Capítulo V- El 8 de noviembre

     Atsuki pinched the chopstick in her hand to pick up the leftover sushi she found in the refrigerator. She was sure it was Gojou's but she didn't care, it was payback for setting Principal Yaga's cursed corpse to a higher level yesterday. Especially since Gojou said she didn't need it anymore but still showed up with it anyway. She stopped chewing feeling a swift breeze wisping her wavy hair. She swallowed the food and looked to the right where the breeze came from, nothing was there.

     "Happy birthday, Atsuki!" Gojou shouted behind her.

     Atsuki screamed and jumped out of her chair. Gojou had a bright smile on his face with his hands in the air. "I could've choked on my food."

     "I made sure you didn't. Why do you think I didn't tell you happy birthday at the door?"

     Atsuki set the chopsticks on the table. "How'd you know it was my birthday?"

      "I know more than you think. My six eyes show me everything."

     "Yeah, right. How'd you find out."

     "You were part of the circus, your information is all over the internet. There's an article just about you and your interview with the reporter. It was like reading a book about your life."

     "That interview was fake. I lied about everything, my life isn't as interesting as I made it seem."

     "Did you lie about your birthday, too?"

     "No. That was one of the true things there. There's no reason to lie about my birthday."

     "Then, why didn't you tell me?"

     "I don't like my birthday. It's an annual reminder of how much I struggle to maintain myself."

     "Yeesh, that sounds depressing," he mumbled. All Atsuki did was scowl. "Well, now, we're gonna spend it together on a shopping spree! Yay!" He hopped up and down, throwing his hands in the air, "Yay!"

     "No, I can't spend your money like that," she shook her head.

     "But it's your birthday. You get special treatment."

     "Don't you have a class to teach?"

     "I gave them the day off just for you."

     "But stores don't have anything I wear 'cause I make all of my clothes," Atsuki gave her last excuse. She never had anyone spend money on her and Gojou using his money to buy her food was enough, she didn't want to waste more.

     Gojou grinned, "Then we'll go buy materials!"

     Atsuki sighed, there was no way out of this situation. She didn't want to be mean and snap at him after what he's done for her and offered to do. "Okay, fine. Let me finish eating and get ready."

     He gave a thumbs-up, "Tell me when you're ready." Gojou waved at her before exiting through the door.

     Atsuki smiled down at the three pieces of sushi left. A part of her felt nice having her birthday recognized. She wondered if any of the first-years knew it was her birthday as well. Gojou could be telling them right now. She pushed away from the thought for now and continued eating her food.

     Atsuki hadn't made any new clothing since she arrived in Tokyo. She ran out of materials and her income of money was no longer present. She used the money from the circus to pay for workout clothing and the little bit she had left was what she gained from her last and only mission. However, that didn't stop her from drawing sketches in her notebook with ideas. She stopped at the door grinning like a child receiving a toy, waiting for Gojou to catch up.

     When he was at a range, Atsuki opened the door for him but he held it himself to let her go through. The bright lights nearly blinded her vision upon entering. She ignored the yarn, sewing kits, and fabric paint at the front of the store, heading directly to the back where stacks of fabric were lined up.

      She started on the right and ran her fingers along with the cloth. Atsuki only paid attention to the bright colors and rubbed her fingers on the material. She was very picky, specifically, when it came to heavy material because it would flatten out her flaring skirts. She pulled out bundles of pinks, reds, oranges, blues, purples, and greens. An odd pattern of green deformed circles on a purple background caught her eye. She hadn't tried using patterns before, maybe she could find a way to now.

     "Could you hold these?" Atsuki asked.

     Gojou counted the stacks of material that needed to be cut at the front desk once they were in his hands. "Do you really need 20 different colors?"

     "Yeah. I make all of my clothes from shirts to my socks," she explained.

     "Where'd you learn to do all of this?"

     "I hated the clothes they sold for people at the circus. It was the same ugly red, yellow, and black colors. I wanted something colorful to grab people's attention and I've been sticking with it since then. I learned on my own through trial and error."

     "Yikes. That must've been a pain to learn."

     "It was. You should've seen my outfits when I was 11, I'm glad I burned those."

     Atsuki grabbed the purple and green patterned cloth she saw. Gojou fixed his sunglasses, eyeing the material. "I have a friend who wears funky ties like that."

     "They have great taste, then," she said, piling another material on top of the stack. "I think this should be enough," she tapped her finger on her chin.

     "You think? Don't you know how much you need?"

     "Not exactly but I do have an idea-" Atsuki gasped and set the four different patterned cloths into the pile Gojou held. She fled to the selection of ribbons and scanned the different colors. Her hands snatched the variety of colors to match the material she picked out. "Okay, that's all."

     "That was quick."

     "A woman knows what she wants."

     "You're 14."

     "I don't care, it still counts."

     Gojou set the piles of material on the counter and Atsuki spoke to the woman about what dimensions she needed. She memorized them at this point, it took Atsuki a long time to figure it out so she wouldn't buy too much or too little. The woman wrote them down and grabbed her fabric scissors.

     Holding the ribbons in her hands, Atsuki looked up at Gojou, "At least you didn't leave me like last time."

     He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Realization struck him and memories of the day they first went shopping to get Atsuki clothes for training flooded his head. He denied,  "I didn't leave you."

     "I was in the dressing room trying the clothes on and when I stepped out you were gone."

     "Well, to be fair, she first talked to me. I was being nice. Why does it matter anyway? You scared her off when you called me dad and mentioned your 'mom'."

     "Or maybe your eyes scared her. They glow in the dark and imagine waking up to that in the middle of the night." She tightly pressed the ribbons to her chest with her arms as she used her thumb and index finger to widen her eyes. An illusion covered her eyes, replacing her purple iris with Gojou's.

     "Well, my eyes have been complimented many times before. So it's highly impossible. I'm looking at them now and they are the best I've ever seen."

     Atsuki blinked, discarding the illusion. "I'm just saying."
    
     The woman was done cutting out her fabric and typed the type of material and size into the machine. Atsuki carefully placed the ribbons on the counter too. The employee added them and told the price to Gojou. She cringed hearing the price unlike him who didn't seem phased. He paid with no hesitation.

     Atsuki thanked the woman and grabbed the two bags, Gojou took the other three. As they stepped outside, Atsuki awkwardly thanked him.

     "Oh, it was nothing," he dismissed with a smile.

     Atsuki turned away from him and searched for the car. She wanted to give him something in return for what he bought today. Growing up with limited money took a toll on her and being the first time someone has bought her something, it gave her a sense of guilt. Someday she'll repay him, not only as guilt but for everything he has done.

     Atsuki strapped on her seatbelt and leaned against the seat, crossing her arms. Ever since she started training, she had been more tired than usual. Over the course of time, Atsuki would be sure she'd be less tired and not fall asleep wherever she could. Car rides were something that put her to sleep, maybe because she would always sleep in her moving circus cart when they were traveling.

     By the time they arrived, Atsuki and Gojou grabbed the bags from the backseat and traveled to her dorm. He had been unusually quiet since the car stopped, his free hand typed something into his phone before he snuck it back into his pocket.

     Atsuki furrowed her eyebrows, "You're scaring me being this quiet. Say something, it's getting weird."

     "Me, scary? Fine, you'll be training with Maki again tomorrow."

     She groaned, "Except for that."

     Gojou opened the door to Atsuki's dorm. She turned on the lights and screamed, eyeing five people in front of her bed. "SURPRISE!" Maki, Panda, and Yuuta more specifically Panda and Yuuta, exclaimed.

     Toge waved at her, she could see his eyes shrink meaning he was smiling underneath the scarf he wore, "Kelp."

     A boy with spikey hair dressed in dark clothing kept his hands in his pants pockets, remaining quiet. His facial features didn't change much other than the displeased look from Atsuki screaming.
    
     Atsuki's eyebrows shot up, "What?" She set the bags down and turned to Gojou, "I am very confused."

     "It's a surprise party!" His empty hands gestured to the five teens. "People in the West really like to celebrate people's birthdays and since you've never had your birthday celebrated-"

     "Don't tell everyone."

     "Why not throw you a party!"

     Atsuki glanced between Gojou and the teenagers on the other side of the room. "I don't know what to say."

     "You don't have to," he bent down and ruffled her hair.

     Atsuki pouted, pushing his hand away. Her palm glided down her hair, attempting to flatten the hair flies. "I told you not to do that." He shrugged walking to the teenagers across the room. She followed behind him and stood in front of the unknown boy, "And who are you?"

     "Atsuki, this is Megumi Fushiguro," Gojou answered for him. "He's been going through a rebellious phase since the new school year started. So don't mind his attitude."

     "Beating up kids isn't a rebellious phase," Maki scoffed.

     Megumi glared at Gojou and Maki. "He'll be a first-year with you next year. So try to get along," Gojou smiled.

     Megumi faced her and the only thing he said was, "Call me Fushiguro."

     "Noted," she nodded.

     "See, friends already," Gojou ruffled both Fushiguro and Atsuki's hair. They both gave the grown man matching glares at his gesture.

     Atsuki faced her friends and Yuuta grinned, "Happy birthday, Atsuki."

     "Thanks," she smiled with her lips pressed. She would've been less awkward if Fushiguro wasn't here. It felt like he was judging her under that emotionless face. It made her want to pinch his cheeks or curve up a smile on his face with her fingers. She would do anything to not make him look annoyed.

     "We bought you a new deck of cards!" Panda held the cards in his big palm.

     "We heard you lost them at the hospital," Yuuta recalled, "and we got you new ones when we couldn't find the complete set back at the hospital." Atsuki smiled at the thought of her friends using their time to look for her cards.

     Maki crossed her arms over her chest, "It was a pain getting these, we couldn't decide which ones to get."

     Toge agreed, "Salmon." He pointed to Maki with his thumb, "Spiced cod roe."

     Atsuki laughed at Maki, "I'm not surprised you disagree with them."

     She snapped her head to her, "Well, you like bright colors, don't you? They almost picked a dark purple cause it 'matched your eyes'."

     She took the bright pink cards that matched the pink on her skirt, "I would've loved my gift either way."

     "Whatever."

     "Thank you." She dumped the cards out of the box and shuffled them in her hands, "Let's play a couple of games."

     All of them, except Fushiguro, gathered at the table. He helped himself to the couch in her room and scrolled through his phone. He often glanced up from it to look at Atsuki and the one thing he asked himself every time was what was she wearing?

     Ruffles of pink, yellow, and small streaks of glittery orange material were sewed together to make a skirt that went to her knees. A matte orange material that matched the glittery streaks mixed into her skirt stuck to her waist and was tucked into her skirt. Her flared sleeves waved in the air every time she moved her arms around or pointed at someone accusing her of cheating by concealing the true card with her illusions. The white tights covered her legs and a pair of dark purple heels completed the outfit.

     Not only did he find the way she dressed peculiar, but the way her makeup was done as well. Shades of pink plastered her left eyelid and yellows packed the other, matching her skirt. Sharp eyeliner traced Atsuki's slender eyes. Her lashes touched her cheeks as she laughed at everyone's pouting faces every time she won. And her cheekbones shone underneath the light above her table from the applied golden highlighter.

     There was no doubt in Megumi's mind she got looks wherever she went.

     Atsuki turned her head meeting Fushiguro's blue eyes. She knew he had been staring at her but she finally turned to meet him. "You guys keep playing. Give me a second."

     Fushiguro looked back down at his phone. He fought the urge to roll his eyes when he saw her heels at the top of his vision. He ignored her when she sat next to him. Unfortunately, it was impossible because she lowered her head next to his phone.

     "I could feel you staring," Atsuki called him out, "it isn't too late to join us."

     "I'm not interested."

     "I'm not cheating, I swear."

     "I don't care if you're cheating."

     "Just one game. I don't want to make you feel left out."

     Fushiguro set his phone down. His eyebrow twitched in annoyance, nearly giving away his expressionless face. Atsuki didn't notice it. She was too busy looking at his eyes. "If I play one game will you leave me alone?"

     "Hm, okay," she agreed. Atsuki stood up and pranced back to the table with Fushiguro.

     Megumi stayed for more than one game.

-

I wrote this birthday chapter for funsies and cause I wanted to. Theres like 3 or 4 more chapters until the second act which will be the actual show

-Aithusa