Happy Halloween!
I ditched class today so I could go trick or treating. HEE.
Me, in costume! I was going to get an entire costume, but the wig is so bright that it's not like anyone was going to be looking at anything else anyway. :D
I got so so so much candy, and as you might be able to tell, I've already eaten a lot of it! Yes, I'm almost twenty, but there are times when looking fifteen has its advantages!
Aaaand I wrote a Halloween ficlet, too! Now that I've finished the fic, I swear someone's put Tezuka and Ryoma into these particular costumes before, but I blame Djokovic for giving me the idea.
Truth in Art, or, Some Shocking Halloween Revelations for the Seigaku Regulars that Should Perhaps Not Have Been so Shocking, by kishmet. Tezuka/Ryoma, Inui/Fuji, Momo/Kaidoh, maybe implied Eiji/Oishi, PG, 1,500 words. Completely and utterly ridiculous from start to finish.
Halloween is one of the most exciting holidays at Seigaku, mostly because everyone wants to see what everyone else will be wearing.
Momo announces early on that he's going as Naruto, which is still one of his favorite anime of all time. This starts an enormous brawl with Kaidoh for no apparent reason, until a scratched and bruised Kaidoh finally mutters that he's going as Sasuke, and why can't Momo think up a more original idea?
"I'm going as the Little Mermaid!" Eiji says gleefully, and Oishi, laughing sheepishly, tells them that Eiji's talked him into dressing as Flounder.
Taka laughs, too, when Eiji asks him what he's doing for the holiday. "I'm dressing as a sushi delivery boy," he says, which is how they all find out that Ryuuzaki-sensei has ordered food for the party. "Taka-san's costume is the best!" Momo declares, because he's been in the mood for eel all week.
"Come onnn, Ochibi, tell, tell!" Eiji fluffs and musses Ryoma's hair while Ryoma squirms.
"Rafael Nadal," Ryoma mumbles, and fishes his hat out of his backpack just so that he can put it on and hide his eyes. Nothing, of course, can block the sounds of his teammates cracking up, but at least he can ignore them more easily this way.
Speculation runs wild as to what Inui and Fuji will dress as, or if they'll dress up at all. The year before, Inui had dressed as a mad scientist, or so they'd all thought until Momo had said, "Hey, Inui-senpai, nice costume!" and Inui had paused in his juice-making and replied, "What costume?"
Fuji, for his part, can be counted on to do something wholly unexpected. One time he'd sent Yumiko to the Halloween party in his stead, and no one had known the difference until Fuji himself showed up halfway through. One time he'd shown up as a cactus wrangler, whatever that was, and one time they'd thought it was Yumiko again, but it had in fact been Fuji in a long skirt and wig.
Neither of them will tell what they're going to dress as, even though Momo and Eiji do their best to wheedle it out of them, but Fuji does remark cryptically, "It's a good thing you chose Nadal, Echizen."
***
Oishi is first to arrive, since he has the keys to the locker room. The rest of the regulars are thus greeted by a smiling blue-and-yellow, vaguely fishlike balloon. Eiji's mermaid tail, once he shows up, is more like a long green dress train than like a tail, clear proof that his sisters had been the ones working on it with him.
The rest of them trickle in, or storm in, as Momo and Kaidoh demonstrate. Momo's blonde wig is already knocked askew and his painted whiskers are smudged, while Kaidoh's forehead protector is crooked. They've all long since learned not to ask, and so no one does.
"Che," says Echizen, when Eiji compliments him on his costume. He reaches up to pull down the brim of his cap, but all he has is a long wig.
He's not so sullen anymore when Tezuka walks in, dressed as Roger Federer. In fact, he looks as though he may enjoy Halloween for the first time in recorded history.
Ryuuzaki-sensei is greeted warmly, or rather, the large bags of candy in her hands are, if by 'greeted warmly' one meant 'pounced and devoured.' "You haven't even had dinner yet!" she yells, and shakes her head affectionately.
"Whu?" Momo asks, looking up, wide-eyed, from the treats.
"Disgusting," says Kaidoh, and snorts.
Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro (who aren't regulars but show up at every scheduled event anyway) tumble through the door dressed as the Three Musketeers. Horio apparently has two years of swordplay experience, too, since he handles his cardboard contraption about as well as he handles a racket. "I'm dying!" he wails, trying to pick himself up off the floor. Kachiro helps him up, and Horio promptly trips over his sword again.
Echizen heads for the door at this point. "No sneaking out to the tennis courts!" Eiji sings, and flings his mermaid self over Echizen's shoulders. Echizen scowls and then gives Tezuka a pleading look. Tezuka shakes his head ever so slightly, and Eiji grins triumphantly.
When Taka shows up, he causes a minor (or possibly a semi-major) ruckus as Momo and Kaidoh shove each other out of the way to get to the sushi. "Hold on, both of you!" says Taka, holding the tray up so they can't get at it.
Eiji sneaks in from the side to steal a piece of tuna, but Ryuuzaki-sensei is there to slap his hand away. He yelps and gives her a wounded look. She is unapologetic. "Not yet. Wait for everyone else."
"Everyone else?" Oishi glances around. "Where are Fuji and Inu-"
And then Inui walks through the door with Fuji behind him. "We apologize for being late," says Inui seriously, and bows to Ryuuzaki-sensei. Then he looks at Fuji. "We apologize."
"Che," says Fuji, and pulls down the brim of his cap. "Sorry."
The regulars stare. Inui doesn't react, and Fuji just looks unimpressed.
"Are they dressed as Tezuka-buchou and Echi-" Momo begins.
"Don't ask, you moron," Kaidoh hisses, and elbows him in the side. This sparks another fight, which is quickly broken up by Tezuka… or rather, by Inui, who gets there first and seems to have mastered the buchou-voice.
Tezuka does not comment.
***
Dinner goes smoothly enough, with the usual squabbles over who gets which piece of sushi and who's slipped a wasabi roll onto whose plate. Eiji gags, flailing as the wasabi burns his tongue. "Don't do that!" he says plaintively to Fuji, who is on his left.
"I wouldn't," says Fuji, in an uncannily accurate imitation of Echizen's voice. "I'm not Fuji-senpai."
Echizen eyes him, but says nothing.
There is also a bit of chair-switching, as the looks Tezuka and Echizen, and Inui and Fuji, are exchanging across the table prove to be rather disconcerting.
After the sushi is finished (in a relatively short span of time), the party turns into a free-for-all. Ryuuzaki-sensei has put out more candy, probably against her better judgment, and someone has kindly provided canned soda and punch. Nobody drinks the punch, on the off chance that Inui's the one who's kindly provided it.
"Stop drinking my Ponta," Echizen tells Fuji; surprisingly enough, it's the first time he's complained all night.
"My Ponta, you mean," says Fuji, and they have a momentary staredown.
"Echizen," comes from both sides of them. Tezuka glances at Inui; Inui looks back at him, stoically. Then the two Tezukas walk off, with their respective (and reluctant) Echizens in tow.
Everyone's been playing their parts this evening, although with Momo and Kaidoh it's hard to tell whether it's on purpose or incidental: Naruto is loud and cheerful and competitive, and Sasuke is brooding and irritable and also competitive. Again, nobody dares to ask whether they're acting or not.
They all agree, though, if not aloud, that Fuji and Inui are a bit too involved in their roles. "A match tomorrow, Echizen," says Inui, staring deep into Fuji's eyes.
Fuji looks up at him with something resembling a smile. "Fine, buchou."
"Stop that, stupid mamushi!" Momo shouts suddenly, and tackles Kaidoh into some of the decorations. Kaidoh punches him, and Momo punches back, and Tezuka (the real one) says sharply, "Momoshiro, Kaidoh! Enough!"
And by the time the fight is broken up, Fuji and Inui are standing by the far wall. Fuji's hands are linked at the back of Inui's neck, stroking the hair at the back of the wig, and Inui's arms hold Fuji securely against him, Fuji's cap between two of his fingers, hanging down beside them. Fuji has to stand on tiptoes to kiss Inui, which makes the picture oddly accurate in terms of proportion.
Kaidoh chokes and forgets about glaring at Momo. For several moments, in fact, everybody forgets about everything. Strangely, Tezuka and Echizen aren't the ones to protest this apparent defamation of character.
"That… that isn't-" says Oishi, and can't go on. Eiji drapes himself over Oishi's shoulders, watching, more fascinated than horrified.
"Echizen wouldn't… with Tezuka-buchou!" Horio shrieks loudly, and feigns a faint. Katsuo and Kachiro grab him by the shoulders to hold him up.
Fuji breaks off the playacting for a moment to turn and inform him, "No, it's in-character. We studied for our roles, didn't we, Inui?"
"Of course," says Inui, and somehow manages to make his Tezuka-glasses gleam.
"Hey, hey," says Momo. "Where is Echizen?" He looks around, standing on tiptoes in order to see past everyone and around the decorations.
"And Tezuka?" Fuji adds pointedly, and Eiji laughs against Oishi's shoulder.
They don't understand his point until Horio chokes back a little gargle and points to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who are kissing even more deeply in the corner behind the refreshments table. Despite an entire roomful of people gaping (or in Fuji's and Inui's cases, smiling indulgently and taking notes) at them, Nadal and Federer don't seem to notice anyone but each other.
"Maybe we should, uh. Bob for apples!" Momo suggests. The rest of them clamor to agree, since the tub full of water is on the opposite side of the room.
Nobody else questions the accuracy of Fuji and Inui's performance after that. But Momo and Kaidoh are silently grateful that their senpai hadn't chosen to impersonate them.
Me, in costume! I was going to get an entire costume, but the wig is so bright that it's not like anyone was going to be looking at anything else anyway. :D
I got so so so much candy, and as you might be able to tell, I've already eaten a lot of it! Yes, I'm almost twenty, but there are times when looking fifteen has its advantages!
Aaaand I wrote a Halloween ficlet, too! Now that I've finished the fic, I swear someone's put Tezuka and Ryoma into these particular costumes before, but I blame Djokovic for giving me the idea.
Truth in Art, or, Some Shocking Halloween Revelations for the Seigaku Regulars that Should Perhaps Not Have Been so Shocking, by kishmet. Tezuka/Ryoma, Inui/Fuji, Momo/Kaidoh, maybe implied Eiji/Oishi, PG, 1,500 words. Completely and utterly ridiculous from start to finish.
Halloween is one of the most exciting holidays at Seigaku, mostly because everyone wants to see what everyone else will be wearing.
Momo announces early on that he's going as Naruto, which is still one of his favorite anime of all time. This starts an enormous brawl with Kaidoh for no apparent reason, until a scratched and bruised Kaidoh finally mutters that he's going as Sasuke, and why can't Momo think up a more original idea?
"I'm going as the Little Mermaid!" Eiji says gleefully, and Oishi, laughing sheepishly, tells them that Eiji's talked him into dressing as Flounder.
Taka laughs, too, when Eiji asks him what he's doing for the holiday. "I'm dressing as a sushi delivery boy," he says, which is how they all find out that Ryuuzaki-sensei has ordered food for the party. "Taka-san's costume is the best!" Momo declares, because he's been in the mood for eel all week.
"Come onnn, Ochibi, tell, tell!" Eiji fluffs and musses Ryoma's hair while Ryoma squirms.
"Rafael Nadal," Ryoma mumbles, and fishes his hat out of his backpack just so that he can put it on and hide his eyes. Nothing, of course, can block the sounds of his teammates cracking up, but at least he can ignore them more easily this way.
Speculation runs wild as to what Inui and Fuji will dress as, or if they'll dress up at all. The year before, Inui had dressed as a mad scientist, or so they'd all thought until Momo had said, "Hey, Inui-senpai, nice costume!" and Inui had paused in his juice-making and replied, "What costume?"
Fuji, for his part, can be counted on to do something wholly unexpected. One time he'd sent Yumiko to the Halloween party in his stead, and no one had known the difference until Fuji himself showed up halfway through. One time he'd shown up as a cactus wrangler, whatever that was, and one time they'd thought it was Yumiko again, but it had in fact been Fuji in a long skirt and wig.
Neither of them will tell what they're going to dress as, even though Momo and Eiji do their best to wheedle it out of them, but Fuji does remark cryptically, "It's a good thing you chose Nadal, Echizen."
***
Oishi is first to arrive, since he has the keys to the locker room. The rest of the regulars are thus greeted by a smiling blue-and-yellow, vaguely fishlike balloon. Eiji's mermaid tail, once he shows up, is more like a long green dress train than like a tail, clear proof that his sisters had been the ones working on it with him.
The rest of them trickle in, or storm in, as Momo and Kaidoh demonstrate. Momo's blonde wig is already knocked askew and his painted whiskers are smudged, while Kaidoh's forehead protector is crooked. They've all long since learned not to ask, and so no one does.
"Che," says Echizen, when Eiji compliments him on his costume. He reaches up to pull down the brim of his cap, but all he has is a long wig.
He's not so sullen anymore when Tezuka walks in, dressed as Roger Federer. In fact, he looks as though he may enjoy Halloween for the first time in recorded history.
Ryuuzaki-sensei is greeted warmly, or rather, the large bags of candy in her hands are, if by 'greeted warmly' one meant 'pounced and devoured.' "You haven't even had dinner yet!" she yells, and shakes her head affectionately.
"Whu?" Momo asks, looking up, wide-eyed, from the treats.
"Disgusting," says Kaidoh, and snorts.
Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro (who aren't regulars but show up at every scheduled event anyway) tumble through the door dressed as the Three Musketeers. Horio apparently has two years of swordplay experience, too, since he handles his cardboard contraption about as well as he handles a racket. "I'm dying!" he wails, trying to pick himself up off the floor. Kachiro helps him up, and Horio promptly trips over his sword again.
Echizen heads for the door at this point. "No sneaking out to the tennis courts!" Eiji sings, and flings his mermaid self over Echizen's shoulders. Echizen scowls and then gives Tezuka a pleading look. Tezuka shakes his head ever so slightly, and Eiji grins triumphantly.
When Taka shows up, he causes a minor (or possibly a semi-major) ruckus as Momo and Kaidoh shove each other out of the way to get to the sushi. "Hold on, both of you!" says Taka, holding the tray up so they can't get at it.
Eiji sneaks in from the side to steal a piece of tuna, but Ryuuzaki-sensei is there to slap his hand away. He yelps and gives her a wounded look. She is unapologetic. "Not yet. Wait for everyone else."
"Everyone else?" Oishi glances around. "Where are Fuji and Inu-"
And then Inui walks through the door with Fuji behind him. "We apologize for being late," says Inui seriously, and bows to Ryuuzaki-sensei. Then he looks at Fuji. "We apologize."
"Che," says Fuji, and pulls down the brim of his cap. "Sorry."
The regulars stare. Inui doesn't react, and Fuji just looks unimpressed.
"Are they dressed as Tezuka-buchou and Echi-" Momo begins.
"Don't ask, you moron," Kaidoh hisses, and elbows him in the side. This sparks another fight, which is quickly broken up by Tezuka… or rather, by Inui, who gets there first and seems to have mastered the buchou-voice.
Tezuka does not comment.
***
Dinner goes smoothly enough, with the usual squabbles over who gets which piece of sushi and who's slipped a wasabi roll onto whose plate. Eiji gags, flailing as the wasabi burns his tongue. "Don't do that!" he says plaintively to Fuji, who is on his left.
"I wouldn't," says Fuji, in an uncannily accurate imitation of Echizen's voice. "I'm not Fuji-senpai."
Echizen eyes him, but says nothing.
There is also a bit of chair-switching, as the looks Tezuka and Echizen, and Inui and Fuji, are exchanging across the table prove to be rather disconcerting.
After the sushi is finished (in a relatively short span of time), the party turns into a free-for-all. Ryuuzaki-sensei has put out more candy, probably against her better judgment, and someone has kindly provided canned soda and punch. Nobody drinks the punch, on the off chance that Inui's the one who's kindly provided it.
"Stop drinking my Ponta," Echizen tells Fuji; surprisingly enough, it's the first time he's complained all night.
"My Ponta, you mean," says Fuji, and they have a momentary staredown.
"Echizen," comes from both sides of them. Tezuka glances at Inui; Inui looks back at him, stoically. Then the two Tezukas walk off, with their respective (and reluctant) Echizens in tow.
Everyone's been playing their parts this evening, although with Momo and Kaidoh it's hard to tell whether it's on purpose or incidental: Naruto is loud and cheerful and competitive, and Sasuke is brooding and irritable and also competitive. Again, nobody dares to ask whether they're acting or not.
They all agree, though, if not aloud, that Fuji and Inui are a bit too involved in their roles. "A match tomorrow, Echizen," says Inui, staring deep into Fuji's eyes.
Fuji looks up at him with something resembling a smile. "Fine, buchou."
"Stop that, stupid mamushi!" Momo shouts suddenly, and tackles Kaidoh into some of the decorations. Kaidoh punches him, and Momo punches back, and Tezuka (the real one) says sharply, "Momoshiro, Kaidoh! Enough!"
And by the time the fight is broken up, Fuji and Inui are standing by the far wall. Fuji's hands are linked at the back of Inui's neck, stroking the hair at the back of the wig, and Inui's arms hold Fuji securely against him, Fuji's cap between two of his fingers, hanging down beside them. Fuji has to stand on tiptoes to kiss Inui, which makes the picture oddly accurate in terms of proportion.
Kaidoh chokes and forgets about glaring at Momo. For several moments, in fact, everybody forgets about everything. Strangely, Tezuka and Echizen aren't the ones to protest this apparent defamation of character.
"That… that isn't-" says Oishi, and can't go on. Eiji drapes himself over Oishi's shoulders, watching, more fascinated than horrified.
"Echizen wouldn't… with Tezuka-buchou!" Horio shrieks loudly, and feigns a faint. Katsuo and Kachiro grab him by the shoulders to hold him up.
Fuji breaks off the playacting for a moment to turn and inform him, "No, it's in-character. We studied for our roles, didn't we, Inui?"
"Of course," says Inui, and somehow manages to make his Tezuka-glasses gleam.
"Hey, hey," says Momo. "Where is Echizen?" He looks around, standing on tiptoes in order to see past everyone and around the decorations.
"And Tezuka?" Fuji adds pointedly, and Eiji laughs against Oishi's shoulder.
They don't understand his point until Horio chokes back a little gargle and points to Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who are kissing even more deeply in the corner behind the refreshments table. Despite an entire roomful of people gaping (or in Fuji's and Inui's cases, smiling indulgently and taking notes) at them, Nadal and Federer don't seem to notice anyone but each other.
"Maybe we should, uh. Bob for apples!" Momo suggests. The rest of them clamor to agree, since the tub full of water is on the opposite side of the room.
Nobody else questions the accuracy of Fuji and Inui's performance after that. But Momo and Kaidoh are silently grateful that their senpai hadn't chosen to impersonate them.