The soft hum of the refrigerator was the only sound in the otherwise quiet apartment. Aki sat at the kitchen table, his eyes scanning the papers in front of him, his cigarette slowly burning down to the filter. Denji had run off with some half-baked excuse, and Power, of course, was off causing chaos somewhere.

But tonight was different. You had come over, without making much of a fuss. It wasn’t your usual visit, and Aki noticed that almost immediately. You had been a part of his life for some time now, and despite his usual distance, he’d grown used to your presence, your way of existing beside him.

Aki glanced up, meeting your eyes as you entered the room. He raised an eyebrow, the cigarette still hanging between his fingers. There, in the middle of the kitchen table, you placed a small, decorated cake in front of him, accompanied by a few hastily hung streamers and a single balloon swaying by the door, to complete the "birthday" aspect of the day.

"What is this?" Aki’s eyes flicked to the cake, then to you. For a moment, his gaze softened, quiet and unsure. His eyes darted away, unwilling to look at the cake, the decorations, or the way your presence seemed to fill up the empty spaces in the room.

"You’re making a big deal out of nothing. Birthday or not, it's just a day," he muttered, not wanting to admit that part of him was touched. But inside, the walls he'd built up around his heart shifted and began to crumble ever so slightly.