~Teto's POV~
"Happy birthday, dear Teto... happy birthday to you."
I groaned and turned over in my bed. "It's my... birthday?" Suddenly my eyes popped open and I shot up. "It's my birthday!"
Momo giggled. "Happy birthday, Teto-chan!"
All my friends were there: Momo, Uta, Ruko, Ritsu, Ted, and- "Hey, where's Tei?" Everyone pointed to my roommate's bed, where she was snoring loudly. I laughed and said, "I'm so excited! I've never had a birthday before, what's it like?"
"Well, there's usually cake, and presents, and a party!" Ruko exclaimed. "We're all pitching in to help set it up, even Ritsu! Right, Ritsu?"
"It's like you're asking for me to punch you right now."
"A party?" I gasped. "For me?"
Ted nodded. "We'll be setting it up today while you're at work."
"Because we're so lucky to have gotten you!" Momo squished me in a hug.
"Hey, I know!" Uta exclaimed. "You should invite all the Vocaloids from work, how fun would that be? Imagine having Hatsune Miku at your birthday party!"
That was one thing I particularly did not want to do, but I would definitely invite my friends.
Ruko lit up. "And I could meet Luka!"
"Is Len coming too?" We all turned to Tei, who must've woken up not five minutes ago.
I grinned. "Well, I can ask!" Everyone burst out into cheers and then the bell for breakfast rang.
Out in the hallway were Koe and Defosuke. "Teto! Happy birthday! We would've joined everyone else in waking you up, but Defoko said we would embarrass her!"
"And yet you're still embarrassing me anyway," she said as she walked by. "And my name isn't Defoko!"
Koe giggled. "Yes it is! You're famous now!"
In the dining room, Momotaro revealed a fancy breakfast that included a baguette! I felt so special. My family was doing this all for me, after all! And the mood was the brightest it had ever been, everyone was talking and laughing and it was just so heartwarmingly cozy.
I didn't even want to go to work. I just wanted to stay at the cottage with everyone, but I knew that wasn't an option. Besides, I wanted to invite everyone to the party. Luka and Rin and Len and Haku and Neru and Sakine and Meiko and Kaito and... even Miku, I guess.
When I arrived, the twins and Sakine were waiting for me at the door. "Teto! Teto! It's your birthday, right?"
"Yep!" I grinned. Then I went to the center of the room and said, "Hey, everyone? I'm having a birthday party later today, and you're all invited!"
An excited chatter went around and Meiko said, "Oh, but we won't have enough time after work to buy gifts!"
"That's okay," I responded. "The only thing I want is for you all to come. I have some friends who I know would like to meet you."
"We'll be there!" Len exclaimed.
"Count me in," Luka added.
Miku walked towards me with a smirk. "I would love to." She then made a 180 turn and stalked towards her dressing room. "Haku, Neru! Come with me!"
Was Miku plotting something? Probably.
Should I be worried? Probably.
Was I worried? Well... no, not really. I was in such a good mood, nothing could've brought me down. She couldn't try anything with so many people around anyways.
I opened the door to the cottage, the Vocaloids trailing behind me. "Yay! They're here!" Momo squealed.
The Vocaloids looked like they had just stepped into another country, and it reminded me of the first time I arrived. It was honestly pretty amusing.
However, unlike how I had been, the Vocaloids were used to large crowds of people. Ruko finally got her chance to meet Luka, Rin and Sakine were attempting to make Ritsu laugh, and Tei had slithered up to Len, she was probably thrilled about his breakup with Miku. Ted approached Meiko nervously, and Kaito stood awfully close to her in response, then Koe trotted up to him and started talking about frogs or something. It was nice to see everyone getting along so well.
Oh, and how could I forget? Uta and Momo were talking to, you guessed it, Miku, Haku and Neru. Well, it was more like Miku was talking and Haku and Neru stood behind her awkwardly.
I wondered what was up with them. They usually hung out with Luka until Miku had approached them. I guess that they were still starstruck, even after all that had happened. On top of that, they were the only people Miku had left to target. I decided to make a move. "Hey guys, Momotaro has prepared some snacks in the kitchen, if you-"
"They're fine," Miku interrupted and went back to my friends. Haku and Neru sighed. They looked miserable and I wanted to speak up, but I knew what it was like to get on Miku's bad side, and I didn't want that for me or for them.
A while later, once everyone was seated for cake, I stood on my chair. "I want to thank you all for celebrating with me today. You really have no idea how much it means to me. I remember last year when they said I was just a fake, it felt horrible and I thought I would never be more than that, but..." I wiped a tear from my face. "Seeing you all here and knowing that you care, it's... it's more than I ever dreamed of. So really, thank you." Momo stood up and started clapping, and soon the entire room had joined her. It was the best feeling in the world.
And then Momotaro brought out the cake. Three layers of red velvet. Everyone "oohed" and then they started singing. It was all more than I could've ever asked for and I loved it so much I actually started tearing up. "Make a wish," he said, and I closed my eyes as I blew the candle out. I wish this next year will be even better than my first.
~Miku's POV~
And that was my cue.
I stood up. "Neru, Haku." They followed behind me. I had gotten them to help me with my plan to give Teto a birthday she would never forget. Although I hadn't told them what I was actually going to do, because they wouldn't have helped me if they had known. All I told them was to guard the door.
"Teto!" I walked over to her. "I'd like to give you your present now, but it's a pretty personal gift, so I'd like to do it in private."
Her face clouded for a second. "Oh, but we haven't eaten cake yet! Maybe after, when I receive everyone else's presents too?"
"It really can't wait... because I want to be first." I put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it a bit. "Since we're such good friends and all."
"Um... okay," she turned to her chef guy. "I'll be right back. Go ahead and pass out the cake."
And so, once again, she followed me to the door. Everyone was so busy talking and eating cake that nobody noticed. I opened it for her. "Birthday girls first." I then turned to Neru and Haku, who had followed us subtly. "Don't let anyone outside."
"I'm really excited to see what you got me! Is it big, is that why we came outside?" She looked around. "I don't see anything-"
I shoved her against the wall. "It is, in fact, quite big. I thought maybe we could do something about this cheap, clanky, ugly voice of yours. You don't like it, do you? I don't know why anybody would. It's so-" I pressed my nails into her neck. "-robotic!"
She tried to pull my hand away, but I was stronger. All her struggling did was dig my nails even deeper into her skin, which made her whimper. "Quit whining, I already told you your voice was ugly. You want to be like me, don't you? Everyone does. But you are so lucky that you have me here to help you out!" I scratched. "I'll give you a new voice, one that doesn't sound anything like your grindy Utau accent."
She struggled against me and I wrapped my hands around her neck completely. "L-let... me... go!"
I scoffed. "You think I forgot about you just because I wanted to pick on some other people for a while?" Her breathing started to get heavier. "Little Miss Teto thinks she's so special because the Vocaloids came to her party, huh? Well guess what? I could have anyone in the world at my parties. I could invite the Queen of England and she would show up!"
She tried to talk, but it didn't go so well. Her eyes were beginning to roll into the back of her head. "Let's face it, Teto. I'm more popular than you, and I always will be!" I strangled her more, my nails drawing blood. She then went limp in my hands. I had knocked her unconscious again.
Or she could've been dead, not that I cared.
"What a weakling," I chuckled. "I wasn't even done talking... ah! I know! I'll just leave you a note."
A pad of paper and a pen were confidently placed on a small table on the patio. I looked over at her neck and admired my handiwork. A couple scratches, maybe some bruises, nothing she couldn't cover up. I uncapped the pen and wrote. Tell anyone what I did and you're dead. I giggled. "That should do it." I went over and shoved the note in her pocket.
I examined her a bit more, and then stood up and got ready to head inside. But then I heard a voice call out, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"