October 31st, Tuesday, Halloween.
In the evening, a "Knock, knock—!" ca from the front door of the Itsuka house.
"Coming, coming."
Wiping the water off his hands on his apron, Shido jogged from the kitchen to the entryway and pulled the front door open.
Tohka as a werewolf with animal ears and fluffy gloves; Kaguya as a vampire wrapped in a large black cloak with a visible fang; Yuzuru as a mummy with bandages wrapped around her limbs and head; Kotori as a zombie with fake blood sared on her pale face; Miku as a succubus with demon wings, a tail, horns, wearing a slightly revealing tight bodysuit, and a masquerade mask; Yoshino and Natsumi dressed as witches, wearing exaggeratedly large hats and holding brooms; And of course, a Frankenstein version of Yoshinon.
"""""""Trick or Treat!"""""""
Seemingly waiting for the exact mont Shido opened the door, the seven girls (and one yoshinon) struck nacing poses and shouted in unison.
"Welco, co on in, you little monsters."
Shido chuckled, stepped aside, and led everyone into the living room.
So of the bulkier furniture had been moved to other rooms beforehand to create a more spacious area. Jack-o'-lanterns replaced the fluorescent lights, and the room was decorated with bat plushies and other festive ornants. The TV was playing slightly eerie background music, and the dining table was covered with a lavish spread of various dishes. Even though it was the most familiar living room in the house, it gave off a fresh, fantastical atmosphere.
Shido could see the eyes of Tohka and the others sparkling.
"Hehe~ I've been waiting for a long ti—everyone!"
And then. Waiting in the living room early on was Yutsuki, dressed as a demon head chef wearing a blood-stained chef's uniform.
By the way, Shido was wearing the exact sa outfit as Yutsuki.
"The end of October, the ti when witches and demons descend. The gates of the demon world open, madness fills the human realm, tonight soaked in fresh blood—is destined to be a sleepless night."
Perhaps influenced by the festive atmosphere, Yutsuki said a few highly chuunibyou lines like Kaguya. Then, realizing she was getting a bit too excited, she coughed twice in embarrassnt.
"Then, let the Halloween party begin! Go wild, everyone!"
"Oohhhh!"
Yare yare—Seeing everyone cheering together, Shido chuckled and shrugged.
Even though the artificial satellite's fall didn't cause any actual damage to Tengu City thanks to Yutsuki and the others' efforts... in the eyes of the citizens, a spacequake had just occurred yesterday. They couldn't fully shake off their feelings of unease.
So Tengu City, which should have been imrsed in a joyful festive atmosphere right now, felt very muted, as if cold water had been poured over it.
However, this completely didn't affect the Itsuka household's mood to celebrate Halloween.
Buying decorations, preparing ingredients and cooking, and decorating the room.
Influenced by a certain highly motivated girl's actions, everyone's mood was unknowingly lifted, filling them with anticipation for this party.
And it wasn't entirely a bad thing. Because of the spacequake, Shido's school gave them a short holiday today. Thanks to that, Yutsuki had ti to gather everything needed for the party together with everyone.
"Ooh, this pumpkin croquette actually tastes like beef! How incredible."
"Uuu~—Damn it, a flavor that stings the eyes like the blazing sun. Could this be a trap secretly laid by humans?"
"Speechless. It's just a mustard-flavored pumpkin croquette. You're getting too into character, Kaguya."
"Yoshino, Yoshino, there are candy apples here! Hurry up and try one."
"...Mhm... delicious..."
"Darling, let sing a song for you today. Please enjoy it to the fullest!"
"Onii-chan, are there no Chupa Chups? Those are essential for a party."
(Thank goodness, everyone seems really happy.)
Seeing everyone enjoying the party to the fullest, Shido showed a relieved smile.
As expected, these peaceful and cheerful days are the best.
(Speaking of which, where are Yutsuki and Natsumi?)
Noticing that the two of them had disappeared from the living room at so point, Shido started looking for them around the house out of curiosity.
"Alright—got the rare material."
"Phew—this boss is too hard to beat."
Walking up the stairs to the second floor, Shido heard Yutsuki and Natsumi's voices. Curious about what they were doing, Shido quietly peeked over.
Right now, Yutsuki and Natsumi had each found a chair and were sitting in the second-floor hallway, fiddling with the PS Vitas in their hands. It looked like they were playing a multiplayer ga.
(They're actually playing gas.)
Shido was dumbfounded for a mont, then shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I can't believe you actually forgot the ti for the official limited-ti event. You're too careless, Yutsuki."
Natsumi looked at Yutsuki speechlessly.
"Ah—I'm really sorry, Natsumi."
Yutsuki scratched her hair awkwardly, coughed dryly, and changed the subject by asking:
"So? How's life here?"
"Mhm, not bad."
Natsumi nodded gently. Although there were so troubling things—like Izayoi Miku rubbing her face against hers constantly, Izayoi Miku suffocating her in her chest, and Izayoi Miku's wandering hands, Izayoi Miku's....Izayoi Miku's...—putting those aside, it was undeniable that everyone here genuinely wanted to get along with her.
"And to think I actually treated everyone's kindness as malice... I really am a terrible person..."
Thinking of this, Natsumi lowered her head in disappointnt. Seeing Natsumi fall back into her inferiority mode, Yutsuki shook her head with a bitter smile.
Although she had accepted Shido and the others, without the sexy older-sister appearance she had used to protect herself for so long, Natsumi still easily fell into self-depressed.
"That's not true. You just didn't realize how cute you are before, Natsumi."
"Cute... um... am I really cute?"
Natsumi's face turned slightly red, and she asked shyly.
"Mhm, you're very cute—extrely cute! I wouldn't even have a problem shouting it in the middle of the street. I can confidently guarantee it. So just relax."
Seeing Yutsuki patting her chest to guarantee it, Natsumi couldn't help but chuckle, showing a relieved smile.
Incredibly, Natsumi didn't doubt Yutsuki's words at all.
Because she knew Ryougi Yutsuki would absolutely never lie to her family.
"Hey, Yutsuki... in the future, will you and Shido still teach how to do makeup and play gas with ?"
"Well, for makeup you have to ask Shido, that guy is way better at it than I am. Even though he's a guy."
Yutsuki shrugged and answered.
Shido suddenly felt like he took an arrow to the knee, and it hurt quite a bit.
"But, if it's playing gas together. As long as you want to, I always have all kinds of fun gas to share with you."
Saying that, Yutsuki gently tapped Natsumi's head with her PS Vita and smiled,
"I'm always ready. Are you satisfied with that answer? My new family mber."
Natsumi didn't speak, just silently tapped on her PS Vita. Then, Yutsuki's PS Vita received this ssage:
[Thank you. Please take care of from now on.]
Looking at the ssage in her hand, then at Natsumi, who was hiding her expression with her witch's hat, Yutsuki smiled slightly.
"Well then, we've cleared the event quests too. Let's hurry back and join the party. If we go back too late, Tohka might have eaten all the food."
"Mhm."
(Eavesdropping any further would be rude. I should go back and prepare so more food.)
Thinking this, Shido smiled, turned around, and quietly went back to the living room.
...
A few hours later, the noisy party finally died down. Everyone started splitting the work to clean up the living room.
"Preparing is exciting, playing is fun, but cleaning up the ss just makes you lose all motivation."
Washing dishes in the kitchen, Yutsuki sighed lazily.
"Well, cheer up and do your best. If we don't wash these dishes clean. We won't be able to make breakfast for Tohka and the others tomorrow."
"Shido is in charge of cooking tomorrow anyway, it has nothing to do with ."
"Hey, hey—"
Hearing Yutsuki's completely unmotivated, lazy words, Shido had black lines down his forehead.
"Speaking of which, Yutsuki. Why is it that ever since we found Natsumi, she keeps calling 'Idiot Shido'?"
"Well—who knows?"
Yutsuki's dishwashing paused slightly, and she answered looking completely ignorant. Except, her gaze was currently avoiding Shido, staring at the ceiling instead.
"Well, whatever..."
It's definitely Yutsuki's doing. Thinking this, Shido shook his head with a bitter smile. But he didn't plan on making a big deal out of it. After all, being able to communicate so smoothly with Natsumi this ti was also thanks to Yutsuki's hard work.
"Hey... Yutsuki."
"What is it? Shido."
Shido wanted to say sothing, but hesitated.
What did he want to say? There was too much he wanted to say.
When the girl got hurt because of Ellen, he wanted to tell her not to push herself to take risks.
When the girl let Natsumi out behind everyone's back, he wanted to tell her she didn't have to shoulder it alone, that she could let him share the burden.
If possible, rely on him a little.
But in the end, Shido didn't say any of these things.
What right did he have to say them? Everything the girl did wasn't sothing she originally needed to do. It was what Shido himself needed to do.
Without a single complaint, Yutsuki took on half the responsibilities that Itsuka Shido was supposed to bear.
If Shido could easily solve all the problems, why would Yutsuki constantly go out of her way to take risks?
Realizing this, everything he wanted to say felt so ridiculous.
So, he must get stronger.
Since he couldn't make Yutsuki step back behind him, then he had to stand in front of her.
Shido secretly made up his mind.
"...Nothing at all~"
"?"
Yutsuki tilted her head in confusion. She felt like Shido had sothing on his mind he wanted to tell her just now, but before she could ask, Shido seed to have figured it out himself.
Seeing Yutsuki's gloomy expression, Shido chuckled. He wiped the water off his hands slightly, then grabbed Yutsuki's cheek and gave it a little pull.
"...What are you trying to say, Shido?"
Yutsuki looked at Shido with a weird expression.
"Trick or Treat! Give candy, or I'll play a trick on you."
Shido said with a smile.
Yutsuki looked at Shido in surprise, then shrugged helplessly.
"Alright, since it's Halloween, I'll let it slide this ti. Candy, right? Wait a second."
Saying that, Yutsuki picked out one of the Russian Roulette pumpkin croquettes prepared for the party and held it up to Shido's mouth.
"Say ah~"
"Ah~!"
Shido took a bite of the pumpkin croquette and started eating with relish.
"How is it?"
Yutsuki asked curiously.
"...Normal."
Wiping so filling from his mouth, Shido savored it for a mont, then added.
"But, it's very delicious."
"That's good."
Hearing Shido's answer, Yutsuki showed a satisfied smile.
User Comments
0 comments from readers