Genji sat, eating his lunch, on the hillside park bench overlooking the harbour with a smile and a ray of sun on his face. The cool breeze twisted his loose hair and the birds sang their songs of love on the branches of the willow tree above him.

His heart raced as Angela approached, he wasn't sure if she would even show after he finally got the nerve to ask him to have lunch with him. He knew from the moment he saw her that he was in love, and the way she smiled every time she saw him did nothing to repress that feeling.

"Hey there," Angela said with a nervous laugh as she approached. "Can I sit with you?"

"Of course" Genji replied as he cleared his tweed jacket and briefcase from the spot next to him and beckoned her with his hand.

"I wasn't sure if you were going to come, I...I'm usually alone on my Birthday" he added, internally sighing after realizing how awkward it sounded.

But Angela being the Angel she was, simply smiled and said "I can't believe you took so much time to ask, also how could you even think I'd leave my favourite ninja alone on his special day?" adding a playful push to Genji's metal shoulder. Picking up the plastic container, Genji offered some of his food to her,

"Oh, thank you but I don't want to eat your food!" she said.

"No, it's fine," he replied before lying,

"I always bring two in case I have to stay late."

In reality he had made two the night before in hopes that Angela would accept his request and he could show her some of his skills. It was a white lie, but again he felt it would have been too awkward if he admitted the truth. Genji had always been socially anxious ever since the incident with his brother, clumsy in his speech, and these traits tripled in the presence of women. It had taken him three months to gain the courage of asking Angela out, and he must have given her about fifty chances to make a hundred excuses as to why she couldn't - but she said yes.

"This is really delicious," the angel said as she took another forkful, causing some of the sauce to drop down onto his leg. She apologised with a laugh, and he smiled back, not fearing the look he may get from commuters noticing the stain later, only thinking about this beautiful woman in his presence, he was in awe.

Angela's eyes were twisted in the grass below her feet as she spoke up.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course" he replied.

"Is everything okay? You left the debriefing looking pretty upset on Friday. I wanted to call you, but I didn't know if that was okay or not..." she said, her voice shrinking at the end.

With a sigh and a sniffle the Shimada was taken back from the wonderful moment to his life's reality. "Yeah, well no. I got a call that my dog had been injured and I rushed home. He uh... is longer with us."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry" Angela replied as she embraced her companion and felt a tear forming in her own eye thinking of her own elderly pup, Kaiser.

"It's never easy losing a good friend. I'm sure you gave him the greatest life ever."

"I did. I raised Munchkin from a puppy after finding him abandoned in a parking 3 years ago. I was still in a unfamiliar town and barely had a cent to my name, and the apartment I lived in was certainly not a place to live that allowed pets, but I secretly kept him in my dorm, feeding him burgers that I'd take from our pantry at the end of the night, and whatever I could spare from my own plate. He always was the first to eat, even some days at the expense of myself. We got through tough times together, but we were always best friends. That's why I knew he'd be okay with this, especially knowing I got to have lunch with you; you have to admit that he tastes quite amazing."

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