"I can't believe we're doing this." An annoyed Yusuke complained as Kuwabara applied his make up in the mirror.
"Come on Urameshi. Free candy!" Kuwabara replied. He finished with his face and turned to face Yusuke. He was lying on Kuwabara's bed, eyes closed, smoking a cigarette. "What do you think?" Yusuke opened one eye to look at a very green Kuwabara.
"You look like an idiot." He smirked. "But I guess that's normal"
Kuwabara crossed his arm across his chest. "I'd like a second opinion."
"Fine, you're ugly too."
"You watch it, Urameshi." Kuwabara snarled. "Come on already! They'll be here soon and you're not even dressed. And put out that damn thing! You know I hate it when you smoke in my house."
Yusuke sighed and put out his cigarette on the table next to him. "You know I'm going to make you pay for this, right?" Kuwabara shrugged. Just then the doorbell rang.
"Hang on!" Kuwabara started toward the stairs. Before leaving the room, he turned back. "You better be ready soon." With that he headed down the stairs.
He threw open the door and grinned. Kurama stood there with a small grin on his face. He was dressed in… well… a dress. A long green dress with matching boots. His long red hair fell over his shoulders. He had fresh flowers in his hair and vines growing down his arms. He was a perfect match of the Batman villain, Poison Ivy. "Are we late?"
"Nah, you're fine- we?" Kuwabara looked around and was sure that Kurama was alone. Kurama looked around as well, equally confused.
"Hiei!" He called out.
"I'M NOT COMING OUT!" a voice returned.
Kurama sighed. "He doesn't like his costume. It was the only one they had in his size." He informed Kuwabara. Kuwabara nodded. "Come on Hiei!" He elbowed Kuwabara. "Don't you want to see Kuwabara's costume? He looks pretty stupid!" He gave Kuwabara a small headshake to show him he didn't mean it.
"CAN I AT LEAST WEAR MY OWN CLOTHES?" He called back.
"No Hiei, this is what Halloween's about!"
There was a pause followed by an annoyed grunt. "Fine."
There was a blur of yellow as Hiei jumped from the tree he was hiding in across the street to the bush next to the door.
"Come on out. You look fine." Kurama smiled as he used a few vines to push Hiei out.
"Quit shoving, fox! I'm coming. Just… just give me a second."
Kurama turned back to Kuwabara. "You best go get the rest of your costume on. Where's Yusuke?"
"He's upstairs changing. He still didn't say what he's going as, though. I'll bring him down with me. You guys can come in if you want to."
"Thank you, but we'll be alright out here for a while." Kurama said. Kuwabara started up the stairs, leaving the door open for the others.
Kuwabara walked into his room. Yusuke stood fixing his collar in the mirror.
"Urameshi! Why are you wearing my clothes?"
Yusuke smirked, not turning around. "Because I'm going as the weirdest thing I can think of: you." Kuwabara started to get red with anger. Yusuke turned. "Hey, you're the one who wanted to go trick-or-treating so don't complain."
Kuwabara grumbled something inaudible and put on his black jacket and pants. He ran his fingers through his newly black hair. It was a temporary dye that his sister had done for him only an hour ago. "Well, come on then."
Yusuke started after him, putting on the red headed wig he had bought at the costume store.
They came down the stairs and headed for the door. Yusuke got his first look at Kurama and started to snicker. Yusuke slipped on his regular and put his hands in his pockets. Kuwabara, on the other hand, had bought platform black shoes that made him even taller than usual.
Kuwabara stood in the doorway, towering over his friends, and asked, "So where's the runt?"
"What did you say?" Hiei yelled from the bush.
"Coward."
"Baka ningen!"
"Hiei, come on out. We're going soon." Kurama offered. "It's only for a few hours."
Hiei sighed. He slowly stepped out of the bush.
The two humans couldn't stop themselves from laughing. There, in front of them, stood a fluffy, plush Winnie the Pooh Hiei. His face was surrounded by Pooh's smiling mouth with his nose sitting just low enough to cover his Jagan Eye. The costume was stuffed with fluff (couldn't resist) making Hiei look like a giant (very angry) stuffed animal.
Kuwabara wiped a small tear from his eye, trying not to smear his green make up, as the boys settled down.
"Well, this was totally worth it." Yusuke said catching his breath. "I'm walking down the street with Frankenstein, a plant chick-"
"Poison Ivy, Yusuke."
"Right, right." He nodded. "Frankenstein, Poison Ivy, (Kurama smiled) and Pooh bear. This is going to be great."
Just then, a mysterious figure appeared in front of the boys. They stared as the figure came into view. It was almost close enough to see when it spoke.
"Hello boys!"
"Kanagawa? What are you doing here?" Kurama asked as she came closer. She was wearing a Misa costume, though, her dress was longer and not quite as revealing. Lets face it, nothing's scarier than a fangirl!
"I felt like it was time for me to get into the story! Plus, I really wanted to hug Hiei."
"Back off." Hiei said, holding up his rounded paw-hands.
Kanagawa frowned, pulled out her laptop, and began to write.
Hiei started toward Kanagawa to give her a big hug.
"STOP THAT!" Hiei yelled. She typed again.
Hiei tripped over a rock, falling on his stomach. He was so stuffed in the costume that he couldn't get up.
"Very funny Ms. Author. Very funny." Hiei said facedown. He tried his best to get up but ended up only flailing on the ground. Kuwabara laughed. Kanagawa put away her laptop.
"Can we go then?" Yusuke said pulling Hiei to his feet. "I don't want to be walking around forever. These clothes smell awful."
"Nobody made you wear them." Kuwabara shrugged. "Besides, Urameshi, when was the lat time you went trick-or-treating?"
"Not since I was a kid" he admitted, "mom told me I got to old."
"For free candy?" Kuwabara shouted in disbelief. "Never too old!" He threw back his head in a triumphant laugh.
"Truth be told," Kurama said, "I haven't been out on Halloween since I was a child either."
"Yes, this" Hiei fumbled over the words, "'Trek- of- treating' is most unusual."
"Not really Hiei," Kanagawa step in, "It's actually what humans do every year."
"Yeah," Yusuke added with an evil grin. "Though, after about thirteen we usually cut out the treat part."
"Hm?" Hiei tilted his head in curiosity. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, I used to go egg Mr. Iwagoto's house. That was always fun." Yusuke giggled at the memory of his teacher's shouts and threats against him.
"Hiei," Kanagawa tried, "basically, we're going to go knock on doors, yell 'Trick-or-Treat!' and people with give us candy. And if they don't give us anything, or anything good, we get 'em back!" She pulled a roll of toilet paper from her bag and smiled. Kurama shot her a look that said 'don't teach him that'.
Hiei was still confused. Kanagawa said, "Just follow us, you'll get it." And began the march off to the first house. The others followed behind her.
They came to a house. Kanagawa turned to Kuwabara. "Why don't you show him how it's done?" He grinned. He started up the walkway.
"Ok, Hiei," Kurama said to his fluffy friend, "watch this."
Kuwabara rang the doorbell and an older woman opened the door and held out a bowl. He grabbed a handful, thanked her and bowed, and headed back to his friends.
Kurama took a piece of candy corn from him. "Here, try it!" he handed the candy to Hiei's paw. He popped it into his mouth, chewed a second and swallowed. The others leaned toward him for a result.
He smiled. It was good. The group sighed with relief.
Then, his eyes got wide, his smile got bigger, and he started to shake.
Kurama look at him for a moment before realizing what he had just done.
"GET BACK!" He yelled. The other three jumped behind a bush and looked over the top for a better look. Kurama threw up a thin wall of vines between him and his friend. Enough to keep him safe but still let him see through them.
In a small explosion, Hiei sprung up into the air, giggling like a mad man, leaving a small crater where he had been standing. He began bouncing from tree to tree, rooftop to rooftop, all up and down the street. The others strained to keep an eye on him, but it was useless. The only way they could find him was by the manic laughter coming from where ever he was at the time.
He finally bounced back to where he started, making a second crater next to the first.
"What was THAT?" Hiei asked Kurama. He was still grinning and wide-eyed.
Kurama laughed. "That's what we dress up for," He explained, "we knock on doors and get that."
"I. Want. MORE!" Hiei's voice sounded ravage. Kanagawa poked her head out of the bush.
"Is it safe?" She asked.
Kurama chuckled. "Yes, everything's fine. He's just never had candy before. A demon's taste sense, like all their other senses, is extremely sensitive."
Kuwabara stepped forward first. He smiled. He had an idea. "Okay, runt, you want more?"
Hiei looked at him with a half-insane stare. His eyes gleamed with desire and wonder.
~5 Minutes Later~
Hiei was a blur as he raced from house to house. Each was greeted by a cute, big-eyed little boy in a Winnie the Pooh costume, smiling sweetly and holding a pillowcase in his yellow paws. He said in his cutest voice "Twick-or-Tweet!"
The other four struggled to keep up with him. To anybody else, he just looked like a little kid coming to the door. But as soon as the door was shut, he'd dash to the next house faster than they could blink.
"Slow down, Hiei!" Kurama shouted once, "I can run well in these boots!" Hiei had ignored him and just kept going.
Finally, a young couple refused to give Hiei anything and shut the door on him. He hadn't had any more candy since that first piece of candy corn so he had calmed down, but that didn't mean that he didn't remember what it was like to eat it. He dashed back to the panting group.
"They refused." Hiei said calmly.
"Well- hang on-" Kanagawa gasped. Hiei waited patiently as the group caught their breath. After a moment, she stood up straight with a determined look on her face. "Boys, someone just asked for it." Yusuke and Kuwabara smiled.
Kuwabara turned to Yusuke, "I like having this girl in here!" he said with a small laugh. Yusuke hated to admit it, but it did seem like trick-or-treating was a good idea after all.
As she pulled out toilet paper rolls and a carton of eggs out of her bag, Kanagawa explained what to do.
~One Trick Later~
Satisfied with their work, the five, loaded down with candy bags, headed back to Kuwabara's house. It wasn't a far walk from where they were, but Hiei's running had worn the others out. Yusuke carried two bags, Kurama carried two, and Hiei carried Kuwabara. The platforms hurt his feet and Hiei refused to wait for him to catch his breath.
They went through the door, removed their shoes, and walked into the living room. While the others dumped the candy out on the floor, Hiei dumped Kuwabara on the couch.
"Hiei," Kurama said cautiously, "I think I should pick out your candy."
Hiei raised one eyebrow. "Why?"
Kurama chose his words carefully. "Because I know what you'd like." He finally said.
"Hm." Hiei agreed. He sat back in a chair, crossed his arms over his big belly and closed his eyes.
Kuwabara, Yusuke, Kanagawa, and Kurama took their picks from the candy pile. Kurama took out all the pixie sticks, smarties, and all the other things that were pure sugar, and gave them to the others to split in the "Not for Hiei" pile. Kanagawa took most of the pixie sticks.
Hiei didn't get short changed though. He got a mass of gummy bears, chocolates, lollipops, and some other miscellaneous things. He loved all of it, but his favorite was the candy corn.
"Well," Hiei said, popping a green gummy bear into his mouth, "This was an interesting night."
"I'll say" Kuwabara added, "You did alright, tiny."
Hiei smiled at him. He was too full of sugar and joy to care. He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, lacing his fingers together over his round Pooh bear belly. For a moment, he looked like an innocent little boy. Pieces of his black hair hung down in his face from under the costume's head. His smile completed the whole picture, making him look totally at peace.
Kurama sighed. "Mind if we just stay here for the night? I don't think he's going anywhere." He gestured to the little demon in the arm chair.
"Yeah, sure." Kuwabara said, "Urameshi, you staying too?"
Yusuke shrugged. "I guess. Whatever."
"Kanagawa?" Kuwabara offered. She smiled, but shook her head.
"Sorry guys, but I should be getting back. But don't worry," she said giving the others a wink, "you'll see me again."
They smiled. A faint light began to glow around her. She closed her eyes and then she was gone.
As Kurama helped Kuwabara set things up for his new guests, Yusuke, still on the floor, leaned back against the couch. He smirked. He was glad he'd gone out tonight.
He lit a cigarette. But, when the other two came back with some pillows and blankets, he put it out and wrapped himself in a small quilt Kuwabara had brought.
"Hey," Hiei said, not opening his eyes, "can we do this again?"
Kurama smiled, settling himself in. "Next year, Hiei." He closed his eyes.
"Next year."
Author's note: Hey everybody! I guess I should tell you how this idea got into my head. I was sitting in my room the other day when my little brother came in to show me his Halloween costume. My little brother is going to be Winnie the Pooh. It took me all of three seconds to picture Hiei in that costume. You'll also notice that I used the word "fluff" a lot. That's because, well, that's what it is! It's like pure fluff. Anyway, the rest just kinda came along with it. I thought it'd be fun to actually put Kurama in a dress since everyone thinks he's a girl at first, and Poison Ivy just seemed like a good fit for our favorite plant demon. But I'm sure I'm beginning babble. Hope you enjoyed it! Happy Halloween!
