Miho awoke slowly, the light from her window keeping her from opening her eyes too quickly. Her body still felt fatigued from riding tanks all day yesterday. She slowly arose from her slumber and looked at her clock near her bedside. Her old one had broken when it dropped on the floor, so she got a new one from the local store. The numbers said 7:00 AM, about an hour before her friends would arrive to help her set up for her birthday party. Miho smiled faintly, this was another day that she could spend with her friends, new and old. She was especially glad that her sister would be coming along with one of her friends. She took off the covers and swung her legs to the side of the bed, carefully slipping her feet into her slippers and stood up. She stood up too quickly, making the blood from her head rush downwards as she caught herself from falling. Miho chuckled softly as she balanced herself again. She looked out towards the city, finding that she had a good view of the sun rising and found that she was smiling slightly. It was very good sight indeed, the orange tint of the sun covered most of the city, making it seem as though it was shining.
"Another good morning." She quietly said to herself as she turned away from the window and walked towards her bathroom. She quickly took off her sleep ware and turned on her shower, waiting for the temperature to rise to a comfortable heat before stepping in. At first, she backed out, feeling the water get too hot. She adjusted the temperature, this time feeling the water with her right hand as she grabbed a towel with her left, placing it nearby so she wouldn't get the floor wet when she finished.
After cleaning herself up, she looked in her closet and picked out a nice summer dress. She looked in the mirror, seeing that it would go great with the new yellow hair clip she had bought a few days ago. Miho tried on the dress, putting the hair clip in and looking at herself in the mirror again. It would look good today. After all, she would be hanging out with a few friends today before going to her party. The president said that she would be scheduling a very fun activity that would fill up most of the time. Miho sighed; hopefully it wasn't something too scary or silly, like the Halloween party. Miho was still scared of walking around her apartment at night due to the president going too far with her activities.
Suddenly, Miho heard a knock on the door. "Miho," Saori said through the door, "We're here! Are you almost ready?" Miho looked at the door as she grabbed her phone. "Give me a moment; I'm coming out right now." Miho walked towards the door and opened it. To her surprise, she was greeted with a large bear in bandages being held in front of her face. She smiled; it was another teddy bear she would keep. "Happy Birthday, Miho! Hope you like it!" Saori popped her head out behind the bear. Miho looked around the bear to see the rest of her friends waiting behind Saori. She looked at Saori and smiled again. "Thank you Saori!" Then, Saori's face went to astonishment as she pulled it back. "Ah, I messed up! I'm supposed to give this to you at your birthday party!" Mako stared at the back of Saori's head. "I told you about ten minutes before coming over here." Saori's face turned red as she turned to Mako. "Well, talk louder next time." Miho smiled, realizing that Saori was too eager to give Miho her own present. "It's okay, Saori. Give it to me later tonight." Saori looked back at Miho and smiled again. "Okay! Promise that you'll act surprised when you get it!" Miho smiled and nodded again. "Everyone hungry?" Miho asked as she grabbed her purse from the stand next to the door. Yukari's stomach growled at that exact moment as she awkwardly smiled. "S-Sorry, I usually eat something small before meeting you guys. Let's get something to eat before we walk around today."
"Who had the Eggs and Bacon?" The waitress placed the tray down on a stand so she could easily hand out everyone's dishes. Hana raised her hand slightly as she watched the waitress set down her dish in front of her, leaning a bit to reach her at the end of the booth. "Bacon, eggs, sausage, and hash browns anyone?" Yukari smiled and took out her eating utensils, waiting for the dish to hit the table before diving right into the meal. She held herself back as she saw Hana politely waiting for everyone else to have their meals in front of them. "Pancakes with strawberries?" Mako grunted a little, trying to fight off the sleep that was desperately calling to her. "Pancakes with fruit cup?" Miho smiled and raised her hand slightly, thanking the waitress for delivering their meal. "And the Triple Egg Omelet Combo with a side of toast?" The group looked at Saori with a confused look. Saori was only smiling and chuckling to herself. "A growing woman has to eat! That's how she gets more attractive over the years!" The group laughed a bit and thanked the waitress for delivering their food. Miho was about to cut her pancakes when she saw the waitress talking to some girls two booths in front of her. One of the girls wore her blonde hair down while the other had her hair in French braids, keeping her hair short. "Oh, is that Darjeeling and Kay? What are they doing here?" Kay looked back towards Miho and the group and smiled, prodding Darjeeling in the sides and pointing towards Miho. Darjeeling turned around and sipped some tea before smiling. "Good morning Miho and Happy Birthday." Kay smiled and wiped off some crumbs she had near her mouth. "Wow, what a coincidence! Meeting each other at this restaurant for breakfast! Happy Birthday, Miho!" Miho smiled, it was good to see more of her friends, especially this early in the morning. "What're you guys doing here? The party isn't until later on tonight!" Darjeeling took another sip of her tea before answering. "We thought that it would be nice if we saw you before the party tonight. Besides, someone still needs to find you a present." Kay's face quickly went from smiles to frowns as she sighed. "I-It's not like I forgot, it's just that I haven't found time to get to a store. I promise I'll find a good present for you, just give me a little time." Miho smiled and nodded dismissively. "Please, you don't have to if you can't find one. Just find something that you think people in general would like." Kay sighed again and smiled faintly. "I'll find something good, just you wait."
After breakfast, Darjeeling and Kay said goodbye for now and went off to find some presents for Miho. Darjeeling promised Kay that she would help find a good present for her. Miho smiled and began to follow her friends to the shops downtown.
"I'm assuming that you'll be charging by the hour then?" Anzu looked up at the man in the business suit as he rubbed his scruffy looking beard. "Nah, you guys are basically heroes. I can waive off my fee for her." Anzu smiled widely and laughed a bit. "Man, you saved us a lot of money like that. I saw that you were the best hypnotist on the ship and I saw that you also did parties. Thank you for waiving the fees for today." The man blushed a bit and scratched the side of his face. "Well, I wouldn't say THE best, but I'm pretty good." The man's face then turned to surprise. "Oh, I assume you know of my methods?" Anzu smiled again, standing up from her chair and walking around her desk. "Yeah, this is the DVD. Battle of the Bulge, it's got a bunch of tanks in it and it's pretty good. The names are on the back of the case. Please remove it when you're finished." The man looked at names and read them off, one by one. "Darjeeling, Erika Itsumi, Katyushka, Kay, Maho Nishizumi, Miho Nishizumi, and that's it then?" Anzu nodded and smiled, crossing her arms in front of her. "I want them good and hypnotized; make it something they won't ever forget. It'll be funny when I show them the video when they wake up, won't it Momo?" Momo fixed her glass and nodded. "Oh, I need to get something from the class room for tonight's party! I'll be right back, er, thank you mister…" The man smiled and waved dismissively. "No, mister is too formal for this. Just call me Alexander for now, it's what some of my clients call me." Anzu smiled again and ran out of the room, closing the door behind her. Alexander looked at the list of names again, sighing as he looked up at Momo, who seemed like she was about to talk. "You want her too?" Alexander asked, barely looking over the DVD case. Momo nodded profusely, hiding a malicious grin. "That'll teach her to mess with me! Steal my pudding will she? Gehehe, I'll show her!" Alexander then froze a little. He had an idea that would make his night and the night of the girls. "Then a favor for a favor. Tell me who all will be there and I'll add Anzu's name to the list." Momo backed up a little, surprised of the request. "B-But why would you need the list-"Alexander took out his glasses from his jacket and put them on. "A list would be better; I mean them all no harm." Momo's eyes went dull as she began to write down the list of people by memory. When she was finished, her hand still kept writing down the names of the people that would be there. Alexander walked up as Anzu walked in. "So, you got the whole list then?" Alexander took the pen out of Momo's hand and placed it on the desk. He then pulled out the list Momo had written and was still writing. "Yep, I've never tried this method before, so I guess I should be very grateful." Anzu smirked a little. "Ehehehe, this will be one of my master pieces! Operation: Anzu's Fun Has Just Begun is a go! Now, they should be here for a pretty long while, this being spring break for the schools, so let me just mess with them for a while." Alexander nodded as he took off his glasses. "While you have your fun, I get more chances to refine my craft and my skills as a hypnotist! I'll be the foremost expert in my field! My paper about suggestions being placed in pictures and videos will shock my fellow peers!" Anzu and Alexander laughed together before Alexander snapped his fingers. Suddenly, Momo snapped out of her trance, looking around as if she had been spacing off. "Did… I just space off right there? I'm sorry I- Oh, Anzu, you're back!" Anzu smiled a little. "Forgot the party decorations were already at my place." Momo nodded and looked at Alexander, winking at him. Alexander winked back at her and smiled. "Well then, see you later tonight then! Have a nice day then." "You too."