It's Carly's birthday! But it doesn't seem like anyone in the group knows... or cares. But when Kyohei finds out the day is coming up, he rallies the guys and plans a big gift for his girl!
It was just another day in the life of Revance, the #1 boy band in Japan. The day entailed them running around the TV station to work on commercials, TV shows, music numbers, etc.
Kyohei was modeling for a commercial for a new line of men's leather clothing. Iori was filming for a new TV show alongside Kota. Kota was clearly the superior actor, and even Iori knew it. Nagito was working with some models for one of his fashion design projects, and the models were smitten with him. Takashi was working on composing some new music for another one of Kyohei's commercials.
However, their assistant manager, Carly - who also doubled as their ghostwriter in place of Ryo, who had gone AWOL - was a little more cheerful than normal and she had a bigger spring in her step.
In her hand was a pink envelope that was addressed to her. The card was in her other hand and she was reading it. She smiled and her cheeks had a slight pink to them.
"Hey manager!" Kyohei shouted, causing Carly to flinch.
"Oh, Kyohei," Carly said, as she refocused her attention. "Need anything?"
"What's with you?" Kyohei said, as he was away from the prying eyes of the staff. "You're distracted."
"Oh, sorry," Carly said, with a slight smile. "I guess I'm just in a good mood."
"What's got you so happy? Whatever it is, you need to focus on your work." Kyohei said, with a slight scold in his tone.
Carly's eyes bugged out for a brief second. She lowered her face and then started walking back to Mr. Sasayama.
"The ghost's moods are swinging a bit today." Kyohei muttered to Takashi.
"And she's been getting a lot of mail from Rikudoh Pro lately, too." Takashi also noted.
"What's going on?" Kyohei asked aloud, as he looked to Carly.
Once they got back to the house, everyone was in the common area, talking about their upcoming concert.
The guys were so focused on the event that they failed to notice Carly was looking a little glum. She looked at the calendar on her phone and was staring at a specific date. She wanted to speak up, but Carly knew better than to interrupt them in a conversation.
"Hey Carly," Kyohei said, waving his hand in front of Carly's face. "Are you with us?"
"Daydreaming again?" Kota asked.
Carly shook her head, before saying, "Um, Kyohei... This Wednesday... Is there any chance I could get the day off? It HAS to be Wednesday."
"Let's see..." Kyohei said, as he looked in the planner. "You were early with the lyrics and all of us have gigs that day... I don't see why not."
"Thanks Kyohei!" Carly said, with a smile. But then her face turned sad. "Wait... Do all of you have work next Wednesday?"
"Yes," Iori spat. "I fail to see what's so special about Wednesday for you. Are you sure your head is anything other than oranges?"
Carly subtly rolled her eyes, and was hurt by Iori's words. Tears started to form in her eyes, and then she turned her back to the band and started to leave the common area.
"Hey, the meeting isn't over, Carly!" Nagito said, as he saw Carly leave.
"I'll go get her." Kyohei said.
Unknown to the world, but known to the band and Mr. Sasayama, Carly and Kyohei were in love and were dating. Carly had won Kyohei over by her tenacity and resilience to their cause, and Kyohei had made her fall for him by being himself.
"Hey Carly," Kyohei said, as he managed to catch up to Carly on the staircase. "Are you okay? I know Iori can be mean to you, but... You seemed really hurt this time."
Carly started to shed tears before saying, "Why did everyone have to be booked on Wednesday...? Of all days for me to be alone..."
Kyohei noticed Carly was crying and he hugged her close. He rubbed her back gently and he gave her kisses to help her feel better.
"What's going on, Carly? Why is Wednesday so important?" Kyohei asked. His mind immediately went to something like the anniversary of a death of a loved one. On the other hand, it could have been something else.
Carly failed to answer; after leaving Kyohei's arms, she just went into her bedroom and shut the door. However, she did not notice that the card she had earlier had fallen out from behind her back pocket.
'I knew it... No one even KNOWS about my birthday! Then again, I never thought to tell them about it... Too late now.' Carly thought, before throwing herself onto the bed and sobbing her eyes out.
Kyohei heard her crying in the bedroom. Kyohei, knowing that Carly was not one to let her tears out in front o others, knew that the issue about Wednesday was something big. Or rather, at least it was a big deal to her.
"Oh, Carly..." Kyohei said, sadly.
He then saw the card at his feet. He picked it up and then he scanned it. He opened it up and then he realized what was going on: it was a birthday card for Carly.
"Crap! She should've told us earlier!" Kyohei muttered under his breath. He ran downstairs to alert the others.
"How's Carly doing?" Nagito asked.
"Not good," Kyohei said. "She's really dejected."
"Seriously, Iori," Kota said. "I know you only tolerate Carly to a certain point, but I think you really hurt her feelings this time."
Iori failed to retort to Kota's comment. Kota was always one to be snarky, but still blunt.
"Guys, clear your schedules for Wednesday!" Kyohei said.
Everyone looked at Kyohei as if he were insane.
"Clear our schedules for Wednesday at this point in time? You're crazy, Kyohei!" Iori said, in surprise.
"What does Wednesday have to do with why she's so down?" Takashi asked.
"Her birthday! Wednesday is Carly's birthday!" Kyohei said in annoyance.
"This coming Wednesday is her birthday?! No wonder." Nagito said.
"Now that you mention it, it's her first birthday since she's become our ghostwriter." Kota said.
"Why didn't she tell us before?!" Iori asked; he was aggravated that Carly failed to inform them of her birthday.
"Maybe she was afraid to say anything," Kyohei said. "She isn't the kind of girl to act spoiled."
"Well now we have to do something for her! Not just for her birthday, but to show her we care." Nagito said.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Nagi's right," Iori said. "Her first birthday with us... We can't alienate her more than we already have."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Carly was important to them, and it was time for them to show it.
"I'll make sure she has the best birthday ever." Kyohei said, with a smirk.
He smiled at his friends, and they all smiled in knowing; they knew Kyohei had something up his sleeve for Carly's birthday.
"So what's the plan?" Kota asked.
About two days later, everyone was acting normal, not letting on that they knew about Carly's birthday.
Carly herself acting as normal as she could. However, considering that she felt that her friends had no inkling of her birthday, her sadness did not get past the others.
While everyone was working on their usual gigs for the band, they also had something else going on in the background. Whenever they were at the studio house, Carly would hole up in her room working on lyrics while brooding about her birthday being forgotten by her friends.
Kyohei followed Carly from behind and watched her as she went into her bedroom. He heard the door get locked.
'Poor Carly... I just hope she's happy with her surprise.' Kyohei thought, as he felt bad for leaving his girlfriend in the dark; at the same time, he wanted to make sure she was happy.
He turned around and gave his friends a signal. They all went into Nagito's bedroom, which doubled as his design studio.
"How's the design going along, Nagito?" Kyohei asked.
"The design is done, but now I'm just working on making it," Nagito said, as he showed the guys his sketchpad. "Thanks for letting me get close to Carly, Kyohei; it'd be too suspicious if I just went and asked for her measurements."
"Good thing you have that skill," Kota said. "Now not only will Kyohei not have to worry about you harassing her, but we can also get this done discreetly."
"Carly had better appreciate this." Iori said, annoyed with Nagito's antics.
"I know she will!" Kyohei said; he was confident that his girlfriend would be happy with the surprise they had planned for her.
Meanwhile, Carly was crying silently while working on the lyrics. However, her lyrics were turning out wrong; instead of the lyrics Takashi asked her for, all she was doing was writing poems about feeling alone and neglected with her birthday coming up.
However, seeing her own lyrics being a personal mess, she crumbled up the paper and then tossed it away. She began crying a little more with more volume to it. She put her head into her pillow and kept sobbing.
Outside the bedroom, the guys had finished their meeting; Kyohei and Takashi were listening to Carly's sad cries from outside her bedroom.
"She's really upset," Kyohei said, feeling guilty. "Good thinking, trying to distract her with more lyric assignments were don't need."
Takashi nodded. They walked back downstairs and started discussing more about Carly's birthday surprise.
"Okay, so here's the plan," Kyohei said. "When she wakes up on the day..."
Carly was unaware of what was going on. She felt herself feeling the 'birthday blues' - that is, depressed that her friends had no idea that it was her birthday.
Her cell phone started to ring and then Carly picked up. It was her best friend Rina.
"Hey Rina," Carly said. "What's going on?"
"I know it's early, but Happy birthday, Carly!" Rina said, over the phone. "How is the upcoming birthday girl?"
"... A little depressed," Carly confessed. "I just get the feeling my new boyfriend and his pals don't care about my birthday."
"It's your first birthday with your boyfriend, isn't it?" Rina said. "Did you tell him it was coming up?"
"No. I feel like no one - minus you and my parents - cares about my birthday." Carly said.
"What kind of boyfriend doesn't do anything for his girlfriend on her birthday?!" Rina asked.
"No kind," Carly said. "But it's my fault for not telling him about my birthday, so I guess it's on me for not communicating."
"That's true..." Rina said. "Try dropping hints."
Carly grew quiet before saying, "He'll get suspicious."
"Just tell him, then!" Rina told her.
"Okay, I will..." Carly said; she and Rina said their goodbyes for the time being and then hung up.
Carly left her bedroom and started to go down the stairs to go to the common area.
As the guys were planning out Carly's birthday, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Crap! She's coming!" Kyohei said, quietly.
The guys scrambled to hide their plans and materials for Carly's birthday and then they all started to act like their usual selves. Just as they managed to get situated, Carly came into the common area.
"Hey Carly," Kyohei said, as he saw his girlfriend come in. "How are you doing?"
"Um, Kyohei..." Carly began, as she tried to bring up her birthday to Kyohei.
Kyohei gave Carly a kiss on the cheek to get her to clam up. He knew that his romantic gestures would always make her get flustered. She blushed and started feeling embarrassed.
'Perfect! She looks so adorable like this!' Kyohei thought.
"Carly, how are the lyrics coming along?" Takashi said, as he came up to Carly.
The lyric assignments were really just another way to distract Carly until they got her birthday surprise all ready.
"Um, well..." Carly began, before thinking to herself, 'I can't tell him I've been to distracted by the fact they don't care about my birthday to write them properly.'
"If they're not done, then get back to your room and get back to work!" Takashi shouted, as he pointed to the stairs.
"But..." Carly began.
"No 'buts'," Kyohei said, playing along with Takashi's act. "Nagi! Get back to working on those costumes!"
Nagito got the hint: it was his cue to go back and work on one of the presents for Carly's birthday. He scrambled upstairs to go back to his fashion design room to work on it.
The rest of the gang was in the room acting the way they usually would.
"Costumes? Nagito's making new costumes for one of your upcoming jobs?" Carly asked.
"Sure is," Kyohei said, smiling. "Now about those lyrics..."
"Kyohei, I have something to say!" Carly said, about to get desperate.
"Whatever it is, I doubt its important in comparison to the lyrics," Takashi said, interrupting. "Get back to those songs!"
Carly herself was hurt and angry about not being able to tell people about her birthday. She started to cry again before running upstairs and slamming the door to the bedroom.
"Okay, she's back in her room again," Kyohei said. "Back to work on our surprise!"
The guys - minus Nagito - went back to work on planning Carly's birthday surprise.
While the guys felt guilty about making Carly feel depressed on her birthday, they knew that she would cheer right up the day of.
Another day passed and it was the day before her birthday.
Carly woke up and went downstairs for breakfast. She felt dejected that the guys did not seem to care about her birthday, and would not give her a chance to speak up about it.
Carly went to the kitchen and decided to make breakfast for everyone, but she saw that no one else was awake. She saw a note on the counter, and read it.
'Carly,
We know that we're letting you take the day off tomorrow, but you can also relax today, too. The guys and I have an emergency at Rikudoh Pro, and we'll be out all day.
Have a nice sabbatical today. Just make sure you get those lyrics done.
Kyohei'
Carly crumbled the note and then threw it in the trash. Grabbing her bag, Carly began crying as she realized that the guys did, in fact, not care about her birthday at all. The epiphany hit her like a ton of bricks and then she kept crying. She then looked up and to the door to the building.
Wiping her tears away, Carly said aloud, "Fine! If they don't care enough to let me tell them about my birthday, then I'm going to celebrate it alone! I'm going to the mall!"
Carly then stormed out of the house, feeling really angry and sad at the same time. She slammed the door behind her.
As soon as the door was closed, the boys came out of their rooms - minus Kota, who was as indifferent as always - to get more of the surprise done by the time Carly got back.
"That must have really hurt her feelings," Kyohei said. "But her surprise will be so worth it!"
"It'd better be," Iori said. "Leader is going insane with the ideas for his part of the surprise."
"Nagi, how is your part coming along?" Kyohei asked.
"Almost done," Nagito said. "Just need to sew on a few more touches."
"Great," Kyohei said. "I need to get in disguise; I'm planning on watching out for Carly. It may be just the mall, but you know how many times she's been hit on..."
"Including both the pig in a wig and Shinya?" Kota asked.
"Yep," Kyohei said. "I want to make sure she's safe. I know she's upset because she thinks we're unaware of her birthday..."
Kyohei decided to just leave the planning to his friends and then he left the house to go after Carly to make sure she was safe.
Carly was in the shopping district of the city; she went to the biggest shopping mall in the area and she made a beeline for the sliding doors. She entered the mall, not aware of her surroundings.
Kyohei was hiding in the crowd, wearing sunglasses and a fedora to hide himself in plain sight. He saw Carly enter the mall and he quietly and discreetly ran in after her.
Carly soon made it to one of her favorite, affordable clothing stores. She was looking over some tops and bottoms and was mixing and matching their combinations in the dressing room. However, Kyohei was watching the events unfold from a little ways away from the store's entrance. He felt his heart beat speed up as he watched Carly change her appearance in her clothing. Kyohei blushed as he watched Carly change her clothes.
'Carly looks SO cute!' Kyohei thought, as he quietly watched Carly go in and out of the changing room, trying to choose an outfit.
Carly soon paid for some clothes she liked and then walked out of the store. She still felt upset about the guys forgetting her birthday, but she decided to put it out of her mind and enjoy herself that day.
Carly moved on to another store in the mall; Kyohei noticed she was on the move and decided to follow after her. He cared about Carly more than he knew himself.
Carly soon came across a salon and went inside for a new look, including makeup. Again, Kyohei watched from a distance as he secretly watched Carly go through her transformation. He was mesmerized as her hazel eyes were highlighted by pale pink eyeshadow. Her eyeliner was brown and she had beautiful, black mascara put on. Her foundation and blush looked so natural that it was if no makeup was put on her at all.
Carly's hair was then curled and held with hairspray. Kyohei watched as she turned more and more beautiful. Kyohei's heart started pounding.
Carly paid for her makeover and left the shop.
Kyohei kept her eyes on the situation, and he called up his friends.
"Guys, how is it going?" Kyohei asked.
"Things are going fine," Iori said, over the phone. "We're almost done. How about Carly?"
"She's gotten a makeover and new clothes; she's beautiful!" Kyohei said, with a romantic sigh.
As soon as Carly kept moving on in the mall, she started to draw the attention of other people. That is, some men were eying her with a look in their eyes that only spelled trouble.
Kyohei knew that he had to keep an eye on Carly.
Carly was once again oblivious to the boys who were eying her with hunger in their eyes. Kyohei tailed Carly to be safe. As Carly made it to another store to see what she could buy for her birthday...
"Hey, babe," An unfamiliar man her age said, as he soon approached Carly. "My name is Seiichi. You alone?"
Carly gave him an odd look and then she tried to evade him. However, he kept blocking her path to ensure that she would not get away. Kyohei, from a distance, kept his eye on the man approaching his girlfriend.
"Excuse me," Carly said, a bit heartedly. "Can you please get out of my way?"
"Not until you tell me your name," The man said, as he leaned in closer. "You're so cute; you definitely have to have a cute name."
"I'm not telling you my name," Carly said, firmly. "I have every right to deny consent to any questions."
"Come on, it's just a name," Seiichi said, as he stepped closer to Carly. "That's all I ask."
"You're making me uncomfortable," Carly said. "Please get out of my space."
Kyohei saw what was happening and he got himself ready to step in.
"No way!" Seiichi said, with a greedy smile; he put his hand on Carly's shoulder and pulled her closer.
"I have a boyfriend! If he were to see this, he won't take kindly to it!" Carly said, trying to get him to leave her alone.
"He's not here; what he doesn't know won't hurt him." Seiichi said.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" Kyohei said; he soon came up towards the scene and then he caused Seiichi to back off by slapping his hand away.
"What the?!" Carly said, as she was surprised.
"She said to get away from her, didn't she? Shouldn't a man be smart enough to tell when a girl says 'no', she means it?" Kyohei said, while his disguise was still on. He crossed his arms.
Seiichi got the hint, sneered, and then he left.
"I'm glad you're okay," Kyohei said, as he turned around and gave Carly's hand a squeeze. "That must have been uncomfortable."
"Kyohei, what are you doing here?" Carly said, in a whisper. "Weren't you working?"
"I was," Kyohei said, lying to make sure that his surprise was kept just that. "One of the jobs was walking around a shopping mall to see what kind of jobs we could pull off when incognito."
"Really?" Carly asked, as she sighed sadly.
"Come on, let's go home," Kyohei said. "I'll make you my fried rice."
"Okay." Carly said; she still felt dejected that Kyohei was unaware of her birthday. Unbeknownst to her, Kyohei knew very well it was the next day.
Kyohei had texted the guys ahead of time and told them to hide the preparations for Carly's birthday surprise. They had gotten all of their surprise present components hidden.
The others hid and were still pretending they were at work. Kyohei then had Carly sit on the sofa to relax, while he was in the kitchen, making his special fried rice - sans peas.
As Carly was quietly eating her fried rice, Kyohei was cleaning up his cooking mess. Carly was on the verge of crying and just unloading all of her pent-up emotions. Kyohei noticed that she was sad, and was very tempted to comfort her the best way he knew how. He wanted to keep it a surprise and found a way to cheer Carly up without ruining the surprise for her.
Kyohei sat down next to Carly and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. She blushed and then she relaxed a bit.
"Are you feeling okay?" Kyohei asked.
Carly shook her head, before letting her tears fall.
"No I'm not. Tomorrow is supposed to be special, but you haven't let me tell you why, and now I feel like no one cares about it." Carly said.
Kyohei failed to say anything; he pulled Carly in closer and gave her another kiss. He wanted to make sure she was happy.
"Carly," Kyohei said. "Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll make you the happiest you've ever been."
Kyohei's promise made Carly feel better and she started to cry into Kyohei's chest after feeling her heart swell with hope. Carly kept crying into Kyohei's chest, feeling like she could not come out and say, 'Tomorrow is my birthday' to her boyfriend.
Kyohei picked Carly up as if she were his bride and then he carried her up to her room. He gently laid her down on the bed and then he kissed her on the cheek.
"You need a nap," Kyohei said. "It's been a long day for you."
Carly nodded before lying down in bed and covering herself up.
"Thank you," Carly said, feeling down. "Thank you so much."
"Sleep well, Carly," Kyohei said. "I'll make sure tomorrow is the happiest day of your life."
Kyohei left the room and shut the door. He ran down the stairs and then he went into the common area. He took out his phone and then he sent a message to everyone; he essentially gave everyone the all-clear.
"So she's in her room?" Iori asked.
"Yes, but she's so depressed," Kyohei said. "Is everything ready?"
"I'm finished on my end," Nagito said. "How about you guys?"
"I'm done," Iori said, as he gave Kyohei a pamphlet. "Leader finished up his part today, too. Lyrics and all. We can't have Carly writing a birthday song for herself without her suspecting anything."
"Kota?" Kyohei asked.
"I'm done over here, too," Kota said. "We need to make sure she doesn't get the surprise until tomorrow morning."
"I have the plan set in motion. While I'm distracting her, you guys set up for the party." Kyohei said.
"You pulled an all-nighter with your little project last night," Iori said. "Make sure you rest up for tomorrow."
Kyohei nodded.
The next morning, Carly woke up to her usual alarm clock. She knew she had the day off, but the others had work... As far as she knew.
'Sigh... One lonely birthday.' Carly thought sadly, as she cuddled up to the warmth beside her. She felt the muscular arms wrap around her gently.
As soon as she noticed this, she opened her eyes and saw that Kyohei, in nothing but his underwear, was smiling at her. It was his signature pop star smile with a gentle, tender, sweetness to it, and a lot of love.
"Good morning." Kyohei said.
"K-Kyohei?! What are you doing here?!" Carly asked.
"I'm giving you a wonderful good morning. Happy birthday, Carly." Kyohei said, as he kissed her cheek.
Carly started to cry tears of joy. Choked up, she asked, "How did you know that it's my birthday? I never got a chance to tell you!"
"You dropped your birthday card on the floor the other day," Kyohei said. "I've got a lot of plans for your birthday today, so hurry and get ready."
"O-Okay." Carly said, as she got up to go to her closet.
"Not in your usual clothes," Kyohei said, as he soon pulled something out from nowhere. "In this."
Kyohei pulled out a dress that was on a hanger. It was a pink dress that was hand-made. It was a knee-length, trumpet dress that had a sweetheart neckline, with butterfly angel sleeves; the skirt was draped with pink sequins and rose embroidery.
The shoes that came with it were pink kitten heels that were in the same pale-pink color as the dress, with a large fabric rose on the toe box.
"Where did you get this dress?!" Carly asked, as she eyed her new clothing in awe. "It's beautiful!"
"It's a hand-made dress. It's one of your presents for today, courtesy of Nagi," Kyohei said. "Hurry up and put it on. I intend on taking you out on a date for your birthday!"
Carly cried tears of joy. She hugged Kyohei and then kissed his cheek. Kyohei was happy as a clam as he was getting kissed. Carly then pushed him out of her room while she changed and got ready.
"So I assume it went well?" Nagito asked; he and the others came out from hiding.
"It did," Kyohei said. "You guys hide in your rooms for now; once Carly and I leave, set up for the major surprise."
He winked; his friends knew what Kyohei was talking about. Kyohei himself went to his room to get dressed.
The guys all scrambled when Kyohei gave them the cue to get to work on setting up.
Carly came out of her room with her makeup done, her hair put up in a bun, wearing some small jewelry, and the dress Nagito made for her.
"I love this dress! I have to thank Nagi later," Carly said. She then locked arms with Kyohei. "Shall we?"
"Let's," Kyohei said. "The guys have other things to take care of; it will be just you and me."
Carly smiled; she was happy that was how things turned out. She was even more thrilled that her boyfriend had been aware of her birthday.
As Kyohei and Carly left the house, the others came out of their bedrooms.
"Let's set it up!" Nagito said, as he started to take the lead on setting up their bigger surprise for Carly.
Kyohei brought Carly out on the best date of her life. They went to one of her favorite amusement parks, going on the rollercoasters, playing games, etc., and Kyohei was more than happy to pay for everything that Carly would want; he could afford it, and it was her birthday.
For lunch...
"This is the best place to eat lunch," Kyohei said, as he had reserved a table for two in the most intimate, private part of the establishment. "Eat what you want."
"I'd love to!" Carly said, as she looked over the menu.
Kyohei, meanwhile, had set his phone to vibrate. However, his phone rang, and then he saw it was a text from Takashi.
'We're finished. Just let us know about 30 minutes ahead of time so we can take the cake out of the fridge - Takashi'
Kyohei smiled as he watched the girl he loved eating the meal that she had ordered. Kyohei was always careful what he ate; after all, in the words of his beloved, 'A pop star's face is his moneymaker', so he needed to be aware of his skin.
"Once you're done eating, there's more for your birthday today," Kyohei said. "Shall we?"
Carly smiled, eyes filled with happy tears.
"This birthday has been the best ever," Carly said. "I wish it wouldn't end."
"We're just getting started!" Kyohei said.
As soon as the bill was paid - tip included - they moved on with the day.
They did a lot of things such as shopping, the zoo, etc. Carly was having so much fun that the sadness she felt over the past few days was completely gone. She hugged Kyohei, gave him kisses, and was laughing so happily that it was music to Kyohei's ears.
The sun was setting and the day was winding down. Carly and Kyohei were happily satisfied with their day; Carly was especially happy with the day.
"It's too bad that the day has to end now," Carly said. "It was so much fun."
"Who said it was over?" Kyohei said as they got back to the house.
As they opened the door, the house was pitch black.
"A blackout?" Carly asked aloud.
The lights turned on out of nowhere, and the boys jumped out of hiding and shouted, "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Carly!"
The whole room was decorated with streamers and balloons, and there was large banner that said, "Happy Birthday, Carly!" on it; a birthday cake was sitting on the counter. It was all ready for Carly, and she smiled happily and started jumping up and down like a little girl. She started laughing with the happiest of grins in her life.
"You did this for me?!" Carly asked, as she started crying tears of joy.
"Someone made us cancel our work for today just because of this." Iori said, annoyed; he was eying Kyohei.
"Hey, come on guys," Kyohei said, trying to placate his friends. "Shouldn't we be trying to celebrate Carly's birthday?"
The guys all clammed up and shrugged.
"Leader, shall we start that song?" Kota asked, as he turned to Takashi.
Takashi nodded, his facial expression not changing. He turned on his computer and started playing the song he wrote.
It was an upbeat pop tune and the lyrics were telling the story about how important Carly had become to the group. Even Iori gave Carly some praises in his part of the song. Kyohei had the most lines, considering he and Carly were an item.
Carly began crying tears of joy as she listened to the song.
"You're still wearing the dress I made you... You love it, don't you?" Nagito said.
"Yes," Carly said. "I'll wear it on my dates with Kyohei every time now!"
"Hey, I'm the one who asked Nagi to make the dress!" Kyohei said, pulling Nagito closer.
"Since I already gave you my gift, let's let the others pass the other gifts around." Nagito said as he backed away.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Iori's gift was a new fountain pen with pink ink and changeable ink cartridges for the pen. There was even other stationary for Carly to write lyrics on.
Kota presented Carly with a DVD of one of Joe Watabe's newest movies. He knew that he and Carly had a lot of common ground with that; they were both big fans of Joe Watabe.
Nagito had a second part to his present: it was a jewelry set that matched the dress Carly was wearing.
Takashi had given her a lyrical reference book to help her out with writing lyrics in the future.
"Oh, speaking of lyrics..." Carly said, as she was about to admit she had not finished the projects she was given.
"Don't worry about that; we only did that to keep you occupied while we worked on this party." Kyohei said, as he kissed Carly's cheek.
Carly blushed, and then she hugged Kyohei.
"Finally..." Kyohei said, as he gave Carly his gift to her.
It was a beautiful, red rose barrette that she could stick in her hair or on a ponytail. She put it on and she looked at it in the mirror.
"It's beautiful!" Carly said, as she beamed at it.
"Not as beautiful as you," Kyohei said, kissing Carly again. "And now it's time for the big reveal."
Kyohei ran around to the counter of the kitchen, and he pulled out a large birthday cake. The base coat was pale pink Italian buttercream, and it had lit candles on it. The decorations was a buttercream rose spray; the roses were in a darker pink and there was another floral spray, this one with royal icing baywatch lilies. The leaves and vines were a vibrant green buttercream and the piping was a pale green reverse scroll on the bottom. The cake said 'Happy Birthday, Carly!'
Carly cried tears of joy once again; after making a silent wish, she blew out the candles. All the candles went out at once, and then everyone started to cut the cake. The cake was chocolate with a chocolate Italian inside; there were a few chocolate pieces inside the ganache. Carly - as was tradition - got the first piece and then she chowed down on the cake like crazy.
"She's really happy," Iori said. "I guess going to all of this trouble for her was worth it."
"Happy? I'm beyond happy!" Carly said, as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "You guys went and organized this all for me! Thank you so much!"
"You should thank Kyohei," Kota said. "He's the one who came up with the idea. He even went incognito to order the cake."
Carly ate her cake piece, put her plate and fork down, and then she hugged Kyohei; being careful to wipe her mouth again, she kissed Kyohei on his lips.
"Oh, come on!" Iori said, annoyed. "If you're going to flirt with each other, save it for after the party!"
"Don't forget our little games," Nagito said. "We made a lot of them!"
The games included pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, twister, Simon Says, and games that had trivia about Carly. There was a personalized Jeopardy that Kyohei had asked Carly to write up as part of a lyric-writing exercise. She did not know that her birthday was involved.
"Okay. Takashi, you're up!" Carly said; since all the questions were about her, the guys saw it as pointless for her to play when she could host the game.
"...Favorite songs for 200." Takashi said.
"Typical Leader," Nagito said. "Always going for the music-related questions."
"This song I sang and danced to every day as a little girl." Carly said, as she played the tune to one of her favorite childhood songs.
"What is "Part Of Your World"?" Takashi answered.
"Right!" Carly said with a bright smile.
As the night dragged on, everyone was having more and more fun as time went on. The night was finally coming to and end and everyone was cleaning up the party. Even Carly pitched in, even though they were the ones who organized it.
"Carly," Kyohei said, as he came up from behind his girlfriend. "Come with me."
Kyohei swept Carly off her feet like a bride. He carried Carly upstairs, quietly leaving the others in charge of cleaning up.
Kyohei then brought Carly into his bedroom again and placed her on the bed.
"Did you have a good time?" Kyohei asked.
"It was the best birthday in my whole adult life," Carly said, crying tears of joy. "I'll never forget it for the rest of my days."
Kyohei smiled serenely; he was satisfied that he had succeeded in giving Carly a great birthday party.
"I'm glad you liked it." Kyohei said. He climbed into the bed with Carly and hugged her close to him.
"Liked it? I totally loved it!" Carly said, as she hugged Kyohei back. "You did this all for me and I didn't even ask for anything! You're the best boyfriend in the whole world, Kyohei!"
"Well, it's not over," Kyohei said, as he gently stroked her hair. "I know it's your day, but... Can I ask for something?"
Carly blushed as she felt Kyohei's husky voice in her ears.
"Yes." Carly said, as she snuggled closer.
"May I...?" Kyohei began, as he kissed Carly on her pale pink lips. He smiled and hugged her closer.
Carly nodded and let Kyohei make out with her. Kyohei took his time savoring the time he had with Carly. For him, it was not only a satisfactory attempt at making Carly's birthday great, but he also got a present of his own: a happy girlfriend on her birthday.
As Kyohei kept his kisses coming, he knew that there would be many more birthdays for the two of them to celebrate together.
How was that?! This one-shot came about because I thought "We have the guys' birthdays, but what about a surprise birthday party story for our protagonist?" So, I wrote this one!
