'Mix!' shouted Andy as he tried to catch up to her.
'Don't follow me Andy and don't tell anyone anything about it, or else…' said Mix in a threatening tone.
'But, isn't it supposed to be something to be happy about?' asked Andy scratching his head in confusion.
'I…I just don't like it,' replied Mix as she hurriedly ran away from Andy.
Apparently, this whole conversation had been hear by Amata who was just conveniently coming around the corner.
'Don't tell anyone about it…something happy… Don't tell me Mix is…pregnant?!' thought Amata.
'Amata, what a surprise to see you here,' said Andy. Amata could tell that he was very nervous because he kept on scanning the corridor to see whether anyone else was there and his palms were sweaty.
'Andy, I just…' said Amata. He didn't know how to ask his friend whether Mix was pregnant or not.
'Do you have anything to tell me?' asked Amata in his most sincere voice.
'Uhhh…why would I?' replied Andy nervously.
'Andy! I heard it all! I'm sorry! I wish you, Mix and the baby best of luck in the future!' Amata suddenly blurted out.
'Baby? Me and Mix? Oh, Amata! You've got the wrong idea. You see tomorrow is Mix's birthday, the problem is, she doesn't want to celebrate it let alone let others know,' said Andy.
'Ohh, I'm sorry for making those ridiculous assumptions,' said Amata embarrassed.
'Its ok. Now only if I could convince Mix that celebrating her birthday with her friends is fun and meaningful,' said Andy deep in thought.
'I've got it!' Amata said.
'What is it?' Andy hastily asked.
'We should organize a surprise party for her. Lets go to Zessica-san and ask for her, after all, she and Mix are best of friends,' said Amata confidently as if he was certain of the success of this plan.
'Oh, yeah. But, are you sure that this will work. We've only got one day left,' said Andy worriedly.
'Of course it will, with everyone's help I'm sure that we can do it by tomorrow,' said Amata.
'How about we go find Zessica-san first?' suggested Andy.
'Good idea,' said Amata as the started to make their way towards the girl's dorms.
After a while, they reached the girl's dorm. Immediately, they saw a green haired girl talking to a purpled hair girl, whatever they were talking about, they were quite into it.
'Mikono-san! Zessica-san' Amata called out.
'Hello, Amata-kun,' greeted Mikono politely.
'Hey, Amata. What brings you here?' asked Zessica.
'Well you see…' started Andy as he told her what he told Amata.
'Great idea!' exclaimed Zessica.
'Can you tell us more about Mix?' asked Andy.
'Well…we were in the same class since year 1; we were both the top students in the class. She was always a few marks ahead of me, but I made up for that in actual combat. She likes sweet things, hates spicy stuff. Although we may not seem close, we've been best buds since then,' said Zessica matter-of-factly.
'Great, at least we know what kinds of food she likes and hates. I didn't know you and Mix were so close friends,' said Andy.
'Hey, what was that supposed to mean, just because we don't interact much in front of you guys doesn't mean we're not good friends,' pouted Zessica.
'Zessica-san, I'm sure Andy-kun didn't mean it that way. How about thinking how to organize a surprise party for Mix?' said Mikono.
'Hmph' said Zessica in a dissatisfied tone.
'I'll go call the cake shop,' said Amata.
'I'll go with Amata, I'll also order food for tomorrow,' said Andy.
'How about we girls go shopping for decoration and a present for Mix?' suggest Mikono.
'Remember to tell the boys about the surprise party, we need your help to put up the decorations,' said Zessica.
'Yes, ma'am,' Andy and Amata both said jokingly. Zessica just rolled her eyes.
It had been a few minutes since they had got off the ferry. Mikono and Zessica were currently out to buy decorations and a gift for Mix's surprise birthday party.
'Zessica-san?' Mikono called out.
'Hmm…?' asked Zessica who was currently debating whether to buy party poppers or not.
'How did you first meet Mix?' asked Mikono out of the blue.
'Let me see…these bring back a lot of memories. I remember it was my first year at Neo-Deava. I saw a orange haired girl sitting alone in the corner. This was when I first met Mix. She wasn't the most outgoing or talkative. It took me several days for me to get Mix to talk to me,' said Zessica. Mikono just smiled and pictured a younger Zessica annoying a younger Mix.
'I remember it was during our first simulation battle against the other girls. We were a perfect pair; it's like if we could read each other like a book. Naturally, we destroyed the other team. We've been best friends since then,' said Zessica.
'I always envied her big bangs…' said Zessica without much thought.
'Zessica-san!' exclaimed Mikono. The poor girl's face was turning red due to embarrassment.
'Nahh, I'm just pulling your leg,' said Zessica sticking her tongue out cheekily.
They continued looking around the shop for anymore decorations to buy.
'By the way, Zessica-san. What gift should we buy for Mix?' asked Mikono.
'Hmm, I don't really Know. Mix isn't really the one to tell you what she likes or not,' said Zessica thoughtfully.
'I know how about we buy her new clothes!' said Mikono excitedly.
'Mikono, you haven't known Mix long enough. Knowing her, she's going to say 'Oh, you shouldn't have wasted your money on me' or something like 'I have plenty of clothes to wear' so buying clothes for her would just be a waste,' said Zessica.
'Ohh…then what should we buy Zessica-san?' asked Mikono, worried that they wouldn't be able to find Mix the right gift.
'I haven't figured out yet. Meanwhile, let's walk around the mall, its not like we can go out everyday!' said Zessica happily to cheer up Mikono.
They were walking around the mall, looking at all kinds of shops. Mikono spotted a cute-looking gift shop.
'Zessica-san, why don't we go in and look around. Maybe we can even find the gift to give Mix,' suggested Mikono
'Good idea Mikono,' answered Zessica and they both went in the shop.
'Look at that teddy bear, Zessica-san. Doesn't it look cute?' squealed Mikono. She was always a sucker for cute things.
Suddenly. Shush popped out from her hair and hissed at the teddy bear.
'Don't worry Shsuh, you'll always be cuter,' giggled Mikono as she nuzzled the furry little animal.
'Aren't you energetic today,' said Zessica laughing as she stroked Shush.
'Aww…Zessica-san, isn't there anything you see that Mix will like?' asked Mikono.
'Hmm…Oh, that!' Zessica suddenly called out. Pointing at the flat, palm-sized monitor.
'I'm sure if Mix wants a new monitor, it would have to be bigger,' said Mikono a bit puzzled.
'No, silly. It's an electronic photo album. See?' said Zessica as she pressed a few buttons. The pictures appeared and went away; the device even had a slideshow function.
'Ever since year 1, Mix didn't really have many close friends. I hope that she can keep all her happy memories with us all the time with this electronic photo album. Don't you agree too, Mikono?' asked Zessica.
'That does sound more meaningful than clothes. I say we buy it,' said Mikono nodding in agreement.
'Let's buy it then,' said Zessica. Both of them walked towards the counter.
'Excuse me miss, would you want me to wrap it for you?' asked the female cashier.
'Yes, please,' answered Zessica.
They had bought their gift for Mix and they were about to leave when Zessica suddenly remembered something.
'Mikono, want some ice-cream? My treat!' said Zessica.
'Zessica-san, you're the greatest!' exclaimed Mikono.
'Don't mention it,' said Zessica smiling as she paid for the 2 ice-cream cones.
'Let's go quickly now or we'll miss the ferry,' said Zessica.
On board the ferry, Mikono was still asking Zessica question about Mix.
'Oh, just between you and me. Mix is very vain and hates wearing glasses. But she has to put up with it,' said Zessica quietly.
'Really?' giggled Mikono.
'How about you Zessica-san? You don't talk much about your life,' said Mikono.
'What about me? I'm just your ordinary Chinese girl,' said Zessica.
'How about your parents?' asked Mikono.
'It's kinda complicated. I remember when I was little, my father used to take me to the exact same spot and buy me an ice-cream cone,' said Zessica with a bit a sadness.
'Oh, I'm sorry Zessica-san, I shouldn't overly-pry about our people's lives,' said Mikono apologetically.
'It's ok, this is a problem I have to face sooner or later. But, for now let's worry about putting up the decorations and not letting Mix know about the party,' said Zessica optimistically.
It was well past midnight. However, the lights were still on in the function room where they planned to have the party.
'Can someone remind me why I'm doing this again?' sighed Kagura. It wan't even like he knew her.
'Hey, what's with that attitude? I thought you were changing for the better. Besides, its good to get together with others once in a while,' said Zessica. She wacked Kagura hard with a roll of paper.
'Ouch! What was that for you mopey girl?!' growled Kagura.
'Wanna go at it, asshole?' said Zessica.
'Now, now. Zessica-san' said Mikono calming her down.
'Cool yourself, bro' said Amata holding Kagura by both his arms.
'Hmph, he started it,' said Zessica.
'Hey, all of you. Let's finish this so we can go sleep earlier,' said Cayenne in a commanding tone.
Sudden;y everyone was awake and hurried to finish their respective jobs.
'Yawn…we're finally done,' said Malloy.
'I hope Mix likes it,' said Andy nervously.
'She will Andy, I'm sure of it. Your strong feeling to her will dig its way into her heart,' said Amata.
'Speaking of which, where's Mix?' asked Mikono.
'I've gotten that taken care of,' said Sazanka.
In the girl's dorm, Mix was hurriedly doing her homework.
'Why is there suddenly so much homework? Didn't I already hand in this assignment last week?' thought a confused Mix.
'I'm sorry Mix-san, it seems like the school computer system crashed,' said an innocent Yunoha.
'What did you do?' asked Malloy.
'Let's just say I gave her extra 'work',' said Sazanka creepily.
'Note to self: Never get on her bad side,' thought everyone.
'Alright guys, thank you for your help today. I just hope that she'll like it tomorrow,' said Andy.
Everyone said their goodbyes and went back to their respective dorms to get a good night's rest.
'Where are you taking me, Yunoha?' asked a blindfolded Mix.
'Almost there, Mix-san' said Yunoha politely.
'Open your eyes' said someone. Mix obediently took off her blindfolds.
'Happy birthday!' screamed everyone.
'You guys…I…' said Mix, unable to form words from her mouth.
'Like it? It was Andy's idea,' said Zessica.
'Andy's? Oh, Andy,' said Mix with a genuine smile on her face.
'It was nothing…everyone helped,' said Andy nervously.
'Here's your gift. Now you can remember us wherever you are! I hope you like it Mix,' said Mikono.
'Thank you! I'll treasure it very much,' said Mix sincerely.
'Now, that's done. Let's eat!' said Zessica.
'Uhh…Mix, could you come out?' said Andy weakly.
'Yes, Andy? What is it?' asked Mix closing the door behind them.
'Umm…I just wanted to say thank you to you and that you're and awesome person. Here's your other birthday present,' said Andy and he kissed Mix on the cheek.
'Andy, you idiot!' exclaimed Mix happily and she kissed him full on the lips.
'Mi….' Andy couldn't even finish saying her name when she had already kissed him.
'I'm guessing you like the party?' said Andy grinning from ear to ear.
'Yes, I do Andy.' Said Mix satisfied.
Later that night, Mix was still awake when the other girls were all fast asleep.
'Well he still didn't say he loves me, so we'll leave that for later,' thought Mix.
On her table was the newly bought electronic photo album. It showed a photo of her with all her friends.
'Thanks guys. This is the best birthday ever,' thought Mix before also joining the other girls.
Wooh! I've finally completed this chapter. In this chapter I tried to develop more on Mix and Andy's relationship. I also showed the friendship between Mix and Zessica. I wanted to give a more detailed background of Zessica but I'll save it for later. I'm not sure what story or what pairs I'll focus on next, so please give me time. Finally, please R&R! Thanks!