Part three (and final part) for the birthday ramble!!! This ones quite a bit longer than the previous parts.
“I’m home!” Shinya called out as he set down his bags and hung up his coat....no answer.....that’s weird, normally Tsunagu would be home before him. But he clearly had come back already, as his work shoes had been placed neatly to the side - maybe he just didn’t hear him.
He was about to go and see if he could find him, but something told him that he actually wasn’t home - and so he decided that he’d probably gone out for a walk or something. Shinya made his way to the place where they keep their notes (hc that they leave each other notes when one of them have to go do something and so they have a specific place where these notes will be) and sure enough there was a note on the side, neatly folded with something carefully placed inside it. It was just a spool of red thread, so he placed it down gently and read the note:
“Hi, love! Sorry I probably should’ve told you earlier but I’ve just gone on a small walk, I’ll be back soon.
Hope you had a good day at work!
<3 (p.s could you do me a favour and tug on the end of that thread - if it does anything...follow it)”
He was rather confused as to why Tsunagu’s instructions were so specific, but he did as he was told to and sure enough something did happen! He tugged the end of the red thread, thinking it was just one of Tsunagu’s weird little antics, and the spool suddenly shot out of his hand and out through the open back door, making its way through the garden and even further. Shinya was incredibly surprised. What just happened? “I- oh come on! Just when I thought this day wouldn’t get any stranger...” he chuckled to himself. He chucked on his coat and decided to follow this string to wherever it led to.
The string took him through all the little footpaths and fields they usually walked through and he was starting to realise where he was going. Although, he was a little suspicious of how long this piece of string could possibly be - but he reckoned that was one of Tsunagu’s doings. ‘Why didn’t he just say to go to this place, instead of making me follow this string through all these unnecessary paths?’ He grumbled to himself. He was now walking through the forest path and was being led through all these tall trees.
As he came out into the open, he found himself in front of the entrance to his old village. ‘Ah, I knew it.’ He had a feeling that this was where he would be led to. Besides, it was his birthday, why not take him to the place where he was born and raised. The only thing he was a little confused about was why it was so dark. He knew the village like the back of his hand, so he would have no problem with navigating to where he needed to be, but this was just odd. Okay, it was late and an abandoned village would be pretty dark anyway, but not this dark! It’s as if someone had just gotten rid of basically all the light around him! “Weird...” he contemplated the possible reasons for this, briefly, before following the string again. “Wherever he wants me to be, it must be at the end of this wretched thing-” and, well, he wasn’t wrong.
The string led him to the old fountain that stood at the centre of his village, and tied to the end of the string was a small puzzle box. Shinya groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me. First the note, then the string, now this? I’ve got to solve a puzzle box in the dark, all by myself, just because- wait why am I still doing this? Ahhhhh whatever-” he really didn’t mind all too much, but hey it’s his birthday, he’s allowed to grumble a little! Once he had solved the puzzle box, he opened it to find a single flower laying inside. It was one of the flowers that always bloomed everywhere in the village, his grandmother’s favourite flower actually. Out of instinct he knew exactly what to do with it, and gently placed the flower on the edge of the fountain.
In an instant, the entire village lit up, the water flowing in the fountain carried many of the flower petals down its turrets and a loud chorus rang out the words “Happy Birthday”. Shinya, absolutely speechless, looked up to see his village, normally so empty, now full of light. It felt so alive. So familiar. He saw the vines that embraced the walls of the old houses, twisting beautifully with new flowers. The little torches that stood outside were now alight, with tiny flames that danced around elegantly. The ribbons that were strung from roof to roof were fluttering around, colours more vibrant than ever. There was a pink glow that highlighted the mist that took the form of the old stalls that used to stand in the streets, creating illusions of the children and people who used to dance and play there, passing through, as if time had stood still. The lights, ribbons, mist and everything else all led to one place. They all led to the place on the mountainside, where his family lay, watching over them.
Shinya turned around to see absolutely everybody, standing there with gifts and kind words, all wishing him a happy birthday for the second time - knowing that he probably wouldn’t have registered the first. And when I say everybody, I mean everybody! You had various different pro heroes, interns, sidekicks - Teachers and friends from UA and Shiketsu - Enji, Hawks, Rumi, Ryuko, people from the neighbouring villages, Yu, Shinji, all standing there. Somehow Hana had managed to gain the courage to ask Mao to be there with her - literally everybody that he knew was standing right in front of him. And at this point I think that it’s a miracle Shinya didn’t pass out.
“Happy Birthday,” a familiar voice gently called out. Shinya looked up to see Tsunagu smiling at him, hugging a small bunch of flowers. “You’ve been so busy with work recently you haven’t been spending much time on your little village visits, and we’ve all noticed that you’ve been getting quite stressed out-”
“Yeah! We can’t have that! You’ll go grey- oh...wait...” Hana briefly interrupted.
“...which wasn’t our point...”
“Which wasn’t our point!”
Tsunagu sighed. “Anyway, the thing is, everyone here loves you so much, Shinya. We all do. And we wanted to give you the best birthday ever. To make it a day where you can spend time with your family, new and old...those who are with you and those who may not be anymore. So we all worked together to plan this for you.” He looked at Shinya to see him quite clearly on the verge of tears, face softly smiling back at him. Tsunagu glanced at Hana, who gave him a reassuring nod. “And so all I think I have to say...is Happy Birthday, love. From all of us... we love you!”
“WE LOVE YOU!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!” The chorus of voices rang out all in unison.
Shinya really didn’t know what to say, or how to react. All these people who stood in front of him had worked so hard to give him a birthday he would never be able to forget, and had managed revive the place that held so many amazing memories. And so he stood there in silent shock for a moment, before looking up at them. Tears now rolling down his face, he let out a small chuckle and smiled brightly at all of them.
“Thank you so much! Everyone...thank you.”
And there we have it! The finished birthday ramble for our beloved Shinya Kamihara!
I’m gonna be honest and say that I may have cried a tiny bit whilst writing the end of it......
