Review Responses:

Aetuhran: It's sad, but touching. Glad no onions were harmed to make you cry.

bobzity1: Good hug. *Thumbs up*

Bravo Tango: Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad that many people are getting somewhat invested.


The three girls looked over the song, with happiness in their eyes.

"How is it?" Umi asked.

"I think it's good." Maki said. She turned to Rin. "Rin? Is it good?"

Rin brought the papers to her face. "It's perfect."

Nico woke up, a bit more excited for this day than most.

"Happy birthday to me!" Nico said quietly to herself. It was Saturday, so she expected her friends and family to be there. They've visited every day since she was afflicted, much to her delight.

However, she didn't expect them to be first.

"Happy birthday, Nico!" Alice came into the room. She had a small bag, which Nico noticed.

"Thanks Alice!" She hugged the nurse that she befriended. Alice was important to her, since she was the first 'fan' that she met. Alice also helped Nico whenever she was in need.

"Here, Nico!" Alice put the bag in Nico's face, a bit too eager for her own good. "Oops, heh."

Nico took the bag and opened it. Inside, it was a pink scarf with a sunflower on one end. She wrapped it around herself. Although it was July, it was comforting to wear. "I love it. Thanks Alice!" She hugged the girl again.

"Now, let's celebrate with some jelly!"

Nico sighed, but laughed. "Alright."

It was around the afternoon. Nico was lying on her bed when she heard something from outside the door.

"Happy birthday, Nico!" Her friends and family said from the door.

Nico was speechless. She expected them to celebrate, but they brought the works.

Party poppers, signs, a strawberry cake! She was the happiest girl in the world. She had the best friends and the best family. She couldn't love them more.

"You're going to have the best birthday today!" Her mother exclaimed. "We'll start with cake!"

Alice chimed in, despite the sad news. "Um, Miss Yazawa. Nico can't have cake, anything solid. She can have things like pudding or jelly, but cake isn't allowed. I'm sorry."

Nico deflated at the news. She was excited to try the strawberry cake, but Alice was right. She found it extremely difficult to eat normal food, so it's best for her to eat soft foods and soup.

"That's alright. We made something special for that." Nico turned to see a pudding in front of her.

"Here ya go, Nicochi!" Nozomi held the pudding and a spoon. Nico inspected the special pudding. It had a strawberry jelly-like top. When she dug the spoon in, she saw that there was pudding underneath. She tasted it, and it-

"-tastes like strawberry cheesecake! How did you get this?" Nico asked.

"Well," Eli chimed in. "Me, Kotori, and Hanayo made it. We were afraid that you might not be able to eat the cake, so we made this instead. Do you like it?"

Nico had tears in her eyes, but wiped them away quickly. "I-I love it. Thank you."

Eli, Kotori, and Hanayo all smiled. "Glad you enjoyed!"

"Let's eat!"

Alice was about to leave, but was stopped by Nozomi.

"Alice-san, can you promise me to come back here? I'll save you a slice." Nozomi said with a smile.

Alice nodded. "Okay, Nozomi!" She walked away to tend to other patients.

The room was lively. The cake was cut into equal slices, and one was left for Alice. Nico enjoyed her strawberry cheesecake pudding while the rest of the room ate their strawberry cake.

After eating, they played Nico's favourite game, charades. Many of the actions were silly, such as: spin the bottle, where Maki spun around so much she almost fell over. Leap frog, where Cocoro struggled to leap over Rin since the room was small. And propose, where Nozomi got on one knee and used Eli as the recipient. Eli was blushing furiously, to the delight of everyone.

After that, it was time for presents.

"Okay, Nicochi. Are you ready for your presents?"

Nico wanted to say that they would be pointless, but she remembered what Alice said. To think about making memories with her friends and family.

She nodded. The first people to come were Honoka, Kotori, and Hanayo.

"Nico-chan, our gifts aren't as fancy as the others. But, we chose these gifts that reflect you."

The three girls brought out their plushies.

Nico saw the heart, a red bird, and a bowl of rice. She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye. She tightly hugged the three plushies. "Thank you Honoka. Kotori. Hanayo." The three girls were happy to see Nico's smiling face.

Next up was Nozomi and Eli. "Alice-san said that you liked this, so Elichi and I bought it for you. We stylized it so it was specifically for our Nicochi."

It was a jewelry box that Eli pulled out. Nico had a small feeling about what it was, but she didn't think that it would actually be the thing she wanted.

When she opened it, she was very happy. "The locket." She opened the locket up and saw the two pictures. And they warmed her heart.

The µ's symbol, and a family picture of her family doing her pose.

"T-Th-Thank you, Nozomi. Eli." She managed to choke out. "I love it." Nozomi helped Nico put it around her neck. She left the scarf close to her, and put it back on after the locket.

Last, Umi, Maki, and Rin stepped up.

"Nico, I just want to say," Maki said. "I…I love you. And-And I'm- I'm going..." Maki couldn't say the words. She was being comforted by Kotori and Hanayo as she started to cry.

"Nico." Umi said, shifting Nico's focus from her love to her blue-haired friend. "Maki loves you, and she's going to miss you." Nico looked to the red head, who was nodding.

"Maki, come here." She followed Nico's request and stood beside her. She leaned Maki over and kissed her cheek. "I love you too. I'm going to miss you when I'm gone. And I hope that you'll miss me too." Maki was crying, but she nodded. "Thank you, Maki. For being in my life. Everyone, thank you for making me the person I am."

Everyone was in tears, but Rin stayed strong. "Nico-chin! We have something more than Maki's love, nya!" Nico giggled at this while Maki went back to the two others. Umi, with the help of Nico's mother, brought in a keyboard. "Maki-chan, Umi-chan, and I made a song for you. It's kinda sad, but it's also happy, nya!"

Nico couldn't believe all of the thought that they put in. The thought that everyone put in. To make Nico happy.

Maki sat down and started to play a mix of sadness and happiness, but it was more on the happy side.

Rin started to sing, with Umi singing along.

For the time we spent together
It was the best of our lives
Although we have to leave
We're going to say goodbye
With a smile

There's not a day I spent with you I miss
Because everyday we had was bliss
Although it hurts to say goodbye
We'll meet again and start over by saying hi

All the memories
We'll never forget
Although our time was short
It's the time we don't regret

For the time we spent together
It was the best of our lives
Although we have to leave
We're going to say goodbye
With a smile

Nico was awestruck. The song that they put together was pure bliss, and she was so happy that she wanted it to be with her for as long as she had left.

"Can you sing it again? I want to record it, if it's okay." Nico asked.

"O-okay. Anything for-for Nico-chin!" Rin said. "Okay, Maki-chan? Umi-chan?"

They nodded and got ready. Maki started to play the tune while Nico recorded it.

"~For the time we spent together ~It was the best of our lives ~Although we ha-have to leave ~We're going to- going to say…say goodbye…with a s-sm-"

Rin couldn't keep going. Singing it the first time was tough, but she persevered. The second time, she kept hearing the lyrics. And how it was going to be time for Nico to leave them.

She started to cry and ran to Nico. "NICO-CHIN!" She said through her tears. Nico held the girl in her arms, petting her. "I DON'T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE!" Rin cried.

And Nico couldn't stop her tears. One of her best friends were crying and was hurt. And she couldn't keep her emotions in control. "I don't want to either, Rin! I'm sorry!" The two girls cried in each other's arms. The other people in the room could only watch with sad expressions on their faces.

The two girls calmed down after a while. But, Nico still had her request.

"Rin, can you sing the song again?"

Rin felt stronger after letting her emotions out. "Yes!"

And she sang it as Nico recorded it.

Alice came back to the room when everyone started to put the things away.

"Here, Alice-san!" Nozomi brought the cake over to her.

"Thanks, Nozomi. Did Nico get to blow out her candle?"

Nico's mother heard Alice, and felt dumb. "We forgot!"

Alice saw the panic in the mother's eyes. "Here, Ms. Yazawa! Use my cake!"

"Thank you, Alice!" She took the cake and stuck a candle in. She lit it, and put it in front of Nico. They all sang 'Happy Birthday,' which Nico enjoyed.

"Okay, make a wish!"

Nico did and blew out the candle, as everyone applauded.

"Thank you everyone. For making this the best birthday ever."

A mix of 'no problem,' 'you're welcome,' and 'I'm glad you liked it,' was spoken by the room.

"I have two more things to do." The room turned to the bed-ridden girl.

"First. Alice, could you get the bags?" She saw Alice nod and leave to get them.

"Bags? What for, nya?" Rin asked.

"Here, Nico." Alice brought the bags over.

"Remember when I got your birthday presents?" She saw some nods, and some eyes widening. "Well, it's not your birthday. It's mine. But, happy early birthday!"

Nico started to bring out the presents, one-by-one.

"Maki: the silver ring that was a bit pricey." Nico said with a smile.

The red-head took the box, tears in her eyes. "Nico..."

"Umi: the practical socks." She handed the socks to Umi, who held them tight.

"Honoka: the mess of ribbons for your ponytail." Honoka took the ribbons, but her hands were trembling.

She pulled out a bigger box. "Eli's ballet slippers. I hope you do well in that, Eli." Eli took the box and held it tightly to her chest.

"Kotori: the idol bag." It was hard for Nico to wrap it, but she was glad that Kotori immediately put it on.

"Nozomi: your big sunhat."

"N-Nicochi. Can I…open it?" Nico was surprised at the request, but she allowed it. It wasn't that hard to open, and Nozomi had a huge smile when she opened it. She put it on, even though it was night. Nico was happy to see the smile.

She pulled out the last two presents at the same time. "And finally…Hanayo and Rin. A mouth-watering rice shirt, and a cute sundress."

The two girls hugged the boxes.

"I hope you guys like those. You chose them." Nico was glad that she brought a smile to everyone's faces. "I want you to do one thing. When…When I do pass…and my-my wake happens…please wear those. Don't care about the looks you get from everyone. They're people that I kinda know. You are all special to me, and no one will know how special these are but us. Okay?"

She saw the eight girls nod, with tears in their eyes.

"Onee-chan, is there anything for us?" Cocoa asked. Nico smiled at her sister.

"Mom, you haven't told them yet?" She shook her head. "Well, you also get something. As well as Maki."

"Huh? Me?" Maki's attention perked up.

"Maki, you'll be getting another mom, a brother, and two sisters."

Nico's mother smiled at Maki. "Please take care of us."

"You're-You're living with us?"

Nico nodded. "When I pass, they'll be in your care. Please be good to them."

Maki nodded vigorously. "Yes-Yes I will. Please take care of me as well."

Nico's mother walked up to Maki and put her hand out. "Gladly."

Maki shook the hand in front of her.

"Oh! I just have one more thing to ask."

Nico was alone in her bed, with only the lamp on. She asked Alice to give her some pens and paper. She finished her note and placed it next to all of the things she got.

The plush heart, bird, and rice bowl from Honoka, Kotori, and Hanayo. Her locket that had two pictures, which she got from Nozomi and Eli. The scarf she received from Alice. And everything from Umi, Rin, and Maki. The sheet that had the lyrics, and her phone that played the recording on loop.

And the picture of everyone doing the Nico-Nico-nii pose.

She felt so loved.

And this love would be gone when she leaves.

But she knows that everyone would remember her, and that she'll meet them again.

"I love you all."

And Nico fell asleep to the sounds of the song that was written for her.

'With A Smile'


A/N: Nico's birthday party.

I could have sworn I uploaded this. Whoops. Well, better late than a day late, right? This story has 1 chapter, 1 epilogue and it is over. Hopefully, you like this.

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