[7] - Birthday
Risa was awakened by the sizzling sound that echoed from the kitchen not long after the morning sun had rose. He stretched his body lazily and gotten up onto his feet, making his way into the kitchen. "What are you doing, Risa asked while yawning. "Excuse me." Risa apologised as he covered his mouth.
"Shhh." Erina hushed, ignoring the question raised by Risa.
Risa pressed that hand on his mouth tighter, just as ordered by Erina. "What are you doing?" Risa asked again, in a quieter voice this time round.
"I'm preparing my surprise for Ai-nee." Erina whispered back as she flipped over the piece of ham in the pan.
"Surprise?" Risa repeated.
"It's Ai-nee's birthday today. . ." Erina explained.
"It's her birthday today?"
Erina nodded her head in response. "Can you help me to check if my sister is up yet? I still need a little more time to beauty up the meal." Erina requested. Without waiting for the response of Risa, Erina pushed Risa rather roughly towards the direction of Ai's room before turning her attention back to the stove.
"I - " Risa tried to refute but failed. With his shoulders slouched, he dragged his feet across the halls. The sound of his footstep awoke the other sleeping prince on the couch.
"Hmmm. . ." Prince whined. He jumped off the wooden couch and rushed directly to the direction of Ai's room, pushed the door opened and entered the room just like his daily affair, for his customary daily affection from Ai as his wake up gift.
"Wait!" Risa called out quietly and followed closely behind the prince, as he did not want Prince to awake Ai from sleep.
Prince opened the door using his muzzle, pushing the door open to a size that was big enough for his entry. Risa stopped outside the room, froze in his actions.
"Good Morning, Ouji. " Risa heard Ai greeted from his position.
'You got to be kidding me. . . ' Risa felt his cheeks growing hot. He gulped a mouthful of saliva down his throat, hoping that would calm his racing heart down. From the opening of the door, Risa saw Ai, stood beside her bed, half naked - only with her undergarments on -, with the puppy snuggling into her bra bounded chest.
'Milky white. . . ' His vision went from the chest level down the perfect long legs that Ai possessed. Risa gulped again. Then, realisation snapped him awake. He looked away immediately.
'What are you doing?!' Risa scolded himself inwardly. He brought his wrist and gave it a hard bit, hoping that would stop the memory of Ai's bare chest from forming in his mind.
Deciding that it was not a good decision to remain standing at where he was, knowing that Ai was to come out at anything sooner, Risa made his way back into the kitchen, where he stood beside Erina, with his head facing down, eyes staring nervously at his feet.
"So is Ai-nee up yet?" Erina whispered quietly to the Penguin who had just returned back to the kitchen.
'How I wish I'm that fake prince. . . To be treated so gently by her. . . And too be able to snuggle into that chest. . .' Risa's mind drifted away without him realising what he was thinking. The shades on his cheeks deepened upon that thought.
"Has Ai-nee woke up?" Erina asked again, slightly louder than the previous time she asked. She waited a few moments for an answer, yet nothing as such had happened. Impatient about the lack of reply, Erina looked up from the from the pan and saw Risa standing like a metal pole that were buried deep in the ground, with his face as red as the tomatoes that Erina was about to add into the pan. Learning her sister's favourite way to treat Risa, Erina smacked the top of Risa's head, though not as forceful as what her sister did, snapping Risa out of his daze.
"Ouch!" Risa cried out loud, only to have his gapping mouth muffled by Erina.
"What is wrong with you, Penguin?" Erina hushed quietly. "Why is your whole face so red?" Erina continued as she observed the redness that flushed the whole of Risa's face.
"Not - nothing." Risa stuttered.
"Is Ai-nee up?" Erina repeated her question once again.
Risa nodded his head shyly, unable to prevent himself from remembering what he had saw just moments ago.
"Why didn't you say it earlier?!" Erina pushed Risa out of the kitchen. "Halt her for me. I'm just a few seconds to completion!"
Before Risa could reject the idea, he was already pushed out of the kitchen. When he looked forward, he saw Ai standing right before his nose, with Prince sitting on her arm. "What are you doing?" Ai narrowed her eyes at Risa. "What are you doing in the kitchen?" Ai continued her questioning.
"I - I - " Risa stuttered. He was unable to make direct eye contact with Ai, as every contact he made led to more blushing on his face.
"Ai-nee, Happy Birthday!" Erina jumped out from the kitchen, saving Risa from his nervousness. Ai jumped up in surprise as Erina appeared before her. Tears of happiness dwelled at Ai's eyes. "Look, Ai-nee, I made you breakfast!" Erina rushed forward to Ai and presented her birthday present to Ai. "Try it!" Erina continued earnestly.
Ai patted Erina's head softly. "You don't have to do that. . . " Ai thanked with tears in her eyes. She placed Prince back onto the ground before pulling Erina gently into her embrace. "Thank you." Ai whispered softly into Erina's ear.
When Erina pulled away from the hug, she presented the tray up to Ai's level. "Try my cooking, Ai-nee." Erina asked again.
Ai picked the pair of chopsticks up from the tray and picked the food up from the plate before placing it into her mouth, chewing it a few bits before swallowing down her throat. "It's good, Erina!" Ai smiled to Erina with her closed mouth. Just then knocking on the main door echoed into the house. "Penguin, get the door." Ai ordered.
Risa hurried to the door immediately, hoping that with Ai out of sight, the redness on his face will subside. Just as what he wanted, the heat he felt on his cheek went away as soon as he opened the door. Sourness began to fill in his mouth the moment he saw the visitor at the door.
"Happ-" Miki stopped the moment he realised that it was not Ai at the door. "Why are you the one who had opened the door?" Miki asked, rather unfriendly.
"Well, I'm asked to get the door, you see." Risa answered in a rather hostile way.
'Why am I acting this way again?' Miki decided to ignore Risa. Instead, he brushed pass Risa and made his way into the house. "Happy Birthday." Miki wished as he stopped before Ai, pulling the bouquet of flowers he had been hiding behind his back and gave it to Ai. "Hope you will like this." Miki continued.
"Tha- thank you. " Ai stuttered a little as she received the flowers from Miki.
"Do you like the present I asked Koharu to deliver to you a few days back?" Miki asked.
Ai nodded her head shyly. "What are you doing here today?" Ai asked.
"Didn't you read the letter that came with the puppy?"
"There is?" Ai raised a tone , in surprise. "I didn't see it." Ai kept her head low down as she continued.
"It's alright. Now that you know it now, shall we leave now?" Miki stuck his hands into his pants pocket.
Ai looked around for a while and hesitated a little, before nodding her head. Erina pouted a little upon seeing her sister's response as she knew that Ai would not be able to savour the breakfast she had spent the whole morning preparing. "Erina, gomen ne." Ai apologised when she saw the pout on Erina face.
"It's alright." Erina took a deep breath first before replying Ai. "I can finish it with Penguin. Ai-nee will not need to worry about me." Erina finished with a slight smile.
"I will be back soon." Ai placed her right hand on Erina's forehead. "I'm ready to leave." Ai turned to Miki and said.
"Just like this?" Miki asked as he gazed at Ai from head to tail.
"Is- is there anything wrong?" Ai shuttered as she glanced down at her own outfit. It was her usual outfit - a simple long pants and a simple tank top.
Miki smile. "No. There's nothing wrong with it." Miki assured. "Let's go." Miki continued as he held onto Ai's hand, guiding her out of the house.
Risa's eyes went straight wide open when he saw the joining arms of Ai and Miki. He pressed his lips tightly together as he fumed in slight anger. He remained in that way for a while, until a gentle slap on his upper arm snapped him out of it.
"Yes?" Risa turned around, expecting to see Ai before her, only to find Erina before him.
"Shall we try my cooking together?" Erina chipped, obviously had gotten over the fact that her sister had left without finishing the breakfast she had spent lots of effort preparing.
"Okay. . . " Risa trailed off quietly. He followed closely behind Erina to the dining table and settled down. Erina went into the kitchen to fetch two sets of new utensils before joining Risa back at the dining table.
"Try it." Erina urged after she had passed the utensils over to Risa. "Ai-nee said it's nice. How do you think about it?" Erina continued.
Without any hesitation, Risa picked up a piece and place it into his mouth, swallowing it after a few chews. "It's delicious!" Risa commented.
"Really?" Erina's eyes shone in excitement.
"You are definitely a better cook as compared to your sister. " Risa praised as he picked up another serving of the dish and placed it into his mouth.
"Really?" Erina yelped again in excitement, genuinely elated by the fact that Risa was praising her. The contentment she felt when Risa praised her was way greater than what she felt when Ai had praised her.
'Penguin said I'm a good cook! I'm so happy!' "Maybe you can take over the cooking role from your sister, and I will be absolutely glad about it." Risa continued as he cleared the dish.
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"Why are we going today?" Ai held back her usual loud self as she asked rather shyly. They were seated side by side, at the back seat of the Fujimoto's aristocratic vehicle.
"I have planned a wonderful day for you today, just for your birthday, Ai. You don't have to know where are we going nor what are we doing. You will know it when we get there." Miki replied gentlemanly.
"Okay. " Ai responded almost inaudibly.
The vehicle continued to advance towards destination Miki had in mind - A place that Ai had never been before. When they reached, Ai was too shocked, to the fact that she could not speak anything. There she found herself seated in the most expensive restaurant in the city of Strawberry. The restaurant was all empty. It was just Ai and Miki alone.
"Just be yourself, Ai. You don't have to feel uneasy. There's no one else over here." Miki initiated a conversation.
Ai nodded her lightly in acknowledgement, yet unable to follow what Miki had said. She felt herself so out of place in mist of all the posh furnishing of the restaurant. She had slightly regretted the fact that she had not change into a better set of clothing when Miki asked if she was going to go out with him with the set of clothing that hung on her body right at this moment.
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"Are you not feeling well today?" Miki asked when he walked along Ai's side. The sun had set and the once blue sky was now covered with complete darkness. After the lunch at the restaurant, Miki brought Ai to a visit to an art museum then dinner at another high class eating place, before deciding to send Ai back by foot after the chauffeur had dropped them off at some distance away from the Ikuta's place.
Ai shook her head immediately. "What made you think so?" Ai added on quickly.
"You have not eaten much at the restaurants today. . . Are they not to your liking?" Miki concerned.
Ai shook her head again as she looked at her hands then her feet. "I just don't feel hungry today. . ." Ai answered quietly.
"Hey look up!" Ai heard Miki saying, as she felt a warm hand wrapping around her right palm. Ai looked at the pair of hands in surprise. She wanted to pull her hands back, yet, lack of the courage to do it. Allowing Miki to hold her hands, Ai looked up as asked by Miki and find herself surrounded by the millions of stars high ahead. "Isn't that amazing?" Miki continued.
Ai found herself fawning over the scenery before her.
'After staying here for the last 25 years, this is my first time watching over these stars in this way. . . I had never notice their beauty before today. . .' Just as Ai was lost in her own thoughts, a pair of warm lips touched her lips, sending Ai to jump back a big step. Her eyes went wide opened and stared at Miki, in shock.
"Sorry that I had startled you, but I just wanted to give you a birthday kiss. I hope you won't mind it." Miki took a step closer towards Ai and apologised.
"It's alright. . . " A rather awkward smile twitched at the corner of Ai's lips.
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Risa was seated alone in the living, on the corner of his mattress when he heard the house door went slamming close. Prince immediately stood up from his position - the middle of Risa's mattress - and went straight to the door, welcoming Ai back home.
"Why are you so late? Erina waited for you for a long time before she fell asleep." Risa asked in a random way as he quickly occupy his place on his mattress, before the selfish Prince had decided to return and take up the mattress like he usually did.
No reply had return. Instead a slight growling of the stomach followed by another slamming of the door responded to Risa. Risa sat up immediately and look towards the direction of Ai's room.
'Is that her stomach that growled just now, or was it mine?' Risa wondered in his mind.
'She sounds like she's really angry too. . . Did anything happen?' Risa continued.
'Didn't My father taught me that a hungry man is an angry man? That sounds possible, isn't that so?' Risa leaned back, allowing himself to fall back onto the mattress.
'Should I get her some food? Well, I don't think so right? Even if I want to, there isn't any edible food in the fridge right now, there's nothing much I can do. . . But she has taken care of my hungry stomach in the past too, didn't she? Though they weren't really very appealing to the stomach at their sight. . . But I can't cook for nuts! What can I do about it? Hmmm. Maybe I can try making the omelette rice that I had seen her cooking before?' Risa battled in his mind.
With that, Risa sat up again and gotten back onto his feet before making his way back into the kitchen.
When he was done with the food, he placed it on the dining table before heading towards Ai's room. Outside the room, he hesitated for a moment about knocking the door.
'Well . . . If she's hungry, she will come out to look for food to eat, won't she? If I knock on her door right now, high chances is that she would smack me on my head, considering the time now, late 11 in the night. . . Risa analysed in his mind. Deciding that this decision of his was the best of the best, Risa backed away from the door and returned back to the living - his room. That was until he felt a tug on his pants.
Risa looked down and saw Prince biting on the ends of his pants, seemingly wanting to drag him to the door that leads him out of the hut. "Where do you wanna to go at such a time, selfish Ouji?" Risa asked Prince by the nickname given by him. Though Prince was small in size, the amount of space Prince took on Risa's mattress was way larger than his size, often adding up to Risa's problem of insomnia.
Prince did not respond to Risa. Instead, he yelped once at him before tugging him again on his pants.
"Strawberry girl is going to come out if you do that, Selfish Ouji." Risa continued, wanting to escape back to his bed. However, what he expected did not happen. Prince continued to pull Risa to the main door. "You mean she's outside?" Risa asked.
Prince stopped tugging and barked once more, before returning to his work on the ends of Risa's pants.
"But didn't she returned back home already? Why would she be outside?" Risa continued asking.
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'I can't believe that he took my first kiss!' Ai grumbled in her mind as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand repeatedly.
'And you coward Ai, why is it that you did not have the courage to tell Miki off.' Ai scolded herself. She was seated in the mist of the blooming strawberry plants as she looked up onto the starry skies.
'And there goes the dreams of the special first kiss. . . ' The thought of the disappearance of the fantasies of first kiss brought a few tears to Ai's tired eyes. "And I always thought I will share my first kiss with someone that I love. . ." Ai sighed sadly. She wiped away that few tears away with her right thumb before resting her face into her arms.
'This is definitely my worse birthday. Not only that I'm 25 this year and lost my first kiss, this is one of my hungriest day ever. . . Ai ranted in her mind.
Just then, an unexpected voice startled her.
"Why are you doing here alone? Aren't you suppose to be back in your room sleeping?"
"WUA!" Ai famous man scream echoed over the 100 hectors field. "Will you stop startling me in this way, Penguin?" Ai scolded. "What are you doing out here?" She continued.
"Sel- Ouji brought me out . . ." Risa explained.
Ai looked around her surroundings and could not find Prince. "Stop lying." Ai reprimanded.
"I'm not. "
"You are." Ai insisted.
"Whatever." Came the best way to end the argument. "I made some Omelette rice. Do you want some?" Risa continued as he settled beside Ai.
"You made? Stop kidding me." Ai snickered a little as she gave Risa a slight push on the forehead. "I'm not hungry anyway, even it's real. " Ai continued. But, her stomach had betrayed her. Just as she said that, her stomach had protested and growled on loud time, causing Risa to chuckle out loud.
"Take it." Risa said between his laughter as he place the dish on Ai's hand.
The sight of her favourite dish caused her to salivate immediately. Putting her pride away, she picked the spoon up before stuffing it into her mouth, in a huge mouthful amount. She was surprised at the taste of it. "You added strawberries?" Ai asked.
"Huh?" Risa could not understand what Ai had asked as Ai had spoke with her mouth full of food.
Ai took her time to swallow. "You added strawberries?" Ai asked again. Risa nodded his head in response. "I thought you hate them to the extent that the smell of them makes you feel like vomiting? "
"Well, you liked them, don't you?"
That sentence itself made Ai's heart to dwell in unexplained sweetness. She lowered her head down to finish her food.
"So, what are you doing alone out here?"
"Miki took my first kiss. . ." Ai blurted out unknowingly.
"Eh?"
"It's all ruined." Ai continued dejectedly.
Risa began to giggle uncontrollably to himself. It was not long enough that he could no longer contain his smile to himself that he began to burst out into huge laughter.
"What's so funny?" Ai looked up at Risa with her famous stare. Risa shook his head in response, though still laughing.
'Why is she so cute? Being so upset that her first kiss was stolen? That's not her first kiss in the first place. Risa smiled in his mind.
"It's not funny at all!" Ai raised her hand and smack Risa on his right forehead - where Risa had attain a cut would on the night Ai was drunk. It was so that Ai had finally realise the rather obvious scar on that forehead. "Why did you have a scar over here? How did you get it?" Ai demanded, unsure what had gotten her to be so worked up. The thought of someone else other than herself bullying the Penguin irked her in a sour way.
"That - I - " Risa stuttered at the sudden question.
'There is no way I can allow her to know what had happen. She would have kill me if she remembers that kiss that night - her real first kiss. If the fact that that Miki had taken her first kiss had caused her sulking, she will kill me off when she found out I'm the actual one who had received her first kiss.' "Who was it?" Ai demanded again.
Just then a wave of unknown memory came flashing back to her.
"You need to clean up properly. . . if not it's going to get infected." Ai slugged her words. She took cotton and antiseptic cream out of the box and began to wipe it on the broken skin. Ai brought her face really near Risa's, trying to get a better view of the wound through her blurred vision, an effect from the alcohol.
Ai felt her breath halted at the thought of the memory.
'Is that real? or Was that my hallucination or something that I wish for it to happen?' Ai lost in her mind.
'It almost felt like I could feel his warm breath on my lips and my cheeks. . . "What happened?" Risa's voice broke Ai's thoughts. "Why is your face running so red? Are you feeling cold?"
Ai turned around and came to an direct eye contact with Risa.
"Ye- yes?" Risa stuttered, yet once again. He could sense the difference in Ai's glare at him now. Before he knew it, Ai pulled in face closer to him, holding him by his neck and pressed her lips on his.
Risa tasted a scent of sweetness on his lips.
'Is that the taste of strawberry?' The moment did not last. Before he knew it again, the warmth on his lips were long gone.
Ai pulled away from Risa and quickly stood up to her feet, fleeing away from where Risa was.
'That night was true. It did happened. ' The thought ran past Ai's mind as she raced her way back home.
'But. . . why am I feeling this way? Why was that the memories of the kiss, and that the actual kiss itself don't irk me off at all? Why is it that. my heart raced at the contact? '
@ rndmnwierd : Heheh. Well, the real prince is being abuse by the whole Ikuta family. . .hahahah
@ risa_ai : Yupps. Gaki ate it. . .that's why it tasted different
Hehehe
@ arisa03 : Well, not before, but now Ai had remembered what happened that night . . . . heheheh
sorry for the long wait!!
hope you have enjoyed this chapter
hehehe