[Hisao] The Birthday Surprise: Part Two

The Birthday Surprise

The Unexpected


I still can't get her little 'hint' out my mind.

It's now late evening, and Hanako insisted on driving the two of us to wherever we need to be going. I haven't spoke to Kenji ever since I was in my first year of university, which was now three years ago. He randomly stopped calling me, whether it be asking for money or if I wanted to go out and have a drink, and left me basically out of contact with everyone from back at Yamaku. Hanako still talks to Lilly about once or twice a month, but even she has began distancing herself from our old friends. Sometimes, I really do miss them.

Shizune, the loudest, most demanding deaf mute girl - rather woman - I think in existence.

Misha, with her constant 'Wahaha~'-ing and insane love for parfaits, among other things.

Emi, the fastest thing with no legs, always pushing me to be the best I could even if I haven't gone for a run in a long time.

Rin, the awkward and talented artist who I could never quite understand.

Lilly, the motherly blind girl who sort of coached Hanako and I in the early stages of our romantic relationship.

Miki, a girl with a stump who sort of pushed me to admit my feelings for Hanako, even if we weren't the closest of friends until the end of our time at Yamaku.

Last but not least, Kenji. The batshit insane, basically blind, feminist conspiracy believing bastard who was basically my best friend for my time at Yamaku, and even for a bit afterwards.

God damn, do I miss those people.

My train of thought is broken by the hideous sound of J-Pop emanating from the speakers of Hanako's car. I cringe as my hands move to rub my temples, as this music is probably the most frustrating sound on the face of the Earth. After a moment of attempting to tolerate the sound - although Hanako has been singing along to it as we cruise into the city, which is normally something I love hearing - I turn the radio off and cross my arms. As we come to a stop light, she turns her head to me, an apologetic smile spanning across her lips.

Oh, good. She's figured out that I dislike her music after all of these years of blaring the volume and singing along to it while in the shower.

Every. Single. Morning.

"I-I'm sorry, Hisao. I should have let you pick what we l-listened to on the ride over..." She trails off, but not out of embarrassment or disappointment in herself. Oh, not at all. It's because she's attempting to cover up her laughter, but it's not really an effective approach. Within mere seconds, she's laughing at the top of her lungs, only stopping once her focus is regained on the road as the light turns green. I pout at her, looking like a child who's throwing a fit over not being allowed to get a chocolate bar.

"No you're not! You're just trying to drive me through the roof today. On my birthday, that is." As I make that last point very clear to her, the smile on her lips quickly disappates into a look of sadness, almost regret. I can't tell if she's just trying to get the upper hand in this battle again, or if she's genuinely feeling bad for me, so I keep up my act.

After the morning and the slight hint towards what we're doing this evening, she's sort of taken control of me all day. Making sure I didn't eat too much, that I was well rested, even that I got dressed decently for the evening... she's took control of it all. I can't say I'm upset about it, it's just kind of annoying when you have no idea what the hell you're doing on your own birthday. I guess that's kind of the point of the surprise though.

Back to the matter at hand, I see her expression still hasn't changed. She looks a little distant now, almost upset. I'm beginning to feel bad for her now, so I figure I should play off what I said as a joke, even if it was only half of one.

"Hey, listen, I was just kidding. You never drive me insane, even when you try to. Which, by the way, I know you do on purpose sometimes." Her smile returns once again, her expression being wiped clean from what it previously was. Over the past couple of years, she's become progressively more playful with me, to the point that she will intentionally try to make me go nuts. I have a hardened defense about it though, and simply always call her out when I figure out her scheme.

I feel the car coming to a stop along the side of a one-way street, Hanako seamlessly parallel parking the vehicle into the space.

"Well, h-here we are!" She speaks with some excitement in her voice, and I now find myself peeking out of my window. Lighting up the surrounding night is a large, neon sign to a place I've only heard great things about; a bar called 'The Runner's High'. It's a little hole in the wall place, according to some of my co-workers, that is always jam packed with people. Tonight, on a Saturday, the place looks absolutely deserted.

What? I thought-

"Are you g-going to keep staring or actually come along? Come on, s-silly!" Hanako interrupts me and opens my door, offering me a hand and pulling me out of my seat. We head on over to the door and she tries the handle, which doesn't seem to budge. Her face lights up in realization before knocking on the door. From the other side comes a loud, somewhat annoying voice that I have missed for years.

"Who the fuck's there?!"

"H-Hanako." Her voice is stern, tightening a bit at the profanity.

"Oh, well shit, why didn't you just say so!" A full scale battle with the lock occurs as the door rattles. Finally, the victor shows himself in the doorway; a man with thick glasses, a casual fit white tee and khakis, all accompanied by something I haven't seen in years.

A red and yellow striped scarf.

"Kenji, you blind bastard!" I spring through the door and wrap him in the most manly hug I've given in my life, his expression changing from one of surprise to one of excitement in a matter of seconds. Hanako follows the two of us in the door, closing it behind us. Kenji breaks the hug and grips my hand for a handshake.

"Well, if it isn't my old partner in crime! How the hell are you, man?" We go through the motions of general catching up. He informs me of his adventures since the last time we spoke,  talking about how he became the bartender here. As the story unfolds, I notice Hanako has disappeared from the room and has found her way over into another room off to the side, leaving Kenji and I to talk. Suddenly, the man drops a bombshell on me.

"Bro, I even managed to find a girl."

My mouth drops and my eyes go wide.

Kenji?

And... and a girl?

Dating?

"Wait, what?" If I had a drink in my mouth, it would be all over the place by now. He laughs at my confusion, giving me a hard clap on the shoulder.

"I know man, shit came out of nowhere. One day, I'm neck deep in planning to bomb a feminist hideout, the next I'm in love with some woman who gets on my case about every-" He's interrupted by a deeper, yet feminine sounding voice from the room that Hanako had walked into.

"Kenji, the fuck are you saying about me in there?" Around the corner peeks a face that doesn't register at first. After a moment of confusing, I realize who I'm looking at. A massive grin perches on my face as she steps into the main room, walking towards me with her signature smile on her lips. "Happy birthday, Hisao!"

"Well if it isn't Miss Miki Miura! What're you doing here?" She wraps me in a brief hug, something that she was never really fond of back at Yamaku. She pulls away and puts her hands - erm, hand and stump - on her hips, raising her eyebrow at me.

"What d'ya mean 'what're you doing here', I own this joint!"

What is up with people and massive bombshell dropping today?

She points her stump at me to emphasize her point, leaving me dumbfounded for the millionth time today. I shake my head from side to side a bunch of times, attempting to nail the fact into my brain. All of the sudden, I make another connection in my head, one even larger than the hefty amount of facts that have already been dropped on me tonight. I turn and face Kenji, noticing his eyes looking at Miki with a stare of admiration.

"Kenji?"

"What's up?" He shakes himself out of his daze and faces me once again, a healthy grin forming on his face.

"Are you dating her?" He gets the closest I've ever seen him to embarrassment as Miki walks behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his left shoulder. She whispers in his ear, just loud enough that I can hear what she says.

"You haven't told him yet?" Kenji rubs the back of his head and looks towards the ground in what almost looks like shame. After a moment of what must have been him gathering his thoughts, he looks back up at me.

"Well, you see Hisao, uh... we're actually not dating." I wipe my forehead as my muscles relax a bit as tension had been building up from all of this new information that's been dumped onto me.

Then, I realize he's not finished yet.

"We're actually getting hitched soon." He rambles through the statement so fast that it takes a bit longer to register in my head, Miki flashing her diamond ring in my direction.

Alright, so not only is Kenji dating Miki, but they're getting married.

The slew of news I've been recieving is really given no time to settle in as she gives him a little peck on the cheek. She removes her arms from around him and walks back over to me, grabbing my hand.

"Come with me, boy. We can catch up later." She drags me behind her over towards the room that Hanako and her had been in before. I find myself peeking back at Kenji, as he appears to be heading over to the bar and picking out a range of alcohol for the evening.

Now that I think about it, I still have no freaking clue as to why I'm here. Why didn't Hanako just invite Miki and Kenji over to our-

My thoughts are brought to an astounding halt as I'm dragged into the room. My head nearly explodes as the lights are flicked on, and I'm presented with a sight that, a few years ago, would have probably given me a heart attack.

"Surprise!"