"Hurry up with the music already," Yuki said, clearly impatient.
"Okay, okay, just chill for a moment, princess," Sotaro replied as he fiddled with the remote for the speaker. After confirming it was the right song, the only thing left was the signal to start.
Yuki nodded to herself, while Ayane, wearing a party hat she brought along, looked at us and clapped her hands to cue the song.
"In a one..."
"In a two..."
"In three..."
"In a one, two, three!"
With Ayane's countdown completed, the cheerful tone of the birthday song played through the speakers.
"Happy birthday to you..." Everyone around Masachika sang in unison, clapping along with the rhythm.
"Hey, hey!" Ayane and Yuki chimed in, their arms slung around each other.
Amidst the lit candles on the chocolate cake, the joyful sound of his friends and family filled Masachika's ears. Despite the noisy atmosphere, it felt calming to him, and he smiled, staring at the flickering candle.
'Nothing could ever replace these annoying morons in my life,' Masachika thought to himself while silently thinking his wish.
Once the song ended, Grandpa Tomohisa gently held the cake in front of his grandson with a warm smile.
"Now make your wish, Masachika."
Masachika closed his eyes for a brief moment, slowly opening them again, focusing on the flame. 'I wish for my most annoying and most precious sister to get well in the future.'
With a soft breath, Masachika blew out the candle, extinguishing the flame, carrying his wish with it.
"Now you're officially twelve years old," Hachiman clapped. "Six years left until you're old enough to get arrested"
"Could you find a better joke than that?" Sotaro lightly elbowed Hachiman's side.
"Am I even joking?"
"..."
"Don't give me that look, Sota. That was clearly a jest"
"With your personality, Hachiman, I don't even know when to take a joke like that seriously or not," Sotaro muttered.
Ignoring the tsukomi between Rintaro's brother and his friend, I turned to Masachika, curiosity piquing my interest.
"So, what did you wish for?"
"That's a secret,"
"I bet it's about me~ You know, nii-sama, even though I love you, it's only the sibling kind of love, not that kind of love." Yuki hugged herself dramatically. "But~~ I won't refuse if you declare your absolute love for your one and only cute imouto!"
"You should really stop reading Oreimo, Yuki," Masachika shot her a disgusted look
"Blame Four Eyes-kun here, my dear brother!" Yuki puffed out her chest, pointing dramatically at Tomoya. "He's the one who forced all those indecent light novels and manga onto me. It can't be helped that a pure maiden like me gets corrupted with such forbidden knowledge!"
"Speaking of light novels, where's the Zero no Tsukaima book you borrowed? I want them back," Tomoya shot at Yuki, who froze on the spot at his words.
"What is that? Can I eat that, Tomoya-sama? I don't know anything by that name," Yuki dryly whistled, trying to avoid the pissed-off glare of the grand otaku.
"It's in my room, on the middle shelf," Masachika immediately responded, "She forgot to take it to her room yesterday after binge-reading it in mine. My room's open, so you're welcome to go in."
"I'll do that," Tomoya said as he walked towards the room.
"GIHAAAA, DO NOT DO IT!!" Yuki screamed as she and Tomoya raced each other toward Masachika's room. With a loud boom, the door slammed shut, and we were left with no idea what was going on inside or why Yuki was acting so weird over Tomoya simply wanting his book back.
"I really don't get this aneme and manka thing you kids are into," Tomohisa commented, watching Yuki's outburst with a bewildered expression. "But I won't ask any questions."
"Trust me, Gramps, Yuki and Tomoya are just different breeds. Don't generalize all of us who watch anime," Hachiman said, shaking his head. "Well, Ayane might be the only one worse than them."
"Huh? Why did it come to me? You wanna get kicked in the balls?" Ayane shot back.
"Sorry, Ayane, but I agree with Hachiman on this one," Daiki said. "You don't see a normal human drawing a huge circle in her room using red paint while singing Kumbaya like a boy scout trying to summon a fictional anime girl in the afternoon."
"Hey, Artoria exists in my heart, and that's what matters, alright?!" Ayane shot back defensively. "Neh, brother! They're bullying your poor sister! Back me up here!"
"Here," I said, slicing the cake and handing pieces to Takeo and Satsuki, not even registering what my twin was rambling about.
"Thanks," Takeo said as he received his slice.
"This is really delicious!" Satsuki beamed after taking a bite of the chocolate cake.
"Are you even listening?" Ayane huffed.
"You want any cake?" I asked
"That's not what I— oh, thanks. Mmm, this is really delicious. Teh, don't play with me," Ayane muttered between bites, before quickly switching back to her usual self.
After serving the rest of the cake to everyone, I saved two slices, placed them on a small plate, and entered Masachika's room.
"You guys want any cake?" I asked, only to be greeted by the sight of Yuki kneeling before Tomoya.
"So, got any explanation to do?" Tomoya said, holding up a book with several torn pages.
"Babe, I can explain," Yuki pleaded, her hands clasped together in desperation.
"I deserve a reasonable explanation, so spill it," Tomoya demanded, tossing the ruined novel in front of her like a judge delivering a final verdict.
Without a word, I immediately closed the door, deciding it was best not to interrupt the telenovela unfolding inside. Whatever Yuki had done, it was clearly a sin of death sentence proportions for Tomoya to be that livid.
******
"Time for the presents!" Rintaro announced, holding up a wrapped gift. "This is from me, my brother, and Hachiman. Hope you like it."
Masachika eagerly started tearing off the wrapping, and his expression brightened as he pulled out a high-quality wall scroll. He quickly unfurled it, making sure his grandpa didn't see.
"Damn, Hanekawa's cat ears are looking freaking good on this poster," Tomoya commented, eyeing the wall scroll with approval. "Not to mention, the black underwear and bra... erotic as hell."
"The wood and paper cloth on this thing is fine as hell," Ayane added, running her fingers along the edges of the scroll.
"Those mountains, though," Yuki said as she stared at the artifact of the otaku gods in heaven. "Hanekawa is really hiding some weapon of mass degeneracy inside her clothes."
"How in the world did you get this national treasure, you three?" Masachika asked, his eyes widening.
The three of them exchanged knowing glances, each looking like they'd rather be anywhere else.
"Selling my soul to Izanami ," Rintaro muttered, looking completely dead inside.
"Please don't ask," Sotaro sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Better if you don't know how we got this rare thing, my friend," Hachiman added, placing a hand on Masachika's shoulder. "Just accept this kind gesture from us."
Masachika raised an eyebrow, but with a resigned shrug, he accepted the gift, laughing to himself.
"Then, here's mine and Dai-chan's!" Satsuki said as she handed Masachika the next gift. It was a Domo-kun ushanka hat. Masachika thanked her, but before he could put it on, Yuki suddenly grabbed the hat and wore it herself.
"It feels good," Yuki said, clearly enjoying the cozy sensation. "Thank you for this, Sat-cchi and Dai-chan!"
"Oi, it's mine! I should be the one wearing it first!" Masachika protested.
"Po po, you're stingy, onii-chan~~," Yuki teased. "What you own is technically an extension of what I own, since I'm your only sister."
"What kind of logic is that?" Masachika shot back
"The Yuki kind," Yuki replied with a cheeky grin.
After the usual banter between Masachika and Yuki, Ayane presented her gift. It was a copy of Half-Life 3. Masachika already knew it was a fake, but when he opened the case, he was surprised by what he saw inside, quickly closing it when we tried to peek.
"Ayane, you're really one hell of a girl," Masachika laughed as he shut the case.
"You loved it, huh?" Ayane teased.
"Immensely," Masachika confirmed.
We didn't question what was inside, though Yuki was dying of curiosity, but Masachika just ignored her.
Next, it was my turn to give my gift. I had been anticipating this, especially knowing how much Masachika loved Kanon—he spent hours playing it, only to end up crying like a baby at the end.
When Masachika opened the box, he saw a tiny box with Jun Maeda's signature on the side and a cover featuring artwork from Air, Clannad, and Kanon.
Everyone leaned in as Masachika carefully opened the box, revealing three neatly arranged CD cases with "Collector's Edition" written on each one.
"Neh, Yukio," Masachika said, pulling out the Kanon CD case with the creator's signature. "Can I kiss you right now?"
"Hell, let me kiss you too!" Tomoya said, shakily holding up the Air CD case. "THIS IS REALLY CRAZY! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?!"
"Get out of my face, you two. I don't swing that way," I said, shaking my head.
"Holy cow, a collector's edition of the OSTs for all three— Is what I would like to say, but the Clannad anime is the only thing I know. I've only played Majikoi as my VN," Yuki added
After seeing Masachika's extremely happy face, I couldn't help but feel satisfied. Fighting those guys to buy this wasn't so bad after all. Even Tomoya was envious and clearly wanted one for himself. Without hesitation, Masachika carefully put the collector's edition in his room, placing it in a safe spot to keep it away from any accident.
"Okay, my turn next," Masachika's grandpa, Tomohisa, announced as he pulled out two gifts. "One's from me, and the other's from your grandma. Now, which one do you want to open first?"
Masachika eyed the larger one and decided to tear it open. He was greeted by a Matryoshka doll, but this one was of Totoro, and it made him pause for a second.
"I thought to myself, how can I mix Russia and your hobby?" Tomohisa said proudly, puffing out his chest. "It was perfect timing when I saw this shop in the alley selling these Matryoshka dolls with an anime bunny design and that Miyazaki guy's name plastered all over it."
"How much was this, old man? This sure as hell isn't cheap, I can already tell," I said, inspecting the doll closely. It looked incredibly rare and legit.
"Yeah, it was expensive, alright," Tomohisa grunted, a hint of pride in his voice.
"So, how much was it?" I pressed again, trying to get a real number.
"3000 yen."
"Pardon?" I blinked in disbelief. "3000 yen?!"
"Yeah, 3000 yen," Tomohisa repeated, clearly unphased by the shock.
Is that the mythical shop that only appears once in a century? I couldn't believe it. Where can I find that shop? I will immediately colonize that place with my power! Three thousand for something of this high quality and size?
"Oh, even though the place was dead quiet, they also had those anime toys my grandson and granddaughter own, but the ones there were the same height as Sotaro here and were made of high quality wood," Tomohisa continued, dropping another bombshell. "They were 7000 yen. Not cheap, either."
"Seven... thousand yen?!" I visibly choked. "How are they even still open?!"
The sound of the door opening was heard, and an elderly woman entered, smiling as she made her way toward us. It was Kuze Asae, Tomohisa's wife and the grandmother of Masachika and Yuki.
She gave Satsuki a light pat on the head, and the girl in question responded like a kitten, enjoying the gentle rub.
"It's Grandma!" Yuki exclaimed, leaping into her arms for a hug.
"Did you already have dinner, Grandma?" Masachika asked.
"Yes, I ate earlier with Otae-san," Asae replied.
"It was unfortunate I could not eat with when the car we were riding in broke down in the middle of the road, but it is what it is." Asae said, as Yuki let go of her hug and sat down beside her husband.
"You're quite late, Asae-san," Tomohisa remarked with a chuckle. "We already finished singing for Masachika."
"Looks like it," Asae replied with a smile. "But it is still a perfect timing, Ojii-san. It's already time for Masachika to open my present."
As Masachika carefully unwrapped the gift, a small picture frame came into view. We all crowded around, curious, but the moment we saw the picture, a wave of nostalgia hit us like a truck. The photo showed our younger selves, playing around by the river.
"I was checking around the old cam of mine and saw this, so I decided to use this as my present,"
Asae said, as the kids stared at the frame in front of them.
"You look like shit here, Hiki," Ayane immediately chimed in, pointing at Hachiman, who was eating an ice pop while standing at the river's edge.
"And you look like a retard here" Hachiman shot back without missing a beat when he noticed Ayane on Daiki's back, enjoying a piggyback ride in the water.
"I didn't forget this since then, Kamina literally peed on my slippers and even made fun of me," Takeo grumbled, staring at his younger self running like a mob to chase after our smirking family dog.
In one part of the picture, Rintaro and Satsuki's faces were visibly panicked when Sotaro placed a beetle on their heads.
"I really hate you on this one, Nii-san," Rintaro said, his voice laced with annoyance.
"Agreed," Satsuki followed up, looking equally annoyed.
"Come on, it was just a harmless prank," Sotaro said, shrugging as if it was nothing.
As we all looked at the picture, I noticed me and Tomoya sitting in the middle of the water, our legs crossed in a prayer position, while Masachika proudly held up a star-shaped rock.
"Now that I see it, we look stupid in this," I said to the others in the picture.
"Stupid? It was the right reaction. That was the best rock we found since that day, except for the perfectly sword shaped wooden Excalibur we found in the forest," Tomoya smirked. "I brought that rock with me. It might have some hidden magical power waiting to be awakened that will increase my luck for gacha."
"Gacha machines still suck to this day," Masachika sighed. "Physical machines were annoying, but Dragon Collection was even more ridiculous as an online gacha, free to play all the way."
"Imagine if they made a Fate gacha game," Tomoya said while his glasses shone. "It would make a lot of money here in Japan."
"I bet it's just going to be a bunch of Saber faces in different classes," I jested, but the two of them looked like they agreed. "I said that as a joke, but I hate myself for actually seeing this possibly happening."
We just stared at the picture, laughing and getting annoyed when remembering the past. But we couldn't ignore the fact that those days were filled with fun. There wasn't a single moment of boredom—just shenanigans and funny little accidents happening here and there, making everything feel like it was worth it in the end.
Afterword:
Author-san: [Now I have a picture I can use for the black and white, cracked pic in their tragic backstory]
Serious-senpai: [Stop with that unfunny joke already]
Author-san: [....]
Serious-senpai: [Again with the silent treatment?!!]
Author-san: [I can't help it, the urge to make a drama is just too tempting...]