ೃ༄ "you all seem quite confident..."
✧──────✧
a month later and it was already the day before halloween week. it was right after classes and the halloween steering committee is scheduled to have their meeting by then. crowley looked at all of the students present in the room and asked, "are all of the halloween steering committees here?" pomefiore, heartslabyul, scarabia, octavinelle, ignihyde, and savanaclaw are present and complete as jack asked, "is everyone here?"
"malleus and f/n are part of the committee as well... silver and sebek are searching for them right now! perhaps they will arrive soon, please wait for a while." replied lilia. vil sighed and said, "we forgot to invite malleus again... but what is l/n's reason?" lilia merely smiled at him and giggled as he said, "they are like two peas in a pod~" before the conversation could escalate any further, the group heard a pair of heels clicking on the floor as the two diasomnia students made their entrance.
"... sorry for the wait."
"... greetings, everyone."
lilia waved at the two and said, "you came. it seems the two found you earlier than i expected, that's good." jade nodded and went on with the discussion, "now that all the members are present..." crowley cleared his throat and continued, "eh... then, we will start the meeting of the halloween steering committee now. to the chairman of the steering committee, schoenheit, please get on with the progression as usual."
vil nodded and urged everyone to sit down as he stood at the center. "it's going to be halloween soon. halloween week will start from tomorrow. now, i want to confirm the essential points of each design for the venue of the stamp rally. during halloween week, the use of a stamp rally that is held during the event is... customers who have collected a total of seven stamps will get to obtain candy as a present." cater took this chance to voice his opinion, "even though most of the peoole who visit our campus are locals, the headmaster still gives them free presents... as expected from the principal, he's so generous~ ☆"
crowley smiled at the compliment and said, "it's not a big deal. the local people have always been helping us, of course i will give them something in return~" jade had his usual smile on his face as he confessed, "a bag stuffed with candy costs around 100 madols and below." crowley glanced at jade and said, "the most important thing is to be grateful. b e g r a t e f u l!" vil sighed and said, "you guys, stop interrupting the talk. i'm going to continue this. the stamp rally will be held from 10:00 to 22:00. in the meantime, remember not to leave the venue of the stamp rally empty. you guys need to put a stamp for the customers. the ones in charge of the stamping will be exempted from lessons. it's going to be a long event, so remember to take turns with the other students while dealing with this."
"once we go back to our dorm, we have to take a shower immediately and sleep in an instant or else we can't hold for one week." stated jack as idia mumbled, "22:00... the best time of the day..." deuce hummed softly as he said, "we have a lot of things to do this month... it'll be really tough, but we have to get ourselves motivated when tomorrow arrives." lilia hummed in agreement as he responded, "indeed, preparing the costume and the venue will take a lot of time and effort." epel let out a long sigh as he mumbled, "we went through a lot of trouble when preparing our costume..."
"of course it'll be like that, since the dorm leader of pomefiore is the chairman of the steering committee. besides that, the dorm that is based on the spirit of beauty shouldn't make cheap clothing. it's out of the question," replied vil before he continued, "well, at least our worries were worth it. we have completed a wonderful costume." crowley smiled as he crossed his arms and eyed the students, "oh? looking at everyone's expressions... it seems like you guys are proud of your work."
"of course!!!"
"the set of savanaclaw is very awesome. it's a masterpiece that only we can do," proclaimed jack with pride. "octavinelle is being decorated in a unique way too. i think it'll bring fun for you guys," said jade. "i want the costume of my dorm to get attention too!" exclaimed kalim. "nononono, our dorm, who is strongly meticulous over the detail of our clothing, should be number one." declared idia.
"you all seem quite confident... fufu," said f/n, making the rest turn their heads to look at her. "oh?" smirked azul. "i am not one to boast around, but diasomnia clearly has the best of everything~" replied f/n. "hooo~? we'll see about that, n/n~" cooed deuce as the two stuck their tongue out at each other. vil smiled as he said, "hmph, that's the spirit. alright then... let's look at the venue and costume of each dorm. if you show me something unfinished, i won't go easy on you. are you ready?"
"YES!!"
crowley still had the smile on his face and said, "everyone is so motivated, it's good to see that! every student will be motivated when halloween arrives. it would be even better if you guys always act like this..." everyone brushed off his last comment as cater said, "shouldn't we get going now? the venues of the stamp rally is scattered around campus, it'll take a lot of time by walking to the venue of each dorm." crowley agreed and announced that they shall be checking on diasomnia's venue first, to which the three nodded.
"our stamp rally venue is ramshackle dorm. that's the only abandoned building that suits the atmosphere of halloween," said malleus as deuce mumbled something under his breath. crowley then gave everyone in the room the permission to tour around the halloween venues.
...
f/n was busy changing into her costume in a separate area, while malleus and lilia are changing into their costumes as well. f/n heard silver and sebek welcoming the steering committee— well, more like silver was welcoming them, and sebek was more or less being a little rude. f/n made a mental note to scold him about it a little later, once they are no longer busy. f/n met with malleus and lilia as they walked towards the gate, hiding themselves from the gaze of the steering committee members to make a somewhat grand entrance.
"after looking at malleus-sama, f/n-sama, and lilia-sama, you guys will understand what it means to be on a different level!" exclaimed sebek with pride as he had his hands on his hips.
"my my, sebek. stop troubling the others. if you said that, they wouldn't know how to respond, isn't that right?" cooed f/n. making sebek clear his throat and said, "y-yes, young mistress! have you all finished preparing? ... ahem. everyone, feast your eyes on this!!! this is the idea of our dorm leader, malleus-sama... OUR HALLOWEEN COSTUME!!" on cue, the three came out of their hiding spots and presented themselves to the group with little sparkles surrounding them, which was made possible by f/n for dramatic effects.
f/n crossed her arms as she eyed the group, malleus had a small smile on his face as he copied the lady's action, and lilia smiled as he brought his sleeve-covered hand up to his lips. "the theme of our costume is ryuu," said malleus. "so... it suits us, right?" spoke lilia with a smile on his face. "last year, diasomnia wore a very traditional ghost costume, but... it's our first time becoming the steering committee of halloween, so we thought about changing the design." remarked malleus.
"halloween is meant to surprise people, so we completed a colorful costume that will attract the attention of others..." finished f/n. sebek nodded eagerly as he complimented with tears welling up his eyes, "yes! yes!! it suits you all very much! young master is wearing a costume that resembles a dragon... i bet that dragon is crying tears of joy now!" epel placed his hands behind him as he said, "it's not the dragon, it's you who is crying..." f/n patted sebek's back lightly and said, "thank you, seb."
"that's right. i have to thank schoenheit who gave us advice too," reminded malleus. "at first, i did say something like 'it's meaningless if malleus dresses up as a dragon since he is a dragon himself'... but then you said 'ryuu and i are both different creatures', and you went on and on to emphasize this for an hour. I had enough," sighed vil. f/n covered her lips to hide her smile as she glanced at malleus who continued talking, "ryuu is a species that lives in the east. it does have horns, the tail, and a skin that resembles a dragon... but, it's a different species from a dragon. whether they have wings or not, if you compare their skeletal structure, you will know that they are both different creatures. in the first place to begin with, if you know how to sort out dragon in different categories, not fairy..."
before malleus could go any further, vil exclaimed. "alright! alright! i know, your explanation is enough!" lilia smiled as he said, "sorry about that. malleus sometimes can be very stubborn." f/n patted malleus' back and said, "don't worry, you can ramble on and on about anything to me later." malleus smiled at the first year before patting her head. "his fast talk reminds me of idia," said kalim with a bright smile on his face. "you mean the unique fast talk that only otakus do?" replied idia.
"eh? what did you say? i think it's better if you let your happy feelings out loud!" exclaimed kalim as idia sulked and mumbled, "the way you speak it with no offense hurts me the most..." jack realized how the atmosphere got a little awkward and decided to continue, "it is a very cool costume, but is it okay to dress up as a dragon and not a ghost character? i thought we have to prepare a costume that is scarier than ghosts..." malleus blinked in response as he crossed his arms and answered, "what are you talking about? this is the costume of the ghost ryuu."
jack looked confused as the headmaster spoke, "when this stamp rally just started, everyone dressed up as ghosts covered with white sheets, but... a part of the students had their idea on making a costume of their own, then the students of another dorm started to compete their costumes with the other students. in the end, halloween became more flashy as the years passed. it's not rare to see the costume of the ghosts of a monster now."
"it's important to meet the expectations of customers, that's why we should continue the long show. we have to work hard from the other students, and complete the set to the fullest when halloween arrives." stated vil. "to cut it short, it's a competition between appearances." summarized azul. jack nodded as he said, "i see. how should i say this... it really does feel like our school."
"fathe— lilia-senpai says the decorations of the ramshackle dorm is based on the image of a country he visited before," mentioned silver. "yep. i have traveled to a lot of countries... a country that is located in the east has plenty of legends of the ryuu. for example, ryuu is said to be a guardian god of a clan. when malleus said he wanted to dress up as a ryuu, it reminded me of this story!" everyone eyed the large red ryuu by the front gate as it was floating and swaying, making epel's eyes light up in admiration.
"the red ryuu is so cool!!" exclaimed epel. "fufu, i know right? the lanterns, winds, and ryuu have all been floated up by magic. we decided to light the fire up with magic too. it will look more like a real dragon if it was swaying, right?" spoke lilia. "i think it's not that simple... there are quite a lot of lanterns here... levitating those and lighting them up with magic... to be honest, it is something other dormitories cannot imitate..." confessed vil, "as expected from the dormitory filled with students who are good at general magic."
"you showed your rich knowledge with these decorations, and even included your skillful magic in... it is the one thing that only diasomnia could do. it's the halloween that will set a good example for this school! alright then, let's visit the next place." said crowley, "the next one is... the venue that heartslabyul chose, the botanical garden, is near here. let's go." the group started walking away from ramshackle as lilia turned to look at f/n, offering his hand at the first year. "shall we go, beastie?"
f/n had a small smile on her face as she accepted lilia's hand, walking their way to the botanical garden behind the group with malleus trailing along on her side.
...
"everyone, thank you for coming." greeted riddle. "take your time observing the decorations of our dorm," said trey. the group looked around and inspected the decorations adorning the botanical garden as ace said, "the theme of heartslabyul is graveyard!" cater then spoke before revealing himself and deuce, "and the theme of our costume is..." they went out of their hiding spot and presented their costume, while f/n secretly gave them a dramatic effect by surrounding them with little sparkles to lighten up the mood.
lilia and malleus glanced at her, knowing she was the cause of the sudden effect. she blinked innocently at them before looking back at cater and deuce as cater said, "it's skeleton~" deuce had a smirk on his face as he added, "it's the ghost that's being revived from the grave!" malleus nodded before speakimg, "skeleton... so the theme of your costume is bones? ...oh? but the decorations on your clothes aren't bones..." deuce then answered, "yes. it's a white ribbon that looks like a bone. the students of our dorm said, 'if we decorate the botanical garden into a graveyard, then our costume must be a skeleton', but... it's difficult to express the actuality and amusement of halloween."
ace snickered as he said, "deuce's idea is so bad that i can't even bear to laugh. 'skeleton should be full of mud!' indeed, it will look more like a skeleton, but no one would be willing to do that." deuce glared at ace as he argued, "your idea isn't great either!" riddle cleared his throat loudly as he glared at the two to silence them, making the two troublemakers stop their little banter as deuce continued. "a-at that time, diamond-senpai suggested that we should make a cool costume and decorations!"
"for the tea party of our dorm, the improvement of the display got a lot of likes in my magicam~ ribbons and laces seem more photogenic, then i combined the idea with the skeleton. since it's halloween, it's better if we look like we did revive from the mud. lookie, inside the white ribbon cage~ it's a rose that represents a heart, it's cute, right?" said cater. "you take the idea of other students, combine them, and complete the costume... cater is really skillful. this costume did express the scary and elegant atmosphere of our dorm." cater nodded in agreement as he replied, "yep~ halloween costunes should look scary, that is the most important thing to remember. we stick to the idea of these, and then a scary costume is completed! with deuce in the center, the other dorm students painted the styrofoam and created a tombstone."
"i see! the first year students did a great job. it must be rough being instructed by your senior," said lilia. "actually... this is the result of my daily training," replied deuce. lilia tilted his head in confusion and asked, "daily training?" deuce then answered the question, "to put it simply, we have to do the same things when we hold our unbirthday parties." trey nodded in agreement as he added, "following the rules while making the display as attractive as possible, then complete it before the party starts." cater continued, "heartslabyul students are used to that~ ☆" ace had a small smirk on his face as he said, "we didn't have any strange rules when decorating these, so it's easier than usual~"
malleus nodded as he said, "i see... as expected from rosehearts, you have been disciplining your students everyday." riddle's eyes widened as he said, "y-you make it sound like i'm the tyrant of this dorm!" f/n shook her head and responded, "no, no... that is not what malleus meant. after all, you are quite skillful when it comes to disciplining your card soldiers. you want them to be united and accomplish their mission together, do you not?" riddle paused for a while before replying, "yes. that is precisely why, lady l/n. right, you guys?"
"yes, dorm leader!"
"thanks to the training of our dorm leader on a daily basis, we are able to complete this halloween set with ease!" exclaimed deuce. "it's the feeling of #thepowerofheartslabyul, #leavethedecorationstome, #nrchalloween~" spoke cater. "the dorm founded om the severity of the queen of hearts... you guys finished the decorations while following the rules, good work! the next one is the laborary, under octavinelle!" spoke crowley.
...
the group arrived at the laboratory and the usual atmosphere wasn't present, it was instead replaced by a terribly eerie vibe. "welcome~ how is octavinelle's halloween?" greeted floyd. "how do i say it... it's so creepy!" said kalim with a smile on his face. "the kind that little children would cry at upon entering..." added jack. floyd smiled as he said, "right? but, keep the compliments until you see azul and jade's costume..." azul's chuckle was heard nearby as he said, "our costume's theme is..."
he and jade came out of their hiding spots and once again, f/n secretly gave them some sparkles for the sake of dramatic effects. lilia and malleus glanced at f/n once more with a disapproved expression as f/n mumbled, "what? it's fun and sparkly..." azul then spoke, "a mummy!" jade had his hand over his chest as he said, "or you can call it a mummy man. since azul and i got chosen to be the committee for this year, we decided to pick a mummy, something that comes from the dry lands, the opposite from where are from."
"we can't do mummy costumes under the sea, so i agreed on it~" said floyd. "but it wouldn't be fun to just wrap bandages around... so we threw away the old mummy image and coordinated it into something more stylish," added azul. "i see... how creative," complimented f/n while looking at azul. azul smiled at the diasomnia student and said, "you have been so kind to me, my lady." jade cleared his throat and continued, "the decoration's theme is... 'mad scientist's laboratory'! the aquarium back there resembles a lava lamp, it'll light up in the night. i thought it'll have a nice vibe if we place a scary mannequin inside."
"whoa~ seems real!" exclaimed kalim. "as expected of a millionaire's son, kalim-san, you have good eyes. the costume, aquarium, and all of this is made by a famous craftsman. since we also have to think of mostro lounge's halloween menu... we are incredibly busy, different from you guys." replied azul. "...huh? but, don't we have the same allowance for the decorations and costume?" asked kalim. crowley nodded as he answered, "yes... isn't it fun to think of a solution when you struggle with a limited allowance as a student? i have all the dormitory's calculations with the accountant, jade leech, to make sure they don't use their pocket money over the allowance or doing some fishy trading!"
"right, was it alright to ask for other's help?" asked kalim. "oh, are you saying that i'm doing something illegal?" replied jade as kalim shook his head. "ah, no, no. that's not what i meant... it's because i was held back when i wanted to spend my money to make ours grand, that's why i was wondering..." jade chuckled as he said, "are you curious? there wasn't any dorm that went over the budget, including octavinelle. that's because the halloween of octavinelle sticks to... 'cost optimization'!" kalim tilted his head as he asked, "cost optimization?"
"we limit the colors of our costume and by buying in bulk of the same colored cloth, we save up much. and by utilizing the remaining cloth, we save up much on the sewing fees as well. as for the aquarium, we made a contract with people to have mostro lounge's maintenance be handled by them for long term, so we got it for a cheaper price. lastly, the light inside the aquarium is from the dorm." answered azul. "using our own equipment doesn't count as 'pocket money', right? i made sure to categorize which items needed the money and which doesn't properly," added jade.
"our dorm has used the allowance neatly for the decorations and costunes. we'll pool all the remaining allowances from the other dorms to make it an extra allowance for the party on the 31st, so why not use it all up?" said azul. "he keeps showing off the water tank that he ordered... and the way he cut the price in half for a long term maintenance has nothing to do with halloween, so impressive..." commented cater. "we can only think of offering something within our budget," added deuce.
"normal people wouldn't think of calculating the budget to use the right amount of it," remarked vil. f/n peeked at vil for a bit as she thought to herself, 'but i do it a lot when i was younger? i thought that was normal...' the three octavinelle students smiled as azul said, "in other words, the halloween of octavinelle has to be rich." kalim then smiled as he replied, "as expected from octavinelle, you guys are doing great!" crowley hummed lowly as he spoke, "preparing these decorations and costumes while managing mostro lounge at the same time... only octavinelle has this kind of wisdom! i'm impressed. let's head to scarabia next! it is located in the mystery shop, yes?"
"yes, let's go!"