Once a year the Japanese have the Obon Festival, the festival of the dead. They light lanterns and visit graves to honor their ancestors, and those ancestors are said to be at family shrines as well. There's even a special dance, and this all takes place early , in a city as big as Ikebukuro in a time where information is just a click away it's not surprising that other traditions and celebrations from all around the world might become popular.

Halloween, for one. Not the candy so much, but the younger generations enjoy dressing in costumes and sometimes holding halloween parties. Now normally Shizuo wouldn't be the type to particularly care about any of this, let alone participate, but Celty had decided to invite everyone to a hayride and bonfire celebration. Costumes, a date, and participation was required.

"I say you just go to a bar, meet someone, and ask them to go!" Tom said enthusiastically, smiling at his friend. The very idea made Shizuo scowl, shaking his head and huffing.

"Only desperate creeps do that, Tom-san. And I already have a bad reputation as it is…" He sighs.

"Oh, c'mon. You're a good looking guy, if you combed your hair and smiled I'm sure you could find someone to take right away. And, who knows? Maybe it'll lead to more!" He persists, staring at Shizuo with all the confidence of a normal and handsome man. Shizuo didn't have those advantages. A monster, fueled by fury and dehumanized by the people around him. He didn't really blame people, his fury was his own after all, but maybe if everyone weren't so damn irritating he wouldn't be so damn angry.

"Oh, shit…" Tom sighs, drawing Shizuo's attention once again. He's holding his phone, good mood ruined and taken over by concern Shizuo sees right away. "I gotta run, my niece is in the hospital."

"Is she okay?" Shizuo asks, brow furrowing with concern, though he's never met her.

"They're not sure. Do you mind doing the last one? It's just an elderly woman, she doesn't owe much either." Tom says, and he agrees right away. After all, how many times has he run off in the middle of a job just to chase Izaya?

"Of course. Tell me how she is later." He nods, smiling gratefully and waves down a taxi. A few moments later Shizuo gets a text with the address, and it turns out the shop is just a few blocks away. It doesn't take him long to arrive, but we he does there is only a vacant lot where the shop is supposed to be. A group of teenagers walk past the lot. They're dressed up like the characters from Sargent Space, a popular 90s anime, and it makes him smile when he see's someone's little sister has tagged along in a cute cat onesie.

"Ahem." Shizuo jerks his gaze forward when someone clears their throat, and finds a little old lady before him. She's smirking, eyes sharp and playful in the way they shouldn't be for someone of her age. Her outfit is odd too, but he can't put his finger on what to call the youthful style. "Are you here to collect the debt?" She asks, though the way she's looking at him he's certain she knows the answer already.

"Yes ma'am." He's polite, as he always is to his elders and women, especially.

"Ooh, what a gentleman!" She laughs, bordering a mocking sound than the delighted response he typically gets. "Come on in."

"In where?" He asks, but when he glances up he finds a shop in front of him, old but mysterious. She holds the door for him, which makes him feel ashamed that he didn't think to hold it for her. He's sure now she's mocking him. 'Maybe she's Izaya's Grandmother...'

"I'm a bit short on cash…" She tells him, once they're in the shop. It's filled with bottles, with English letter and numbers on them. He doesn't remember much of his English classes in school, but he can tell the letters aren't complete words so he has no idea what they stand for.

"We could give you an extension," He says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Of course we'd need to increase the price, but you don't owe much so it wouldn't be that bad-"

"How about we make a deal?" She interrupts, smiling coyly. "I owe about 7,900 ($70) yen, right? You don't look that poor, help an old lady out and buy one of my magic elixirs." She says, gesturing around the room with a grand sweep of her hand.

"Your bottles cost that much?!" He gasps, eyes the tiny bottles lined on shelves around the room. He notices a pot- no, a cauldron, in the center of the room. "Are you a witch…" He asks suddenly, dread building when he thinks of yet another threat to Ikebukuro. 'Why is it always THIS city… go destroy Shinjuku for once!'

"Heavens, no!" She exclaims, laughing. "That's just for decoration!"

"Oh, I see." He laughs with her, shoulders losing their tension and alarm fading away.

"I'm a gypsy."

"What-?!"

"Do we have a deal or not?" She asks, and he hesitates. 7,900 yen could buy his lunch for over a week, but if this old woman can't pay her debt then eventually someone will come and try to collect somehow. It might not be him, and some of the other debt collectors could be awfully cruel…

"Okay." He sighs, feeling better about throwing money away when she brightens up. She reaches for his hand, and his chest puffs a little for the gratitude he's surely about to receive.

"Ugh, what ugly lines you have."

"Huh?"

"I said you have ugly lines, are you deaf?" She's flipped his hand over so it's palm up, and her bony fingers are running along the lines and scars in the center.

"Some of those are scars…" He protests, and she shoots a glare at him.

"I can see that! It doesn't make them less meaningful, though. Or less ugly." She mutters, nodding to herself. 'Ahh, just like Izaya. Rude, AND crazy.'

"You sure think about him a lot."

"I do not!" He snaps, before his eyes go wide. "I mean, uh... who?" Shizuo tries, because no way is crazy grandma Orihara in his head. But staring down at the wrinkled old gypsy before him, who's still holding his hand and looking at him like he's stupid, he starts to wonder which of them is crazy.

"The gay Eskimo." Comes the answer, and her tone suggests this is somehow obvious. Apparently for old gypsies, reading minds were as common as flying vending machines.

"No idea what you're talking about." He says, itching for a smoke now. She just rolls her eyes and wanders over to the other side of the store. It takes her a minute, searching the labels that look like random nonsense to Shizuo, and comes back with a tiny vial filled with green liquid and something else.

"Is that a beetle...?" Shizuo asks, inching away.

"Drink this, all of it and don't leave a drop."

"That looks like a beetle."

"You might feel dizzy but it should fade quickly. After that, go where your heart takes you."

"I'm not drinking that beetle."

"Don't forget my debt is paid once you drink this."

"Just keep the bottle." He sighs. She stares at him, and for a moment he thinks she's going to be angry. Then, she smiles and nods. Unscrewing the glass top of the little vial, the old woman holds it up and inhales through her nose, sighing sweetly at the smell.

"It may look this way, but it has a wonderful smell." She says sweetly, holding it out for him to take a whiff. With some hesitation, he does, leaning in and he wrinkles his nose.

"Ugh, it smells like turpentine-UGH!?" He chokes when she shoves the bottle in his mouth, a bony but strong hand grabbing the back of his hair and forcing him to bend backwards. It slides slowly down his throat as he struggles to stand without knocking the crazy old lady down. She's surprisingly strong, and doesn't budge even when he starts thrashing at the feel of something crawling along his tongue.

"Shhh." She hushes him, tossing the now empty bottle behind her carelessly and covering his mouth with her now free hand. The beetle crawls further along, legs sticking and pulling his skin some with every step it takes and it makes him gag.

"A-augh!" He gasps, starting to shake in disgust now. 'It's ALIIIIVE! in my mouth...!'

"Just swallow." She advises, and he does just to make it stop. After a few frantic gulps the bug slides down, and Shizuo somehow keeps his lunch, though just barely.

"What the fuck?!" He gasps, when she releases him. In his anger his fist shoots out, knocking down a shelf full of pink and black filled bottles. Amazingly, they don't shatter.

"Okay, we're done here." She says, pushing him towards the door. "Out now, little man! You've got to go do fate stuff. Destiny, and all that. Go, go!" He stumbles out the door, air whooshing behind him with the swing of the door closing. He decides to just go, and doesn't look back.

He's afraid if he does, the shop will be gone.

So there ya go! This is Kanra-chans new Halloween story! And remember, eventually I'll post two other stories that are in the works~ And of course I'd never forget about Nooses Around Necks ;) Hope you liked, happy Halloween and be on the lookout for more!