Trick and Treat

AN: Written for the Livejournal Manycases1truth community challenge 59/Halloween challenge. This was the best I could think up on such short notice. I think (I hope) it works for you. I do not own references to MK characters, or Good Omens characters. Reason why it's not listed as 'crossover' is that it wasn't intended as one. Main characters are MK canon.

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Hakuba Saguru, when he had been younger, had not been much more than your average young boy. He smiled easily enough, he made friends well enough for one of his age and standing, and despite his apparent obsession with Holmes he seemed to take an interest in other things, as well.

Yet it was just like him, his father noted fondly one late October evening, to ask to go trick or treating with none of the other children, but perhaps bringing along his Baaya simply for the sake of company, not wanting to be seen as indulging in silly childish pastimes even though he was a child himself.

Hakuba senior had agreed, and the younger had gone about asking for a costume that would conceal his face and form.

Once this had been achieved, he waited patiently for the day to arrive – or at least as patiently as any child his age could, and when it did, he got dressed at nine pm exactly to go out, with a handmade papier-mâché bucket clutched in his hand and the forbidding presence of his caretaker never far away, she also having been pressed into grudgingly carrying a broomstick.

He had so far gone to a number of ordinary houses, and none of them had seemed to recognise him. It had, so far, been a successful venture into the art of disguise and profit.

Then, for some reason, he had ventured to knock on the door of one of the older houses in the district. He wasn't sure what had spurred him on; probably the fact that there had been a light on, and better decorations put up than on most of the suburban houses.

He had used the knocker, because knockers were more in keeping with the feel of the time of year festivities, and waited patiently.

Finally, he grew bored of waiting and knocked again, calling out the age-old saying of children everywhere on Halloween night.

At long last, the door opened to admit them to see a youngish-looking woman with straight red hair wearing a black dress.

"Mother!" cried a scandalised, much younger voice from what sounded like the basement. "I thought I told you not to admit people in – I'm busy!"

"B-but, Aka-chan, he was so insistent – and you should really see him, he's quite the adorable little wizard!"

Thuds were heard as the little girl – who, on closer inspection, appeared actually to be about Saguru's age – stomped up the stairs and into view. She certainly did not look very happy, even though she was dressed up for Halloween. She was clothed in a short black dress, seemingly made to be in tatters at both top and skirt as well as at the sleeves, from which red sleeves protruded. Black bootees were on her feet.

She was rolling her eyes at her mother, and punctuated her next words with another stomp.

"Mother! How many times have I told you? Just because they look like wizards on Halloween, doesn't meant that they are always wizards! This one certainly isn't. He's all... all..."

She gave Saguru, still disguised, a disparaging look.

"...normal."

The word was said with the utmost distaste.

"Now, if you don't mind, I was having an important conversation with Crawly. He's not always available, you know."

At that moment, a mottled green snake appeared a few feet away, and began to talk. The redheaded girl began to talk back, and then, with a shrug, gestured with one hand towards the door, which her mother was still holding out for Saguru, and with that the door was closing and then suddenly it had slammed shut.

Saguru himself was stuck there, rooted to the spot by this inappropriately abnormal behaviour. He was lead gently away by his Baaya, who hadn't really seen all of what had happened, but only known that the little girl and her family had been the ones who had scared her young master instead of the other way around.

A while later, when he felt ready to look, they found that the costume bucket had mysteriously also been filled almost to the brim, when it hadn't been before they'd gone to the weird house. The poor boy paled even further, and refused to touch any of the sweets.

Later, in a talk with his father, Saguru could be heard saying something to be remarked upon.

"Father, I don't think I like it here any more. And when I grow up, I do not want to be weird. I want to be as normal and as reasonable and as logical as I can be. And I really like Sherlock Holmes," was the last comment, said not entirely as an afterthought.

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AN: Reference was made to Crowley, of Good Omens. This is because I didn't think that a little girl of, say, six or seven, would be consorting with Lucifer quite that young. Couldn't think of anyone any milder for her to talk to, so... there you have it. I guess mini-crossover? But done with challenge 59 in mind. Another thing is that I was thinking of scaring off potential trick-or-treaters with my awesome acting sills and mad cackle. I can do a *mean* cackle, sometimes...