Chapter 9

A/N: Here's the party and it's a longer chapter so enjoy!

Around five, everyone was in costume and awaiting the guest of honor. Yamazaki found them and approached his boss.

"Commander, Nee-san! Hi, I'm here to guide you to the Halloween party at the Yagyuu estate!" the plain former Shinsengumi member announced.

Otae was surprised and Kondou chuckled as the man's costume, standing before them. Yamazaki was wearing a suit with a gray metal torso that was a cylinder, his sleeves and pant legs were striped to look like Bender's arms. He had shoes on to look like the metal pieces that served as feet and a helmet made to look like the metal head. To complete the costume, he had a fake cigar and a beer bottle.

"Sorry," the inspector mumbled in embarrassment, "Okita-taichou picked out the costumes so..."

She smiled and said, "Don't fret, it's all in good humor."

"Yeah, it's Halloween," Kondou finished with a smile.

Yamazaki smiled and replied, "Well, your costumes are...good, even if you look weird Commander."

The man in question laughed heartily then responded, "I think it's funny! Everyone calls me a gorilla anyways!"

Kondou was dressed in a large, black gorilla suit, without the head, and a Dracula cape with fake vampire teeth.

"It's definitely original, a vampire gorilla," Otae said as she giggled at her husband.

He smiled and complimented her, "Well at least you look cute, Otae-chan!"

Her costume consisted of a tall, pointed black hat with a black dress that just passes her knees. It had jagged, triangular edges on the bottom, showing the black and white striped stockings and her small high heel shoes. Otae's dress sported a small v-neckline while the costume was complete with a broomstick in one hand and a fake cat on her shoulder.

Yamazaki coughed to remind them of their purpose.

"Oh, right. Let's go," Kondou said as he took his wife's hand as they followed their friend to the party.

The three people entered the Yagyuu estate to find many people outside and in.

Shouts of "Ane-ue!" "Anego-chan!" "Otae!" "Happy Birthday!" rang out when they saw her.

Tears came to her eyes as she felt so happy for the effort her friends put in for her birthday.

"How fun, Halloween and my birthday in one party!" she exclaimed cheerfully, "Thank you everyone, Shin-chan, Isao-kun, Kagura-chan, Gin-san, Kyuu-chan this is so thoughtful."

Everyone was happy and festive but it got to be too much when, what looked like Shige Shige appeared in front on Otae.

She screamed as she punched him incredibly hard right in his face.

Otae was going to grab a chair as she screamed, "Zombie!"

Her younger brother stopped her as he explained frantically, "It's Gin-san, it's just his costume!"

She looked at Gin, who sat there as his mask slipped to reveal his natural perm, and didn't say a word.

Everyone sweatdropped when the birthday girl said in an offhanded way, "Oops."

Once Otae had dropped the chair, both Shinpachi and Gin sighed in relief.

Gin got up and said, "Sorry about that Otae, I figured we could we could use a little break. I used the Shogun double idea, I kind of tried to include him this year. Admittedly, not one of my best ideas."

Just as the Yorozuya leader finished, Soyo came and spoke from behind him.

"It's okay, don't blame Gin-chan-san. I asked him about it and I helped him. Happy birthday Otae-san!" the young former princess apologized.

She smiled and responded, "It's okay, I was just shocked is all. Sorry Gin-san."

He muttered under his breath a bit but stopped as soon as Otae glared at him for a split moment.

"Oh Soyo-chan! Your costume is so cute," Otae exclaimed.

Soyo wore a beautiful kimono and her black hair down her back, the only thing that made you notice something different was the elongated neck.

The young woman flushed a little as she replied, "Oh it's not much, this is one of my older kimonos and it didn't take much work on the elongated neck. Rokurobi or elongated neck women are kind of cool so I went for it."

Kagura came over to see her friends while Gin and Shinpachi decided to gather along with them.

The wife of the commander saw her other friends' costumes and she smiled. Her brother had a green bodysuit on with webbed gloves and shoes on, along with a dish on his head.

"You're a kappa, Shin-chan?" Otae guessed as he nodded.

She looked at Kagura but was at a loss, her costume was unfamiliar. The Yato girl had a light blue tunic on, one wing on her left shoulder with a fake noose around her neck.

Before Otae could ask, Kagura supplied the answer, "I'm Reiko, that angel or whatever that we found on the cursed Blu-ray. It was when Gin-chan traded in our broken vcr for a broken DVD player at that recycle shop."

At the cheerful grin plastered on the young woman's face the young wife held back on smacking said person. She so wanted hit him but the look on her face was enough, Gin flinched as if she had actually hit him.

"Well," the megane began, "I hope you're enjoying your birthday Ane-ue."

Otae smiled and hugged him, "Of course I am Shin-chan!"

Kondou smiled at his wife's happiness then said, "I'm going to go find Toshi and Sougo so go mingle honey."

"Okay," she answered as she kissed him on the cheek.

As Otae wandered over to the buffet, she spotted Kyuubei and Tojo.

Once she was seen, the Yagyuu heiress enveloped her friend in a hug, "Tae-chan! Happy birthday, are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yes I am, I like your costume. What are you supposed to be?" the young woman replied.

Tojo smiled next to Kyuubei as she said, "It was Tojo's idea, we're Lydia and Beetlejuice."

Otae looked at her costume, Kyuubei was wearing a kind of red, web-looking poncho that hung down her knees with a black bodysuit underneath. Her hands sported black finger-less gloves while she wears black heels on her feet. Her hair was in a ponytail with a purple band that stuck up, while some hair covered the nape of her neck. To complete the look, the young woman also wore purple eye-shadow, red lipstick and white makeup to give the impression of pallor.

Tojo's costume shocked Otae as his skin was colored purple, his teeth green and his hair shaggy-looking. He sported red plaster on his fingertips and a vertically striped black and white suit. The finishing touches was the black tie, red shirt and black shoes.

The slit-eyed man spoke up as he explained, "Otae-sama, it's from this funny show from America called Beetlejuice. It's quite entertaining and...different from what we're used to but it is fun."

Without thinking, Tojo put his hand on the young mistress' shoulder and was rewarded with a hard punch in the face. Surprisingly, she'd held back and, just seconds after he'd been punched, Kyuubei relaxed and touched his face lightly.

"Sorry Tojo, I'm still trying to rein it in," the young samurai said quietly.

Otae put a hand on Kyuubei's shoulder and told her, "Don't worry, you didn't hurt him too bad. You're doing better Kyuu-chan!"

"Yes, Otae-sama is right. I'm alright," the young man reassured as he touched her hand that rested on her cheek.

She blushed a little before waving it off. Not trusting herself to speak, Kyuubei nodded. They locked eyes and held them there for a few moments.

As Otae wandered the party, she saw many of her friends in costume. Oryou and Hanako were peanut butter and jelly, in that order, Seita was a ninja and Hinowa dressed like the Queen of Hearts, as she rolled beside him. The young wife laughed in amusement at Musashi's costume, as he was dressed like an umbrella ghost or a karakasa obake. Katsura was walking around acting silly as a Zombrow and Otae smiled when she found her husband and his friends.

She heard Kondou ask, while holding back a laugh, "So Sougo is the angel and Toshi is a devil?"

Knowing that his boss is amused, Okita smirks at the man in the devil costume. The black-haired man wore a red bodysuit with a spiked tail, horns on his head and a pitchfork in hand while his tormentor ironically wore a white kimono and golden sandals along with a halo and white feathery wings.

Hijikata scowled as he said, "Funny, Sougo decided on the costumes when we were gone Kondou-san."

Both Otae and Kondou chuckled at that before the young sadist commented, "Doesn't it suit you though Oni Fukuchou?"

"Why doesn't it fit the Prince of Sadists better then?" the fukuchou countered snarkily.

He then lit a cigarette and blew smoke out in Okita's vicinity, which earned the smoker a glare from said sadist.

"Kondou, Toshi, Sougo, Otae, hi! Are you guys enjoying yourselves?" the commissioner greeted them as he startled the group.

"Oh, Totsan it's you. You scared us, we're just chatting actually. What are you dressed up anyway?" the young husband questioned as he took in his boss' outfit.

The man was dressed as a sennin but like Jiraiya from Beruto. Wooden sandals like Kyuubei's were on his feet while he wore a shaggy white wig, along with a headband that Jiraiya wears across his forehead. His outfit also consists of mesh armor that showed underneath his green short skirt kimono and matching pants. To complete the costume, a simple black belt adorned his waist while he had hand guards and a red haori, there were two simple yellow circles on each side and a scroll across his back. Matsudaira had the tattoo on his left palm plus the two red lines coming down under his eyes plus a fake wart on the left side of his nose.

"See, I used that show Beruto for inspiration since sennin are kind of vague in mythology," he explained as Kondou, Hijikata and Okita sweat-dropped while Otae chuckled.

"How cute, do you like the show?" she asked as they talked about it until the older man pointed in the crowd.

"Look! There are a couple of people dressed as Madara and Hashirama from Beruto!" the police commissioner exclaimed in delight.

The two men he pointed out were Douman and Seimei, or Madara and Hashirama, Seimei had spray-tanned his skin, wore dark contacts and had on a waist-length black wig on as well. Dark red traditional armor over a simple black bodysuit along with multiple protective guards, made from metal plates, covered his chest, waist, shoulders, outer thighs and forearms. His shoulder guards had the Senju symbol emblazoned on the collar, along with the typical ninja sandals and the Konohagakure forehead protector.

"Nice job there, the armor was from before he was Hokage right?" Matsudaira complimented Seimei, who blushed slightly.

"Thank you but it was Douman's idea, right?" the Ketsuno man said as he nudged his friend.

Douman stood next to Seimei, his hair styled spiky and down his back but covering his right eye. To imitate Madara's eyes, he'd made creases under his eyes and had contacts made to look like the Sharingan. His armor was maroon-colored that sported many metal plates as well, they also covered his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs. Underneath, he wore a black high collared, long-sleeved mantle that split the lower half with a simple light brown obi and belt. Douman also wore an orange-brown ginbai or non-folding fan made of wood, slung across his back. The ginbai had a long black chain running up to it and a brown leather sash on the Shirino leaders' waist for the swords that Madara would carry.

The young man in question blushed a bit in embarrassment as he responded, "I-I just figured...it kind of fit us and Seimei pointed out how much I looked like Madara so..."

"Boo!" Crystal yelled as she came up behind her brother and ex-husband.

When Douman saw her dressed in Gedomaru's clothes, he jumped a little.

She giggled at that and Seimei poked fun at his friend, "Oh, is that all it takes to scare you now Douman?"

"See? I'm a shikigami," the weather lady said cheerfully.

Crystal wore a short, bobbed black wig paired with small, yellow horns on her head. Dark red contacts transformed her eyes while her black robe was borrowed from Gedomaru, along with white tabi and sandals. The onmyouji had completed it all with a fake club that resembled her shikigami's as the original would have been impossible for her to carry.

Blushing again, Douman said quietly, "Crystal, you look...nice."

The young Ketsuno woman smiled at his comment, even if her brother seemed surprised at her next action. She pecked the quiet Shirino on the cheek, which turned the small scowl on his face, from when Seimei had teased him, into a look of surprise.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the start of the party, don't worry though since there is plenty more to come! I had to stop there for the moment since there is quite a lot to the party. Otae is still there with Kondou, Hijikata, Okita and Matsudaira, though the three of them here are talking mainly at the moment. I know Halloween has already passed but I didn't get this up fast enough with Otae's birthday party so it's kind of late but what the hell? Who cares? I hope you keep enjoying the story and be patient for GinKagu, it's just hints for now since Gin is a stubborn fool!