Team ORKD was enjoying their lunch period with some of their classmates, the teams known as RWBY and JNPR. The three teams had been hanging out more frequently after the first month of school. Since it was the start of their weekend, the three teams use this time to hang out and chat. Daku was chatting with Ruby as the two were closer in age. Oni talked with Yang and Nora as they discussed new battle moves and battles they had learned about. Rion kept a watchful eye over Weiss as she discussed school with Phyrra while making sure Jaune kept his distance. Meanwhile, Ki just kept to herself, but would occasionally talk with Blake and Ren.

After a while, Ki silently walks away, not trying to draw attention to herself. Daku noticed her more somber attitude as of late and it worried her, "Hey Oni, have you noticed how quiet Ki has been lately?"

"What do you mean?" asked Oni, "Isn't she normal like that?"

"Good to know our fearless leader so much attention to her team," Rion huffed.

"More than you do jerk!" snapped Oni, beginning another fight.

"Daku's not wrong, I've noticed it too," said Ren.

"Not surprising really," mentioned Blake, "It is her birthday tomorrow."

At the mention of Ki's birthday, all eyes were on Blake, even Oni and Rion had stopped fighting. Blake reading the room, realizing she may have made a mistake.

"She's never mentioned it before," wondered Oni, "How do you know?"

"It's not like we've ever asked before," admitted Rion.

"She mentioned it once," said Blake, not making eye contact with anyone.

"But why would she be sad about her birthday?" wondered Daku.

Oni then shouted with a giant grin on her face, "I've got an idea! Let's throw her a party!"

"How do you plan on doing that? Her birthday is tomorrow," asked Weiss.

"If all of us pinch in, we can do it!" smiled Yang, "Ki's our friend too."

"Yeah! We'll help chase Ki's birthday blues away, with an awesome party!" cheered Nora.

Weiss sighed, "If we're going to do this, I'll help just to keep things organized. Cause there's no way you three will be able to do that."

Oni couldn't contain her excitement as she began bouncing in place, like a kid who had way too much sugar, "Yes! Operation: Ki's Party shall commence!"

"Why must you label every we do as an operation?" asked Rion.

"Because it's fun and you can deal with it," said Oni, as they began to prepare.

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Weiss had assigned everyone jobs in order to make sure everything gets done in time. Part of Daku's job was to keep Ki's attention away from what they were doing, as they wanted to make it a surprise party. Oni and Daku were hanging out in their dorm as Oni was writing a list of things to get for the party as well as her to do list.

"This is going to be so awesome!" smiled Oni, as she rapidly wrote down her lists, "Don't you think so Daku?"

"I guess," mumbled Daku. She was still unsure about this whole thing, as they still didn't know why she would be sad about her birthday at all. However, Oni didn't seem to hear her as she gathered her stuff after hearing a buzz on her scroll.

"Oh that must be Weiss, we are heading down to the market to get the stuff we need," said Oni, rushing out the door, "Remember don't let Ki catch on to what we're doing. We're counting on you!"

Oni was gone before Daku could say a word, she let out a big sigh before noticing something on the floor by the door. It looks like Oni had dropped one of her lists when she left. Daku walked over to grab it off the floor when Ki suddenly walked in, "Oh hey Daku, do you know where--"

Panicked Ki would see the list, Daku quickly threw the note in her mouth in an attempt to swallow it but ended up choking on it instead. Ki reacted quickly using the heimlich to dislodge the paper from her throat. Daku spit it up, as she gasps for air. Ki looked at Daku with exasperation but also with concern, "What in the world possessed you to inhale paper?!"

Daku coughed a bit before saying, "I don't know, I panicked."

"Oh child," signed Ki, "Do you know where Oni is? Been trying to catch up with her for our study session."

"Uhhhmmm, n-no," studdered Daku trying to think of something to say, "I haven't seen her."

Ki raised her eyebrow but decided not to question her, "Alright, I guess I'll try Rion, see if he knows anything."

"NO!" shouted Daku, causing Ki to jump, "I-I mean h-he's out with W-weiss right now. I could study with you if you want. I'm still struggling in Oblecks class."

"Ssure," questioned Ki, as Daku grabbed her books and the two headed for the library.

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After the study session, Daku got dragged away by Ruby and Nora, who were having trouble with the baking portion. As baking was a pastime of hers, Daku was more than happy to help. The dorms had a common room that was used for cooking as well as lounging. Daku helped Ruby and Nora get the batter ready and in the oven.

"Thank you Daku!" smiled Nora, "You're a lifesaver!"

"I guess..." Daku sighed, "Should we even be doing this? I'm sure there's a reason Ki doesn't want to celebrate."

"You okay, Daku?" asked Ruby, who had noticed Daku slumping.

"Oh, I'm fine Ruby," Daku smiled weakly, "I'm just worried about Ki. I know Oni means well but I'm not sure this is what Ki wants."

"What do I want?" asked a sneaky Ki, who had just walked in.

Daku screamed as she jumped back against the counter, knocking over the remaining flour all over herself.

"Daku are you okay?!" asked Ki rushing over to Daku's side. Daku sneezed as a puff of flour spread.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up," sighed Ki, "I can't take my eyes off you today."

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The next day, after night had fallen, it was time for the party. As Daku looked at her scroll, with a message from Oni, "It's go time! Bring Ki to Study Hall C!"

Daku sighed a bit as she looked around her dorm room to see Ki practically sulking as she looked out the window. As Daku hesitantly walked over to her, however, Ki gave out a weak smile so as to not worry her, "Hey Ki, I-I just got a-a message from Oni. She wants a-a-a team meeting in Study Hall C."

"A team meeting?" asked Ki, who checked her scroll, "I didn't get anything from her. Was this planned?"

"No, she just sent it," assured Daku, "We should probably get going."

"Good idea, I wouldn't want Oni and Rion to kill each other if we left them alone for too long," agreed Ki as she slowly stood up.

As they walked towards the room, Daku continued to notice her gloomy expressions, when Ki thinks Daku was not looking. When they made it to the doors, Daku spoke up, "Hey Ki."

"Yeah?"

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," said Daku, "Oni can be a bit unpredictable, and Rion well...If you're not feeling up for it, we could always take a walk through the garden instead."

"I'll be fine Daku," said Ki, as she begins to open the door, "Oni's hyper but she's actually pretty predictable if you know what to--"

"SURPRISE!!!!!"

Teams JNPR, RWBY, and ORKD, jumped out in celebration, turning on the lights to reveal a giant banner saying 'Happy Birthday Ki'. Balloons colored Yellow and Brown was everywhere and right under the banner was the cake Daku helped prepare.

"Happy Birthday Ki!" smiled Oni as she jumped in front of her, excitedly showing off all their hard work.

Ki was speechless, doing her best not to make eye contact with anyone, as Oni talked. Daku went to touch her, but Ki began to tremble as she made a fist.

"Who...WHO THOUGHT I WANTED THIS?!" Ki shouted, for the first time since the team has known her, Ki was angry.

"We..we just thought--" Oni tried to explain but for once she was at a loss for words.

"Well you thought wrong!" snapped Ki, "None of you should have wasted your time!"

Ki immediately stormed out, leaving the group in silence. Daku instinctively ran after her, finding her at the fountain where they first met. Ki was sobbing on the rim of the fountain. Daku had never seen her like this and approached slowly. As Daku placed her hand on Ki's shoulder, it startled her as Ki quickly tried to wipe the tears away.

"Ki.."

"I'm not going back there," growled Ki, through her sobs, "So if you came to talk me into it--"

"I'm not, I came because my friend is sad," said Daku, "You don't have to tell me why if you don't want to, but I don't want any friend of mine to be alone when they are sad. I didn't have anyone for me except my dad and he was always so busy. I know that's not what you want to hear but no one should be alone when they are sad. Don't be mad at Oni, she and the others just wanted to do something to show you how much you mean to us."

Ki seemed to be listening as she took Daku's hand tightly as they sat on the fountain together, "It...It's been 12 years since I last celebrated my birthday. When I turned 5, my mom...died. My father then began to drink and wallow in self-pity. I grew to dislike my birthday as it was the day my whole world fell apart."

Ki cried harder as she told her story, as Daku pulled her in and allowed her to cry in her chest. Daku held her tight and started to tear up, "I'm sorry Ki, we didn't know."

"Not many people outside of Menagerie know," admitted Ki.

"I understand, but when you're ready we should tell Oni and the others," suggested Daku, "We're a team after all."

"Your right, but if it's okay, I just want to sit here for a bit longer," said Ki, hugging Daku.

"We can stay as long as you like," smiled Daku as the broken moon hovered over them

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