Happy birthday, Eri-chi!

I decided to do something for Eri's birthday this year, and this fic was born out of that desire.

It's still a little early where I am, but I'm sure that in some places, it's already Oct 21. (I'm posting this on Oct. 20, according to my calendar.)

That said, I hope you do enjoy this! :D

"Nozomi, where are you going?" Eri asked. "W-We still have club." 'Not to mention...it's my birthday…'

"Um...I have some things I need to do, so I'll be heading home first~ Tell everyone else for me, okay?" Nozomi smiled and waved as she left the classroom.

Eri stared at her. The other third year hadn't even waited for her response. "No, it's fine...even though Nozomi celebrated with me each year…" She tried to convince herself that there must be some deep reason Nozomi hadn't even wished her a 'happy birthday' before leaving. "She wouldn't forget...right?"

It was with this depressed mindset that Eri walked to the school idol club room. 'I shouldn't act like this though.' She had the feeling that the rest of their idol group would have set up a surprise birthday party for her in the club room, and she didn't want to make them feel like their efforts had been for nothing. She slapped herself, trying to push away the mental worry with some physical pain, and put on a smile as she opened the door.

There was indeed a surprise party; Honoka and Rin pulling party poppers on her as soon as she stepped into the room. Kotori and Nico had collaborated on a dessert that was half-pie, half-cake that no one touched (which was probably for the better as it gave off a rather stomach-upsetting odor); Maki had brought a cake that looked to have been purchased from a rather expensive bakery (everyone ate this one instead). And all had brought presents to celebrate her day.

From Honoka, she received a box of Homura's finest sweets. Kotori gave her a handmade fox plush dressed in their most recent live outfit. Umi's gift to her was a rather cute bunny stationery set. Umi insisted that it was Kotori's idea as the bluenette had not known what to get for her. Hanayo gave her a bag of the finest rice she knew of; Rin's present was in the same manner: a cardboard box filled with miscellaneous instant noodle cups. Nico presented her with a scrapbook of Nozomi's pictures. (Eri gave a small sigh as she thumbed through the pages, realizing once again that the girl in those images was not present with her at the moment. This particular sigh went unnoticed by the rest of the girls present.) Maki gave her a bottle of vodka. Why the first year thought this was a good idea and how she managed to get it into the school in the first place remained a mystery. Eri considered chastising Maki for bringing alcohol into the school but decided against it as she didn't want to interrupt the festive nature of the party.

As Eri walked home with her presents (minus the rice bag and the box of instant noodles as they were too cumbersome to carry and so she sent them home with their intended owners), she wondered how Arisa was planning to surprise her this year. Her younger sister always insisted on purchasing something for her, despite the amount of times that Eri had told her off for using her own money on the presents. Last year, however, Arisa baked a cake for her instead, which Eri approved of. She just hoped that the baking idea carried over onto this year, and that Arisa's skills had improved.

Her phone vibrated inside the pocket of her blazer; Eri pulled it out to see who had texted her.

To: Onee-chan
From: Arisa
Sorry, onee-chan! I'm staying over at Yukiho-chan's place tonight, but I left some cookies for you on the table! Happy birthday! :D 3

P.S. I'm really sorry I can't be there tonight, but we'll celebrate together soon!

First Nozomi had ditched her completely and now Arisa was not going to celebrate her birthday with her either? Eri's heart sank as she typed a response to Arisa:

To: Arisa

From: Onee-chan

It's fine. :) Have fun.

She put her phone back into her pocket and continued her quiet and lonely trek home.

The house was dark when she returned. Not even the light next to the door had been turned on. Eri sighed; she hadn't been alone at home on her birthday before.

She found the cookies Arisa had mentioned in her message. They were on a little plate, covered with plastic wrap. Eri turned away from the sweets; she wasn't in the mood to eat them at the moment. She'd give them a try later, probably after she took a bath first.

Nozomi listened carefully for the sound of running water. Once she was sure that Eri was in the bath, she crawled out of the cramped supply closet and hurried to Eri's bedroom. "I could have done this before she got home...but this is better!" She dragged her present out from under Eri's bed; her best friend hadn't thought to look, apparently. "Ribbon...ribbon…Ah! I forgot to bring one! I'll have to borrow from Eri-chi then…"

She searched Eri's desk, pausing every once in a while to listen attentively to the girl in the bath. "Lucky~" Nozomi had found a spool of light blue ribbon, and she placed it on the present. "Better get the cake up here before she gets back though!" She hurried down the stairs, pleased with her 'surprise Eri-chi on her birthday' plan. It had taken a bit of work to pull off, but she thought it would be worth it.

The rest of Muse knew that she wouldn't show up for the celebratory party after school; she had told them ahead of time that she wanted to celebrate with Eri alone. But she had to confide in Honoka what her actual plan was, as she needed the second year's assistance in getting Arisa out of the house as well. Nozomi was pretty sure that Honoka had since blabbed to every other member, but she didn't care as long as she managed to pull off her surprise.

Nozomi took the cake out of the refrigerator and out of its box, planning to light the candles on it as soon as Eri returned to her bedroom. She walked carefully back up the stairs, not wanting to trip on the steps. She could hear the sounds of a hair dryer. Despite herself, Nozomi panicked a bit as she reentered Eri's bedroom. She tripped over the present that still lay on the ground (she managed to forget where it was), landing on top of the cake. The cake that she had specifically chosen for Eri, that they were going to eat together.

"At the very least...I should wrap the present. I'll apologize about the mess…" Nozomi picked up the spool of ribbon again, pulling a length of the material off. It wrapped around her arm, but she ignored it for the time being. She needed a much longer strip than the amount she currently had pulled out, and so she continued pulling on the spool, not noticing that the ribbon she pulled out was tangling at her feet.

And for the second time in less than five minutes, Nozomi fell over again. She tugged at the ribbon around her feet, finding that she couldn't untangle it quickly enough. Eri was surely finishing up in the bathroom by now. Her surprise was turning into a disaster; the more she struggled with the ribbon, the more it seemed to entangle her.

Eri stopped outside her bedroom door, her hand on the doorknob. She could hear someone inside her room, but there shouldn't be anyone at home besides her. 'What if it's a robber?' She considered going to get a weapon, then decided that she could probably handle one person on her own. She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.

"N-N-No-" Her mouth was not forming the words that she wanted to say.

"I-I can explain, Eri-chi!" Nozomi shouted desperately. Her wrists were tied up in the ribbon now, though she didn't exactly know how she had ended up like that. "I wanted to surprise you so I bought a cake and a present but then I fell onto the cake and now it's a mess but I still wanted to give you something so I tried to tie a nice ribbon on your present I know it's your ribbon but still so I tried to tie it but then I got tangled and I can't get loose help me."

Eri wasn't listening. She was still struggling to comprehend what she saw in front of her. 'Nozomi's covered in cake. And she's tied with a ribbon. Is this her way of saying she's my present? Is this why she couldn't give me anything at school? No, this is Nozomi we're talking about here. There's no way, but she would do something like this, wouldn't she? Is she my present? I didn't expect this, nor do I really want this, but if Nozomi wants to give me herself, then I should accept. As her best friend, I should accept right? ...though...if I'm really being honest with myself...I really want to do this. I just didn't think Nozomi felt the same way I did. Yeah, I'll accept her.' Eri nodded, coming to her own conclusion. She closed the door shut behind her, and walked around Nozomi to close the window as well.

"Eri-chi? Help me?" Nozomi thought that Eri had understood her babble when the blonde nodded, but she failed to see how preparing the bed had anything with releasing her from the ribbon.

Eri knelt next to her tied up friend. She reached out her finger and took some cream from Nozomi's cheek. "Mm...chocolate. My favorite. I'll enjoy it slowly."

"Eri-chi?!"

I'll leave the rest to your imagination. :3

(Note: I do realize that Nozomi is not a klutz but let's just let her be one for Eri's birthday.)

The title is a joke.