Type: Short Story (No reader insert)
Warnings: Some swears
Written by; @rikkaxira4ever
POV: Third person

"Alright! Is everyone here?" Yuzu asked.

"Yeah.. I think so.."

It was early in the morning and everyone was gathered in the food storage room.

"Damn.. we're back here again.." Anya said, as he remembered the previous time the eight gamers gathered here, during the Mimicry-Man-eater stage.

"Don't go collapsing on us 'kay?" Kaikoku told him.

"Jeez I won't," Anya said, a little annoyed. He pointed to Makino, who was sitting against the wall, passed out. "Although Makino's the one you should be worrying about.."

"We can fill him in later." said Yuzu.

"Wait a minute.. not everyone's here." Himiko said.

"Yeah she's right," Kaikoku looked around the room, "Iride isn't here."

Yuzu stayed strangely calm, which was weird given on how she feels about Iride. "I planned this meeting to be the way. We won't be needing him."

Her voice sounded serious, which put the gamers a little on edge.

"But why?" Karin asked.

"The reason I gathered you all here this early in the morning is to discuss the plans for a very special occasion."

"Which is..?" Zakuro asked.

Yuzu readjusted her glasses. "Today, on this very day, is Akki's birthday.

.

"Wait really?" Anya asked bluntly.

"Wait, why are you surprised?" Karin asked him, "Aren't you two friends?"

Anya merely shrugged, "He probably mentioned it one time, or something."

Zakuro turned to Yuzu. "How come you know about it whilst the rest of us don't?"

"It's quite obvious. I know everything about Akki." Yuzu said with a smile.

Anya looked at her in doubt, "Are you even sure it's today?"

Yuzu grew serious once more. "Positive."

Her mood instantly changed when she began once again, "Anyways, I wanted all of us to throw him a surprise party to celebrate!" She beamed.

Himiko smiled, "That sounds like fun! I'm sure he would like that!"

Zakuro on the other hand looked a little uncomfortable. "S-Sure.." he agreed anxiously.

"Why are you getting all nervous?" Kaikoku asked him.

"Well, I have.. bad experiences with.. birthday p-parties.."

Kaikoku raised a brow. Everyone looked at Zakuro, interested to hear what he was going to say next.

Zakuro took a deep breath, "Well.. it all began on my tenth birthday.."

"And I was, you know, having a great time and everything...until..

..pin the tail on the donkey.."

"Dramatic much.." Anya commented.

Zakuro continued his story, "And you know, it was all fun and games.." He then started to get emotional. "But when it was my turn to go, everyone thought that it would be so funny to trick me into leading me away from the donkey instead of towards it!"

Zakuro looked like he was telling his sob backstory. He dropped his gaze from everyone and continued, "I took off my blindfold and I was outside the house."

He buried his hands in his face and spoke with betrayal. "It was so embarrassing!! They were all laughing at me! While I stood there, in my party hat, looking and feeling so stupid!"

Everyone started to imagine a little Zakuro, amongst all his friends, cowering in a corner as they laughed at him.

A dramatic pause filled the room.

Zakuro brought his fist to his face, in a manly pose. "I never played that game again.."

Everyone looked so utterly taken aback from this whole story. Kaikoku broke the silence.

"Wow.."

"Yeah, I would've laughed too.." Anya said.

-

The digital clock that was hanging on the wall of the food storage room hit 7:00 .

The streamers were all seated on the ground while Yuzu stayed standing, with a clipboard in her hand.

"Alright!" Yuzu began, "We've got two hours till breakfast! Until then, let's all come up with some ideas for Akki's party!"

"Anyone would like to start?"

Himiko raised her hand shyly.

"Alright, Himi?"

"W-Well.. we could.. bake him a cake..?"

"PERFECT!" Yuzu exclaimed. She scribbled it on her clipboard, "Anyone else?"

Zakuro and Anya both shot their hands up.

"Zakkun and Anboy?"

— "Charades!"
— "A water fight!"

The two boys looked at eachother then back at Yuzu.

— "WATER FIGHT!"
— "CHARADES!"

A sweat drop fell from Yuzu's forehead, "U-Um.."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'CHARADES'?! WE SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE A WATER FIGHT!" Anya shouted at Zakuro

"WHY WOULD IRIDE WANT TO BE DRENCHED ON HIS BIRTHDAY?!!" Zakuro argued.

"THAT'S THE POINT! ITS FUN!"

"I personally think that a game of charades is more relaxing! And it can improve our team bonding!" Zakuro pointed out.

"YEAH?! WELL A WATER FIGHT IS MORE INTERESTING AND COMPETITIVE!" Anya denied.

"WHERE'S THE TEAM BONDING IN THAT!?"

"YOU CAN TEAM BOND WHILE FIGHTING TO THE DEATH!"

"WE'RE CELEBRATING THE DAY HE WAS BORN! NOT THE DAY HE's GONNA DIE!"

Zakuro and Anya continued to argue.

Karin sighed, "Here we go.."

"T-Those are both great ideas you two!" Yuzu said, trying to break the argument.

As time went by, everyone continued to share more ideas until the digital clock read "7:30"

Yuzu checked the time and looked back at her fellow gamers. "Okay, I think we got a good amount of suggestions! Now I'll organize you all into groups and assign your jobs."

"Okay! Himi and Maki-Maki! You both are in charge of food!"

Himiko smiled, Although Makino didn't seem to be listening.

"Zakk and Anboy! You're in charge of entertainment!"

The two looked irritated. "Seriously..?" Zakuro said.

"Kai, you'll be in charge of distracting Akki until we're done!"

Kaikoku gave her a thumbs up.

"And finally, Karirin and I will be in charge of decorations!"

"Great.." Karin said, envisioning how that experience will be.

"OKAY EVERYONE! OPERATION "AKKI'S-SURPRISE-PARTY" IS A GO!" Yuzu declared.

"YEAH!!" Everyone cheered.

"PARTY STARTS AT 11:00! YOU ALL CAN GET AN EARLY START TO PREPARE! EVERYONE WILL MEET BACK FOR BREAKFAST IN 1 HOUR!"

At those words, everyone cleared out of the storage room and began getting to work.

Meanwhile, It was 8:15 when Iride woke up that morning. He got up and went to the window and opened it.

A cool, refreshing breeze filled the room. He inhaled its freshness and gazed at the beautiful view.

The sun was shining brightly. Wispy clouds casted over the blue sky. The forest in which Iride first arrived in stood tall and flourished. Iride also saw his friend Pantarou walking through the forest. Probably going on a morning stroll, Iride thought to himself.

Iride freshened up and took out some new clean clothes for him to wear. As he changed, he looked over at Anya's empty bed.

"Hmm.. I wonder where Anya is." He wondered out loud, "He probably woke up earlier then me."

Iride closed the door to his bedroom and walked down the hallway to the common room. Not too far from him stood Kaikoku, hiding in the shadows. Kaikoku took out what seemed to be a mini transceiver and spoke into it.

"Iride is making his move." He reported, "He's making his way into the common room."

The voice of Yuzu spoke from the chip, "Good. We'll be there in a few minutes. Try to buy us some time."

Kaikoku followed Iride into the common room. He entered and saw Iride sitting on the table.

"Morning Kaikoku!" Iride called to him, in his usual cheery voice

"Hey." Kaikoku called back.

Kaikoku made his way to the table and sat in front of him. An awkward silence came before the two.

"Hmm.. where's everyone else?" Iride asked suddenly.

The question caught Kaikoku so off guard that he didn't know how to answer.

"U-Uh.. they're.. they're coming" he managed to say.

"Ah, Okay." Iride smiled.

More silence fell. Kaikoku had to find a way to stir up some conversation so that Iride won't be suspicious.

"So.." Kaikoku began, "you.. uh.. having a good day?"

"Yeah!" Iride replied, "It's a really nice day out. Maybe we can all go outside later today."

"Y-Yeah. That's sounds like a great idea" Kaikoku said.

Just then, Yuzu and the others came in the room. They all gathered around the table took their seats.

Yuzu met eyes with Kaikoku and gave him a nod. Kaikoku understood right away.

"Hey Akki, Hey Kai. What are you all talking about?" Yuzu asked.

"Oh, well I was saying how nice it was outside." Iride answered.

Himiko brought some food out and they all shared it together.

"Oh Anya, I noticed that you weren't in bed" Iride said.

Everyone looked at Anya, hoping that he could find an excuse to tell Iride.

"Uh.. Yeah. I woke up a little earlier. I wanted to go on a.. a run." Anya lied.

"Ahh, that explains it." Iride grinned.

He felt sorta bad for lying to him, but he had no other choice. The others breathed a sigh of relief.

They finished eating and left the table.

"Karirin, Himi and I are going now. We'll see you all later!" Yuzu said and winked to the others.

"Kudou and I are going as well." Zakuro piped in.

"Really?" Iride asked, "You two are on friendly terms with each other?"

Anya and Zakuro froze. How were they going to get away with this one?

"U-Uh.. well.. we're not in an argument as of right now..." Zakuro said awkwardly.

"Oh wow!" Iride said, "I'm glad that you two are becoming friends."

"Y-Yeah.. sure.." Anya said.

As they left, Yuzu gave another look at Kaikoku. He again, understood, and nodded at her.

"Not gonna head out either Kaikoku?" Iride asked.

"Ah, no. I was just ya know.. sticking around." Kaikoku said.

"Ahh. I see." Iride said, "Well, if you want, we could hang out together!"

"Sure thing." Kaikoku agreed.

All according to plan, Kaikoku thought.

Kaikoku tried to keep Iride busy for as long as he could, although, there were definitely a lot of close calls. He kept trying to find ways to lessen his suspicion, but he felt like Iride was seeing right through him.

"How are things on your end, Roro?" Kaikoku whispered into his transceiver.

"I SAID WE WERE DOING A WATER FIGHT!" came Anya's voice.

"CHARADES!" Zakuro argued back.

"P-Please everyone! Stop fighting!!" Himiko's voice said, followed by a faint clink.

"H-HIMIKO!!" Karin's voice came after.

Suddenly a large BOOM came from the chip, which almost broke Kaikoku's eardrums.

Yuzu sighed, "It's going well."

"Sure sounds like it." Kaikoku teased.

"Anyways, we're almost finished. Time check?"

"It's 10:45."

"Kaikoku?" Iride called to him.

"Yeah?!" Kaikoku called back to him. He brought his chip to his mouth. "Gotta go, meet you in the common room."

Iride approached him while Kaikoku stuffed his transceiver into his yukata pocket.

"Sorry to bother you." said Iride, "I was just looking for everyone but I couldn't find them."

"Ah, I'm sure they'll turn up." Kaikoku reassured him, "Come to think of it, Roro actually told us to meet her in the common room."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she said it was important."

"Well, I guess we shouldn't keep her waiting then!"

The two headed toward's the common room area. They met Paca along the way.

"Ah, this is quite an unusual pair." He said, "Mr. Iride and Mr. Onigasaki.."

"Hey Paca!" Iride greeted.

"Actually, that reminds me. I was looking for you Mr. Iride." said Paca, "Do you have a minute?"

Kaikoku glares at him suspiciously, although Iride agreed.

"Sure thing." He answered.

Paca noticed Kaikoku glaring at him, "My Mr. Onigasaki, you're looking as though I'll do something horrible to him!"

"I wouldn't be surprised.." Kaikoku replied dryly.

"I'll be back in a minute, Kaikoku." Iride told him.

Iride followed Paca into a room. Paca closed the door and the two faced one another.

"How long do you intend to keep this up?" Paca asked him.

"Not very long," Iride answered, "Kaikoku is taking me to see them now."

"I see, Are you aware of the situation?"

Iride didn't reply, he just smiled.

"Well then, would you still like me to continue as is?"

"Just go along with it," Iride told him, "I'd like to see how this turns out."

"Very well."

"Thanks again for this Paca."

"Anything for you Mr. Iride."

Paca and Iride joined Kaikoku back in the hallway.

"See? He's still in once piece." Paca told Kaikoku. Kaikoku merely glared harder than before.

Kaikoku and Iride made their way to the common room once again. Once they reached it, Iride turned the handle of the door to reveal the room covered in colourful balloons and streamers.

Iride looks so confused, "What is-

Suddenly, a burst of confetti exploded in his face. He then saw his other fellow gamers gathering around him.

"Happy Birthday!!" They all said together.

Iride did not expect anything like this at all. He turned his shocked expression into a warm smile, "You Guys.."

"Sorry about all the mystery," Yuzu said, "We just wanted it to be a surprise!"

"And you did just that!" Iride grinned.

"D-Don't just stand there.." Karin said, "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Iride said, "Well, it's more than I could ask for! Gee, thanks everybody!"

The gamers all beamed at him.

"But," Iride started, "See, well.. my birthday was actually last week"

The smiles all disappeared from the others' faces.

"What?" They all asked in unison

Iride scratched the back of his head, "Y-Yeah, I didn't think that you guys knew haha.. Oh well!"

Anya smacked his forehead. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS-"

"No.. no this-this can't be right..." he was interrupted by muttering that was coming from Yuzu. Everyone turned to her.

"No no no, this-this can't be.. I-I-I know
e-everything-everything about Akki... how.. how could there be such a mistake!? I checked my calendar at least 42 times this morning.. I even prepared his birthday presents for the next 20 years-

"U-Uh.. Yuzu?" Karin said, "y-you okay?"

Yuzu continued muttering, she slowly inched her hands to mouth and began to chew on her nails, which she mentioned was a nervous habit of hers. "I have never.. ever gotten something wrong before about Akki... I was so beyond sure about his birthday being today.. I even swore to myself that if it wasn't I would never be 2 feet near him for the rest of my entire life-

"Y-Yuzu!?" Himiko asked, worriedly.

Anya brought his hands up,"Whoa whoa, hold on! When did that even happen!?"

Yuzu wore a wild expression and brought her hands to her head, shaking. "And it's not like Akki wouldn't even know his own birthday which means that the only logical solution one can muster is that...

She fell to her knees.

I made the mistake...."

Everyone looked at her, horrified. Silence fell between everyone. Paca was even standing at the foot of the door, watching what was happening.

Suddenly, the silence broke. Everyone turned to Iride, who started laughing.

"WHA- HEY!" Anya shouted, "THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

"YOU'RE LAUGHING AT A TIME LIKE THIS!!" Karin also shouted.

Iride wipes the tears from his eyes, "April Fools!"

Everyone looked at him in confusion once more.

Yuzu looked up at him, "April..."

"FOOLS!?!?" The others finished.

"Ahah! Yeah! That's right!" Iride said in his cheerful tone.

"JEEZ! YOU MORON!!" Karin grumbled, "THIS WAS ALL A STUPID PRANK!!"

"Ah thank goodness, it was all a joke!" Himiko said, relieved.

Anya grabbed the collar of Iride's shirt, "IDIOT! YOU HAD US WORRIED!! DON'T EVER DO THAT EVER AGAIN!!!"

"Don't worry! I won't! I won't!" Iride told him.

Anya let him go and Iride went up to Yuzu and held his hand out to her.

"I'm sorry Yuzu, I didn't mean to make you feel like that." Iride apologized.

Yuzu looked at his sincere blue eyes. She smiled and took his hand.

"You really did get me huh?" She said.

He hoisted her up and she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. She stepped back from him but immediately jumped back towards him and playfully started hitting him."JEEEEZ AKKI!! I'LL GET YOU BACK FOR THAT ~NYAAA!" she told him, frustrated but playfully. Iride smiled

"Ah! That reminds me! Thanks Makino, for going along with it all!" Iride said.

"WAIT, AIKAWA KNEW!?!" Karin screamed.

"SERIOUSLY!?!!" Anya looked at Makino, "MAKINO WAS IN ON IT!?!

"Akatsuki asked me to help him keep it a secret..." Makino explained.

"Aikawa.." Zakuro said, somewhat moved by his words.

"Well at least we got the date right in the end." Kaikoku said, "But still, mark our words Akatsuki Iride. We'll get you back for that!"

"Definitely!" Karin agreed.

"Damn right.." Anya said, glaring at Iride, looking to kill.

"Aw come on Anya, I said I was sorry!!"

Paca walked towards them, "Well I'm glad that everything worked out well in the end."

Zakuro grabbed for his dagger, "Lemme guess, you knew too?"

"Should've known," Kaikoku reached for his weapon as well, "The way you suddenly pulled Iride to the side like that.."

"No need to result to violence." Paca said, gesturing to the two boys to put the weapons away, "That won't make me answer faster."

"Well, now that that's all cleared up." Yuzu said, she turned to Iride and smiled at him, "I believe we have someone to celebrate for."

She held out her hand to him and Iride grabbed a hold of it.

"Yeah." He said.

"Now we can say it." said Karin, "For real this time?"

"No jokes. I promise."

Everyone looked at one another and nodded. They gathered around Iride for a group hug.

"Happy Birthday, Akatsuki Iride!"

Iride beamed and blinked back a few tears. He wrapped his hands around his precious friends.

"Thank you, everyone."

I hope you all enjoyed this little birthday special for Iride 😄 I thought that it would be fun to do a short story chapter for Iride's birthday. (It actually turned out a lot longer than I intended 😅) Lemme know what you all think of it!