"Keitaaaaroooo!" a female voice called.  A familiar female voice.  One I happened to like very much.

I turned around to see the girl I have an immense (but, as of yet, un-admitted) crush on, coming towards me, a pretty smile on her face.

When she arrived next to me, I turned to her and said quietly, "Hey, Kiyoko."  I smiled.

"Hey, you!"  She smiled at me in return.  "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks.  So… what did you have in mind for today?"

See, it was her idea to spend my birthday, which also happened to be Valentine's Day, together.  When she asked me, I naturally wanted to scream, I was so happy (which, I've been told, is so unlike me), but the answer that came out was a soft-spoken, hesitant "sure".

"I have a lunch.  Would you like to go to the park to eat it?"

"S-sure," I oh-so-intelligently stuttered, fairly certain that a bit of a blush was beginning to color my cheeks.  If Kiyoko noticed (which I'm sure she did), she didn't completely show it, but a different sort of smile flickered across her face, and her eyes sparkled a little more.

"Great!"  She smiled brightly as she took my hand and started walking, carrying the lunch in her other hand.  She looked at me, piercing my heart straight through with her beautiful eyes.  "Hope you don't mind?"  She quickly lifted the hand holding mine into the air, and then put it back down.

The corners of my mouth twitched upward.  "No, I can't say that I mind at all."  Okay, now my cheeks were turning a darker red, and I was trembling a little.  Calm down, Keitaro… calm down…

She giggled.  "You're cute when you blush!"

Which, of course, made me blush still more.

When we got to the park (she was still holding my hand, by the way), we found a bench that we could sit on, but for some reason, Kiyoko insisted that we sit on the ground.  It was really cold out, so I don't know why we were even outside in the first place, but I'd do it if it made her happy.

Okay, I guess I'll finally admit it to myself, if no one else.

I seriously think I love her.  Someday, maybe, I'll tell her, but not yet.

So far, this was turning out to be an awesome birthday.

A little while later, as we were eating the lunch that Kiyoko had brought, she reached for the bottom of the box and pulled out a pretty, homemade valentine with my name on it and handed it to me.

"Flip it over," she encouraged gently, a faint blush coloring her cheeks now.

"Dearest Keitaro,
You're cute when you blush!
Happy birthday! ~Kiyoko"

And for the millionth time (it seemed) that day, I began to blush again.

By now, I'd started to tremble again.  Was it… was it possible that she could love me too…?  The thought startled me.

"Thank you, Kiyoko… I love it!"

She smiled again, and my heart jumped.

Should I say it?

"Great!" she said happily.  "I worked really hard on it."

"Um, Kiyoko…" I began.

"Yeah?" she asked, still smiling.

"I, um… I…"  Darn it!  Why couldn't I get the words out of my mouth?

"Huh?  What is it, Keitaro?"  She was beginning to look confused.

"I…"  Crap!  "You have a b-beautiful s-smile…"

Well, at least I got that out.

She looked startled.  "Thanks, Keitaro!"  This time, her smile was nervous.

"Thanks for a wonderful birthday, Kiyoko…"

"You're welcome!  In fact, I have one more present for you…"

"Really?  Wh-what's that?"

Next thing I knew, she was gently kissing me on the mouth; suddenly, I was experiencing such incredible, indescribable, beyond-words feeling I never knew I could have…

When she pulled away (much to my dismay), she whispered, "Happy birthday, Keitaro…"  She quickly kissed my cheek, smiled luminously, and was gone.

Best.  Birthday.  Ever.