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“This is stupid and I’m not going!”
Yaguchi yelled through the bathroom door. He hated that costume, Halloween and being unable to say “no” to Kashima and his silly ideas.
“Yes, this is stupid but like hell you’re leaving me alone tonight.”
Tamura sat on the bed, texting back and forth with Shikatani who was freaking out because his dress’ zipper broke. Differently from them, his friend was dying to have his shiny moment that night.
The bathroom door unlocked and Yaguchi appeared fully dressed up, desperately trying to keep the leggings in place (they were a bit too long for him). Tamura stared at him, as much as he intended to be supportive, seeing Yaguchi dressed up as Lord Farquaad had the best out of him and he burst out laughing: “Jeez” he said, laughing so much he was weeping: “Kashima did you dirty. This is just genius!”
Yaguchi’s glare was so powerful it could almost materially pierce his fiancée: “Fuckin’ rich coming from goddamn Pinocchio!" he spat: "You look like a stick insect on steroids!".
Few weeks prior, Yaguchi had lunch together with Kashima who informed him that there was going to be a Halloween costume contest. The winners got shopping vouchers for a total of 250.000 yen*. Shopping vouchers did not tempt him (neither did he question why did they bear some meaning to his cousin), he didn’t want to do it. Despite his intentions, however, it didn’t matter how though he played, Yaguchi was hardly the one to ever say “no”, especially to his friends. On the other hand, "no" happened to be Tamura's go to word: he could sense a pain in the ass miles away. His superpower had a kryptonite though, and it was the angel-faced demon named Yaguchi. He did try to resist but would eventually give in.
Tamura met Kashima the same day when he borrowed him a hard disk and the party was never brought up into the conversation. It was as if he knew he had to take the long road to get what he wanted.
Intentional or not, now they were both involved and dressed up.
After failing the billionth attempt to fix the leggings in a way it was even remotely comforting, Yaguchi grabbed his phone from the bedside table: “Let’s get going before I change my mind.”
As they were driving to the club, Yaguchi could not stop whining: “Twenty five years old and I’ve gotta dress up like a toddler!”
“Not your fault you're as tall as a five year old” There was a moment of threatening silence before Yaguchi eventually spat out: “Are you going to be a pain in the ass all night?”
“Yeah, but Toono told me Akemi picked the donkey so there’s a solid chance I’ll switch the target later.” Yaguchi toyed with his cape, reconsidering almost every life choice he made up to that point. “And of course Yuu gets to be Prince Charming, Toono gets Fiona and we all take side, silly roles” Tamura frowned: “Kashima the Prince? I mean, I get it but that one screams Itome to me." Yaguchi sunk into the car seat: “I hope we win those stupid vouchers. I’m going to drown myself in chocolate pudding to forget this night.”
As if wearing a silly costume wasn’t enough, once they got to the club where the party was supposed to take place, they learned that yes, there was an Halloween celebration, and there was a costume contest but Kashima left out a little detail in the job description.
“Why the fuck are all these kids around? And why are they the only ones wearing costumes?” Yaguchi paled in realization of the poor figure he, Tamura and the whole group were about to perform. Outside of the club that turned out to serve as a restaurant until 11 PM, there was a poster announcing the “Big Halloween Parade” in bright orange letters printed in a creepy font over a black background. Just below, in fine white print it was reported: “Kids all ages are welcome!”.
“Kashima sure gave the “all ages” a pretty board meaning” commented Tamura before proceeding to glare at his fiancée: “Didn't cross your brain to ask for details, did it?” Tamura’s snarky comment was rewarded with a stomp on his foot to which he had to bite his tongue not to cuss “And guess whose fault it is?” hissed Yaguchi
“Oh, don’t put it on me. You were the one who agreed in the first place.”
“And you were supposed to refuse. I’d be saying something like “Oh, Tamura doesn’t want to go and I don’t want to leave him alone on Halloween night” and we could have gone literally anywhere else! You’re the one who has to say "no" and ruin other people’s day! What the hell are we even together for?”
“If romanticism wasn’t dead before, you just murdered it and commit arson on its corpse.”
Tamura gave a good look around, aside the other guests and their kids, they were the first to arrive: “No one’s here yet, come on, let’s get back into the car and go home.”
“And what are we going to tell them?”
“I’ll think about something, now let’s go!” Tamura grabbed Yaguchi’s arm slightly pulling him as a signal to move but he still was resistant: “They’re going to be so disappointed, maybe we should stay.” Tamura sighed in defeat: “Okay.” he started, trying to stay calm: “Whether your choice is I’m fine with it. So, would you rather go in there in the midst of a screaming kids mess together with Yuri and Akemi or…” he made a step forward, pulling an arm around Yaguchi’s waist, assuming a grotesque seducing expression: “…you want to go home, get out of this plastic waste excuse of a costume and play Crash Team Racing while we stuff our face with candies and chips?”
The decision was soon made as Yaguchi turned around grabbing Tamura’s hand while they raced to the car: “You’re not allowed to choose Pinsitripe!”
“Whatever, I can beat you even with Tiny Tiger.”
They were almost home when Yaguchi’s phone started to ring: “Dammit, it’s Kashima! What do I do?”
“Give me your phone” Tamura closed the call and opened the text app. Few seconds later he grinned in victory and handed the device back. Yaguchi checked the text:
“Cannot answer, stupid Yui ate a spoiled yogurt and now’s face down the toilet, I have to make sure he doesn’t drown in his vomit. Catch ya later”
There was a brief response from Kashima who apparently believed it and wished Tamura well.
Yaguchi was excited. Yes, he felt bad for lying but the idea of getting out of that costume bear a stronger power. He stared at Tamura straight in the eyes: “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” “Not very often” he paused “and it only happens in weird situations, but I accept it" he hen made eye contact with Yaguchi: "In the end, what the hell are we even together for?"
"Touché" smirked Yaguchi as he lent in to kiss him.
Their relationships may be weird, even odd aat an external eye but certainly it wasn't boring.
*around 1500€/1700$