"Happy birthday, Aichi!"

Is what the boy is greeted with along with the sound of party poppers (and a meow from Assisticat) when he takes his first steps into Card Capital. Aichi jumps and lets out a yelp that's drowned out by the sound of everyone's cheers for him. While stunned, he looks upon the crowd to see familiar faces. Almost everyone he knew was here, Kai included.

"Th-Thank you everyone!" Aichi stammers once he'd gathered himself.

Kamui is the first to run up to him with his usual boundless energy.

"Happy birthday, big bro!" He says with an enormous smile. "Did we surprise you? Bet we did!"

"W-Well, I definitely wasn't expecting this…"

"You didn't think we'd do something for you on your birthday?" Misaki asks.

Before he could get anything out the younger boy interrupts.

"What? You couldn't be thinking that! After all, I have to make sure the brother of my future wife celebrates his special day to the fullest."

Aichi breathes out a laugh, deciding not to pick apart that last sentence.

"Anyway," Misaki starts. She points over to tables that had been set up in the shop. One was filled with presents and the other held a double-layered cake with assorted pastries surrounding it. "For you."

"Really…?" Aichi stares at it all. It almost feels unreal, as if this were all some sort of dream. Around the tables of goodies were his friends, and fellow card fighters smiling and waving at him. He still hears 'happy birthday's being said towards him and simply can't thank everyone enough.

"Course it is!" Naoki is the one to say this as he'd come out of the crowd. He puts an arm around Aichi's shoulder and pulls him close. "Like all the stuff? Bet you'll like my present the best."

"What? No way! He's going to like mine the best!" Kamui argues.

Aichi gets stuck in the middle of their argument, although he drowns out most of it. He's still in shock and awe about…this. All of this.

He couldn't remember the last time he had an actual birthday party that wasn't just him and his family. It was always just another day for him, nothing special. No one needed to celebrate it, but now…how many people were? More than he would have ever thought before.

And he feels…happy. So happy that he could cry. But doing that might cause for some panic, so he does his best to hold back those tears of joy. He pushes a smile on his face fairly easy.

Aichi is pulled from his thoughts when he feels Kamui tug at his wrist.

"We gotta sing happy birthday to you so we can start eating. Come on, we're all ready!"

"Okay!"

"Oh yeah, everyone is dying to try Kai's cake," Miwa adds.

"I didn't need to hear that again…" Kamui mutters. As much as he dislikes the older boy even he had to admit his cooking was good.

"What? Kai made the cake?" Aichi asks while looking at him. Kai only turns his head and huffs in response.

"Yup!" Miwa answers for him. "I tried to get him to bake some cookies to, buuuuut this was all I could get out of him. Don't worry though he promised he'd make us sweets again another time."

"I did not," Kai replies. He then looks back to Aichi and lets out a quiet, "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Kai." Aichi said with a brief chuckle.

The birthday boy is then pulled by Kamui again towards the table with the cake. He's pushed to stand behind it and now get a better look at the cake. It was covered in white frosting with strawberries decorating it. A small sign that had his name printed on it was stuck right in front. It was hard to imagine Kai had done all this for him.

Aichi hears Misaki tell Shin to get the lights. Everyone here has gathered around now and waiting for just the right moment to sing. Naoki is the one to count everyone down before the shop is filled with the Happy Birthday song. It's a little embarrassing to be the on the receiving in end and he isn't quite sure what to do. His eyes gaze around the room again, taking the sight of everyone in.

Those warm feelings bubble in his chest and he feels like he might end up shedding a tear again. He's just so grateful and blessed to be here surrounded by friends.

"What are you waiting for, Aichi? Blow out the candles!" Naoki's voice rings and snaps him from his thoughts. He had missed the signal to the song ending.

"Huh? Oh right!"

Aichi takes in a breath as he looks down at the cake.

"Don't forget to make a wish!" Kamui chimes in.

And then he blows out the candles.

There's more cheering before the chatter goes back to normal. Aichi takes a step aside to let Shin deal with cutting the cake and passing it out. As much as he enjoys seeing everyone here, the attention was a bit overwhelming.

Aichi ends up near Kai and Miwa, the two taking a seat away from the crowd. He's sure that a couple of others would end up following shortly after getting their own slice of cake.

"So, what did the birthday boy wish for?" Miwa asks.

'Well, I'm not supposed to say what it is, right?"

Miwa laughs in response. "I know, but someone has to ask. Always worth a shot."

"You shouldn't force it out of him," Kai says.

Aichi gives a smile as Miwa playfully whines to Kai about choosing sides. He doesn't want to say he wished for anything- people always wanted to hear something. But Aichi didn't need anything now. Everything he wanted was here.

What more could he ask for?