𝘿𝘿𝙇𝘾 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙨 & 𝙎𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙨

➶➶ ʙɪʀᴛʜᴅᴀʏ - ᴍᴏɴɪᴋᴀ ➷➷

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MONIKA AND HAPPY 6TH ANNIVERSARY TO DDLC EYYYYYY

This is late and kinda short and I'm sorry asdkfljsd but hey, at least it came out in September:D

* * * * * 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!"

The shouts of the club echoed like a chorus through the classroom, complimented by an air horn Sayori had produced out of nowhere. Monika's smile was bright, genuine, and made your heart melt as normal. Her eyes lit up as she took in the decorations across the room (they were somewhat excessive, MC had brought too many streamers and balloons) before turning back to you and the rest of the club. 

"You're all too sweet, ahaha!!!" She laughed, a light blush dusting her face. "You didn't need to do this..."

"You deserve it, Monika," Yuri replied, though her voice was almost drowned out by Sayori's excited shouts of congratulations.

"Yeah, you deserve it!!" MC echoed, louder to be heard over the commotion. "It was all Y/N's idea, though!!"

You flushed and buried your face in your hands as Monika's attention immediately turned to you, her eyes wide. "Is that so?"

You sighed, trying to swallow your embarrassment, and nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Well then!!" The club president's expression melted into another gentle smile. "Thank you, Y/N, this is–"

"Cupcakes!!" Natuski yelled from the other side of the room.

It was a scramble to get to the tray of goodies, but Natsuki refused to give anyone anything until Monika got her cupcake. You could tell that the girl was about to pull out a rocket launcher to ward off the aggressors (the aggressors = Sayori), and so you hastily grabbed a plate from her to hand to the president.

"Sorry," you chuckled nervously as you held out the cupcake. "We wanted to get candles, but the school doesn't let flammable objects on campu–"

You couldn't even finish your sentence before Monika suddenly pulled you into a hug, her arms tightening around your back and pulling you close without warning. Painfully aware of the fact that you were blushing, you quickly set the cupcake to the side (as much as you could, anyway) and carefully wrapped your arms around her, way too awkward to do anything else.

"Thank you so much, Y/N," Monika breathed, her voice muffled by your blazer. Her grip tightened ever so slightly. "This is amazing. I– I've actually never really had anything like this before."

"Really??" you exclaimed in surprise, hoping that your voice didn't sound as flustered as you felt. "That's– that's ridiculous, you absolutely deserve it."

"God, get a room, you two," Natsuki grumbled from behind you.

"You're just jealous, Nat," MC shot back in your defense. You were pretty sure you heard a missile impact a few seconds later.

Monika laughed again as she pulled back somewhat reluctantly before grabbing her cupcake from the table. "I'm being serious. To everyone, truly; thank you so, so much!! I really wasn't expecting anything for my birthday, much less a full celebration, ahaha!!!"

"Are you kidding?" Sayori grinned widely as she grabbed her own dessert. "If we could have done more, we totally would have!! Just sucks that the school doesn't let us bring matches in..."

Yuri sighed to herself. "I can't help but feel like you might be part of the reason that rule was implemented."

"Oh, shush >:("

The vice president managed to round everyone into singing an energetic but incredibly off-tune version of Happy Birthday. Monika was beaming the whole time, looking the happiest you'd ever seen her as the club whooped and cheered. Eventually, everyone settled down enough to sit around the tables MC had pulled together to enjoy the cupcakes and talk.

"You know, Monika, this is quite a lot," Yuri said as she carefully removed the wrapper. "I can't believe you're turning 18 already."

Monika giggled to herself. "I know!!! For the fifth year in a row."

"...Pardon?"

"Nothing!! I misspoke, I'm sorry." She flashed an innocent grin. "Regardless, I hope this doesn't affect anything. I'll still be the club president, and I just hope everything will go the same as before."

"Well, yeah," MC exclaimed around a mouthful of cupcake. "Why would it not?"

"Ah... I'm not sure." Monika's expression took on the slightest hint of nervousness. "I suppose the club has always been a space for us to be ourselves, regardless of anything outside of it. I don't want my age to impact how you see me."

"Oh, c'mon," Natsuki huffed, though she was clearly not offended. "Weren't you 18 when you started this club? Why would we think of you any differently now that you're older?"

MC looked completely perplexed at the contradictions within that exchange, but no one else seemed to notice or care. 

"As long as you don't, I don't know, go psycho, I'm sure everything will be just like normal," you reassured her as you finished the last of your cupcake. "You're still you, Monika."

"Good thing I don't plan on going crazy anytime soon." She shot you a sly wink. 

"Just don't quit the club," Natsuki huffed. "That would, uh, really suck."

"Of course I won't leave!!" A smile spread across Monika's face again. "Today... well, the fact that you all did this for today, for me, it means more than I can express with words!! I love this club, and all of you, and I'm not going to just quit after six years."

MC frowned in confusion. He had no idea why Monika's sense of time was so weird today. "...Um, do you mean six months?"

"That's what I said, ahaha!!"