Author's Notes:

Nosebleeds: a recurring pun in Japanese anime, occurs mostly due to sexual arousal; such as when a man sees an attractive woman and vice-versa. It is used almost entirely for comedy purposes.

If you don't like what you see, just move on and keep the flames to yourself as this fanfic is obviously intended for a niche audience.

Comedy Style: The style of comedy I use in this fanfic is based heavily on an anime called "Hayate the Combat Butler" ("Hayate no Gotoku!" in the original Japanese).

The style itself is called "Breaking the Fourth Wall" where the characters themselves address the audience, or in the case of the said anime, make references to their voice actors/actresses, creators and occasionally, backstage crew.

Enjoy the fanfic!

SEED-Fantasy Halloween Cosplay

By: Jacen Leonhart

Athrun was aghast.

He had a hunch that Lacus was up to something silly when she "insisted" that he and Cagalli attend her Halloween party at her orphanage, but this went far beyond anything he expected.

He would have wanted her to provide him and Cagalli with some decent and simple costumes, but out of all the outfits she could have given him…

…he certainly did not expect to wear the Sephiroth costume.

"Come on Lacus!" He pleaded, "There has to be something else I can wear! I can't go out wearing this!"

The pink-haired girl merely giggled and said it suited him, and indeed it did: From the sleek black ankle-length trenchcoat equipped with shoulder-armor, the harness over a shirtless chest, to the matching black pants and military-grade combat boots. Even without donning the silver-hair wig and green snake-eye contact lenses, his own dark-blue hair and emerald-green eyes seemed to complement the ensemble perfectly, giving him a feral and yet attractive look.

Such was his appearance that even Cagalli couldn't help but stare from behind a window curtain. Despite her embarrassment over what she was wearing.

It was enough to send any fangirl swooning… or make them suffer a severe nosebleed.

And that, in fact, was an experience Athrun never wanted to happen again. Who wouldn't feel guilty if someone immediately spouted a considerable amount of blood from their nose and faint right after seeing you? Not to mention it was because that they found you so attractive?

"But, but…! You remember what happened last year didn't you?!" He insisted. "Meyrin and Lunamaria both ended up in the hospital because of me!"

"You know that wasn't your fault right?" Cagalli cut in. She had just reminded him of that fact that last year, the Hawke sisters found him so dashing in Lelouch's Zero costume that they all fainted from severe nosebleeds. Not surprisingly, only Cagalli herself seemed unaffected at that time.

"But I can't let that happen again!" He told them. I can't risk anyone else dying of nosebleeds because of me! Please!"

"Oh come off it!" Kira said, almost laughing at his childhood friend's over-concerned nature. "You know your fangirls don't mind all that don't you?"

"But..!"

"Besides, that outfit suits you anyway! And you've got green eyes to boot!" The brown-haired youth insisted almost childishly, his amethyst eyes twinkling.

"Speak for yourself." Athrun retorted, pouting and crossing his arms in disapproval. "At least you and Lacus get to play Squall and Rinoa!"

"Whatever…" Kira said with a shrug, imitating the original character's signature catchphrase and posture.

"Athrun, just shut up will you?" Cagalli implored from behind a curtain; irritation coloring her voice. "You're better off, considering what Lacus made ME wear!" She finished, throwing off the curtain finally and gesturing at her attire, as if to prove a point.

It was… to her horror and disgust… a dress. The very thing that Cagalli hated to wear, though admittedly was forced to do so twice in her life against her will; thrice, counting this one. Never mind that it was Aerith's blue-and white dress from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, it was still a dress regardless of the origin.

"Very well, Athrun" Lacus said finally, her expression seemingly blank. "Do you really want something else to wear that badly?"

"Yes!" He said. At least she understands… he thought.

"I've got just the thing," she said, her eyes flashing up… as they always did whenever she came up with something devious.

As if on cue, a polite knock was heard on the door. "Madam Lacus?" A voice, which sounded almost like hers called from the other side.

"Do come in!" Lacus called happily as Kira opened the door for her.

A young lady stepped into the room. She had long brown hair and was wearing a blue European-style maid uniform. She was about the same age as Lacus.

"You can wear this one!" The young lady said with a smile, holding out a familiar cat-girl outfit.

"HOLY CRAP!!!"

The words slipped out of Athrun's mouth before he could even stop them. He knew who that young lady was, and he recognized that outfit.

She was Maria, one of the main characters from the anime "Hayate the Combat Butler". She was a maid working for the female protagonist, a certain Nagi Sanzenin. And that cat-girl costume was – to Athrun's horror - the very same nekomimi outfit she and her mistress "forced" Hayate, the anime's main character, to wear. How Lacus managed to invite her over was a mystery, but that was the least of Athrun's concerns right now. Was Lacus seriously planning to make him wear that thing?

"How… how did…"

"How did I get here?" Maria finished the question for him. "Well, obviously, this is a crossover fanfiction isn't it? Just ask the author." She said, still smiling.

"But even so!" Athrun insisted. "Doesn't this breach copyright rules or something? You're not even from this anime!"

"The same thing goes for the costumes we're wearing, Athrun" Lacus reminded him, her gleeful smile becoming more pronounced with every word. "Besides, this outfit might look cute on you!"

"That's true," Maria added with a rather dreamy look in her eyes.

"I'm beginning to wonder if the voice actress isn't the only thing you two have in common." Athrun muttered. That was the main thing he noticed about Rie Tanaka's characters; it was true that most of them were kind-hearted women with an iron will and a strong sense of justice, but sometimes, they also had a disturbing side. What Lacus and Maria were doing now was an example of that.

"Well, it's either the Sephiroth outfit or this one, Athrun" Kira said.

"That does it…" Athrun said as he clenched his fist, his eyes suddenly darkening. Enough was enough… he thought as the veins on his temple and on the back of his hand bulged. Why couldn't they understand that he didn't want anyone else getting hurt, let alone die of nosebleeds?!

Then he felt the SEED burst inside of him.

Suddenly, the room went dark and its occupants found themselves surrounded in flames. Everywhere they looked, houses were burning and people were screaming. Somehow, the whole scene seemed disturbingly familiar.

"Wha… what's going on?" Kira asked. He knew this was supposed to be an anything-goes story, but this was getting ridiculous. They were supposed to be in Lacus' living room, so how did they suddenly end up in the middle of a burning village?

"I sense something evil…" Lacus said, turning around and suddenly looking alarmed. "Oh my! This is…"

"The scene from Final Fantasy VII where Sephiroth went insane and burned down Nibelheim!" Kira exclaimed. But if this was the scene, then…

He quickly followed suit, drawing the Gunblade that was clipped to his belt as he turned. He expected to run into that silver-haired, green-eyed SOLDIER, but what he saw instead was a different person.

Standing amidst the flames, clad in that black trenchcoat and holding that slender yet ridiculously long Masamune katana in his left hand was…

Athrun…

It was an almost frightening sight. The surrounding flames were like a barrier that surrounded Athrun. The light from the flames clashed with the shadows and cast unnatural highlights on his outfit. For a moment, Athrun seemed motionless with his head lowered and his eyes were covered in shadow. But Lacus sensed that something was different about him.

Then slowly, Athrun raised his head to face them. What his friends saw made their hairs stand on end. The irises of his eyes became a dull green color and the pupils were shrunk to a tiny dot – trademark manifestations of the SEED mode. As if seeing him standing among the flames wasn't intimidating enough, he glared at them. Kira almost dropped his Gunblade in surprise. Aside from Lacus, he had never seen anyone else become this scary… well, maybe anyone aside from his mom.

The two friends locked eyes for a moment, but neither of them made a move. Then after what seemed like a minute, Athrun turned his back on them and walked away, disappearing into the flames.

"Wow…" Kira said, nervously trying to laugh off the incident, "that was pretty scary!"

"Yes it was…" Lacus said, managing a weak smile as the scene dissolved. They were back in the room and Athrun was no longer there.

"I guess we should go easy on him for awhile." Maria said, looking worried.

"Yeah, guess so." Kira agreed. "What do you think Cagalli?" He asked, turning around to face his sister.

"Cagalli?" the short-haired blonde was nowhere to be found.

"Say, what's that?" Maria asked, pointing to the floor.

"Is that… blood?!" Kira said in surprise as Maria gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as she did so.

"It leads to the bathroom." Lacus said as she peered down the hallway. "I think I know what happened…" A rather sly grin crossing her face…

* * *

"Dammit, Athrun…" Cagalli said as she ran for the bathroom, stifling a severely bleeding nose. "I'll get you for this! I made a bet Lacus that I wouldn't suffer a nosebleed this year too, but now…"

But despite this incident, despite how scary Athrun looked today, she did have to admit that she did find him rather cool.