The Plan (Nisekoi Fanfiction)

Part Twelve - Blood Ringing in Her Ears

For her tenth birthday, her parents had allowed her to have a birthday party. She invited all of her friends and double-checked all of her plans to make sure that everything would go fantastic. When her birthday came, everyone who was invited made it and everything was going well. Pizza arrived on time, the cake was a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream filling, and the girl was able to blow out all of her candles when she made a wish.

It was the perfect party. She knew that her birthday would be the talk of the class when the weekend was over. She had even made some new friends after showing them how nicely her Tamagotchi family was growing.

And there was still the best part left. Opening the presents. Everyone sat at the table, looking expectantly at the birthday girl's present stack, which was so large that it completely covered the girl from view. She looked at her presents with star-struck eyes and hugged her parents. Of course, each person would be thanked individually once their present came around. After taking pictures and making small talk, the grand event was about to start.

"Look at how excited she looks," said the mother to one of the parents. "Thank you so much for buying her a present. But you didn't have to buy something so extravagant..."

"Oh, it was no problem at all! She's a growing girl. It's important that she has a good childhood, don't you think?"

"Yes...I suppose so. Thank you again."

The mumblings of the adults only fed the girl's excitement. She grabbed her first present, the largest in the stack, and looked at the tag. It was from her neighbors, the Yamadas.

"Oho, happy birthday _! I hope you enjoy what we got you. The wife spent a whole day trying to decide."

"D-Don't tell them that!"

The adults all started laughing. The girl's friends gathered around so that they could see what the present was.

"What is it?"

"It's got to be a N64. Look at how big it is!"

"I bet it's Pokemon, the board game! Oh my god, that would be so cool."

"Hurry up, unwrap it!"

The girl carefully unfolded the wrapping paper. Although she was eager to see what the present was, she also knew that she had to be polite and respectful. After all, she was ten years old now! She was no longer an immature, bratty girl. She was already on her way to becoming a fine, mature woman!

The final bits of the wrapping paper came away. There was a large white box in front of her. With trembling fingers, the girl took the lid off the box, allowing her friends to see the beautiful treasure within-

"Oh wow! It's a...a..."

An enormous tapestry with black daubs that vaguely looked like mountains.

"An ink wash painting! That's a genuine one, you know! We had it painted by a famous artist."

"Oh, you shouldn't have...really! This is too much..." said the mother, uttering a little "wow" as she held the painting up. "Don't you think this will look great on your wall, _?"

"...Yeah," said the girl, struggling to keep her tone upbeat. "I...It's great. Thank you very much, Yamada-san."

The adults oohed and ahhed at the ink wash painting. The male Yamada was giving a summary of the artist's portfolio, eliciting cries of wonder and awe.

The girl and her friends looked at the son of the Yamadas.

"It's great, isn't it?" said the son. They all gave him crooked smiles.