Morishige`s POV

Hmmmmm, a talent show. It sounded like my kind of thing but I don't think the others agreed with me. They all groaned apart Mayu and Seiko.
"Ohhhh that sounds awesome!" said Seiko. "I`m gonna do like….. a dance or something. It`s gonna be great."
"Sure Seiko, you do that." said Satoshi. "So, here are the rules. You all have half an hour to prepare something you want to do using anything you find in the house. And then after half an hour we all meet back here to perform what we rehearsed. After everyone has finished, as the judge, I`ll decides who wins. " Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Sure, I`ll do it." said Yoshiki.
"I don't think we get a choice." I whispered to Mayu next to me. She laughed.
"Right then, off you go." said Satoshi, waving us all away. Everyone got up out of their seats and made their way off to different parts of the house. I saw Seiko grab hold of Naomi and try to drag her off upstairs.
"How about you and I go off to the bedroom?" said Seiko, seductively.
"No." replied Naomi bluntly. While I was busy watching class 2-9`s star couple, Mayu walked up behind me and lightly tugged on my sleeve.
"What`re you gonna do?" she asked. I didn't know. I was considering doing some monologue from drama class but I still wasn't sure.
"I don't know. I was thinking about doing a monologue but I`m still not sure." I replied. "What`re you gonna do?"
"We could do something together." She suggested. I nodded in agreement.
"Sure, we`ll do something we did in class." I replied.

When the half hour ended we all made our way back to the living room. Satoshi held a pen and pad in his hands.
"Who`s going first?" he asked. Seiko jumped out of her seat and waved her arms around.
"Me! Me! Pick me!" she shouted, enthusiastically.
"Go on then Seiko." Replied Satoshi. Seiko walked to the middle of the room and picked a magazine up off the table and started to roll it up. She put the rolled up magazine to her lips like a microphone.
"So then, what`s the deal with airline food, eh?" I sniggered. Yoshiki looked at me.
"That wasn't funny." he said.
"No but she is." I replied. Seiko pointed to me and smiled.
"Thanks Shig. Your my number one fan." She said.
"Don't call me that." I replied, stoically.
"You got it Shiggy Wiggy." Everyone started laughing. I rolled my eyes.
"Now that was funny." said Yoshiki. I gave him the finger. Seiko cleared her throat to get our attention.
"So, how many policemen does it take to change a light bulb? Ten. One to change the white bulb and night to bea-" Naomi interrupted her.
"Seiko, no! I`ve heard that joke before. It`s too racist."
"It`s not that racist." Whined Seiko. Naomi shook her head disapprovingly.
"Alright fine." Seiko got up and started to walk around the room. "So, something that always puzzled me." She walked past Yoshiki and put her hand on his shoulder. "How comes you can tell when someone else likes someone else…" She walked over to Satoshi and did the same. "But you can never tell when someone likes you?" She walked back to the centre of the room.
"Strange isn't it?" Everyone murmured quietly.
"Well Seiko, I think that`s enough now." said Satoshi. We all clapped as Seiko sat down. "Who wants to go next?"
"I think Naomi should go next." said Seiko. Said girl elbowed her in the ribs but Seiko just laughed.
"Err, okay then. Naomi, you`re up." Naomi got up and walked to the centre of the room.
"So uhm. I didn't really think of anything to do. But I do know some jokes." She looked at Seiko. Seiko was trying not to laugh, watching her friend in such an awkward situation.
"So a man walks into a bar. Ouch." Nobody said anything.
"Booooooo! Get off the stage!" shouted Seiko. If this was a comedy only talent show I think Seiko would win hands down. Naomi looked at Satoshi as if to say 'get me out of here'.
"Well Naomi, good job. You can sit down now." She sat down and mouthed thank you towards him. He smiled and nodded. "Who`s next?" he asked. Naomi looked around. Her eyes met mine.
"Morishige." Shit. I should've looked away. I stood up.
"Well, me and Mayu are sort of a double act." I said. Yoshiki whispered something to Ayumi and she laughed. I ignored them.
"Well then you can both go." Said Satoshi. Me and Mayu got up and walked to our positions. I picked my scythe up. Mayu started shivering like she was cold as I put the hood of my cloak up.
"A graveyard? Oh please no. There`s something else I must know. Is that not true?" said Mayu. I stayed silent. "Spirit, I know what I must ask. I fear to but I must." I continued my silence. "Who was the wretched man that`s death brought glee and happiness to all the others?" I pointed my scythe towards the TV. She looked worriedly and back at me again. "Answer me one more question. Are these the shadows of things that will be? Or are these the shadows of things that may be only?" I gestured to the TV again. Mayu began to walk to the TV, quivering. She looked back at me. "These events can be changed." She got down on her knees in front of the TV and took a piece of paper out of her pocket and put it on the screen. She then pretended to wipe something off the paper and gasped in horror. "Mayu Suzomoto." She pretended to start to cry. "Oh please spirit, no, here me, I`m not the man I was." She continued to sob. "Why would you show me this if I was past all hope? I will honour Christmas and try to keep it all the year round." She walked over to me and fell to her knees, burying her face in the bottom of my cloak. She pulled the fabric in a begging motion. "Please Spirit, have mercy." She started to sob harder. "Forgive me. Please." We both froze for a moment. Silence.
"That was fucking awesome!" screamed Seiko, jumping up and clapping madly. We unfroze and bowed to our audience. Everyone was on their feet clapping and cheering.
"You guys were awesome."
"Nice on, Morishige."
"Oh Mayu, I`m so proud of you. You were brilliant.
"I`ve gotta say, you weren't half bad." Me and Mayu grinned at each other as we sat back down.
"You were amazing." I said. She blushed.
"You weren't too bad yourself." She replied.
"Well guys, that certainly was impressive. It`ll be hard to beat that." Said Satoshi. "So who`s going next?" he asked. I knew exactly who it was going to be.
"I think Yoshiki can go next." I replied.
"Oh Morishige, I was counting on you saying that." He got up and grabbed Seiko`s 'microphone' and walked to the middle of the room. "For I am the one, the only, the magical and spectacular Yoshiki Kishinuma." Only Seiko clapped. He cleared his throat. "For my first trick I will need a volunteer." Of course there was one eager volunteer.
"I`ll do it! Pick me!" shouted Seiko. "I`ll be your assistant."
"Sorry Seiko, but I`d like someone else." Said Yoshiki. Seiko looked like she`d been deflated.
"Oh right. Okay then." Her smile stopped and she slunk down into her seat.
"I`ll pick you for the next one though." Seiko suddenly re-inflated. Her grin returned and she sat back up.
"Yay!" I saw Naomi roll her eyes but smile.
"Now. My volunteer. How about….Mayu?" I`m not the jealous type by any means but when it came to this guy I always had a reason to worry.
"Yeah, okay then." She replied happily as she got up and walked over to him.
"Hold out your hand." instructed Yoshiki. Mayu did as she was told and he took her hand in his. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Now. You… went through a change recently, did you not?" Mayu nodded.
"Y-yes. Yes I did." Replied Mayu. Yoshiki breathed deeply.
"This change…..it`s something….new. The first of something? Is that right."
"Yes. That`s right." she answered. Yoshiki`s face curled up as if he was in very deep thought.
"Ahhh. But….this change…..it is a good one, yes?" he opened his eyes.
"Yes, yes it is." beamed Mayu. He let go of her hand.
"Well, good luck." We gave him a round of applause as Mayu sat down. She looked up at me and we shared a look of confusion as if to say 'How did he know?'
"Oh I know many things." I jumped as he said this. Did he just read my mind? "Now, Seiko." Seiko got out of her seat and went over to him.
"I believe it`s my turn." She said.
"This is a quick one. Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded. He clapped quickly three times.
"Wham! Bham! Thank you ma`am!" He reached behind her ear and pulled out a five yen coin. Seiko`s eyes lit up with an almost childlike sense of wonder.
"Woooooowwwwww!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "That was amazing. Can I keep the coin?" Yoshiki laughed.
"Yes Seiko. You can keep the coin." She sat down as she played with the coin.
"Now then, time for my last and most amazing trick." He said, his voice filled with confidence. "Ayumi. Will you please be my most glamorous assistant?" Ayumi crossed her arms and looked away, probably tried to hind her smile.
"Well, since you asked so politely. I guess so." She got up and went over to him. He pulled a pack of cards out of his back pocket. He began to shuffle the cards.
"Please pick one but don't show me and then go show someone else." She nodded. She picked a card at random and walked over to Mayu to show it her. It was the Jack of Diamonds. Mayu nodded. Ayumi turned around and went back to him.
"Please put the card back in the deck." She did so.
"Now, I will show you your card." He said as she shuffled the deck. He pulled out the card at the back of the deck and showed it to us all.
"Is this your card?" It was the two of clubs. Ayumi scoffed.
"No. I knew you were a fake."
"Oh really?" replied Yoshiki, his voice dripping with confidence. "Would a fake be able to do this?" He walked over to the wall and removed a painting. Taped to the wall was the Jack of Diamonds. My mind bust. That was impossible. I looked over at Satoshi, surely they must`ve planned this together but he was as shocked as I was.
"H-how did you do that?" asked Ayumi
"Oh I have my ways." He replied, plucking the card off the wall and handing it to her. "Beat that." He said cockily.
"You know what? I will. I will beat that." She said.
"That`s big talk. Let`s hope you can deliver."
"I`ll make you a deal. If I beat you, you have to buy us all pizza. Deal?" she asked.
"I`ll have pepperoni." She ignored him.
"Seiko, toss me that can of soda." Seiko threw the can to her. She caught it and walked over to where me and Mayu were sat and placed it on our table.
"I need everybody to be silent and just watch." Nobody said anything. She stared at the can. A few minutes passed and nothing happened. I took my eyes off the can for a split second to glance out the window. I heard Mayu gasp. I looked back. A small droplet of blood ran down her left nostril. Suddenly the tab of the can moved and popped open. Everyone gasped. If I had thought that what I had seen Yoshiki do was impressive this was on a whole new scale. Even Seiko was lost for words. Yes, Seiko! Ayumi wiped the blood away from her nose and grabbed the can and strolled over to where Yoshiki was stood. She downed the can in one go tossed it in the bin.
"I`ll-" She was interrupted by a burp. "I`ll have pepperoni." Yoshiki just simply starred at her, mouth agape. Satoshi clapped his hands to get everybody`s attention.
"Well, the results are in. In fifth place….Naomi." we all clapped.
"Yay Naomi!" shouted Seiko throwing her arms round her best friend.
"In fourth…Seiko!" said Satoshi.
"Good job, Seiko." said Naomi.
"In third place….the star double act, Morishige and Mayu." said Satoshi. Me and Mayu stood up and bowed again.
"And coming second…Yoshiki meaning the winner of the 2017 Halloween talent show is Ayumi." We all cheered and clapped the ESP girl did a little courtesy. As we clapped, Satoshi got up and chucked the phone at Yoshiki.
"Pizzia." He said.

Mayu`s POV

After a half hour of more idle chatter and joking around, the doorbell went and Yoshiki got up to answer it.
"And so I said 'That`s what I call a lasagne.'" We all burst out laughing. I wiped a tear from my eye.
"Oh Seiko. Your stories are brilliant." I said. The door opened and Yoshiki appeared holing 7 boxes of pizza; five in one hand and two in the other. He looked very angry.
"Which two sick freaks ordered Hawaiian?" Seiko and Shig both slowly raised their hands, a look of guilt painted on their faces. Now, I love Shig and all, but that was disgusting. Yoshiki placed the two pizzas in the corner of the room and pointed at them.
"You two! Get over there!" he shouted. Shig and Seiko got up and made their way to the corner.
"Boooo!"
"Shame on you!"
"You're disgusting! You should be ashamed."
They sat down and picked up their pizza. Yoshiki handed out everyone else`s food.
"So then Satoshi, what else have you got planned?" asked Ayumi. Satoshi took a sip of his drink.
"I`ve got something a little more fitting for Halloween. It`s like a test of courage but not quite." He looked at Yoshiki and winked. Yoshiki nodded.
"What`re you two sharing looks about?" inquired Naomi.
"You`ll find out in a bit." replied Yoshiki. I looked out the window. It was starting to go dark. I looked around at my group of friends; everyone chatting and laughing and joking around. Satoshi and Yoshiki were sat on the bean bag together whispering about something I couldn't hear. Naomi and Ayumi were teasing each other about something; undoubtedly something to do with the boys. I looked at Shig in the corner. He and Seiko were discussing the intricacies of their demon spawn pizza. Despite their sick taste in Italian cuisine, they looked like they were having fun. It was nice to see Shig open up to people more. At school he spent a lot of time with me or alone so it was good to see him getting along with others. After the food, Satoshi and Yoshiki got up and went over to Shig.
"Hey bud, we need to see you." said Yoshiki. Shig nodded and the three boys left the room.

A/N: Well, this chapter is finally done. I`ve rewritten it a few times because I was never happy with the final product but I think this as good as it`s going to get. There shouldn't be (I hope) as long a wait for the next chapter which is going to be a little short but the one after will totally make up for it. If you enjoyed it, leave a review and tell me what you think. Once again, thank you very much for reading, goodnight.