AN: Here we are! A birthday fic for our favorite Miko, Toujou Nozomi. So, the timeline of this story was post – Love Live movie, meaning the third years are starting college. Anyway; Happy Birthday to the beloved mother of μ's!

FOR ONCE

Nozomi entered her apartment after her college classes. Today was pretty dull; her college classes were somewhat boring and she already had essays to turn in by next week. She took her shoes off and walked towards the living room.

"Tadaima…" She weakly called out as she stood there for a moment. There was a lingering loneliness in the environment but Nozomi was used to it; she was a latchkey child through and through. Her parents were always at work ever since she was a child and when she started high school, she decided to stay in one place while they travelled for their job because frankly, she was sick and tired of going from one place to another, not being able to make long lasting friendships and relationships. But just once…she would like someone to respond whenever she said 'I'm home'. Just once she would like her parents to be there for her. Just once she would like them to be home for her birthday…

Yes; it was her birthday today. June 9. Sometimes, on a good day, Nozomi would have a good laugh about the date of her birth; fate must have a sense of humor. People sometimes thought of her as a pervert and her birthday was on the ninth day of the sixth month. But anyway, it's her birthday…and her parents weren't around. Every year she wished for that to change; she wanted her parents to come home and maybe even surprise her for her birthday. Maybe take a picture or two because instead of family pictures, her walls were littered with pictures of her and her friends. Don't get her wrong; her friends were her family as well, especially the ones from μ's. But…yeah…it would be a little nice. Usually, she celebrated with her girlfriend and their friends but Eli and Nico also have their college workload to worry about and she didn't want to bother her younger friends. Nozomi wanted so badly to call up her parents and tell them she missed them…or even demand they come home and celebrate with her for once because they already missed her high school graduation. But she can't do that; she was a good girl. And good girls can't be selfish. Her parents were doing the best they can for her; so she can have the best future possible and to act on her desires so would make them feel guilty. She supposed she'd just have to be satisfied with the phone calls and gifts that would arrive days later. Assuming they would even call; there was even one year where they forgot to call for her birthday until a week later. Nozomi sighed and simply went to take a bath.

When Nozomi was finished with her bath, she walked out of the bathroom only to see that the living room's lights were turned off. Nozomi was fairly certain that she left those on before she went to the bathroom. That can only mean one thing; there was someone in her house. She inched closer to the wall, attempting to find the light switch when…

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Nozomi screamed in fright as the lights were flipped back on and she fell on her ass. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she was thoroughly surprised by what she saw…

Ten people were standing in her apartment and all of them were smiling at her. The person in the middle, a blonde girl with blue eyes, was holding a cake where the usual birthday greeting was written.

"Happy Birthday, Nozomi." She said with a fond look before handing the cake over to the short ebony haired girl. Tears of joy sprang from her eyes and down her cheeks as the blonde helped her up and wiped her tears away before leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Thank you, everyone." She replied as she approached. One by one, her friends, her family, embraced her.

"Nozomi-chan, happy birthday!" Honoka cheerfully yelled out as she trapped Nozomi in her arms.

"Honoka-chan…thank you." Nozomi said as she returned the younger woman's hug.

"Happy birthday, Nozomi-san. Thank you for taking care of my sister." Yukiho said with appreciation. Nozomi smiled at her as she and Honoka separated and this time, Nozomi was given a hug by a short blonde girl.

"Happy birthday, Nozomi onee-chan!" Arisa greeted her. Really, with how close Nozomi and Eli were before and now that they were in a relationship, it was pretty much unavoidable for the little Russian to get attached to her.

"Thank you, Arisa-chan, everyone. But this is a bit sudden; why the need for surprises?" She asked them as Eli wrapped an arm around her. Usually, when they separated her birthday, it was just a night out at Akihabara. They would eat, play games in the arcade and sing at karaoke. Afterwards, they would go home and Nozomi would go back to her apartment, feeling alone more than ever. So, it was suffice to say that this was a pleasant surprise for her.

"Ehehe…we thought it would be a nice change of pace. We just wanted to surprise you, Nozomi-chan." Hanayo shyly said as she looked down on the ground.

"Also, we knew that your parents most likely won't be able to make it to your birthday again this year so we thought of surprising you." Eli informed her with a gentle smile.

"Did Nozomi-chan not like it, nya? We worked hard to surprise you. Arisa-chan and Yukiho-chan even helped us bake the cake, nya." Rin said in a sad tone. Nozomi smiled and patted her head to comfort her.

"I liked it very much, Rin-chan. Thank you everyone. I thought I would have to spend my birthday alone again." She said as the waterworks were about to start again.

"Ah…Nozomi-chan…you know as long as we're around, you'll never be alone again, right? So, please don't think like that again." Umi gently chided her.

"Umi-chan is right, Nozomi-chan." Kotori said to back her up. Nozomi gave them a gentle and sincere smile as she hugged each and every one of them.

"Thank you, everyone."

"So, should we eat?" Nico asked them and they all cheerfully yelled out in affirmation. They ate the food that they brought with them, the bulk of which Maki had her maids make for this special occasion, as they regaled each other with stories about what's happened so far in the new school year. They had no idea how much everything they've done meant for Nozomi. That night, she sat amongst them and laughed with them as she reveled in their company, happy that for once in her life, she didn't feel alone on her birthday.

AN: I apologize if this was a bit rushed but I wanted to simply write something for Nozomi on her birthday. I'm sure right now, she and her friends are having fun celebrating the occasion.

Now for the Omake!

OMAKE

The surprise party for Nozomi ended and soon, everyone went home one by one. When Honoka left with Yukiho and Arisa in tow (the younger Ayase planned to have a sleepover with her best friend), that left Nozomi with her girlfriend. Once they cleaned up what little mess was left since the others cleaned up after themselves, they moved on to celebrate Nozomi's birthday in a more…intimate fashion.

"Thank you for today, Elichi." Nozomi said as she kissed her lover's on her lips.

"Anything for you, my Nozomi." Eli responded with her usual charming smile as she pulled Nozomi closer to her, their bare skin coming into close contact. Just as they started making out, however, Eli pushed Nozomi away and sat up, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Elichi, are you alright?" She asked the blonde.

"I almost forgot…" Was all Eli said as she scooted towards the foot of the bed where her pants were. She dug into its pockets and she pulled out a rectangular box and it grabbed whatever was inside it.

"Nozomi, please turn around." Eli requested of her. Nozomi did as she asked and soon enough she felt cool metal hit her skin. She looked down and she saw that it was a necklace; the pendant seemed like it was made of silver and it had a sapphire on the middle. It was almost identical to the one Eli was wearing right now; except hers had an emerald.

"Do you like it?" Eli asked as she wrapped her arms around Nozomi's waist and pressed her lips towards her bare shoulder, soothing the angry love bite that the blonde left there.

"I love it. Thank you, Elichi." Nozomi said as Eli forced her to lie down in bed so they could cuddle.

"I love you, my darling Nontan." Eli whispered lovingly in her ear.

"And I love you, my sweet Elichika." The purple haired girl replied before they kissed one another.

"You know, I just realized something." Eli said when they separated. She ran her fingers around Nozomi bare back, creating small patterns here and there.

"What?" Nozomi asked with her eyes closed as she set her head on Eli's chest, savoring the warmth her girlfriend provided.

"You were born on 6.9." Eli said before having a giggling fit. Nozomi promptly slapped her shoulder in annoyance, not only at because she just had to point out the sexual connotation of her birthday but also because it took her this long to realize that.

"Mou, Elichi! Just shut up and kiss me." Nozomi demanded with a pout.

And Eli gladly obliged.

AN: Again, Happy Birthday, Nozomi!