Author's Note: So, I owe the creation of this little fic to the wonderful Ari Moriarty, as such, it is dedicated entirely to her. She introduced this pairing to me in her series of drabbles called Dreamscape almost two months ago. I have been thinking about it practically ever since and I think it's pretty safe to say that I have sailed this ship all the way to the ends of the earth and back. I love it! So I had to contribute to it somehow in the hope that it will make other people love it too.
Ten year old Yukiko Amagi stood in front of the full length mirror in her mother's bedroom. She stared at the black cat ears just peeking out from her sleek, equally black hair. The clip on tail firmly in place at the back of her dress and the mittens, so delicately sewn by Tatsumi-san, covering her hands and transforming the small girl into an adorable witch's cat just for this night.
"Yuki-chan are you ready?" Came a shrill yell from downstairs. "Kanji-kun is here for you."
Yukiko took a deep breath and willed her heart to stop beating so fast, she took one last look in the mirror, adjusting her dress ever so slightly, before grabbing her trick-or-treat bag and running out the room.
She arrived in the lobby to see her mother talking to Kanji. He was dressed up as a wolf, with ears, a tail and similar mittens to herself. She smiled and made her way over to where they were standing. She glanced over to Kanji and saw his eyes move to hers, before he chose to instead focus on a particularly interesting spot of dirt on the ground by his feet. She could see the tips of his ears turning red and a faint blush on his cheeks. She could also feel the heat starting to rise to her own face at the same time.
"Now Yuki-chan, you be careful. Kanji-kun said he will watch out for you, but don't do anything reckless. This is the first year I won't be with you so i'm trusting you to be good, alright." Her mother said, kneeling down to look firmly into her eyes.
"Yes mother, I promise." She replied dutifully.
"Um, you look nice Yukiko-san..." She looked away from her mother to see Kanji, no longer staring at the ground, instead offering her a sheepish smile, while fiddling with his mittens. "...Being a cat suits you."
"Thank you Kanji-kun, you look good as a wolf too, very scary!" He did look scary, his outfit was full of holes and rips, long shreds of frayed fabric hung from his shorts and the red drips of make-up applied at the corners of his lips made him look much more threatening than she knew he actually was.
"Good, if I look scary then i'll do a good job of protecting you-" Kanji suddenly turned very red again. "-um, I mean getting candy. Yeah, scary means more candy on Halloween right? He started playing with his mittens once more.
"It does indeed Kanji-kun." Yukiko's mother piped in. "You are sure to get lots of chocolate and sweets tonight." She smiled at the two children before ushering them closer to the door. "Now, be careful and Kanji-kun, I want you to bring her home in a few hours."
"Yes ma'am." Kanji said giving a small bow, before he and Yukiko headed out the door and started to make their way into the neighbourhood.
The air was cold, a slight breeze was present and yet the cool air did absolutely nothing to remove the heat from Kanji's cheeks. Every few minutes he would peer over to Yukiko, walking alongside him and he would often catch her eyes looking back, before they would both turn away. The silence was peaceful, yet he knew that he should probably say something soon, or she might think he was weird.
"Um, where should we go first? Towards the shrine or to the Samegawa?" Kanji asked.
"I don't mind, but um, I think there will be more houses by the shopping district though, so maybe we should start there?" Yukiko said, offering a small smile while pointing in the direction of the shops.
Kanji mentally slapped himself. Of course, there aren't any houses by the river. They both turned and headed towards the shrine, watching other children run past them, bags full of candy while their parents, often shouting after them, struggled to keep up. They arrived at the first house, took a deep breath and knocked on the door that was decorated with pumpkins, plastic skulls and orange and black streamers.
The night wore on and they went to house after house, smiling when adults would praise their costumes. Kanji proudly stating that his mother made the mittens herself. They would pretend to chase each other and the people at the houses would laugh, emptying the candy bowls into their bags. Kanji would howl, very realistically Yukiko would add, whenever they got treats causing more laughter and big smiles.
Eventually they had visited all the houses they could and despite wanting to stay out as long as possible, it was time to go home.
"My stomach hurts from laughing so much." Yukiko took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. "You're too funny Kanji-kun!" She said, clutching her side with one hand while gripping on to her over-filled candy bag with the other. "Can we sit down for a while? Just a few minutes I swear, until I can breathe properly again."
The two of them decided to sit on the river bank and take a look through their candy haul, swapping the sweets between them when they found something they didn't like. When all of a sudden Yukiko sighed loudly and pushed her bag of sweets over to Kanji, causing a few to fall out and spread over the grass.
"What are you doing Yukiko-san?" Kanji looked very confused and tried to push the bag back towards her before picking up the scattered pieces. Yukiko however, put out her hands to stop him.
"My mother won't let me eat them anyway, so you may as well have them." Yukiko looked at the ground, sighing again. "She normally puts them in a large bowl at the reception for guests to eat. We only eat healthy food, and i'm rarely allowed treats. You looked out for me this evening so you deserve them." Yukiko looked up and gave Kanji her best smile, a thank you of sorts for making her laugh so much.
"But you earned them Yukiko. You were given them because you were so cute i'm sure of it!" Kanji once again turned bright red for the third time that evening before scratching his head and then grinning wildly. " How about I keep them for you, then whenever you come and visit we can share them. It'll be our secret, I promise." He held out his pinky finger to Yukiko and she stared at him for a while before reaching over and linking her own pinky finger with his and shaking eagerly.
"Okay, then can I come over tomorrow?" They both laughed and then stood up, Kanji grabbing both bags of candy, and they continued their way back to the inn, not letting go of their pinky promise the entire way.