Saturday
When the alarm dings on Ryuguji Ken’s phone, tired fingers sweep the sound away so he can snooze for another nine minutes. It turns into nine minutes worth of introspection instead. Ken’s birthday is only a week away and this year he’s bothered by it.
Sano Emma, his longtime girlfriend, is likely planning some big deal for his twenty-fifth. She loves making big deals out of what she considers big events and loves to plan parties - maybe even more than she loves him.
It’s such a snarky thought for the first thought of the morning, he has to laugh.
He also has to take a shower and, under the water a few minutes later, Ken takes stock as he washes. He’d never say he’s gotten fat since he hasn’t, still toned and fit where it counts, but maybe he’s gotten a little soft in the gut region. That’s bound to happen to a person who spends most of his time sitting on his ass fixing bikes rather than running around or working out on purpose. He tends to get all his weight lifting done at work carrying motorcycle parts.
Shower finished and mostly dry, he slides his hand over the mirror to wipe off the build up of condensation, then scrubs the wetness out of his dark locks before combing fingers through it. Hair’s not getting any thinner, thankfully. Ken has an odd, deep-seated fear of going bald as he ages, damn sure it wouldn’t be a good look on him. As he weaves the strands into his trademark braid, he finds the couple of white hairs Emma noticed in it the other day, debates pulling them out. Doesn’t.
Enough delay. Start the day.
Ken lives alone above D&D Motors so his commute is short. He’ll be alone at work today, too. His business partner, Inui Seishu, booked a couple weeks off for a trip to Hawaii, so Ken is taken aback when he unlocks the shop door at opening time and finds Seishu on his way over with two coffees and a paper bag, all three stamped with a logo he recognizes from the bakery down the street.
“This is a surprise, Inupi,” Ken meets the other man’s wide grin with a look of confusion before taking the offered coffee and bag. “I thought you left already.”
“Hey, Draken. I have enough time before my flight. I’ll be missing your birthday,” the blond gestured at his purchases, “so I figured we may as well celebrate ahead of it.”
Ken sets his hot paper cup by the till so he can free his hands for unpacking what turns out to be two frosted cupcakes and a rainbow worth of sprinkles that rain down to the counter, having fallen off the treats between the bakery and there.
“Thanks, I guess, but I don’t know how much I feel like celebrating this year.” He points to his hair, pointing out the new highlights. “I’m getting old, man.”
Inupi snorts before selecting one of the cupcakes and biting most of the frosting off the top, revealing the chocolate under it. Blue sugar paints his lips and is quickly licked away. When he sticks out his tongue, it’s likewise stained. “I’m older than you, you big baby, so that’s my line. I’m due to retire any day now, you know.”
Ken joins in with a snort of his own before pulling the paper away from his cupcake, breaking the top off so he can eat the bottom first. “Fine, we’re both babies still, but that doesn’t mean I want a birthday party this year. I’m sure Emma’s planning something. She keeps sneaking away with her phone and she changed the code on it, too. Doesn’t trust me not to snoop on her group chat planning sessions, I guess.”
Inupi nods knowingly. “She loves you, Kenneth, so let her do what she wants for you. Look what I’m letting my love do for me.” Inupi shows off the passport and return ticket tucked in his inner jacket pocket. “It’d be cheaper to rent a hotel room here in town, but no, Koko wants us to experience O‘ahu even though we’ll never leave the bed, I’m betting.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.”
“So, eat your f*cking cake already. I gotta go.”
Sunday
An afternoon invite to Sunday night dinner with Mitsuya Takashi and his family is a rare occurrence, so Ken sends a text to Hakkai after the call to confirm clothing requirements.
–Your fancy ass designer boyfriend isn’t expecting me to come over in the suit he made is he?
– I checked and no, Taka-chan promises it’s all casual, though his idea of casual leans toward cashmere and dress pants these days. There’s no helping it. But whatever you have on is fine.
Ken shakes his head as he reads the reply: his ratty sweatpants and loose tank top are not at all fit for fine dining but he’s glad he doesn’t need to pull the suit out, being too scared he’ll accidentally spill food on it and ruin the material.
– Do I need to bring a date? Emma already has plans.
– You can be Luna’s date. She’d love that, especially tonight.
Hakkai doesn’t explain the reason when Ken messages him again to ask for more details, but puts the phone and mystery away. He’ll know why soon enough.
He opts to wear black trousers and a light pink button down shirt that Emma bought for him, Mitsuya having flattered her sense of style because of it once, saying that the colour really suited his complexion. Checking himself out in the mirror before leaving, Yes, I am pretty damned good looking in it, that’s for sure. A true god among men.
He’s still in good spirits when Luna greets him at the door with her own choice of spirits in hand, having finally reached the legal age for drinking them. The shy girl she used to be appears to be missing under the slight buzz from her chosen beverage. When she offers to make him a co*cktail before dinner is served, she’s eager to mention her plan of becoming a proper bartender at the same time.
“No, the hell you will not and he’ll have a beer!” Mitsuya calls out from the kitchen, having overheard her. “Thanks for coming, Draken, Happy early birthday!”
Early is right. “This dinner isn’t masquerading as a party for me, I hope?” Draken asks as Mituysu rounds the corner, catching him in a friendly hug, with beer in a can ready to hand over.
“No, it’s just a night to socialise, but I will miss your birthday this year and I’m sorry for that. I put too much on my plate for this upcoming Fashion Week. I’ll be too exhausted to party by next weekend.”
The other reason for the fancy dinner turns out to be Mana, the older sister finally ready to introduce her family to her new boyfriend. Mitsuya catches Ken’s eye after the young man arrives and then his eyes flick to Luna. Ken’s eyes follow.
Ah.
Luna’s tipsiness might hide her shy side, but not her annoyance. It’s clear she has some issues with her sister dating, or maybe it’s more about who. Ken can’t be sure yet but he excuses himself after greeting Mana and her new guy in order to catch Luna before she can escape the room. “Bartending, you said? That takes some real skill …”
Ken makes sure to keep Luna entertained before and during the meal, having determined her mood has much to do with her being lonely. “Let’s get a pic of us together,” Ken suggests and she agrees. She’s laughing with him a minute later because he just sent the pic to Emma with a text and winky face emoji: Stepping out with a new girl tonight, you jealous? And Emma’s immediate text back: Heck no, when’s the wedding Lol love your hair Luna!!
By dessert, however, everyone is having second thoughts about Mana’s new boyfriend, Mana included. More than once, the young man has demonstrated some evident dislike of the casual signs of affection between Mitsuya and Hakkai, while everyone who knows them better knows how much they’ve been holding back the entire night, to be polite for the guest. It only takes one more offhand comment from the boy before Draken, Hakkai and Mana are out of their seats, all of them ready to knock the guy to the floor and then throw him out the door.
As the new ex-boyfriend gets the hint and leaves the house muttering, Luna grins wide and holds up the pie trowel. “So, who wants more tiramisu?”
Monday
Ken’s day has been blissfully light in terms of new work, making sure to warn any callers and those dropping off for pre-arranged appointments that he’s short a body so all bodywork will take longer than usual. Nobody minds the wait; the Dragon and the Dog are well loved by their regulars and nobody wants to pay more for a hurried job done at an inferior garage.
Today he also gets a visit from someone who isn’t a regular, but is an old friend, arriving just in time to surprise Ken at lunch with enough lunch for everyone.
“Well, hey, Pet Shop Boy!” Ken feels like he’s been waiting months to use the nickname. “How are vet classes treating you? And, how’s business?”
Baji Keisuke rolls his eyes, but Ken doesn’t miss the hint of a smirk and the flash of a canine tooth. “Classes are kicking the sh*t out of my beautiful ass, thanks for asking, and why didn’t you tell us how hard it would be to get a company started?”
The ‘us’ refers to Baji, Matsuno Chifuyu and Hanemiya Kazutora, the trio having decided to tie themselves in financial knots in lieu of marriage related ones.
“I’m pretty sure I did mention it.” Ken pulls himself up off the floor so he can inspect what Baji brought for food from the nearest konbini. He selects the bottle of green tea and the soba bento, taking both over to his small table and sofa at the back of his shop, there for use on breaks like this. “It’s not my fault you didn’t listen.”
“No, I guess not.” Baji joins him in the corner with his meal, but pauses to tie his long black locks up so they’re out of the way while eating. “It’s stressful, all of us working out our plans for it and all of us making sure I don’t flunk out before we can even open the doors and start selling. But, I think we’re managing. I mean, we haven’t tried to kill each other yet or anything.”
“I’d hope not!” Draken laughs. “You guys are solid and even if it’s hard, I know you’ll make it work. I’m proud of you, Kei.”
“Thanks, man. I might complain about it, but it’s good. It’s really good.” The blissful look on Baji’s face as he says so can be believed. Baji shifts topics. “Inupi not around?” He asks, having finally noticed the lack of him.
“Nope.” Ken fills Baji in on the latest happenings in his otherwise dull life, the only high point lately being last night; the story of the boyfriend has Baji chuckling.
“Which reminds me,” Baji says, after, “the boyfriends and I won’t make it to your birthday party this weekend, if you’re having one. Chifuyu wants us to attend some kind of pet expo out of town, start meeting others in the industry.”
Ken keeps up appearances as Baji goes into shop-talk mode, but inside he’s frowning. At this rate, there won’t be anyone around for his birthday. He has to remind himself that he didn’t want a party in the first place, so why get upset over it? Except, everyone he’s spoken to lately has made a point of saying the same thing. Sorry, won’t make it, sorry sorry. If there’s no point in planning anything, why the hell is Emma being so cagey?
Tuesday
Mikey and Takemichy invite Ken for a drive Tuesday after work. The three haven’t been out for a ride together for what seems like years, though it hasn’t been that long in reality. Mikey on his Babu, Takemichy on the twin CB250T gifted to him, and Ken on his Zephyr. It sounds like the best kind of night out, but as Ken follows the two of them down the streets, out of town and down the coast, he’s filled with trepidation.
Maybe ‘trepidation’ is too strong a word, but the first words out of his mouth when they reach Mikey’s destination are aimed at him to confirm the suspicion. “You’ll be missing my birthday this year, too, I take it?”
“What? No!” Takemichy throws out a quick denial, but it’s not quick enough to cover Mikey’s answering nod.
“That’s why I wanted to come out here tonight, Kenchin.” They’re off the bikes and standing on a rocky outcropping. The waves of the ocean crash over the rocks below those ones while distant island lights add their electrical special effects to the horizon as the sun goes down. “The older we get, the fewer chances there are to hang out like the old days,” Mikey says, sounding wistful. “It’s not like the want to do it is gone, but priorities shift and needs change and next thing you know, it’s been months since you sat in a room with your best friend and just shot the sh*t, you know?”
Ken does.
Wednesday
Ken knows why the day is known as hump day. It has nothing at all to do with sex, but he’s still pleased when he can take Emma to bed on her day off. She ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ at all the right moments, but sometimes giggles at the wrong moments, because Ken gets too damn eager and hits every ticklish part of her body while he’s trying to be sensual. His head sags in defeat against her pillow when it happens again; his fingers stop what they were doing, because her writhing and laughing is more than a little bit of a buzz kill.
“Emma, honey, don’t make me please myself. Please,” he begs her. There may have been a whimper, he’s that much in need of a good release.
“Just. haaha, just gimme a minute!” The devilishly euphoric grin on her angelic face right now is worth the delay, he has to admit. f*ck, she’s so gorgeous, how’s she mine? Emma’s honey hair is splayed in the shape of a melted, messy halo on the pillow under her, while the curves of her naked body are as fine as fine art.
With that thought in mind, Ken regroups and reignites his hard-on as his other fingers find their other favourite places, finding her ready. Thank christ. He slides in like he belongs there, at home there. Emma welcomes him in with a sigh and a smile and an ‘I love you, Kenny’, all hoarse with the raw need for him.
Ken whispers similar words in her ear as they finish, those and more. It’s not a proposal, but it is a promise.
“I love you, too, Em. I’m gonna marry you.”
Thursday
Don’t ask Ken how he got roped into a night playing pool with Hanma and Kisaki.
sh*t happens, dontcha know.
Ken drops his coins on the edge of a table to mark his turn as the next opponent when the current game is done, the table’s current ‘leader’ being the very annoying Madarame Shion, an old gang leader not worth the spit required to put out a child’s birthday cake candle.
Hanma and Kisaki are playing at another table against a couple guys Ken also knows thanks to knowing Mikey, but, even now, he can’t decide if he should call them friends or rivals or what. Izana and Kakucho barely spare him a glance, too invested in the match to be social.
Making the night even more weird, other old Toman division leaders have shown up at the pool hall tonight, too: Pah and Peh-yan from division three; and the Kawata twins, Angry and Smiley from four. Judging by the sounds of dismay coming from their joint match at a nearby table, none of them are good at the game and might not even know what the rules are. Ken is pretty sure he saw Peh throw a hand down to stop the 8-ball in front of a corner pocket after Pah f*cked his play. And Smiley might have hit the 2-ball on the table instead of the white one to sink a stripe. Mucho and Haruchiyo, from five, are watching their game with annoyance because, no matter who wins, they won’t take the next game seriously either.
Soit goes. Shion won his game, forcing Ken to play against him next, though the match itself gives Ken little trouble, and is quickly ended. Bent over the table with his pool cue notched in a bridge to extend his reach, he carefully picks his angle of attack so the 3-ball hits the pocket he indicated before the shoot, then takes aim at the 8, the last ball he needs to pocket in order to win. The easy tick, tack, tock of the balls against the cue and each other secure his victory at the same time Hanma and Kisaki win their game.
“Beers all around!” Hanma yells, as if he’ll be the one paying, not just playing. Beer steins clink together later on, all slights and fights from the past forgiven by everyone present.
Like some kind of birthday present.
Friday
“So,” Ken repeats what Emma just said, not quite believing her, “there’s no party for me tonight?”
“No! You said you didn’t want one!”
“But,” Ken sags into the back of the Sano family’s sofa, sad to find out that she’d actually listened to him for a change instead of doing what she wanted (which was also what Ken wanted but didn't want to say he wanted). “So, why were you hiding your phone all week? I thought you were making plans you didn’t want me to see!”
“Well, I was!” Emma blushes, willing to finally admit. “But they were bedroom plans, not party plans! Seishu knows the best places to buy lingerie and shoes, that’s all! I wanted to surprise you later!”
“You have and you will!” Draken remarks with absolute honesty, stunned by the implication. He’s accidentally seen Inupi’s search history on more than one occasion, and there have been more than a few special purchases ordered for delivery to their motorcycle shop, to make sure Koko won’t see what Inupi bought for him. For them. Inupi is quite the showoff when it comes to what he loves, so goddamn, what on earth did he suggest Emma should buy? Ken blushes next, having gotten a hard on just from wondering.
Ken’s blush deepens when Emma’s older brother, Shinichiro, claps his hand onto Ken’s shoulder. Like he knows. Does he know?
“Well, while this might not have been what you had in mind for tonight,” Ken just knows that Shin is grinning behind him, the dirty minded bastard, “you’re more than welcome to stick around and play poker with me and my friends. They’ll be here any minute.”
As far as birthday plans go, it’s not the worst. Arashi Keizo intimidates the hell out of him, but Waka’s cool and Takeomi is easy to tease once he starts losing. “You guys play for money or cigarettes or what?”
Shin pulls a kitchen drawer open, taking out a couple packs of cards and the boxes of plastic chips stored with them. “Or what, usually. Just throw your suggestions in the middle of the table with the chips and whoever folds first will have to fulfil them.”
As far as betting rules go, it’s no worse than what Ken had done back at the brothel, paying for losses with back massages. “Are you gonna play, too, Emma?”
She shakes her head, giggling. “Oh! I’m terrible at poker!” Ken pulls her onto his lap, mostly so he can cup her ass without her brother seeing him be so obvious...
An hour later, the stereo is blasting ‘Beat it!’ among other classic hits out of Shin’s childhood while Shin’s friends hold their cards close to their chests, trying to read Ken’s poker face. Is he holding a full house, a flush, or a bunch of junk? He’ll never tell. He throws more chips into the middle to raise, inwardly grateful for all those games with the brothel girls growing up.
Draken hasn’t been able to poker face his way out of the awareness that he got duped in other ways, though, as friends who claimed they couldn’t come to a party have been turning up at Shin’s for the past hour like they never claimed otherwise. “I thought there wasn’t a party for me,” Ken remarks as he pulls all the chips onto his portion of the table, having won again.
“No party planned by Emma,” Shin’s amusem*nt is through the roof. “She knew it’d be a bigger surprise if Mikey planned one for you instead.”
“And, was it?” Mikey asks, having next turn to shuffle. His delight over tricking Ken more than makes up for how bad he’s been losing the game, him hating losing, usually.
“You damn Sanos,” Draken says, laughing with them. Kazutora and Chifuyu grin at him from the other side of the table, Shin’s friends having passed their seats to the next generation with little fuss.
“Admit it, you love us,” Shin drags Emma over, draping drunken arms around her while he rests his chin on her shoulder and winks. “Or, you put up with us because you love our sister. Either way…”
“It’s a good birthday party,” Draken has to admit, being the truth and all. “Thank you. Now, deal the f*cking cards, Mikey …”
