Author's Note: There was one more part that I wanted to add to this halo but I ran out of time. Looks like I am going to have to add it in next week. Anyway, I got the idea for the black pumpkins from a creepypasta entitled, Black Pumpkins. Plus, I had a couple of leftover ideas to work with. I only have a couple of scenes for this year's Halloween special. I might incorporate some Kinktober at some point. From there, I will just have to see where the story takes me. On the up side, October is coming and I will really get to cut loose with the content. In fact, I have at least the next two haloes planned. For now, enjoy this week's halo.
Halo Eight: Toxic:
There have been black pumpkins popping up all over the city. Nobody has a clue where they are coming from. Some of them are rather unnerved by them. Easy to see why. However, they don't seem out of place. Halloween is coming up in a few anyway. But still, the little black pumpkins seem like an omen of some sort. Nobody seems to know what.
Only Hiroi Michiko and a few others know what the black pumpkins are warning.
The Dante Killer is unnerved. That one little interaction at work put her in a confusing place. She does not like this. There was only one way to fix this.
She had to make another kill so soon too. That display in Edogawa Park was good. She never thought that she would be comfortable with killing on camera. Maybe she could do something grand like that. Hmm… Let's see. She completed violence against neighbors. Next up was violence against the self.
DK started scrolling through suicide assist sites. Just looking at these pro-suicide sites made her stomach turn. Usually, this was Quantum's domain. But maybe he wouldn't be mad if she took just one. Because DK had her eyes on one victim in particular.
"Here you go," Akari said. She handed Mikado a small silver tin. He took it and opened the lid. Little deep red strips sat inside.
"You take one and put it on your tongue for five minutes," the witch told him.
"Five minutes?" Mikado asked.
"That's right," Akari said. The tadpole looked at the little strips. Anything to keep the girls from going into a frenzy around him, he guessed. Mikado put one strip on his tongue. The bitter cherry taste filled his mouth. He glanced up at Akari. She kept her eyes on him.
"You sure this will work?" he asked. The witch narrowed her eyes as she frowned at him.
"Okay, okay," Mikado said. "I will trust your judgment." Akari smiled at him. The tadpole sat back and endured the taste. Anything to keep from risking Anri pregnant.
"What is with the black pumpkins everywhere?" Mikado asked. The witch frowned.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"Yeah, there have been several black pumpkins all over the city," the tadpole boy said. "They kind of creep me out." He saw the worried look on Akari's face.
"What is it?" Mikado asked.
"Do you have one at your place?" she asked. "Think really hard."
"No," he said. The witch leaned back and breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank god!" she said. She looked him in the eye.
"Listen to me," Akari said. "If you see one of those black pumpkins around your place, throw it away as soon as possible."
"Okay… But what about them?" he asked. "Are they cursed or something?" The witch buried her head in her hands.
"You can say that," she said. "How long has it been?"
"Five minutes, I think," Mikado said.
"Show me your tongue," the witch said. The tadpole stuck out his tongue. Akari leaned for a look. All gone.
"Good," she said.
"What now?" Mikado asked. Akari crawled over to him. She came within inches of him. A warm flush ran through her chest. The witch closed her fist over her heart as she cleared her throat.
"I can still feel it," she said. "But I don't want to pounce on you right now." Mikado breathed out in relief.
"Oh good," he said. He held up the small tin in his hand.
"I can give this to the others?" Mikado asked. Akari cleared her throat.
"Yes," she said in a calm tone.
"Thank you so much," the tadpole boy said. Mikado bowed. He looked up to see Akari intensely staring at him.
"What is it?" the tadpole asked. "Do I have something on my face?" He reached up to wipe away his cheeks. Akari slowly shook her head.
"Is something wrong?" Mikado asked as he tried not to think about where this could be heading next. The witch shook her head.
"Then… What is it?" the tadpole boy asked. Akari's cheeks turned a soft red as she cleared her throat.
"Can I kiss you?" she asked. She shifted her doe eyes away from him. Akari was strong-willed on her own. It was so weird to see her coy like this. On impulse, Mikado took her by the chin and kissed her on the lips. He didn't know why he did that. Somehow, it felt right to do that. The tadpole slowly pulled away.
"Thank you," Akari said, bowing her head.
"No, thank you, for this," Mikado said as he held out the tin.
Anzu couldn't hold back anymore. Something inside of her told her that she needed to do right by her dear friend Mizuki. The tadpole knew the right place to start.
Anzu walked up to the front door of the apartment and knocked. She was going to convince him to help her one way or another. The tadpole felt her spine shiver as she heard the door open. Shingo stood in the doorway.
"Hi," Anzu said. The boy whose head came up to her chest frowned.
"What do you want?" he asked. Anzu stood taller as she lifted her head.
"I need your help with something," she said. Shingo stood, staring at her. The tadpole forced herself to keep talking. Anzu pressed her lips together as she trembled.
"I want to avenge my best friend!" she said. "She was raped by a date two years when we were in junior high." Her voice sounded so small as she spoke. It hurt to see Mizuki in misery like this. It should be her, Maiko, and Anzu enjoying their high school years together. The three of them would be good friends together. Maybe there could still be time for that.
"He ruined her life," she went on. "He told everyone that she was the one who came onto him and made her out to be a slut. She ended up as a shut-in because of it. My friend partly blames me because I was the one who set them up." Anzu held her fist to her chest.
"Mizuki-chan has to lock herself away from the world while he gets to go on with life," she complained. "A group of girls beat her up in the bathroom and called her a slut on the first day of high school."
"She had a crush on him, didn't she?" Shingo asked. Anzu nodded.
"Something told me that he was bad news," she said. "I don't know why I didn't listen to my instinct." She dropped her fist to the side.
"And you want me to ruin this guy's life like he did with her?" Shingo asked.
"Yes," the older tadpole said. She took a breath out.
"Please," she said. Shingo didn't speak as he stepped back into the apartment.
Come inside.
"Thank you so much," Anzu said, bowing. She followed her fellow tadpole into the apartment.
Ryota sat in the lab smirking to himself.
"What is it?" Yuuko asked. The deity turned to his sister.
"Oh nothing," he lied. Osamu froze over the flowers he was cultivating.
"Don't you there," he mouthed at his charge. Ryota smirked as he took that one as a challenge.
"Just… Boss is going to see his girlfriend tonight," he said.
"Shut up," Osamu hissed. Daichi gave him a confused look. Yuuko looked intrigued.
"Osamu?" Daichi asked.
"She's not my girlfriend!" his partner snapped.
"Oh, that's right. She's not his girlfriend. She's his slave!" Ryota blurted out.
"You're talking too damn much," Osamu said under his breath.
"You're into that?" Daichi asked. "I mean, I'm not kink-shaming. It's just…" The older man raised his eyebrow.
"What?" he asked.
"That you were into that sort of thing," the younger man said.
"Well… how I fuck is not something I talk about to people," Osamu said. "I don't ask you about what you get up to, do I?"
"Fair enough," Daichi said. The older man turned to Ryota and Yuuko. The boy just smirked and shrugged.
"Say, have you gotten your horse back yet?" Daichi asked him. Ryota lifted his chin.
"No," he said. The deity boy leaped to his feet.
"But he's coming," he said. "I'm gone. I'm hungry."
"Okay, call me when you are done," Osamu said. Ryota waved him off and walked out of the lab. Daichi turned to his partner as the door swung shut.
"You are really trusting with him," he said.
"Yeah," Osamu said as he clipped another bud. Daichi watched it drop onto the soil.
"Ah," he said. Osamu snipped off another bud.
Kururi found herself working on her pet project again. It started when Chiyomi called her in the middle of the night. The queen bee rolled her eyes when she saw who it was. Really? They were going to do this now?
"Yeah?" she asked.
"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you but I didn't know who else to turn to," Chiyomi said in a whisper. Kururi rolled her eyes as she fought to keep up the "good friend" persona.
"What is it?" she asked. There was a pause over the other line.
"It's my dad," Chiyomi whispered. "He got fired the other day. He's been acting weird since then." Kururi raised her eyebrow.
"How do you mean?" she asked. There was another pause over the line.
"Well… he's been drinking a lot lately," Chiyomi whispered. "He doesn't really do anything about the apartment. He disappears in the middle of the night. Mama and I don't know where he goes. And… Oh, excuse me just a minute." There was another pause.
"No one, mama!" she shouted to someone on her end. "I'm just asking Orihara for some help with my homework." Kururi rolled her eyes. Why do I have to be your lie in this case?
"Sorry about that," Chiyomi said over the phone. "That was mama." The queen bee put her "good friend" persona back on.
"It's okay. What about your dad?" she asked. There came another pause over the other line.
"I don't like the way he looks at me," Chiyomi whispered. "I just feel uncomfortable to be alone with him. I mean I know he's my dad but still…"
"So… what? What are you asking me?" Kururi asked.
"I don't know," the other girl said. She sighed.
"I just felt like I had to say something," Chiyomi said.
"I understand," Kururi said. She was going to have to work on this girl. Good thing she had plenty of time to do that now.
"Listen, we'll meet up in the morning and talk, okay?" the queen bee said.
"Okay," her "friend" whispered. She took a breath out.
"Thank you," Chiyomi said.
"Yeah, yeah," Kururi said. "I'm going to hang up now. Good night."
"Oh, okay. Good night," the other girl said. The queen bee hung up. She couldn't help but smile to herself. Kururi opened up the folder on the screen and pulled up the video of Chiyomi in the love hotel with her "date".
-Three Days Earlier-
"Give me your phones," Kururi said. The boys reluctantly did so. She gave them a wicked little smile.
"Thank you so much," she said. The queen bee had the boys give them their passcodes to unlock the phones. She went through the phones and deleted the videos. However, Kururi paused when she got to the leader's phone. An idea formed in her head on the spot. The queen bee sent the incriminating video to herself before deleting it on the lead boy's phone. She smiled as she handed them back.
"Thank you for your time," Kururi said. The boys were about to take back their phones when she pulled them back.
"Just note," she said with an angelic smile. "If you try this shit again and I will make your lives a living hell. Got it?" The boys gulped as they nodded.
"Good," Kururi said. "Have a nice day."
-Present Day-
The queen bee smirked at the still on her phone screen. She now had leverage. As long as little Chiyomi-chan stayed in line and stuck to her little plans for her, everything would go swimmingly. Kururi closed up her phone and placed it back on the nightstand. It didn't take her long to go right to sleep.
Mikado walked back to his apartment. He saw more black pumpkins along the way. They stood in front of storefronts, office buildings, apartment complexes, and even in front of schools. Akari's warning ran through his head.
"If you see one of those black pumpkins around your place, throw it away as soon as possible."
What did that mean? What kind of sign was it? Looking at them made him shiver. Now that he thought about it, where did these black pumpkins come from? It was like they just popped up overnight. Not many people seemed to notice them yet. Mikado wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
The tadpole froze when he heard something whistle at him. Wait… Don't tell him…
Against his better judgment, Mikado turned his head. Hecate stood inches away from him. She had on her usual black get-up. The newcomer had a small black pumpkin in her hand.
"Hello there, Mikado," she said. Mikado stepped back with a startled look on his face.
"You did this!" he said, pointing at the pumpkin in her hand. Hecate looked at the pumpkin in her hand.
"Oh, this?" she asked. "Not alone. You can say that it's a family affair." Mikado gave her a confused look.
"How many of you are there?" he asked. She gave him a little shrug.
"Who knows?" the nightcomer asked. Hecate frowned as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"You're using pheromone blockers," she said in a low voice.
"Yeah, so what if I am?" Mikado asked. Hecate gave him a little pout.
"Aw, that's cheating!" she said.
"I don't want that kind of attention on me," he said. "And I'm sure that the others don't want it either."
"Don't you know that you can't cheat fate," she said. "You will breed with that busty little girl with the glasses. It's only a matter of time." Mikado stepped back, shaking his head.
"No!" he shouted. "I won't let that happen! I won't send her to her death." Hecate smiled as she shook her head.
"That is not your choice to make," she said. "You're already on the path to the role you are supposed to play."
"And I am supposed to let Anri die?" he asked. Hecate could only shrug. Rage built up in Mikado's head. He looked like he was ready to pounce and grab Hecate by the throat. The nightcomer smiled and shook her head.
"Ooo! Looks like I hit a nerve," Hecate said. She tried not to laugh. The tadpole clenched his fists by his sides. The nightcomer smirked at him.
"As much as I would love to keep on with this chat, I have to get going," she said. Hecate turned to walk away. But then she paused and looked over her shoulder.
"Oh and Mikado," she said.
"What?" the tadpole asked. The nightcomer couldn't help but smirk to herself.
"You can fight fate all you want, but hell is empty and all the devils are here!" she shouted at him. Mikado froze as he heard her laughing as she walked away.
It just keeps piling up, doesn't it? That is what Ryota is counting on. He can hear his horse coming nearby. Still, it isn't enough. The good news is that the deity had a goal that he was working toward. For now, he had to keep spreading the chaos around the city. After all, the night was much better for the chaos to reign.
-December 15, 2015-
Shinra and Mizuho made it to the apartment where Michiko was staying. The doctor couldn't explain how he remembered to come here. Even Mizuho didn't remember which apartment it was. Nevertheless, they managed to find the right address.
Shinra knocked on the door. He backed up when the door opened a crack. Michiko peeked outside. Only, she looked a little bit… different.
"Oh good, you made it," she said. "Are you alone?"
"Yes," Shinra said. Mizuho held up her phone.
"I called Tatsuya on the way here," she said.
"Good, good," Michiko said. "Come inside." She moved back from the door. Shinra and Mizuho walked inside. Michiko took a look around outside before closing the door.
Mikado, Masaomi, Noriko, Chiharu, and Anri were all sitting in the living room when they heard footsteps walking toward them. Mizuho and Shinra stood inches from them.
"Yo," Chiharu said with a wave. Mizuho looked confused.
"You can fully talk now?" she asked. The angel sneered at her.
"You hear me talking, don't you?" she asked.
"Chiharu, please," Anri said. She held her hand to her stomach. Michiko cleared her throat. Everyone looked up. The woman pressed her lips together.
"I think we all know why we are here," she said.