"Ta-da!" Tsumiki cried proudly from the top of the stairs, adorned in her hand-selected Princess Peach costume, doing a small twirl for her mother and Toji who observed her at the bottom of the steps.
"Oh my sweet, you look positively spectacular! You'll be sure to dazzle at Yuno's Halloween party!" the woman beamed, grinning from ear to ear as the young girl clung to the stair rail and carefully navigated her way down each step.
"Megumi! It's your turn!" Toji called out, smiling at Tsumiki as she stood beside her mother. Peeking around the corner, Megumi then hesitatingly stepped out onto the landing, wary of the eyes that were now focused on him. The boy was dressed as an 'undead schoolboy', a costume thrown together by Toji and Aoi using elements of one of Megumi's old school uniforms, some of Aoi's make-up and lashing of fake blood that Toji had picked up from the store, since Megumi wasn't overly keen on the idea of dressing up.
"There you go, you look great kid. Nice and scary" Toji nodded his head in approval, helping his son partway down the stairs by taking him into his arms. The child sat balanced on his hip.
"You look so cool Megumi!" Tsumiki gushed, with Aoi behind her flashing the toddler a thumbs up in agreement. Megumi responded by hiding his face in his father's shoulder, feeling embarrassed by this sudden burst of attention he was getting.
"F...fank you...'Miki looks pretty..." Megumi mumbled, but loud enough for the rest of the group to hear, earning a light-hearted giggle from his stepsister.
"Where's your costume, Toji?" Tsumiki questioned, beginning to lightly swing on Toji's unoccupied arm. The man looked down at the girl, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Hm? I'm wearing it." Toji gestured with his eyes to the shirt he was wearing, which was a shirt that read, 'this is my costume'. Tsumiki frowned, letting go of Toji's arms and placing both hands on her hips, as though she was ready to give him quite the telling off.
"Toji, that's not a real costume. It's not cute or even scary!" The sorcerer killer let out a small laugh, with Aoi playfully nudging his side.
"I told you, you should've put more effort in!"
"Hey, I can be scary."
"What about cute?"
"Well, maybe...anyway, go grab your candy bags you two." Megumi broke free from his father's hold before his feet even touched the ground, racing alongside Tsumiki to the kitchen where their two suitably themed Halloween candy bags awaited them, leaving Aoi and Toji alone in the hallway.
"Thanks for having the kids while I go to my work Halloween party babe, I know they're looking forward to you taking them to Yuno's Halloween party." Aoi wrapped her arms around the man's shoulders, planting a small kiss on his cheek. The woman would be absent from this evening's festivities as she was invited to a Halloween party that had been arranged by her manager, so she felt that she could hardly refuse.
"My pleasure, you have a good time now and make sure you leave enough fun for us two later" Toji whispered in the woman's ear, aiming a swift smack to her backside, which caused Aoi to blush deeply.
"Mom, are you going to your party now?" Tsumiki quizzed from the doorway, resulting in both Aoi and Toji abruptly letting go of one another and turning to face the child, who stood with Megumi peering from behind her.
"Yes my dear, I know you and your brother will have lots of fun tonight with Toji. Be good now and I'll see you later!" Aoi placed a kiss atop Tsumiki's head and ruffled Megumi's hair, grabbing her handbag and dashing to the door, with Toji and the children bidding her farewell. Once the door clicked shut behind his wife, Toji spun on his heel to face the children once again.
"Right you two, let's get ready to go", the man motioned to the front door, having already moved to put his own shoes on.
Toji drove down the street in his wife's car, which he was able to do so when she wasn't using it for work or other means, eyeing the two children buckled in the backseats to ensure they, namely Megumi, were behaving appropriately. Tsumiki was chatting relentlessly to Megumi, who simply listened whilst fiddling with the handle on his candy bag, straddled into the booster seat he loathed so much. Yuno was one of Tsumiki's classmates, and his parents had extended the invitation to his party to any of his classmates who had siblings, so that no child felt left out. They were the kind of parents who attended every parent-teacher meeting and held up the room from leaving with a million questions, took the chance to show off at any kind of school event with elaborate bakes and science projects and send their child in with fancy lunches each day, which just served to make other parents feel like they weren't putting in adequate effort. Nonetheless, the folks were rich and a party held by them would, undoubtedly, be on another level. Plus, being wealthy, the candy handed out to trick or treaters in their neighbourhood were bound to be half decent. Yuno's house was located on the other side of the district, which was approximately a twenty-five minute ride, but this did not prevent Megumi from asking his father if they had arrived every two minutes, much to Toji's annoyance. When the trio did finally pull into Yuno's neighbourhood, both children made a drastic drive to be able to look out of the passenger window on Tsumiki's side. It was plain as day to see which house was Yuno's. The house in the very centre of the cul-de-sac was alight was dazzling, multicoloured lights and several inflatables in the shape of jack-o-lanterns and ghouls scattered across the lawn. As Toji pulled into the family's drive, Tsumiki had already unbuckled and was leaning over to aid Megumi, who struggled with his seatbelt.
"Hold your horses. Before I let you out, I'm laying down some rules", the man began, "both of you will be on your best behaviour whilst we are here. Any sort of misbehaviour and we will leave, understand?" Toji, usually taking a somewhat relaxed approach to parenting, felt the need to come down harshly on the pair for the worry of being made a holy show of, especially in front of the other parents but more importantly, the absolute headache Aoi would give him over it. Then, exhaling deeply, Toji flicked the switch that released the child lock on both passenger doors and exited the vehicle. In doing so, with both Tsumiki and Megumi flanking his side, a jolly man dressed as the Grim Reaper bounded up to the sorcerer killer with the energy of a puppy.
"Good evening! Hello Tsumiki, you must be Megumi and Mr. Fushiguro...a pleasure! I'm Yuno's father, Shota!" The man explained, gripping Toji's hand and shaking it enthusiastically whilst grinning at both children, "such excellent costumes you two! You're just in time for the neighbourhood trick or treating round! Head over there to where my wife and Yuno are, she's dressed as a witch and he as a vampire, and she'll take you and the other children." Tsumiki and Megumi craned their necks up to look at Toji with pleading eyes to which, the man nodded, causing Tsumiki to squeal with glee and take Megumi's hand, leading him to the group. "Look after one another and stay close to the group!" Toji called after them to which Tsumiki shouted over her shoulder, "we will!" Suddenly, Toji found a plate thrust up close to his face, its contents consisting of marshmellows with two chocolate drops for eyes.
"Care for a ghastly ghoul, Mr Fushiguro? I made them myself!" The enthused man grinned.
Tsumiki insisted on holding Megumi's hand, much to the child's annoyance, as the group of children were herded like sheep and escorted around the local neighbourhood. The first house the group were led to was one that clearly had a theme they followed, for it was dressed top to bottom in all manner of skeleton decorations: plastic skeletons hanging from their trees; skeleton themed flags hung across their porch; light up skeleton decorations lining the path to their front door and much more. "Ok everyone, this is our first stop! Remember to wait patiently and no pushing!" Yuno naturally made his way to the front of the crowd, gripping onto his mother's gown as the group surged forth. Tsumiki held back, gripping Megumi's hand to signal to the youngster not to push ahead. Yuno's mother rung the doorbell and as the front door creaked ajar, the group surged forward with bags at the ready, merrily chanting "trick or treat!". The kindly lady handed out miniature sized bags of Halloween themed jellies, complimenting each of the children on their costumes.
Toji pinched the bridge of his nose, his head spinning with the overstimulating flashing of disco lights, loud music and chatter of fellow parents. Toji swore that if Yuno's father tottered up to him to offer him yet another Halloween-pun named snack, that he would send him flying across the room. Still, Toji did his best to socialise with the other adults at the party, though the men shuffled away when he approached. As the man conversed with two mothers, the front door burst open and the group of children who'd been out trick or treating scrambled to find their guardians to show off their goods. Megumi and Tsumiki sprinted towards the man, holding up their bags for him to peer into; full size candy bars? This was a wealthy neighbourhood!
"Toji! Look at all the candy we got! We went to all the houses in Yuno's neighbourhood and they all answered the door!" Tsumiki beamed, swaying on the balls of her feet while swinging her trick or treat bag from side to side.
"Lots of yummy stuff Daddy! Look!" Megumi rummaged in his bag to pull out one of the chocolate bars he'd received before tucking it away with a giggle.
"I'm glad you had fun kiddos, you'll have enough candy to keep you going for a while, that's for sure. Maybe enough to share with your old man?" Toji chortled at Megumi's reaction to his suggestion which was, to wrap his arms around his sweet stash protectively as though his very life depended on it.
"No way Daddy, get your own!" Megumi pouted, to which Tsumiki smiled warmly and rolled her eyes at her stepbrother's remark. The trio's conversation only lasted a few moments as Shota called for everyone's attention, announcing that a series of Halloween games were to begin shortly and that both children and parents could now help themselves to the buffet. Tsumiki clapped her hands in excitement, some of her peers approaching her and asking the girl to tag along with them to get something to eat. Tsumiki agreed and, after some persuasion, managed to convince Megumi to leave their trick or treat bags with Toji. Naturally, Toji waited for the children to be far enough away from him and preoccupied enough before he sneakily pinched a piece of candy from one of the bags, popping it into his mouth.
The games were comprised of classic children's party games but with a Halloween twist. There was pass the parcel but the layers of wrapping were Halloween themed as were the prizes: Tsumiki peeled a layer off the lumpy package and obtained a sticker book, to her delight. There was pin the tail on the headless horseman's horse, which saw Megumi accidentally pin the tail to another child, resulting in many tears. Of course, there was musical statues and musical chairs with appropriately themed music: Megumi got very competitive and had managed to win musical chairs and came in second during musical statues, earning him a plastic medal and a bubble gun. Lastly, there was bobbing for apples, which mainly consisted of splashing and giggling. All the while, Toji stood to one side and observed the children, a content, small smile upon his face.
By the end of the party, Megumi was beyond exhausted and had to be carried by Toji, on top of the sweet bags and prizes, to the car with Tsumiki wearily trailing alongside him. In no time, both children were passed out in the back seats, coated in the residue of powdery, sugary treats and with make-up smeared from a night of partying. Toji occasionally glanced to the children through his mirror while driving, reflecting on just how fast they'd grown in the past year alone and how many Halloweens they had left in them before they decided that they were too old.