A killing of a Birthday

“POND!” Screamed Eiko.

What laid ahead of us was a massive pond. It was surrounded by a wall of tall growing cattails, and on the surface floated large lily pads, their leaves looked like little rain hats, protecting the fish that played hide and seek below it. The green of the leaves was spotted with the occasional bloom of lily flowers, which were a soft palette of pink, yellow and white. There were little islands of grass spotting the ponds, I spied some ducks resting on them, letting the sun soak into their feathers.

Without a word between us, we all rushed towards the pond. I felt my foot stumble as I lost my balance to a rock, I reached out my hands to grab onto whatever was in front of me to stop my fall.

It had to be Red’s pants.

“AHHHHH!” Screamed Red, his face was a mixture of embarrassment and fury. Meanwhile, Eiko and I stared at the layer of clothing that had been hidden underneath. Eiko’s mouth and eyes were wide open.

“Pweh” I snickered a little, since Red’s underwear was dotted with various zoo animals, he looked so childish! “Which animal is your favorite, Red?”

“Gah” Was all that escaped from Red’s mouth as he covered his face in his palms.

“I think it’s cute…” Murmured Eiko, who was trying to cheer him up.

“GAHHHHH!” Screamed Red as he fell onto the ground. He just layed there, staring at the sky, it’s as if his circuits had completely stopped working.

“At least put on your pants Red, you’ve shown them to mother nature for a whole 3 minutes now” I couldn’t hold in my laughter at how stupid this is.

“Damn. Why does this have to happen on my birthday, and in front of my crush.” Tears started welling up on the corner of Red’s eyes, his nose started getting runny as he tried his best to sniff it all up. At this moment, my eyes widened as I realized how bad Red feels right now. I stopped joking around, and was suffocated in guilt.

Eiko stood there, stunned by it all. “Y-Your crush? You mean me?”

“Who else could it be other than that cute idiot in front of me.” Replied Red, he tried to keep a cool face despite the tears coming down.

Eiko’s eyes widened as she processed what had happened. Suddenly, she knelt down beside Red, and crawled close to his face. Her hair rustled as it was being blown by Red’s rapid breaths. Her face leaned in closer to his, she used one hand to hold the loose strands of her hair, keeping them out of the way. Then, her lips met his cheek as she kissed him. Red’s eyes widened as it happened, and more tears came down.

Now, it was my turn to stand there being stunned. Two thoughts were running circles in my mind right now. First was how weird this all was, Red confessed to Eiko, and Eiko replied back with a kiss, all while Red’s pants were still down! For some reason, I felt jealous of Red and Julius. A kiss looks really special and I wanted to experience it too! Damn it, why did I tell Red I would never fall in love!

My second thought was how cute the two looked despite Red’s exposed zoo animal underwear. Eiko and Red were both breathing heavily, and their faces looked hot and red. I guess those two are now official huh.

Eiko stood up, even though she looked embarrassed, her eyes told me she was unbelievably happy. “I told you already Red, I think your underwear is cute.”

Hearing this, Red perked up and quickly stood up. He then completely took his pants off and ran around the pond swinging them, all while hollering the same thing over and over again. “EIKO SAID MY UNDERWEAR IS CUTE!!!! WOOO! I’M NEVER WEARING PANTS AGAIN!”

There was a ruckus as all the ducks, geese, and swans all flew up from the pond in surprise.

That complete and utter idiot. I stood there with a palm on my forehead, while Eiko buried her face in her hands. “Deal with him sis, he’s your boyfriend now.”

“ 彼氏？！” (B-boyfriend?!) Stammered Eiko, she had a nervous smile while twirling her hair around.

After Red had calmed down and finally put his pants back on, we got to work on adding the pond’s location onto our map. I watched the pencil move gracefully in Red’s hands, accurately drawing the creeks and forests that we had been through, and finally drawing the pond. When it was finished, the sky was already tainted with orange as day wanes to night, it was time for us to go home to our birthday celebration!

By the time we had gotten home, the sky was bathed in a shade of orange, red, and a hint of violet. The air was much cooler now, which is refreshing after a whole day of summer’s hell, however, mosquitos were buzzing everywhere. We made sure to spray bug repellent all over ourselves.

It was decided that we would have the birthday party outside in order to enjoy the beautiful sunset and the cool breeze blowing around.

Julius was setting up the mosquito nets while Momma was busy setting the table up.

“Why don’t you guys start opening your presents? Here’s yours Red, and Gray, these are from me.” Said Momma with a smile as she came over and handed us both wrapped up boxes.

We said our thanks as we both opened up Momma’s presents. I had gotten new summer shorts to wear! It looked like Momma had made it herself too since my name was stitched onto it. I was excited, and gave Momma a large hug.

“Thank you Momma! These are my new favorite pants now!” I told her as I nuzzled my head into her chest.

“You say that every year, Gray,” Said Momma, who couldn’t contain her smile.

Meanwhile, Eiko had a palm over her mouth as she tried to cover up her laughter. Red was holding his present out, stretching it up high so that the whole world could see. In his hands were a pair of underwear, they had dinosaurs on them.

“EIKO SAID THESE WERE CUTE!! THEY’RE MY NEW FAVORITES NOW!!” Declared Red as he ran to Momma and gave her a large hug as well.

“What’s gotten into my son?” Mused Julius quietly, however, he had a rather fond look in his eyes.

After the underwear excitement was over, Red came to me, he had a box in his right hand. It was that thing in the bag that Red said was special! It turns out it’s going to be my present.

“Here Gray, congrats on existing for 12 years now… I spent an hour choosing the perfect one, so I hope you like it.”

I opened the small box, and inside was an expensive looking dagger. The blade was sharpened and shined brightly, while the handle was a smooth and glossy mahogany wood. And on the blade, engraved in gold was my name. Even the box itself was fancy! It was lined with plush velvet cushions, and a little light lit up each time I opened the lid. I was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to start using it!

“Thanks Red! I like it really really really a lot!” I shouted as I gave him a fist bump.

“Glad you did!” Said Red, who looked relieved.

Julius was next to come up to us. Then, he gave both me and Red a hard whack on the shoulder.

いたい！ (ouch!)

“That was your present, boys, that whack means that you both are now men!” Said Julius as Red and I were busy rubbing our throbbing shoulders.

“Just kidding. Here ya go!” Julius then tossed us two boxes each. They were tiny so I wondered what they could be. Then, Julius grabbed both of our shoulders and huddled us close together. Eiko and Momma were walking towards us, wondering what’s happening.

“We’re having a men’s talk, ladies please step aside” Said Julius.

“Alright alright” Said Momma as she and Eiko went back to setting up the tables. Meanwhile, Red and I’s faces were flushed with pride. We were men!

“Okay men, now that the ladies aren’t looking, open up your presents.” Whispered Julius.

Both Red and I opened our tiny boxes at the same time. As soon as it opened, the object inside reflected the sun’s light into our eyes, blinding us for a moment. Both our mouths gaped wide open as Julius’s smile got wider and wider.

I can’t believe Julius got us these! They must have cost a fortune! For what lay comfortably nestled into the soft cushioned interior were beautiful jewels, Red’s was a shiny ruby, while mine was an azure sapphire. Both jewels were attached to rings made of pure sterling silver.

“Ok men, when the time comes, give this to the person you love the most, I’m sure you know the meaning of these rings.” Said Julius, who was all giddy with excitement. Both of us straightened our backs and thumped our chests with our right hands.

“Sir yes sir!”

“Alright! That’s it men, I’m sure someone else has a present for you two as well!” Said Julius as he went off to help Momma set the tables up.

Eiko came walking towards us next, she was carrying 3 bags of something. As she walked towards us, we both puffed our chests out, straightened our gazes, brushed our hair to the side and planted our feet together. We were men!

“You guys are weird” Said Eiko.

“I’m a man now!” Declared Red.

“So am I!” I said.

“I’m more of a man, since I got kissed!” Replied Red back.

“I…I have nothing to say against that.”

“Red please don’t say that again! You’re embarrassing me!” Said Eiko, whose face was as red as the setting sun.

Eiko took a moment to compose herself, brushing her hair and taking deep breaths in and out. Then, she gave us our presents.

“Here, I made these myself, there’s one for each of us. I spent a year working on them. I hope you guys like them”

I held my present out, it was a plushie of me! It had my two bright yellow eyes, and my messy gray hair! It was so cute! Though the face it’s making does make me look very mean. Meanwhile, Red also got a plushie of himself, his had his ruby red eyes and dark crimson hair. For some reason, it looks way too cute! It had blush marks on the cheeks, and a cute smile. Eiko had one for herself as well, it had her long midnight black hair and her light violet eyes.

“I never knew you were working on these!” I exclaimed while picking Eiko up and spinning her around. She was giggling, and her hair came undone.

“Nii-Nii put me down! I’m a big girl now! I don’t need these spinnies” She said as I kept spinning her. However, I couldn’t stop myself, little sis laughing is just too precious! Meanwhile, Red was sulking in the corner. I eyed him and stuck my tongue out. He was jealous haha!

I finally put Eiko down, and Red came over to say his thanks.

“Thanks Eiko! These are really cute! And umm…” Red paused himself as he took a deep breath. “W-would you like to hold hands?” Red said so rather sheepishly as he extended his hand towards Eiko.

“Everyone! Dinner is ready!!” Yelled Julius.

“Oh!” Said Red as he slowly moved his hands back to his side.

“Cmon Red, let's go! Last one there is a dead octopus!” Said Eiko as she snatched up Red’s hands and pulled him towards the dinner table. For a second, Red seemed to have frozen there, however, he soon came to and ran along with Eiko.

“Hey! Don’t think I’m just gonna let you both win!” I yelled as I ran after the pair.

When we finally settled down on the dinner table, Momma stood up to make an announcement.

“Everyone! Before we start, Gray still has to give Red his gift!”

Oh right, I told Momma I wanted to wait until dinnertime to give Red his gift. I rushed back home to get it. I had wrapped the box as nicely as I could, though it still was a bit wrinkled and rough. I held it out and gave it to Red.

“Here you go. At first I couldn’t decide on what to give you, then I thought what could be the most Red-like thing ever? And that’s how I decided!”

Red opened it, and in it was a locket, which was attached to a golden chained necklace. I had found this locket myself in an abandoned library, and spent a couple months with Julius secretly fixing it up and customizing it.

Red opened the locket, and in it was a cute picture of Eiko smiling. Red’s face got redder and redder, and his smile grew so wide I thought it was going to split his face in half!

“AHHH Thankyou Thankyou!!!!” Screamed Red as he hugged me and Eiko.

“Congrats on existing for 12 years, buddy, and for successfully hitting on my sister.”

Everyone bursted out into laughter after that. I let out a sign of relief. I was afraid of what Momma and Julius might have thought about their relationship, but it seemed that they were fine with it as well.

Good for you Red!

“Did you kiss yet?” Asked Julius.

“They’re too young to be doing that kind of stuff!” Said Momma.

“Yeah we did!” Proclaimed Red proudly.

Both Julius and Momma’s mouths were wide open in shock.

“Atta boy!” Said Julius.

“Who was the one who kissed who?!” Asked Momma.

“I kissed Red.” Confessed Eiko.

Momma’s jaws dropped wider and wider while Julius looked at Red with disbelief.

“I think they saw us kissing Julius, it’s your fault!” Said Momma as she playfully elbow jabs Julius on the sides.

“RED! WHY DID YOU WAIT FOR THE GIRL TO KISS YOU?! DON’T YOU KNOW THAT MEN ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE ONE TO KISS THE GIRL?!” Shouted Julius in a playful scolding tone.

The evening was filled to the brim with everyone’s laughter. We were on the verge of tears from all the drama unfolding. I wish I had a time machine camera right about now, so I can take a picture of this moment, and then jump through the picture to come and relive it over and over again.

“Alrighto, let's start with the candles, Shirase, bring the birthday cake over!” Commanded Julius.

“Aren’t men supposed to do the heavy lifting?” Replied Momma with a mischievous smile as she went home to get the cake. Julius came bounding after her.

“Momma sure has Julius within her palms huh” Said Eiko, who was surprised.

“No! Julius is the one with your momma in his palms!” Countered Red.

“You both make them sound so toxic” I signed.

Julius and Momma both came back together, they both held the large cake and carried it over. The cake was a two layered chocolate cake, it was glossed over with chocolate icing and sprinkled with various delights. There were cookies, wafers, and even pocky sticks! Honestly, the cake looked like a mess, but it did look really tasty! Along with the scent of herbs and spices sneaking out of the roasted turkey, tonight’s birthday feast had my mouth watering and eyes shining.

“12 candles for our 12 year old boys!” Declared Julius as he stuck the multicolored candles into the cake and lit them with a lighter.

Striking through the dark of night, were 12 dancing flames, each one symbolizing a year of our lives.

“Happy birthday to you…”

Everyone started singing the birthday song. Suddenly, I felt myself slipping out of consciousness… everyone seems so far away now…

Red? Eiko? Momma?! Julius?!!

I’m slipping further and further away, their singing was getting muffled and my vision of them was blurred.

All was black.

All was nothing.

I was aware of myself, where am I?

…

Still nothing.

Suddenly, I heard faint singing.

“Happy birthday to…”

The singing grows louder and louder, and soon, the black nothingless gets a bit brighter.

Now I get it, my eyes are closed!

Come on! Open!

EYES!

OPEN!

“Happy birthday dear Red and Gray who is still asleeeeeeeep”

Suddenly, a crack opened, it got wider and wider as light entered through it, pushing itself into the dark space.

The world came into view.