Kyo trudged slowly down the forest path, shoving his hands deep into his jacket pockets as he navigated by light of the moon. Though it was only about an hour after dusk, the forest had already succumbed to the eerie silence of night, and the usual pitter-patter of animal feet lost even to his highly sensitive ears. In fact, the only detectable sound for miles was the soft thudding of his own footsteps, slow and repetitive like the beating of a heart. Despite the emptiness, Kyo found he liked the silence, especially after a long day of quarreling with Yuki and Shigure over too many things to count.

However, today he imagined that today his attempts were half-hearted, even those intended to prompt Yuki into finally taking him on in another fight. Today he was just going through the motions; there was no real enthusiasm behind anything he did. His mind was somewhere else. Because today, today was his birthday.

At the very thought, Kyo released a small sigh he hadn't known he's been holding in, and shifted his gaze upwards towards the moon. Because today was his birthday, and nobody had remembered.

Honestly though, he wasn't sure why he cared about his birthday this year, it wasn't like it meant much to anybody anyways. It was just some stupid day in the middle of August when he was cursed by the stupid spirit of the zodiac cat. It was nothing special, and (as many other Sohmas knew) nothing worth celebrating.

"Hmph, then why are you complaining?" He asked aloud, wanting to hear the sound of it on the air. "What makes this year so special?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Kyo regretted having ever explored the subject in the first place. For now, the answer burned like a cold flame in the darkest corners of his mind.

Tohru.

If anyone, he would have thought that at least she would have remembered his birthday. Kyo recalled the fuss she had thrown for Yuki's birthday, how she spent the day showering him with presents she could barely afford, whipping up the most delectable spread of food Kyo had seen since New Year's, and basically doing everything in her power to make his day perfect. But today, there was nothing. Everyone had forgotten him, even her.

"Gah, don't act so surprised," he scolded himself, misery washing over him in waves. "It's not like I should have expected anything anyways."

Still feeling sorry for himself, Kyo barely noticed when he arrived at Shigure's back porch, exactly where he had begun his self-deprecating trek. Thoughtlessly, he sauntered up the bamboo steps, pulling open the screen and entering the dark house.

That's funny, Shigure left the lights off, he noticed, feeling along the adjacent wall for the light switch. I wonder wh-

"SURPRISE!" a chorus of voices canted as light flooded the room, various Sohmas appearing from behind furniture wearing party hats and other colorful garments.

"Gaaaaaahhhhh!" Kyo cried, jumping backwards five feet and raising his arms and legs in a fighting position.

Their cheerful expressions fizzled.

"Happy…uh…birthday?" Momiji attempted, lamely, slowly lowering the nose-maker in his hand.

"See, I told you he wouldn't like a surprise party," Yuki mumbled in the awkward silence that followed the stunt.

"Surprise… party?" Kyo managed, lowering his limbs and looking slowly across the room.

"Yes silly, a surprise party." Tohru recovered, smiling warmly and walking up to him. "I wanted to do something special for your big day, so Shigure helped me invite some of the other Sohmas over to help celebrate. It took a lot of planning, but everyone was so nice and willing to help out, so we managed to get everything done just in time for you to come home!"

"Now Kyo, don't let her fool you," Shigure chided, walking over. "She says we helped out, but really she was the one who did most of the work. All most of us did was show up, Tohru was the one working all day wrapping presents and making decorations."

"Oh no no no don't say that! I couldn't have done it without your help and you know it!" She fussed, proceeding to list numerous tiny things that everyone had done in helping her prepare for the party.

But by now, Kyo had stopped listening, finding he could do little more than stare at the girl before him. She did all this… for me, he thought slowly, taking in every little streamer and accessory Tohru had placed around the room. He had been so so wrong to think Tohru had forgotten his birthday, when she had been putting so much time and effort into arranging a surprise party for him. It was amazing… he almost didn't know what to say.

Looking back down at her, Kyo was startled to find Tohru's eyes lingering expectantly on him, her hands clasped pleading in front of her like she was waiting for something.

"Wha..?" he began lamely, his dull brain struggling to register what it had missed.

"The party…" she began, her smile deflating a bit. "I asked if you liked the party. Oh but it's ok if you don't, because I mean I didn't really put all that much time into it and I didn't know if you would like it or what to do for decorations and stuff so I really don't mind if you say you hate it or-"

"Ah quit talkin' already," he interrupted, causing her to jump back a little in surprise. "Look, you don't have to go around be'in scared that I'm not gonna like it. You worked hard on it and you should be proud of yourself regardless of what I think." He finished lamely, hoping she understood what he was trying to say.

There was a moment of silence as she took in his words, before her blank expression finally cleared and she gave a satisfactory nod. "I understand," she smiled, to which Kyo reacted with an internal sigh of relief.

"Now come on, we've got a lot to do before the night's done!" she took his hand, leading him farther into the house, and right over a puddle of spilled punch on the floor.

"Tohru look ou-"

But it was already too late. With a single step her legs shot out from under her, causing her to fall backwards onto Kyo. In a flash of purple smoke, he was gone, replaced by a small, orange, slightly irritated looking cat.

"Oh my gosh I'm so so so so sorry I can't believe I am so clumsy and I didn't see the punch and-" Kyo was aware of Tohru's apology, but he could only half hear her. Instead, his mind was clouded by a single, wonderful truth that made his cold heart sing for joy. She remembered.

Oo0oO

A/N: Just a cute little one-shot I thought of. I apologize for any awkwardness, I wrote this on an impulse more than anything, so I felt the need to just put this out there, regardless of how good it is.

Please review!