Someone's Birthday..., 01/10

[Inoue Takashi]

He sat at the table in the dining room, fingers drumming on the table, head leaning against the back of his hand, eyebrows twitching in slight annoyance. Takashi frowned.

"Otou-san, hayaku," he said impatiently. "Ittainannan desuka? What in the world are you trying to tell me?"

From across the table, Inspector Inoue Rishimasu beamed at his son. He seemed rather excited. "Well, it's your birthday today, so I invited some of your friends over. It'll be fun that way! What more is there to taking time off from work and be with my son?"

Takashi rubbed his temples, holding in his annoyance. He was looking forward to a quiet little celebration with his father, not a party. "I don't have any friends," he muttered under his breath.

Rishimasu heard him though. "What do you mean you don't have any friends?" he asked, placing both hands on the table and looking intently at Takashi. "I've already invited Yoshinari-kun, Yasashi-chan and Arano-chan, and asked them to bring anyone they know over as well. It's much more interesting than a quiet party of two, won't it?"

"Otou-san, this is an apartment, my home, not a party place!" Takashi retorted.

"Now, now, either we have a good birthday party for you, or live an eternal dull life. This is an order from me as an inspector," Rishimasu said firmly.

"I'm not a police officer," Takashi answered.

Rishimasu gave a forced smile. "You're such a kidder, Takashi-chan."

[Yoshinari Natsuichi]

Natsuichi was at Takashi's apartment earlier than expected. He had taken the opportunity to look for a present. The invitation came around too suddenly, and usually he didn't bother to get Takashi a present because he knew the head prefect wasn't fond of them. But Inspector Inoue was insistent.

He didn't wait for Arano. She would come anyway. He stood in front of the door and rang the bell, the little wrapped gift in his coat's pocket.

[Inoue Takashi]

"You know I don't invite people into my apartment and you know why," Takashi retorted. "What if someone decides to be nosey and---"

"Nonsense, your friends aren't like that," Inoue said firmly. "Are they?"

"Have you met Akira?" the boy muttered.

Inoue thought for a moment. "Good point. Oh, someone's coming. Why don't you go and seal it or something while I get the door? And hurry."

Takashi rolled his eyes. His father was typical like that. After he had left, Inoue hurried to the door and opened it with a smile. "Natsuichi-kun! Good to have you here. Come in, come in."

[Yoshinari Natsuichi]

"Arigatou, Inoue-keibu," Natsuichi said with a bow as he took the invitation to enter. He examined his surrounding. He had never been in there, since Takashi never invited him, but the apartment looked like any other. So much for expecting the best from the head prefect.

"Where's Takashi?" he asked, walking into the living room. He noticed that he was the first to arrive.

[Inoue Takashi]

"He's inside, he'll be out in a moment," Inoue replied. "Have a seat, I'll bring some drinks."

Just as Inoue went to the kitchen, Takashi returned, having done what he had to do. He lifted a hand when he saw Natsuichi, and that was his greeting.

"You've come alone," he observed next.

[Yoshinari Natsuichi]

Natsuichi grinned, standing up to greet the birthday boy. "Happy birthday to you, Inoue. Yes, I've come alone. I can't always stick to the girls. Nice decoration, by the way."

He was talking about the little streamers that were hanging from the ceiling.

[Inoue Takashi]

"It was not my doing, but thanks for the compliment," Takashi replied. He was looking at the streamers with distaste. His father had sneaked into the house and done the decoration that morning when he was out on his morning jog. Typical.

[Riosamu Arano]

Arano had spent that whole morning looking for a present for Takashi, but she found out that he was hard to shop for. Everything she looked at, she thought would be too cheesy to get him, or he wouldn't care for it.

Finally, she got him a gift card so that he and his father could go out to eat later that evening or sometime soon, and have some father-son bonding time.

"Wonder if he'll like it..." the young girl said, walking up the door to his apartment. She stood there for a few seconds, peering down at the small paper in her hand that had told her the address, before ringing the doorbell.

The gift card was safely hidden in her pocket.

[Inoue Takashi]

Another visitor. Takashi could hear his father hollering to him from the kitchen to open the door. He did not want to, but he figured he had to since he was the host. With a sigh, he went and opened the door.

"Hey," he said, not the least surprised to see Arano, nor excited. Nor disappointed. He was just being typical.

[Riosamu Arano]

"Happy birthday!" Arano exclaimed, rocking back and forth on her feet. She held her hands behind her back patiently, looking as though she hadn't gotten him anything. "How has your birthday been so far?"

[Inoue Takashi]

"Just great." He meant it in a sarcastic way, but the tone just was not there. Arano looked happy though, better not to touch her in a bad way especially with Natsuichi watching from the living room (yes, he knew Natsuichi's feeling---and he did not need Natsuichi to tell him that).

Takashi stepped to one side so that Arano could enter. "Come in." He should have added 'if you like' behind that, but he knew the girl would enter anyway.

[Riosamu Arano]

Arano walked inside after the invitation, and noticed Natsuichi had already arrived. "So are we only missing one person then?" she asked, turning back to face Takashi, a quizzical look on her face.

She couldn't help but let her eyes wander around. It definately looked to be a normal apartment.

[Yoshinari Natsuichi]

Natsuichi got up immediately when Arano entered. He smiled. "You got here safely then. Thought you might get lost," he joked.

"Inoue-keibu said we could invite more people. Did you not, Arano?"

[Riosamu Arano]

Arano scowled at Natsuichi for his first statement, but replied to the second, "I invited Thomas, you know, from school?"

She wasn't sure if they knew him, since he didn't generally hang out with them that much. She shrugged though, she thought he would want to come, and went ahead and invited him, hoping that Takashi wouldn't mind.

[Yoshinari Natsuichi]

"Thomas?" Natsuichi thought for a moment, but he wasn't all thinking about who it was. Instead, he was wondering why Arano didn't invite a girl. He hadn't met this boy yet either. He had to see what good he had that made Arano invite him.

"Er, your classmate, is it?" he asked, putting aside the thought.