Chapter 11
A/N: Enjoy more of the party and I'm working hard on getting chapters up as regularly as possible!
"So Gengai-san," Otae asked quizzically, "What are you dressed as?"
The older man's costume comprised of a long, white lab coat, big black boots, goggles on his forehead and his own hair sticking up on end as if he'd stuck his finger in an outlet.
Laughing, Gengai replied, "I'm myself, a mad scientist! This is more a mix of a Western and Eastern though," as he pointed out his normal kimono top and bottom underneath the coat.
She giggled at the inventor and Catherine started laughing with her. He rolled his eyes comically at that.
"So Otose-san, what's your costume? You look normal really," the young woman inquired as she looked over what the older woman wore.
Otose did look normal as Otae had pointed out, the only thing that showed that it was a costume was a small sign on her kimono that read: 'This is my Halloween costume!'
The landlady sighed in annoyance as she elaborated, "That punk who rarely pays me rent said I should go as an amazake babaa."
Nearby, Tama and Yamazaki were chatting about the Shinsengumi costumes.
"You see, Tama-san, Okita-taichou picked the costumes. He picked a robot for me since..." the spy attempted to explain as his face began to turn tomato red.
She chuckled as she reassured him, "It's alright Yamazaki-san, it's supposed to be fun. Costumes are just that, like how I'm a genie."
Tama wore her hair in a braid like she usually did but added a pink Arabic hat,and a sheer pink veil that went under her chin like in I Dream of Jeannie. The jacket she wore was cropped just under her chest and was pink with white lining. Her pants started just under belly button and were a more opaque pink like the rest of the rest of the costume. To complete it all, Tama wore little silver, mary-jane shoes.
Yamazaki blushed a bit more as he pointed out, "I know that. Your costume shows more skin though, not that I mean anything by it."
The robot maid smiled at him and responded, "Don't take everything so seriously today, have fun. I know what you mean, it's strange to me as well. It was Kagura-sama who suggested this costume."
With a deadpan look, Yamazaki muttered, "Those sadists, I should have known."
"Hm? What did you say Yamazaki-san?" Tama questioned with an innocent tilt of her head.
Shocked, he emphasized, "Nothing, it's nothing!"
Thankfully she let it go just as a clown and a tengu joined them.
When the clown touched Yamazaki's shoulder, he caused the nervous man to jump and shout, "Ah!"
"Yamazaki-san, I didn't mean to startle you," the young clown that was Tetsu apologized.
When the inspector looked at his comrade, he saw a clownsuit with one half red and the other half white. Around his neck was a fringed collar with red spots on it, while he sported similar ones on his wrists and ankles. On the young man's feet were long, red shoes that had white lining and white gloves on his complete his outfit was a large rainbow colored wig, a big red nose and red makeup around his eyes and mouth while white makeup covered the rest of his face.
"Oh, Tetsu-san is a clown! Are you a tengu then Shimaru-san?" Tama questioned.
The young Sasaki brightened as he affirmed, "Yes, I am Tama-san! Good guessing."
The silent captain wore a black shirt, white pants along with a white chef's jacket. On his feet were one tooth tengu geta while he wore a fake nose to make his own appear longer. He'd covered his afro of red hair with a white wig and pulled back in a ponytail, while the bangs were combed back. To throw the ensemble together, his skin was painted red, a large mole painted on his forehead and what was made to look like two small rectangular covers of battery slots on his neck.
Shimaru held up his notebook that explained, 'I used a character from a show called Toriko since Tengu don't have much in the way of appearances besides kimonos and masks of some sort. The character's name is Buranchi, do I look alright?'
"You look really cool, Shimaru-taichou, good job!" Tetsu said enthusiastically.
Tama added, "Yes, you obviously took great care in the details even if I don't know the character or show."
He nodded in reply but when he tried to smile, the others blanched a little.
"It's okay Shimaru-nii," Okita said, as he and some others joined the increasingly large group.
Besides Okita, Gin, Kagura and Shinpachi brought over Otsuu and Takachin as well.
One was dressed in a long, black hooded robe that included a skull mask over his faace. A black kimono was worn underneath with simple sandals on his feet while he had a scythe in his hand.
The other wore a black bodysuit with a pumpkin around her middle, the jack-o-lantern face was the typical smile. It glowed when a switch was flipped.
"Otsuu-chan, you look so cute!" Otae expressed before she noticed how scary the other costume was.
When she did notice, she shrieked and nearly punched him. Shinpachi caught her punch just in time as he protected his friend.
"Ane-ue! Relax, it's only Takachin!" the megane explained quickly.
Takachin lifted his skull mask to reveal his buck-toothed face and blonde hair.
"Oh, it it just Takachinko," Otae said simply with a smile on her face.
Her younger brother pinched the bridge of his nose while Takachin face-palmed. To their surprise, Otsuu giggled.
"That's funny Otae-san, the little pun is silly. Don't take offense Takachin, Shinpachi-kun," the idol said simply.
At the word of their favored idol, the two fans quieted down.
"So you're a jack-o-lantern, what are you Takachin?" the birthday girl questioned the two friends of her brother.
Otsuu nodded as the blonde fan said, "I'm the Grim Reaper, the God of Death in Western Cultures."
She nodded at this as the young idol commented, "Well, your costume is quite scary. i wish I could've found a scarier costume-fried ginger pork!"
Quietly, the megane otaku told Otsuu, "You look nice in your costume, I think this costume suits you."
"Thank you Shinpachi-kun, you look cute as a kappa too-domestic violence!" she said cheerfully.
When this occurred, Gin and Kagura exchanged a conspiratorial look and smirked. As Shinpachi blushed, Kagura and Gin both smacked him on the back and started teasing him.
"Ooh, megane has a crush!" the Yato girl teased mercilessly.
Gin took this chance to pinch his younger friends' cheeks when Shinpachi's attention was shifted on Kagura for the moment.
Forgetting that Otsuu was there for a moment, he shouted, " Can't you two stop it? It's Ane-ue's birthday!"
Moments after he said that, Shinpachi mumbled in apology, "Sorry Ane-ue, Otsuu-chan."
"Don't worry Shinpachi-kun it's a party, have fun. You three are so funny but that's who you are," the young singer spoke up.
"Yes, she's right Shin-chan. Relax, it won't ruin anything for me or anyone," his sister replied as she hugged him.
Smiling, Shinpachi said, "Thanks, both of you."
"How about we go see what the buffet has to offer-corn poop?" Otsuu suggested.
Just as Hijikata strolled over, Okita commented on Takachin's costume, "Wow, scary. It's almost as scary as Hijikata-san's face."
Vein throbbing and eye twitching, the man angrily countered, "But not nearly as scary as Sougo's sleeping face."
As Okita narrowed his eyes, he was about to answer his challenge when Kagura challenged him to a duel. Gin did the same to Hijikata, which distracted the feuding men.
While everyone enjoyed their craziness, Otae and Kondou just chuckled at their friends. The husband and wife passed by Hedoro, who was getting a drink alone. The Dakini had on a fur-suit, which combined with his normal appearance, completed his werewolf costume. Although, because his appearance looked so scary, most people shied away from him. Kirara and her sister Urara saw them and waved shyly. The two girls were dressed as oni in tiger-skin pattern dresses, complete with yellow horns on their heads. The older sister had painted her skin blue as she was a blue oni while her sister had her skin red for a red oni. Otae and Kondou chuckled then, when they saw Tetsuko and Tsukuyo and made their way over to the two women.
"Hello Tsukuyo-san, you've met Tetsuko-san I see," the young wife commented with a smile.
Tsukuyo smiled as well as she responded, "Yeah, we were chatting about how we met Gintoki and the Yorozuya."
The Shinigami daiyuu wore a pure white kimono and a long black wig, covering her short blonde hair. The blacksmith was wearing a purple kimono underneath a red-orange kimono that was purple on the bottom of the hakama. On the under kimono and the bottom half of the hakama, a golden flower design with vines graced the fabric of the sleeves. No sleeves were on the main kimono but it flared over her shoulders, it also had little golden crests on both sides of the chest. Tetsuko wore golden sandals with white tabi along with a wig that gave the appearance that she sported a topknot. Lastly, on her hip was a sword in a green-blue peacock design sheath while she held a fan of the same coloring.
"Oh, your costumes are so beautiful! You're a samurai then Tetsuko-san? What about you Tsukuyo-san?" Otae asked excitedly.
While the blacksmith nodded happily, the Hyakka leader replied, "I'm a yuki onna, it was Hinowa's idea actually."
"You look stunning in white though," she insisted even though Tsukuyo protested.
"It's not a big deal, really," she continued to push.
Otae smiled as she said, "You're much too modest."
"Well, well if it isn't the psycho cabaret girl. Oh wait, you just help out once in a while now. Eh, I'm better anyhow," Ane said bitterly as she approached them with her sister and Komako.
With a smile still on her face, the birthday girl questioned, "Oh Ane, are you a man-eating spider then?"
"I'm a joro-gumo, a spider woman! It's better than some witch. Besides, that isn't really a costume when you're always a witch," the angry cabaret woman shouted.
Rolling her eyes, Otae said, to spite Ane, "Shouldn't that apply to you too then?"
With a fight looming and about to start, Mone changed the subject, "How do the costumes look?"
The older sister wore a nice kimono but over the bottom half was the lower half of a spider costume, complete with eight legs and striped. The younger sister had a white bodysuit on that was hairy like an inugami, Komako sat on her shoulder to finish her costume.
"Oh Mone, your costume is so cute! So is Komako!" Otae exclaimed cheerfully while Ane scowled.
"Yes because a costume that took about ten minutes is so much better than a quality job of a costume that took an hour to put on!" the vain cabaret girl said with sarcasm and disdain.
The birthday girl smirked slightly as she replied, "Well, no one said you or anyone had to wear such a complex costume. Why, even Sarutobi has such a simple costume."
Tsukuyo and Tetsuko just rolled their eyes at the two women's interaction and Mone just shrugged nonchalantly.
Ane glared and scathingly responded, "I still look better and make much more money. What do you have to say to that psycho?"
Simply, Otae said, "I'm married and run a successful, honest business."
Fuming, the two women nearly got into a fistfight before Mone took her sister back to the buffet. Shouts of "You're married to a gorilla stalker, what's so great about that?!" could be heard. Otae just smiled and kissed her husband on the cheek.
While Otae and Kondou were wandering, Kagura found Soyo and Nobume.
"Soyo-chan! Nobume!" Kagura shouted happily to her friends as they hugged.
"So Kagura-chan, what are you dressed as?" the young former princess asked, curious.
The female Yorozuya grinned as she went into the tale of the cursed Blu-ray and Reiko.
Soyo giggled and Nobume chuckled, the three of them enjoying their friendship.
"What about you Nobume, what are you again?" Soyo inquired.
The former vice-captain of the Mimawarigumi wore makeup to transform her face to appear more snake-like. Her hair was mostly down with some in a bun on her head. The costume was of a snake that had a yellow under-belly but orange with black stripes all down the tail.
"Soyo-chan, I'm an akamataa or a snake woman. Your friend Sa-chan helped me since it's kind of hard to do on my own," the former assassin said in her usual monotone voice.
Otae and Kondou approached the three young women and they smiled and waved.
"Kagura-chan, hi!" she said happily as she hugged her friend, "Your costume is just lovely Nobume, it's nice to see you."
Smiling, the blue haired young woman replied, "Arigato Otae, I hope you're enjoying your birthday. Kondou-san, your costume is definitely silly and Isaburo would think it suits you."
"I am, thank you!" Otae responded with a smile.
The former Shinsengumi commander smiled sadly at Sasaki's name but answered her, "Maybe it is but I don't mind. He probably would now that you mention him. He'd be happy that you and Tetsu are so happy and surrounded by friends though."
At that, he threw his arm around her shoulders and grinned his signature grin. His wife smiled widely upon seeing that as did Kagura, everyone just laughed together at Kondou's cue.
Once they had moved on after seeing the sadistic sisterhood three, the couple saw Hasegawa and his wife coming to greet them.
"Otae-san, Kondou-san. Hello, how are you two?" the man said happily as he held his wife's arm.
Smiling, Hatsu added, "I hope you're enjoying the party, we did all we could so you'd have fun."
"Thank you, Hatsu-san, Hasegawa-san. I really do appreciate it. As silly and annoying as he can be, Hasegawa-san is really irreplaceable. You work so hard, relax today!" the young wife responded eagerly.
They chatter with the older couple as the Hasegawa's showed off their costumes. He donned blue scrubs with a white lab coat, completed by white sneakers and a stethoscope. His wife was dressed in a white kimono that went halfway to her knees, flat white shoes and a little white hat topped it all. They were a doctor and nurse, they posed a couple of times for their friends.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed all the costumes, you can look them up if you don't know what they are or ask me about them. Next is cake and presents, the party is winding down finally but it's not over just yet so be ready for chapter 12!
