a/n: the carmilla movie violently ripped my heart from its chest so of course i just so happened to remember the end of the last kumirei halloween fic i posted

enjoy the show

Reina clicked her teeth together strangely, poking at the new additions with a finger.

"Are you sure that Kawashima-san cleaned these before she lent them to us?"

"Midori's really neat when she wants to be." Kumiko polished her blue mug one more time. "Y'know, it's really nice that you agreed to do this. Thank you."

"I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to," Reina sighed, adjusting her leather jacket and taking another look in the mirror. "She's a good character. I still don't get the teeth, though."

"They're fangs." Kumiko mimed biting something.

"I know that, but I don't think anyone's going to figure out who we are anyway. I don't see the point in wearing these in addition to everything else."

"You can take them off, if you want."

"It's fine." Reina touched the plastic fangs again. "I suppose there's no harm in doing the most we can." She paused. "Do you really think there won't be anyone who recognizes us?"

"Natsuki might." The shirt adorned in tiny, dark-blue giraffes had not been Kumiko's first choice, but it was one that she'd found without much trouble, and so she looked down at the fabric again. She thought warmly of the year prior, a silly promise she'd never expected Reina to even remember. This Halloween had crept up on the both of them so suddenly that it gave her whiplash, but that just added to the excitement.

"It's nearly time."

"Shall we go, then, broody vampire darling?" Kumiko grinned.

"I'd think of nothing better, creampuff."

Natsuki knew how to throw a party, at the very least. Her family's modestly-sized house was big enough to fit most of the band, and so there they all danced, laughing over a bowl of "blood punch" and daring each other to steal hanging spider decorations.

"She did a good job," Reina noted. Kumiko nodded in agreement, still holding her mug with a vice grip in one hand and Reina's arm in the other. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she whipped around to see Natsuki smirking in what appeared to be a cowboy hat.

"You two went the couple's costume route again, eh?"

"Yep."

"It's cute."

"Thanks."

"I figured I'd go solo this year. It's a nice departure from the whole fox thing, anyway."

"Hah, I guess." Kumiko scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "You look good, too."

"I always do." Natsuki suddenly turned, as if startled, and began to head across the room. "Socialize, alright? Ya lovebirds can't just stick around each other all night."

"I don't think I'd mind that," Reina murmured, her voice just an octave lower than usual, and Kumiko felt heat creep up to her cheeks. Reina's hands creeping up to her shoulders weren't helping, either. Kumiko relaxed into her embrace.

"Y-yeah, maybe we could just-"

"Hey! Kumiko! Kousaka-san!" Hazuki bounded over, and Kumiko had no godly idea what she was supposed to be. Dressed in all white with pointed red horns and a pitchfork, she was utterly confusing. It killed the mood, anyhow. "I didn't know if you'd make it here!"

"Of course, Hazuki." Kumiko nonchalantly leaned on the table and filled her mug full of punch. "I mean, it's a tradition, isn't it? I couldn't just flake out on tradition." Hazuki seemed to muse upon this for a moment.

"Hmm, I guess not." She paused. "What're you two supposed to be?"

"How much do you know about nineteenth-century vampire literature?" Reina inquired. Hazuki blinked.

"Not much."

"You won't need to know anything about it." Some classic Halloween tune played on a phone. "I'll send it to you later."

"What're you, Hazuki?" Kumiko asked.

"You don't get it?"

"No," Kumiko said, at the same time Reina said "not at all." Hazuki looked like she was choking back laughter.

"I'm . . . okay, get this, I'm deviled eggs! Get it? Because I'm dressed like an egg with devil horns?"

"Oh."

"You think it's dumb?" Hazuki visibly drooped.

"No, no, I don't think it's dumb at all!" Kumiko yelped, nearly spilling her punch in the process. "It's just, uh, kinda confusing."

"Oh, okay!" Hazuki wiped her brow, relieved. "I'm gonna go find Midori, then. You two have fun!" She skipped away, and Reina leaned against Kumiko with a soft grunt.

"I wonder where Kawashima-san is."

"Kumiko!" Reina's question was answered quite promptly with Midori's little hand waving above the crowd, forcing her way through Wonder Women and Spidermen to make it to the pair. Kumiko hadn't realized just how many people had shown up. "You look great!" Midori herself was dressed in a red shirt that said Pooh on the front with a fake pot of honey in her arms. It fit, Kumiko thought, for her to be dressed as a teddy bear.

"Ah, t-thanks, Midori." Kumiko loosened her grip on the mug, setting it down on the table.

"You're . . . hmm . . ." Midori put a finger to her chin, thinking and thinking and thinking. "Oh! You're an investigative journalist and a vampire!" Kumiko blinked.

"That's . . . actually right."

"Yes!" Midori pumped her fist triumphantly. "Have you seen Hazuki-chan? I wanna see if my pun really made sense."

"She went in that direction." Reina pointed to the end of the room where Hazuki had bounded away, and Kumiko could faintly make out the shape of the deviled eggs herself dancing to the Monster Mash.

"We should join them," Kumiko whispered, taking Reina by the hand. Reina looked at her in surprise.

"I thought you didn't like these sorts of things."

"They're nice when everyone's here like this." Natsuki had made her way over to that side of the room, and Hazuki swooned as she tipped her hat. Midori hopped up and down next to them. "Isn't it?"

"Well, I do enjoy this holiday." Reina smoothed out her jacket, holding Kumiko's hand a little tighter. The Monster Mash faded out into something slower, and in the midst of wondering why a song like that would be on anyone's Halloween playlist, Kumiko was pulled out to the dancefloor by Reina's hand. "Dance with me, creampuff?" Kumiko grinned.

"I'd like nothing more." They held each other like it was a waltz, foreheads pressed together, and often when Kumiko had dreamed of these dances she'd imagine everything else melting away, but she was so wonderfully aware of everything else going on - Natsuki cheering them on, Hazuki scratching her head in confusion, Midori dramatically slowdancing with her honeypot. It was brilliant and alive and wonderful, and Kumiko thought that if time ceased to exist in this moment, she wouldn't mind it at all.

The cobwebs hung outside, the neighborhood kids trick-or-treated, and Kumiko felt happier than she had in a long while.

a/n: happy halloween!