*Eiji*

"Eiji, did you have the royal mailers send out all the invitations for tonight's event?" Eiko asked as she fixed her hair.

I leaned back on the bed and sighed. "Yes, now let me continue reading."

My wife let out what sounded like a primal roar. Her hand dashed for the magazine in my hands but I rolled out of the way. She continued to follow after me as I moved around her.

She took a deep breath. "You should care a bit more about our oldest son's birthday. He turns eight today, you know?"

I moved my neck left and right. "What about it? Both of us turned eight at some point too. It's not even a milestone birthday like turning ten, seventeen, or twenty-one are."

"For me every one of his birthdays are a milestone! You know, sometimes I feel that you don't even love him. His tutor treats him more like a son than you do, and he's too young to be a father."

I put down the magazine in the bed and stared at my wife. She only had on a white bath towel.

"He isn't so fond of me either."

"That's because you've never tried approaching him!" she said, leering at me.

I sighed and stood up. "Alright, I'll try to get closer to the kid."

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. "Thanks, Ei!" Eiko said, pressing her face against my back.

I cleared my throat. "No need to thank me. The kid is my son after all."

She ran her right hand up my abdomen, pulling my shirt up a bit. "Still, it means a lot."

I averted my eyes. "Well, anything to get you off my case."

She let go of me and kicked me on the back. "Why can't you be a little more sensitive? You jerk!"

I turned around and smiled. "There, now that's the Eiko I know!"

She gritted her teeth and readjusted her towel. "Out!"

I nodded. "Okay, I'll get going now. By the way, try to fix your hair again, you messed it up just now when you kicked me."

She glanced up and noticed a strand of hair sticking out. Rapidly, she patted it down. "I'm not done yet. Now go for real or I'll deliver another kick!"

"Got it, babe!" I said as I opened the door and walked out of our love chamber.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped, throwing a bottle of mousse at me. Luckily, I managed to close the door quick enough to avoid it.

I snickered. "It might be a good idea to get the hairstylists to help you. They would likely tell you how to properly use hair care products."

"Go to Cianio!" she snapped, kicking the now closed-door.

I chuckled. "Just some advice, dear!"

I rushed out of the hall rapidly, dodging past all of the maids as they dashed about the palace in preparation for the Eii's big day.

"Do you know where Eiichi is?" I asked, but not pausing long enough to hear their responses. Well, I was likely moving too fast for them to even get to hear me before I was already long gone.

At last, in my aimless running, I came upon a partially opened door. I peered into it and saw my oldest boy reading a book. He never read whenever I asked him...

Seated next to him was a young man. His name was Shun Wei, a mage at one of Leiji's most prestigious high schools, Shandi Academi. Leiji was the Xelerian nation with the most extensive knowledge of lightning magic. That was why we decided to hire Shun who happened to be one of its top three students.

"Pop quiz time! What's the biggest weakness of a lightning mage?" Shun asked.

Eiichi closed the book in his hands and put it down on the table. He smiled at his tutor. "That's easy! It's the quick consumption of prana, but that can be alleviated by training one's prana control extensively," my son said.

Shun chuckled. "That's right." He patted his head. "You're a quick learner, aren't you?"

His cheeks turned bright red. Eii laughed and nodded his head. "I guess so. Mom says I'm a 'genius' when it comes to magic."

"A genius, huh? Hmm, that make it a tad hard to teach you."

Eii lowered his head. "Not you too..."

He laughed. "Cheer up. That just means that I got to get creative and think out of the box!"

"I look forward to seeing what you come up with, Mr. Wei."

"I hope you will think it's worth the wait, little man!"

Eii crossed his hands and leaned against the back of his seat. "As do I, Mr. Wei."

"I know that I'm older than you, but please call me 'Shun'. Being called 'Mr. Wei' makes me feel like my dad."

"Hmm, how is Mr. Wei? Your father, I mean."

He raised his electric blue eyes toward the golden chandelier lighting up the front portion of the library.

He took a deep breath. "My old man? Well, he's a rather uptight."

"Uptight, huh? I can relate..."

Shun snickered. "You can? Neither one of your parents strikes me as uptight."

"Maybe not around you, but my dad never spars with me! He doesn't even like me fighting, I feel." He crossed his arms over his chest and peered down at the pearly red table. "I'm surprised that he even accepted to hire you... and more so that he's around you to teach me attack magic instead of just defensive, healing, and other support varieties."

"I'm sure that Mr. Raiyama has his reasons. He is one of the strongest guys in this country, so maybe he's afraid he might hurt you."

He turned to look at him. "You really think so?"

"Well, it's mostly just a theory. I haven't been here long enough to know."

I turned around. Perhaps now wasn't the right time to interrupt...

"You can go ask him yourself," Shun said.

I gasped. He sensed me all this time? Well, it wasn't like I was trying to hide my presence to begin with... but still. I hadn't met a lightning mage around his age with such skill at sensing others.

"Dad is here?" Eii asked.

I turned around and saw Shun make his way toward me with Eii following close behind.

The smile on the tutor's face widened as soon as he reached the door. "What brings you here, Mr. Raiyama? Checking up on the little man's studies? Or are you here to review my work?"

"Was just passing by, but from the look of things, you're doing a fine job with little Eii here," I said, patting my son's head.

Eii pouted. "Don't call me 'little'!"

"I'll stop calling you that once you're my height, little Eii."

Red sparks crackled in his now closed fists. "You're asking for a fight, aren't you old man?" he snapped before he raised his fist toward my arm.

I swept my arm past him seconds before he could hit it and jumped to the side. Eii gasped his follow up kick missed.

"Too slow, kid," I said, chuckling.

He narrowed his blood-red eyes at me. "Hmph, one of these days I'll beat you, old man!"

I laughed. "I would like to see you try, squirt."

More sparks flew out of his fists, but this time he didn't charge at me. "I'll continue training until I can defeat you, dummy!"

I hugged him. "Aww, you're so cute!"

"L-let go of me or I'm going to punch you!" he yelled as he struggled to get out of my grasp.

I let go of him. "Alright, I won't tease you too much today. It is your special day after all."

Eiichi smiled. "Since it is, how about a proper fight?"

"Well, your performance just now shows that you aren't ready, kid," I said, smiling.

"What happened to not teasing me?"

"I said 'too much', not that I would be abstaining from it completely."

He ran over and tried to kick me but I blocked it.

"Aww, so close!"

Shun snickered. "Thought you said that you weren't close, Eii?"

"We're not!" he snapped, freeing his foot from my grasp.

"Yeah, we always bicker," I sneered.

"Papa, I finally found you!" a voice called out. "Mama said that you went to look for Eii."

We all turned to see a five-year-old boy with medium long blond hair and green eyes.

"Oh, it's you, Eita," Eiichi said, narrowing his eyes at his kid-brother.

"Seems you found Eii," Eita said, smiling.

"Yeah, I just kept running until I found him," I said, laughing. "Figured he would be around somewhere."

Eii narrowed his eyes. "Such aimlessness."

"You should've asked around, you really scared the servants," Eita said, laughing.

Eiichi chuckled. "They probably thought the old man was a disembodied voice."

"Oh, you mean like what you two thought that one time I ran past you without stopping?"

The two stopped laughing.

I snickered. "So, Eita, what did you want to see me for?"

"Mama wants you to change into your costume for the party!" Eita said.

I stared at the red cape draped on his shoulders and at his small fangs.

"Are you a vampire?" Shun asked.

Eita nodded. "Yeah, very convincing, huh?"

"Hmm, well, the real things are scarier."

Eita pouted. "Really?"

He nodded. "Want me to make it more convincing?"

"Yeah! I want to look scary!"

"Alright, let's go!" he said. He turned toward Eii. "We'll pause our lesson for today here."

"That's fine, my party is about to start. Uh, will you be joining us?" Eii asked.

Shun nodded and smiled. "Of course! It's the birthday of my first student!"

"Will you teach me magic too?" Eita asked.

"Sure, as soon as you awaken your magic," he said, nudging his shoulder.

"Yippee!" he yelled, jumping up and down. He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, Eii, want to help me awaken it?"

Eiichi crossed his arms over his chest like I usually did and smirked. "You should do it alone. That's what the old man told me."

That I did...

Eita frowned. "Oh... okay."

I sighed. "If you want, I can help you."

"Huh? That's no fair! You didn't help me!" Eii yelled.

"Well, you're a genius."

He smiled. "Oh, I see. Eita here isn't, so he needs help. Guess that makes sense!"

Eita pouted. "I don't want his help! I'll awaken my magic on my own!" he yelled before running off.

I rubbed my forehead. Seemed I only made things worse...

"Don't worry, I'll talk to him," Shun said, patting my shoulder.

I smiled. "Thanks, Shun."

"No problem, Sir!" he yelled before running off after Eita.

"Well, better go change!" Eiichi said, swinging his arms behind his head. He had a smile on his face.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He snickered. "Am I?"

...Guess this was what 'getting a taste of one's own medicine' meant.

He giggled and ran off. "Bye, old man! Try not to embarass me with your costume!"

I grinned. "Now, why would I do that?" I yelled.

"If you do then I'm not going to the party and Mom will be mad at you!" he yelled.

I grumbled. That was a good point...

"Hey, could you help me with something?" he asked.

I smiled. "Sure. What do you need help with?"

"Come closer," he said as he stood in front of the twin, black-and-white marble staircases.

I knelt next to him.

"I'm thinking that for my entrance..."

***

[Some time later that night]

"Papa, look!" a blond girl with bright blue eyes yelled as she pointed to the crowd below. She had decided to dress as a princess, though to me she was a little princess.

On the floor of the ballroom below was a sea of people in costumes, dancing away.

"Seems that bug eyes decided not to show," I said as I scanned the crowd for the king.

"Who are you calling bug eyes?" a voice called from behind. I spun around and saw Osamu dressed in a white trench coat with a chain weapon on his side. Over his heart was a silver cross.

Standing next to him were Setsuko and Rosa. The older princess had decided to dress up as a lioness while the younger dressed up as a wolf.

"Who are you supposed to be?" I asked.

"A lioness, duh," Setsuko said with a smirk.

"I'm a woof!" the four-year-old Rosa said, smiling.

Did she just say 'woof' instead of 'wolf'?

Osamu patted his daughters' heads. "I would think he would be able to figure that out right away," he whispered into Setsuko's ear.

I laughed dryly. "I was talking about yours, Your Majesty."

"He's a vampire hunter," Setsuko said.

Osamu smiled at me. "Which is a good thing as there's a vampire in front of me right now."

I stared at my own costume. I was dressed in a black cape with a red vest and black suit and pants. I had painted lines of 'blood' down my chin.

"Only if you can catch me, you insolent hunter!" I said, moving my cape over me.

"Oh, no, daddy! Save Ei-ei!" Rosa yelled.

I snuggled my little girl. "You won't take her from me, silly 'woof'!"

Rosa narrowed her eyes and growled before charging at me. "Let Ei-ei go!"

I side-stepped her attack, causing her to slam into the railing. The little princess began to spin.

"Woah," she said as she teetered around as if drunk.

"Rosa, are you okay?" Osamu asked, grabbing a hold of her.

"Everything is spinning, daddy!" she said. Suddenly, a plushie appeared in her hands. "Bear-woof is dizzy too."

Osamu smiled and patted her head. "You should leave the vampire hunting to your old man."

"How did a vampire hunter end up with a werewolf as a daughter?" I asked, chuckling.

"Princess of woofs, Rosa!" Ei-ei said, smiling.

"It's 'wolves', not 'woofs'," I corrected.

"Woof!" Rosa barked.

"Hya!" Setsuko yelled as she jumped behind me. I grabbed a hold of the rail while holding on to Ei-ei and spun out of the way.

"Too slow, kid!" I yelled.

"Grr!" Setsuko said, glaring at me. "I was close!"

I jumped, landing behind her. "Close? Not at all!"

"Come on, you two, don't attack Eiji. He might be a vampire, but he is still my knight."

"A lousy one, My King," a voice called out. It was my wife. She donned a long, black dress and had her hair waved in the back. Though, she also had two hairs sticking out, making her look like some butterfly queen.

"It's the queen of the kaiju!" Rosa yelled, her amber eyes glistening.

Eiko laughed. "I'm not a moth, dear Rosa. Nor a butterfly."

"Then what's with those hairs?" I asked, pointing at her forehead.

"What ha-" She grumbled as she touched them. "Oh, come on! Why won't you hold in place?"

I snickered and walked over to pat them down. "There, all better now."

"Mommy is blushing!" Ei-ei said, giggling.

"I'm not!" Eiko said, turning away to hide her luminescent cheeks. "It's the makeup!"

Osamu chuckled. "Well, I'm going to go see Miyuki, enjoy your night."

"Wait!" Eiko yelled.

The King and his daughters continued on their way.

Eiko leered at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You did that in front of him on purpose!"

I mirrored her glare. "How is that bad? You're my wife now. We even had three kids. Ei-ei here being the youngest," I said, lifting her into my arms.

Ei-ei giggled.

Eiko's face softened. "Well, let's introduce ourselves to our guests. Wait, where are Eii and Eita?"

I glanced around. "I'm not sure. I thought that they would be with you."

"I'm here!" Eita said. He was accompanied by Shun who was dressed up in a black cloak.

"Is your brother not with you?" Eiko asked.

Suddenly, the lights went off, plummeting the entire room in darkness.

"What's going on?" Eiko asked, glancing up.

I smiled. So, it was time...

A bright light suddenly appeared in the center of the room, drawing the attention of all the guests toward it.

"Welcome to my birthday party, everyone! Hope that you enjoy the night!" Eiichi's voice echoed across the ballroom. A wave of gentle light spread outward from the center until all the lights turned back on gradually.

Descending from the ceiling was Eiichi. On his forehead was turban with side swept bullhorns. He also wore white harem pants and a sky-blue vest. He had decided to dress up like a cartoon image of a djinn for tonight.

"What was that?" Eiko asked, blinking. "Since when did he learn that?"

"I don't recall having taught him something like that."

I laughed. "I helped him out with it. In reality, it's a little parlor trick we cooked up."

Eiko stared at the crowd surrounding our oldest son and smiled. "Well, it seems to have drawn everyone toward him."

I laughed. "Yeah. Our son is an attention hog like his mother."

Eiko elbowed me on the side. "Shut it!"

Ei-ei and Eita sighed. "There they go again..." they mutter in unison.

"Who asked you?" we both snapped.

The two kids giggled.

***

The party went by faster than I could imagine. Eiichi spent most of the night showing off the spells that Shun had taught him and chatting up girls.

The kid seemed like a casanova in the making...

"That sure was fun," Eiko said, tapping my shoulder. "I'm going to go put Ei-ei and Eita to bed."

"Okay," I said, handing over my little girl.

"I'm exhausted, Mommy," Eita said, rubbing his eyes as he held his mother's hand.

"I know, dear. You can sleep soon," she said, walking out of the room.

I glanced around the now empty room for Eiichi. He had gotten swallowed up in the crowd tonight.

"Hey, Mr. Raiyama!" Shun said, walking into the room. "I found the Little Master." On his shoulders was a sleeping Eiichi.

"Thanks, Shun. I'll take it from here," I said, reaching out for my son.

"Wonder if he'll even have enough energy for tomorrow's energy."

I snickered. "I'm sure he will. Eiichi is an energetic child."

"Well, see you tomorrow!" Shun said, waving.

I nodded as he ran off, leaving me alone with Eiichi.

"Let's go, kiddo," I said, shifting him to my back.

"Papa..." he mumbled.

"What?" I asked.

"I love you."

I smiled. "I do too, Eii. Happy eighth birthday! May there be many more to come!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed today's special! I'm publishing it to mark Halloween which happens to be Eiichi's in story birthday ^_^.**