A/N: This is a collection of four stories about my first ever Borrower stories. I first wrote them on deviantART for some contests, but I decided to publish them here as well! Besides, I'm quite proud of them!

The Borrowers belong to Mary Norton, but the characters here are mine! Please do not steal them!

Also, Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. You'll find out why in a moment.


A Hallowed Evening Encounter

"I gotta hurry up if I'm going to make it in time!" Luke said to himself as he ran through the forest. The boy was going to be late for his best friend Kyle's Halloween party, and he wanted to show off his new and fully detailed Dark Magician costume. It took him half a month to make the costume itself, plus an extra three days to make the staff. But at the end, he looked like Kazuki Takahashi himself made that suit. That's why he was cautious about running through the forest with his one-of-a-kind costume. He wrote down the methods he used to make it, but he knew that no one can ever perfectly remake a great costume like his.

As he dashed down the path he had cut for himself years ago, he heard a small shriek, which was unlike anything he'd ever heard before. He stopped suddenly, and looked around to see who had yelled. He was sure that he had heard a girl scream, but it was very quiet. That meant either she was very far away, or she was just naturally quiet. Just then, he heard an owl hoot that sounded very close, and he looked up to see a large peppered gray bird flying through the sky, holding something small in its talons. At first glance, he thought it was a mouse, but then he saw that the creature looked human. When he saw the thing struggling to get free, he threw his staff up at the horned owl, knocking the small being from its grasp. As they both fell he caught the staff with his left hand, and the right hand swooped his hat off his head and caught the small animal.

Unluckily for him, the owl would not let its prey fall so quickly, and swooped down to attack the boy. Luckily for him and his new rescue, he swung his staff so that the top of it collided with the owl, and it flew off, not injured but not interested in its prey anymore. Once Luke stopped panting, he took a peek inside his hat to see just what the owl had tried to make off with. What he saw was something he only imagined.

There was a teenage girl in his hat. She looked like a perfectly proportioned human, albeit she was only four and a half inches tall. Her blonde hair was done in a slim yet long braid, she had glistening emerald eyes, and she had on a long black dress with matching high heeled boots. She looked like she borrowed the clothes from a Halloween Barbie doll. The thought of borrowing made him realize who this girl was.

"You're a Borrower," he said breathlessly. She kept staring at him, though not out of fear as he thought. She looked like she was more amazed by his face than his size. Luke's jet black hair, now loosened by the removal of his hat, hung over his face cleanly, and his jaded green eyes, which matched his costume and were his true color, were fixed on his new find like the most valuable thing in the world.

"I am," she said. "Thank you for saving me. I thought I was going to be that owl's supper, or even his chicks' supper."

"Uh, you're welcome," he replied. "If I may ask, what were you doing out here?"

"I was out trick-or-treating with some friends," she replied, "and I got lost in this forest. When I finally got my bearings again, that owl hooted out at me, and then I screamed as he dive-bombed at me."

"Borrowers do trick-or treating?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm actually wearing my costume now! What do you think?" She turned around inside his hat so that he could get a good look at the costume.

"That's a really good piece of work," he said. "Did you make that yourself?"

"Mm-hmm!" she nodded, smiling. "I could say the same thing with your costume as well! You look like you came straight out of the card!"

"You know about Yu-Gi-Oh?" I asked, startled.

"My friends borrowed some manga volumes," she said. "They were from a used bookshop and they paid for them secretly with human money."

"Er, would you like to come out of there?" Luke asked. "I can't imagine it being all that great in my hat."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," she said, looking around. "Sure, but please be gentle, okay?"

Luke nodded, and slowly stuck his hand inside his hat. After a while, he felt the girl's tiny hands clasp onto his fingers, and she hauled herself into his palm. She tapped on his thumb to signal that she was ready, and he lifted her out of his hat, using his free hand to place his hat back on his head. He then stared at the impossibly small girl in his hand for a long time. After a minute or two of silence, Luke just had to get something off of his chest.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" he asked. "I thought Borrowers were scared to death of being seen."

"Most of us are," she shrugged, "but I just learn to live with the chance and accept it when it comes."

"Wow," he said. "You're not like I expected you to be. I'm Luke, by the way."

"My name's Seras," she said, shaking his index finger in a handshake-like manner. "Nice to meet you."

"Same here," he said. "Oh, do you know where you got here from? I could take you there before my Halloween party. I'm going to be late anyway, so why not be late when I'm helping someone?"

"Hold on," she said. "Why can't I come to this party?"

"You?" he gasped, shaken that she even suggested this.

"Yeah," she said. "My parents don't mind me being out late. In fact, I'm quite independent. I am 18 after all."

"You're 18?" Luke said. "You're lucky. I'm only 15. My parents are cool too, though. Well, at least my mom is."

"Well, this could be interesting," she said.

"But why would you want to go to a party where there will be many humans?" he asked. "Aren't you worried that someone will see you?"

"I don't have to be if I'm in your costume," she said. "Watch. Place me on your shoulder."

Reluctantly, Luke moved his hand with Seras on it to his left shoulder, and she jumped onto it, and he felt her jump into the front molding of his costume.

"How's this for a great idea?" she asked. "I stay here free from prying eyes, and you party to your heart's content!"

He couldn't help but smile. "Okay, let's give it a chance."

With that, he walked off down the road to Kyle's house, his heart feeling lighter than ever. Not only because of his new friend, but because they were doing something together even though they were vastly different. And even though he wouldn't admit it to her face, he thought from the moment he saw her that she was unbelievably cute.


A/N: I wrote this for Halloween last year (no duh), and someone I respect on dA actually drew a commission of these two! I'd write it here, but it won't work here for some crappy reason.

-JeremyX singing off!