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Halloween wasn’t one of Akaashi’s favorite holidays. Everyone dressed in creepy costumes, shielding their identity as they ran around town causing mayhem, the candy was usually stale and difficult to chew without cracking a few teeth…plus, there was always a chance a ghost or warlock would be on the hunt for innocent children to add to their soups. Usually, Akaashi would go trick or treating with his parents and younger sister, but this year a group of school friends had invited him to come along with them. It was a fun change in setting, so eleven-year-old Keiji accepted their offer and adjusted his black bat outfit one last time before leaving the house to meet up with Komi, Saruki and Konoha.
The group of boys were already waiting for him by a lamppost, autumn sun lowering completely and sending a blanket of darkness over Fukurodani.
“There you are, Keiji-kun!” Komi waved at the younger boy. He was dressed as a red devil, horns, tail, pointy staff and all. “You look rad!”
“Thanks. So do you guys.”
“We’re the best looking kids in town!” Akinori bragged, bearing his fake fangs as Keiji looked over his vampire costume. “Saruki decided not to wear a costume tonight, though.”
“Shut up!” Saruki whined as the other boys laughed, pointing at his brown monkey costume. “This was all I could find at the store that fit! It’s not my fault you guys are still shrimps.”
“Hey, I’ve grown half an inch since school started!”
“Sure, sure…”
“Really, I have!” Komi insisted passionately. “My mom even had to adjust my devil costume so it would f—”
“BOO!”
Komi and Akinori gave shrill screams as a student dressed in a white sheet suddenly jumped out from behind a bush, making the entire group of preteen boys flinch violently. Akaashi felt his soul momentarily leave his body, only returning when the same ghost who had scared the hell out of them started laughing.
“Hehe!” The unknown person giggled. Their shimmering golden eyes were peeking out from two cut holes, and Akaashi could see a pair of dirty Converse shoes under the end of the sheet. “I got you guys good!”
“Come off it, Bokuto!”
Bokuto—that name sounded familiar. To keep himself down to earth, Keiji focused on that name and its origin, remembering that the others had been talking about a rambunctious new boy in their class who arrived just weeks earlier. Keiji hadn’t met him yet, given they weren’t in the same grade, but he heard a lot about his…interesting personality. This wasn’t the best first impression Akaashi had experienced, grabbing at his chest as his heart still pounded anxiously, even as the other boys recovered from their fear and returned to casual conversation.
“You ready to get some candy or what?”
“I was born ready!” The boy named Bokuto readily agreed. His golden eyes flickered over to Akaashi, looking him up and down like a curious owl. That was what his eyes reminded Keiji of in the dark lighting. “Oh—hey! I’m Bokuto! Bokuto Koutarou!”
He’s so loud and excitable…just like they said…
“This is Akaashi,” Konoha introduced. “He’s a grade below us.”
“That’s cool! Nice to meet ya, Akaashee!”
“Akaashi,” The younger boy corrected. He suddenly felt shy upon connecting with those bright eyes and looked down at the ground to avoid having his brightening cheeks seen. Why was he blushing? He met dozens of other classmates before. This kid was nothing special…plus, Akaashi couldn’t even see his face, so it was more like he was meeting Halloween Koutarou and not real Koutarou. There was probably a large difference between those personalities. Maybe.
“Right, right—Ah-kah-she,” Bokuto sounded out. “Your costume is cute!”
Keiji turned his head down even further as the other boys snickered to themselves. His mom said he looked cute, too, but he definitely hadn’t expected to hear the same compliment from another student—much less, a boy. This guy sure was bold.
“It’s not cute,” Akaashi tried to refute, touching his bat ear headband subconsciously. “It’s scary.”
“Oh…yeah, totally!” The ghost nodded in agreement. “But in a cute way!”
“Holy crap!” Komi suddenly hissed, hiding behind Saruki in a panic. “It’s Yukie and Kaori!”
“Where?!”
“They’re coming this way!”
The group of boys glanced to their right, noticing two girls from their school headed in their direction. Konoha straightened up, Akaashi shrunk further into himself and Bokuto brushed a few specs of dirt off his ghost costume, as if that would make-up for how dirty the bottom of the sheet was from dragging on the ground behind him. Yukie and Kaori were the cutest girls at their school, and they looked even cuter in their costumes, dressed as an onigiri rice ball and Makizushi sushi, respectably. None of the boys were breathing as the girls finally made their way over.
“Hi Saruki!” Yukie greeted cheerfully. “Are you going trick or treating now?”
“Yeah.” Apparently Saruki was the only one who could speak amongst them. “How about you?”
“Well, Kaori and I were hoping we could come with you guys—if that’s alright.”
Akinori looked at Bokuto, who looked at Saruki, who looked down at a wide-eyed Akaashi; after a silent moment of contemplation, excited grins broke-out on their faces. Well, Keiji couldn’t see Koutarou’s face, but he was sure the prospect of trick-or-treating beside the school’s cutest girls all evening made him as happy as a clown. If he wasn’t that happy already.
“That’s cool,” Konoha said casually. His violent nod exposed his true excitement.
“Yeah! We’ll go as a group!” Komi added as he finally snuck-out from behind Saruki. “That way it’ll be a lot easier to find the great magical pumpkin!”
“The what?” Bokuto cocked his ghost head to the side.
“You don’t know the legends?”
“What legends?”
“You mean about the haunted forest?” Kaori said with wide-eyes, grabbing onto her friend’s arm. “Those are so scary!”
“They’re not true,” Akaashi huffed, although he really wasn’t so sure.
“What haunted forest?!”
“Legend tells that through the East edge of the Souta Forest lies a magical pumpkin patch,” Konoha began in a mystical, creepy voice, using hand motions for added affect. “At the patch is a great pumpkin that contains magic and an endless supply of treats and candy. Only the bravest children seek-out this great pumpkin, but very few, if any, ever return from their terrifying journey through the haunted forest—according to the stories, no one makes it past the evil witch who guards the magical pumpkin. If she catches you trying to steal from her pumpkin…the stories say she turns you into a pumpkin, keeping you captive in her patch forever, doomed to watch as more generations of trick-or-treaters become her next victims!”
Yukie and Kaori shrieked in fear, grabbing onto each other as Komi grinned wickedly. Akaashi really didn’t think any of the legends he heard were true, but being told the same story he heard over and over on Halloween night, while the leaves were rustling, the moon was full, with hordes of innocent children were running around? The possibility of an evil witch lurking amongst them held a bit more merit than usual. Bokuto had somehow ended up beside Keiji and seemed to notice his full-body shiver.
“What if her magic doesn’t work on you?” Koutarou challenged his friend’s story. His voice was too loud and passionate to be muffled by the sheet. “Some magic doesn’t work on the strongest kids!”
“Then your fate is much worse,” Konoha refuted darkly. “If you don’t turn into a pumpkin, she skins you alive, rips out your bones and adds them to her soup!”
“No!” Kaori squealed, covering her ears. “That’s not true!”
“It is true. I know a guy whose older brother had a second cousin whose girlfriend’s younger brother said so.”
“I bet one of us could find it!” Saruki said, mostly to impress his female classmates. It backfired on him.
“Eh? Are you saying you’ll go through the haunted forest, Saruki-kun?” Kaori asked in awe.
“Haha…me? Uhh…well, I’m not cut-out for it. Why doesn’t Konoha try?”
“I’m not that brave,” Akinori admitted freely, waving his hands in surrender. “Komi would probably get snatched by a raven on the way…why doesn’t Akaashi-kun go?”
All eyes turned to the youngest teen of their group, the innocent one dressed as a “scary” black bat. With his black cape, bat ears headband and pink painted nose, Keiji didn’t exactly look the type to go wandering in a dark forest in search of a legendary magical pumpkin. He didn’t feel like that type, either, heart hammering at the mere idea as the others stared at him, waiting for a reply. Entering a forest alone, where there were supposedly ghosts and a cannibalistic witch? It would have been terrifying even if Keiji wasn’t venturing out on Halloween night, with nothing to defend himself with aside from a plastic orange pumpkin that was meant to hold pounds of candy.
“…Me?” Akaashi repeated, voice cracking against his will.
“You might be younger than us, but you’re super chill! I bet you could keep your head while battling ghosts and other evil things lurking about.”
“O-Oh…I don’t know…”
“Just try it, Keiji-chan!” Yukie encouraged with a smile. “You’d be the neighborhood hero if you brought us all back some candy!”
“Yeah!”
The group of students started chanting Akaashi’s name in encouragement, both mortifying and pressuring him to accept the possibly deadly task of finding the magical pumpkin and bringing his friends back some much-needed candy to start their Halloween night off right. There was only one person whose loud voice Keiji couldn’t detect, staring anxiously at the crunchy yellow leaves below his feet as his mind raced to make a decision.
If he didn’t commit to the haunting challenge, Akaashi would always wonder “what if.” What if he found the pumpkin, escaped the witch and lived to tell the tale? Keiji would be a part of the legends, then, or if it all proved to be untrue, he could refute the dangerous legend that struck fear into the hearts of children every October.
However…if Keiji went into the forest and didn’t return…
“I’ll go with him!” Bokuto suddenly shouted, sending the others into silence. “We’ll find the magical pumpkin and bring everyone the best candy there is!”
“I guess that’s okay,” Komi shrugged. “Bokuto-kun can be the brawn, Akaashi the brains!”
Akaashi looked over at the new Fukurodani student in surprise, stunned that this mere stranger would offer to be his bodyguard for such a peculiar assignment. At first, Keiji felt hesitant about being accompanied by Koutarou—he was loud, slightly obnoxious, oblivious, dorky, ungraceful…but on second glance, the little black bat came to realize those weren’t exactly weaknesses when it came to the supernatural. Plus, Bokuto was older, taller, and seemingly a lot braver (stupidly braver, that is) than Keiji.
The group of trick-or-treaters eagerly waited for Akaashi’s answer as his eyes slowly left the ghost, standing a little straighter to match Koutarou’s own stance.
“O-Okay,” Keiji reluctantly nodded. “I’ll go with Bokuto-san.”
“Wicked! You two can meet us back here in an hour,” Saruki said, lips turning into a cheeky grin and making his monkey costume extra creepy. “That is, if you’re still alive by then.”
“Don’t get snatched by the ghosts!” Komi called as the other boys started jogging away, girls following after them.
“Or an evil witch!” Konoha teased, wiggling his fingers at them spookily.
“We’ll be back!” Bokuto hollered after their friends. “You’ll see!”
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Akaashi thought immediately after they were gone, leaving no one but he and Bokuto standing on the empty street.
Everything seemed quieter, now, kids off towards the center of Fukurodani where the best houses were, and witnesses in case something happened. Here, at the edge of town, Akaashi and Koutarou stood alone, looking to their right where the Souta Forest hovered behind the last row of dark houses. The moon was full and eerily bright, providing an unsettling background for the bare tree branches casting their shadows on the street below. It looked even scarier than usual, and while Keiji felt his stomach churn with nausea, Bokuto’s spirit wasn’t deterred in the slightest. In fact, he was bouncing up and down excitedly beside his younger accomplice, white sheet moving with his lively human figure.
“Ready to go, Akaashee?!” He cheered.
“…I-I guess.”
“Let’s hurry, before the moon gets covered up by the clouds!”
Keiji hurried along with his weakening knees, mouth getting drier and drier the further they climbed up the hill towards the large group of trees. Red and gold leaves crunched beneath their shoes, the only audible noise until the two boys finally reached the top, at which point all the neighborhood sounds were drowned-out by cold gusts of wind weaving through the shadowy forest. Akaashi had never felt so small before, hands wringing together nervously as he stared up at the grey trees blocking their way—he was just about to open his mouth and back-out of their adventure when a warm hand wrapped around his own.
“Don’t worry, Akaashee!” Bokuto encouraged, those same golden eyes sparkling even brighter than before. He said his name wrong again, but it was kind of cute this time around. “I’ll be right beside you the whole time!”
“R-Right,” Keiji nodded, feigning confidence. “It’ll be fine…we’ll just find the pumpkin, get the candy and come back down…it’ll be fine. Right?”
“Right!”
Before Akaashi could hesitate further, Bokuto tugged him forward, and into the Souta Forest they went.
It occurred to Keiji before, that he and Koutarou could end-up lost with no way to get help or let anyone know what became of them, but his rational concerns seemed to float away with how confidently Bokuto led them through the twisting trees and forgotten paths. It was almost like he had lived here his whole life, rather than just move here weeks before. His passion for finding the great pumpkin (and endless rambling about the subject) took Akaashi’s mind off their perilous situation.
“I bet it’ll be the biggest pumpkin we’ve ever seen,” Bokuto theorized from under his ghost sheet, hand still holding tightly onto Keiji’s. The younger boy hoped he didn’t mind their tight grip; Akaashi wasn’t planning on letting go anytime soon. “Maybe it’ll be painted black, or like candy corn!”
“Y-Yeah…maybe…”
“Let’s try this way—it looks like there’s a clearer path over there.”
Akaashi could almost hear his heart pounding through the forest’s strange silence, though the noise was overpowered by the pounding of Koutarou’s “light” ghost steps. It seemed to be getting darker and darker the further they walked, no other beings or even animals in the area; maybe they know it’s Halloween, Akaashi thought, letting Bokuto help him step over a wet patch of muddy moss. They know it’s dangerous to be out here on this night…
SNAP.
“What was that?!” Koutarou whispered, looking to where he thought the noise came from.
“Let’s keep going.” If something—or someone—was following them, Keiji didn’t want to know about it. “Maybe this path leads somewhere.”
“Yeah! That sounds right! Not that I’m scared of us not finding something. I’m not scared at all!”
“Yeah…me either.”
Neither boy commented on the fact that their grips got even tighter after hearing that unknown noise, nor did they comment about how unusual it was for two boys to be holding hands this long. Akaashi kept his steps quiet, trying to remember which trees and bushes they had already passed, but that was hard when everything looked the same, and certain parts of the forest weren’t illuminated by the full moon. Minutes seemed to stretch into hours of wandering, Keiji’s limbs starting to feel cold when they came up on a tiny clearing with two separate paths going in opposite directions.
“Uhh…let’s go this way!” Bokuto pointed left. “This way seems hopeful!”
“Didn’t we just come from that way?” Akaashi asked, glancing up at the tall trees surrounding them. “I think we came from that area already…”
“Oh. Well, then let’s try this way! I’m sure it’ll lead somewhere if we walk far enough.”
“Oh no…we’re lost, aren’t we?” The boy dressed as a bat worried, expression falling. “We’re going to be lost forever, and no one will come looking for us, and in fifty-years they’ll find our bones in the witch’s cauldron!”
“Don’t think like that, ‘Kaashi!” The ghost shook his head, putting his hands on Akaashi’s shoulders. “We’re going to be fine! We’re fine right now, aren’t we? The witch hasn’t gotten us yet, and she won’t, because we’re smarter and faster, right?!”
Akaashi forced himself to nod, and allowed the ghost to take his hand again, more comforting hold than the last times.
“We’ll be fine as long as we stick together,” Bokuto nodded certainly. “If we’re together, nothing c—”
“Meow.”
Akaashi yelped and immediately hid behind the older student for protection, peeking-out to see just a black cat sitting by the right path, staring at them with electric green eyes that shined like a glowstick. It meowed at the pair again, unmoving as if the creature had been waiting for them all along.
“Aww, a kitty!” Koutarou cooed. He thought it was cute, but not as cute as the black bat standing next to him. The ghost went to take a step forward, only to be stopped by Akaashi grabbing hold of his arm. “Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t you see…the glow?”
Sure enough, when Bokuto looked back at the cat and really focused his eyes, the animal had a peculiar black glow around its body, full of sparkles and an almost magical aura. It’s pretty eyes, too, seemed much too aware of what was going on, never ceasing its gaze on the two boys even as they inched closer. After letting out another meow, the cat finally stood on its paws, glancing back as it faced the opposite direction.
“I think…it wants us to follow,” Akaashi realized, carefully eyeing the patch of thick bushes ahead.
“Well, then we better follow it!”
“But—But what if it’s a trap? What if it’s leading us to the witch?!”
“Come on, ‘Kaashi!” Bokuto encouraged, most certainly grinning underneath the white sheet. Maybe Keiji would have felt more confident if he could see that grin. “We can do it! Let’s find the pumpkin and get the candy!”
Everything in Akaashi’s body was telling him to abort the mission. It was too dangerous, too risky. Anything could happen if they followed this mysterious cat deeper into the Souta Forest. Real ghosts could start popping out, and the witch could find them at any time—all of this, Akaashi knew, but hearing how determined Bokuto was, feeling his energy through their touch ignored those warnings. Was this how Koutarou was all the time? Is that how he had already made so many friends at school? An enthusiasm so bright and strong it was impossible for anyone to resist?
“Okay,” Akaashi breathed, nodding a few times to finally convince himself. “Okay. Let’s find the pumpkin.”
Keiji was so thankful Bokuto didn’t push his hand away when he reached out again, running along beside the ghost as they hurried after the black cat leading them to an unknown destination. The bushes were scraping his shins and threatening to tear his bat wings, but Akaashi pressed forward, keeping his attention away from the creepy trees and directly on Bokuto. The cat kept going and going until finally, the boys lost sight of it, huffing and puffing as they had to stop for air.
“We…lost the cat!” The ghost beside Keiji heaved in frustration. “How are we supposed to find the pumpkin patch now?”
Peering up from his knees, Akaashi glanced around, attention grabbing onto a color that was drastically different from the black shadows covering their trail. It was just past what looked like the end of the forest, peeking through thick bushes that suddenly rustled; Keiji hoped it was just the black cat, and tugged on Bokuto’s white sheet to get his attention.
“Do you see that?” Akaashi pointed. “It looks like…something orange.”
Koutarou’s gold eyes narrowed, then widened when he caught sight of the same abnormality. The boys gave each other a fleeting look before barreling forward together, pushing their way through crinkling leaves and pointed branches—Bokuto caught Keiji’s hand again just as they stumbled into a clearing filled with orange pumpkins.
The patch must have stretched for at least a hundred yards, almost every inch covered by pumpkins of different sizes, shapes and colors. They were the most perfect, carvable pumpkins Akaashi had ever seen, free of warts, splits and other deformities that usually marred even the most expensive of pumpkins sold at this time of the year. In the middle of all stood the largest of all, almost as tall as a house, essentially a pumpkin cottage with a door carved and even a few windows hollowed out, as shown by the candlelight oozing from the openings. Bokuto was just as amazed as his partner, mouth most likely hanging open underneath the white sheet as he stood completely still beside Keiji.
“We found it!” The bat whispered in shock amazement. “We actually found it!”
“Hehe! I told those guys we could do it!”
“Meooow.”
The boys looked down, where the black cat sat patiently by the pumpkin patch’s entrance, getting their attention once again before taking off. This time, Akaashi didn’t hesitate to follow, grabbing Bokuto’s hand and pulling him along through the maze of pumpkins. Koutarou laughed joyfully, giggling all the way to the pumpkin house; the cat ducked inside, and after a quick peek to make sure no one was home, Akaashi and Bokuto followed.
Hundreds of candles were lit and set on various pieces of furniture, including a kitchen table and fireplace that had a large pot boiling inside—but most importantly, the candlelight spread all the way across the pumpkin, leading to an enormous pile of every candle imaginable: there were jawbreakers, chocolate covered almonds, bags of candy corn, gummy worms, licorice, popcorn balls, everything. The black cat who led them sat in front of the pile, scratching at a small packet of treats it couldn’t quite get opened. Keiji couldn’t believe his eyes—
It was true. The legends about the magical pumpkin were all true.
“We did it!” Bokuto cheered, throwing himself at Akaashi for a big hug. “We did it, Akaashee!”
“I can’t believe it,” Keiji managed a laugh, letting himself be tangled within the ghost’s white sheet. “We really found the candy!”
“Let’s hurry and fill our buckets! Who knows if some other kids are going to stumble on this place soon. We better clean house before…”
Koutarou froze the same time Akaashi did. They both felt a sudden presence behind them that didn’t belong to the mystical black cat, who made a noise of alarm and took off out of the pumpkin house. Goosebumps rising, Keiji and Bokuto slowly turned around, and were beyond horrified to see an old witch with frizzy white hair, deranged green eyes and rotted, long fingernails standing right in front of them. The overwhelming smell of boiling vegetables suddenly became very aware to Akaashi, whose mouth dropped open in panic as he remembered the sickening alternative ending to Konoha’s legend.
“Well well well…” The witch began slowly, cracked lips curling into a sick smile. “What do we have here?”
Bokuto and Akaashi grabbed onto each other and began screaming at the top of their lungs for a solid fifteen-seconds of pure horror before the annoyed witch hissed at them to stop.
“Shh! You’ll attract the others! Hush!”
“Please don’t put us in your soup, ma’am!” Bokuto wailed from underneath his sheet. “I won’t taste very good—I don’t eat anything but sugary treats and beef!”
“We won’t tell anyone where the pumpkin patch is, we swear!” Akaashi cried.
“I said hush!”
The bat and ghost snapped their mouths shut immediately, still holding each other as a comfort for what could very well be their last moments as humans (or being alive). The witch was glaring at them, but not in such a menacing way as before; she seemed to be contemplating her options, deciding that the boys were too young, not as porky or juicy as she preferred. Plus, it was Halloween night, and if two kids went missing at the same time there would surely be a manhunt, and tonight was definitely not a good time for that. There were still spells to be cast, goblins to trick and many treats to make. These boys were cute, but not her type.
“…If I give you some candy, will you be good boys and go straight home, without telling anyone about this?” The witch asked.
Akaashi and Bokuto blinked, then looked at each other to see if they were hearing correctly.
“S-Sorry?” Keiji stammered.
“Here.”
The witch waved her wrinkly hand, two large mounds of candy shifting from the great pile and somehow finding their way into Akaashi and Bokuto’s plastic pumpkins, almost weighing them down with how much candy was inside. Keiji gulped when he looked back up, half-expecting this to all be some cruel trick to put their guards down. He just hoped Bokuto didn’t fall for it like he fell for the cat…
“Take your candy—don’t return, and don’t tell anyone about this place, or else. Get the picture, little ones?” The boys nodded several times. “Good. Now off you go; Halloween night doesn’t last forever, you know.”
The ghost and bat took off together, carrying their now-heavy plastic pumpkins out of the house and into the patch. The witch gave a heavy sigh, pushing away a large chunk of the candy to unearth her secret chest, where she took out a human arm and bag of fingers saved from last Halloween. They were impeccably seasoned and finally perfect for cooking after a year of preservation.
“Damn kids…always interrupting my homemade pumpkin stew.”
Bokuto and Akaashi ran and ran, through the pumpkin patch, through the forest, over stumps and through bushes until their legs were ready to give-out from underneath them. Keiji leaned against a tree to catch his breath, lungs burning from both the fear of being eaten and from exertion. Pieces of their candy might have fallen out in the process, but Akaashi didn’t care. They managed to escape the clutches of the infamous witch, and he was getting away no matter the cost.
“I think,” Bokuto heaved tiredly. “We’re safe!”
Akaashi straightened up from his hunched position, and for a minute, the woods were silent, only the wind and Koutarou’s breathing serving as background noises. That quiet was broken a few seconds later, when Keiji suddenly started to laugh; Bokuto looked over and saw the bat boy holding his stomach as he giggled, which in turn made Koutarou smile under his costume.
“What’s so funny?!”
“It’s just…just…this is so crazy!” The eleven-year-old laughed. “We actually found the pumpkin patch…and the candy…and a witch—no one will ever believe us!”
“I guess it’ll be our little Halloween secret!”
As Akaashi finally finished his (slightly-delusional) bout of laughter, he looked over at his new friend and immediately became somber when he saw Bokuto in the process of taking off his ghost costume. The white sheet was tugged upwards, revealing that same dirty pair of Converse shoes and a pair of jeans with holes torn in various spots; everything after that was a blur, because for the first time, Keiji saw the face of his new classmate.
He was right in thinking Koutarou resembled an owl—his grin was infectious, not so wise, but incredibly endearing and everything Keiji imagined it would be. They were a lot closer than the bat originally thought, allowing him a front row seat to everything. Maybe his teeth were a little crooked, stained from years of forgetting to brush them and downing soda at every given opportunity, but all these tiny characteristics seemed to mix well together. From the grey streaks of his wild, spikey hair to his thick eyebrows and those mesmerizing golden eyes, he was Bokuto Koutarou of class one. Akaashi didn’t realize he was blushing again, nervous at the realization that he thought Bokuto looked super cute under the moonlight.
He did, however, realize he was blushing when his cheeks became even darker after the ghost landed a quick peck to his left cheekbone.
“Um—we should probably get back!” Koutarou laughed nervously, collecting his bucket of candy from off the ground. “The others might think we got eaten by the witch if we d—”
Akaashi stepped in front of him, blocking the older boy from leaving and bringing their chests even closer together. Bokuto was startled by this sudden boldness and almost went to call him out on it, but shut his lips immediately when he saw Keiji lean up onto his toes. Now more frozen than when the witch caught them about to steal her candy stash, Koutarou could only watch, heart pounding as Akaashi leaned forward and pressed his lips against the ghost’s.
Well, Bokuto thought happily as he let his eyes drift shut. I’ve certainly had stranger Halloween nights.
Akaashi pulled away after a minute of lingering, white moonlight exposing his reddening cheeks, but the forest’s shadows covered him by interrupting the glow. Bokuto was trying (and failing) to hide his sheepish smile, letting the white sheet drop back over his head to spare the younger boy of anymore embarrassment. To think, they were in one of the scariest places to be on Halloween night, and this was what Koutarou was concerned about.
“…Wanna go trick or treating with me again next year?” Keiji asked hopefully. As if the ghost could say anything but yes.
“S-Sure! But…we’re not gonna go to the pumpkin patch again, are we?”
“No,” The bat shook his head with a small smile. “I think escaping a witch one time is enough.”
Bokuto grinned underneath his sheet for the hundredth time that night. The boys joined hands once again, running through the haunted trees together just like before, only this time, neither of them were afraid of what waited at the forest’s end.