A.N: I AM SO SORRY. I suck at updating lately. It's exam time over here in Australia and the rest of my life depends on the next few weeks… I've been studying for weeks. I have 2 exams on Friday, 1 on Monday, and then no more for another 2 weeks, so hopefully I can squeeze in some more writing then. It should become more regular after that. (Well… except for the 2 weeks when I'll be in Japan… Hm…)
Anyway, since it's nearly Halloween, here's the special as promised! So this is kind of breaking away from the main plot for a chapter, but oh well. There'll be more MEW goodness soon! Thanks once again to RedHoodLover, kisshuismylife, MugetsuPipefox and SilverMist01! And, of course, to all you lovely people who've faved and followed 3
Over the next few days I began to settle into the routine of life at MEW HQ. I was still calling it that, because nobody had told me the building's real name yet. Between training in the mornings and missions in the evenings, I got to know the other girls. When you live with people you quickly begin to pick up on their habits, likes and dislikes. I knew the other MEWs better after a few days than I knew some of the girls at my old school after years.
However, I still wasn't prepared when I returned to the living area after some individual training to find black streamers, fake spider webs and pumpkins everywhere.
"What the hell?" I called out.
Pudding leapt out behind from the couch with a maniacal grin on her face. "Happy Halloween, Ichigo-oneechan," she squealed excitedly. Then, she tossed a fake spider at me. I hissed and smacked it across the room.
"Is that the date?" I asked. I'd been here even longer than I thought. With the routine, the week had seemed to pass in a blur. In fact, tomorrow was the date when the five of us underwent the operation to become fully-fledged MEWs.
"Shirogane's letting us have a party!" Pudding announced.
"Oh, cool! Wait, I don't have a costume!" I realised, horrified. How unlike me!
"What did you buy when you went shopping, then?" Pudding inquired curiously.
"Actual clothes!"
"Huh. Well, that was silly. Now you have 2 hours before we all meet up in the library! It's going to be super spooky!" she cackled. Then she dashed away to the elevator and sprang inside. Lettuce stepped out and greeted me with a smile.
"Lettuce! Help! What are you going as for Pudding's party?" I said.
"I was thinking of being a weeping angel from Doctor Who, but that would be too hard in 2 hours," she sighed. "What do you think?"
"It would take longer than 2 hours," I agreed. "Hmm, how about Mami from Madoka Magica?" Lettuce certainly had the… ah… assets to pull it off.
"That would be cool," she agreed, "if I had the outfit."
"Luna from Harry Potter?"
"Actually, that could work," she pondered. She adopted a thoughtful expression and wandered off in the direction of her room. You were meant to help me, I whined to myself. Now I had to think of my own costume. I also escaped to my room and began tearing my cupboard apart. Luckily for me, with pink hair, I could easily dress as an anime character, but which one?
In the end, I decided to straighten my hair and get some little cat ears to be Lucy from Elfen Lied. Nothing says Halloween like a Diclonius (basically, a cat-girl thing with invisible arms called vectors who enjoys murdering people).
By the time I'd decided on what clothes to wear with it (a white singlet and green shorts similar to hers in an early episode), I only had half an hour to do my make-up and so I kept it simple and just did anime-style eyes, which involves lots of black eyeliner, mascara and a dab of white eye-shadow.
I bumped into Mint in the hallway on my way to the elevator. She was dressed as a fairy in a pretty, floaty baby pink dress and matching wings. With Mint's slender frame and elegance, she fit the part of fairy well. Her brown hair was curled into ringlets which bounced with every step she took.
"You look awesome," I smiled.
"Thanks. What the hell are you meant to be?"
"Lucy from Elfen Lied. Don't judge, I had 2 hours to pull this together!"
"You tried," she shrugged. I glared at her back as she led the way to the elevator and we went down to the fourth floor.
"I should warn you, Pudding decorated the library, and she doesn't understand the concept of restraint," Mint told me as we stepped out.
"That's fine. I like Halloween – I mean, costumes and free candy, what's not to love?" We opened the heavy doors and were greeted by an amazing sight. The library lights were switched off, and instead various flashing lights hung from bookshelves around the room. Glowsticks, those spinning ball things with rainbow lights, glow in the dark tombstones… Pudding had gone Halloween mad. Around the room, hanging decorations like cardboard skeletons and ghosts floated ominously, and even more fake spider webs stretched between the shelves.
"Ichigo-oneechan, Mint-oneechan!" Pudding shouted. Suddenly it was raining candy on top of my head. I grabbed as many as I could and shoved them in my shorts pockets. Mint's eye twitched in anger.
"Pudding!" she snapped. Pudding jumped down from the top of a bookshelf. It looked like she was trying to be a mummy, only she was a few bandages too short. In fact, it looked like she had covered up the necessary parts and then given up. I admired her confidence to walk around like that, but then I realised we'd all seen each other in the bath anyway so it didn't really matter.
Lettuce walked out to greet us in a Hogwarts uniform with a wand tucked behind her ear. "You guys all look so cool," she smiled.
"You too," Mint returned. I shot her another glare and she smirked back.
Then the doors opened as Zakuro entered. She looked stunning, dressed in a black corset and leather pants. She had adorned herself with wolf ears and a tail and, of course, flawless smokey-eye make-up. I wanted to sigh in jealously.
"I'm the big bad wolf," she explained, flashing us a rare grin.
"Onee-sama," Mint sighed. I almost expected her to get a blood nose, anime style.
"Everyone's here! Dancing time!" Pudding announced, racing over to an iPod dock. Suddenly, a dance song about vampires came on. Mint grabbed Zakuro's hand and dragged her over to the area which Pudding had cleared to use as a dance floor. The two immediately picked up on the rhythm of the song and began to move in perfect synchronisation. Pudding bounced after them and began jumping around enthusiastically.
Lettuce and I exchanged an uneasy glance. I thought dancing was fun but I always felt somewhat awkward with others around – especially people as talented as Mint and Zakuro, who's elegant movements made it clear that they had both received training at some point.
"Ah, why not," I sighed. Lettuce and I ran to the dance floor and joined in. Despite both of us initially feeling uncomfortable, soon we relaxed and allowed the beat of the tune to guide our movements. The five of us danced together in a circle, occasionally catching each other's eye and bursting out into peals of laughter. I lost count of the songs which passed that way, and I think we could've all continued that way if the door hadn't opened once more.
It was Shirogane and Dr. Akasaka, both in costume. Dr. Akasaka was dressed as a policeman, complete with handcuffs attached to his belt. But it was Shirogane's outfit that caused me to (metaphorically) piss myself laughing. He was dressed as Link from the Legend of Zelda games, hat and all.
"Happy Halloween to you, too," he muttered sullenly.
"Link!" I gasped between fits of giggles. I wasn't sure whether I was laughing because of his costume choice, or laughing at myself for the way my heart had skipped a beat when he walked in. Stereotypical or not, I thought Shirogane looked hot, and I couldn't help it.
"I bought some snacks," Dr. Akasaka declared cheerfully. He placed a plate of party food on the table which was already covered in Pudding's candy.
"Food," I beamed. I was getting tired from all of the dancing and now that I stopped to think about it, I was also hungry. Lettuce, Pudding and I walked to the table to grab food while Mint and Zakuro remained dancing.
"So what are you meant to be?" Shirogane asked me, right as I took a mouthful of party pie. I glared at him while I chewed.
"Lucy from Elfen Lied," I said after I managed to finish my mouthful.
"Oh."
"Oh shut up, I had 2 hours to put it together," I grumbled.
"You look pretty good, all things considered," he said.
"Uh, thanks?" I wasn't certain whether he was being serious or teasing me again. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "You, too." He smirked and nodded in acknowledgement.
"You ever played any Legend of Zelda?" he asked.
"Nah. Hardcore Pokémon fan, never have any money left over," I grimaced. I'd rather buy anime merchandise than games, and what money I did save for games always seemed to go on the latest Pokémon game. I knew Nintendo was scamming me, but the games were so much fun…
"Got X or Y yet?"
"I would have, y'know, if I hadn't been inconveniently kidnapped before I could buy it. I have 2 teams of level 100 Pokémon on Black 2 though," I bragged. I felt slightly weird talking to Shirogane normally. I mean, it was the usual brief sentences that most boys used to communicate, but it was more that I've only ever talked to him about weird things like being kidnapped and scientific experiments and giant monsters. Talking about Pokémon was something I did with my own friends at home in Australia, not something I did at Halloween parties with almost strangers in Japan.
"Shame. I'll get you a copy soon."
"Cheers," I nodded. "Thanks for everything else, by the way – I mean, the clothes and all that."
"I figure it's the least I can do, considering I totally messed up everyone's lives," he smiled wryly. I didn't reply – I didn't know how. We'd gone from Pokémon and back to the kidnapping. I gave a simple shrug. "What does that mean?" he asked.
"It means I don't know what to say," I explained.
"Fair enough." The conversation drifted into nothingness. I looked over at Lettuce and Pudding, chatting animatedly with Dr. Akasaka. I wanted to catch someone's eye so they would dance with me. I didn't want to stand alone beside Mint and Zakuro, who were looking perfect on the dance floor despite the exertion of dancing.
In fact, the closer I looked, I noticed that Mint and Zakuro were far closer to each other than before. With each swaying motion they brushed past each other. I gasped quietly as Mint suddenly grabbed Zakuro's wrist and pulled her into a quick kiss. I'd guessed that Mint liked Zakuro, but I didn't think she'd be brave enough to do that.
I politely averted my eyes, and caught a glimpse of Shirogane who was watching with a satisfied expression.
"Pervert," I hissed, grabbing his face and forcing him to look away. I felt the prickle of stubble on his jaw and almost blushed as his blue eyes flickered to meet mine.
"I didn't do anything," he protested. His voice was innocent, but the smirk on his face said otherwise.
"Whatever," I huffed, looking away, and inadvertently back to Mint and Zakuro. They'd returned to dancing like before as if nothing had happened. What does that mean? It wasn't any of my business, anyway.
"Want to dance?" Shirogane suddenly asked.
"Alright," I agreed. I was getting bored of standing around. "Hey, Lettuce, Pudding, time for more dancing?" I was quite proud of my sneaky manoeuvre – avoiding dancing with boys, technique one (honed through going to many awkward parties). The reason that I had to avoid dancing with Shirogane alone is that I wanted to. I still have Andrew waiting for me when I manage to get back to Australia. Shirogane shrugged at the minor brush-off and smiled anyway.
All five of us girls, and Shirogane and Dr. Akasaka, moved into a circle on the dance floor and spent the rest of the party moving between the dance floor and the food table – my kind of party. I enjoyed myself so much that I didn't even realise when it turned midnight. It was only when Lettuce glanced at her watch and made a horrified expression.
"What's wrong?" I asked her anxiously.
"It's the day," she explained. I didn't even have to ask what she meant. The day that the MEW Project truly commences. The day I can kiss my humanity goodbye. My heart skipped another beat, and this time, not in a good way.
After that realisation, I had no more urge to party. Halloween was over, anyway. Lettuce and I excused ourselves and retired to our bedrooms in silence. Nothing kills my party mood by realising that my life ends tomorrow. I won't be myself by this time tomorrow, I thought darkly to myself.