had never thought about making it to this birthday, never thought about the consequences his past actions would have. But he smiled. He turned to face Soukaku.
"So what plans did you have in mind?" Her smile was infectious, Yanagi who had turned back to look at them was smiling and even Miyabi who joined the conversation now standing beside Yanagi instead of behind her desk was smiling.
"We don't have any presents for you, but I can rectify that quickly enough. But I guess the dinner reservation I made for us will go to good use."
Maybe his birthday wasn't something to celebrate in the past. But even if this was his last one, even if he only had a few left. He should treasure them. Not only the celebrations but the people celebrating with him. His team. His friends. His family.