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"I'm still not sure how you talked me into this," grumbled Kaoru, arms crossed and his best pout on, because he wasn't going to back down. Why make things easy?
Kojiro shrugged. "You agree to just about anything when I ask right."
He narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend, tempted to retort but clamping his mouth shut before he said the first thing that came to his mind. 'Right' in this context was Kojiro's way of saying that Kaoru's cognitive functions apparently all ceased to exist when the idiot kissed him stupid, quite literally. It had happened enough times to establish a pattern by now. The last thing Kaoru should do was give him confirmation that it was, in fact, an excellent tactic.
"Come on, you'll like it," coaxed Kojiro in his sweetest voice, leaning into his personal space as they walked.
"I highly doubt that," he replied, elbowing his boyfriend.
"I'm confident," Kojiro said with that smirk of his, the one that Kaoru secretly loved so much. Or maybe it wasn't such a secret, but he'd never admit it out loud, let alone in public.
"That's generally your problem, yes," Kaoru commented instead, but he couldn't help a small smile from showing what he tried to hide.
The haunted house was just ahead, all decorated to look decrepit and grim. Whoever had been in charge of covering the place in spider webs, skeletons, tombstones and green sludge was certainly very enthusiastic about their job, to say the very least. It was an old house, so the wood accents and creaky windows swinging lightly in the autumnal breeze added to the feeling of unease, making the place look eerie even before the sun was fully set. Carved pumpkins glowed around the entrance and lit up the way while the sky over them turned a darker shade of orange.
Kaoru wasn't scared but he was definitely impressed. Holding Kojiro's hand was just habit, really.
"Ready?" his boyfriend asked softly into his ear.
No. "Yes, let's get this over with."
Kojiro chuckled and pulled him towards the entrance. An attendant in a zombie costume with lots of grime on their face welcomed them with a much friendlier smile than Kaoru expected, and for some strange reason his boyfriend winked at them before dragging him inside.
The truth was, Kaoru had never been to a haunted house before. He wasn't sure what was supposed to happen exactly, but it should probably involve scares and spooks. Which. Simply. Didn't happen. Instead, they were treated to a series of well decorated rooms with all sorts of scary props, where ghouls and killers alike calmly told them the story that was supposed to unfold there. There was a whole narrative strung through the big house, with grizzly details fit to chill even the most mild tempered person, but the performers were completely out of character and just chatted with them.
It was actually much more surreal and strange than being scared shitless by some weirdo with a fake knife cutting through his face to have said actor explain his role with a friendly smile. The fake blood only made it bizarrely funnier.
When they were about halfway through the house, walking down a dark corridor with nothing but a provided lantern held by Kojiro for lights, Kaoru caved. He stopped walking and frowned at his boyfriend. "Okay, what's up here? Why aren't they jumping at us?"
"Would you prefer that they did?" Kojiro asked in turn, lighting up his face from below to give himself a creepy aura. "Aren't you spooked enough, Pinky?"
"I'm not spooked at all," he replied with a huff, pulling his hand free of Kojiro's grasp and crossing his arms again.
His boyfriend finally dropped the act, letting out a hearty laugh. It would bug him if he didn't love this idiot so much. "Yeah, okay. Tonight is 'chicken night' here, that's why they're not scaring us."
"Chicken night," repeated Kaoru, disbelieving.
"Yep. We get to see the place and enjoy the setting, the story, the works, without getting the shit scared out of us," Kojiro explained with another easy shrug, thumbing over his shoulder. "That dude at the door? His cousin is a dishwasher at Sia."
"Chicken, Kojiro?" he asked, glossing over everything else to glare at his boyfriend for a moment. It didn't work, because they were in the dark and Kojiro was too pleased with himself to be properly affected. So Kaoru just took his hand again with an exasperated huff, setting off towards the next room. "Well, let's go then. I wanna see the rest."
"After you," Kojiro replied, squeezing his hand in the dark.
By the time they left, Kaoru was quite enamored with the concept even if he hated the name. Maybe he'd suggest it to Langa and the kid could take Reki on another 'chicken night' so they both could enjoy it. Even a scaredy cat like their little mechanic could handle this, right? They started off towards a place to eat, something nice, easy and comfortable. Probably that ramen place Kojiro loved so much. "I thought you came to these places to get people to hang on to you," Kaoru couldn't help but comment.
"Scared chicks," his boyfriend corrected in a heartbeat.
"Do I look like a chick to you?" Kaoru barked, just a little angry at the reminder of his jealousy, then immediately raised his hand to stop the snickering. "Don't answer that, you oaf. I said what I said."
"Yeah, well, I don't need the pretense now, do I?" replied Kojiro easily, thumb idly brushing over the back of his hand as they walked.
Kaoru felt himself blush and leaned closer to his boyfriend, prompting him to shift so he could put an arm around his shoulder. It was chilly at night, just enough that his Kojiro's warmth was more than welcome and he relished the feeling of a heavy arm keeping him close. "I guess you don't," mumbled Kaoru, mullified. "Dork."
Kojiro dropped a kiss on his head. "I'm glad you liked it, sweetheart. Now we just need a sexy witch costume for you and--"
"You wish," he replied, huffing a quiet laugh.