" God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well."
- Voltaire
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Levin POV
I get my fingers in position and aim my shoulder where I'm throwing, my huge glove on my left hand behind my back. In front of me, Haise stands ready, kneeling down with a glove also, ready to catch the ball I'm curling in my fingers.
I shoot my hand forward and send the baseball simmering through the air and smacking into Haise's glove, making a hard impact sound. He shook his hand once he grabbed the ball from the glove.
"You throw hard, Lev. Go easy on me." He said with a nervous smile.
I grin. "Well, I used to practice all the time throwing when I was small. But it feels good to actually do some practice with someone else." I said, getting ready to catch the ball as Haise whirled back his arm for a hard fast ball.
"Why did you ask me to catch anyway?" I asked, just as the impact slammed my glove, making my hand a bit numb for a second.
Haise rubbed his chin. "No reason in particular. Just thought it would be fun every once in awhile. Plus I have to thank you for helping the other day." He explained.
"With Touka? All I did was give you some encouragement, not like I was right next to you." I said, throwing the ball back towards him.
Haise moved his hand to the ball and caught it with precision. He's pretty good at this for saying he's never done this before. I thought he'd say he was a natural at sports, but to my surprise, he said he was more of the indoor kid when he was small.
"Well, thanks anyway... hey, just wondering. When you were making a plan to help Touka, you listed off a bunch of people you wanted to help in the op. But we never really got in touch with them." Haise said, suddenly realizing something.
I flinch a bit. "Yeah. I guess your right about that." I mumbled.
"Still gonna see if they'll become allies? Like the Serpent?" He said.
"Don't you know Serpent, from your past?" I asked.
He nodded. "Sure, I guess. Nishiki is kind of an idiot on the outside, but he's smart enough not to be found. We couldn't find him no matter how hard we tried." Haise explained, while throwing the ball back at me.
I caught it by the tip of my fingers and sighed. "Yeah... but wasn't he trying to attack Torso for some reason?" I asked.
Haise flinched. "Y-Yeah... hey, I've got a plan that just came to me." He said, snapping his fingers.
"Lay it on me."
"So, Serpent is hunting Torso for some reason right? So why don't we lure Torso out to also lure Serpent out?" Haise proposed giving me a comical thumbs up.
I sigh. "But how do we get Torso out of hiding? He's with Aogiri."
Haise scratched his head while thinking. For a dove (who's really a half ghoul) he can either be smart or a complete dulse at times. I wait patiently for him to think something up.
Haise snapped his fingers. "Got it! Remember, Torso likes women with scars?" He said.
I nodded, confused. Sure, Torso likes women with scars, but how are we gonna find a girl with scars...
"Doesn't Nashiro have scars?" Haise said, making me flinch.
I flinch and snap a bit. "No way am I using her for bait!" I yell, making Haise jump in surprise.
He rubbed his head again. "S-Sorry, just kidding. Anyone else you know that has scars that would be willing?" He asked.
I think. Someone that has some scars that would be perfect bait for Torso to come out of hiding. But would he take the bait if we did get someone? Damn, I don't know.
"Whatever. Let's head in, it's freezing out here." I said, rubbing my shoulder while throwing my glove off.
Haise freezes for a second and grabs my shoulder before I make it to the door. "U-Umm, why don't we go on a walk then? I'm sure you wanna get some more fresh air?" He said, nervously.
"Your acting weird, Sassan." I said, Haise doesn't act like this usually. Why is he so bent on keeping me outside?
"W-Weird? Me? Hahaha! No such thing!" He said nervously.
I give him a blank look. "Your hiding something." I said.
"No- I-" He started.
I open the door. "I'm going inside."
Just as I open the door, I smack into someone. I take a step back to find Yomo looking down at me. Why is Mr. Yomo here?! I try to catch a glance behind him, but he gets in the way nonchalantly. He's acting weird too!
"What's going on!" I said, trying to claw my way back inside as Yomo grabbed me and hoisted me up, taking me back outside.
"Look, Yomo! A plane is about to crash into the building over there!" I yelled, out of pure hopefullness he'll fall for it.
To my surprise, Yomo looking up in the sky, expecting to see a plane. How dull can you get? I jump off of him and run through the door, hearing Haise yell something like- "Wait! Their not ready-!" Before the door slammed behind me.
Huh? Ready for what-?!
I stopped in the living room. In the coffee table, there sat a piece of chocolate cake, with a lit candle in it. The one lighting it, was Touka, who looked like a statue when I bursted in.
"Ummm." Touka mumbled.
On the couch sat Nashiro, nibbling on some sugar cubes colored a dark brown. She looked up at me with a blank look then lifted up her arms in a matter that would make you expect her to be a robot.
"Surprise." She said in a monotone voice.
After calming everyone down...
"A party?" I asked, everyone sitting on the couch now.
Haise nodded in defeat. "Yeah... I was supposed to keep you busy while the other got ready." He fell to the ground dramatically. "I'm a failure!" He screamed into the air.
Touka smiled nervously. "I-It's fine, Sassan. Let's just have the party." She said, sighing.
Tsukiyama displayed out his arms. "Yes! Let's celebrate the Harmony!"
"Why are you here?" Vincent mumbled.
All the people around me talked, argued, and bickered at each other like some group of comedians. Something I've been wondering pops in my mind as I raise a hand as if in class, catching everyone's attention.
"What's the reason for the party though?" I asked.
They all stared blankly at me, then, beside me, Kurona and Nashiro on both sides hug me. "Happy Birthday, Levin." They both said.
I blush and stare shocked. Vincent laughs.
"I knew you'd freeze if they said that while hugging both your arms!" Vincent said vigorously.
I grunt. "You put them up to that act, didn't you?" I said while glaring at him.
"Don't know what your talking about~" Vincent said, then proceeded to whistle harmlessly.
I sigh, everyone talking now. My birthday, huh? How old am I? Oh yeah... Twenty. I'm surprised I've survived this long. But it's pretty close to Christmas, so maybe we'll celebrate that too? I crack a small smile thinking of that.
Kurona poked my cheek, getting my attention. She smiled a soft smile so small, but so noticeable to me. "Are you happy?" She asked.
I look around again at all the people. I smile gently and rub her head, making her perk up.
"Of course. I've never had friends over for a Birthday before... thank you, Kurona." I whisper.
Kurona blushes with a blank face, turning away while walking like a robot across the room, her head seeming to be steaming.
I see Rize in the corner, then something comes to mind that I never thought of before. Someone with scars...
I sat up and walked towards her, she flinches when she sees me. "W-What is it, Levin?" She said quickly.
"Why aren't you with everyone else?" I asked first, curiosity coming over me.
She cuddled her chest a bit. "I'm not used to these... festivities. I'd ruin it for everyone." She mumbled.
I stare at her for awhile, then nod slowly. "You seem like the type that likes these types of things secretly." I said bluntly.
She flinches. "W-What are you talking about-!"
"Oh yeah! The thing I thought up, Rize, I have something to ask of you." I said, making her look interested.
I cross my arms. "I want you to show me your bare back." I said.
Everyone in the room froze, and slowly looked over at me. Vincent whistles for some reason while the twins stare blankly. Yomo gives me a thumbs up and Touka hides her face under her hands. And Haise fell over from surprise. I'm not even gonna say what Tsukiyama was doing because he's Tsukiyama (I'll leave it to your imagination).
Rize blushed like a tomato. "Huh?"