The alarm went off at 7 in the morning to wake its owner. But as soon as the music, the piano version of "Snow Halation", started to blur out of the speakers, the music was turned off again.

Nozomi had been awake for at least an hour. She laid on her bad, her right arm draped loosely over her forehead. Her thoughts circled around todays date; June the 9th. Years of spending this day alone, despite its importance it would have for anyone in Nozomi's situation, had left her with a sadness in her heart.

She figured she should finally get up to get ready for school. But before she left her bedroom she unlocked the screen of her phone. No new messages.

Nozomi smiled bitterly. Of course her parents wouldn't have sent her a message yet. She doubted they would at all. She doubted that they'd even remember that today was her birthday.

Her walk to school was different than usual, silent and painfully lonely, seeing that her normal companion hadn't showed up. Nozomi had waited at least fifteen minutes for Eli to arrive, thinking that the blonde may have overslept. But she hadn't and Nozomi had to go to school.

At any other day Nozomi would have thought that Eli surely had a reason for not showing up. She would be worried and check her phone constantly in hopes of getting news of Eli. But not today. Her anxiety kicked in and made her thoughts a swirl of depression. Of course Eli had forgotten. Why would she even remember?

Shaking her head Nozomi tried to get rid of these. There had to be an explanation for Eli's behaviour. Ever since Eli had known of Nozomi's lifestyle she would care more than the purple haired girl herself. More so ever since they started going out together.

Taking a deep breath, Nozomi hurried her steps. The day had just getting started and she would not fell in the depths of negativity.

By lunch time Nozomi had a hard time fighting back the dark thoughts.

It wasn't just Eli. The blonde had already been in school when she had arrived. Every member of Muse acted strange. It wasn't the type where you act strange around a person. It was a type where they avoided her. At all costs.

Nico and Eli wouldn't bother to look at her and in every break they would get up and leave without a clue before Nozomi had the chance to approach them. Umi, Kotori and Honoka did very much the same. Maki ignored her and Rin and Hanayo had run away the moment their eyes had met.

Now, after school, Nozomi sat in a deserted club room. She had been on the roof, in the music room, everywhere she could think of but her so called friends were nowhere to be found.

Coming to the conclusion that there'd be no need to spend her day in the club room she made her way towards the door. Home would be the better option anyways, seeing that she could cry there without risking to be seen crying. Just thinking about it made it hard to keep the tears at bay.

Her way home was just as lonely as her walk to school had been. All the while she tried to figure out what she had done for her friends to keep their distance, what she had done for Eli to be ignored by her girlfriend. Were they mad at her?

She remembered all the previous days but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The only variable that had changed was that today was her birthday. A fact that hurt her even more. Did they even like her or did they just pretend to like her? Could they be that cruel as to reveal their true feelings today? Sure they could, if that was the case.

Without her even noticing she had already made it to her apartment complex. She had no energy left and just wanted to throw herself upon her bad, burying her head in her pillow and cry until she fell asleep. With every step up the stairs it became harder and harder to keep her emotions in control.

When he reached her floor though she was greeted with something she wouldn't have expected.

In front of her door, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, stood Rin. When her fellow lily white member saw her, she relaxed and made her way towards her. Before Nozomi could say anything, the energetic girl jumped forwards to engulf her in a huge hug and nuzzle her head in the older girls shoulder.

"Rin-chan, what-"

"Whatever happens next, please don't be mad at us, nya!" Rin pleaded.

By now, Nozomi was genuinely confused. First the orange haired girl had ignored her all they and now she wouldn't let go of her. She even asked Nozomi not to be mad at them.

Wait? Them?

"What's going on?" She had figured that her voice betrayed her and showed her true feelings. The lump in her throat made Nozomi sound weak and vunerable. Something Rin immediately recognized.

"We are sorry, Nozomi-chan. We know that it wouldn't be nice of us to leave you alone all day but we had to, nya." Taking one of Nozomi's trembling hands in her own Rin dragged her towards her apartment.

Before Nozomi could buckle down to get the key from beneath the flower pot, Rin fished said key out of her pockets to unlock the door. "We had to prepare all sort of stuff and we needed all eight of us to manage it in time… which meant that we'd have to keep you from following one of us, nya."

Stepping aside without opening the door, Rin gestured for Nozomi to go first. She pulled the handle down and swung the door inwards. Once she stood in the door frame she just saw a flash of different colours before a sudden "Bang!" forced her eyes shut. But she felt paper stripes and confetti draping itself over her head.

"Happy Birthday!" A choir of eight voices shouted, the seven faces she saw smiling.

In that moment she finally couldn't stop her tears anymore.

It had taken several minutes for her to calm down. Eli had taken her in her arms and had whispered words of apology to her in an attempt to soothe her. The others had joined in soon after before they had made sure they all were in the small apartment so that no one outside had to see them.

Now Nozomi dried her tears with the sleeves of her jacket while Eli occasionally brushed away single tears that were still leaking out of her eyes. Some short kisses on her temple included.

It was in that moment that Nozomi started to take in the scene in front of her. If it weren't for her friends being around her and the fact that Rn had opened the door with her key… she would have thought she'd been in another apartment.

Her friends had decorated her living room. What had been a room with just a desk and a set of chairs in the morning now looked as if someone actually lived here. Small frames with pictures hung on the walls, all of them capturing some sweet and funny moments they had spent together. In the middle was a picture of her and Eli in the early days of them dating. There even was a scroll in a traditional japanese style saying "Friendship".

The desk was decorated with a purple tablecloth, decorated with accurate embroidery in different colours and shapes. Nozomi was sure that it was the work of none other than Kotori.

On the counter stood several treats. A cake, sweets, breads… everything one could think of.

By now Nozomi understood what Rin had meant when she had said that they had to manage to do a lot of things. And the tears threated to fall again.

"You are all idiots." Nozomi finally managed to say. "You had me worried all day that… that I did something wrong."

They all laughed shyly and Honoka and Rin engulfed her in another warm hug before she was dragged towards the table so that they could start to celebrate.

Some hours later the apartment was silent again. After her friends had insisted on cleaning up while Nozomi just relaxed she had seen them off; all but one.

Eli leaned on the kitchen counter, watching her with a fond smile while Nozomi looked at each picture that had been added to her interior. Once her gaze shifted to the one of her and Eli it lingered there.

"I'm sorry." Nozomi felt arms circling around her waist and a chin coming to a rest on her head. "I know you were lonely today." Eli kissed the back of Nozomi's head.

The purple haired girl hummed a reply, hr fingers dancing on the frame of the picture of her and Eli. They stayed like that for several minutes, just enjoying being together.

"Elichi?" Nozomi turned around in her girlfriend's embrace and hugged her back, her head coming to a rest on the blondes left shoulder. "Promise me one thing." Eli started to stroke Nozomi's hair and she closed her eyes. "Never leave me alone again." Her voice cracked at the end of her sentence.

"I guess in that case my present for you is just prefect." Eli whispered affectionately. "After we graduate…" Nozomi felt her heart speeding up. She looked up and was met with Eli's lips on her own. After the short kiss, the blonde rested their foreheads together. "Move in with me?"

Nozomi swore that she couldn't be any happier than in this moment.

AN: Happy Birthday Nozomi!

Hope you've enjoyed this little fanfiction. See you again soon. ;)