Chapter 1

Seven

The doorbell rang for the 5th time in the span of five minutes. Chie and Yukiko were the first to arrive, followed by Rise. Next came Yosuke. "Where's Teddie?" Nanako asked, sounding disappointed. "He's coming from work," Yosuke replied. "He should be here pretty soon." The fourth ring was Kanji and Naoto. They were dating now, so they arrived together. The fifth time the doorbell rang, Nanako ran to the door as fast as she could and yanked it open. "Teddie!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the bear's neck. "Nana-chan!" he shouted happily in return.

Nanako was really happy that her cousin Souji, or Big Bro as she preferred to call him, had come home for the party. She had been really worried that he wouldn't make it, and her dad didn't say a word about it. They kept it a secret! So when Souji walked through the door the afternoon before, Nanako was completely surprised! They had dinner together as a family, and went for a walk at the Samegawa. Nanako picked the prettiest flowers by the riverbank. It was a really fun evening!

Because it was Sunday and everyone had the day off from school, Nanako had a small party with her friends from class in the morning. Mai-chan, Emi-chan, Miwa-chan and even Takeyoshi-kun were there! They had cupcakes and played board games. It was really fun! But Nanako had been looking forward to the afternoon very much. She loved spending time with all of Big Bro's friends. They had all saved her from that weird place that made her sick, and they visited her in the hospital until she was well again. And also, she really, really wanted to see Teddie! He was Big Bro's friend, too, but he was different. Sometimes Teddie came over just to play with Nanako. He always paid lots of attention to her. She just loved Teddie.

"The party can start now that Prince Teddie is here!" the bear announced loudly. The others rolled their eyes, but Nanako just giggled.

"Right!" she agreed. "And Birthday Princess Nanako is here, too!" She beamed at Teddie. Everyone was smiling and laughing. What a perfect day!

"Nanako," Dojima asked, "will you see if those kids need any help in the kitchen?" Dad was always asking her things like this because she was so responsible. It made her feel very proud. She skipped into the kitchen happily and then stopped in her tracks. "Oops, sorry!" she called loudly as she quickly made her way back out to the living room. Souji raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do Naoto and Kanji need any help?" he asked.

"Oh, no, they weren't cooking, they were just kissing!" she exclaimed loudly. She really liked that they were a couple now. They were really sweet together. And they both really liked things that Nanako liked, so it was always really fun when they came over.

"Kanji-chan! Are you scoring with Nao-chan in there!" Teddie yelled at the top of his lungs. Nanako saw dad cringe a little.

"Shut up, bear!" Kanji yelled back. Naoto came out of the kitchen with a tray of sushi that they had been preparing and set it on the table. Rise gave her a huge smile.

"Shut up, Rise-san," Naoto said.

"Hey!" exclaimed Rise. "I didn't say anything!" She smiled even bigger.

The friends all gathered around the table to enjoy the meal together. They talked, and laughed, and some of them bickered, especially Yosuke and Chie. And Yosuke and Kanji. And Yosuke and Teddie. After they finished the sushi, Kanji and Big Bro disappeared into the kitchen and they brought out a huge, pink birthday cake with seven candles on top! Nanako was so happy! It was the yummiest cake she had ever tasted. They also all brought her the nicest presents, like handmade stuffed animals, DVD's of the Detective Loveline anime, and a gift card to Junes!

The best present of all was from Teddie. He gave her a necklace with a little, gold star on it. "I thought it might remind you of me!" he exclaimed. Yosuke rolled his eyes. Nanako ignored it.

"Oh, thank you, thank you Teddie! I'll wear it always!" she said, hugging his neck again.

The party wound down after that. Nanako was sad to see everyone go. She was excited that Big Bro could stay until morning, though. His school had Monday off, so he could spend the rest of the night with her and dad! They made coffee, and curled up on the couch together, Nanako in the middle. They watched a few episodes on her new Loveline DVD. Souji turned to Nanako and smiled. "Was it a good birthday?" he asked her,

"It was the best birthday ever!" she exclaimed happily.