Title: Happy Birthday, DekaBlue

Author: EllipsesBandit...

Disclaimer: I most certainly am not responsible for creating Dekaranger.

Pairings: Ban/Hoji

Rating: K+ for light shounen-ai fun

Summary: Ban plots. Jasmine helps. Hoji represses. And my apologies to Tetsu:

A/N: Well, I finally cracked and wrote a sentai fic. Can't help it. Ban and Hoji are too cute to resist, and I love Dekaranger very very very very much, and I'm okay admitting that. This fic was written as a birthday gift for whisper132. Enjoy and review if you have a sec. It makes me feel less mortified about ficcing sentai.

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In this sort of situation, Ban knew the best person to turn to was Jasmine. For one, she was very smart and a girl, which he believed leant her an edge in this case. For two, she'd known Hoji longer than anyone else here, and he probably told her things he hadn't told Ban yet. Also, she was an ESPer.

However, Ban had assumed Jasmine would want to help her friend and teammate. Instead, she seemed to be more focused on drinking her tea and reading one of Sen-chan's manga.

"Mou, Jasmine! You have to help me!"

"No, I don't," the yellow deka replied, taking another sip. "First of all, I don't know; he didn't tell me."

"Yeah, but can't you just accidentally read his mind? I can distract him, and you--"

"Not only is that unethical, it's also breaking about six SPD rules," she warned with a raised eyebrow. After another moment of thought, she added, "Also it's not smart policy to upset snipers. He probably wouldn't kill me, but I think I'd experience a lot more friendly fire than I do now."

Ban flung himself onto the table, pouting, "But you're my only hope! His birthday is in three days and he won't tell me what he wants but he never gets to have real birthday parties since he always works through them and I want to get him something he really, really wants!"

"How did you find out when his birthday was, anyway. He never celebrates it."

"Swan-san mentioned it," Ban shrugged. Swan-san was nice like that. She also enjoyed watching Hoji be uncomfortable, and Ban was an expert at that.

Jasmine nodded, returning to her manga.

"Jasmine!"

The yellow deka sighed, shutting her eyes and setting down the book. "Ban, even if I did tell you, Hoji would be very upset with me. There are some things he's really embarrassed about, things he might not be ready to tell you yet. I'm sure he'll share with you on his own time."

"Aibo doesn't believe in sharing! If I want to know anything, I have to find it out on my own! And I thought you said he didn't tell you anything!"

Jasmine shifted in her seat. "I may have picked up a few things here and there, but it would be completely immoral of me to tell you."

Ban dropped to his hands and knees, forehead against the tile floor. "Please, Jasmine-sama!"

He waited. He didn't hear the sound of pages turning, so she was probably considering. After a few moments, she sighed, "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't make a big deal out of this."

Ban jumped up, nodding vigorously. Jasmine beckoned him forward, whispering in his ear as his eyes grew wider and wider.

Oh this was going to be a lot of fun.

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"Who told you it was my birthday?" Hoji snapped when Ban surprised him in the meeting room that morning with a kazoo, a handful of confetti, and a box decorated in Doraemon paper. He had about fifty alienizer records that he needed to update, and today was the first day in several weeks there had been no planet-threatening emergency to deal with. He would not be distracted, even if Ban started pouting.

Which the red deka immediately did, "We're aibo! I have to know these things. Besides, I found you the perfect present!" Ban's lower lip trembled and his eyes doubled in size.

Hoji picked confetti out of his hair, grumbling, "Don't call me that. And this better not take long."

The pout vanished into one of Ban's more common, unabashed grins. Hoji had to shake his head to keep from laughing at it. He supposed ten minutes of humoring his teammate wouldn't change his workload much. He sat at the table, neatly removing the paper from the large, white box while Ban leaned over his shoulder.

Lid removed, Hoji blinked in confusion at the package's contents. He picked up the object inside by thin spaghetti straps, staring at it as if trying to turn it into something that wasn't a royal blue woman's teddy. At the very least, he could make the lace trim disappear. When that didn't work, he shut his eyes and reminded himself that battles were never won by losing one's temper. "Ban," he began calmly.

But Ban interrupted him, "You don't have to be embarrassed, aibo," Ban said, giving Hoji's shoulders a tight hug. "I think it's cute."

Hoji took a deep breath, starting again, "Ban, what exactly made you think I would want this?"

"Jasmine told me."

Hoji coughed, still too frozen to put the lingerie down. That didn't even make sense. Ban was impulsive and straightforward, sure, but he was smarter than that. "And you believed her?"

Ban laughed, pecking Hoji quickly on the cheek. "Of course not, but I thought it was a great idea!"

Hoji nodded, methodically refolding the abomination and setting it neatly in the box. Ban wasn't an idiot and did know when he was being given a running start. He'd torn off down the hallway before the lid was completely replaced, Hoji knocking over his chair in a cloud of enraged threats as he chased after him.

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Ten minutes later, Tetsu walked in the room and sighed dramatically at the mess left behind. He set about straightening the chairs and picking up scraps of Doraemon paper, remembering that not asking questions made his life at the Dekabase much easier. He stopped when he came to the box, noticing the little card discarded next to it To: Aibo! Love: Ban. He tried not to feel discouraged, but couldn't resist peeking inside.

He slammed the lid shut.

He knew it! Senpai did prefer cross-dressers! He raced back to his room to change.

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A/N: sarcasm voice start Did everyone know Jasmine was an ESPer? Because she is. I know, I was surprised when they finally said it in the last episode. You'd think they'd clarify that. Now if I could just figure out what that pose is when Sen-chan stands on his head... sarcasm voice end