For Rin, Halloween had less to do with costume parties and more to do with horror. Even as a child, whenever his parents would dress him in those silly cutesy vampire or wizard costumes and make him walk around the neighborhood with Sae, he would do so only half-heartedly. Candy was good, but not when it was obtained in such a ridiculous manner.

Which is why he decided that this Halloween, he would not attend any parties or give out candy to children (the last time he did, at his parents’ insistence, he scared off all the kids without even trying). And since he knew you would beg him to do either one or both of those activities, he decided to buy tickets in advance to a horror house that had been advertised pretty much all over town.

The tickets had been expensive too and Rin hoped it wouldn’t be one of those haunted houses with, half-assed jumpscares or cheap props and underpaid actors. To his pleasant surprise, it was actually good. The place actually looked scary.. eerie, even. Though he wasn’t scared, Rin was impressed by how realistic the setting was. Even the blood.. actually smelled like iron. He decided not to dwell too long on that.

With his arm around your shoulder, he felt you shake like a leaf against him and he suppressed the urge to smile. Even though he’d rather die than admit it, he had looked forward to you clinging to him.

As you entered one of the house’s rooms, he noticed a mannequin resembling a dead body lying on the floor. And you hadn’t noticed it yet. He waited for you to step close to it without noticing, before he spoke up nonchalantly: “Oh, watch your steps.”