Disclaimer: *points to chapter one* Like I'm going to spend time telling you guys that stuff that you hear in every fanfic anyway!

"Daimaou" is also a popular brand of sake. It must be pretty powerful to earn that name ^o^ (apparently, there's also a *cough* vibrator by that name, which I will not get anymore into) ANYWAY, Chapter 13 takes place on Halloween! What kind of crazy coincidence is that?!--- *goes back to reading the Piccolo striptease chapter in Dbz Chika's fanfic*

Patrick (random friend from school): *laughes his ass off* PICCOLO! DEVIL GOD OF EROTIC DANCING! *breaks out into his own rendition*

Will: O_O;;;!!! *averts eyes*

Piccylo: *not paying attention, too busy drooling over text*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I wasn't quite sure how to take Jin's words that night. I wasn't sure if I should feel some triumph since she was single or dismay because she seemed like she wanted to stay that way. And whenever such thoughts crossed my mind, I always told myself to disregard them. Even though I had rather blatantly displayed my wishes to be near her, I still tried to convince myself that I shouldn't have any feelings any deeper than friendship. After all, what could I do with a human that would probably flee if she saw how I really was anyway?"

"Aww...did you really think that she'd run from you?" Chi-Chi said with her emotional face.

I ignored her. "Anyway, I continued to avoid her. Some days I wouldn't speak to her at all. It might seem difficult if we were roommates, but she was able to tell when I wanted to be alone and wouldn't ask questions, sometimes going out herself to save me the trouble.
"Soon Autumn came and it was getting cooler. Season's changing might not sound like it should be that important to you, but you'd be surprised how much attitudes change with the scenery. One great advantage was as it got colder, so did Uwaki and her attire. Past that, there was something more important about to happen.
"Halloween was coming up. Both Jin and I were to have the day off, but Nama offered to give her a bonus if she were to come to the bar in costume that night and be a single woman that would be randomly selected to be the date in the Masquerade Dance that he had every year. She accepted since she still had so many debts.
"Mari was working that night, but Nama asked her as well. She nodded to this then started talking to Jin about her costume. Jin didn't do much more than nod. Uwaki tried to get her words in the conversation (assuming that it was a conversation) but her stories of her 'cute little Playboy bunny outfit' were completely disregarded. I had no plans that night, so I figured that it might be interesting to come in as a customer in costume."

"Let me guess. You went as yourself."

"Somewhat. It's odd that my ring, when worn reverse, only shows the super-imposed hair and beard. All the color changes and the negative illusions to hide my ears, antennae, and fangs would not exist. I went looking like this, with an outfit similar to my father's." I smirked. "Got quite a reaction."

"So, you looked exactly like how you look now except with long, black hair and a goatee?" Chi-Chi looked at me as if she was inspecting something.

"WILL YOU STOP THAT!" I screamed, knowing fully well that she was trying to picture what that looked like. Damn, she pisses me off sometimes.
"I stopped off at other places first, not really intending to go to the Red Stave Pub. I went there eventually, about 9:00 p.m., but I admit that I had a little too much opium and alcohol for such an early hour. When I went in, they were already having bachelors come up and choose a number at random to get one of the masked women in the house. As soon as he saw me, Nama bid for me to come up and pick. I was about to decline, but I remembered that he was slowly his edging his ear more and more between Jin and I lately, trying to distinguish whether or not we were a couple. So, I reached in the box and picked out a number.
"I looked at it, then Nama took it and read it aloud. '"Number 5", come up and get your man.' The crowd chuckled a bit, and a woman, completely covered in a black ninja outfit, came up and bowed to me.
"'The famous Dorai Berumotto, dressed as the infamous Piccolo Daimaou.' The figure mused in a dark, unfamiliar voice, 'Don't ask my name. I'm just a lonely mercenary woman. Let's sit down here.' She lead me to a table near a corner.
"Another man came up, dressed like the main character from a cartoon, 'Tree-gun" or something like that. He picked out a number, and Nama read it out. A nervous voice called out from the other side of the room. 'I'll be with you after my shift is over!' The girl who said it wore a blue and white cat-girl outfit, which identified her to me immediately that she was Mari. She bowed as well as she could with the trey in her hands and continued with her job. The guy who got her yelled out in a rather joyous call, 'What a lovely little pussy I got!' and he laughed rather insanely. Poor Mari has an imbecile, I thought.
"I looked around after everyone was taken, trying to decipher who was who. I couldn't really identify Jin from any of the women, and the only Playboy bunny was a disgustingly large woman with her husband. 'I thought that Shuran would be here to pick up a masked girl,' I said aloud.
"'Shuran is too busy with the Halloween party at the topless bar,' my companion replied. I nodded. Figures. Then, looking at the ninja-woman, I tried to figure out if she was Jin. She looks like she may be too small, I thought, but then again black can do that.
"'Excuse me,' Mari came up to us, speaking in the quiet tone that she always had, 'What would you two like to drink?'
"Against my better judgements, I ordered a Zombie, as did the woman. Mari bowed politely and went to Nama with the orders. I began to contemplate different events up to this point, mostly about Jin, and how to deal with them. I thought back to what she said at that club after the make- over incident, and began to doubt something. She said that she had gotten angry at Uwaki because what she brought up reminded her about her being expected to marry and settle down, but the more I thought about it, the more it didn't seem that she would get so angry over it. After all, I was sure that if Nama didn't stop her, Uwaki's blood would have been sprayed all over the bar-top, and normally Jin is very patient and uncaring about such things.
"Then I remembered something Father said. ' ...to share the world with a queen, especially one like her.' I wondered what he meant by this. Sure, Jin was stronger than she let on, but as far as I knew, she didn't have a reason to hide it. If she was as strong as he said, she'd surpass any Human woman. In fact, she would surpass any Human period. 'One like her'. I turned that over and over in my mind. Was he hinting something about her when he said this? Maybe, like me, she wasn't Human? Perhaps she was even a demon? I thought how this might relate to her anger that day, and I found a common note: her ring. If her ring had nothing to do with marriage or coupling, what did it mean? Could she have gotten it from Youba as well?
"The ninja pulled me out of my thoughts again. 'You're pretty quiet, Dorai Daimaou,' I heard her snicker to this nickname she made. 'Then again, you're always quiet. Something eating at you?'
"I shook my head. 'Just thinking about something.'
"'You sure it wasn't someone?'
"This made me pause, and almost made my heart skip a beat. 'What do you mean?'
"'A young man like you has to have his eyes on some girl, even if he enjoys being a bachelor.'
"'A bit of a pretentious remark, isn't it?'
"'Well, if you don't, you can always try a mystery box like me. You hate Uwaki, Mari's far too timid to match you, and Jin's just too cold to be a lover.'
"All these things were true. Jin was, indeed, rather cold. Like how demons usually are. Like how I am.
"'So? How about we go out for a bit after the unmasking at midnight?' she continued, 'You know, try out new directions.'
"'You're suggesting that I date someone that I'm not even quite sure who is?' I felt that shouldn't have, but I agreed.

"The night continued, and I became more and more wary of who this woman was. My skills had been dulled by the activities of the night and I wasn't quite in the most sober of senses. But as far as I could tell, this woman didn't seem to have the same build as Jin, nor did she have the limited vocabulary of Uwaki. Most of the other waitresses were easy to place as well. Who else could she be? I shuddered at the thought that she might be the hag, Youba.
"The clamor died down as the bell struck twelve times. Nama stood up and started to speak. 'The witching hour has come, my friends. Lads, you may get to see what kind of beauty, or beast, is under those masks that have been by your sides all night. Beware, for you may find a trick or a treat.' The guy had a knack of saying corny things every once in a while.
"'I'm all yours,' the ninja giggled. I reached over, squirming a bit at the thought of who might be under there.

"Were you hoping that it was a certain someone?"

"More like I was hoping that it wasn't someone else. I pulled it off and blinked in surprise. "Mari?!"
"Mari giggled as she normally did, using her black-gloved hands to hide her face. 'I can't believe you didn't figure it out, Dorai! Jin's right: you are cute when startled.'
"'But wait, I thought that you were...' Without finishing that sentence, I stood and immediately went after the woman that wore the white and blue cat costume, who had just narrowly escaped her crazy date. When she saw the anger I had, she cowered and shook. 'D-Dorai-san! Why do you look so angry?'
"I snatched her mask from her face. She screamed and hid her face with her hands. Then I heard a laugh from her; a deep and cruel laugh. From behind the hands, I saw Jin, smirking in a sort of malicious victory. 'We thought that it might be interesting to trade roles,' She stretched a bit, allowing for her build to go somewhat back to its normal perceptions. 'Mari is more of a rat then even I thought. Telling lies like that! "Cute when startled", indeed!'
"'You did say it!' Mari yelled from the table.
"'Like I'd say such thing!' Jin huffed and crossed her arms, but she was still simpering.
"'Whether you did or not, he is cute,' Mari was talking with more confidence than I was accustomed to seeing her with, but I've still seen ripened strawberries with less red than what was her face. She took my arm 'And now he owes me a date.'
"Jin laughed, then walked away, waving us from her. 'Very well. Just don't stay out too late, Piccolo Berumotto.'"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That sequence with Patrick and Will I typed several days ago, before I actually told them about the fanfic. However, I seem to have predicted their actions pretty well, as they did do that. And I do not own Trigun or Vash the Stampede.