Kido was awakened by the sound of several voices coming from the living room. She opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly, glancing at her clock. 8:48 a.m. No, she hadn't slept in. It was actually a bit early. So why was she hearing the voices of Momo and Shintaro bickering in the apartment? She didn't know they were coming over. A loud thump followed a scream that sounded like Hibiya's, and someone shouted Konoha's name. Was it Ene? Was everyone here?

Kido rubbed her head and sat up, trying to remember if they were expecting their company today. She slipped off the covers and stood up, pulling her fingers through her hair in an attempt to yank the knots out. She yawned and stretched slightly, wiping the grogginess away from her eyes with one hand. Her eyes fell upon the calendar, and she instantly understood what was going on.

It was January 2nd. Kido sighed and realized they must all be there to wish her a happy birthday. As much as she would have preferred to continue cleaning the apartment from the crazy and destructive New Years party they had the other night, she decided she would go ahead and let them humor her with a little more celebrating.

After quickly getting dressed and another attempt at taming her hair, she stepped out of her room and entered the living room where the others were.

Everyone was there. As usual, she walked into a rather chaotic scene. One of the black sofas had been knocked backwards, and both Hibiya and Shintaro were at the back end of it, writhing in pain on the ground. Konoha was standing in front of it, quietly apologizing to them. Momo had a helpless expression on her face as she stood by Mary, who seemed a bit shocked and was asking if the two who had fallen over with the sofa were alright. Kano was, of course, curled up into a ball on the other remaining sofa, holding his gut and laughing maniacally. Kido didn't bother to ask what had happened. She had a feeling she already knew.

Seto appeared from the kitchen, seeming unfazed by it all, and saying calmly, "Good morning, Danchou! I went ahead and made breakfast this morning, so you don't have to worry about that!"

Kido sighed and walked through the wreckage. "You didn't have to do that, Seto. You know I don't mind making breakfast, no matter the occasion."

"No matter the occasion?" Seto repeated, smiling with a bit of a confused look on his face. After a bit of a pause, he added. "Well, I just finished, so you can help me set up the table, if you'd like." Kido nodded and followed him to the table, but before she could lift a finger, Momo and Mary rushed in together, insisting on setting it themselves. Kido looked at them strangely, but stepped back and watched as they hustled about.

She wondered why no one had said anything about it being her birthday. They were doing all of this because they knew… right? Kido pondered that thought as the others came to the table and squished around it as food was passed around.

They were all finished rather quickly, as Seto hardly managed to make enough food for all nine of them, let alone Konoha and his endless abyss of a stomach. Shintaro and Seto volunteered to clean all the dishes up, but Kido stood up and helped anyway. Well, as much as they would let her. It was sort of getting on her nerves that they kept insisting on doing everything, but not mentioning their reason. Did they think she didn't know? Did they think she wouldn't remember her own birthday, and they could surprise her by doing everything for her?

But, it did come as a surprise to her when Kano got up and suggested he and Kido go out for groceries. "Well, looks like we're going to have to go out for more food, since you all just ate through our entire winter supply!" he joked, looking at Kido with the same stupid grin as always. The rest of the group was instantly agreeing with him, making it sound urgent.

"That settles it! Kido and I are going out! We'll be back soon~" Kano called out triumphantly as he took a hold of Kido's arm and just about dragged her to the door before she could protest. After they stepped out of the apartment and shut the door behind them, Kido ripped her arm from Kano's grasp and glared at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she spat at him furiously.

Kano held his hands over his heart, as if shot through it by Kido's vicious stare. "Why, Danchou! Do you not want to go out and buy some more food for your precious Mekakushi Dan? Is there a part of your heart that isn't completely covered in ice?" Kido scoffed and walked past him, ignoring his question as she strutted towards the exit of the complex. Kano grinned and skipped after her.

The walk to the market was silent between the two of them, except for a few strange times when Kano would suddenly stop and force Kido to look at something. It would be something utterly useless and boring, like a tree, or a splotch of graffiti on an old brick wall. He would hold her there and stare at it for as long as she would let him before a quick jab to the ribs would keep them moving along.

She wondered if he was up to something. Or just being his random, ADD little self. No, this was definitely weird. She eventually just ignored him, and listened to her music as they went through the market. After nearly filling a basket with assorted foods to refill their stock, she approached the cashier line and looked at Kano expectantly, holding out her hand.

Kano stared at her in confusion. Kido sighed and face-palmed before looking at him in frustration. "Your wallet. You dragged me out of the apartment before I could grab mine, so we're using your money this time." Kano stared between her hand and her face, a nervous expression growing rapidly on his face as he shoved his hands in his pockets and rummaged around. He patted himself down before grinning.

"Oops!"

Kido's hand dropped. "You forgot it, didn't you?"

Kano hesitated before nodding, slowly backing away with his hands up. "Sorry… I suppose I got so excited about going shopping with Danchou that I forgot mine as well!"

Kido's hands clenched into fists as she gave him her most furious glare she could give. Her shoulders shook from anger, while Kano's began to shake in fear. However, thinking that killing him here would cause too much of a scene, Kido turned to the cashier and politely asked if she could set their food aside until they returned with the money. The cashier, also intimidated by the wolf-like glare in Kido's eyes, stuttered as she agreed to put their basket aside for them. Kido thanked her as she dragged Kano out of the store by his ear, muttering curse words at him.

When they reached the front of the store, Kano pulled himself out of her grasp and bowed apologetically, rubbing his now-swollen ear. "Hey, hey, it was just a simple mistake now! I'll run home and grab it really quick, while you stay here! How does that sound?"

"I don't care what you do! Just go get the wallet!" Kido screamed at him, huffing as he immediately began to jog back in the direction of their complex. She felt like banging her head on a rock when she saw him stop and lean down to pet a passing puppy.

She let out a groan and stomped over to a bench, sitting on it and slouching as she watched the people pass by. She took a deep breath and activated her Eye Ability, so she wouldn't be stared at as she waited. She looked down at her shoes and wondered. She wondered about the strange behavior of the Mekakushi Dan back at the hideout earlier, and even more so about the especially strange behavior Kano had on the way to the market. She wondered if they really did know it was her birthday, or if they were just having one of those strange days…

Nearly half an hour passed before Kido could see Kano heading in her direction, strolling leisurely and carrying two objects in his hands. She deactivated her ability, and Kano spotted her instantly. As he approached her, she saw that he was holding two cups of hot cocoa.

"Kano, what the hell are you doing with the hot cocoa?"

"Well, I was planning on drinking it. It's such a cold day, and I had to walk all the way back to the apartment—"

"That should have taken you fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, but I had to stop to get these!" Kano said happily, holding both cups out to her. "You can have one. But I took a sip from both, just so you know." Kido scoffed in disgust and stood up, walking past him and back towards the store. "H-Hey, wait! It's hot! Kidooo…" Kano whined as he stared helplessly at his burning fingers and followed Kido.

Kido returned to the cashier and paid for the food, waiting for it all to be put in to bags and thanking the cashier before leaving the market. She paused and got out her phone to check the time. "Man, you took so long. I'm sure they're all wondering where we are by now…"

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about them. They're fine! When I went home, they were all playing some board games, and seemed pretty occupied, so don't worry!" Kano explained cheerfully as he stepped up beside her. "You know, on my way back earlier, I saw this cute little puppy outside of a—"

"I saw you."

"Yeah, but he was from a—"

"I don't care, Kano."

"But we should at least go check out the—"

"Kano, enough!" Kido raised her voice, causing some surrounding passersby to look at her in surprise. Embarrassed, Kido shoved her phone in her pocket and gripped the shopping bags, lowering her head and quickly walking forward. Kano watched her for a few moments before smiling at the strangers and trotting up to her side again.

They walked together in silence again, until Kano suddenly gasped and pulled the both of them to a stop again. Kido wasted no time in snapping at him. "What now?!" She attempted to keep walking, but Kano stepped in front of her, blocking her path and grabbing her arms. He jerked her to the side, facing her towards a small shop with a large cartoon dog and cat on the window. "A pet store? Kano, we don't have time to— Hey!"

Kido struggled as Kano began pushing her towards the door, suddenly silent again, but smiling as he maintained a tight grip on her arms. He reached past her and opened the door, grunting slightly as he pushed the both of them into the door. Kido cussed at him, but went silent as she heard a small "Mew~" come from the ground beside her. She glanced down at a small plastic enclosure, where a bunch of small kittens wandered around, mewing and playing with each other clumsily.

Kido's eyes widened a bit as she instantly ceased to struggle. Kano's grin widened as she turned towards the kittens and kneeled down, nearly dropping her grocery bags. Her cheeks showed signs of blush that wasn't caused by the bitter cold outside as she stared as the small clumps of fur, caught in a trance. Kano leaned over and took the bags from her hands, standing up and walking past her. "And when you're done there, there are some more cute ones over here~"

In the back of Kido's mind, there were questions as to what Kano meant by bringing her somewhere he knew she couldn't help but stay. But they were drowned out by thoughts consisting of "OH MY- DO YOU SEE HOW ADORABLE THEY ARE?! LOOK AT THEM!"

Much to Kido's dismay, the two of them ended up staying for over an hour, looking at animals and cute products made for pets. Eventually, Kido had had enough, and pulled Kano out of the store. Once she was out back into the frozen air, she was back to her stubborn, responsible self, and insisted they continue their way home immediately.

However, almost every ten steps, Kano had something to show her, or something he remembered he had to do in some obscure store across the way. As much as Kido tried to resist, she somehow ended up getting sucked into everything Kano did and said. She blamed it on the fact that she was actually worried that when they got back to the apartment, it would be completely destroyed by the other members of the gang, and convinced herself that she was purposefully trying to avoid getting home. Although it seemed as if Kano was already doing that for her…

They ended up not reaching the apartment again until well after noon, and they were both cold and exhausted. Kano rushed ahead of Kido and stepped in front of the door, knocking slightly before turning the doorknob and pulling the door open a few inches. He tilted his head to look inside quickly, then instantly pulled away and shut the door again, turning to press his back against the door. He grinned at the approaching Kido mischievously. "Hey, hey~ Why don't we wait out here for a few minutes?" he cooed softly.

"Kano, what's going on?" Kido asked in a monotone voice. An eyebrow raised as she stepped towards him. "Move."

Kano shook his head. "But it's so nice out here, and I'm sure it's much colder in the apartment…"

Kido was sick of this. She wanted to go inside and sit down. She reached out, grabbed his shoulder and violently pried him away from the door. She ignored his cry as he slammed into the other wall and reached down for the door knob. She attempted to push the door open, but something was blocking it, or pushing against her. But she was notably stronger than whatever was trying to stop her from entering, and one good push sent the figure tumbling forward.

Another chaotic scene. Shintaro lay sprawled out on the floor in front of the door, his face rubbed into the carpet. Konoha was half-way on top of a table that had large amounts of junk food, trying to get his hands on a bowl of sweets. Hibiya was mounted on his back, trying to pull him away, but to no avail. The iPhone Ene was currently inhabiting was lying in a mostly-spilled bowl of chips, pressing her hands and face against the screen in an attempt to see everything. Momo was on top of a creaky step-ladder, trying to tape a streamer to the ceiling, although there were more colored papers scattered around on the floor then there were on the ceiling, barely clinging on in a messy fashion. The room smelled of smoke, and a fog-like screen filled the air. Its source was the kitchen, where Seto's voice could be heard telling Mary to get "more water".

However, everyone stopped what they were doing, and looked at Kido as she simply stared around the room, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wide.

"What… is going… on…?"

Kano quietly stepped up behind her, looking into the room worriedly. The other members glanced at each other nervously as well as they tried to come up with something. Finally, Seto stepped out from the kitchen, covered in numerous different cooking supplies, and smelling of thick smoke. He opened his mouth and said, "We… We were going to throw you a birthday party, Kido…" He looked down apologetically as the others glanced at him in surprise, wondering if he should have told her. But, after a quick look at themselves, they realized there was nothing else to do. They all looked down, ashamed.

Momo stepped down from the ladder, joining in on the explanation. "We wanted Kano to take you out for a while, so we could set things up. But… things went wrong, and we couldn't fix it in time. We're… really sorry, Danchou." Everyone nodded in agreement. The silence that followed was thick.

Suddenly, a strange snort came from Kido. The grocery bags dropped to the floor as Kido raised her arms, covering her mouth, which had cracked into a wide grin. She took a few steps backwards, muffled laughing escaping through the spaces in between her fingers. As she began to laugh harder, she lowered one hand to hold her stomach. After a few seconds, Kano suddenly began to laugh as well, pointing at everyone in the room. The others stared at each other strangely before grins began to grow on their faces as well, and chuckles filled the room. Before long, everyone was laughing wildly and wiping tears from their eyes in relief.

Kido, still smiling and holding her sides, walked to the center of the room and looked around at the chaos. But strangely, she wasn't angry. She was more relieved. She had nearly forgotten it was her birthday throughout the course of the day's events, and she had thought that perhaps her friends had forgotten as well.

Maybe she felt so good because she realized just how acknowledged she was. She had friends who would go through all this trouble to do this for her, and kept trying to make it a success, even though it seemed as if all was lost.

This was most definitely the best birthday she had had in a long time.

A/N:

Happy Birthday, Kido~ I had been contemplating whether or not to write something for her birthday, since "Our Record" had been causing me enough trouble as it is, but I couldn't resist…

Okay, so I was going to make the POV switch between what Kido was doing and what the MD members were doing, but this was so long as it was, and I'm pretty sure it's just funnier to have to imagine what the heck happened while Kano was trying to stall Kido.