Trick or Treat Mystery
Halloween night covered the Akatsuka ward in Tokyo and the children did their annual ritual of trick-or-treating. For this, the three youngest Matsuno brothers decided to trek the night on their own. Ichimatsu, the fourth son, dressed up as a cat, simple and purple. Jyushimatsu, the fifth son, used toilet paper to clumsily wrap up himself as a mummy. And Todomatsu, the sixth and youngest son, donned a witch costume because he thought it was a cute idea for someone as cute as he was.
And yet, despite how cute he looked, Todomatsu couldn't help but be a little annoyed. It was the first time the three had been without their older brothers or their parents, so it didn't feel quite right.
"Eh, I can't believe our three older brothers didn't want to come with us," Todomatsu whined. He wanted to enjoy this night of tricks and treats with all five of his big brothers.
Ichimatsu slumped over and was quiet while Jyushimatsu carried his and Todomatsu's bag. The bags had a good amount of candy in them already but, naturally, the kids could always use more candy. Neither of them said a word in response to Todomatsu's statement. He seemed to expect it from the two – Ichimatsu had started to become gloomier lately and it's sometimes really hard to have a conversation with Jyushimatsu when he always had sports on the mind. Instead, the youngest wanted to try a different approach.
"Oh," he stopped the trio and pointed towards a mansion which seemed to rest on a really tall hill. "Look! It's the famous Dekapan Mansion!"
"Eh?" The gloomy Ichimatsu finally responded as the two looked up. "How is it famous? I never heard of it."
"Yeah, Todomatsu!" chirped Jyushimatsu.
"Will you listen?" Todomatsu whined. "Give me a chance to tell you!"
He cleared his throat. "They say there lived a mad scientist named Dekapan who did creepy experiments! They say that one night, on Halloween night, he was working on an experiment –"
"What experiment was that?" Ichimatsu suddenly interjected. The images of a spooky mad scientist were conjured up with Todomatsu's words and his attempt to scare his older brothers. "I'm a little confused. How did the housing association let him get away with it? Didn't he need a permit for that?"
"Will you just let me finish?! This was the old days, Ichimatsu! Back then, they didn't have housing associations! He did it without a permit! They didn't care! Will you stop interrupting me?!" He shouted in the darkness. Ichimatsu remained silent and Jyushimatsu laughed.
"Yeah, Todomatsu!" he simply repeated himself. Todomatsu ignored him and continued his story.
"Anyway! Let me finish the story, big brothers!" Once he was sure the one dressed as a cat was silent and didn't seem to have any more objections, the youngest continued with his story.
Once more, he cleared his throat. "He wanted to bring his dead friend back from the dead. Apparently, before he died, the two of them used to travel together but the friend died before."
"How?" Ichimatsu asked, casually, once again interrupting the stories.
"I don't know how! I just know that he had a friend who died! And that they used to travel with each other!" And yet again, Todomatsu cleared his throat and spoke louder whenever Ichimatsu would try to interject again. At this point, he didn't want to explain anymore things than he wanted to – he had grown annoyed at how his older brother always interjected and asked inane questions when it didn't make sense. However, he had a story to tell. He had two big brothers to try and creep out.
After his outburst, though, besides the noises from the other children around them, it was quiet between the brothers. When he was sure his big brother wouldn't say anything anymore, he continued.
"His friend died…" he tried to make his tone sound scary and waited for their reactions. The brothers still didn't respond. Once Todomatsu realized he could finally tell his story without interruption, he continued.
"The scientist was so lonely and weird. He couldn't find another friend to live with him. He was a strange scientist who wore big underpants and could pull anything out of his pants—"
"Eh, wouldn't he be arrested for indecent exposure?" It was his older brother Jyushimatsu this time who interrupted him.
Todomatsu had gotten so annoyed that he yelled and grabbed the two's hands. "Just come with me! The house is haunted! Let's have an adventure without our other old brothers!"
As the two were dragged towards the haunted home, Ichimatsu finally spoke again. "Ah, you should've said so in the first place then."
Todomatsu sputtered in annoyance but chose not to answer that in the end. Very soon, the trio of costumed children made their way inside the abandoned home. Once they were in, it almost seemed that the moon hid from them. It was extremely dark inside and covered with spiderwebs and cobwebs. Most children would've been scared to enter the empty, possibly haunted, house and less would even dare to come in as a test of courage.
However, as the children made their way further and further into the house, somehow, the three had parted their own ways inside the house. It wasn't until a cold, late autumn wind blew and coated the young Todomatsu that he realized that he was alone. Even with the limited range his flashlight gave, Todomatsu could feel himself getting scared and worried about where his big brothers went.
Did they abandon them? Did they walk in with him and left?
Did the Dekapan Ghost get them?
Thoughts of darkness and horror only a small child could brew up in the darkness as he wandered with only a toy broom, the flashlight, and a bag half full of candy. He imagined what the Dekapan Ghost would look like – a horrifying old man who was skinny and wore his underpants in public. Eventually, he heard some creaks and groans of the old house that made him decide to turn around and go home. He would eventually apologize to them for leaving them behind, but he couldn't deal with this anymore.
He was scared.
Originally, he wanted to scare his brothers but really… it was a test of courage for himself. And he failed it. He didn't want to be brave. He had five big brothers to take care of him. And yet he couldn't help but somewhat bitter about being alone in this spooky house.
Once he started to think that, though, he thought he heard his name being called and it surprised him. He jumped slightly and held on to his belongings.
"Todomatsu!"
"Wh-wh-w-w-w-who's there?" He flashed his flashlight behind him and saw that it was Ichimatsu and Jyushimatsu. They still carried their own flashlights and their own candy bags, but they seem more relieved to see the youngest Matsuno.
Once it had registered it was them, he sighed and relaxed. He ran to Jyushimatsu and cried into the toilet paper that still clung to them. They both had worried expressions on their faces, but their relief was short lived when they saw something not of this earth.
A strange noise occurred and it seemed to have come from above them. They all turned above them and saw a specter of an overweight man who was balding and an oversized pair of underpants.
However, once the children realized what it is, they immediately relaxed.
"Get out of my house!" the ghost demanded.
It took a moment but eventually the three kids start laughing. It was clear that they weren't going to take him seriously. The ghost tried once again to spook the kids but eventually they ignored them and started to leave.
There wasn't anything scarier than what Todomatsu had experienced.
"Let's go this way then, big brothers!" Todomatsu pointed towards a direction and the two others followed him outside. The kids followed the direction and the ghost groaned in defeat as they left.
However, once they made out the door, that was when they jumped back. Three other kids who were dressed up as a vampire, a ghost, and Frankenstein's monster. They both yelled out "Trick-or-treat!" and stuck their pillowcases that was also filled up with candy.
They heard a scream behind them – as they just were surprised – and turned around to see the ghost had followed him and was about to try to scare him. Apparently, he had feared the three kids in front of them but once they looked back, they realized it was their three older brothers – Osomatsu, Karamatsu, and Choromatsu!
"What are you doing here?" Choromatsu asked once they recognized their younger brothers.
"Nothing!" Todomatsu had grabbed the other two and smiled brightly at them – completing setting aside any newly developed fears or anything; only because he had his big brothers there to take care of them.