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Despite the fact that Hide was absolutely terrified of haunted houses, he dragged Kaneki to one each year since they were 15, at least one week before Halloween.
“I won’t even scream this time. I promise.” Hide had his game face on, nodding to himself, like this year would be any different than the last, or the year before that. Hide packed himself a ‘kit’ – a bright orange fanny-pack with bandages, water, and even a granola bar.
Hide took a deep breath and braced himself like he was about to go face his death, instead of taking a 10-minute walk through a haunted house. After a moment, he turned to Kaneki with a pinched expression.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” he whined. “I heard there were clowns this year. I hate clowns.”
Kaneki sighed softly. “There’s clowns every year.” He offered Hide his hand. As always, Hide took it, squeezing a little too tight. Kaneki stepped into the haunted house, pulling Hide along half-hidden behind him.
The moment they stepped through the door, they were surrounded by darkness. Hide’s breath already picked up, muttering encouraging words to himself.
“You can do it. It’s not real. It’s not real.”
The first jump-scare almost made Hide launch himself through the roof. He yelped, the only thing keeping him at Kaneki’s side was his hand in his. Hide put his other hand on Kaneki’s shoulder and pushed him fully in front of him.
Kaneki confidently walked forward. Haunted houses never really bothered him. He wasn’t the biggest fan of jump scares, but he loved the gut-wrenching, creepy, atmospheric stuff. He found it fun throughout the entire process, rather than Hide who was terrified to go through them, but magically decided that he had a great time once he was through the exit.
They entered the first actually room of the haunted house, fake body parts thrown about and what seemed to be an axe-murdering clown standing in the centre of the carnage. The clown took a threatening step towards them and Hide promptly shrieked. He gripped Kaneki’s hand tighter and quickly ran through the room.
The clown chased after them.
Kaneki had an easy time keeping up with Hide’s stumbling gait. He looked over his shoulder, watching as the clown stopped, having reached the end of his area. Kaneki offered him a small wave, which the clown returned, the smile on his face making his ghastly face paint twist in new, horrifying ways.
The next room was filled with fog, making Kaneki’s nose twitch. He resisted the urge to cough, wishing they allowed face-masks in the attraction. He wrinkled his nose and pulled Hide along, eager to get to the next part of the house.
They had to walk a narrow path through what seemed to be morgue. There were corpses laid out on the tables, all seeming to be mutilated in some way. Kaneki could see some of the actors’ chests moving as they barely breathed, waiting for him and Hide to get close so they could scare them.
Hide watched them with baited breath, holding onto Kaneki for support as they started the slow, cautious walk forward. Hide’s gaze darting around, and he kept flinching away from the zombies, even if they had yet to move.
Finally, they were about half-way through and one of them moaned, slowly rising from the dead and shambling to their feet. In response, the rest of them also started moaning and moving. Hide swore repeatedly through the ordeal, and kept swearing even as they made it out of the room.
There was a series of long hallways with various types of jump scares until they finally made it to the last room. Just before they entered, Kaneki pushed Hide in front of him.
“Come on. No more hiding behind me.”
“Kaneki,” Hide whined. “I’m so scared though.”
“It’s okay.” Kaneki wasn’t a big fan of public displays of affection, but they were pretty much alone, so he had no issue kissing Hide gently. “I believe in you.”
Hide pouted, looking skeptical, so Kaneki tried to sell his point with an ensuing kiss. He ran his palms over Hide’s waist and pulled back to smile at him. Hide huffed, but relented. “Fine. I’ll do my best. But you have to protect me if I’m too scared.”
“Deal.”
Vibrating with nervous energy Hide entered the final room. It was a maze full of mirrors. It seemed innocent enough at first, though Hide’s lack of patience and depth perception made him run face-first into more than one mirror. Rubbing his nose, he stuck his tongue out at Kaneki for laughing at him. However, he froze when he caught movement that wasn’t the two of them in one of the mirrors.
A tall, pale woman with black eyes and no mouth was slowly approaching them from behind. Her tattered white dress dragged on the ground behind her. Hide’s eyes widened and he froze. Kaneki poked and prodded him until he started moving again. He rushed even more through the maze, and ran into even more mirrors, cursing the whole while.
By the time they were outside, breathing fresh air free of fog, Kaneki was gasping for breath from laughing so hard. Hide glared at him, crossing his arms over his chest.
“My nose and forehead hurt.”
“Right, right. Sorry.” Kaneki pulled on their still-joined hands and led Hide to a more secluded area behind the haunted house. There were a few people hanging about, but Kaneki pulled Hide behind one of the trees. He got a good look at Hide’s red forehead and nose, as well as the petulant look on his face. He ran his fingers over the marks, then pressed his lips softly against them.
Hide flushed a little, smiling. “I love haunted houses.”
Kaneki hummed. “So I guess we’re going against next year?”
“Of course!” Hide rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet. “I would go through this one again, but the clown really scared me. So did the zombies. And that creepy lady.”
And everything else, Kaneki mentally amended. “Well, how about we go home and watch a scary movie?”
Kaneki definitely enjoyed horror movies, especially when Hide would get scared enough to press his face against his shoulder, or practically wrap himself around Kaneki. Though when that happened, it usually meant neither of them were interested in the movie anymore.
Hide considered the proposition, tapping his chin. “Only if there’s junk food and kisses after?”
“Is there any other way to watch a scary movie?” Kaneki kissed Hide’s neck, fingers tracing over a ticklish part of Hide’s waist.
Hide jumped away, covering his mouth with a palm to stifle his giggles. He slid his hand into Kaneki’s again, this time dragging him in the direction of home.