|| The Day He Woke Up (Eng Ver.) [Utapri Fanfiction] ||

Chapter 1

The clock on the wall showed 05.00 in the morning. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. "Looks like I fell asleep on the chair," I thought as I got up. I noticed the charger cable was still attached to the back of my neck. I unplugged it as well as the other end of the cable from the socket. “Okay, today my schedule is…” I thought. Today I had a photoshoot with the other Quartet Night members at 8 am, after that I have go to the TV station building for a talk show at 10.30, then practice for a new song at 1 pm. "After that, done," I said quietly. I’m not too busy today.

I tied my hair into a side-ponytail and did my morning routine, then head out of the room. The others should still be sleeping because there was no sound in this apartment other than my footsteps. Today's temperature is 16 degrees Celsius, not too cold for early spring. I stepped into the main room. The room was still a bit dark because the lights were off. However, from the light of the building outside the window, I caught a human figure sitting on a chair by the window.

"Reiji? What are you doing here? And why are you awake? Don't you usually wake up last?" I asked repeatedly as I approached him. I guess I startled him because he jumped to his feet and turned towards me. “A-Ai-Ai, you startled me,” he whined softly while holding his chest. Hmm… this is weird, usually he would scream if he was surprised. And his body temperature is 34.5 degrees Celsius. It's not normal for humans. Is he cold?
"Reiji, why are you awake?" I asked again. “W-well, I-I suddenly woke up and couldn't sleep anymore. So I decided to come here," he replied. He smiled a little at me. I just nodded at his reply, although I was still curious.

“Oh, yeah, Ai-Ai!” Reiji flashed a big smile at me, “Happy birthday to you~!”
He immediately hugged me and rested his chin on my shoulder. "Birthday?" I asked. "Mhm! Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday, Ai-Ai," Reiji replied. He removed his arms from me and smiled again.
Birthday. According to my data, a birthday is a special day on which a human being is born. But for me, birthday means the day I was made. Today, March 1st is my birthday. Humans usually throw a party to celebrate their birthday. I, myself never took the initiative to celebrate my 'birthday'.

I looked back at Reiji. He was also looking at me, waiting for me to say something. "Ah, I didn't forget. I just didn't look at the calendar," I replied shortly. “Ooh…” was all Reiji said.
"Hmm? He doesn't want to babble like he usually does?" I thought. Feeling there was nothing more to discuss, I decided to go to the kitchen to cook breakfast, considering it was my turn to cook today. Reiji looked at me walking towards the kitchen and mumbled something. I didn't hear much of it. All I heard was, "Happy birthday to you too..."

At exactly 05.30 in the morning, Ranmaru and Camus came out of their room at the same time. They joined me and Reiji who were already sitting at the dining table. “Ai, happy birthday,” Ranmaru said after sitting down. “Happy birthday, Mikaze,” Camus continued. I thank them both. We started breakfast as usual. Yes, everything was going normally, except for the fact that Reiji had been quiet throughout breakfast. He even left before he finished his food. Me and the other two Quartet Night members just let him go.

At 07.06, the car that would take us to the photo studio arrived. "Six minutes late," I muttered. The four of us quickly got into the car. I sat next to Reiji, while Ranmaru and Camus were behind us. "You guys should be good in there, alright~" Reiji teased them before the car started. The journey to the photo studio was quite slow considering the distance that was not too far from our apartment. I'm guessing we'd be there at 07.49.
Along the way, Ranmaru’s and Camus’s low arguing could be heard. I glanced to my right. There, Reiji stared out the window while occasionally exhaling a long breath. I started to wonder what happened to him. My old memory says, at times like this, Reiji is usually the loudest to the point of him distracting the driver. Then why is he silent now?