Secrets, Lies, and Betrayal


"You know, I've been thinking..." She began. "It's Karin's birthday tomorrow, why don't we throw her a surprise party?"

"Her birthday..." Kazune had been so caught up in the Micchi drama he had completely forgotten it was her birthday tomorrow. Good thing tomorrow was a Saturday.

Himeka started getting excited. "Why not? Maybe it will cheer her up! What do you think?"

Kazune shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"Great! I'll start planning. I'll make a menu, call everyone, then we can buy the decorations and get the cake."

"Woah woah woah, can we really do all of this by tomorrow? Isn't it all short notice?" Kazune asked.

Himeka nodded. "I suppose it is, but this is for Karin. I want to see her smile and mean it."

Kazune loved Himeka's determination and went along with it. Tomorrow they would throw Karin a surprise birthday party.

While Kazune finished chopping the vegetables and mixing it in the main dish, Himeka went up to Karin's room. She knocked softly.

Karin had just finished putting clothes on and now she was drying off her hair with her towel. "Come in." Himeka entered. "Hey there. Dinner's almost ready."

"Alright, I'll be down in a bit." Karin said as she put the towel down.

"Hey Karin? Can you do me a favor?" Himeka asked. "Sure, anything." Karin said.

Himeka smiled. "Thank you. I need you to go to the store tomorrow and pick up a few things for me. I'm really busy tomorrow and won't have the time. Is that okay?" Karin nodded. "Of course. What do you need me to get?"

Himeka grabbed a pen and paper off Karin's desk and started writing. Karin just watched her write away. A few things? Kinda seemed like Himeka wanted her to buy the whole store with how much she was writing on that piece of paper.

She finally finished writing and handed the list over to Karin who stared at it with wide eyes. Himeka giggled. She had to get ALL of this at the market? Karin didn't question it. "Umm... O- okay."

"Great. See you downstairs!" Before Himeka left something dawned on her. "Micchi's coming with you!" She blurted out.

"Hm? He is? Why?" Karin asked.

That was a good question. "To, um... help you! Yeah, to help you. There's probably a lot on that list for you to carry on your own so I asked Micchi to help you carry that stuff." Himeka had a different thought in mind.

Karin nodded. Made sense with everything Himeka wanted her to get. "Oh. Okay."

Himeka went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed the phone, making sure Karin hadn't had come down. She dialed Micchi's number.

Micchi was at home reading a book till he heard the phone ring. "Who could be calling at this hour?" He wondered as he placed his book down and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Micchi!" It was Himeka. "Hello Himeka! How may I help you?" He asked. "Seeing as how Karin has been a little off lately, Kazune and I have decided to throw her a surprise birthday party tomorrow. We need someone to keep her away long enough so I can set up everything. Will you help?"

Micchi chuckled. "Count me in. I was wondering if you guys were going to do anything for Karin's birthday."

"Mhm. She thinks we don't remember so it's even more perfect." Himeka said. "Well, thank you. Bye Micchi"

They both hung up.

Himeka turned to Kazune who was setting up the table. "We have Micchi's support. Now I just need to call Miyon and Yuuki." She quickly gave them a call and they too were on board.

The Next Day...

Micchi had stopped by early to get Karin. "You ready to go?"

Karin got her purse and nodded. "Yep!" They went to the store and bought everything that was on the list. They were finished sooner than Micchi had anticipated. He still needed to keep her away from the house a while longer. Or at least till Himeka called him to bring her home. His brain hatched a plan at that moment.

He saw a dress store as they were walking. "Hey, wanna go shopping?" He asked. Karin looked at all of the bags they were holding. "Didn't we just go shopping?"

"Not for clothes!" He whined. Micchi grabbed Karin's arm and dragged her to the dress store. "Besides we hardly get to spend any time together just you and me." He said hoping she'd buy it. He grabbed at least 3 different dresses and insisted that she try them on.

"Can't I look around first?" Karin asked as she was dragged into a changing room. "These aren't really my style." One of the dresses was a bright red that was a tad too revealing for her taste. Another was a midnight purple that was waaay too sparkly, and the third was an aquamarine dress that looked a size too big for her. Did Micchi just pick these blindly? Karin couldn't help but wonder.

She tried them on anyway but refused to come out wearing any of them. Micchi took that time to look around for a birthday present for her. He saw these hair clips he thought she'd love and bought them right there. Karin came back with her regular clothes and the three monstrosities- I mean dresses in hand. Karin looked anything but amused.

Micchi looked around for another dress and saw one that he thought would be perfect for her. It definitely went well with the clips he had just bought for her. It was a short spaghetti strapped cream colored dress with a green bow in the front. It was filled with tulle under the skirt so it made it look rather puffy. It was truly beautiful. He picked out the dress and told Karin to try it on.

Karin looked at it and smiled. She went to the changing room and tried the dress on. While she was changing Micchi felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. "Hello?"

"Are you guys near?" Himeka asked on the other line. "We're shopping right now. How much more time do you need?"

"An hour. Think you can stall her that long?"

"I think so. See you guys then." He hung up just in time. Karin was finished changing and she came out in the dress. Micchi was stunned. "Wow..." Karin blushed. "What do you think?"

"You look gorgeous, Karin. You really do." He said. What made her more beautiful was the smile she had on her face. "Wait here while I go buy it."

Karin shook her head. "Really Micchi, you don't have to. I can't let you do that."

Now he was the one shaking his head. "You can and you will." He took his debit card out and went to the register. He bought the dress. "Keep it on." He said. Karin simply nodded. "O-okay." Not like she could do anything else since he had already bought it.

"I have to say, you're the prettiest birthday girl I've ever laid eyes on." Micchi said. Karin felt her cheeks getting pink. "You, you remembered my birthday?"

He nodded. "Of course I did. Come on, let's go grab lunch." He got the bags and opened the door for her. 'Micchi is so nice.' Karin thought. They ran into Yuuki who was about to enter that very same store. Micchi wasn't sure whether to panic or not.

"Hey Yuuki. What are you doing here?" Karin asked as she greeted her friend. Yuuki chuckled nervously. "H- hey Karin. You look great! I'm just here to... to pick up something for Miyon. That's all. Nothing else." Yuuki wasn't that great of a liar. He was actually there to get a present for Karin.

"That's great okay bye!" Micchi grabbed Karin and walked away in a hurry. He knew Yuuki was a terrible liar and didn't want to risk having him tell her about the party. Micchi took Karin to a nearby diner to eat. Not wanting to seem too suspicious in the way he had practically dragged her away from Yuuki, he tried coming up with an excuse. "Uh, heheh. I wanted to make sure we could get a table." He said.

There weren't that many people in the diner though. Karin just gave him a weird look.

Back at the mansion everything was almost ready. Kazune had finally arrived with the cake minutes earlier. Things were going according to plan.

After they left the diner Micchi tried coming up with another distraction.'Go to another store? Go for a walk?'He was racking his brain till he got another phone call from Himeka giving him the green light to bring the birthday girl home. He sighed in relief. He was running out of ideas anyway. He put his phone away. "How about I take you home now?"

Karin smiled. "Okay." They started walking. "Thank you so much for today, Micchi. I really needed it. Just a day to have fun."

Micchi was glad she had fun today. He did too. Once they reached the mansion Karin fumbled around in her purse to look for her keys. Micchi had actually taken them while Karin was changing back in the dress store. "That's weird... I can't find my keys." Karin said.

"I'll go check if the back door is open." Micchi said. "I can just get Kazune to open the door." Too late. Micchi had already left. Karin pouted.

Karin heard a slow creaking sound. "Hm?" It was the door. It had opened. 'Wasn't the door locked just now?'She went in cautiously. "Micchi? Did you open the door?" All of the lights were off and Micchi was nowhere to be seen.

"Micchi? Kazune?" Actually, it seemed like no one was home. 'I thought Kazune was going to be home all day. Where is everyone?'Everything was quiet. Too quiet. A bit eerie Karin thought. She walked towards the living room and heard a sound which startled her.

She started fearing the worst and was close to transforming until...

"SURPRISE!" All the lights went back on and everyone jumped out of their hiding places. Karin was definitely surprised. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Karin looked around and saw all of the decorations and balloons, as well as a beautiful cake that looked quite scrumptious. She was truly touched her friends had done all of this for her. She felt tears forming in her eyes. "You guys threw me a surprise party? Thank you so much."

They all hugged her and wished her a happy birthday. Himeka lit the candles and everyone proceeded to sing the birthday song.

Karin gladly blew out the candles, but she didn't make a wish. She didn't have to. Everything she could ever want was right here.

END OF CHAPTER. 4