#♪ ( ; ic post ) — i play the piano because i want to see people smile.

[upbeatpianist]

Kaede will suddenly hear soft knocks at her door, followed by: “Akamatsu-san, it’s me, Shuichi: are you there... ?” When she opens the door, he’ll greet her with a smile. “Good afternoon, and Happy Birthday! I hope you’ve been having a great day so far. Is it okay if I come in? I have some gifts for you... !”

And if she lets him, Shuichi will mutter a ‘thank you’ as he enters the room. In one hand, he was carrying a gift bag, and in the other: a cake container. “That, and I thought it would be nice if we could spend together... a private little birthday party celebration, you could say. I even brought cake, too! Hehe.. “ He giggles, as he places the things on whatever table was okay to use. She’ll be able to get a much better look at the cake, which is a fancily made pink velvet cake with buttercream frosting, turned purple with food coloring. It also had a design of a music bar that curls around the cake, with different types of music notes.

And then in the gift bag, were hairclips shaped like teddy bears, along with a brown notebook. If she opens it, it will comprise of many different music sheets, most notably of songs Shuichi had noted to himself overtime that are especially favorites of hers. Some even included different versions of said songs she might be curious to play, along with newer songs that she might not have played before, either. “I hope you love your cake and gifts... ! As for this, I made this music notebook, myself. I thought you’d love to have so many of your favorite songs in one place, along with some I included, that I thought you might like to try playing sometime. And if you do.... I’d love to be there and listen! Because like with every song you play, I know I will be moved... but for now, I promise to help make today nothing but wonderful and fun, for my most precious friend.” He smiles warmly at her. He hopes he was already able to make today very special for her. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAEDE... 🍰🧸🎼)

{ ♫ } ❝ aw, thanks, saihara-kun! honestly, i'm still surprised anyone even remembers my birthday. i don't really make a big deal of it, after all! ❞

of course, kaede doesn't hesitate to let her friend in, and she's admittedly caught off-guard by all the stuff he's carrying. a gift is one thing, but bringing a whole cake too? she was starting to feel spoiled, and the day had just started!

❝ wow, you really went all out, huh? i'll have to remember this when your birthday comes around next! ❞

she playfully pokes her elbow into his side, letting him set down the cake and the gift bag before continuing on.

she doesn't want to eat the cake just yet, mostly because it's so beautiful she wants to take a moment to simply let it be before she cuts into it. so, she decides to open up the gift bag first.

the hairclips were a very sweet gift, of course, but as shuichi likely expected, kaede immediately begins to hyperfixate on the notebook as soon as she realizes there's sheet music inside.

❝ wow... look at all the songs in here! you really went to all the trouble of putting all this sheet music into a notebook just for me? i'll never run out of things to play now! ❞

not that that was ever a concern for her before, considering how often she played her favorite songs already.

she continues to flip through the book for a few more minutes, before suddenly getting up and giving shuichi a big hug. she was so grateful to have a friend like him, who knew her so well and always got her only the best presents.

after she broke off the hug, she knew exactly what she had to do.

❝ all right then, mister. you wanna hear me play these songs? then you're gonna get to hear them, right here, right now! this private birthday party just turned into a private piano recital! ❞

[upbeatpianist]

"Akamatsu-san, Happy Halloween! I had tried my hand at some Halloween-themed cookies, and I was hoping that you may like to try some? I would love to see what you think!" He smiles, before offering her a small wrapped bag full of the cookies. Once she opens them, it'll be full of teddy-bear shaped oreo cookies, made to have a black color with the dutch cocoa powder he used, and designed to have a 'skeletal' body with the white icing used on them.

"These are... skeleton bear oreo cookies. I had found a recipe for them online, and just had to try making them, myself. I hope you'll enjoy them!" (Happyyy Halloween~! 🧸💀🍪)

          { ♫ } ❝ hehehe~ happy halloween, saihara-kun! your costume looks great like always! hopefully you haven’t been biting too many people tonight! i might just have to curse you if i find out about it! ❞

she giggles again at her own joke, even waving her wand at him in a mock-threatening way. himiko had taught her about a couple curses, and she wasn’t afraid to use them if she needed to!

kaede looks down at the cookies as they’re offered to her, and pulls one out to inspect them more closely.

❝ wow, you made these by yourself? that’s really impressive, saihara-kun! i definitely wouldn’t be able to do something like this! ❞

she takes a bite of the cookie that she had picked out of the bag, and immediately finds herself in awe of how tasty they are.

❝ these are really good! you did a great job on them for sure! maybe i’ll have to hire you for catering at my next recital! ❞

[upbeatpianist]

"Kaede's not your basic witch! Her spellbook is written in curse-ive!" Oh no now Kaede is taunted with Kokichi's puns too.

          { ♫ } ❝ ...that was a really lame pun, ouma-kun. ❞

there wasn’t even anything written in the ‘spellbook’ she carried around as part of her costume. it was just empty pages, with only the outside of the book made to look like anything mystical.

❝ but thanks for reminding me that i should practice my spells! you wanna be my first test subject? ❞

[upbeatpianist]

The moment Shuichi saw Kaede further up ahead, a smile instantly widened on his face: just the person he wanted to see! “Ah, Akamatsu-san... !!” Instantly he jogs up to her, and playfully gives her shoulders a pat from behind to grab her attention. “Boo, ahahaha: hi, Akamatsu-san, Merry Christmas! I’m glad to see you, I hope you’re having a wonderful day. That, and I wanted to give you a couple of gifts!”

That’s when he’ll present the pink gift bag that he was holding around his arm. The first thing inside, is a soft pink cardigan with a design of two big, white hearts on it. "I saw this very cute cardigan and thought you might like it! Plus with how cold it's been, I wanted you to also have some extra warmth as well...  "

And then the other item in the bag, would be a big, fluffy quarter note and treble clef bag charms. “Some charms for your bookbag! I just had to get this for you, of course, hehe. I hope you love these, too... !” (HEWWO AGAIN, TEE HEE... MERRY CHRISTMASU~!!! 🎼🤍🎶)

          { ♫ } ❝ ‘boo’? come on, saihara-kun, halloween was 2 months ago! you can’t try to scare me like that anymore! ❞

a playful laugh leaves her lips afterwards, turning to face shuichi. seeing how excited he looks makes the smile on her face grow even wider.

she gently takes the gifts in hand as they are handed to her, and responds by giving a wrapped gift of her own to the boy.

❝ well, if you’re giving me a gift, then you get one of your own in exchange. it’s only fair, right? ❞

inside sat a dark blue sweater patterned with stars that reminded her of shuichi the second she saw it, a small reading light meant to be attached to the top of books to make reading at night easier, and a small magnifying glass pin that kaede figured shuichi could put on his hat or his uniform.

only after she had handed the gift to shuichi did she open up the bag she had received, and she was absolutely pleased to see what was inside.

so pleased, in fact, that the second she pulled out the fluffy charms, she immediately moved to attach them to her backpack, twisting around a bit afterwards to see them swing around.

❝ saihara-kun, these gifts are so cute! i’m definitely gonna keep these charms on my bag forever! and the cardigan... exactly my style! ❞

she giggles, before giving shuichi a soft hug.

❝ thank you so much for the presents!. i appreciate it more than you know! and i definitely hope you like your gifts too! merry christmas, saihara-kun. ❞

[upbeatpianist]

for the sister who coddles her kindly, embraces her gently, & teaches her how to keep a tender, considerate heart, the little girl leaves a short note with a gift hidden in its fold. she's as careful as can be when she slips her surprise beneath the piano's fallboard & vests all effort into remaining silent, as to not ruin such a precious surprise!

later that day, when Kaede is bound to sit at her piano & delight her family one of her peaceful melodies, she might notice what nature's little soul left for her. written messily in green crayon were poorly spelled--yet hopefully legible--words that came straight from Ari's heart, & it read:

' I gawt this for Kyayday, pleese! I love Kyayday so so much I want Kyday to have my lollypop thank yew!

<3 ARI '

paired with sweet words was the sweet treat mentioned: when Kaede would unfold Ari's note, she would find a cherry lollipop! now, Ari only hopes that Kaede enjoys that flavor! 🍒 // ( inbox call! 🍁 )

          { ♫ } it is only after she sits down at her piano and moves her fingers onto the keys that she notices the gift that sits on the keys inside. honestly, with how often she plays piano with her eyes closed, she likely wouldn’t have noticed it at all had it not been sitting right where her hands went.

picking up the wrapped treat and the note that was attached to it, kaede unfolded the paper and read what was written on it. it was a little hard to read, but she couldn’t exactly fault the person who wrote it for having slightly messy handwriting.

and as soon as she finished it, her heart swelled with nothing but pure sisterly love. ari had left her a gift? how absolutely sweet of her!

❝ oh, ari... you’re such a sweet little girl! though, i will have to teach you how to spell my name at some point... hehe, or maybe i won’t! seeing you try your best is too precious, after all! ❞

she unwraps the lollipop that was left for her, and places it into her mouth. as she enjoys the sweet, fruity flavor of the treat, she finally begins to play her piano.

maybe she’ll practice some more of ari’s favorite songs today.

[upbeatpianist]

"Holy crap, Kaede-chan!! Your Halloween costume is so frickin' cute!! Maybe you can help Ibuki decide what she's gonna be for Halloween!!" have an ibuki bc their friendship is v good

          { ♫ } ❝ hehe~ thank you, mioda-san! i put a lot of work into it, so i’m glad it paid off! i’m not really the arts-and-craftsy type, so it was pretty hard... ❞

she adjusts the witch hat sitting on her head for a moment, then takes the time to think about ibuki’s question for a few seconds.

❝ maybe something to do with music could be fun for you! you could be, like... a siren or something! and then you could sing to people as part of your costume! ❞

[upbeatpianist]

Trying to sneak out of the dorms late at night was always anxiety-inducing. Even if it was late and most students probably turned into their rooms for the night to sleep by now, there was always still that chance a few people might still be up late... And while that normally shouldn't matter: the vampire could not exactly explain he needed to sneak out to find someone to bite...

And so, he tried being as sneaky as possible as he descended down the floors of the building. So far, he got very lucky not seeing a soul outside the halls or the dorm commons area. Now all he needed to do was just exit the main doors, and...

"Hah-?!" He nearly jumped out of his skin with how bad he jumped, when seeing Kaede the moment he opened that door. "O-Oh!! Aka...matsu-san! S-Sorry, you startled me." He holds a hand to his chest, emitting a soft exhale. Yet his nerves did anything but dissipate, if not immediately worsen. He could not imagine worse possible timing.... Praying the nervousness doesn't show on his face, he asks her: "Did you just come from the music room? It is quite late... you should get some rest." ( hello (:< throws a Totally Not Suspicious vampire at you.... )

          { ♫ } she sincerely hopes she had managed to wipe all the blood off of her mouth after finding someone to bite. she didn’t know how she would explain it if anyone noticed ‘weird red stains’ on her mouth. but it’s fine. she managed to feed herself for the night, so all she had to do was get back to her room and...

❝ waugh!! ❞

kaede shouted in surprise herself as shuichi suddenly opened the door she was just planning to go through herself. her heart would be beating out of her chest if it still beat at all. taking a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke again, she tried to play things cool.

❝ o-oh, saihara-kun, it’s just you... jeez, you scared me! y-yeah, i was just... at the music room. y-you know me! always the night owl when it comes to my music! ❞

all she had to do was coast by on the assumptions the other boy had already given her. hopefully he wouldn’t investigate too deeply... he was a detective, after all. if he looked into it, kaede wasn’t sure she’d be able to hide anything from him...

[upbeatpianist]

      { ♫ } ❝ it’s femslash february and yet no cute girls have come to kiss me yet... ❞

[upbeatpianist]

“Hey, Kaede. Don't be hard on yourself. You are not worthless.... Organs are extremely expensive on the black market. I would know since I have secret control on pretty much all of them. So chin up! Your life is definitely not worthless to a Supreme Leader of evil!”

               { ♫ } ❝ is... that supposed to be a compliment, ouma-kun...? i mean, i guess... thanks for the pep talk, but you could've um... delivered it in a better way, y'know? next time, try something like... 'you're not worthless, because i believe in you!' much nicer, don't you think? ❞

[upbeatpianist]

@ultimaterealmofchaos​

"Ibuki'll kiss you, Kaede-chan!!!"

          { ♫ } ❝ perfect. this is the spirit we need, everyone! ❞

[upbeatpianist]

'happy birthday, kaede.' maki offers, having been rather reluctant to approach her about this. maki had a lack of experience with wishing people happy birthday, never really got wished happy birthday herself. but -- she'd tried to observe what the others did for one another's birthdays, just tried to make sure she was prepared. so, here they were. maki was sitting alongside kaede -- rather late at night, looking at the stars. it'd been kaito's idea -- she thought it worked fine. maki sighed && offered kaede the present she'd kept on the side rather reluctantly. ' i thought you would want something .. so, here. ' inside of the box was ...! an engraved knife, sweet messages carved into the knife's hilt && blade. well, at least she tried to make it heartfelt..?

               { ♫ } ❝ maki! thank you so much! it means a lot to hear that from you! ❞

she gives the girl a hug, and only then does she notice the present that maki's holding off to the side. she waits until maki offers it to her, not wanting to force the girl to give it to her before she was ready.

and once the box was handed off, kaede opened it up... and was a bit put off by what she saw at first. she couldn't exactly say receiving a knife was... high on her list of things she'd get for her birthday. but it was a present from maki, and it had clearly come from the heart, and that was what mattered.

❝ wow, is this for me? thank you, maki! i promise, i'll take good care of it. though, you might have to teach me how to properly take care of knives! ❞

with a small giggle at the end, kaede quickly placed a kiss on the girl's cheek.

❝ i love it, maki. thank you for thinking of me today! ❞

[upbeatpianist]

@purgatorychxsm​

she really is just an angry kitten isnt she

          { ♫ } ❝ it’s alright! just like an angry kitten, all she needs is for someone to hold her for a bit and she’ll calm down~ worked all the time when we were kids! ❞

[upbeatpianist]

“No! We are not allowed to celebrate Shuichi’s birthday! He’s on timeout until I say so!”

                 { ♫ } ❝ pretty sure it's against the law to put someone in timeout on their birthday. besides, what did saihara-kun to get put on timeout anyway? it couldn't have been that bad. ❞

[upbeatpianist]

Since it was Kaede's birthday today, the class wanted to throw a small party for her in the dorm commons area tonight, which was, surprisingly, Shuichi's idea. He was normally so shy about planning things to do together, but for Kaede, he wanted to go that extra mile for her. He felt she deserved it, for how great a friend she is to him and everyone else, after all.

He was admittedly a little worried if everything will go well, knowing how some of their classmates can be... but thankfully enough, everyone was on their best behavior-for the most part-so it didn't turn out disastrous, but rather, really well. Lively chatting filled the room, everyone gave Kaede gifts, they all enjoyed a big cake together... and even if some of them might not admit it, they all, Shuichi especially, hoped Kaede has the biggest blast of all.

After a couple of hours, the party slowly came to an end. After helping to clean up, everyone was returning to their dorm rooms for the night. Though at one point, Shuichi had actually asked Kaede in secret, to stay behind, once everyone else had left. "Ah, thanks for wanting to stay behind real quick, Akamatsu-san... I'm sure you're tired, so I really appreciate it. I-I just... um... wanted to give you one more gift. I-In secret... hehe... "

He had actually given her a gift earlier during the party; a pink headband with a design of sakura petals on it- but there was another one he had for her. Something that would have been a bit too embarrassing to give to her in front of everyone else, since.. he made it, himself. Something special... "H... Here it is... " He pulls out a gift box, and holds it out for her to take. Inside would be a handmade bracelet and necklace, made out of pink gemstones. A quarter note and eight note charm dangle off the bracelet, while an initial of her first name, 'K', on the small pendant part of her necklace.

"I-I made this bracelet and necklace for you, myself! I hope it looks nice, hehe... since I wanted to also... give you something special, since you're such a dear friend to me, Akamatsu-san... " And if she wanted needed help putting either/or on, then he would proceed to help place the necklace and/or bracelet on her. "Ahh.. they look so nice on you... !" Since it'd be a little harder for her to see how the necklace looks on herself, he pulls out his phone and turns it to front-facing mode so that she could see, too. "What do you think? You agree, right?" He chuckles. Once she got a long enough look at it, he puts his phone away.

"I... hope you had a fun time tonight, Akamatsu-san. I, and everyone else... wanted to make today the best it could be for you! Since you're always so bright and kind... and I... wanted us all to do the same for you. Because you deserve it... !" His smile brightens. And he hesitates out of shyness for a moment... but then pulls her into a soft hug. (KJNFJDJK SORRY IT'S LONG, BUT I HOPE U LOVE IT, KATHY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your lovely doter... 📿🌸)

            { ♫ } while the surprise party was definitely, well... a surprise for kaede, it meant the world to her to see her classmates all come together like this, especially for her sake. words couldn't express how grateful she was to everyone, especially shuichi for setting the whole thing up.

while kaede had spent most of the party bouncing between her classmates (thanks to everyone wanting to spend time with the girl of the hour), once it was over and she had stayed behind like she was asked to, it was just her and shuichi.

❝ oh, don't worry about it, saihara-kun! i'm more than happy to stay behind for a bit. i'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time together during the party itself! ❞

the mention of shuichi wanting to give her another gift caught her by surprise, since she was sure shuichi had already given her a gift. after all, she was still wearing it!

as she opens the box and sees the beautiful gifts inside, her eyes sparkle. even more so when shuichi tells her that he made them himself.

❝ saihara-kun, you really made these? wow, i never knew you were so good with crafts! hehe, you're gonna regret letting me know you could make stuff like this! ❞

laughing a bit at her small joke, she allows shuichi to help her put the beautiful gifts on, and as she admires how she looks with them on, her heart swells.

returning the hug that shuichi gives her, her smile grows wide, and bright. she's never felt more love for her friends, and especially shuichi, than in this moment.

❝ saihara-kun... you really are the best friend i could ever ask for. thank you for making this the best birthday i've ever had. ❞

[upbeatpianist]

"Uhm..!" Kuroko's timid in approaching Kaede, a pink giftbag clutched tightly in her hands. "Happy birthday, A-Akamatsu - chan!" Holding out the giftbag she's far too nervous to make eye contact with Kaede. "Please enjoy your present!"

Inside the giftbag is a rose gold necklace with a musical note pendant. "And I was thinking, if it's alright we could uhm, go out to lunch, my treat!"

But that isn't all! Finally looking at Kaede, Kuroko smiles warmly. Coming closer and standing on her toes, she boldly places a kiss on Kaede's cheek!

            { ♫ } ❝ shitai-san! you didn't have to do anything special for my birthday, but i appreciate it! ❞

she gently takes the gift from kuroko's hands, beginning to open it up and look inside. and the necklace she saw waiting for her underneath all the paper was absolutely beautiful, and with a nicely crafted music note hanging from the end to boot!

❝ wow, this is beautiful! thank you so much, shitai-san! i promise, i'll wear it always! ❞

to prove her point, she put the necklace on right then and there, and was so distracted doing that, the feeling of kuroko placing a kiss on her cheek caught her a bit off guard.

❝ hehehe... well, thank you again, shitai-san! this is such a great present. i love it! ❞

she then gives kuroko a small kiss on the cheek back. only fair to return the favor!

[upbeatpianist]

“BOO!” Kotoko points her OTHER gun at her big sister this time. It’s real…but it wasn’t loaded. Kaede didnt need to know that though…

             { ♫ } ❝ WAUGH!! ❞

kaede let out a very undignified scream as kotoko suddenly pointed a gun at her, and admittedly she was too scared to move for a good few seconds.

...but once it became clear kotoko wasn't going to fire on her (though kaede truly couldn't tell if it was because she couldn't, or she just didn't want to), she scowled and quickly took the weapon out of kotoko's hands.

❝ k-kotoko! what do you think you're doing with something like this?! i am taking this away from you right now! and then i'm gonna... i dunno! throw it away or something! ❞