Title: Happy Birthday, Nagisa-kun
Series: Free!
Rating: T
Characters: Rei Ryugazaki, Nagisa Hazuki, Haruka Nanase, Makoto Tachibana, Rin Matsuoka, Aiichiro Nitori, Gou Matsuoka
Pairings: Reigisa (main), Makoharu (side), Rintori (side)

Summary: "Rei-chan.. You did all of this just for me?" Nagisa asked, tears still rolling down his cheeks. Rei smiled, "Of course I did, Nagisa-kun. You mean the world to me, and I wanted to give you the best birthday you could ever ask for." "Rei-chan..." "Happy Birthday, Nagisa-kun!"

Rei Ryugazaki stared at the problem at hand, a disgusted look spread across his face. He had read all kinds of cook books in the past, and he made sure he read the instructions many times before proceeding to make the strawberry cake. He couldn't figure out how on earth this cake had turned out to be such a disaster. It didn't even smell of strawberries, nor did it have the perfect round shape a normal cake should. It was slanted on one side, and it was also very burnt. The blue-haired megane sighed, pushing his glasses up. Rei had wanted to make his boyfriend, Nagisa Hazuki, the best cake ever for this very special day. Unfortunately, cooking was just not his thing.

However, he did know someone that could cook.

Immediately, he ran over to his phone and scrolled through his contacts before pressing 'call' on a certain water-lover's number.

[Hello?]

"Haruka-senpai! I am in need of your cooking skills!"

[..What do you need to know?]

"W-Well.. I wanted to make Nagisa-kun a strawberry cake for his birthday.. and, uh.. Even after reading all of the cook books I have and reading the instructions very carefully, I just can't make the perfect cake, and.. I-I was wondering if you could come over and help me! Please, Haruka-senpai! You could even bring Makoto-senpai if he's with you!"

[...I'll be over in a few..]

"Uwah.. Th-Thank you so much, Haruka-senpai!"

[No problem]

Rei hung up the phone, breathing a sigh of relief as he walked back over to his mess of a cake. He read over the instructions carefully, trying to figure out why it had turned into such a disaster. No matter how many times he read them over, he just couldn't figure out what he screwed up. The measurements were exact, the ingredients were all correct, the time in the oven was not too long nor too quick. The blue-haired boy grabbed the failure of a cake and quickly threw it out, along with all the other failures. He was just so grateful he knew someone that knew how to cook.

Not much later, there was a knock on the door. Rei hurried over and opened it to see it was Haruka, already wearing his apron, along with Makoto behind him, who was wearing his signature smile. He was so relieved to see his friends, and thankful for their help. Without them, he wouldn't have anything to give to his precious Nagisa. Rei wouldn't have felt comfortable with getting him a store bought cake, especially since it's already been almost a year since they began going out. He knew he could've made him cookies, since that was at least something he could cook, but he wanted to make something special. Something just for him. And Rei knew Nagisa liked strawberries.

"Thank you so much for coming, I really appreciate it!" Rei smiled, trying to hold back his tears of joy.

Makoto returned the smile, "There's no need to thank us, Rei. That's what friends are for. Just be grateful Haru is the one that knows how to cook, he wouldn't dare to let me near the stove alone."

Rei let out a soft laugh. Both Rei and Haruka knew Makoto still had a lot to learn when it came to cooking, and Haruka was slowly teaching him, being the good boyfriend that he was. Together, the three of them walked into the kitchen. Haruka stood closest to the stove while Makoto and Rei stood beside him. Rei passed the instructions for the strawberry cake to the slightly shorter blue-haired boy, explaining how Nagisa liked strawberries and that he would definitely love a strawberry cake. Haruka nodded as he quickly scanned through the instructions before gathering all the ingredients that Rei had spread out for him.

"Again, thank you so much, Haruka-senpai! It really means a lot to me!"

Haruka nodded with a small smile, setting the oven to preheat.

"Wow, the cake looks amazing!" Rei exclaimed.

"Well, you guys were the ones that decorated it with the frosting and strawberries," Haruka pointed out.

"That may be true, but this cake wouldn't have been as good as it is now without your help, Haru," Makoto shot his boyfriend a smile, earning a bright blush from the smaller boy.

"I'm surprised the others haven't made it yet," Rei glanced at his watch, "It's been a little while since we sent them all texts about meeting here."

"Ah, I'm sure they'll be here soon. Rin and Nitori-san are probably finishing up practice and Kou is probably waiting for them," Makoto reassured.

"But it's Nagisa-kun's birthday!"

Makoto laughed, "You really do care about Nagisa, don't you, Rei?"

Rei sighed with a smile, "I do care about him, Makoto-senpai. A lot. He's the reason why I'm apart of the swim club, and he's the reason I'm close friends with all of you. My life has changed because of him, and it changed for the better, that's for sure. I've opened up a lot because of him. Plus, everyone I hang around tells me I'm acting more like him. Even when you all thought I was leaving the swim club, he poured out his feelings to me. Even when he himself was almost forced to leave the swim club, I made sure there was no possible he was leaving us like that. And the day he truly confessed his feelings for me.. I don't think I've ever been happier as I was at that moment. When I finally got to wrap my arms around that small body, it was bliss. Just from him getting me to join the swim club I knew, I knew he was the one."

Makoto had tears in his eyes from Rei's wonderful speech, so Haruka spoke for him with a smile, "We're glad you guys are together, we really are. All of us were able to tell he meant a lot to you just from your first day in the swim club," Haruka's expression suddenly turned cold, "Just don't do anything funny in water-chan."

"Haru!"

"O-Of course, H-Haruka-senpai!"

There was a soft knock on the door, and Rei nearly jumped as he stood up to answer the door. He quickly opened the door to see it was their good friends Rin, Aiichiro, and Gou. With a smile, he entered them in.

"I'm so glad you guys could make it!" Rei exclaimed happily.

"We wouldn't miss the little brat's birthday for anything," Rin grinned.

"Oh, and we brought balloons!" Gou smiled, holding up the balloons, "Aiichiro suggested it!"

"E-Eh, well.." Aiichiro nervously looked away from the others, "I-I felt if it was a party, balloons would be a-appropriate.."

Makoto gave him a warm, friendly smile, "Balloons are perfect, Nitori-san. Nagisa would love them."

"O-Oh please, no need to be formal, j-just call me Aiichiro!"

Rin took a seat down next to Haruka, while Aiichiro sat down next to Rin and Gou sat down next to Makoto. That left Rei, who just stood there dumbly before realizing he was the only one standing and he quickly took a seat next to Gou.

"Say, where is Nagisa-kun anyway?" Gou asked, looking around to see a certain little blonde was missing.

"Ah, we were waiting for you guys to arrive before calling him. We wanted to surprise him," Rei explained.

"Well we're here now, so hurry up and call him!" Rin exclaimed.

"R-Right!" Rei pulled out his cell phone and hurried to the other room to call his beloved.

[Hello~?]

"Nagisa-kun?"

[Ah, Rei-chan! What can I do for ya~?]

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come over to hang out a bit."

[Eehh? Rei-chan is inviting me over to his house without me having to barge in there myself? Are we going to do something naughty?!]

"N-NAGISA-KUN!"

[Hahaha, just kidding~! Sure, I'll come over! I'll be there in a few~!]

"Great! So I'll see you soon!"

[See you, Rei-chaaannn~!]

Rei clicked 'end' and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Slowly, he made his way back into the room, informing his friends that Nagisa was on his way, taking his seat back next to Gou. Since it was Nagisa, it didn't take him any more than 5 minutes to show up. There was a loud knock on the door, followed by a loud "Rei-chaaan!" which earned giggles from the others, even Aiichiro. Rei sighed with a smile as he stood back up, watching his friends crouch down so they couldn't be seen. He shut the lights off before making his way over to the door to let the excited blonde inside.

"Rei-chan!" Nagisa squealed, immediately hugging his boyfriend.

"I'm glad you could make it, Nagisa-kun," Rei smiled, returning the hug.

"Eh, why are the lights off?"

"I-It's a surprise, come on inside."

"Rei-chaaan, I thought you said we weren't doing anything naughty!"

"W-WE'RE NOT!"

"So then-"

Nagisa's question was interrupted when Rei turned on the lights to reveal a strawberry cake sitting in the center of the table, followed by all their closest friends popping up yelling, "Happy Birthday, Nagisa!" They all began to clap, while Nagisa had to slap a hand over his mouth to hold back his excited sobs. He walked over to his friends and took a seat in front of the cake while Rei took a seat next to him.

Nagisa looked around the room, "Haru-chan.. Mako-chan... Rin-chan... Gou-chan.. Even Ai-chan, too!" He looked over to his boyfriend, and the tears of joy spilled out, "Rei-chan..."

"Rei was the one that planned this whole party for you." Haruka said bluntly.

"Haruka-senpai!"

"Rei-chan.. You did all of this just for me?" Nagisa asked, tears still rolling down his cheeks.

Rei smiled, "Of course I did, Nagisa-kun. You mean the world to me, and I wanted to give you the best birthday you could ever ask for."

"Rei-chan..."

"Happy Birthday, Nagisa-kun!"

Nagisa looked all around the room once more, everyone giggling softly at his now red face, "Th-Thank you all so much! You guys are the best!" He cried with the biggest smile any of them had ever seen.

The blonde turned to his boyfriend, "And thank you too, Rei-chan. I love you." He smiled, leaning in to kiss his beloved. Rei happily kissed back, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy. Clapping and whistles could be heard all around the room, started by Rin of course, and the two lovebirds giggled into the kiss.

Makoto couldn't help himself and turned to his own boyfriend before wrapping his arms around him and kissing him softly on the lips. Haruka didn't object, instead he wrapped his arms around his lover's neck. Rin sighed, and it was Gou's turn to whistle.

Rin turned to Aiichiro with a grin, "Might as well join in on the fun, right?"

"S-Senp-"

The silver-haired boy was interrupted when he felt a pair of soft lips pressed against his own. Aiichiro couldn't deny how much he had longed for this, so immediately he kissed back and wrapped his arms around the taller boy.

Gou's loud squeal was what broke everyone out of their kissing, and then they all began to laugh.

"We should probably get to eating the cake now before it gets stale," Makoto pointed out.

"I agree," Rei said with a smile. He grabbed the knife along with a plate and passed it to Nagisa, "The birthday boy should get the first cut and slice,"

"Th-Thank you, Rei-chan.." Nagisa blushed, taking the knife while setting the plate down in front of him. Carefully, he cut into the beautiful strawberry cake and pulled out a small slice for him, making sure there was still enough to go around. Rei passed him a fork, and Nagisa dug the utensil into the cake, bringing up the small piece to his mouth.

"Itadakimasu~!"

Author's Note: Happy Birthday to the best blonde shota ever, Nagisa Hazuki! :D

I started this last night and for whatever reason I write a lot better at night so if it's obvious it went from really good to really shitty I deeply apologize hnngg /cries

But anywho, I hope you liked it! Please review if you'd like! ; u ;

- Kyoko