http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/happybday.txt </head><body><pre>Glad to know that nobody bricked me for the S(K)SK fic. ^_^;; Anyway, here's a bit of angst and WAFF for Sumeragi Day. All characters are property of CLAMP. Standard disclaimers apply. --- Happy Birthday An "X" Fanfic Presented by Alison Koh Akira was a little disappointed when the bell rang to signal the end of lessons. Nevertheless, he maintained his usual sunshiny smile and bid his class farewell for the day. His students were just as reluctant to leave. Akira's special baking lessons were very popular because his recipes always turned out perfect. On the other hand, several of the students were already eagerly planning to try out the day's recipe on their own, no doubt to share it with their special someone. As the students gradually filtered out of the room, Akira caught sight of a familiar head of messy hair peeking from outside the door. "Kamui-san?" he asked curiously. Hesitantly, Kamui stepped into the home economics classroom, which was basically a large kitchen, and bowed politely. "How may I help you?" Akira beamed. "Erm...I..." Kamui stammered and lowered his head with a slight blush. "Yes?" Gathering a little more courage, Kamui explained, "It's Subaru's birthday tomorrow. I'd like to bake him a cake as a surprise. Would you help me?" Akira found Kamui's expression utterly adorable and could not resist an affectionate chuckle. He patted the boy gently on the shoulder and promised to teach him. Kamui's face instantly lit up. * Sorata was surprised to smell something delicious baking in the kitchen. "Hmmm...what is Ne-chan making today?" he wondered and decided to investigate. What he saw though, nearly made him drop onto the floor rolling in laughter. Kamui was hovering near the oven with flour dusted all over his face and hair. His brows were arched deep in concentration. "I suggest that you'd better stick to making sandwiches," Sorata advised. Too engrossed in his task to notice the monk's appearance, Kamui almost jumped at the sound of his voice. The bell on the oven rang, signalling that the cake was now ready to be removed. "Need any help?" Sorata offered. Kamui shook his head, "Erm...no, thank you. I'd like to do this myself." He opened the oven door, and carefully removed the cake with the aid of a pair of oven mittens, and set the cake by the window to cool. Then he proceeded to prepare the icing. Sorata praised him, "That really smells good. What's the occasion?" Kamui replied, "I heard from Nokoru-san that it is Subaru's birthday today. So I asked Akira-san to teach me how to make a strawberry cake. It's going to be a surprise. I want to make Subaru happy. He's been very depressed lately." The Kouyan monk ruffled the boy's hair playfully. "Yes, I think a little party would be a great idea. I'll inform the others." "Thanks, Sorata," the boy said. "Don't mention it." * Yuzuriha knocked gently on the door. "Subaru-san?" she called out. A few seconds later, she heard the latch unlock. The onmyouji was in the habit of locking himself in his room lately, practically isolating himself from the other Seals. The door slowly opened to reveal a room cloaked in shadows. It was the light from the hallway that illuminated the expressionless face that was presently gazing at the girl through the little gap in the doorway. "Subaru-san, won't you join us for dinner?" she asked. Subaru flatly replied, "I'm sorry. I'm not feeling too well." He was about to shut the door again, but Yuzuriha quickly held it open with her hands. "You need to eat something. Besides, you'd get even more sick sitting alone in your room," she said. Little Inuki barked excitedly at his feet, obviously agreeing with its mistress. Subaru closed his eyes for a second and sighed defeatedly. "All right." He stepped out of room and followed Yuzuriha down the stairs. The moment he touched the bottom-most step though, the lights in the hall went out at once. Then there was the shimmering of candle-lights approaching him to the strains of a very badly sung birthday song. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUBARU........HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!" There were loud cheers and whistles, and then Kamui stood in front of him bearing a candle-lit cake in his hands. "Happy birthday, Subaru," the boy smiled. "Make a wish!" However, Subaru expression immediately turned dark. He stared at the cake with bitter melancholy in his eyes. "Neesan..." he whispered. Without another word, he turned away from the Seals and headed out towards the garden. Kamui watched the Sumeragi leave unceremoniously and felt a deep pang of grief in his heart. He would have dropped the cake right then, had Sorata not caught hold of it for him. "Stupid, stupid me!" the boy uttered angrily. With one sweep, he grabbed the burning candles in his bare hand, ignoring the painful sting of the melted wax and hurled the snuffed out candles to the ground. Then he ran up tearfully to his own room. Sorata heard the boy's door slam shut with a loud bang. "Oh dear," Yuzuriha remarked with concern. Arashi frowned as well. "What are we going to do?" she asked the Kansai monk. Sorata felt a deep anger rising within him, aggravated by the unfair way Kamui had been dealt with. He handed the cake to Arashi and said, "I'm going to have a word with Subaru-san." * The mansion's vast garden was very peaceful, except for the intermittent chirping of the crickets. The breeze blew gently in the cold February air. Subaru sat alone on a stone bench and observed the rustling shadows of the trees. It had been a long day. One that he had not wished to be reminded of. But the cake... Hokuto and he - they were twins, and now he was alone. He heard approaching footsteps from behind, too heavy to be Kamui's. "I would like to be alone," he informed Sorata. The monk did not reply. Instead he circled around to stand before the onmyouji and launched his fist against Subaru's face. However, the Sumeragi was too quick for Sorata, and caught the monk's fist firmly in his hand. Without releasing his grip, he asked the monk, "What was that for?" Sorata growled, "To hit you to your senses since Kamui is unwilling to do so." Subaru fell silent. The monk wriggled his fist free and continued to speak. "He put in a lot of effort for tonight, hoping to surprise you, to make you happy. The least you could have done was to say 'thank you'." "I..." Subaru was about to say something, but then he suddenly looked away when he realised how badly he had treated Kamui. "How is he?" he asked. "He is in his room," Sorata said. He did not have to explain more. Both knew what Kamui's current reaction would be. Subaru stood up. "Thank you, Arisugawa-kun. I think I'd better check on him." The monk suggested, "Bring the cake along." Subaru nodded and turned back towards the mansion. Sorata might be mistaken, but beneath the pale light of the moon, he thought he saw Subaru smile, albeit slightly. * The boy lay curled up on the bed, and sobbing mournfully. He regretted his silly plan to celebrate Subaru's birthday. Of all the Seals, he should have known best what other memories this day would bring. Hokuto was Subaru's twin, and she was dead because of him. "Go away!" Kamui shouted through his tears at the sounds of knocking on his door. However, instead of leaving, the intruder opened the door and entered the room. Kamui silently cursed himself for not locking it in the first place. "I'm all right, Sorata. Just leave me be," he pleaded sorrowfully. He had his back towards the door, unwilling to let the intruder see the pain in his heart written all over his face. Presently he felt someone sit on the bed beside him. He turned his body around and prepared to lash out against the Kansai monk. However, he stopped when he saw that the intruder was none other than Subaru. The onmyouji flashed a gentle half-smile. He held up the cake in his hand and said, "I can't possibly finish this on my own." "Su...ba...ru...?" The boy immediately sat up on the bed. The Sumeragi nodded apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kamui. It's just that, my birthday always bring back memories of my sister. While she was alive, she would bake a similar cake every year for the two of us to celebrate alone." "I didn't mean to remind you of unhappy things," Kamui told him softly and then he lowered his gaze. "But you also reminded me of the happy things. Neesan was always at her outrageous best during our birthdays. She once made me wear this similar red outfit to school on our fourteenth birthday and suggested that we exchanged classes for the day. She flirted around with several of my female classmates while pretending to be me. I got quite a few unwanted attentions from her male classmates. "I kept remembering the tragic time she died, but had almost forgotten about the happier times when she was alive." Subaru smiled again, and then he gently tugged the boy's arm, saying, "Come, let's dry your tears and then we'll share the cake together." The boy nodded. He quickly wiped his moist face with his sleeves and hopped off the bed in boyish excitement. * Later in the kitchen, Kamui watched with trepidation while Subaru sampled his first morsel of the cake. For the longest second of Kamui's life, Subaru did not say a word as he chewed quietly. Kamui's heart almost sank at the lack of reaction. But then Subaru looked up and said, "Neesan would have been proud." Kamui lit up, "Really?" Subaru nodded sincerely. The boy felt his heart glow with a gentle warmth, lit by the Sumeragi's comforting presence. He tried the cake as well. It was really delicious. He decided that Akira was really a great chef and teacher, and vowed to learn more from the man. From that very moment on, Kamui secretly nursed a new wish: to be able to personally cook for Subaru every day. He smiled at the gentle Sumeragi, his Special Person, and wished, "Happy birthday, Subaru." ----- Dreams of Sakura Home -- http://www.geocities.com/dreams_of_sakura X Shrine -- http://www.geocities.com/asuka_sg</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>