FROZEN-TIME // Happy Birthday

chapter three: surprise

I looked out the window. It was one of the most special days of the year, but it didn't feel like it. In fact, it's been pretty bad. It was so bad I almost considered walking to a church and praying to God to make it all right and repent for all my sins.

Everything just sucked. Zaizen didn't return my Indie CD, I stepped on something sharp, Tōyama owed me money, I found vandalism at the corner of the library, somebody ripped an article out of a magazine, and Kenya didn't come today.

I tried to persuade my teacher that I was sick so I could mope on the nurse's bed, but she didn't believe me. I decided she symbolized the devil. Just because nothing was going my way.

It was lunch and none of my friends even bothered coming up to me. Well, I couldn't blame them since never in my life had I advertised my birthday. I didn't enjoy receiving gifts from my "pass and go" or "occasional hangout" friends because it made me feel obligated to give them presents for their birthday and Christmas from that moment on. Normally, I just received presents from Kenya and families around the neighborhood.

"Kaihara-senpai."

I looked up in confusion. I was surprised to see Zaizen's eyes meet mine. "Zaizen-kun?"

"You don't need to act so surprised." Zaizen took the seat in front of me and passed me a small parcel. "It's your birthday, right? A gift from me to you."

I took it and gave him a very confused expression. "How did you..."

"It's been the talk of the tennis club thanks to Kenya-san."

"Oh...well, thanks." My fingers played at the tape. "Can I open it?"

"No." Zaizen whipped out his phone. "Can you do me a favor and look a little more grateful?"

I picked at the tape anyways. "Zaizen-kun, we can't put lies in your blog. If I'm not giving you an ecstatic face, then I'm not."

Zaizen tossed his phone between his hands. "All right, you can open it. But you have to close it back properly afterwards."

"Why?" I listened to him anyways and peeled off the tape carefully. "Just know this doesn't mean I'll smile."

"I'm willing to bet on it." Zaizen rested his head on his hands and pointed his camera at me. "Now hurry up."

I opened it and raised an eyebrow. "It's a keychain."

"Clearly."

"Am I supposed to be really happy over this?"

"Wow, rude." Zaizen leaned back against the desk. "Are you this mean to your family, too?"

I inspected the keychain. It was small and simple. "No, just to you. You're my kouhai, so I won't use mannerisms like bowing, you know?"

Zaizen didn't reply, instead he peeked into the desk he was borrowing as a supporter. He pulled out what looked like a packet. "Senpai, who sits in front of you?"

"Uhm, I'm not completely sure. I don't really talk to her." I tried to recall any times the teacher called on her, but I didn't pay attention enough in class to know. "Zaizen-kun, you shouldn't even be looking through her desk."

He ignored me and flipped through the pages. "Look, it's a cast list. Is the person who sits here part of the drama club then?"

"I am."

Both Zaizen and I jumped in our seats. The girl who responded to Zaizen gave us an amused smile. "By the way, my name is ."

She turned to the flabbergasted Zaizen. "I sit here, by the way."

Zaizen slowly put the script back in her desk. "Oh."

watched him and smiled. "Are you interested in my script? We're all auditioning to see whose play is going to make it for a performance at a festival in Moriguchi."

Zaizen looked at me and shrugged. He looked back and said slowly, "Sure."

took the seat opposite to Zaizen. "So there's this girl coming home from school. She's waiting at the bus stop to take her home. She doesn't live in a very residential area like everybody else so she waits alone everyday. She lives in a communal residence, which isn't very common—or so we think."

I raised my hand. "Who is 'we'?"

"Well, naturally my club and me."

I nodded and gestured her to continue.

"Well, one day, while sitting on the bench to wait for the bus, somebody decided to take a seat right next to her. She turns to see a male—and not to mention a rather handsome one. Oh, we're still having trouble deciding on a male to play the role since personally, none of us girls think anybody is very cute in our club. Zaizen-san—"

"Wait, why do you know my name?" He looked just a little creeped.

"-san said it while you were snooping around." made sure she put more emphasis on 'snooping.'

"Right..." Zaizen looked down, slightly unnerved.

"Anyways, if you're interested in playing the role after I finish telling you the skit in a nutshell, just come by this room during lunch or whenever, if you ever, make a choice." He nodded and continued. "So yeah, they started to talk a little. He told her he needed to go to a tutoring class around the area. He actually had a job tutoring, not he needed them. He tells her how he wants to buy a bike for his brother, who had his license revoked for a year."

"Wait, why can't his brother buy himself his own bike?"

rolled her eyes. "Zaizen-san, can you just stop?"

Zaizen shut his mouth and looked down.

gave a satisfied grin. "Anyways, his brother is just in college, so he can't exactly get a good job just yet. He works at a convenience store a mile or two from home. Well, so the bus came and they went their separate ways. Oh, the good part comes now. So the guy—"

"."

turned around and faced a younger girl. She looked like she was a first year. "I need you."

", go away." turned back at us. "Meet my younger sister."

's sister turned to us and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry, but I need to take my sister from you."

squinted at her sister. "What did you do now?"

's sister's eyes shifted away from her glare. "When I was on the train, I lost my muffler..."

"You are so stupid. I can't even."

I intervened. "What did your muffler look like?"

"It's tall and thin."

rolled her eyes. ", nobody describes mufflers like that."

's sister looked at her sister uncomfortably. "...It's pink."

slammed her forehead on her desk. "Wow , nice one. Lose the muffler Grandma made us."

I looked at 's sister, concerned. "Well, you know. What train did you go in? Maybe we can find it."

"As if." rolled her eyes. "Just leave alone. Let her be dumb on her own."

Zaizen piped up. "You know, we could ask an employee if someone turned in the muffler."

"Everyone and everything should die in a hole." looked at the clock. "You guys should get going; class is going to start soon. , go meet me by the gate after school. I'll help your sorry ass."

's sister nodded. "Sorry."

She bowed to Zaizen and me before leaving. Zaizen turned to me and sighed. "I guess that's my cue to go, too. I'll see you later, Senpai."

He nodded to and followed said sister.

I turned to , who replied with: "I hate everyone and everything."

I gave her an sympathetic smile before she turned back to prepare for our next lecture.

- x -
I slid the door to go home. All I wanted to do was roll onto my bed and sleep until dinner to eat cake.

Instead of a hallway full of students like I planned in my head, I ran into Zaizen. "Zaizen-kun, is it just me or have you been especially clingy today?"

"What's wrong with hanging out with my favorite senpai on her birthday?" Zaizen gave me a smile.

"You better give me some kind of fee if you don't want Kenya to hear that." I walked past Zaizen and beckoned for him to follow.

Zaizen followed suit and soon, he walked a little ahead of me. "It's all right, Kenya can hear if he wants."

"You're ready to deal with his tears? That his precious kouhai doesn't love him the most?"

"It's not like it hasn't happened before." Zaizen put his hands in his pocket and skipped steps at the stairs.

"Wow Zaizen, you badass. Skipping steps." I sat on the rail and slid down.

"Wow Senpai, you badass. Sliding down the rail."

"You bet I am."

Zaizen didn't reply. Instead, he chose his phone over me.

- x -
We didn't talk again until we were halfway to my house. Well, more like there wasn't any sound until we reached the halfway mark.

"~" I froze almost in disgust when I heard that nickname. I turned to face Konjiki.

"Hello, Konjiki-san..." I kept my fair distance from Konjiki. I generally liked Konjiki, but sometimes his odd habits and mannerisms begged me to keep a safe distance from him.

", can you keep me co-m-pa-ny?" Konjiki winked at me and wiggled his butt. "But naturally Yuu-kun is still the only one for me~!"

"I'm sorry, Konjiki-san, but I need to go somewhere with Zaizen-kun.." I turned to Zaizen in hopes he would save me.

"Oh, actually Senpai, I need to go. I'll see you later!" Zaizen gave Konjiki and me a small wave before breaking into a slow jog.

I watched Zaizen turn the corner before slowly looking at Konjiki, who backed away and smiled. "Does a cafe sound okay, ?"

"...That'll do."

- x-
"."

"Shiraishi."

"Why are you standing in front of my house?"

Shiraishi and I stood at the gate to my house, him being in front of me.

"I'm trying to figure out what I lost. I think you know where it is?"

I gave him a confused look. "Why would I know what you lost?"

Shiraishi ruffled through his school bag and took out his crayon box. "I think I lost the sharp tip to my crayons."

"Huh? That was a whole week ago, Shiraishi..." My hand shot to my mouth and I cringed. "Oh crap! I stood them up!"

"You stood me up too!" He looked like he was about to burst into tears, though he had a hold of himself.

"Oh my gosh..I was having such a great time doing absolutely nothing, that I forgot." I gave an apologetic look to Shiraishi. "Shiraishi, why don't you stay for dinner as an apology? It'll be nice to eat with more people on my birthday. My parents won't mind if I bring a friend over, and it won't be awkward since I have a sibling. You know, so you won't be stuck with just my parents and me."

Shiraishi gave me a long look. I assumed he wasn't over his crayons since it was long enough for him to think of going on with his life or not. "Thanks, . I'll be intruding then."

I gave a casual prayer of thanks to the gods since Shiraishi didn't overreact and turn into a pile of tears. I put the key for the gate into the hole, but it was already unlocked. "What."

"What?"

I shook my head and warily walked in. I tried to shake it off as my parents forgetting to lock it after shopping, but I felt like that wasn't it. I slowly unlocked the door to my house and I looked around the hallway for any unsually placed items that could be a threat. When I took off my shoes, I noticed there were more pairs than there should be. I recognized one of them as Kenya's, which confused me since he didn't come to school today, so that should equate to him being sick.

"Shiraishi, you wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you?" I gave Shiraishi a suspicious look.

He grinned and told me after this, he'd take me on an airplane ride for a mercy date.

"What are you going on about, Shiraishi Kuranosuke?"

"Don't worry about it. Just go on your daily routine. Dinner's at 7."

I nodded warily at Shiraishi. Now I knew for sure he was definitely involved in something troublesome. Troublesome for me, that is. "Just sit down and behave, okay? I'll be right back."

Shiraishi nodded cheerfully when I stepped into the bathroom. They were clearly up to something no good. I opened a drawer; my whole family kept a set of clothes in each bathroom just in case there were emergencies. I viewed this as an emergency. Who knows what danger I'd be exposing my uniform to with whatever war I was going to face?

I tirelessly paced back and forth. I wasn't sure what I should be prepared for now that I had a clear idea of who was involved. I tied my hair into a bun just in case I had to do more physical work than I planned, or wanted to do, which were both basically the same.

I opened the door. "Shirai—"

The hallway was empty. I knew I told Shiraishi to sit down and behave, but I didn't actually expect him to. I assumed he either went to sit in the kitchen or the living room, so I checked both. Both were empty. I squinted and decided the best option was to go along my usual routine like he told me to. Maybe it was actually a hint.

I decided to go back to the bathroom since that's where I always went to first after school. Knowing the school I went to, something ridiculous was probably going to happen. I opened the cabinets for anything that could tell me what was happening. I looked at the bathtub. I slid the curtains away and I almost let out a scream.

"Hi sweetie." My mom waved at me while she was lying down.

"Mom, my goodness." I let out a breath I was holding. "Who told you to do this?"

My mom got out of the tub. "I've only been told to tell you 'go.'"

I gave her an incredulous look. "If you say so."

I left her to do what she wanted and went to the kitchen next. I rummaged through the refrigerator for anything sweet to drink. Nothing beat an easy day at school more than cool and sweet peach juice. On the can of peach juice, I saw a note. Maybe I didn't want my juice anymore after all.

Can you pretty pretty please open the bottom cupboard?
My back is going to break if you don't hurry.

- Dad
I was amazed by how little effort and willpower my dad had, but I let it go since he was getting old. I opened the first cupboard we had and waved hello to my dad.

", thank goodness you finally came. I thought I'd be there for eternity." My dad hugged me in gratitude and went to the refrigerator for beer. "I need a reward, okay?"

My dad and I stood in silence while we drank our beverages.

"Oh, right. I have to tell you the next word." He cleared his throat. "To."

"Which kind of 'to' is this?" I shook my can to check how much I had left.

"That's a good question. I never asked." He shrugged. "Just pick the one that makes the most sense."

"Now that I think about it, I don't know which 'go⁽¹⁾' Mom means." I started tapping the counter since it helped me concentrate. "What if you guys are telling me random words for a complex riddle or something?"

Dad shrugged and threw his beer can away. "Just go to the next place and think later."

I nodded and waved him goodbye. I went to my room next for my laptop. I would leave it in the living room where I always use it, but then I wasn't sure who would use it if I left it there. I shivered when I thought of all the places someone could hide in my room.

I slammed my door open in hopes of scaring whoever was hiding in my room.

"Hi ." I gaped at the sight of Shiraishi sitting on my bed with my PS Vita.

Shiraishi didn't look up from my game. "I hope you don't mind but I saved your game and started a new file for myself."

"Oh...no. Go for it." I shuffled to the bed and took a seat on the corner. "So, what's the next word?"

Shiraishi kicked my blanket. "I died!"

"Shiraishi, aren't you a monster⁽²⁾? How is that shadow killing you?"

"I don't know. It's just hard." Shiraishi dropped the console to the side and sighed into my pillow.

Curiosity killed me and I checked to see how far he got. "What the hell, Shiraishi?! You're only on the first boss, which is hardly a boss since they make it basically impossible to lose since you're like what, level two?"

"Beat it for me, ." Shiraishi moped under my blankets.

"No, Shiraishi. You're aiming for perfection. Don't disappoint Hironobu Sato⁽³⁾!"

"You're right!" Shiraishi shot back up. "I will beat him with my perfect tennis!"

"I'm sorry, Shiraishi. That's not possible."

Shiraishi sat in silence next to me.

We continued to stare at the screen while it played "I'll Face Myself -battle-."

"Shiraishi, you do realize the boss has a pattern to its moves, right?"

Shiraishi stared at the screen while Shadow Yosuke used Power Charge.

"Use Guard. He's going to attack next." I sat across from Shiraishi so I could also see the screen. "Aren't you the captain of your club? Shouldn't you be able to figure out your opponent's tactics?"

"Yeah...but it's different when it's a video game."

"You need to be perfect in battle, Shiraishi. I'm ashamed of you. How could you lose to the first boss?" I shook my head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Hironobu-sensei."

"It's okay, Sohrab. Just try harder next time. Remember 'perfection.'"

Shiraishi sat up from his slumped posture. "Which reminds me, Kenya's waiting for you!"

"Huh?"

"'Go to Kenya!'" Shiraishi checked his phone for the time. "Wow, he's been sitting there for the past hour!"

"What?!" I checked my wristwatch. I quickly got up from the bed and edged for the door. "Where?!"

Shiraishi smiled. "You'll know where."

I gave him a confused look before I was pulled out. I let out a small scream to hear Zaizen's laugh. "-senpai, hurry. You can't keep Kenya-san waiting."

"You guys keep telling me to go to Kenya, but you won't even tell me where he is! I'm not some genius, how am I supposed to know where he is!?" I tugged and straightened my shirt. "Who even let you in, Zaizen?!"

"Your mom." Zaizen's mouth twitched.

"Stop, Zaizen." I rolled my eyes. "I'm just going to leave."

Zaizen gave me a small push. "Yeah, leave, you pest. How are we going to cook when you're sitting your fat ass in the house?"

I flicked Zaizen's forehead and ran down the stairs. "Be right back, Mom!"

I slipped on my dad's sandals since I couldn't find my own and ran out the gate before Zaizen could make a final hit. I felt slightly irritated nobody would tell me where Kenya was. What did they think I was in? A shoujo novel? I wasn't going to automatically know where he was. I took the simplest route and called his house phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is speaking."

"Ah! -chan! It's been a while! How are you?"

"I'm doing fine, Oshitari-san. Thank you for asking, but I'm actually calling to see if Kenya is home?"

"Oh, no." I heard Oshitari-san sigh over the phone. "That stupid boy ran out like he was late for the Osaka Marathon⁽⁴⁾."

I gave a small laugh when I imagined Kenya panicking and dashing out of his house. "I can imagine him doing something stupid like that."

Oshitari-san sighed. "Right? It's just the saddest thing ever. I'm worried something is wrong with him. Why can't he be like you, -chan? I want a daughter just like you. Can I just trade with your parents? Oh, but it would be a crime to let them have a troublesome and odd child like Kenya."

I laughed nervously. "Well, what can you do? Just send Kenya on a marathon across the globe and you can get rid of him for maybe half a year."

Oshitari-san's voice sounded brighter. "That's a very nice idea! You're such a smart and good girl, -chan! Oh, right. You wanted to know where Kenya is? Hmm, well I thought he was going to either your place or Kurayan's."

"Oh, he must be at Shiraishi's then. Thank you, Oshitari-san. Have a nice day! I'll stop by soon."

"Please come by very soon, !"

I sighed. I knew Kenya wasn't at Shiraishi's, so where was he? I thought of the park. Kenya liked the park. Amusement parks, that is. I was pretty positive Kenya wouldn't go there if he was sick, though.

I thought of checking by GPS on my phone, but Kenya never let me register his into my phone. However, I did know where I was. Everyone turned their off GPS today. I see they thoroughly thought this all through. It almost irritated me. Now I really had no idea where to go check.

I thought of turning back and going home so Kenya could give up on his own. That is, until I remembered Kenya's favorite activity in the world besides yelling his nonsensical baloney and me (well, being with me better be one of his hobbies): tennis.

I thought of going Shitenhouji's tennis courts, but I felt like going to the courts we went to over breaks was a better choice. Before heading to the courts, I stopped by the convenience store for a warm drink just in case Kenya really was sick. Of course, I picked myself a drink and bread.

I was nearly at the courts when I heard voices. It sounded like Hitouji and Konjiki. I could have sworn I heard Kenya talking to them, or at least complaining? I couldn't tell, so I tried to peek through the fencing. It almost looked like Konjiki was harassing him, and Hitouji was in deep pain?

It was probably just another case of Konjiki hitting on Kenya and Hitouji suffering and pining for Konjiki, so I wasn't too worried. Though I did feel a twinge of jealousy that Konjiki could be so forward and suffer almost no consequences, or at least nothing serious, anyways.

I decided to save Kenya and I called out his name. I couldn't see or hear too well from the distance since they were at the farthest court.

"Crap!"

"Koharu~ What do we do?!"

"Yuu-kun, let's run far, far away together!"

"I'll run anywhere with you, Koharu!"

"Can you guys just go?"

"Wahh, Yuu-kun~ Kenya-kun is being mean!"

"It's okay; I'll protect you, Koharu!"

"Yu..Yuu-kun.."

"You guys are being disgusting; go away!"

Konjiki and Hitouji started prancing my way, calling each other's names. I could feel Kenya stare at me, but I tried to brush it off. After Konjiki and Hitouji pranced off to who knows where—not that I wanted to know, I opened the fenced entrance and slowly walked to Kenya. I wondered if it bothered Kenya since he's such a fan of speed.

I could feel Kenya's eyes follow me the whole time, even when I intentionally did sporadic zigzags just to mess with him. I could see his mouth twitch; nobody as simple-minded as Kenya could conceal his true emotions for long.

Soon enough, I reached Kenya and smiled at him. I noticed how he wore thicker clothing even though it was warmer than usual. "So you really are sick, huh."

"Just a little." Kenya gave a small smile. I almost expected him to exclaim that even that couldn't hold down Naniwa's Speed Star, but he didn't.

I pressed the warm can of tea I got for Kenya against his forehead. "You shouldn't be making me treat you on my birthday."

Kenya thanked me and coughed while opening the can. "I have your present."

He passed me a large bag. I opened it and found two rackets and a few tennis balls. I didn't want to hurt his feelings, so I tried to come up with a somewhat honest response. "Wow, Kenya... I, uh, I really like it."

"You didn't check the rest of the bag!" Kenya turned away and coughed into his sleeve.

I pushed the rackets away so I could see deeper into the bag. I found a significantly smaller bag, but it was still a bit on the larger side. "Wow Kenya, you really can't stop, can you? First you bring up a picture within a picture, and now you take action with a bag in a bag?"

Kenya chuckled and told me to continue. I opened the bag to find another bag and two apples. "Somehow, I'm not very surprised."

I opened the third bag to find a music box. I gasped in surprise and delight. "Wow, Kenya, I didn't actually expect you to do it! Is this what your job was for?"

Kenya nodded. "I actually decided this a long time ago, but I didn't bring it up to you until last week. I was tired for a while now because I had to pick up my pace, which was nothing for Naniwa's Speed Star!"

Kenya quickly turned around and coughed, which brought a small smile to my face. It's not that I enjoyed Kenya's sufferings, but it was kind of cute how he got so excited that he needed to cough. I turned the musix box in my hands and noted the simple designs. Somehow, I felt the inside would be drastically different from the external peaceful pastel colors and designs. I slowly opened it and gaped at the bold colors. Inside, I found a small bag. I couldn't help but mentally roll my eyes.

"I thought the music box would always remind you of Shitenhouji years from now. Doesn't it remind you of it? We look like a normal school on the outside, but we're pretty awesome once you're a student!"

"Yeah... it looks very nice, Kenya." I gave a warm smile and proceeded to open the last (hopefully) bag. In it were multiple pictures, mainly of past purikura we had taken together or with friends. I wasn't very good with holding onto loose items like small strips of purikura, so I always let Kenya keep them. Kenya had cut them into their individual pictures and left them in the bag; others were laminated small pictures from his computer or phone. "How did you get the non-purikura ones laminated?"

"The perks of being friends with an 'attractive' library committee member." Kenya used air quotes for attractive.

"Of course," I sighed. "But how did you get Zaizen to agree? I would have thought he'd think it's a pain."

Kenya shrugged. "I guess he was being nice since it's for your birthday."

I didn't care too much after all, so I didn't reply to Kenya. Instead, I put away the pictures and closed the music box. I grabbed the rackets and passed one to Kenya. "Let's sweat out your cold."

"I don't think that actually works." Kenya got up anyways.

I ignored his comment and bounced the tennis ball. "I'm serving first."

I wasn't a good tennis player; in fact, I would learn more towards the incompetent side. In fact, I wasn't sure why I played tennis with Kenya since I wasn't too big a fan of anything physical. Maybe tennis was the exception. Or maybe it was Kenya.

Kenya and I continued to rally for another hour before I decided it wasn't worth putting in anymore effort. "Hey, Kenya! Let's stop for today."

We sat at the bench and ate our apples in silence. Well, we weren't, but it might as well have been.

"...I stopped playing since it would be bad to overexert your body while you're sick."

"That's a lie," Kenya accused.

"How dare you accuse me of lying; I would sue you if we lived in America."

Kenya raised an eyebrow. I shook my head and told him to forget it. He nodded and this time, we actually ate in silence. That is, until Kenya decided to break it.

"Uhm, ." Kenya's voice got quiet and I felt him tense up a little.

"What's the matter?" I felt a little worried; this was a bit 'OOC' for Kenya.

"You...didn't look through all your presents yet."

If we were in an anime, there would be a huge question mark over my head. I ruffled through all the bags and raised an eyebrow. In the last bag, I found an even smaller bag. "This is so small. How did you even find a size like this?"

Kenya chuckled. "Let's just say Shiraishi's bandages serve more than one purpose now."

I stared at the bag. This wasn't made of Shiraishi's bandages...was it? Or did Shiraishi unskillfully make the bag? I rubbed the material. Was this what Shiraishi's bandages felt like?

I opened the bag after deciding it didn't matter. It was a single strip of paper. Kenya started to look jittery, which made me grin. Seeing Kenya out of his stupid and carefree persona was a refreshing change. I chuckled. "It looks like a fortune cookie."

Kenya mumbled, "Just wait until you open it."

I sat there and smiled at Kenya.

He stared back for a while. "Why won't you open it?"

"I just wanted to see you with that panicky face for a little longer."

"I'm tired of waiting! You made me wait for you for an hour and stalled even longer with tennis!" Kenya grabbed my hands and had them unscroll the paper.

I like you.
I felt my cheeks burn a bright red when I read those three words. I quietly muttered, "I like you too, Kenya."

We sat in silence before Kenya rested his hand on mine. "Happy Birthday, ."

- x - From, Princo.
December 3 22, 2012.

⁽¹⁾ Uh this is some board game that originated in China. It's a strategy game with a 19x19 line grid. I don't understand this game at all and if you're interested please google it during your own free time LOL. Isn't this the game Shikamaru wait nvm that's shogi.
⁽²⁾ Referring to when Tōyama is scared of Shiraishi because of his imagination (with poison claws or the sorts being underneath the bandages).
⁽³⁾ I was looking for a kendo master guy who's like pro but due to my fail googling skills, I only got some German guy popular among the Osakans. I was looking for a Osakan kendo player but to no avail. OTL OTL OTL. So I just picked Hironobu Sato, who is the teacher/mentor of the popular German player, Sohrab. Oh and if you're wondering why kendo, it's because they say kendo strives for perfection even when it's not possible or something?
⁽⁴⁾ Self explanatory, a marathon in Osaka. It's silly because this race is in Autumn and this DN takes place in around...I can't remember but some time around summer. LOL.

Happy very late birthday, Bo. ♥ You're now 15 omg. I REMEMBER WHEN I TURNED 15. Erika made me corn bread and cut my bangs. Which btdubs fucked everything over so I can never get my old bangs back. /pressed. Ok boo well. HLBD LUL. -message full of love-
Okay so I looked back at this and all I could think was, "You're 14 what." (Prior to the 3rd)
I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry this is so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so late. ;-;
But you told me to take my time and I took that to heart. Very much. & a message to readers + Ribbon. [GOT RID OF LINK BC I DON'T WANT PEOPLE FROM SCHOOL SEEING IT LOL]. Also, I think this is the last DN that will have bigger spacing. I think I'm going to switch from <br> to <p>, much to Ribbon's joy, I'm sure. LOL. However, <br> might pop up one day if I decide to use <p>.