WHATS UP EVERYONE! I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY YOUR HALLOWEEN! Seeing as I'm posting this on Halloween, I dare say some of you have already guessed that it's a Halloween special. Well guess what.

James: YOUR WRONG!

No, you're the one who's wrong James. This IS a Halloween special.

James: CAN I BE IRONMAN?

Yui: CAN I BE A FAIRY?

…So you both don't want anything to change?

James and Yui: NOPE!

Too bad. Now then, this being a special, its taking place a bit farther in the timeline than we currently are at. Some examples of this are that Laura is there, Charlotte is exposed as a female, James has a "different" IS (That will be explained a bit in the next chapter, so shut up and deal with it until you read the next proper chapter), and the group knows about the Stargate program, including Chifuyu. That SHOULD be it, but what do I know. I have yet to actually write this and it's the Monday the week of Halloween.

James: Lazy.

Yeah… Sorry guys. It was a last minute idea. ANYWAY, let's see what trouble James and Ichika can get into this time!

James: Why does it always have to be trouble? Why can't it ever be a calm episode? Preferably one where Chifuyu doesn't nearly kill me with her increasingly smaller objects.

Well, I'll give you a reprieve from that. At least this time.

James: Forgive me if I don't take you for your word.

Whatever. Now…

James, Yui, and I: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Chapter HS

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL

"Hey James! Wait up!" Charlotte yelled as she ran to catch up with me.

"Sorry. Didn't know you were trying to catch up with me." I apologized. "What's up?"

"Um, I was wondering." She said, twiddling her fingers together. "Do you have a da-"

"What's that?" I asked, having not heard her. "Sorry, there was an explosion in the holding bays and I've been a bit hard of hearing."

"I asked if you had a date for the Halloween Dance." She said louder this time, blushing intensely as she spoke.

"Didn't even know there was going to be a dance." I admitted. "What's the dress code?"

"Dress code?"

"Yeah. What's allowed to be worn and what isn't." I explained.

"I don't think there is one."

"Well that's going to end horribly. Anyway to answer your question, no I don't have a date to the dance." I said. "You're the first one to ask me."

"Oh!" She said, perking up a bit at hearing this, but also having her blush intensify. "Well, do you want to go with me?"

"Sure. Why not." I said with a warm smile. "If I had known, I probably would have asked you anyway."

"Y-You would have?" she stammered.

"Yeah. This way I get to have some fun with you. It feels like I've been spending too much time with Tabane, Cecilia, and Casandra lately and not enough with you." I said honestly. "Just one condition."

"U-Um. W-What?"

"I get to pick your costume." I said with a devilish grin.

"S-Sure. Just don't pick something perverted…" She said with a heavy blush.

"Well I don't think anything could top you and Laura's cat costume incident." I said teasingly. Unfortunately, she nearly passed out from embarrassment, as she didn't know I knew about that. It had taken getting some SERIOUS blackmail on Ichika to get that juicy story out of him.

"H-HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THAT?" She questioned as she shot a piercing glare at me after recovering.

"By having some major blackmail on Ichika. He didn't like saying it, but I wanted some dirt on Laura. I wasn't expecting you to be involved in that." I said, grinning like an idiot.

"Please don't tell anyone." She begged, giving her most irresistible puppy eyes. Honestly I hadn't planned on telling anyone that I knew besides Laura, and only to have something to hang over her head, but that face was truly irresistible.

"Fine. But I refuse to give up my blackmail on Laura." I countered. "Not a single other soul."

"Ok, but you have to tell me what you have on Ichika as well."

"Deal, but not today. I'll tell you after the dance, ok?"

"Fine. Now what am I wearing?" She asked.

"Uh-Uh. That's a secret until the day of the dance." I said teasingly. "Rest assured, it will fit you no matter what, and we're going to be the best dressed."

THE DAY OF HALLOWEEN, JAMES' ROOM

"HEY REVEREND!" Chifuyu yelled as the door to my room crashed into the opposite wall. "YOU WANTED TO SEE ME?"

"Why the door?" I said, not even paying attention to her. "That's the third one this month."

"Eh-hem." She cleared her throat and tapped her foot, waiting for me.

"Right. Why is there no dress code?" I asked, still looking at the destroyed door.

"We never needed one before you guys came to the school." She answered.

"So you're telling me, that not once in the entire time the academy has been open, that no one had brought a guy as a date to the dance from outside?" I questioned. "Sorry, but that's damn right impossible."

"Well, there's that and we haven't felt the need to implement one. The girls during past years haven't made us need to create one."

"Huh. Go figure. A dance is the one time the girls at this academy are proper." I said, finally turning towards Chifuyu. "Aaaaaand why are you dressed as a maid?"

"You're lucky I'm in this damned outfit, or else your shields would be dead, just like you." She threatened. "To answer you, Robert… found something he shouldn't have and now I have to wear this so he will give it back."

"Riiiight… Well, that's all I wanted to… Do you hear static?"

"Yes. I thought it was just me." Chifuyu admitted. "It gets louder at times, but then gets softer."

"Probably some kids playing pranks…" I tried convincing myself… and failed.

"No, this isn't a prank." Chifuyu muttered, walking over to the window. "I've been having a bad feeling all day now. Something's not right."

"But what?" I said as I joined her at the window. Suddenly, a shiver went down our spins and I noticed something wrong. "Chifuyu?"

"You feel that also?"

"Yes, but do you notice anything… strange?" I asked.

"No."

"You aren't surprised by the trees over there?"

"What trees…. Ok I see what you mean."

Seemingly out of nowhere, the ENTIRE SCHOOL had been surrounded by a dense forest. An erry feeling filled me as I continued looking at it.

'Yui, you seeing this?' I asked.

'Seeing what?' Yui answered from the Cafeteria where she was eating with Laura and Cecilia.

'Is there a forest of trees outside?'

'…'

'…'

'James what the hell is going on?' Yui asked, her voice filled with confusion and surprise.

'Yui, answer me. Is. There. A forest. Outside. The. Window?'

'Yes. Now what's going on?'

"We don't know." I said out loud, letting Chifuyu know I was talking to Yui. "See if anyone else can see them, then get everyone to the dance hall. I don't want anyone going outside."

"Got it J." Yui replied via a radio I had on me.

"Expecting trouble?" Chifuyu asked.

"A forest seemingly appeared out of nowhere and we didn't realize it immediately. Plus I work for an organization that fights aliens, so YES IM EXPECTING TROUBLE!" I all but yelled. "Grab a sword or something. We're going to check out that forest."

"Who died and put you in charge? Last I knew, I was the school staff member, and you were a student." She argued.

"A student who has experience fighting aliens and other non-terrestrial creatures, and who has access to the quickest means of escape for the entire student body." I growled. "Now, if your don't having your little pissing match, we can either go out there and see if there's a threat, or we can sit her and argue some more and potentially have students killed. Your call."

To her credit, she didn't blow a fuse after I chewed her out. (NO DAMNIT NOT LIKE THAT!) No, instead she pulled out her phone and had all the staff and faculty members gather everyone in the dance hall until further notice. With that, we headed towards the nearest exit, and stepped out into the increasingly dark forest.

Robert's voice had come over the radio shortly after we reached the door to go outside. He said he had seen something from the faculty building and had armed himself before saying he was going to lead the rest of the faculty members to the main building. Of course, Robert being who he is, commented that he "would have loved to see Chi-Chan fighting in her maid outfit."

I was feeling a lot less scared of whatever was out there now, and became more afraid of the demon I was walking out with.

"James." She said suddenly.

"You're going to kill Robert. I know." I said. "Sure he deserves it, but cut him some slack. He's just trying to lighten the mood."

"Not that you idiot!" She said before hitting me. "Can't you see its getting darker?"

"Not really. My replacement eye and contact lenses allow me to see in anything up to pitch black." I replied, muttering a silent prayer of thanks to Tabane.

"Well give me a flashlight. It's getting too dark to see." She said, then nodded in appreciation when I materialized a high-powered military grade flashlight. The damn thing could easily light up the entire forest.

Yet something was making it only work like some shitty flashlight from a horror game.

"Does this thing not have good batteries?" She complained.

"No, It's powered from my IS core. As long as you're within a twenty mile radius of me, that thing should work fine. Something else is causing… What's that?" I asked, spotting a shade of white in the distance.

"Let's take a look." She said as we started to walk over to it. Only when I got a good look at it did I realize just what we were up against.

"Slender man." I muttered. "Well that explains a bit."

"What?"

"Well, it explains the forest to an extent, and it explains why it's so un-naturally dark and why the flashlight won't work properly." I said. "But now that we've read that note, we've gone from the hunters to the hunted."

"It will take more than some faceless freak with tentacles to make me go from the hunter to the hunted." She said.

"Romeo-Whiskey, this is Juliet-Romeo, We have confirmation on the hostile presence."

"Say a-ZZZ-in, your bre-ZZZZ-p"

'Yui, can you relay a message to Robert? Radios are shit out here.' I said mentally.

'…'

'Yui?'

'…'

"Well great. We won't be getting any backup. Radios are shit and my mental link with Yui is being interrupted. I can't get ahold of anyone." I informed Chifuyu.

"What was that?" She said, suddenly turning around and raising her sword, not just a normal sword, but an IS sword. With no assistance from an IS.

"I didn't hear anything, and I have somewhat better hearing." I said, also turning around and looking.

"Summon your IS. See if you can use your radar to find it." She ordered.

"Alright." I said before muttering "H.A.V.O.C."

What would have been a bright flash was unceremoniously dull, as my suit quickly formed around me. Instead of it being its normal black and white color scheme, it was now in a woodland camo paint.

"Damn. It's even effecting the light from the summoning. What's the radar look like?" she asked.

"Nothing, and I have it boosted to a mile in all directions." I said.

"Damn that thing." Chifuyu muttered.

"You don't understand." I said. "I'm getting NOTHING. Not a single life sign for a mile. Including at the school and well… where you're standing."

"But I'm only a few feet away from you." She half questioned, half stated.

"I can't pick up my own life signs. Radar is a bust. Still, this is probably better protection than what I had on before."

"We need a plan, preferably one that doesn't have us split up."

"I see two courses of action." I said. "The first is that we head back to the school and defend it against Slendy. The second is we continue out here and find the remaining pieces of paper, hopefully drawing him away from the school and into a fight with us where we hopefully can take him out."

"I'm all for the second plan." I added before she could decide.

"As am I. Hopefully this will keep him away from the students." She said as we both started to wander further into the forest.

Apparently, Slendy thought it would be funny to occasionally let my suit ping a life sign. Whether it was my own, Chifuyu's, or students at the school, it made me jump. Mostly because it had such a loud ping every time a new life sign was detected. Despite turning it off, it continued to make the loud pinging noise.

It was only after we had collected the third note, with no signs of Slendy, that I realized that the pinging WAS off, and that the life sign on my radar WASN'T mine.

Spinning around, I fired a burst of rounds from my wrist mounted SMG's, upon HEARING them collide with what I assumed was flesh, I continued firing until I heard a roar that sent a chill down my spine. Utilizing my sudden lack of fire, one of Slendy's tentacles shot forward and wrapped around me, completely bypassing my shields.

Thankfully, Chifuyu was quick on her feet and cut through Slendy's tentacle with a single swing. Another roar of pain later, and Slendy decided to back off… for now at least.

"For having a H.A.V.O.C. frame, you didn't cause much damage." Chifuyu teased as she poked the severed tentacle.

"Just testing the waters." I countered. "And please don't tell me you're actually enjoying this."

"Maybe I am." She replied with a devilish grin.

"Right… Man Robert has a strange taste in women."

"The same could be said of you. Tabane, Casandra, and Charlotte to name just a few." She teased.

"Hey, I'm not dating any of them." I countered. "I'm hanging out with all of them as much as I can so no one feels left out."

"Can't stay that way forever James." She said. "Someday, you're going to have to make the decision, or they'll all move on."

"I just don't want to hurt them. I'm not dense like Ichika is. I know they care for me. I just don't know how I feel towards them." I said. "Well, assuming we even get out of this hell-hole of a forest."

"Yes, we should return to gathering those notes." She agreed before we started walking again, keeping a higher guard that before.

Slowly but steadily, we made our way around the forest, trying to get a feel for its size as we went. Along the way we had a few brief run-ins with Slendy, but he always retreated after, for the most part, startling us.

What was really annoying was that damn static. Chifuyu could only hear it, but due to my eye and contact lenses, I had a hard time seeing whenever I got a look at Slendy. Eventually, we turned more inward and promptly found two more notes. It was then that Slendy decided to really start attacking.

Surprisingly, it was from a distance.

He would launch his tentacles towards us, occasionally ensnaring one of us until the other cut through it, Chifuyu with her sword and me with my built in laser chainsaw. After realizing that tactic wasn't working, he instead sent his tentacles into the ground. When they emerged, we realized just how powerful Slendy really was.

"Damn it! Where did these come from! The bastard only sent one tentacle into the ground, not twenty!" I yelled as I cut and shot my way through his tentacles. "And honestly, why tonight! I get its Halloween, but what's so special about this night that made him attack!?"

"Don't know, don't care!" Chifuyu yelled back as she cut down the tentacles, only for two to replace each one she cut down. "Just keep fighting! He has to have a limit!"

"Fuck that!" I yelled as I summoned a sniper rifle. "Cover me for a second!"

"On it!" She replied as a new wave of black tentacles arose from the ground.

I waited, lining up a shot strait at the black suited bastards head, but every time I had a clear shot it was quickly blocked by a new tentacle. Yelling in frustration, I simply started firing, the rounds causing the black mass to wither into the ground for a second to regenerate.

Switching from the single-shot bolt-action to a semi-automatic, I started firing rapidly. Tentacle after tentacle fell to the power of the rifle, and finally I got a round to connect with Slendy's head. The force of the round going through his skull tossed him back and he landed in a heap against a tree.

"You get him?" Chifuyu asked, walking over now that the tentacles had stopped attacking.

"I sure hope so." I said grimly as I kneeled over Slendy's body and checked for a pulse. As soon as my fingers touched his neck however, his whole body disappeared.

Along with the whole forest.

"Nothing is ever simple… is it?" I said, standing back up. "Robert? Yui? Anyone there?" I asked over the radio.

"Yo, James! Where have you been?" Robert answered.

"Killing slender man… I think." I answered.

"You think?" He questioned.

"Well, his body just… disappeared. That along with the entire forest." I explained.

"Good enough for me. It safe for everyone to come out?"

"Should be, but let's keep everyone in the main building. Just in case."

"Rodger that. Alright everyone! You're free to go, but please stay within the main building…" He proceeded to tell everyone. I simply started walking towards the main door when Chifuyu jumped on my back.

"Ok… What the hell has gotten into you?"

"I just want to pick on Robert for making me wear this damn costume, so can you carry me back?" She asked, her kind smile betraying her sinister reasoning.

"If it makes Robert upset, then any time." I said with a laugh before letting her adjust so I could fly us back. No sense in walking the whole way back, seeing as we appeared in the city after the forest disappeared. Thankfully, it had been in a back ally instead of in some café or in the middle of a street.

A FEW MINUTES LATER, AT THE ACADEMY

I landed gracefully at the main entrance, only to be greeted by a large crowd of students and staff members, all applauding and cheering for Chifuyu and I. I never really liked getting attention for doing things I felt were normal, so I simply waved and started walking in.

Chifuyu, on the other hand, got swarmed by the students. Most of them were in awe that she fought without an IS, but all of them were really focused on how she looked in the maid costume. I had more than a few laughs at the scene, and Roberts face as I landed while holding her princess style.

After my armor was back in storage, I too got swarmed, but unlike Chifuyu, it was very manageable, mostly due to it being just those I normally hung out with. The most notable of the group was charlotte, who enveloped me in a hug as soon as my armor vanished.

"James! Are you alright?" She asked, her head buried in my chest, which I thought was strange since I was only six Centimeters taller than her.

"I'm fine. Not a single scratch on me." I said, giving her a reassuring hug.

"So… Slender man…" Robert said, giving me a quizzical look. "Why don't I believe that?"

"Because I got to carry the girl you like." I teased. "Yui, can you access the suits mission recorders?"

"Yup. Already done." She said, giving Robert a glance. "The mission recorders check out."

"Please tell me that we will be able to see them." Laura half asked, half demanded. "I wish to see the instructor and yourself in battle of this creature."

"Sure. Why not. Heck, we could probably get it to play for the whole school. It is Halloween after all. They'd think it was just some staged movie probably."

"Yeah… I'm not so sure I want the school to watch my sister fight in a maid outfit…" Ichika muttered.

"Yes, I don't think that would be very decent." Cecilia agreed.

"Well, only Chifuyu and I have the mission recordings, and since you commented on it, I won't be showing it to everyone. Just you guys. Can't speak for her though." I said.

"Well at least it would be her choice." Ichika sighed. Shortly after walking away, Houki, Rin, and Cecilia after giving me one last worried glance, all walked after him, trying to get him as their date, despite it being only an hour away from the dace.

Laura was pestering me about the tape still, but after a quick mention of cat pajamas, she suddenly coughed and said she needed to get ready for the party. Robert simply walked off to keep his eyes on Chifuyu, leaving only me and Charlotte, who was still hugging me.

Sighing, I picked her up instead of asking her to let go. I knew she was enjoying hugging me, so I let her have her moment of joy as I carried her to my room.

'Ohhh, going to have some fun before the party?' Yui teased. Right… Yui was in my head again.

'Only so we can get our costumes on.' I replied. 'You know I don't think like that Yui.'

'Still fun to tease you though.' She said before being blocked out by me. I gave a silent prayer of thanks to Tabane for teaching me how to do that, and properly shield my thoughts. Yui and I had been a bit distant since then, but I had realized just how often I had actually heard her thoughts, and now didn't. But that wasn't a problem tonight. It was a party, and no one was going to be kept from their fun.

Well, as long as it stayed decent if I was involved.

"Were here." I said, almost pealing Charlotte off of me after entering my room.

"Sorry about that." She apologized with a heavy blush. "It's just that… I ha-"

"Relax. It's fine." I interrupted her with a smile. "If it hadn't been, I would have said something."

"No, I want to say this." She sighed. "You remember how I've only spent roughly two hours with my dad?"

"Yeah. He's still on my shit list." I muttered.

"He's a good man, he's just a horrible father." She explained. "But during those two hours, he held me like you did. It felt… safe. Like I belonged there."

She wasn't able to continue for two reasons. The tears that appeared in her eyes and rolled down her face, and the tight embrace I was giving her.

"Charlotte, you don't have to be alone anymore." I whispered. "You have me, Ichika, Robert, and all of our friends by your side. As far as I'm concerned, were more your family than your father will ever be."

"But only if you want us to be." I continued as she started crying and hugged me back. "Each one of us loves you in our own way. We look after each other, we defend each other, and if need be, we cry for each other. If that's not a family, then I don't know what is."

"Aww, how sweet." A far to familiar voice cooed from the corner. Charlotte, startled by the sudden voice, pushed me away and ended up falling onto the bed. I bumped into the desk, only to rebound forward and land with my face someplace I wouldn't have put it voluntarily.

Right between her legs.

"JAMES GET OUT OF THERE!" Charlotte yelled as she started hitting me. Quickly complying, I rolled out of the way of most of her fists, a heavy blush on each of our faces.

"Ohh, I didn't realize you two were that close already!" The voice pouted. "I might need to start visiting more often to keep you two apart!"

"Tabane, what are you doing here? And how did you even get in?" I asked, getting up from the floor that I had crashed into after rolling to avoid Charlotte's fists.

"I just wanted to check up on you James-Kun!" She cheered, grabbing me and pulling me into a hug. Had I not been dazed by the last few seconds, I probably would have escaped. "And I also wanted to see how Houki-Chan is doing with her conquest!"

"Right… Getting with Ichika." I said, regaining most of my senses and escaping her hug. "Well why don't you stay for the dance then? It would give you the chance to spy on him."

"Only if I get to have a dance with you!" She pouted.

"Uhhh." I stammered, looking at Charlotte for help. Unfortunately, she was still blushing profusely and glaring daggers at me, so I figured that I wouldn't be getting any help from her. "I guess we can have a dance. But I'm going with Charlotte, so she gets the first one."

"Aww, such a gentleman." She said, looking over to Charlotte and giving her a wink, just outside my vision. "Don't worry, I won't keep him for long. I have lots of spying to do!"

"R-Right…" Charlotte managed to stammer. "S-So James. What are our costumes?"

"Ah, those!" I said as I walked over to my dresser and opened the top drawer, only to reach under it and remove a hidden panel. On it were two spiral shaped devices, each one a purple-blue color with a red sphere in the center.

"Ohhh, I like your style!" Tabane exclaimed, familiar with the devices.

"These are… well I'm not sure what the SGC is calling them. Anyway they allow the wearer to change his or her appearance to anything they want. Normally the user would have to have the person they wanted to change into knocked out and put into a special harness, but the techs at the SGC managed to alter these two." I explained.

"So, how does that let us be the best dressed?" Charlotte asked. "And how good is the change?"

"Let me show you." I said with a smile as I put the device on, changing flawlessly into Tabane, since she was in the room already. "See! It even changes the person's voice and allows the person to mimic the original's actions!"

"Hey! That sounds nothing like me!" Tabane complained. "Why are you picking on me James-Kun?"

"Wow. That's perfect!" Charlotte exclaimed, forgetting her earlier embarrassment. She got up and walked over to me. "Just how good is this though? Is it disrupted via touch?"

"No idea! Want to find out?" I cheered before grabbing Charlottes hand and placing it right were my costumes… breasts were. Not the best decision in hind sight. I should have just hugged her. Her reaction, however, was not what I was expecting.

"Wow!" She said. "The feel so real!"

"Ok, now I'm worried." I exclaimed as I reached up and removed the device, changing back into my normal appearance. "You took that WAY to calmly."

"Well you haven't been attacked by Rin in the bath." Charlotte complained.

"…Right. So anyway, here's yours." I said, handing her the device. "Just think of what you want to change into, and your all set."

Charlotte, in a flash of sudden inspiration, put the device on and changed. At first, I didn't realize what she had changed into, but that was just because she didn't look like she changed. After a second, I realized the genius of her costume.

"THAT'S AMAZING!" Tabane and I both yelled.

"Is it really?" She asked, turning around in a very odd way that only her costume would allow.

"HOLY CRAP WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!" I said, still amazed at her appearance.

Instead of changing completely, she had decided to change how she looked to others. It sounds confusing, but she had somehow flattened herself and appeared in a two dimensional from, with a heavy black outline around her that made it look like she was from a retro styled six-bit video game that had been given a better processor to allow for more complex animations. When she turned, she literally went flat and almost disappeared completely from view, with only a black line giving her away.

"You really think it's good?" She asked, her animated appearance clearly expressing its worry.

"Charlotte, you impressed Tabane with that." I said, glancing at Tabane who still was staring in awe. "I think you will get best dressed tonight. No exceptions."

"What about you?" She asked, eager to get the attention off of herself. "What are you going to be?"

"Well I have two options. Since were going together I could copy you, or go with what I had originally planned." I explained. "I'll show you the last one first."

"Ok." She said before a dark flash filed the room. Standing tall, I now wore a black-purple robe that covered all of my body, with a red trim around my hood that was pulled over my head. Instead of a face, I had what looked like a dark, water-like appearance that constantly shifted.

"W-What is that?" Charlotte asked, her animated appearance showing she was somewhat afraid.

"This," I said in a much deeper, and slightly robotic, voice, "Is the appearance of Anubis. One of the greater System Lords of the Goa'uld."

"Well, it is pretty scary." She muttered. "Let me see what you would look like in my type of costume."

"Alright." I said before a strangely pixilated burst of light covered me. Standing in front of her now was myself, my school uniform on instead of my usual attire of a grey jacket with a white undershirt and jeans. The whole outfit was extremely pixilated, but that was to be expected since that's what we were going for.

"You both look great!" Tabane yelled suddenly, breaking free of her trance. "James, go as that instead of that scary costume!"

"Fine." I sighed. "Well, the dance starts in half an hour, but the doors should be open. Ready to go?"

"Yup!" Charlotte yelped happily before her avatar-like body latching onto my arm. If she hadn't been in her current form, her breasts would have been squeezing my arm and we both knew it. Her expression was one of sadness and relief, probably because she didn't get to see me embarrassed, but didn't embarrass herself.

"I'll be along in a minute." Tabane shooed us out. "I need to get into my costume!"

"Alright. Just don't be late!" I yelled to her as Charlotte and I walked out the door.

"I wonder what she's going to be." Charlotte questioned out loud.

"Some sort of rabbit. I just really hope she doesn't do some playboy bunny costume. Chances are that's being done to death tonight." I commented dryly. "With guys at the school now, chances are most of the girls will try to impress us guys."

"So… You're not into that sort of thing?" Charlotte asked nervously.

"I'm not saying that. I just think that a bunch of girls doing the more or less the same thing is pointless. The goal is to get their attention, not join the faceless masses." I explained. "Take your costume for example. Regardless of the fact I gave it to you, you're the one that's making it stand out, and it clearly shows your creativity, rather than you going with what everyone else is doing."

"That's true I guess." She admitted as we got closer to the dance hall. "But if everyone is doing it, then something must be right about it."

"If everyone were jumping off of bridges, would you say the same thing?" I asked. "Just because everyone is doing it doesn't mean anything other than that it's trending."

"You're surprisingly insightful about this." She said, looking up at me. "It's kind of nice."

"Kind of?" I asked teasingly. "You wound me madam."

She laughed in her normal, light hearted way, and I realized just how much I had been missing this. Between hanging out with Cecilia, helping Casandra and Tabane, IS matches, School, and the odd mission off world, I hadn't had much time to be with Charlotte. It surprised me how much I had missed hearing her laugh, seeing her pout from my teasing, and watching her blush whenever something embarrassing happened.

I was so deep in thought about this that I didn't realize we were at the door to the dance hall until she pinched my arm. After a quick yelp of pain, followed by her innocent-yet-guilty giggling, I opened the door for her. Despite us being roughly twenty minutes early, the walk over her taking longer than expected, the music was loud and there were cheers coming from those who were already there.

"After you." I half yelled over the music. Smiling, she grabbed my arm and pulled me in so I wouldn't be stuck holding the door for the crowd that appeared behind us. "Thanks for saving me there."

"No problem" She said with a laugh. "You did say I get your first dance."

"And just like that I'm worried about what Tabane is wearing again." I muttered, leading her to the punch bowl. One quick sniff and I knew it was already heavily spiked. "I don't recommend you drink any of that unless they bring out a new one."

"Yeah, I think I'll stick to water this evening." She commented, getting a whiff of the punch. "Honestly, why do they even have these if they don't watch what gets put into it?"

"Part of the experience." I said. "Oh, there's Ichika and Houki. Looks like she's the winner of the war over who gets to bring Ichika as a date."

"I wonder how she won." She muttered. The only reason I heard her was due to the music finally dropping down to reasonable levels.

"Probably beat them to death with her Shinai. Damn thing is deadly." I said, remembering all the times I had been hit by her. She wasn't as strong as Chifuyu, but she was defiantly in the number two slot. "I know I wouldn't go to war with her over something she wanted."

Walking in, it was easy to see what Ichika was dressed up as, and he had a guarantee of not being copied since there were only three guys at the school. Dressed in a black suit with an equally black cape, the inside of said cape being a blood red. He also had red lips and pale skin, though it looked more from fear and blood loss than makeup at the moment. When he replied to a comment I didn't hear from Houki, it showed the fangs that he had put into his mouth.

If you don't get who he was dressed up as by now, its Dracula.

Houki was, oddly enough, not dressed up at all it seemed. She wasn't in her school uniform at least. Instead, she wore a plain white kimono with a red tint embroidery around the seams to help it stand out, and her hair wasn't tied up like it normally was. It was only when she turned that I realized she was dressed up as a Kitsune in human form, as evident from the fox tail coming out from a hole in the back. It looked good on her, in all honesty. She wasn't showing off, but she wasn't keeping it simple either. As Charlotte and I walked over to say hi, they spotted us.

"JAMES? CHARLOTTE?!" The both asked in shock.

"Yup. Great costumes right?" I said, my animated face showing just how pleased I was to have this reaction on people.

"IT'S AMAZING!" Ichika continued. "No offence to everyone else, but if you two don't win best costume, I don't know who would!"

"I'm going to ignore that, Ichika." Houki glared at him, a dark aura surrounding her before she turned back to us. "Although, if anyone deserves to win, it's you two. How did you manage to do that?"

"Like this." I said, reaching up and removing the device and changing back into my normal self, Charlotte doing the same "These little devices let us change our appearance to whatever we want. I'm defiantly using these every year for Halloween from now on."

"Hey, James." Ichika said, pulling me away for a second while the girls kept talking. "Do you think I could get one of those? Even if its just for next year?"

"Sorry man, but to my knowledge, these were the only spares at the SGC. I heard their trying to make some through backwards engineering, but it's taking time." I apologized. "Oh, and a word of warning for you. Your date's older sister is here."

"Oh great." He muttered. "This could end well, or horribly. No middle ground."

"So…" I said, turning around to face the girls, but remaining far enough away so they wouldn't hear our conversation. "Houki looks like she's dressed to impress. Can't imagine who thought."

"She does look great." Ichika agreed. "And despite wearing her school uniform in her costume, Charlotte looks amazing as well."

"Were going to get screwed over sometime soon if we don't start stepping up our game dude." I sighed. "I just don't want to hurt anyone's feelings in the process."

"I can understand that." Ichika sighed with me as we started walking back to the group.

"Oh, Ichika, be a gentleman and get us some punch please." Houki said to Ichika as we rejoined the girls.

"Sure thing Houki." He said before walking off again. Charlotte looked like she was going to say something, but I shook my head.

"If he doesn't smell it, it's his own fault for whatever happens." I whispered to her, only for her to smile and nod in understanding. "So, Houki. You look great this evening. Trying to impress a certain dense rock?"

"Is it really that obvious?" Houki asked, somewhat put down.

"Only since the beginning of the school year." I replied. "But this is Ichika were talking about."

"Great." She sighed. "Why can't that idiot see it?"

"Maybe it's because you're trying to kill him half the time for things he couldn't help?" Charlotte half joked. "He is very accident prone, and I doubt he has any motivation to do half the things he does with how dense he is."

"Think I need to tone it down?" Houki half asked, half sighed.

"Yes." I said rather bluntly. "Between you, Rin, and Cecilia's tempters, I'm amazed Ichika has survived as long as he has."

"James!" Charlotte scolded, hitting me. "Don't be rude!"

"No, he's right." Houki admitted. "I just don't like it when he doesn't think his words through."

"I'll give you this, he did deserve the beating when he tried to defend himself the first night here and happened to have your bra on the end of your spare Shinai." I said with a laugh. "I couldn't help but laugh as he told me about it. I mean, just how bad of luck can one guy get?"

"Yeah." Houki laughed as well, which seemed to brighten the mood. "There are times I almost can't keep a straight face with how ridiculous some of his situations are."

"He is unique, I'll give him that." Charlotte added. "Oh, and don't drink the punch. It's already heavily spiked."

"And you didn't tell Ichika why?" She asked.

"Because if that idiot can't smell it and know something's wrong, then he doesn't deserve to be told." I said simply. "But seriously, that stuff is potent! It's probably half alcohol at this point."

"HELLO EVERYBODY AND WELCOME TO THE BEST HALLOWEEN EVER!" A too familiar voice yelled over the sound system, getting a roaring cheer of approval. "MOST OF YOU KNOW ME BY NOW, BUT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T, MY NAME IS ROBERT AND I'M YOUR DJ FOR THE NIGHT!"

Looking over to the DJ booth with a sigh, I immediately picked Robert out of the crowd of girls surrounding him. He was wearing a full business suit, but with a full helmet in the shape of a mouse head. It was pitch black, and instead of normal eyes and a mouth, there were LED screens in each location, giving him a terrifying appearance as they eyes and mouth that were there would look where he was looking and move when he was talking. Suddenly, they went out and the eyes were replaced by D in his left eye (as in my left as I faced him) and a J in the other, while his mouth was replaced with his name. This lasted a few minutes before the changed again to white X's for the eyes and a white smile.

"What idiot put him in charge of the music?" I muttered, causing Houki and Charlotte to laugh.

"I think he's doing a fine job so far." A new voice came from the crowd. Cecilia and Casandra walked up and greeted us. It had been Casandra who had made the comment and was currently dressed up as a nurse, but not the nice good looking nurse. No, this was the nurse who enjoyed seeing her patients suffer as she cut off their limbs, as evident by the replica bone saw and blood spatter over her clothes.

Cecilia had decided to dress up as a female knight, wearing what could only be described as a blue and red battle dress, the dress ending at her knees with replica armor plating around it to offer 'protection.' Her hair was tied up in a similar way that Houki tied hers up, but not as long since she had shorter hair than Houki. She also had a decent sized broadsword that appeared to be modeled after the traditional image of Excalibur.

"James, Charlotte, where are your costumes?" Cecilia asked.

"Oh, right." I said and put the device back on at the same time as Charlotte. A decent sized flash of light later, and everyone was staring at us and our appearance.

"James, everyone's staring…" Charlotte muttered as she clung to me, clearly nervous about what everyone thought.

"Don't worry." I calmed her. "Look at their faces, there in awe."

I had just enough time to finish my sentence before EVERYONE started talking at once, all of it at Charlotte and I. Most of it was complements, things like "You look great" and "I'm so jealous, you two are amazing," but there were also the few fangirls who were obsessed with paring's. To my great dismay, Rin, who had walked up to us during the commotion, was one of those people.

"So, James and Charlotte eh?" She said with an apprising look on her face, her hand on her chin. "I think you two would be a great couple!"

"Look what you did Rin. Charlotte is broken now!" I chastised her while waving my hand in front of charlotte's face, trying to get her to snap out of her embarrassed trance. "Besides, aren't you after Ichika, like Houki, Laura, Tatenashi, and Cecilia? Id worry more on that than shipping others."

"T-T-That's not the Point!" She tried to defend herself. "B-Besides, you have your own group of girls after you!"

"Yes, but we have an understanding between us." I muttered, not loud enough for her to hear.

"What was that?" She glared at me, a dark aura surrounding her.

"Nothing pipsqueak." I said, patting her head. "Now then, Ichika is taking FAR too long at the punch bowl so I think ill go rescue him. Charlotte… try to come out of that trance of yours."

With that, I left Charlotte with the girls just as laura walked up dressed as a mummy. In all honesty, it looked like she was wearing the same outfit she first wore to the trip to the beach. Rin had dressed up as a Chinese dragon, and was using other students in the back to support the 'tail.'

Ichika had managed to get surrounded by girls ALREADY drunk from the punch, and each one was dressed in those damned playboy bunny outfits. If Ichika was a lot older, he would have looked like Huge Heffner.

"Ichika, what are you doing! You know Houki is going to kill you if she sees you acting like a playboy!" I yelled over the music that was now blaring through the speakers. People had been moving to the dance floor, and some were actually dancing to the beat quite well.

"Why are these girls acting like their drunk?" Ichika yelled. "James, can you please save me?"

"Sure… HEY HOUKI! ICHIKA"S HITTING ON SOME RANDOM GIRLS!" I yelled, and started running away as the room flooded with killing intent. "ICHIKA, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MAN!"

"I HATE YOU!" He said as he broke free of the girls just before they were sent flying by a single swing from Houki's Shinai.

"Houki!" I said, getting her attention. "He actually didn't, but was overwhelmed by drunk girls! You two can go have a moment now if you don't kill him!"

"When I get back, you're dead!" She said before giving me a kiss on the cheek and whispering, "But thank you."

"Don't mention it. No, seriously. Don't. Mention. It. Ever."

"No problem. Now I have an idiot to catch and kill." She said before running after Ichika.

With that situation solved, I walked over to the group and told them what had happened, those after Ichika cringed when I said Houki was going to kill him, but Charlotte laughed, seemingly out of her trance.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" Robert's voice came over the speakers. "THE SCHOOL REQUIRES AT LEAST TWO SLOW DANCES, SO WERE GOING TO GET THOSE OUT OF THE WAY! FIND A PARTNER AND HAVE A GOOD TIME!"

"Well everyone, I owe Charlotte my first dance, so I'll see you all later." I said and walked off to the dance floor with Charlotte. "Want take the costumes off for the dance? I honestly have no clue how we could with them on."

"Sure." She said while laughing at my cluelessness and removing the device. "You don't know how to slow dance, do you?"

"Never done it before." I replied, taking off my device as well. "So I meant it when I said you get my first dance."

"Well now I feel special." She cooed in my ear as she got herself into position. "Just follow my lead, and you'll do fine."

"Yes mam." I replied with a gulp as she guided my hands to her waist and started moving. After stepping on her feet a few times, which I apologized for constantly, I managed to understand enough of this type of dancing to at least stop squishing her toes.

As we danced, I happened to noticed everyone who were dancing together. Cecilia and Casandra had paired up, almost like they were an item in some other reality. Laura and Rin had paired up, but each of them were clearly finding it strange.

Houki and Ichika had reappeared, and were dancing with each other. Ichika seemed to be fine, so I assumed Houki took the discussion earlier to heart and didn't beat him senseless. When I looked up to the DJ booth, I noticed Robert was absent. Confused, I sighed in relief when I finally spotted him dancing with Chifuyu, each one of them enjoying the other's company.

"James?" Charlotte said, looking at me curiously. "What are you looking at?"

"Just seeing who everyone else ended up with. Honestly, im surprised by Cecilia and Casandra together." I answered. "But sorry, I guess I got distracted."

"Its ok." She said with a warm smile. "Just being here is enough for me."

We continued dancing until the song finished, Charlotte leaning in and resting her head on my chest as we danced. It was surprisingly nice, and after the song had finished, we lingered like that for as long as she liked. I remembered what she said when she had hugged me earlier, and I wanted her to be the one to decide when we were done.

Robert, after returning to the DJ booth, had noticed this and played a second slow song, commenting that he had just been informed that they were going to have to do a few more songs like that than expected. I knew it was just his way of helping me and Charlotte out, but it didn't go unappreciated.

As the second song finished, Charlotte had let go of me and said I could go find Tabane for my dance with her. Despite knowing she wouldn't remove her robot rabbit ears, I couldn't find her anywhere. I was just about to go back to my room and check there for her when Charlotte jumped me with a hug.

"Charlotte? What's up?" I asked before smelling her breath. "Have you been drinking?"

"Hiya James-Kun!" She said, but the voice was not hers.

"Tabane? What are you doing dressed up as Charlotte?"

"I had a spare one of those devices you and her used, and I wanted to confuse you with there being two of her!" She explained before pouting. "But by the time I got here, you had finished your dance with her and I couldn't, so I got some punch."

"You know that it was spiked, right?" I asked cautiously, having no experience or knowledge on what Tabane was like when she was drunk, but fearing it would be more terrifying than her normal self.

"It was? All well, it takes more than a bit of alcohol to get me to do anything strange." She said with a hiccup. "Unless it was you asking."

'Oh god.' I thought. 'This could end HORIBLY.'

'Want me to distract her?' Yui said out of nowhere.

'if you could. And where have you been?' I asked.

'Chi-Chan wanted me on security to make sure no one, or anyTHING, hurts someone.' She replied.

'Fair enough, though shouldn't you be able to do that while having fun at with everyone?'

'Yes, but I'm trying to find whoever spiked the punch, and they covered their tracks well.' She explained. 'I'm currently at a dead end, so I can quick help you out.'

'THANK YOU YUI YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!' I said to her as she appeared, as me, right next to me. 'Ok… that's creepy.'

"Whaaa? Two James? Maybe I have been drinking too much…" She said with a sudden swaying motion.

"DO you want to lay down?" Yui and I both asked, which sounded CREEPY.

"No! Nooooo, I want to have my dance with James!" She said. "Tabane wants to dance with James!"

"Oh lord, she's drunk." A voice said from behind me. As the three of us turned around, I saw it was Houki… Well this might not end well… "Let me handle her." She said with a sigh. "She's pretty unmanageable when she gets like this."

"Y-You're ok with her being here?" I stuttered, knowing their touchy relationship.

"Ichika told me I should expect her, but I didn't expect her to be drunk" Houki explained as Yui disappeared, saying something about the lead not being dead again. "And while I'm not HAPPY about it, I understand that tonight is different."

"Wow. That's really mature." I said, getting a glare. "Not that you're not mature! I was just passing a complement!"

Houki simply nodded and dragged the Charlotte-lookalike Tabane out. I just hoped the rest of the night didn't get crazier…

AFTER THE PARTY

I collapsed on my bed at roughly midnight. The party had spiraled into a controlled chaos; Laura had somehow gotten her costume stuck on a ceiling fan and was still stuck there, Ichika kept getting attacked by drunk girls and accidentally grabbed one's breasts, right in front of Houki and the girls. Charlotte had been relatively normal, but had laughed on the sidelines as Chifuyu chased down Robert for getting drunk and calling Maya "sexy teacher" and had tried to get with her. His explanation when he called her "sexy teacher" had been: "because for a teacher, you're damn sexy!"

Cecilia and Casandra had stuck together throughout the whole dance, acting strangely like a couple. Yui said something along the lines of an alternate reality, but I was too tired to properly listen to her explanation. After that, Yui had gone off to find that it was Tatenashi who had, not spiked the punch, but bought punch with alcohol mixed in on accident, which explained why Yui had such a hard time finding out who had done it.

I had tried to control the damage as much as possible, and had been thanked by Chifuyu with a free day off to rest. After saying goodnight to everyone, and finding Tabane knocked out in my room, I changed into my sleeping clothes collapsed on the bed with my eyes closed.

Opening them up, I felt a shudder go through my spine and quickly looked out the window. Getting up quickly, I got over to the wardrobe and removed a pistol I kept there and looked out the window.

Only to come face to face with Slendy.

Or rather, I thought it was Slendy. After the initial startle, I realized it was one of his little note things that had a picture of him on it. I turned it over and read the back. "I had a great time. See you next year."

THAT'S IT GUYS! HOPE YOU ALL

James, Yui, and I: HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN!