Halloween Mayhem
I've had this Halloween headcanon for at least a year, so after spinning off Merman's Curse from it, I finally wrote the thing.
I feel I've gotten rusty with my descriptions, due to some description gaps in one of my more recent stories…so if I went overboard here, you know what happened.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this fic. Wakasa and Tatsumi belong to Orenchi no Furo Jijou, Rock belongs to the Boueibu puzzle game and the rest hail from Boueibu itself.
The autumn foliage was decorating Binan High with its rustic colours. Kinshiro was scowling at the mess in the council room doorway as Arima swept leaves out of it, then the vice-president cleared his throat.
"It's been a while since we last went all out with a party now, isn't it?" he declared, setting down today's pre-prepared sweets with a small clatter. "I was hoping, if it wasn't any trouble, to hold one and invite the two of you."
"On one condition." Kinshiro leapt to his feet from his position on the baby blue couch a little faster than he'd liked. "Acchan comes too."
"What about the other Defence Club members?" Akoya questioned, helping himself to tea as he did so. "They're sure to be included as a caveat."
The aroma of Earl Grey wafted from Akoya's cup while Kinshiro mulled over the problem.
"They can come too," the president finally stated, as decisively as he could muster.
/
The quintet known as the Defence Club were enjoying a typical boxed lunch in their clubroom in the attic when a tentative knock came from the door.
En rushed enough to open the door first, and surely enough there was Kinshiro.
"Atsushi, it's for you," he dismissed it and went right back to his manga. The president slipped a purple sheet of paper – obviously an invitation - on to the table next to En's forearm.
Kinshiro's face suddenly reddened as he shook his head violently in disagreement. "You're all invited to a Halloween party that will go from 6 pm to 9 pm. Wear costumes!" With this, he could no longer tolerate the presence of the Defence Club, so he darted out of the room as fast as he could, leaving the door open as he left.
/
With this previous development, the rest of October was spent trying to work out costumes for the party.
"Seems like this is one of those completely unnecessary 'rich people parties'…" En moaned, kneeling in the attic to avoid hitting his head on the rafters.
"If they want a party, then they can hold their parties, right?" Atsushi plucked a box marked with his sister's name from his right and slowly climbed out of the attic, En coming right after him.
The bespectacled boy propped the box against the wall and lifted out some blue sandals, comparing them to his own feet, then his friend's. They matched En's perfectly.
"You're not going to make me wear that, are you?!" En screamed after peering into the box and seeing what else he had to wear.
/
The blonde merman - also known as En - was shivering in the cool autumn air as he shuffled along in his outfit, still not used to how he should move in it.
"Here, Wakasa." Atsushi tossed him a cyan windcheater when he stressed the alias. "I knew you'd need it."
En wordlessly put the jacket on as the two knocked at the door simultaneously.
Kinshiro was his usual grumpy self in a lion outfit while the host of the party was decked out in a ringmaster's cape and suit, a smile lighting up his face as he swept the duo in with a butler-like bow.
The party was already in full swing by the time the duo arrived. Contrary to En's mental images of the student council only ever drinking tea, the place was abuzz with small congregations of high schoolers doing Halloween themed activities, while artificial candles and fairy lights lit up the dark rooms, the walls of which were all covered in a striped wallpaper.
A boy with bright blue streaks in his hair and a vampire costume was observing the drinks, which were all stored in a series of glass bottles. One purple drink was sparkling with an odd intensity in the low light, however, and as he opened it with a pop of the sealing cork, a sweet overbearing smell similar to lemonade drifted out. A drowsiness began to come over everyone in the vicinity, the Defence Club and student council included.
En's mind suddenly began to swim and he pardoned himself when he noticed a sign to head upstairs for the bathroom. Before he could think any further though, he set himself down into the empty bath and let his mind wander...
Io and Ryuu, which were both dressed as pirates, suddenly brandished their fake swords at Arima, who cracked his whip in their direction in a display of power. Kinshiro bellowed out a roar and set about chasing Yumoto, who was dressed as a bubblegum pink rabbit. Akoya, an angel in his outfit, smoothed out his toga and began to sing out praises to the heavens. Meanwhile, Atsushi set down his glasses on a nearby table and rubbed his eyes, first in confusion, then in a state of panic. He didn't need his glasses anymore!
The character he was dressed as, Tatsumi, didn't wear glasses…
"Wakasa!" he found himself yelling, his vocal chords going against his will. "Are you alright?"
A reply came from upstairs, so Atsushi ran up the stairs as fast as his legs could take him…
…and there was En, his blonde wig slightly askew as he soaked in a sea of pink bubbles.
Atsushi collapsed to his knees in relief, the actions of Tatsumi gradually becoming more and more natural as the smell of the potion overwhelemd his mind. En took this opportunity to lift his bottom quarter out of the bubble bath, only to showcase its glittering turquoise scales and tailfin.
That tail wasn't the cosplay one his sister had let him use.
He grimaced and pinched himself on the right cheek, its flesh blossoming into a raw pink as he broke free of the spell. He then grabbed the showerhead, his eyesight slowly failing him again as he sprayed the false merman right in the mouth.
En spluttered incessantly. At first, his throat siphoned the water, but eventually his lungs could no longer support it and he almost vomited as he hacked up the last of it. As soon as En's legs began to function again, he stood up shakily.
"En-chan! You're back!" Atsushi cried, but he could no longer see properly and hugged the air next to him to no avail.
En rushed downstairs after ridding the tub of bubbles and ridding himself of water. As he plucked the glasses from their spot on a table, he took in the state of the mansion – it was covered in the remains of multiple bottles. Shards of the bottles lay on the ground, so the third-year made sure not to step on them while he snuck over to the table Atsushi had his glasses on.
A hand grabbed his leg from under the table and the third year's heart almost skipped a beat as he noticed it was Rock Keshibu, a second year. Notably, Keshibu was in a vampire outfit, protecting a sweet-smelling jar that the vampire-outfitted boy held close to his chest with his left hand while the right grasped En's left ankle.
The third year sighed, placed the glasses back down and put the cork back on Keshibu's jar.
/
Everyone decided it was better not to remember how much they'd ruined the mansion, although since this was Arima's mansion they were talking about, the vice-president had the place back to normal in no time at all.
En decided he was never going to go to another of those "fancy parties", even if Atsushi or any of the other Defence Club members was trying to persuade him to go.
As for who left the potion there, everyone blamed Keshibu, but in reality no one really knew who the culprit was…
(In case you were wondering, it's meant to be open-ended, so you can guess who left the potion there but you'll never get a definite answer.)
Happy Halloween, everyone!