It was midnight, and Riko was sound asleep in her bed. In her dreams, she was playing piano on a gigantic stage, her friends in Aqours all performing in front of her and cheering her on. The cheering of the crowd was so loud, and she could hear her friends names being called out by different people. She even heard her name a couple of times. She was so happy to be on stage, performing with her friends.
Chika was about to say something when, suddenly, Riko was startled awake.
"Mmn?" Riko groaned, rubbing her eyes and slowly sitting up. She heard a loud pounding on her bedroom window, and was at first scared of the noise, until she saw Chika's face outside.
"Chika!?" Riko questioned, rolling herself out of bed and opening the window.
"You finally came!!!" Chika exclaimed, finally free to stop pounding on her friends window, and embraced her in a hug.
Riko was caught off guard by the sudden embrace, but laughed it off. This kind of display was very... Chika.
"Why were you pounding on my window? It's past midnight!"
Chika released Riko from the hug, and looked at her with a smile on her face. "Well, I tried texting you, but I didn't get an answer, so..."
"I turn my phone off at night..." Riko replied. "What could be so important?"
Chika's eyes started to sparkle while she smiled with her teeth. She reached for something behind her back, and placed it on Riko's head.
"Eh!? What is this!?"
Riko was so startled by the object on her head that she didn't even have time to register footsteps coming from outside.
"It's a birthday hat, silly." Chika replied, her smile still firmly in place.
"Chika, I thought we were celebrating tomorrow?" Riko questioned, feeling the sharp point of the hat on her hand. She rubbed her eyes as if to indicate she was very tired.
Chika giggled. "Well yeah, but it's your birthday now! And I want to celebrate with you now!" She poked Riko's stomach. "Do you not want to see me?"
Riko could sense Chika's pouting. "It's not that I don't want to see you, but it's late..."
Before Chika could reply, Riko saw a figure appear behind Chika. It was dark, so she couldn't tell who it was.
"Chika, look out behind you!" Riko shouted.
Chika tilted her head. "Huh?"
She obviously wasn't listening, so Riko grabbed Chika and moved her inside her room as quickly as possible before slamming her window shut before the figure could get inside.
When she did that, all she could hear were muffled "ow's" and "ouch's" that eventually turned into sobbing. When Riko went to look outside she saw You, her fingers in her mouth. She was pouting.
Riko opened her window again.
"You? Are you okay?"
You took her fingers out of her mouth. "So mean, Riko... you shut the window on my fingers!"
Riko laughed nervously, as she heard Chika laughing from inside.
"It's not funny, Chika!" You shouted, which only made Chika giggle more.
Riko gestured for You to follow her inside. All three of them were sitting on Riko's bed now.
"Alright! Now that we're all here it's time!" Chika exclaimed, grabbing both Riko and You's hands.
As if on queue, both Chika and You shouted, "Happy birthday Riko!"
Riko was stunned, scrambling to finds the words to say to her friends. To think that the two of them had planned this out. She wondered how long they had this set in motion, but her thoughts were interrupted when You pulled out some party blowers. She gave each of the girls one.
"Let's all blow at the same time!" Chika suggested. "Ready? One, two..."
"Three!" You shouted, as all three of them blew on the party blowers at once.
"That was fun!" Riko said, grinning at the two of them. "I can't believe you both came here so late just to wish me a happy birthday."
"We love you, Riko, why wouldn't we?" You asked, her signature smile lighting her up her face.
Riko blushed. "I-I love you guys, too..." She paused. "You know-- I know this out of nowhere, but... I really am thankful for Aqours. I don't think I would have ever become with this close with either of you without it."
Chika and You blushed simultaneously, each smiling at Riko.
"Aqours really is amazing." You replied, smiling shyly at both Chika and Riko.
"I'm so glad you two are in my life." Chika continued, in sentiment. "I don't know where I'd be without the both of you."
The three all smiled, and held each other in a long, close hug. After a few moments had passed, Riko began to yawn, which passed to both Chika and You as well.
"Sleepy..." Chika trailed off, resting her head on Riko's shoulder.
"Why don't you two stay here tonight? My bed is probably big enough for all of us if we stay close together."
Chika and You beamed, following suit when Riko laid down on her bed after turning out the lights. The three stayed huddled very closely together, eventually drifting off to sleep.