A/N: Yes, I rewrote the story. I hope you all enjoy this new version of "The Birthday Club"


Chapter One


"Shibazaki! Is this really necessary? Can't we just go out to eat or do something perhaps a little less... crazy?" exclaimed a stumbling, 5'7", 23-year-old blond as her roommate dragged her through the buzzing streets of downtown Tokyo. The sun had set about an hour ago and the night was coming alive before their eyes. All along the street, clubs and bars were turning on their neon storefront signs, welcoming young patrons inside with the tantalizing smell of kushiyaki and filling the air with the thrumming of bass drums.

"Oh, stop fussing, Iku!" Shibazaki responded, turning to her roommate as they paused at a crosswalk. She gave the young soldier's outfit another appraising look before nodding her approval and mentally applauding herself. Oh, if only Dojo would get to see Iku dressed like this, the look on his face would be priceless. "You're 23 years old! These are supposed to be the best years of our lives, so I refuse to let you spend your birthday in some dinky little takoyaki restaurant! You are coming with me, and we are going to make this one of the most memorable nights of your life!"

Shibazaki promptly ignored the dejected look on Iku's face and instead took the woman by the hand and strutted across the street towards their destination, the "Midnight Firefly". It was a small, hole-in-the-wall club that she'd discovered while out with some co-workers. While it wasn't her proverbial cup of tea, it was the perfect setting for Iku's first clubbing experience. Luckily, the club wasn't normally overly crowded and the drinks were not ridiculously expensive, she just hoped Iku would loosen up and try to have fun – she needed it after the week she'd had.

According to Tezuka, Genda had decided that the entire Task Force needed to undergo a full week of 2-a-day training sessions and combat drills so that they wouldn't get "too soft" while waiting for the MBC to announce their next raid. According to Iku, however, the Task Force's need for "training" was just for Genda's twisted entertainment. Luckily, thanks to Miss Orikuchi, Genda had given most of the Task Force the next two days off, to let them recovery before someone potentially died on the practice field.

In other words, since Iku had no excuses for skipping out on their "Girls Night Out," which she'd had to cancel twice due to unexpected Task Force duties, Shibazaki was determined to make their evening a night to remember. And she'd be damned if she'd let Iku her best friend waste this opportunity, and the perfect outfit, on to some boring restaurant.

"Shibazaki, do I really have to do this? I think this shirt is too small and these shorts barely cover my butt!"

Shibazaki shot a sideways glance at her companion. The poor girl had no idea the potential she had. At least, she hadn't until a couple of hours ago. Shibazaki smiled at the memory.


Four Hours Ago:

"Shibazaki, I don't feel very comfortable in this..." Iku mumbled, glancing down at the outfit Shibazaki had handed her before sending her back into the dressing room for what seemed like the twentieth time that afternoon.

"Oh, stop complaining, you're going to want to look hot tonight," Shibazaki replied, sifting through another rack in the small boutique.

"Um, why? I thought we were just going to get dinner." Iku responded through the changing room door.

Shibazaki paused in her movements and stepped away from the clothes rack. Without a moment of hesitation, the brunette walked straight over to Iku's changing room and swung the door, which Iku had neglected to lock, open. Inside, Iku let out a loud "eep" when her roommate barged in and gave her the stink eye.

"Iku, we always go out to eat on Girls Night, so I thought that we'd try something different for once." Shibazaki turned and hung a few more shirts up on the pegs in the wall before turning towards her best friend and grinning. "That outfit is perfect!"

"What?! How? I'm hardly wearing much clothing at all!" squawked Iku, flailing her arms as she gestured towards her body. "How is this perfect? And for what?"

An evil grin began to spread across Shibazaki's lips as she began collecting the other clothes in the stall, intent on placing them on the "return" rack the moment they left the dressing room.

"Shibazaki?" Iku could feel the sadistic joy dripping off of her roommate as she turned to answer her.

"We, my dear, are going clubbing."


"Iku, you look great, stop worrying about it," scolded the librarian lightly, laughing to herself as she watched her friend once again try to pull her shorts a little lower with accidentally mooning anyone.

"This is nothing like what I normally wear," Iku grumbled to herself, eventually giving up on trying to maintain dignity.

"That's the point, it's not supposed to be like the clothes you normally wear. The point to going clubbing is to let loose, try new things and have a good time. No one cares if you're a TF agent or if you could easily pile drive them into next week, they only care if you're having a good time." Shibazaki linked her arm in Iku's and grinned up at the blond, a mischievous sparkle gleaming in her eyes.

"Besides, you're going to be turning quite a few heads with those mile-long legs of yours. Dojo might get jealous."

"Shibazaki!" Iku cried, her cheeks turning bright red with embarrassment as they approached the entrance of the club. "Don't say things like that, you'll get my hopes up."

The playfulness in Shibazaki's tone faded away almost instantly and she almost felt bad for mentioning the Sergeant around her friend. She'd known about Iku's feelings for her superior officer for quite awhile now, and while she was nearly 100% confident that Dojo held the same feelings for Iku, he could be unpredictable at times.

Shibazaki glanced over at Iku and frowned at the disheartened look on her face. This wasn't how their night should start.

Suddenly, Shibazaki's feet came to a halt and Iku was jolted out of her thoughts by the stern look on her friend's face.

"Shibazaki?"

"Iku, I don't want you to think about him tonight, okay?" she said carefully, gauging the blonde's reaction and continuing only when it seemed safe. "I want you enjoy yourself. I want us to have fun doing something new together – no men, just us."

A small smile spread across Iku's lips and Shibazaki let out a content sigh. Iku understood what she had been trying to say and her smile was her way of saying that she agreed.

So, without many more words, the pair walked past the big burly bouncer standing by the door and into the dark club.

Iku's grip on her Shibazaki's hand tightened as they entered the club and the loud music assaulted their ears. She'd never been to a place like this before, with this many people in such a small area – it was somewhat overwhelming. It didn't help that there were people staring at them from the moment they'd walked in, men and women alike. It made her uncomfortable, she wasn't used to being the center of attention like Shibazaki. In fact, Iku was pretty sure the looks they were receiving were mostly directed at Shibazaki and her little black dress, rather than at herself.

Shibazaki, however, paid no mind to the strangers watching them as they weaved their way through the club. One look over her shoulder at Iku, though, had Shibazaki frowning. The poor girl looked terrified by all the people and the loud music, so Shibazaki steered them over to the bar, hoping a drink might ease her friend's anxiety a little.

"Relax, Iku," Shibazaki said over the music, a small smile on her face as she gently squeezed the other woman's hand, "it's just you and me, tonight, remember that!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Iku responded, saluting her roommate from where she sat on the red-leather bar stool.

Shibazaki couldn't help but roll her eyes at Iku's antics. Even when joking, the blonde's salute was flawless, an obvious sign of her profession as a TF agent. Nevertheless, Shibazaki let it pass and leaned over the bar to call the bartender while Iku casually surveyed the layout of the club.

Within no time, two drinks were set down in front of the ladies and Shibazaki handed the handsome man some money and flashed him a pretty smile. The bartender grinned charmingly and was about to speak when another customer called him over to take their orders. Shibazaki let out a small huff before turning and handing her blond wing-woman a champagne glass of Peach Bellini.

Iku eyed the drink cautiously before looking at Shibazaki.

"A toast to your first birthday with the Task Force." She said with a smile, raising her glass towards the blond.

Iku smiled and clinked her glass with Shibazaki's before taking a sip of the mixed drink, hoping it wouldn't taste as terrible as the beer Tezuka had once given her. To her pleasant surprise, the concoction tasted fruity and sweet and she couldn't resist the urge to take another sip. Beside her, Shibazaki giggled at her sudden enthusiasm.

"Shibazaki, what is this? It's really good!" Iku asked, raising her glass to inspect the liquid in the dim lighting of the club.

"Peach Bellini, I'm glad you like it." Shibazaki took another sip of her drink before grinning. "I wonder if Instructor Dojo would like it."

Iku choked on her drink and whipped her head around to gape at Shibazaki. She didn't really just say that, did she?

"What?" Shibazaki ignored Iku's outburst, but the knowing smirk on the brunette's lips said that she'd meant every single word.

"All I'm saying is that I've only ever seen him drink beer. I was wondering if he ever drank anything else. He really only ever drinks bitter things now that I think about it. Maybe he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth." Shibazaki made a face before scanning the crowd for something interesting to watch. Clubs like these were boring because they mainly consisted of only a bar, a small dance floor, an equally small stage and a couple of booths here and there. These clubs were quaint and tame compared to some of the ones she'd heard about from her co-workers. They weren't filled with people of pink and neon green hair and dozens of tattoos and piercings. Rather, these clubs were more like glorified bars, just without the food and with more alcohol.

Nevertheless, this was a good place for Iku's first club experience, so Shibazaki was willing to stick it out for as long as Iku was interested in staying. If their night of clubbing turned out to be a bust, she'd let Iku pick whatever place she wanted and they'd go out for a late night treat.

"Apple Strudel."

Shibazaki froze, her drink nearly slipping out of her grip before she whirled back around to stare at Iku as if she'd just grown a second head. Why in the world was this woman talking about apple strudel?

"What?" she said, completely and utterly confused by her friend's sudden speech. Iku simply looked over at Shibazaki before taking one last sip of her drink. When she was finished, she turned to face the bar counter and set the glass down. Then, she spoke.

"Apple strudel is what he ordered when we met to get tea. So, he does have a sweet tooth, it's just small. And he also ate the chocolate I gave him for Valentine's Day." Iku replied as she ran her finger around the rim of her glass.

"Oh? I didn't know you gave him chocolate on Valentine's Day." Shibazaki said, eyeing her roommate curiously. She knew Iku had handed out chocolate to the entire Task Force, but this was the first that she'd heard of Iku giving chocolate to Dojo specifically. Now she was curious.

"What?! Oh, I didn't mean it like that! It was just that… well, I gave chocolate to all of the guys and… and there was one left and he… he wanted it but it was melted and I didn't want to give it to him like that so I…" Shibazaki leaned in closer to the blushing, mumbling blond. This story had just gotten very interesting, very fast – she wanted to know everything.

"So, what did you do, Iku?" Shibazaki prompted, grinning like a Cheshire cat as Iku's blush grew deeper.

"Well, I…" Iku sheepishly looked down are her feet and mumbled.

"Iku, look at me." Shibazaki reached forward lifted Iku's chin so that she was forced to look at her friend. Sharp brown eyes met wide cerulean and Shibazaki repeated he question one last time. "Now, tell me, what did you do?"

Iku felt like a deer caught in the headlights of a giant freight train – also known as one Asako Shibazaki. It was no secret that her roommate had a reputation for being ruthless in her methods of extracting juicy gossip and normally, Iku didn't really mind. That is, until she was the one being interrogated.

"Well, I – " Iku's eyes darted desperately around the club, looking for an escape. If she looked in Shibazaki's eyes, it would all be over.

Suddenly, Iku's gaze fell on the growing crowd of people located in the center of the room. Perfect.

Confident about her next move, Iku met Shibazaki's gaze and grinned. Then, without warning, she grabbed her roommate's hand and slid off her bar stool, effectively pulling Shibazaki with her.

"Iku!" Shibazaki shouted in surprise, "What are you doing?"

The blond turned towards the pretty brunette and shot her a goofy grin.

"Let's dance!"

Shibazaki paused, sending her companion an appraising look before sighing. If Iku really didn't want to talk about it, she wasn't going to force her – not today at least. She'd get it out of the blond eventually, but for now, she might as well enjoy herself.

"Alright!" Shibazaki stepped forward and took hold of Iku's hand before leading them into the osculating throng of people. "Let's go!"


A/N: Hello!

Sorry, I know I already re-posted this, but I swear this is the last time!

Thanks for all the support!

~Smash41KMF