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It was the morning of March 4th. The birthday of Arishima Takeo.
Waking up around the usual time, Takeo was in the middle of taking care of his usual morning routine things when he heard someone knocking on his room’s door. Then right away the door was opened, and a cornflower blue haired young man rushed in.
“Good morning, Takeo-nii!” it was his younger brother Satomi Ton. “It’s your birthday. Librarian has prepared you a cake!”
Takeo looked at his brother in slight bewilderment, his attempt to button up his vest being interrupted for a moment. “Oh?”
A birthday cake, huh.
It was an established custom to celebrate each author’s birthday in the Imperial Library every year. Takeo was no exception, but being the center of attention wasn’t really his thing. His first birthday in the Library had surprised him and he had hard times trying to express himself despite how he felt rather happy actually. But as more of an introverted personality, he preferred to spend the day with a few close friends. He really appreciated the Librarian and other people’s efforts to celebrate him, though.
However, through the years at least something had changed; he was looking forward to the birthday cake more and more. When he had woken up and remembered that today is his birthday, he had wondered if he would get a cake this year, too. So hearing the good news from Ton, he couldn’t help but smile in anticipation.
“Ah, I just remembered that Musha-san had some business at the courtyard. What could it be?” Ton pondered and looked at his brother buttoning up the final button of his vest, moving on to tie the usual scarf around his neck.
“Every year around these times he starts tending the soil he’ll use for growing certain vegetables. I assume that’s what Roka-san has also been busy with recently, as yesterday he asked if I could help with planning what to grow this year.”
“Should I go find him then?”
Takeo put on his white jacket, and gave a small nod to his brother. “You’re quick with your feet. Meanwhile you go get Musha-san, I can go wake up Shiga-kun on my way to the dining hall.”
“Ah… About that,” Ton suddenly hesitated to continue his words. A light blush appeared on his cheeks while shyly he averted eye contact with his brother. Takeo watched this confused, but could guess what was going on when Ton had blurted out “Shiga-nii… He’s awake. Been already for some hours.”
Usually Shiga Naoya, a fellow author of the White Birch School, was the type to wake up around noon. Only in some special cases he would wake up early, and the fact how Ton knew how he was awake, Takeo assumed the two had shared a room last night. It was none of his business what was going on between the two, but as Ton’s brother and Shiga’s friend, he had given the two his blessing.
A gentle smile appeared on Takeo’s face and he reached out to the knob of his room’s door. “I see. In that case I shall go to the dining hall and wait for you there.”
“Yeah, I’ll come in a bit with Musha-san!”
The two brothers barely got out of the room when Shiga himself approached them with light running steps. “So here you are Satomi. Geez, why didn’t you wait for me,” there was a bit of displeasure in the man’s speech.
“It’s Shiga-nii’s fault for being so slow!” Ton pouted.
“Huh? You’re the one who invaded my room late in the night, though!? How the hell am I supposed to wake up early after that?”
“That’s why I came to your room, Shiga-nii. I made sure you’d wake up early today.”
“You little… Gimme a break.”
Takeo tried to calm down the two. “Please forgive him, Shiga-kun. Ton just came to inform me that the Librarian has a cake waiting for me.”
Shiga eyed the brothers and was kind of taken aback when he saw Takeo’s smiling face in such a situation. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t see that kind of smile on the man’s face often. It made him feel a little bewildered, but also… Warm?
“So uhh… What are ya guys up to?”
“Ton will go find Musha-san from the courtyard, while I’m heading to the dining hall. Care to join me?”
“Yeah, it’s your birthday so I guess I’ll—” Shiga paused when he saw Kunikida Doppo behind the Arishima brothers approaching them. “...or not.”
The brothers turned around after seeing Shiga’s expression change, and they were greeted by the pink haired Naturalist author.
“Yo, what an unusual gathering at this hour in the morning.”
“Good morning, Doppo-san,” Takeo greeted him. Ton also gave a beaming greeting at Doppo.
“What a great timing, Kunikida,” Shiga grabbed Ton by his shoulder and guided him to follow. Ton didn’t resist, but he was confused which was apparent from his looks. “Shiga-nii what are you—” he managed to quietly blurt out before Shiga stopped him.
“We’ll go look for Musha, okay? See ya later, Arishima.”
“Eh? Ah, good luck you two? See you at the dining hall,” Takeo watched with Doppo how Shiga was almost dragging Ton with him, the two exchanging some words rather aggressively while walking towards the direction where Doppo had just come from.
Gradually the area around Takeo’s room quieted down.
“What an interesting duo those two are,” Doppo commented when Shiga and Ton had finally disappeared from their sight.
“Mmh, they’ve always had a bond I’ve never been able to fully comprehend. But as long as they’re happy, I'll be happy for them.”
Doppo glanced at the silver haired man.
“Say, do you have plans for tonight?”
There was a moment of silence.
Those words were something Takeo had waited for, but he hadn’t particularly demanded them either. Mustering his courage and trying to remain calm, he looked at Doppo. “I always have time for Doppo-san.”
“That’s good to hear,” he quickly scanned their surroundings before closing the gap between him and Takeo, gently pushing him against the nearby wall. Takeo didn’t resist that, and in his eyes there was now completely different anticipation than earlier.
Pinned between Doppo and the wall, Takeo whispered “May I hear you play your moon zither?”
“Whatever you want,” Doppo quietly chuckled in amusement for such a request, and bringing his face closer to Takeo’s, he finally kissed him.
The two knew very well how around them there were other authors’ rooms and someone could pass by any moment. But as if to ignore the existence of everything else than each other, they kept kissing. Exchanging a kiss after another for a few minutes, until Takeo started urging Doppo to stop. Was it because Takeo felt embarrassed? Or did he genuinely mean what he said next, Doppo didn’t know.
“We must go, Doppo-san…”
“Man, always stopping when things are getting good,” Doppo huffed in a playful, but bitter tone.
“At this rate Ton and others will get to the dining hall before us.”
“I know,” he exclaimed and gave Takeo a final kiss. “Happy birthday, Arishima. I’ve got a physical present for you which I’ll give you later, but I’ll also play some moon zither like you wanted.” He took Takeo’s hand, and in a gentle manner pulled him towards the dining hall’s direction.
“Thank you,” Takeo smiled with his cheeks flushed, following Doppo.
He felt so happy he couldn’t really find any other words. There was a cake waiting for him. And his brother, partner and friends would join to celebrate this very day which he had had rather complicated feelings about in the previous life and even in the Library early on. But now he wanted to think of it positively, as a chance to create precious memories with everyone.
When he and Doppo had reached the dining hall, some friends were already waiting for them there. Ton and Shiga, who had gone to fetch Musha from the courtyard, appeared shortly after.
The Librarian had prepared him a gorgeous cake, which was decorated with flowers. It was beautiful, but also delicious. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and the mood in the dining hall was cheerful.
The celebration went on for several hours until everyone started slowly disappearing into their own rooms.
Doppo kept his promise, and late that evening he took Takeo to the lounge after he had fetched the man’s present and his moon zither from his room. They spent peaceful times together, Doppo’s playing filling the room with harmonious notes. Takeo couldn’t help but smile, cherishing every minute.