Unselfish Wish

Chapter 21- Birthday Date Part One

Hinata walked up to Kiyoshi and tapped him on the shoulder once everyone had gathered in the classroom.

"You do remember what's happening on Sunday, right?" She quirked a brow at him.

"Of course, Fumiko's birthday." He answered quizzically, not sure where this line of questioning was supposed to go. How could he have possibly forgotten her birthday?

"Well, you guys haven't had a real date yet, right?" She crossed her arms and c****d her hip. She was going to do her damnedest to make sure her bestie got the best of everything. God or not, he needed to up his standards.

"Er, no." He replied sheepishly.

"So, maybe Sunday would be a great day to do that? Don't you think so? Especially since you just skipped right to an engagement." She waggled her eyebrows at him, enjoying his embarrassment. "I also heard that you got jealous of yourself?" He put his head in his hands. He was still upset with himself over causing Fumiko such unnecessary stress. "You know that eventually you'll have to tell her. I'd be interested in how that conversation goes." Hinata walked away after this parting shot. He wasn’t too sure himself, after seeing Fumiko's anger.

Fumiko entered the classroom, taking her seat next to Kiyoshi. She smiled at him, and he returned it. He was happy but felt a little guilty because he had not been completely honest. There was so much yet to be said.... From his identity, to how much time they had left before ascending to Takamagahara, how her life was going to change... It was a lot and after the weekend, he’d have less than a year to get her ready for it all. His leg started to wiggle under the desk. On top of all these changes, he was going to have to reveal at some point that he’d pushed her with himself as the rival. She was going to be very upset with him, and he only hoped that her pure heart would forgive him.

Especially given his ultimatum on her birthday, which he still wasn’t entirely sure how to handle.

Fumiko watched his body language and wondered what was bothering him. He looked to be under a massive amount of stress. She hoped it wasn’t being with her that made him feel uncomfortable. She’d been rather pushy after all, and he was everything any girl could want. She still wasn’t entirely sure she was good enough, though she supposed being part goddess was an advantage over the average human.

Their attention was taken by the teacher when he entered, neither wanting to start an awkward conversation and using school as an escape. At lunch time, Hinata left Fumiko with Sayuri and Kaori, dragging Kiyoshi off to discuss the perfect date. Fumiko watched them leave, knowing that it must have to do with her birthday in three days. The two rarely went off alone unless it was about her in one way or another, She rolled her eyes. They didn’t need to be so secretive. Their insistence on surprising her, like they’d done for every other holiday, was bordering on ridiculous.

“So, what have you come up with, Kiyo?” Hinata hissed. “It had better be good.”

“Um, well... the thing is, I may watch people on occasion, but... I never tried to understand dating so I don’t know much about it.” He flushed in embarrassment. He was so good at everything else, he could not understand why this wooing stuff was so complicated. It was the only part of all this that an arranged marriage had the advantage. You just selected a partner (or like in his case, your parents did) and it was done. He shoved his hands into his hair, frustrated. Hinata decided to take pity on him.

“Look, I will help you out this time, but in the future you will need to figure this stuff out. Just think of it like this- this is the way you show her how much you care about her. You choose things that you know will show her you value her, pay attention to her- things like that. It doesn’t have to be what everyone else does.” She patted his shoulder. “Anything come to mind?” He sighed.

“Green tea. Her favorite colors blue and green. Her desire to help others.”

“O-kay. Well we got her favorite colors last year, and this is your first birthday as her official boyfriend. Soooo how can we build off what we did last year? And you don’t know like, if she loves nature or shopping, or particular animals... none of that?”

“Prefers the woods, hates shopping, loves rabbits and foxes, actually really dislikes pink in clothing. Um, doesn’t like crowds or public speaking especially- would rather be with a small group of friends. Prefers Japanese foods to international cuisine.” He rattled off.

“Okay, that’s something. So maybe Kaminogue Nature Park for a picnic featuring Japanese foods?” Hinata suggested. He looked up the park on his phone, then his jaw dropped and he hugged Hina. She stiffened, not sure what to make of his action until he spoke.

“Thank you so much, you are a genius! This is perfect!” He was so excited he started pacing. She started belly laughing. He was just so funny to watch. How the mighty have fallen, she thought, smirking. Then his shoulders drooped and his eyes met hers. Whoa that’s a sad look. She felt uncomfortable, sure whatever he was going to say next was going to cause her more trouble than ever. “I have another problem.” Hinata sighed. In the last year, he’d become just as important of a friend as Fumiko. She rolled her hand to tell him to go on. “Soooo I might have given Fumiko an ultimatum set for her birthday and-” She raised a hand cutting him off.

“Yeah I heard about that, you pervert. Seriously? Being jealous of yourself is beyond ridiculous. What do you need my help with? Just tell her already. The longer you wait the worse off you’re going to be when she finds out. Had you not pulled that stunt you’d probably be in a much better place right now.” He thrust his hands into his hair.

“I know. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s called lust, silly. I’m sure a god like you can at least identify that emotion.” He just looked at her, flushing slightly. “There is absolutely no way you are a thousand-year-old plus virgin.” His jaw dropped.

“What?! No, no, no, not that just.... it’s been a while...” She rolled her eyes at his bashful tone.

“How long exactly is while?” She asked, afraid of the answer. This really wasn't her area of expertise. She and Yutaka were past that point but it was still pretty new for both of them. One thing she did know is that every person was different.

“Two thousand years or so, I’m a little fuzzy on the details.” Her eyes bulged.

“Two thousand years of celibacy? Are you a god or a saint? Jeez!” He got bashful again at her exclamation. “Okay fine, so your manly parts were dead and they’ve been resurrected, so you had trouble with your emotions. Great.” He growled at her insinuation. There was nothing wrong with choosing celibacy. It kept your mind extremely clear. Perhaps that was why he’d been in a tailspin since he met Fumiko. Okay no, he hadn’t lusted after her before her body matured. “Anyways, loverboy. The big thing is making this date special, and if you want my honest opinion, tell her the truth. Even that you got jealous of yourself. We’re running out of time here.”

“You’re right, thank you, Hinata.” He sighed. They returned to the classroom, where Fumiko sat with a small smile on her lips. She looked up at Kiyoshi and raised a brow. There was a few minutes before class resumed, so he spoke quickly. “Make plans for all of Sunday. It’s a surprise so don’t ask.” She simply nodded.

Her thoughts turned inward. Sunday was the day Tsukiyomi would come to her demanding an answer. She had her answer but was very worried about how things would turn out. Certainly, she had no intention of allowing the god to do as pleased with her body, but it was difficult not to want him, as much as she wanted Kiyoshi. It was crazy, almost like it was the same draw. She glanced sideways at Kiyoshi. He was very focused on the teacher, though for some reason she doubted he really needed it. He looked towards her briefly, smiling before turning his attention back to the front of the class.

Suddenly, it hit her that his and Tsukiyomi’s appearance was similar. Not just a little, but almost exact other than size and aura. She thought back carefully. While her father had said that Kiyo probably asked someone about their moving, she had never seen him talk to anyone else. In fact, she’d never seen him anywhere but at the shrine. She sat up straighter. He didn’t appear until after she found the shrine, and even “Kiyo” fit with both of their names. She closed her eyes, concentrating on his presence next to her. It was faint but she found it, his divine aura. Her eyes popped open, and she was frozen. He looked to her in concern and she smiled. He was focused enough on class not to examine her too carefully.

This was what she was missing.

Tsukiyomi and Kiyoshi were in fact, the same being. The burning question in her mind was, why had he hidden behind a mortal veil? He should have known she would have accepted him as himself. Perhaps he doubted her in some way? She wanted to be mad at his antics and jealousy but she wasn’t really. She understood that he wanted to marry her, because he was absolutely serious in asking for her hand. She doubted her family and friends were unaware. They were all far too protective to let him play games. The question now was, what was she going to do about it?

For the next three days they went about their normal activities, and she did her best to hide what was on her mind. Kiyo, occupied by his own predicament, was less sensitive to her than usual, but Hinata picked up on her pensive mood. The day before her birthday, Hinata called her to check in. She had been pacing in her room when Hina called.