Today is the birthday of a great detective, and a colleague of mine… Saguru Hakuba – happy birthday. I hope today, and many other days to come, are filled with at least some joy and greatness…
…You can expect a small gift from me later. It’s nothing much, but I wasn’t sure what else…
“Thank you very much, Kirigiri-san! I’m very much looking forward to reading your report, and am so pleased that you remembered me! You really are too kind, my wonderful colleague.”
“Now if only you could trust me enough to not put something awful on a gift.” Harrumph.
“…all teasing aside, it is appreciated. I apologize for not being as warm as you and I would both prefer. I am trying, however.”
“This has actually been in our library for as long as I can remember but… I think you’ll take better care of it. It’s the manuscript for The Boscombe Valley Mystery that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote by hand. I remember that it’s your favorite so I thought you might like it. Happy birthday.”
–
“This…. This is…”
“This can’t be… Is it really-?”
“B-but… Kudou-sen… Kudou-san…”
“I.. don’t even… know what to say…
"Really.. don’t..
"Ah..
"Kudou-sama…”
"Ah… th-thank you…“
“I got you a gift. I know you prefer your clothes a little more reserved but I even chose the blue ones over the red for you.”
“I’m sure that you can find something to wear with them. I might even buy you an outfit to go with it for Christmas. Happy birthday, Hakuba-kun.”
–
“A gift from Koizumi-san? I’m not sure whether to be frightened or elated. Still, they are nice… and you did, indeed, pick blue instead of red…"
"Well, I suppose I shall have to inspect them and, if they end up being clean and free of any poisons, traps, and visible curses, I will put them to good use. Thank you, Koizumi-san… I…”
“…it was actually very sweet of you to remember my birthday. Thank you, again.”
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I think I remember him mentioning a peacoat he wanted. I don’t remember the precise one…
It took a long time to find one with a fairly good inscription, but the signature’s still pretty well in tact.
Okay it took a lot of willpower not to keep this myself (fortunately I found a different set for my own collection) but this was still too charming to pass up.
Happy Birthday, My dear Detective!
“Ah! Wh-what?! How?! Why?! This is far too much… God, I’m… Wow. What in heaven’s name did I do to deserve this? Emi-kun… Ah, I love them all so much. I…”
“Thank you, Emi-kun. And thank you, too, Hannah-chan, for delivering them to me with such care.”
The motorcycle pulled up to the large mansion, a sidecar attached just for this occasion. He also had duct tape, rope, and zip ties, just in case.
Dismounting and knocking on the door, he announced himself to the woman who answered. “Yo! I’m Hattori Heiji. I’m here ta kidnap Hakuba fer his birthday. He in?”
“Kidnapping the young master? For his birthday? Oh, that’s delightful! Come in, Hattori-kun, come in!”
Baaya was pleased. Here she was, thinking that her dear Saguru would spend another birthday moping and pretending that he was good at hiding it, but a surprise birthday party? He must have been making more friends than she thought!
It must be the hot yoga. There was no other explanation.
“He’s probably in his bedroom. Here’s the key. I’ll escort you to it; I know he doesn’t have normal friend company over often.”
Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire.
Joyeux anniversaire, cheval blanc.
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And a tasseled plant upon the hastily written note that was beside the poured drink of scotch. No name, so the only manner of identification would be the slick, italicized handwriting.
—
“He… he remembered?"
“Ah, thank you, Takagi-keiji! It was very sweet of you to remember.”
