Author's Note: In honor of Halloween, I give to you all this fic, the first Dictatorial Grimoire story on here! At least I think it's the first one…if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me, LOL. :P Read on, and I hope you enjoy this drabble!

This is Halloween

"Okay, so everyone is clear on the rules?"

Sitting as they were around the low table in his living room, Otogi Grimm's serious question was met with equally serious nods from his two friends, Hiyori Hatsushiba and Sorimachi Yuma.

It had started when Hatsushiba had asked them what they would be wearing to the Halloween party at school the next day, Otogi remembered. He mentally winced as he recalled that both he and Sorimachi had spent the next five minutes floundering both literally and figuratively for an answer. He felt better about having completely forgotten about Halloween after seeing the panicked look on Sorimachi's face that assured him that the other boy was in the same boat as him as far as having a costume went. Hatsushiba had blinked at them innocently before telling them that she hadn't decided on a costume either and declaring that something had to be done about their lack of costumes.

The reddish-brown-haired girl had decided that they would all meet up at Otogi's house after school to think of ideas, Sorimachi just going along with the idea and Otogi not having much of a say in the matter. The descendant of the Grimm brothers had spent the remaining school periods trying to multi-task paying attention to the teachers and thinking up options for his costume (he didn't want to be the only one at the party who hadn't dressed up – he'd never hear the end of it). His attempt to do two things at once hadn't worked all that well, aside from the vague thought that he could dress up as the chemistry professor and likely scare everyone else at school…

However, that idea had gotten tossed out the proverbial window by the time the three of them had actually got to his house, leaving him with officially zero costume ideas. He was reassured by the fact that Sorimachi admitted to him in a whisper that he hadn't thought of anything either, but not by much. It was the day before Halloween after all, and if they didn't have any ideas, then they wouldn't even be able to begin getting their costumes ready. Both he and Sorimachi had actually sighed in unison, while Hatsushiba had remained determinedly optimistic that they would think of something.

She hadn't been exactly right, but after several hours of useless brainstorming, Sorimachi's off-hand question about where Cinderella was (the answer: in the basement scrubbing it from top to bottom. Otogi didn't know why, it wasn't like they ever used it) had sparked their current plan: a game of chance.

It was deceptively simple, and heavily influenced by the blond teen's heritage, though Otogi had managed to refrain from commenting about it. They would each write down the names of various fairytale characters on slips of paper, two from each of them, and the three of them weren't allowed to tell who they'd written on their pieces of paper. They would put the slips of paper, folded so the names on them couldn't be seen, into a hat, shake the hat to mix up the pieces of paper, and finally they would each pull out a piece of paper. They would then have to go to the school Halloween party dressed as the character they'd drawn from the hat, and they weren't allowed to tell anyone who they'd drawn. They also weren't allowed to ask for help with their costumes, on the off chance that they drew the name of one of the Marchen demons staying at Otogi's house.

The three of them stared intently down at the top hat (found in the very back of one of the closets they had rummaged through searching for a hat) sitting in the center of the table, their attention focused on the slips of white paper just visible inside the hat. Otogi moved first, reaching out and picking up the hat before shaking it firmly to mix up those seemingly innocent pieces of paper. Once the papers had been thoroughly mixed up, the hat was placed back in the center of the table, and it was Sorimachi's turn to move.

Sitting cross-legged to the right of Otogi, the black-haired teen swallowed nervously, taking a deep breath to steel his nerves before reaching into the hat. Closing his eyes and crossing the fingers of his free hand, mentally praying that he wouldn't draw a specific name if it had been written down, he picked up a slip of paper and withdrew his hand from the hat. Without looking at it, Sorimachi hid his hand, paper and all, beneath the table and nodded to Hatsushiba, silently telling her that it was her turn to pick.

Hatsushiba straightened up, tightening her hands briefly on her knees before she leaned forward, closing her brownish-green eyes as she reached a hand into the hat. Pulling out the first paper she touched, she opened her eyes and followed Sorimachi's lead by not looking at it as she said, "Your turn, Otogi-kun!" and the addressed blond teen nodded seriously.

Rubbing his hands together nervously, Otogi mentally prayed that he wouldn't pull out one of the names that he'd written down – he had honestly been joking when he'd written the second one!

Taking a deep breath, the Grimm brothers' descendant decided to just get it over with and darted out a hand to grab the first paper he felt inside the hat. And now that all of them had a piece of paper, they all looked at each other, serious expressions back on their faces as they hid their slips behind one hand as the three of them looked at the names on their pieces of paper. The reactions varied: Otogi shrugged and had an indifferent look on his face, thinking that it could have been a lot worse, Hatsushiba furrowed her brow thoughtfully as she stared at her paper, and Sorimachi groaned like he was in pain and fell forward until his head hit the table-top.

Obviously Sorimachi's crossed fingers hadn't done anything to give him a favorable outcome, and Otogi couldn't help wondering what the other boy had to dress up as…

Shaking his head slightly and thinking, 'Eh, I'll find out tomorrow,' Otogi said, "Okay, now that we all have our costumes, we should probably get to work on putting them together. I'll see you tomorrow, and remember, don't tell anyone what you're going as, alright?"

Hatsushiba and Sorimachi nodded, and the brunette chirped out, "Okay, Otogi-kun. See you tomorrow!" with the black-haired boy echoed that farewell, both of them smiling even as Sorimachi shot a venomous look at the paper he was still holding. Taking their papers with them, Hatsushiba and Sorimachi waved as they exited the house, and Otogi smiled slightly as he waved back – with the hand not holding his own piece of paper. When his schoolmates were out of sight, his expression changed to a thoughtful one, and looking down at the name on his paper, he couldn't help wondering how he was going to put together that costume on such short notice. He certainly had his work cut out for him, and not just with cleaning up after the costume-selection game, which really only entailed disposing of the paper still in the hat and putting the hat back where he'd found it.

As it turned out, one of those problems was already taken care of when he got back to the living room. Cinderella, it seemed, had finished cleaning the basement and was in the process of putting the top hat back into the closet when Otogi entered the room. Thankfully, it didn't seem like the silver-haired man had read any of the papers that had been in the hat, not that it would have been a big deal if he had, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Ah, Domine*. Is there a problem?" Cinderella asked, seeing the slightly pensive look on his master's face. With the kerchief over his head and his usual outfit, including of course his glass slippers, the seemingly twenty-one year-old demon looked like possibly the most unusual maid in history, Otogi thought.

"No, just something for school that's giving me trouble," And wasn't that the truth, the blond teen thought with a sigh. He discreetly slipped the paper he was holding into his pocket, already going over what he'd have to do to put together his costume.

"Will you require assistance, Domine?" Cinderella asked, silver eyes blinking innocently as he plugged in the vacuum, and Otogi just shook his head in the negative. It was against the rules that he and his friends had decided on, after all, to ask for help in getting their costumes ready, not to mention that Marchen demon rule, so the silver-gray haired man's help was definitely out. Cinderella went back to cleaning – not that the living room really needed it – and Otogi quickly went to the room he'd claimed as his bedroom to start work on the list of things he'd need to create his costume.

Passing Bremen, the odd donkey with the curled dog's tail, chicken wings, and tendency to mew or woof while talking that was the first Marchen demon he'd defeated, sleeping on one of the small couches scattered around the mansion on his way, his lips quirked up in a slight grin. Otogi patted the sleeping donkey-demon's head once as he passed by, the small creature not stirring even an inch at the touch.

The descendant of the Grimms had to admit, he'd gotten attached to the donkey(?), and not just because the Bremen Town Musicians had saved him more than once. Honestly, he was getting to the point where he cared about Bremen almost as much as he was starting to care about Cinder-...He cut that thought off before it could finish, shaking his head frantically to get his mind back on Halloween and how he was going to create the costume he had drawn in just a day (and barely a day, at that). He got to his room without further incident and proceeded to get to work, finding paper, a pen, and erasers.

Several hours, five paper-cuts, and three instances of using words that his mother would have been horrified to learn he knew, Otogi had a rough outline over what he would have to do to get together a working costume. A quick check of the nearest clock revealed that it was almost 6 o'clock, which meant that the stores he needed to visit would still be open. Standing and stretching before grabbing the Grimoire**, his wallet, and heading out towards the front door, hoping to get to the stores he needed to visit before they got too busy.

He let Cinderella know he was going out to get some things from some stores, ordering the man to guard the house while he was gone (emphasized by tugging on a long lock of silver hair in a way that was honestly more affectionate than anything, though Otogi would forever deny it if it were pointed out). In what seemed like no time at all, he was on his way to his first stop: the costume shops that had appeared in town at the start of the month.

The first few shops were a bust, not only because they didn't have any of what he was looking for, but also because they were packed to the brim with people scrambling for last minute costumes, just like him. The shops after that were a bit better, and he managed to get some of the pieces he needed for his own costume. By the eighth shop, however, he was starting to feel a bit frazzled, because seriously, how hard was it to find the parts for one outfit that he was probably only going to wear for one night? It wasn't like he was putting together a whole new wardrobe!

Apparently it was a lot harder than he'd thought, because he wound up visiting ten stores before he had everything that he needed, and the sun was setting by the time he trudged wearily back to his house. He ignored the vague mutters about the 'haunted house' with practiced ease (he just didn't have the energy to get annoyed about it right now) and he made it home without incident. Calling out a distracted, "I'm home," Otogi shifted the plain bags he was holding as he made a beeline for the stairs that lead up to his room.

He was greeted by Cinderella at the top of the stairs, and the long-haired demon smiled as he bowed and said, "Welcome home, Domine," before promptly relieving Otogi of several bags that threatened to fall out of his arms. The young blond nearly had a panic-attack at the sudden movement, but the demon seemed to have no interest in what was in the bags as they set them down on Otogi's bed. Muttering a quick 'thanks' to Cinderella, who said his usual line of asking to be cursed out instead, and the young Grimm descendant responded habitually with his mutter of Cinderella being a seriously creepy guy.

Once the demon had left the room to return to cleaning the kitchen (Otogi didn't know why, he was pretty sure Cinderella had cleaned it thoroughly just four days ago), the teen got to work on assembling his costume. He would think of a way to get it to school and change into it without anyone seeing after he got it put together, he decided with a resigned sigh as he looked at the collected pieces of costume spread out across his bed.

He idly wondered if Hatsushiba and Sorimachi were having as hard a time as he was…

The next day, Otogi was yawning widely, a drop of moisture gathering at the corner of one eye as they reflexively squeezed shut, and when he opened them he saw that Sorimachi and Hatsushiba weren't looking any better than he was. The black-haired teen even had faint bags under his eyes, showing a notable lack of sleep along with his quickly-blinking eyes and barely stifled yawns. Hatsushiba, on the other hand, looked well-rested and excited for the party that afternoon. School had been canceled that day so the faculty could prepare and decorate for the party, so they had the whole day to relax together and talk.

The three friends had met up in the same café that they had studied in right before that thing with Puss in Boots*** had happened. The place was associated with some painful memories for Otogi and guilty ones for Sorimachi, but it was also the first place that the three of them had been together as friends, so in their minds the good outweighed the bad. The café had been decorated for Halloween and the walls and ceiling boasted fake spider-webs, and rubber bats and spiders were clinging to the webs and hung from wires on the ceiling. The servers were all wearing black and orange, and some of them even had face-paint on so that they looked like tigers.

After getting breakfast, the subject of their progress in putting together their costumes came up, and Sorimachi had turned bright red as he mumbled that his was finished, Otogi calmly adding that his was done as well (and he was really getting curious about what Sorimachi had ended up having to dress as). Hatsushiba had happily held up the bulging bag at her feet – evidently she had brought her costume with her – before smiling and clapping as she said, "This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to see who you two are going to be dressed as!"

Otogi and Hatsushiba were then treated to sight of Sorimachi choking on his drink as his face darkened, whether because of the coke going down the wrong pipe or from embarrassment, neither one of them could tell. Green eyes darting over to meet the brownish-green ones of the girl sitting next to him, Otogi saw the same curiosity he felt reflected in her eyes as they both wondered, 'what in the world is he going to dress as?!'

Whatever it was, they were both looking forward to seeing him at the Halloween party, and Otogi wasn't even feeling unsure about his own costume anymore. After all, it couldn't be more embarrassing than Sorimachi's apparently was, could it?

The blond hid his smile behind his glass of iced tea, and he felt Hatsushiba's shoulders tremble as she stifled her giggles by stuffing the rest of her French fries into her mouth. Oh yeah, the party was bound to be fun…even if Sorimachi turned out to be serious about following through with his muttered threat of forcing them to try the bobbing for apples game.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by in a flash, and before Otogi knew it, he was slipping into the boys' locker-room to change into his costume, hugging the bag containing both the outfit and the Grimoire (hey, you never know when a demon might attack) to his chest as he glanced around cautiously. The party was being held in the gymnasium and most of the students and teachers had changed into their costumes before arriving, so the locker-room was deserted and the perfect place for him to change. He didn't know where Sorimachi had gone to get dressed in his costume, but considering the rule about no one seeing each others' costumes until the last minute when they all went in, that was probably for the best.

Otogi took a deep breath and held it as he slid the main part of his costume over his head, quickly sliding his arms through the bell-sleeves and tying up the white laces on the front to tighten it. It was a little hard to move, and he kept wobbling as he put on the shoes he had selected to go with the outfit, but overall he thought he'd done a pretty good job of getting everything where it was supposed to go. He shrugged on the finishing touch, slid the Grimoire into an inner pocket and checked to make sure it wasn't obvious, and then straightened up to put his regular clothes into his locker for after the party.

It was test of balance getting to the side door of the gymnasium, but if those swordsmanship lessons with Cinderella had done anything, it was help him practice his balance and teach him to take a fall. He only stumbled twice on the way there, which considering his footwear he thought quite an accomplishment. The Halloween Bash, as the flyers advertising it had called it, was scheduled to start at 7 o'clock and end at midnight, and Otogi got to the side door at 7:10, a few minutes after Hatsushiba.

Honoring their agreement, neither Otogi nor Hatsushiba looked at each other as they waited for the third and final member of their group even though Otogi had to fight the urge to peek at the brunette girl's costume and Hatsushiba was practically vibrating with curiosity.

They heard Sorimachi before they saw him, and what they heard was Sorimachi saying some very impolite things about leather and yelping in pain right after. The tall teen's footsteps ended right behind the two already at the door along with the cursing, and both Otogi and Hatsushiba could practically feel the rage emanating from Sorimachi. Finally, the moment of truth had arrived, and the blond boy and brown-haired girl silently pushed open the side door and the three of them stepped into the gymnasium. 'Monster Mash' was playing as the three friends entered the party, and they promptly looked to see what each of their costumes was.

Otogi's eyes landed on Hatsushiba first, and he blinked in shock as his eyes took in first the bright red coat she was wearing, and then landed on the white belly-shirt and red pants beneath that eye-catching coat. She had an eye-patch over her left eye and a leather band around her left bicep. In addition to the plastic gun at her hips and the fake rifle holstered on her back, who she was dressed as was obvious – she had duplicated Red Riding Hood's actual clothes almost exactly. How she'd managed to find a coat that exact shade of red that looked so much like Red Riding Hood's coat and boots in her size on such short notice, Otogi had no idea. She had even replicated the gun-slinging demon's tattoo with black body-paint! The Grimm descendant was impressed.

But it was Sorimachi's costume that made Otogi bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing: the class rep had dressed as Snow White. The actual Snow White of the Marchen demons, not the storybook princess that fell into a deep sleep after eating a poisoned apple. Headpiece, neckpiece, corset with sleeves in the exact colors, and even the apple-shaped charm attached to the neckpiece and the black garter-belt! Fishnet stockings and small black leather shorts along with the lace-up boots, and even the long ribbons of fabric attached to the garter. Sorimachi had copied the actual Snow White's clothes almost to a T. The tall teen was even wearing blood-red lipstick and white powder to simulate the 'skin white as snow' part of Snow White's description.

Sorimachi's blush was showing even through his make-up, and he quietly growled, "Don't. Say. A word." And Otogi promptly bit his lip to do his best to keep from laughing. Sorimachi actually didn't look that bad in Snow White's outfit, Otogi noticed, but he just didn't seem to have the same air about him that the vain demon did.

"But you look really good, Sorimachi-kun!" Hatsushiba declared, attracting the attention of several other party-goers and earning a half-hearted glare from 'Snow White'. A glare that grew more intense when Otogi nodded quickly in agreement of Hatsushiba's assessment, his own cheeks turning red with the effort to restrain his laughter.

When his two friends looked at him and fell silent, however, Otogi knew that they had noticed his own costume. Two pairs of eyes looked over his white poet's shirt with its bell sleeves and ruffles around the collar, his black knee-high riding boots with three-inch heels, and the form-fitting light brown trousers. He was also wearing a royal blue vest with golden-colored embroidery along the edges and hem with two tails in the back. A fake sword was sheathed at his belt, and his buttons were polished so bright they were shining. His blond hair was combed back, and he was dressed as a storybook prince charming. When he had drawn 'Prince Charming' as his costume, he had been a bit skeptical, but looking again at Sorimachi's costume, he thought that he definitely could have picked something a lot worse.

Speaking of Sorimachi, the other boy was smirking and looking ready to make some kind of comment (likely about how his 'Gririri****' cleaned up nicely), but a pointed glance at the black-haired teen's own costume put a stop to that. Instead, Sorimachi looked at Hatsushiba and asked instead, "Hey, Hatsushiba, what's up with your costume?" with a confused look on his face. Otogi gave the girl a questioning look as well, wondering why she chose to dress like the actual Red Riding Hood.

At their questioning looks, Hatsushiba admitted sheepishly, "Um, I wasn't sure which Red Riding Hood I was supposed to dress up as – the story one or the real one, so I just picked one." She blushed, but both Sorimachi and Otogi just smiled at her kindly.

The song changed to 'This is Halloween' and the conversation soon changed to Sorimachi trying to get Otogi to try and dance in heels and then Hatsushiba ended what was fast becoming an argument by pulling them both onto the dance floor. No less than five people complimented them on their costumes within the first hour; even if they were a little confused about what they were supposed to be (Otogi's Prince Charming costume was the easiest one to guess, for some reason).

The party passed in a blur of fun and laughter, and Otogi discovered that he apparently had a talent for bobbing for apples while Sorimachi was definitely the better pumpkin carver. Hatsushiba had them both beat when it came to dancing though.

Otogi blamed the heels he was wearing.

*what Cinderella calls Otogi.

**The book of Grimm Fairytales that Otogi has to use to bind the Marchen demons trying to kill him

***I've only read the first volume, so I'm just guessing what happens after Otogi encounters Puss in Boots.

****Sorimachi's nickname for Otogi, much to the latter's displeasure.

Author's Note: That seemed like a good place to end it, and I hope you all enjoyed the one-shot! I wrote this in one day, if you can believe it…and I actually got it done in time for Halloween! O.o this isn't a very detailed work, I admit, but if enough people ask, I might post a little epilogue. I mostly just wanted to try my hand at writing something for Dictatorial Grimoire, so please review and tell me how I did!