Omnix: Celestial system

Chapter 22: Happy Birthday!

It has been two days since the incident at the C-ranked gate.

Today was the first day of June, which meant they just entered a new month.

But to Hal, it wasn't because it was a new month that made it special to him, no, it was because today was a special day for his little sister.

Today was her birthday, and she was going to be 17 years of age; today, it was per the course that Hal had woken up extremely early today, to make preparations for the celebration of her birthday.

As he stood, making meatballs by the slab in the kitchen, the lady of the day, his little sister came into the sitting room.

As soon as she entered, she began sniffing around while rubbing her eyes from sleep.

"Huh? What's this?" She asked groggily.

"Happy birthday!" Hal excitedly shouted.

"Huh?" Bethany was shocked and stood rooted to the spot. She couldn't believe her eyes, the whole room was decorated with birthday ribbons and balloons.

Her brother Hal was even putting on a blue cone-shaped cap with hearts and candles for decoration, and behind him, there was a banner that read Happy Birthday.

She just couldn't believe her eyes, as the last time she celebrated her birthday in such a grand style was years ago when her parents were still alive.

As she stood there staring at everything with a complicated mix of emotions, her left nose started running, and in no time the waterworks came.

Huuuah!!

"Come now, don't cry." Hal left his position behind the kitchen slab and went to comfort her.

He understood why she was crying, as he was also a recipient of that bitter experience. The loss of their parents.

Ever since they lost their parents, things took a rough turn, and neither of them had celebrated their birthdays since then, as the cost of living was taxing and Hal was the only one with a Job, as an E-rank Hunter, which paid less.

So when he got the money from the sale of the magic crystals the day before, he promised himself to make today a special day for his little sister.

"It's okay now, okay? Come on, let's eat and be merry, this is not a time to be sad." Hal said with a slight chuckle.

"Are you a cry girl or a big girl, huh?" Hal asked teasingly.

As soon as she heard that, she removed her head from its position on his chest, took a step back, straightened her shoulders, and then, in one swift motion, stretched to squeeze his ear.

"Don't you ever call me a crybaby again, ok?"

"Ouch! Okay okay!" Hal answered in pain; he simply couldn't understand what the matter was with girls and squeezing of ears.

"Better!" She said as she walked to the dining table, and Hal went back to the kitchen to serve their food.

It was a meal of white-cooked pasta, with stew and meatballs.

"Woah! Smells nice, but I'm sure it won't be nearly half as sweet as the smell." She said with a not-too-serious expression.

"Wanna bet?" Hal replied

"Yh."

"Ok. Whoever wins gets to flick the loser on the head, yes?"

"Yes!" Bethany didn't waste time to answer, as if she was already sure of her victory.

"Ok. Eat it," Hal said urging her on.

"Here goes!" She took the fork, from where it lay nearly arranged beside the plate, and dipped it into the plate of pasta.

She twisted the fork, causing the pasta to wound around it in a spiral form, and then she used the sharp tips of the fork to pick a meatball before putting it into her mouth.

As soon as it landed on her tongue, her face lit up, and her cheeks formed a curve as she formed a delighted expression. She couldn't resist the sweet taste of the food, from the spreading of the stew-stained pasta on her tongue to the soft, succulent meatball that easily scattered in her mouth; the whole thing just felt otherworldly.

As she was still basking in the sweetness of the meal, Hal moved from his position on the chair and flicked her head, slightly, jolting her back to reality from whatever cloud she must have been in.

"Ouch! That hurt!" She said as she pressed a hand to her forehead, which was quickly swelling.

'It hurt?' Hal was surprised, as he hadn't put any effort into the flick.

As he stopped thinking about that and raised his head to look at his sister, he was more surprised to see her head bent, fork in hand, pasta in mouth, as she dug nonstop into the pasta.

As he stared still, she finished the last strand of pasta and raised her head in delight.

"More!" She shouted and stood up to get more.

Hal....

Hal stared in surprise at the small-statured lady, who ate like a consuming fire.

He never ceased to wonder how she did it.

****

"One more, please!" Bethany said with a puppy eye, as she held Hal's hand while pleading.

The sounds of songs, advertisements, and of course people moving about could be heard in the background.

They were at the Sedgwick county park, and they had gone through every entertaining sites there, but Bethany hadn't had enough.

They had came down here, since morning after they finished their meals at home, and had since then been enjoying themselves.

Now it was time they went home, but she still wanted another round of the 'Merry go.

"Ok! Just this one, okay?"

"Yes, thanks! You're the best big brother ever!"

Hal just formed a subtle smile, and moved to board the 'Merry go round ' with her.

Bethany laughed hard, as she felt dizzy from the spinning, but Hal just stood like a solid tree with roots dug deep within the ground. Unshaken.

"Woah, that was fun!" Bethany cried in delight as she skipped walked away from the 'Merry go round.'

Hal held her hands as they walked, with a pleasant but cool expression on his face.

He was glad he could make today a memorable one for her, as it had been long she had such a memory, and also for the fact that he had not been spending a lot of time with her, these past few weeks, so he was happy he got to do both at the same time.

It was the literal killing two birds with one stone.

As they walked along the street, on their way back home, Hal suddenly heard a slightly familiar voice south his name from behind.

"Hey! Hal, Hal!, wait up, please."

He turned around to look, and was surprised to see the man who led the Hunter squad he joined a while back, through the gate, with an abnormal dungeon.

The dungeon that led to the circumstances that changed his life.

He turned around to see none other than Mister Heights.