Chapter: XIV

Title: Happy Birthday

A/N: It's Kyouya's birthday. And I'm letting up on the angst a bit. Also, that plot I mentioned a while back? Er, it might not be as big as I thought... oh well. This focuses on Kyouya and Kiyomi anyway. Can't have anyone else stealing the spotlight, lol.

On the day of May 5, Kyouya was woken by his smiling sister who softly sung him the Happy Birthday song. Kyouya didn't see what was so happy about his birthday, but seeing his sister smiling and singing at him made him swallow his words. He might be sad that his parents were not there to celebrate his seventh birthday with him, but that didn't mean he should take out his anger on Kiyomi. After all, the older girl was only trying to make him happy and if Kyouya was honest to himself, he really appreciated the gesture.

After the two siblings had breakfast with their grandparents (who both greeted Kyouya on his special day with smiles on their faces as well) the four Hibari's filed out to the yard where a bamboo pole that wasn't there the day before rose out of the ground. Feeling a little bit more excited, Kyouya took the carp kite that his grandmother handed to him and watched as his grandfather hung a much larger carp kite on the bamboo pole first. Kyouya knew that, as tradition dictated, the largest kite that represented the patriarch of the household went first, then the slightly smaller carp kite that represented the matriarch (in the Hibari's case, Fuyuki) came next, followed by progressively smaller carp kites representing Kiyomi and Kyouya.

Once the kites were hung, the family stepped back and looked up at them in satisfaction. Kyouya was still a little sad that his father and mother weren't there to celebrate with them like the years before, but at least the tradition wasn't broken. And besides, he had his sister and his grandparents. That was all right.

With the kite hanging finished, the family went back into the house to get ready. They left home to go to a temple where Kyouya was blessed and the family prayed for his health and happiness. Afterwards they went to the cemetery to visit Kyou and Keiko. Kyouya prayed to his parents, promising that he would find the person who killed them like he always did. He didn't notice his sister giving him a sad little smile.

Once their visit was over, Kyouharu and Fuyuki took the children out for a special treat. They brought the kids to a festival where they played games, won prizes, and ate good food (their favorite being mochi wrapped in oak leaves). Kyouya found himself having fun for the first time in a long while and Kiyomi was visibly delighted with the change in her brother.

When they got home, they had a big dinner in honor of Kyouya's special day and a yummy chocolate cake was brought in for dessert. Kiyomi proudly exclaimed that she helped their grandmother bake it. Kyouya expressed his doubt on how edible the cake would be, earning him an indignant yell from his sister which in turn caused him to snicker good-naturedly.

Once the candles were lit and the birthday song was sung, Kyouya posed to blow out the flames. In his mind he knew that he had to make a wish and the first thing that came to his mind was revenge for his parents. However, after taking in his sister's grin and his grandparents' proud expression, he changed his mind at the last second.

I wish everyday could be like this.

A/N: Apparently, May 5 is not only Kyouya's birthday, but also a national Japanese holiday called Children's Day (formerly Boy's Day) and it is part of Golden Week which I've always wondered what the date was. I put in a few Children's Day traditions (hanging carp kites/streamers on a bamboo pole outside the house and eating mochi wrapped in oak leaves) and I will admit I wrote this on a bit of a rush, since I can see that this chapter wasn't very emotionally pleasing. Eh, it's fine that way… some chapters are just shitter then others, lol.