29th of April... Chuuya dreaded that day. So much. That day just hurt so much. It was his birthday, and a normal person would think that is the best day of his year. He gets the people close to him to spend more time with him, give him gifts, and so on. Except he wasn't even sure who those "loved ones" where.
When he turned 16, the flags threw him a party. Albatross woke him up at an ungodly early hour with his loud fucking music. Chuuya went upstairs to tell him to turn it off, but he just fell in his trap. The second Albatross opened that door, Chuuya knew it was over for him.
They spent the first few hours of the day with Albatross. The blond had insisted of cooking breakfast for Chuuya, but he declined. "I don't want food poisoning, thank you very much." So he ended up cooking for the both of them.
The music was blasting on full volume, to the point he couldn't properly hear Albatross as he was talking about some recent mission he had.
"And then I stabbed the dude. There was blood every-fucking-where. It was fun, you would've liked it."
The boy nodded. "Mhm." He was concentrated on his pancakes, but Albatross' story was interesting enough. Not that he would ever admit that. And especially not after he had just spent 15 minutes yelling at him about how annoying he is.
Albatross groaned. "Ugh you're not listening, Chuuya! Soo mean of you."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm so horrible." Chuuya put a few pancakes on Albatross' table, but grabbed it back from him. "Apologize, or you're not eating shit."
Albatross quickly got over his pride and apologized, eager to eat pancakes.
After eating breakfast, Albatross decided in order to celebrate Chuuya's birthday they had to go on a fun adventure.
"No." The ginger said promptly, putting the dirty dishes in the sink, and wondering if they were ever gonna get washed. "We have to go to work. The boss doesn't care if it's my dumb birthday or not."
The older one grins. "Don't worry about that. Pianoman took care of everything." And then he covered his mouth, mumbling a "fuck" under his breath.
Chuuya squinted at him. "The fuck did you just say?"
"Nothing. What I meant is that all of us get a free day on our birthdays. Because uhhh Pianoman convinced the boss when he created the Young Bloods!"
Chuuya didn't believe a word out of his mouth, but thankfully he didn't care enough to try and get more out of him. By now, he was convinced everything Albatross was doing now was just to keep him away from the Old World, most likely because the others were organizing some dumb surprise party for him. So he decided to be a bit cruel to the poor man.
"Ah, that's cool as fuck, man. Then we should totally relax." He watched Albatross' face morph into another grin as he was being fooled. "Let's go for a drink at the Old World. I really want some booze now, since it's my birthday."
Albatross' face paled, but he tried to play it cool. He had to, Chuuya thought, otherwise it wouldn't be surprise anymore.
"Uhhhh..." Albatross looked around for an answer, as if the old leather couch or the ridiculously huge speakers would tell him how to get out of this situation. "We can't because uhhh Pianoman locked it last night and he's busy today. Yeah, sorry, we can't go there..."
"It's fine, dude. I can lock pick. Let's go." And with that, Chuuya left the apartment, smirking internally and trying to keep a neutral expression as a panicked Albatross followed him outside, not even bothering to lock the door.
"But he's gonna get mad!!" He opposes.
"It's my birthday. He won't. Plus, it wouldn't be the first time."
Albatross was stuck, and Chuuya knew it. He had no other reasonable reason for not wanting to go.
"I lied." Albatross said, stopping as they were exiting the building. "We can't go there cuz I quit drinking." He said it promptly, and Chuuya was beyond amused. He didn't see that coming.
"Oh? You did? Since when?"
"Uhm... Since yesterday. I got very hang over and decided to quit drinking. Yeah."
Chuuya nodded understanding. "How unfortunate. Well then, I guess I can't do anything about it."
"Yeah so... let's go on an adventure instead, yeah?"
With a heavy heart, the ginger nodded. He was gonna get him somehow.
The two spent the next few hours doing anything but going to the Old World. They rode bikes, to a speed Chuuya was sure it wasn't just illegal but also too dangerous even for Albatross. Not that he would care, his ability kept them safe. Then they went on a little trip with a boat, not too far, but enough for Chuuya to wonder if they needed passports.
By the time Albatross decided they had enough of crazy experiences, Chuuya was already starting to have fun. It was the first birthday he was genuinely enjoying.
He had... experiences back in the sheep, but they always ended somehow badly. They were attacked, or just something horrible happened. To the point Chuuya straight up told his friends to stop celebrating his birthday. They didn't have enough money anyway.
Even now, he was expecting Albatross to be suddenly shot from behind or something similar. Maybe Pianoman to call and tell them someone from the Flags died. Or just Dazai popping out of nowhere.
But despite that, he was having fun. Albatross was actually a nice company, and he was funny. For a moment, Chuuya forgot who they were and what they were doing. For just a moment, Chuuya was a 16 years old boy, enjoying his birthday with his friend.
Albatross tied the boat to the dock. They were drenched, and Chuuya wasn't a big fan of it.
"Let's go home and change." Suggested Albatross, as if he was reading Chuuya's mind. Or maybe just his expression.
"Yeah. I'm not a fan of going around the city looking like a shipwrecked kid."
Back at his apartment, Chuuya changed in some comfy clothes. He wasn't sure what the flags were planning, but whatever it was it wasn't important enough for him to care to look fashionable or particular good. He inspected his wet hair in the window, and groaned as he realized how puffy and frizzy it was gonna be when it was dried. Or he could wash his hair, shampoo it and all that pain...
"You done???" Albatross bursts into the apartment, wearing a pair of clean jeans and a T-shirt half over his head.
"You could knock next time." Chuuya commented, turning to face him. "Yeah, I'm done. Now I'll go to sleep." He wondered how Albatross was gonna get him to the Old World.
"No, you aren't. We're going to a... surprise location."
To no one's surprise, they ended up at Old World. Chuuya could see the warm light through the windows and he could easily distinguish the 4 silhouettes inside. He didn't want them to celebrate his birthday. It was dumb and useless. But maybe, just maybe he deserved one fun day for himself and his friends.
The two boys enter the bar, and Albatross steps aside as a wave of confetti washed over Chuuya.
A loud "Happy birthday~!" echoed through the old bar, as one of the men hugged Chuuya tightly.
"Happy birthday, Chuuya!" Lippmann exclaimed, holding him close. "I'm a bit surprised Albatross actually managed to bring you here." The actor pulled back, before Chuuya could remind him about his personal space.
Albatross smiled. "What can I say? I'm great at everything I am doing."
Doc rolled his eyes. "Only of 'everything you're doing' is being dumb and useless. Then yes."
"Don't be so mean, man." Albatross groaned as he became, again, the bottom of the jokes. "Whatever. I want a glass-"
"Not so fast." Chuuya stopped him. "You said you're quitting."
Albatross looked horrified at him. "I was lying obvi-"
"Too late. You're not drinking anything."
The other's chuckled as Albatross complained about how heartless Chuuya was. But the boy was paying him no mind, accepting a glass of red wine from Iceman. The two of them clicked their glasses and drank the sweet liquid.
"So... I will assume it was Pianoman's idea?" The ginger asked, taking small sips from his glass.
"Not quite. It was Lippmann's. He said something about having you join the industry so he's using this to manipulate you."
Chuuya nodded. It wasn't the first time he heard about this, but he didn't really care that much. It was a bit annoying how Lippmann kept insisting on it even though they both knew it was impossible, but at the end of the day, the ginger knew it was useless to get angry for such a silly thing. Plus, Lippmann was probably joking, right?
"Bad mouthing me again, huh?" Said a voice from behind Chuuya, and both him and Iceman turned their attention towards it.
Lippmann sat down next to Iceman. "I can't believe you're lying to this poor kid about my intention." He said dramatically, bringing one of his hands to his forehead and slightly leaning back. "I am hurt. All I wanted was for our Chuuya to enjoy his birthday."
Iceman nodded. "If you say so."
They weren't arguing, it was just a silly banter. Chuuya liked how close the flags were. From the outside, it looked like they were just a bunch of people bragging about how much better than everyone else they were. But if you walked into the bar and played billiard with them you'd see how close they were to each other. The jokes, the playful banter, the relaxing atmosphere that surrounded them even though they were loud.
Well, Chuuya wasn't that close to them. But they were to each other. He... he was just an outsider. An outsider who was let in by chance, probably to supervise him.
He could faintly hear Lippmann and Iceman talking, debating for the nth time who's gonna become the next execution. Chuuya wasn't sure how they got to this conversation- they were just talking about the party a few seconds ago- but he didn't mind.
"Me, of course." He said prideful, and then finished whatever alcohol was left in his glass.
Iceman raised his eyebrows, and Lippmann chuckled.
"Then so it be." The blond poured wine into Chuuya's glass again and raised his own. "For your next promotion, huh?"
They toasted, and then Iceman and Lippmann went back to their conversation, letting Chuuya examine the room again.
Albatross was only a few chairs away, tracing with his finger the the rim of his orange juice glass. On the other side of the room, Pianoman and Doc were playing billiards. The place was quite and... and it felt like home. Something Chuuya wasn't sure he ever felt. For how long has he known these people? A couple of months anyway, not enough to justify feeling at home with them. And yet here he was.
"Chuuya?" Lippmann waved his hand in Chuuya's face and he blinked a few times to turn back to earth.
"We were wondering if you're enjoying the party." Iceman clarified. "Even though I am not sure this even qualifies as one."
Lippmann gave him a dirty look. "Of course it does. It's a private party. Just for exclusive members."
Chuuya rolled his eyes, pretending to be annoyed. The sound of the wooden balls knocking into each other was echoing in the background.
"I guess I don't hate it." He said and sipped again from his glass. "And I'd hate it even less if there were snacks."
From across the room, Pianoman laughed. "You're too easy, Chuuya." He dropped his cue and walked behind the counter, pulling out a bag of Chuuya's favorite chips. "Here you go, mister edgy."
"Very funny." He said with another eye roll, grabbing the bag. "Thanks." He added as he opened the bag.
He didn't remember the rest of the night. At some point he finally let Albatross drink alcohol, or he did anyway, because he had this vague memory of a drunk Albatross telling him he looks funny with ginger hair. They played a lot of billiard, and overall just spent time with each other. There wasn't a cake, there wasn't singing "Happy birthday". And Chuuya actually preferred it like that. It was just a hang out with his friends.
He lit a cigarette and leaned back. It's been exactly 6 years since that day. He was turning 22, all by himself, in a dark and unfriendly apartment. An expensive bottle of wine was resting on the coffee table in front of him. He felt so... he didn't have a word for it. He missed the flags, a lot. And he felt guilty, not only for being the reason of their death, but also surviving to an age some of them will never have. Everyone in the flags was under 25. And with each day he was getting closer to that age and further away from them.
29th April... Chuuya dreaded that day. But maybe with them he could bear it.