お誕生日おめでとう河川ちゃん

0.

Sachiko went into labor just before ten that morning and it took another twelve hours before her child was born. Which was absurd — little Hiroya came so easily, so why was her second taking forever!? 

She cursed her husband out the whole time, blaming anything from his genes to the fact that he didn’t come to the hospital until well after noon because he had to finish up a photo shoot. Nevermind the fact that she had screamed at him just this morning that he better not leave his work early like he did the week before when she had a false alarm.  Sachiko was rather fickle at the moment, but she was pregnant, the ultimate excuse for being so. 

Labor was long and agonizing and she was honestly considering going abroad to get her tubes tied because she never wanted to go through this again (why did she think having another child would be a great idea? Thinking of her dad and serious son was a great reminder).

But then it was done and over and Sachiko was holding her squirming newborn in her arms and all she could do was smile. And if there was a note of unease in her gut, it was just symptom of the prolong labor, nothing more. Hank and Hiroya were tittering around, trying to get a better look at the baby. 

“Hmm, so are we going with the name we picked out?” Hank asked, gently petting her head. 

Sachiko chuckled, brushing against her husband’s hand weakly. “It was all I could do from giving her a ridiculous name, like ‘Afon’.” Hank made am indignant sound that she chuckled at. “She’ll be Kasen,” a caste kiss to the child’s crown, “our little river in heaven.” 

---

7.

Kasen doesn’t remember much about her seventh birthday – just that kaasan left to go get vegetables for the stew they were going to eat and, when she returned, she wasn’t kaasan anymore. 

She doesn’t know what she did wrong,  but Kasen’s sure it was particularly bad because, until well past the new year, her mother couldn’t even look at her. 

Kasen stopped calling her 母さん that day when she became 母上 instead.

---

12.

Birthdays, especially her own, were more troublesome than Kasen thought they really should be. Her plan for the day was to play truant halfway through class and spend a few weeks worth of allowance in the arcade. But instead, Hiroya had kept his little lackies on her tail and, the moment classes were up, escorted her off of the school premises. Instead of heading home, which he probably should have done, the two of them headed into town. 

It was rather unexpected.

What was more unexpected was their destination — the local animal shelter. It took Hiroya some minutes to convince her that, no, it wasn’t a joke, and that she could really get a pet, but when it sank in…. Kasen was filled with such unbriddled joy the likes she had never felt before, and quickly went from kennel to kennel, petting dogs and letting kittens play with her fingers. Getting a pet was a huge responsibility, one that Kasen would have never thought to ask for (she could barely keep the class rabbit alive as it was), but the fact that Hiroya must have pleaded with their parents, no, with haha-ue to allow her the chance… It made her feel really happy. And worried, because wow, what did Kasen know about taking care of a person, she could only barely take care of herself, but mostly happy.

The moment she spotted the white puppy, Kasen knew he would have to be the one. Hiroya must had been at the shelter before because there was only the final paperwork to be done, which he began to finish with the same flourish as he completed all his assignments. He looked at his sister, who was hugging the dog to her chest. He gave a small smile and asked「まあ。かちゃんの子犬のなまえはなんですか？」

Kasen bit the inside of her cheek as she thought, only to get a slight pap on it to get her to stop. Ther girl glared at her older brother, before looking down at the puppy in her arms once again. A small smile tugged at her lips as she gave Hiroya a grateful smile. 「ジュバルわよ。」

This was the best birthday in a long time.

---

17.

This year, her birthday fell on a Saturday, which gave the SPI perfect reason to have a huge party in the city with the alumni. Which was kind of silly, because they were a club of three and most of the alumni who were off at universities across the country. But the ones nearby — that is to say, the ones that were worth keeping in contact with —  had wired money to get herself, and Jou, and Kizu down to Tokyo on the mid morning train. 

Kasen didn’t want to know how Homura-senpai convinced sensei to waive off a trip into city as a “club activity” so they could miss classes but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Senpai greeted them at the station, and her older brother was tagging along, “just to make sure there’s not going to be too much fun,” he added with a wink. Kasen rolled her eyes at how lame Hiroya was, but was rather happy that he was here, especially since they couldn’t see each other as often as she would like. 

It was…. strange, to say the least. They ended up in Akihabara and eating lunch at a maid cafe (which was strange and hillarious because the maids kept flocking to Aniki, trying to “curry” his favor. She hadn’t seen Hiroya go so red in years) before they explored the rest of the city.

And then they hit Ni-chome. The very different, very gay Ni-Chome.
Kasen didn’t even know her brother knew about gay nightlife, and she would readily admit that all her knowledge was second hand through BL manga.
There was a dive bar that Homura-senpai and Hiroya-nii went often, where drinks were cheap and plentiful (and watered down) and the staff didn’t look too closely at identification, the perfect place for a bunch of underage students to get smashed at.  

And they got smashed. Very, very smashed. 

(Homura and Hiroya-nii started making out. Kasen was jealous for all of three minutes before deciding that,no, watching her older brother and her high school crush suck face was kind of freaking hot, and it was a memory she’ll remember for the rest of her life)

(She doesn’t remember Jou stuttering as he drank more and more beer, trying to admit that he liked her. She also doesn’t remember that she had smiled at him goofily and had kissed him on the cheek and patted it and called him a ‘good boy’. Jou does, and he cherishes that memory for the years he goes without seeing Kasen).

They crashed at the duo’s apartment sometime after 3am, giggly and happy and more than a little drunk, but that was fine because they didn’t have classes, Hiroya always had advil and they had fun.

As she curled up on one of the makeshift beds made up of some spare pillows and a blanket, Kasen thought about her impending applications to schools too far away to meet up and hand out like this. At least it was one last chance to make good memories with them all. 

---

18.

Kasen turned 18 twice – 9 hours before the third of December. It was weird living almost half a day behind everyone she really cared about, but this past year she had learned how to make the most use of phone cards and memorized

Her father, working in America now, had called and mentioned she would be getting a package soon. It was probably a new tripod or filter for her camera, although maybe he had splurged and gotten a new lense. 

An early letter from Jou came in two days past – worried about how on time it would be, he sent it early. There was no return address on it, but there was a rather pretty choker that she decided to start wearing. 

Hiroya had called as well, although it was late in the evening for him, to wish her a happy birthday from both himself and her friends and someone named Tsubasa who worked at the office with him. He mentioned that Mother sent her regards, but the both of them knew that it was a rather blatant lie. Mother hardly acknowledged get, let alone in her birthday. 

She looked at the manuscript she was working on translating, before sighing. There was no way Kasen could concentrate so,  instead, she took her camera and walked out of her tiny dorm room. There was always something worth capturing in London. 

---

21.

Kasen spends her twenty-first birthday chasing shadows. And then being chased by shadows, after throughly pissing off the elder Lasombra who was trying to stake a claim in Shibuya. There was a whole plan to get him out of the city to give him his final death, but no one was expecting advanced obtenebration disciplines, and it was all around apoor idea to fight a shadow user in the woods. No, the city, despite the amount of innocents, would be better, where the lights would help diffuse some of his powers.

The others were heading back into the city, but that meant Kasen just had to keep ol’ fang face’s attention. Making fun of the Saabat’s practices and just how many she helped stake in Berlin and London did wonders for that

“Get down!”

Kasen knew that voice. She also knew that listening to it would probably be for the best Sui she dropped, sliding a few meters on the skipprry sidewalk as a small mechanical ball sailed over her head. She was already covering her face with her winter jacket as the UV Bomb connected with the vampire and detonated, bathing the area in artificial sunlight and utterly dusting the vampire. 

Coughing from the ash, Kasen stood up and sent a glare at the American. Her hands, no longer protected by the gloves she had taken off when she began her chase,  felt raw like they were sunburnt courtesy of the bomb, and there was probably going to be fantastic bruising on her back from when she fell off of that roof earlier that evening. “At least you weren’t a bleedin’ idiot and refrained from waving your shotgun around.” she said in lieu of a greeting, but there was a smile on her face. Alex laughed and started to recount what he had been up to since his and Hitomi’s disappearance from Berlin.

She spends the next few hours alternating between trading stories with her old mentor and  rounding up the rest of the Sabbat that was in get city, before Homura-senpai crashes with Jou on her tiny couch. The next couple more are spent with birthday well wishes from all over the world, some left in her email inbox and voicemail and, memorably, from a singing telegram.

(The fact that it was from Jou, who is standing there just as mortified add herself helps soothe the embarrassment. A bit)

Hiroya visited during his lunch and formally introduced his partner and Tsubasa spends that time playing with her hair and trying different styles. She goes to the family home, briefly, only long enough to give her mother a small nod and grab the mail and packages addressed to her before heading off. Later, she and Alex and Hitomi, finally awake from being put into a deep slumber during the duo’s flight to Japan, hang out in the older hunter’s hotel room. When the sun sets, Kasen and Hitomi, with Alex trailing behind, venture out into the city as the two girls talk about how Tokyo has changed since the vampire was living. 

It’s altogether another normal day for Kasen Himmelmez, hunter and friend to the supernatural. Surviving this long entrenched into this business is just as sweet a present as the cake she knows is waiting in her apartment.