Marisa awakened frantically in the final remains of an autumn morning, perhaps from a nightmare.

She was surrounded by all manners of items, amassed over the years from every part of Gensokyo; while some of these were indeed under her ownership, a concerning amount was simply stolen from their true owners, under her spurious definition of the term "borrowing". They possessed height in their abject chaos, as they, at certain areas of her "bedroom", towered over Marisa when she would sleep. The only open window in her house lived in this room, submitting just one faint sunray through its aged curtains, as this shined against some of the aimless dust with which Marisa apathetically lived; given that the ray was too meager to light even the one room, her house beyond remained enveloped in quiet and darkness.

Marisa arose from her bed, taking care to not elbow the TV resting only a few inches away; this proximity was upheld so she could play games without leaving the luxury of her mattress on a wooden floor without any bed frame. She was proud of such a life hack.

In any event, Alice would be receiving a call. "Hello?"

"Good mornin'! How's my ray of sunshine today?"

"Just fantastic! But why wouldn't I be? I'm looking forward to tonight as we speak!"

"…you are?"

"Oh, come on, don't you play dumb with me! I got a birthday party, after all!"

Marisa was grateful that phones can only relay audio, as she had forgotten Alice's birthday.

"I'm so excited! I wonder what I'll get this year…"

"Oh don't you worry!"

"What?"

"You're gonna get the best gift ever, I'll tell you what…yeah…it'll make everyone else regret buying their sorry excuses of a present! Hah hah!"

"..."

"I mean, come on, right? I..."

After the subsequent silence ended its brief span, Marisa was surprised to her Alice's newly alleviated words.

"I'm…so thankful…"

"…really?"

"It's so nice, Marisa, to hear that you care so much about me; pretty much no one else visits me except on my birthday…I still remember that birthday when you were sick, and I had to spend it only with Shanghai and Hourai…that was such a terrible day…to think that your present is something that'll insult everyone else's…just makes my heart so happy."

Marisa didn't really know what to say to this, so her next sentence really had no element of planning. "So! Wanna guess what you'll get?!"

She was startled by Alice's laughter, particularly its sinister tone. "You okay, Ali? It was a joke, you know."

"You're so funny, Marisa…we've been friends for a long time, so…I know exactly what your present is."

This was said in a way that would make even our Marisa tremble.

"…all right! So, I guess you'll be preparing then?"

"Oh, it's not much, but I do have to go…so I'll see you tonight."

"At 6, yes?"

"Certainly! You remembered!"

Marisa was pleased to succeed in a wild guess with a one-out-of-twelve chance. "Okay! Goodbye!"

"Bye!"

Marisa ended the call in a panicked manner, slamming the phone away. This was understandable; Alice was oftentimes overlooked, and as of late Marisa had to make up to her more often than not for forgetting even simple things like visits and meals out. Alice's words had entered her ear with unhinged character, so she had to come up with something truly of excellence to prove that Alice would have no reason to ever be saddened again.

She ran from her bedroom and began to frantically rummage throughout the house; certainly, an item selected from clutter scattered carelessly about will always produce a gift worthy of giving to a friend.