“Okay, we’ll get out of your house now.” Jessica said with a giggle in her voice, “But it still really sucks that we can’t all hang out on your birthday.” Yeah, it doesn’t suck for me but-

“Stuff always happens around my birthday so I’m kind of used to it.” Cassie explained.

“At least we got to see you today,” Quana began, “And if you don’t finish that cake I’m fine with taking some off your hands!” Cassie smiled at her.

“Yeah right, that’ll be done tonight.” Keris said.

“She’s not wrong." Cassie said, they all shared in a small laugh.

“Well, see you after your birthday!” Quana exclaimed as she went out first.

“Don’t open your presents until tomorrow,” Jessica said sternly, “We know you’ll love what we got you.”

“Honestly the cake was a good enough gift.” Cassie explained as she walked her to the door.

“Well it’s not good enough for me, but we all kept the receipts in case you don’t like it… which I doubt.” Jessica assured, Cassie nodded, “We’ll see you later then.” With that they all left out to the hallway of Cassie’s apartment complex, once they got the elevator Cassie shut her door.

“Look, I love you guys as friends, but there’s no way I can spend my birthday with all of you.” Cassie then went over and got her phone checking to make sure she sent the message to the other ten people in her life. “And sorry to you guys too. I just want one day to myself.”

Once she made sure everyone had been sent a message she hurriedly went to the cake the girls got her and smiled. “But yay! I get to have a full cake by myself!” Cassie got comfortable and cut a slice as she got ready to spend the night treating herself.

…

Koto had been running around all day trying to think about what was the best gift to get Cassie. Food? A new game? A figurine? Nothing good came to mind and he was worried she may not like his gift if he just got something random.

“She’ll just pretend to like it then throw it in the trash when I’m not looking!” He agonized. Koto looked at his phone and thought about just calling Cassie. “But, she said she’s busy!” Koto pressed his lips together before suddenly his shoulder was touched. He jumped and turned to see Chris and Amai together. “W-what are you guys doing here?”

“What else? Looking for a good gift to get Cassie.” Chris said.

“I can’t believe, I’m not the only one.” Koto let out a sigh of relief, “But have you guys found anything?” They both shook their heads.

“I mean, she’s not hard to shop for, but everything she wants is really specific.” Amai explained.

“Haven’t you two been friends for years?” Chris inquired, Amai nodded, “So shouldn't that mean you know a lot about her then?”

“W-well yeah, but her interests could have changed over the years, y'know?”

“Whatever, just tell us what you think.” Amai let out a small sigh at Chris’ pushy comment.

“…She’s really into the Legend of Zelda.”

“There’s not a new game out yet.” Koto explained.

“One Piece and HunterxHunter are her favorite animes.”

“Like she doesn’t already have an armada of stuff related to both of those shows in her house?” Chris said.

“She likes the color orange.”

“Yes, so let’s buy her a huge box of cuties.” Chris said with sarcasm laced in his voice.

“Then I don’t know what you want from me." Amai said harshly, "She either doesn’t talk about the stuff she likes, or it’s so specific we’ll never find the right thing in time.” The two males sighed.

“You know, I really hate to say this, but why don’t we go to Akuma?” Koto suggested.

“Or we could just ask everyone then.” Chris suggested.

“You think all of them would cooperate?” Amai said.

“Probably not, but if it’s for Cassie they’ll have to get over their differences and come together.” Chris then took out his phone and sent a message to the group chat all ten of them were in.

“Oh, so they’re all out right now too…” Koto said, “This means we’ll all be in a room together?”

“Let’s hope no one dies.” Amai added with worry present on his face.

…

Now inside of an empty restaurant Akuma had bought out for the day, all ten of them sat around a large table not speaking a word to each other. After a bit of this, Akuma got frustrated.

“Okay, I didn’t buy this for all of you, so if we’re just going to sit around here and eye fuck each other, I’m better off just getting Cassie myself.” Akuma outbursted.

“She’s busy.” Ankara stated in a calm voice, contrasting to Akuma.

“So what? If I show up at her place she’ll have no other choice.” Akuma remarked.

“Look, it’s her birthday and we shouldn’t stress her out anymore then she is already. It’s one day, so let her relax and finish up the business she has.” Shugi explained.

“Has anyone ever even tried to go to her apartment?” Terumichi asked.

“No, we all know how she gets when things involve her family, so it would be a lot smarter if we just stayed away as a whole.” Akihiko explained. They all sat in a small silence after that until Chris broke the silence.

“Okay, I’m as annoyed as all of you are to be here, but we need to think about what we’re going to get Cassie.”

“I was just going to buy her some sweets.” Brayleigh stated.

“I think we all were at that rate.” Koto said softly.

“And it’s not like we know what she really wants cause’ she never talks about it.” Amai added.

“I would rather not give her some pointless gift she’ll just forget about.” Ankara stated.

“What other choice do we have?” Shugi asked.

“Well,” They all looked to Hayate who, up to this point, hadn’t said a word, “In the few times I’ve been to her place, she has all these stuffed animals on her bed. I don’t even see how she sleeps on it when half her bed is full of them.” Suddenly Akihiko and Amai spoke at the same time.

“That’s right,” Amai stopped himself and let Akihiko speak. He gave a small chuckle and began to speak.

“In her backpack one time, I saw this little white bear she had. It was right after Christmas so I assumed she must have gotten it as a gift. So she must like them.” Akihiko explained.

“Yeah, she used to talk a lot about how she wants to collect every animal on the planet in a stuffed form.” Amai stated.

“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?” Koto said.

“I didn’t think about it. Besides I figured since she was older, maybe she didn’t care for that anymore.” Amai said crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“I can assure you that’s not the case. I'm more than sure she still loves them.” Hayate said.

“I can too.” They looked to Akuma who spoke up, “Check your phones, that’s a picture of all the stuffed animals she has.” A few of them looked down to their phones and opened the group chat that went off.

“You know,” Shugi began, “It’s illegal to be going through someone’s phone without probable cause.”

“I’m not a cop or a criminal and I’m not doing anything but being with the same provider she uses.” Akuma said without so much as a blink.

“Right.” Shugi mumbled.

“Woah, she has a lot of them!” Koto said.

“It’s actually kind of cute to think of her cuddling one of them.” Terumichi said with a smile.

“So this is perfect then,” Chris began, “We’ll all just get her a stuffed animal.”

“Yeah, but then she’ll have a million bears in her house.” Shugi said.

“Right, we should get unique ones.” Terumichi chimed in.

“I have a better idea,” Ankara began, “Remember that questionnaire she sent us?” They all recalled the moment, “She asked us what our spirit animal or favorite animal was, let's just use that.”

“That’s right!” Terumichi exclaimed, “Good thing I kept that document she sent us.”

“Well if you don’t remember what you wrote, I have our answers from her phone.” Akuma started getting a small glare from Shugi, which he ignored.

“Ugh, but I answered with like five animals!” Koto said grumbling a bit.

“Just pick the one you think she’ll like the most.” Amai said.

“Let’s not step over each other’s toes then. I’m changing mine to a Panther.” Hayate stated.

“I’m picking a fish.” Ankara said next.

“W-well then I’ll pick a Hawk!” Koto stated.

“Hm, she doesn’t like cats.” Chris said.

“She doesn't, but she does think they’re cute, she just wouldn’t own one as a pet.” Akihiko explained.

Chris chuckled, “Then I’ll be sure to find a really cute cat then.”

“Eh, I don’t think I can find mine.” Terumichi said, “Anyone know if a flying squirrel plush exists?”

“Who says that?” Amai spoke, “But just change it to a regular squirrel then.” Terumichi nodded to Amai’s suggestion. “But I’m more than good. I’m getting her favorite, a rabbit!”

“I thought her favorite animal was a dog?” Akihiko said.

“No, it’s a wolf for sure.” Brayleigh said.

“Look, the last of us just picked pretty much the same thing, a dog or a wolf, so this means either we’ll have to pick a different animal or we’ll have to pick different breeds.” Akuma explained sounding a bit frustrated.

“Well that’s between the dog people, someone can get a wolf with no problem.” Shugi said as he looked at Akihiko, Brayleigh and Akuma.

“Well, who’s going to get the wolf then?” Ankara spoke up trying to get them to move on.

“I’m fine with someone else getting the wolf.” Akihiko said.

“I am too.” Shugi stated.

“Then it’s between you and me.” Brayleigh looked to Akuma as he said that.

“Look, I picked a fictional animal so it’s not even like I care about picking something else. So I'm not going to.” Akuma said with a certain stubbornness that caused Brayleigh to sigh slightly.

“Well, I guess I could just get a dog.” Brayleigh caved in and let Akuma have the wolf.

“Okay, so now it’s a matter of buying these things.” Ankara stated as he took out his phone and began to dial a number.

“Woah, isn't this kind of an unfair advantage?” Amai suddenly said, “You and Akuma are probably gonna go to the manufacturer or something and get the biggest thing you can!” Ankara chuckled.

"Probably compensating for something." Chris said with a small snicker.

“Well, it’s not like I would downsize when it’s no trouble for me.” Ankara stated ignoring the comment from Chris.

“You’re not even going to deny it!” Koto said as he dropped his head in defeat.

"Besides, even if I didn't have money to just give away to Cassie, I would still be getting her something that's nothing less than perfect. No matter how much it costs." Akuma said calmly.

“Then at that, I say the ones of us who can’t just have a personalized jumbo sized plush toy made overnight, should stick together and help each other. This isn’t a competition, remember?” Terumichi said.

“You’re right,” Brayleigh said as he got up. “But it’s late right now and I doubt if anything will even be open.”

“Of course, but let’s not be too cheap about this. We should at least wrap these things.” Shugi said.

“Obviously.” Akuma said as he got up as well.

“So I guess we’ll drop off our presents tomorrow then, and again, let’s not step on each other's toes. This is for Cassie so our differences can be put aside for now.”

…

The day of Cassie’s birthday came and she spent her entire day alone in the comfort of her home. She opened her family's and friend's gifts in the morning and played the game one of her brothers had gotten her well into the afternoon.

After a bit, she decided to take a break and ate more of her cake before ordering a family sized meal of chicken for her birthday lunch and dinner.

She watched a few movies she loved and eventually went back to playing until she realized it was getting late. Cassie paused the game she was playing and pouted.

“Man, today was so much fun too, but it'll be over soon... That blows.” She sighed and got up to get another fork full of her cake again when she heard a knock at her door. “Nope, I’m not gonna go and see who it is.” She ignored the knocking until it finally went away.

She didn’t bother to even see if it was another package, but it was then she realized that none of the ten men in her life had even gotten her a gift. She sat down on her couch and thought for a moment.

“I’m not mad they didn’t, but it’s weird that these guys spend every waking second they can with me and for some reason they wouldn’t get me a birthday gift?” She shrugged it off after that and decided to have a karaoke party with her favorite songs and herself until she felt like going to bed.

Another few hours went by and it was now only two hours until her birthday would be over. So she decided now to see what the knocking on her door was about. Though she was expecting to see her hallway, her door was completely blocked with neatly wrapped presents that had been stacked in front of her door.

“W-what’s this?” She took one of the many notes she found and read the one off of the biggest present. “To Cassie… this is only a small token for your birthday. Next year, let’s be sure you’re not busy and can actually enjoy this wonderful occasion.” She paused, “That has to be from Ankara.” She flipped it over and saw she was right. “Well, let’s see if I can keep these things together.”

Cassie took the smaller gifts inside first and by the time they were getting too heavy for her to lift, she instead just dragged the rest of them inside. Once they were, she shut the door and decided to open the small ones first.

“Koto got this one,” She looked at the note and saw nothing else but a cute drawing on the inside of it with 'Happy Birthday!' written in a speech bubble. “He’s so cute!” She opened his present and pulled out a folded Hawk, she spread his wings and smiled at it. “Aw, it’s so adorable!” She tried to see if anything else was inside and when she found nothing, she just giggled at the hawk. Cassie set it beside her on the couch and went for the next one. “This one is from Akihiko…” Once more, she opened it and found a Australian Shepherd plush, she nearly choked seeing it. “How did…” She shook her head and went to open up another one, “No way… all of these are plush toys!” Cassie sat there for a bit thinking about the situation. “So somehow, they all knew I’d love these plush toys and they got animals I really like?” She thought for a second, “No, aren’t these just the animals they said they liked?” Cassie wanted to think more about it, but she figured something. “You know... Honestly, who cares? Worrying about this is pointless, I’m just grateful they even got me these things; but I guess I’ll have to thank them somehow.” She smiled and went to open the rest of them. “But, Ankara, don’t you think this is a bit excessive?” She had opened his box and pulled out the large rainbow fish plush. Comparably, it looked more like a pillow than a toy. That's when she got the perfect idea.

That night, the males had all been doing various things in the hopes to get their mind off the woman they loved.

Koto was writing and wound up just tapping his pencil as he thought about Cassie.

"I really hope she liked it..."

Amai was sitting on his bunk while Terumichi was sitting at the desk in their dorm. Having the room being so quiet, Amai began to get stir crazy and jumped off his bunk with a huff. He was stomping as he walked.

"Come on, every one is probably asleep right now." Terumichi complained.

"Whatever," Was all Amai said as he turned on his Switch and just picked any game to play. Terumichi smiled a bit and rolled his chair in front of the TV.

Chris was in his apartment trying to clean up the mess his little brother had created while he was shopping.

"You know, all those girls are always leaving shit for you, so why not just ask one of them to clean for you?" His brother questioned.

"Because most of those girls have other reasons as to why they want to help me." Chris explained. His brother snickered and got up.

"I know." Chris just huffed at him, "But if you want any help, I'm cool with helping you."

"It'd be nice if you just stop leaving shit everywhere!" His brother laughed and opened the bathroom door.

"Right, I'm going to bed now." Chris said nothing and let his brother leave. This allowed to Chris to finally have some time to think. He smiled however knowing Cassie would love his gift.

Akuma was growing impatient as he couldn't even sleep at the thought that he wasn't just with Cassie right now. He was growing increasingly irritated and just wound up getting up to get something to drink to calm his nerves.

Ankara sat in his living room with the TV mindlessly playing a show he could barely pay attention to. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes thinking it was pointless to worry about something like this.

"No matter what, she got what she needed out of the way with no push back." He rested back a bit and tried not to think about it.

Shugi was sitting in a patrol car while the night was still.

"Say," He looked over to his partner, "Isn't today your girl's birthday."

Shugi chuckled, "She isn't my girl yet... And don't say that, it sounds weird." They laughed, "But yeah it is."

"Sucks then you gotta be out here then."

"Not really, I'm happy to be spending my night with you." Shugi gave him a wink.

"Let's hope you can keep your distance on my wife's birthday then." They shared in yet another laugh and went on with idle banter.

Akihiko and Brayleigh were sitting inside of a closing cafe. After a second, Brayleigh just suddenly got up, Akihiko looked at up and got up as he did saying a small thanks to the girl behind the counter as he left.

"Leigh, are you heading home?"

"No... I just wanted to take a little walk." He explained.

"I can kind of guess why." They began to walk slower.

Brayleigh chuckled, "I'm sure you do," They walled in silence, "But seriously, why does this bother me so much?"

"I was thinking about the same thing... I figure maybe we think that she's too old for something like that. Plus, we really want her to like what we got, for her to be happy after whatever she had to deal with today, and for her to cherish what we got her. If you ask me, that's a lot of stress to put on a plush toy."

Hayate was relaxing before he was going to head off to bed. Apart of him really was trying not to think about Cassie, but it somehow always wound up like that.

Out of impulse, he got up to get his phone. When he did, it went off and he saw that Cassie had sent him an image. Opening it up, his usual stoic expression turned up into a smile.

He and the rest of the males were greeted with a picture of Cassie lying in all of the plush toys she was given. Cassie's expression was nothing like all of them had seen before. She looked genuinely happy with a big smile overtaking her features. She also sent all of them a message:

I can't tell you how much I love this! But they say a picture is worth a thousand words.