#class 5

Happy belated Halloween! Was actually planning to finish typing this last week in preparation for Halloween, but welp... I couldn’t make it ><” Though it’s a few days late, I hope everyone was still in the mood for some Halloween even stories? XD

The stars these time was Class 5, and also members from Class 7 and Class 2 would also make an appearance. Since I really like all 3 classes, this was a joy to read them ^////^ (Especially because I really like Halloween as well~!)

As always, the summary of the story can be found below. Translation may not be 100% accurate due to my poor Japanese skills~

Chapter 1: 待ちに待ったハロウイン / The long awaited Halloween

One day, “I” had taken something to Naoto to request him to analyze it for a case. However, Naoto rejected “my” request, saying that it was “over the business hours and that he had already closed the shop” XD He claimed that he was busy... waiting for Suzu-kun who was out for a shopping trip. Since Hinamori had also went out of the lab for his own reasons, Naoto felt that it would unfair for him to be the only one remaining and working. (I would have felt bad too if I were him ^^;)

Suddenly, Naoto told “me” to unbutton the top button of “my” shirt, saying that it would be nicer to see “my” beautiful collar bone that way. (Okay... seriously speaking this was kind of random and abit creepy.... ) He started to get impatient and worried for Suzu-kun when he realised that he had still yet to return. “I” guessed that him returning later might be related to the Halloween events being held at the streets, and that made Naoto pissed off, since he felt that such celebrations are redundant and in fact... their costumes were too half-done for Naoto’s taste. He remarked that usually people would dress up as a witch, dracula or a werewolve, which he was fine with it but hope that those people would put in more efforts in their outfits, since most of them just ended up looking really cheap that Naoto felt bothered by it. (But unfortunately he can’t do anything about it... =w=“)

Just then, Suzu-kun came back, and commented that he was surprised by the amount of people and “monsters” on the streets. It seems that alot of people had dressed up and roamed the streets at night even before the day of Halloween itself. This made Naoto’s mood dropped even further as he grumbled that he’s not going to step out onto the streets till Halloween is over. He rejected “my” request once again, and told Suzu-kun to prepare his meal quickly instead as Naoto’s stomach was already growling with hunger. 

Suzu-kun scolded Naoto for rejecting “me” and asked to take a look at what was being requested to do. Looking through the tasklist, Suzu-kun said that this was actually more suitable and easier for Hinamori to do it. Naoto said that it was best that they reject this work now since Hinamori had went out and had yet to return currently. Suzu-kun wondered perhaps Hinamori had went to  participate in the Halloween events, remarking that he had saw alot of zombies which Hinamori would really love to see just now, and guessed that Hinamori might even ended up acting as one of them actually. 

Luckily, Hinamori came back at this moment, and accepted the request, telling “me” that he would try to finish it today as the deadline was tomorrow. He was busy with the preparations for Halloween Party recently, and was really excited just thinking of what to prepare, for example... bloody neck cakes, eye balls soup OWO” He even asked us to request what we would like for the decorations and menu too. Even though Naoto doesn’t like gore stuff as he found it disgusting, he didn’t like the idea of a cheap looking party even more, and thus hope that Hinamori would make a great party in the end ^^; 

Hinamori requested Naoto and Suzu-kun to help him out, but Naoto rejected him saying that it’s too troublesome. However, when Hinamori said sadly that he was counting on Naoto’s sense for the decorations display, Naoto agreed to lend him a hand, stating a condition that if he had found something to be “ugly”, that object would not be allowed to be displayed at the venue. (How could you reject Hina’s sad face here~ T////T)

Suzu-kun told Hinamori that he could also asked for “my” help here now that “I’m” here, which Hinamori was hesistant about, since he want “me” to know nothing about the party since it would be more interesting to see “me” being scared by the traps and tricks he had put up at the venue. He agreed to letting “me” help in the end and had finished with analyzing the data in the midst of the conversation, which impressed Suzu-kun greatly since it was rare that he had seen Hinamori completed a task that quickly and guessed that he must have felt pretty pumped up now. Hinamori answered that he was looking forward to not just the food, but also the “events” which he had planned to carry out at the party. 

Hinamori gave a little hint to us that he had planned to get a “secret” guest for the party, but denied saying more about it even when Naoto threatened that he won’t help out until Hinamori said who was the secret guest. Naoto proposed that he would choose the outfits for everyone at the party, by referencing to how the decorations would look like at the venue to fit in overall. Hinamori agreed to it, since he wanted everyone’s outfit to match in the party too. Naoto said that it was a special case this time that he had volunteered to help, as he doesn’t want to be take advantage of for his skills in the future. Suzu-kun felt that Naoto should make full use of his good fashion sense though, and said that other than Halloween, Naoto should also helped out with the outfits co-ordination and decorations for winter as well. (Isn’t it too early? We’re still at Halloween ^^:)

Hinamori had some requests for Suzu-kun in regards to the food menu, as he wanted him to make some pumpkin pudding and gratin,and asked “me” if there’s anything which “I” wanted to request as well. “I” suggested pumpkin pie to Suzu-kun, and he agreed that it’s a great dish and started looking forward to making it in the end. Hinamori also started to look forward to the Halloween Party, wondering whether the secret guest would be able to make an appearance in the end~ 

Chapter 2: お菓子泥棒のウワサ / The Rumors About The Candy Thief

The next morning, “I” was carrying a large sack of items in the living room when “I” was surprised by the sudden appearance of Hijiri. He noticed that the sack which “I” was carrying seems to be very heavy, and offered to carry it for “me”. “I” told Hijiri that the sack had contained the decoration items and tiny props to be used for the Halloween Party, and he offered to carry it for “me” to the venue, as an apology from him for scaring “me” just now.

Hijiri said that it maybe unexpected for others, but he was actually really strong. “I” answered that it’s not that unexpected actually (seeing how large Hijiri is actually ^^;), which Hijiri was surprised by “my” answer since Yanagi had always asked him to be more independent and reliable. He asked “me” to feel free to approach him if “I” ever need his help to carry any heavy stuff in the future ^^ In return for his help. Hijiri asked “me” to accompany him in welcoming Yu back at the entrance of the agency, which “I” agreed to. 

We went outside of the agency to wait for Yu to return from school. Even though Hijiri was initially, he was glad when he sees that Yu finally appeared, and commented  that he looks cute while waving his hands and running over here that he even took a photo of Yu. When Yu came to us, he was angry at Hijiri for taking his photo without his permission again~ But, when he heard that “I” had found him to be very adorable, he decided to forgive Hijiri about it and said that this would be a special case that he let it off~ (Thank you Yu, I think Hijiri would appreciate it.)

Hijiri said that he was worried about Yu whether he would be able to get home by himself when there’s alot of passerbys in the streets dressing up as monsters for the Halloween Event. Yu was angry and rebutted that of course he could come back by himself since he wasn’t scared of the monsters at all. However, he was scared when he saw someone dressed up in a scary outfit and hid behind us, asking “me” whether the “monster” had gone away. After knowing that it’s alright now to come out, Yu admitted that he was shocked by their appearance, and wondered why do those passerbys like to put on such scary outfits, since he would prefer more adorable outfits instead. 

Yu told us that he had heard about an interesting rumour at school today, and asked us if we’re interested to hear about it. He started excitedly pulling “my” arm as we went indoors, with Hijiri smiling and telling Yu that “I” won’t run away even if he doesn’t pull on my arm XD

We went into Cyan to get some drinks, and Yu asked Hijiri to order for him an icecream soda. He was glad to get a really big scoop of icecream, and told Hijiri to thank the shop master on his behalf. Hijiri heed to it, though he gave a weak smile and told Yu that he should thank the master personally himself instead the next time. (Yu is just using Hijiri as his mouth piece to communicate with others here ^^;)

Yu excitedly shared with us the rumour which he had heard today at school - A robber had appeared at the shopping streets! The robber was someone who had dressed up as a jack-o-lantern, and would only snatch candies and sweet treats away from the passerbys. Yu found that to be weird and said that the rumour had spread that perhaps the robber was the real jack-o-lantern instead actually. Hijiri explained that the jack-o-lantern was someone who would be able to travel to the heaven and hell, and was someone who was always passing around in the two worlds and the human worlds. However, if the robber was indeed the real jack-o-lantern, Hijiri would find that to be scary to be honest. (I hope it isn’t true too ^^;)

Moving onto another topic, Yu asked us on what outfits we’re going to wear for the Halloween, and told us that his friends had recommended an outfit to him, saying that he would definitely looks good in it. Hijiri suggested that Yu sent this outfit design to Naoto as a request to him, since this year’s Halloween outfits would be prepared by him actually. Even though Yu wanted to dress up in an outfit that looks much more cooler (like a vampire or a werewolves), he knew that we wanted to see him in a cute outfit and decided to dress in that style in it. He suggested that perhaps Hijiri could dress up as a priest, since he was gentle like one and if he put on a black cloack, Yu could hide inside it.

“I” wanted to dress up as a sheet ghost and Yu said that it’s not allowed to suddenly scare him over there. He would get angry about it if it happens as he wanted to be a “good kid” in front of the others, and this might ended up ruining his image. Hijiri told Yu that he would protect him, but would also protect “me” either which makes Yu unhappy since Hijiri as a priest, isn’t supposed to help a monster (me). Hijiri smiled and said that it’s best that everyone gets along well together instead~

Chapter 3: 街はきなから百鬼夜行 / Hyakki Yagyō At The Streets 

At night, “I” accompanied Kuki for a trip to the candy store to buy some candies, and he remarked that it had been a long time since he had went to buy some candies, since the last time it happened was when he was in grade 5 in elementary school. He was glad that “I” had knew where to buy candies at a cheaper price, and thus we decided to buy some butter as requested by Suzu-kun at a cake shop before ending our shopping trip. 

Walking along the streets, Kuki was impressed by the cosplay of the passerbys who had dressed up for Halloween, and said that it seems that the citizens here were all looking forward to Halloween very much. 

Shiro had accompanied us as well on the shopping trip, but had a glum expression on his face since he was the one who was entrusted with carrying the large amount of candies which we had bought. He wondered why do we have to come out to do our shopping trip in the night time, and Kuki thought that perhaps Shiro was just being afraid of the “monsters” that he might even cry about it. Shiro denied that he’s scared (of course XD), and said that he just dislikes being treated as a slave to help out for the shopping trip, since he doesn’t understand why he had to be involved when Kuki was the one who had volunteered to go for the shopping trip. Kuki just smiled and told Shiro to treat it as a training for weight lifting instead since Shiro was quite free anyway.

Kuki wondered why Shiro seems to be more irritated than usual, and guessed that perhaps he was pissed by all these horror decorations that was being hung up. Shiro wanted to deny that he’s scared again, but he was shocked by someone wearing a horror outfit that he stopped mid-sentence instead. Kuki laughed at Shiro’s reaction, and suggested Shiro to dress up for Halloween instead, since he might not feel scared anymore and may even enjoy the event even more~

As there was a shop nearly which sells Halloween outfits, Kuki suggested that we take a look at it as well. Shiro told Kuki that he would fit well in a devil outfit (since he’s one XD), but Kuki said that he doesn’t feel that he’s much a devil, even though there was a time that he really admired black magic in the past. He was pissed when Shiro dissed him about his past, and threatened to reveal Shiro’s dark past too  (I wonder what dark past that Shiro has... +W+)

Kuki saw that there was more than one designs for the devil’s accessories, and suggested to “me” that the two of us get one of each design for a couple look together. But Shiro discouraged us from getting it, telling us that Naoto would be preparing the outfits for us. That made Kuki felt abit disappointed as he had found the accessories to be really adorable. (Did... Did Shiro just cockblocked Kuki or something...?)

Kuki looked around the shop, and suggested to Shiro that he’s suitable to dress up as a Frankenstein. Just then, a woman shouted that a pumpkin man had appeared and stole her cake! Shiro and Kuki quickly ran to chase after the robber, and told “me” to talk to the lady to understand what had happened.

The two of them chased the robber until they reached the dark alleys. Kuki told Shiro that the two of them would split up and try to trap the robber from both sides. Kuki was glad that their plan had worked but when they’re going to close in on the robber to capture him... he suddenly jumped up onto the wall and escaped from there. Kuki asked Shiro if he had managed to take a look at how the robber had looked like, but other than his body build seems to be of a man’s and was wearing a pumpkin head that covers his face, there wasn’t any clues that they could determine who the pumpkin man could be.

The two of them returned back to the shopping streets to inform the woman that they had failed to catch the pumpkin man. But rather than feeling sad and disappointed, the woman seems to be really happy to be robbed by the pumpkin man. Kuki and Shiro learned about the rumour regarding the pumpkin man possibly being the jack-o-lantern, and Kuki guessed that perhaps the woman was happy since it feels like a moment that she had actually met a popular person. Kuki wondered whether this was a promotion plan organised by a certain company, but it feels that the victims were Innocent passerbys who knew nothing about the plan. They had also guessed that perhaps the robber was just someone who robs for fun in Halloween, but even if so, Shiro doesn’t think that the thief would try that hard to escape when he was almost being caught by them. (Eh? So you’re suggested that the robber should just give up and get caught by you guys? ^^:)

In the end, Kuki proposed that we should take care that our candies doesn’t get stolen and buy some butter before heading back.

Chapter 4: カプ男に魅了された街 / The Street Which Was Captivated By The Pumpkin Man

By the next morning, the news of the pumpkin man had spread all over the town and a video had been uploaded and spread like wild fire in the internet. Kuki could be seen chasing after the pumpkin man on the video, but since the video was taken by someone using his/her phone, the video quality was quite bad that one can’t even see properly who was it on the video itself ^^; 

Hijiri, Kuki and “I” gathered around Naoto to watch the video together, and Kuki remarked that he had no idea that he actually look this good-looking while running. (Erm... you can’t even see it’s you on the video Kuki... ^^;)

Someone had watched the video and sent in a request at the detective agency, asking them to catch the pumpkin man, as this would helped in making the halloween event even much more livelier on the streets.

The few of us had gathered together to meet up with the event organiser who had sent in the request to catch the pumpkin man. Naoto grumbled that he had to head off soon to do some shopping for the special menu which Suzu-kun had requested for the halloween party, but before he even finished his sentence, another incident occurred where yet another victim was targeted by the pumpkin man. There was already news of the pumpkin man stealing from a victim 5 minutes and that news had became a hot topic quickly. Naoto checked his phone and said that it was reported that the incident had happened at the train station, but it would be too late by the time they rushed there now. Since the robber had the same features like what Kuki had described, Naoto deduced that all these robberies were committed by the same person.

When we reached the venue and met up with the event organiser, he was very excited and said that it was hard to look for Kuki after he had watched the video (since his face wasn’t even shown on the video ^^;), but was glad that he had managed to locate him in the end. The organiser thought that it would be interesting for the Halloween event if they’ve caught the pumpkin robber who had caused a commotion at the event. Since the detective agency agreed to take on this request, he immediately wanted to put up the news as a challenge to the pumpkin man - Detective VS  Pumpkin Man, making it seems like it was a event programme. 

The event organiser wanted to get the citizens to help out to take notice of the pumpkin man as well, and thus asked Kuki whether he had noticed any special features that he could put it on his posters. Such information were provided by Kuki: The pumpkin man is an adult skinny man, but other than there wasn’t anymore information which Kuki could provide. (Why did I feel that the event organiser seems more like the detective here demanding more information ^^;) Hijiri asked Naoto whether he could analyze the video, and thus Kuki took this chance to promote about Class 5′s analyzing skills to the event organiser. 

As the news of the pumpkin man appearing in the streets had became very popular, the event organiser guesed that there would be many people cosplaying as the pumpkin man now, and wanted more information about the real pumpkin man in case they captured the wrong guy. Since Naoto had brought along his laptop, Kuki urged him to start analyzing the video now. Naoto tried to analyze the video and extract the sound from it in order to identify the voice of the pumpkin man, however, he can’t due to the man’s voice being muffled by the pumpkin head he had worn, and alot of noise had been captured together with the video.

The good news was, on analyzing the video, Naoto realised that the man’s right arm was more muscular, and deduced that he was probably someone who had used his right arm regularly for extreme sports, for example, a tennis player who used his right arm.

Kuki assured the event organiser that them being the D.O.G detective agency would definitely capture the pumpkin man. 

Chapter 5: おとり搜查は甘い味 / Sweet Scent Of The Decoy Operation

The detective agency decided to act as decoy to lure the pumpkin man out. However, when we arrived on the streets, we noticed that there were alot of people carrying candies and sweet treats on the streets, and guessed that many of the passerby had done that on purpose in hope that the pumpkin man would steal from them. (What... =w=“)

Hijiri was worried about Yu, since he was the one acting as the main decoy carrying a cake box. Yu said that Hijiri was worrying too much and assured him that he would do his best in being a decoy, adding on that if he had let Hijiri hold onto the box instead, the pumpkin man might get scared and won’t steal from him instead. (And that would foil their plan ^^;) Yu mentioned that his classmates had their candies being stolen from the pumpkin man before and they weren’t hurt at all, and thus assured us that everything would be alright.

Yu asked Hijiri to hold onto his hand and also asked to hold onto “mine” too, saying that the three of us would act like we were going on a shopping trip happily together. We passed by a donut house, and Yu noticed that they had a pumpkin flavour available just for Halloween. Since both Hijiri and Yu noticed that “I” had worked really hard in juggling both “my” work and preparing for the Halloween party, Yu decided to reward “me” with a donut, saying that this was a special treat from him since “I’m” his junior~ (Aww~ Yu was so cute and sweet here >////<)

We walked till the square of the shopping streets, but there were still no sight of the pumpkin man. Yu hoped that the pumpkin man would show himself more easily, but Hijiri guessed that it would be hard since he was a robber afterall ^^; (I don’t think a robber would make an appearance that obvious to gain attention on himself ^^;) 

Just then, the pumpkin man appeared, and demanded Yu to hand over the cake box to him. However, instead of heeding to the pumpkin man’s words, Yu hid behind Hijiri instead (due to his shyness). Hijiri told him that he should not hide behind him, and decided to take over the cake box to pass them to the pumpkin man. There was actually a GPS being installed on the cake box in order for them to trace the robber, but the robber soon returned the cake box to them, saying that he doesn’t want a “fake” before escaping once again. Yu mentioned that he had noticed that the pumpkin man had peeked into the cake box and then made a u-turn to return the box. Turns out the pumpkin man would only steal candies and sweet treats and nothing else, that Yu wondered whether the person was really like a real jack-o-lantern. (I’m more curious in what they’ve put in the cake box if it’s not a cake though.... =w=“)

In the end, Hijiri proposed that we stopped our decoy operations for now and changed our plan before heading out again in the afternoon. Yu was interested in how the preparation for the Halloween Party were coming along, and suggested that we head to Cyan to take a look at it when we head back.

However, when we head to Cyan, there were no decorations being put up yet, and since Hinamori was there, Hijiri asked him about it. Hinamori answered that because he had wanted to make it a surprise for us, he planned to only put up the decorations on the day of the party itself. He was here at Cyan today to think about the layout for the decorations, and also offered Yu a coin to look at. But, he also mentioned that the coin was a cursed coin, which scared Yu really badly as he cried for “me” to help him and whining that Hinamori was being mean to him ^^;

Chapter 6: おとり搜查は苦い味 / Bitter Scent Of The Decoy Operation

In the evening, we carried out yet another round of decoy operation again to lure out the pumpkin man. This time the members were Kuki, Shiro and “me”. Shiro was in low spirits and unmotivated to carry out the operation, that Kuki had to threatened him that he would made him cosplay now if he doesn’t listen to his orders ^^; Kuki suggested that “I” stayed in the middle with Kuki and Shiro by “my” side as we made our rounds, since there’s alot of people in the streets now and he’s worried that “I” might get lost. 

Kuki remarked that the pumpkin man seems to be quite a gentleman, since he doesn’t steal anything at all other than the candies and sweet treats, and had not harm anyone at all. He deduced that maybe the pumpkin man was related to the event organiser (working in cahoots), since the event organiser really love Halloween and tricks like this. There’s a possibility that the event organiser would reveal that they were the ones who had planned this and gave away all the candies which they’ve stolen after the event, and the request sent by them to request the detective agency to catch the pumpkin man was also what they had wanted to make the event even more livelier. 

Just then, an announcement started playing on the streets, yelling out that the detective agency and the pumpkin man were going to play a game of hide and seek, informing the citizens that the detectives from D.O.G detective agency were going to capture the pumpkin man. Kuki was really pleased with the announcement, since it helped to promote their agency as well ^^ He wished that they would even promote it with a large photo of him, but since they didn’t... it was quite a disappointment for Kuki. 

Shiro sighed and grumbled that instead of him, we should have gotten Tsubasa to come for the decoy operation. But because Tsubasa was helping out Class 2 on a search for a missing pet, he can’t come with us unfortunately TWT Shiro said that he could always go and search for the missing pet actually, which Kuki found that to be ironic, since usually Shiro would be complaining that he doesn’t like to search for a pet and said that it was job meant for the kids.

A pumpkin man appeared in front of us suddenly and Shiro immediately got defensive and started guarding “me”. But it was only a child who had put on a pumpkin head actually, and thus Shiro quickly explained that rather than guarding “me” he was just moving “me” away because “I” was standing in the way. (Really? =w=“) Kuki just smiled and remarked that he wished that Shiro would at least be half as honest as Tsubasa actually~ 

Shiro noticed that we did not even have any sweet treats or candies with us even though we were supposed to act as decoy to lure the pumpkin man. Kuki told us not to worry as he led us to a shop which sells japanese confectionery, and complimented that their yokan were really delicious that it would make one jaws dropped while eating it. He wanted to look for the shop owner actually, but his daughter replied that he had went for a walk since the japanese confectioneries were not selling well recently. Kuki sighed and remarked that it seems that japanese confectioneries aren’t allowed to be used to celebrate Halloween, and thus it’s hard for their business during this period of time. He bought a yokan, and the daugher even gave him an extra one as a gift, which pleased Kuki greatly since it means that he could eat the extra one. (The one he had bought were to be used as our “lure” for the decoy operation.)

Shiro scoffed at the yokan, wondering whether it could actually be used to lure out the pumpkin man. Kuki wanted to show Shiro how delicious the yokan is actually, and decided to open it and fed Shiro a mouthful XD 

Suddenly, there was a commotion as there was yet another sighting of the appearance of the pumpkin man. Kuki started to get really excited and told us to follow the crowd in chasing after the pumpkin man, (He even remarked that it seems like they’re chasing an idol XD) as he can’t wait to give him the yokan in his hands~ 

After chasing around, we finally saw the pumpkin man and Kuki proudly showed off the shopping bag with the yokan in it, claiming that he had bought this from a hundred years old shop and even asked him to try out the yokan in it. However, the pumpkin man was hesitant, and answered that he doesn’t want it. He laughed later on and claimed that because he was the jack-o-lantern, he’s not interested in japanese confectioneries at all, and asked Kuki to take it back and share it with the others instead. As the pumpkin man made his escape once again, Kuki grumbled that the jack-o-lantern was being to gentle to them at such a weird time. (I think he’s just disappointed that the pumpkin man doesn’t want his yokan though... ^^:)

Chapter 7: 洋菓子店の大騷ぎ / Commotion At The Western Candy Shop

The next day, “I” joined Suzu-kun and Hinamori for some investigation. Suzu-kun mentioned that there were even more people dressed up in halloween outfits compared to yesterday, and since most of the people seems to be really interested in Halloween, he guessed that perhaps we might be able to get more information from them regarding the pumpkin man. On the other hand, Hinamori was more interested to ask them about why they had chosen to dress up in a particular outfit, as he thought that he might be able to meet some new friends this way who were fans of the horror genre. 

Even though our main goal was to ask for more information about the pumpkin man, Suzu-kun suggested that we head to the candy store which was rumored that its candies were more easily to be stolen by the pumpkin man to purchase some candies too. He was surprised that the pumpkin man had decided not to steal Class 7′s sweet treats yesterday, and wondered whether the pumpkin man disliked japanese confectioneries. Suzu-kun found that the yokan sold at that shop was really delicious that he himself was a big fan of it. In the end, he just laughed it off and guessed that perhaps the pumpkin man just wanted to follow the legend or perhaps was really the real jack-o-lantern himself afterall~

However, Hinamori voiced out that the pumpkin man wasn’t the real jack-o-lantern. He remarked that the real jack-o-lantern would be someone who would even helped to guide someone if one had lost his way, and “I” quickly took out my notebook to note down what Hinamori had said, as it was something new for “me” to learn about.

As Hinamori would watch horror movies sometimes with Toki, Suzu-kun asked him whether the two of them would talk about such topics regarding the supernatural. However, Hinamori revealed that Toki didn’t talk at all when he watched the horror movies, that even when Hinamori tried to talk to him about horror movies, he gets no reactions at all. (Poor Hinamori TWT But kind of hard to imagine them sitting together to watch a movie OWO”)

Hinamori was excited about the Halloween Party, and remarked that he would be looking forward in making the happy smiling faces into faces full of fear. (That sound kind of mean Hina~) Suzu-kun frowned and told him that Naoto had instructed Hinamori not to go overboard with his plans, since it would be bad if they ended up making Yu cry instead.

We finally reached the candy shop, and the air was filled with not just the scent of pumpkin, but also a really sweet cent of the candies as well. We overheard a customer asking for to buy the candies that were to be stolen, and Suzu-kun was surprised to see that the wrapping of the candies had a picture of the pumpkin man on it. The shop assistant asked us whether we were here to buy the candies to be stolen by the pumpkin man as well, saying that there was alot of customers who were here and wanted to meet him very much recently. 

We decided to go with the flow and told the shop assistant that we’re indeed interested to meet the pumpkin man and thus came here to buy some candies, and thus the shop assistant introduced us their most popular item which was the one being stolen really frequently by the pumpkin man - Macaroons. 

After leaving the candy shop, Suzu-kun frowned and remarked that even though we’ve obtained more information about the pumpkin man incident, he felt that rather than it being a theft case, it feels more like an event instead ^^; He and Hinamori pondered whether the real jack-o-lantern would felt troubled by this or actually felt happy about his sudden increase in popularity ^^; One thing that puzzled Suzu-kun was, why did the pumpkin man would specifically wanted to steal the macaroons more frequently? Hinamori mentioned that the jack-o-lantern had lived a lavish live before he passed away, and guessed that perhaps that was why he targeted western candies, especially since the macaroons were really delicious. Suzu-kun gave a weak smile and remarked that the pumpkin man seems to be jack-o-lantern fan just like Hinamori if he decided to mimic the real jack-o-lantern so much to even such details. He laughed and said that if we had managed to capture the pumpkin man without trouble, perhaps we could also invite to the halloween party as well~ 

Even though Suzu-kun was helping to prepare the halloween party, he was not involved in the decorating or the outfits coordination for the party, and thus had no idea at all what they were look like and were really interested. Even though it was still a secret for now, Hinamori revealed that the outfits for Suzu-kun and “me” were all decided now~ Since “I” was also helping out with the preparations, Suzu-kun wished that “I” won’t push “myself” too much and would also be looking forward to seeing what “I’ve” been helping out with~ (Thanks Suzu-kun~)

Chapter 8: 犯人はこの中にいる? / The Culprit Is Inside Here?

In the evening, “I” accompanied Class 5 on a decoy operation. Naoto complained that “I” was getting too close to Suzu-kun, but after “I” stepped further away, he complained again that “I” was too far away now and would be easily targeted. This went on for awhile till Suzu-kun voiced out that he’s making “me” very troubled by his words. Naoto said that he doesn’t like the idea of the muffins made by Suzu-kun to be stolen easily (since they were carried by “me”), but he also didn’t like anyone getting close to Suzu-kun either, and continued that he shall protect both the muffins and Suzu-kun XD (I think Naoto should just take the muffins instead himself then... =w=“)

Suzu-kun replied that their aim was to get the muffins stolen by the pumpkin man, since they’ve specifically even put in a GPS tracker in the packaging. The muffins gave out a really nice scent as they were freshly baked, and Suzu-kun said that once they’re cooled, the scent would be gone so he hoped that the pumpkin man would show up soon. Naoto frowned and told “me” not to let go of the bag of muffins no matter what, and protect it even with “my” life ^^’ Naoto actually wanted to take the muffins actually (oh, so he could actually take it?), but he worried that the muffins would obstruct his freedom to use his hands when he had to protect Suzu-kun if anything would to happen ^^; (Suzu-kun > Muffin then... ^^;) Naoto was serious as he stated that he would definitely destroy the person who had stolen Suzu-kun’s muffins. (That’s scary for just a muffin thief OAO”)

However, the pumpkin man had not show up, and Naoto dissed whether the pumpkin man had decided to take a break today, adding on that he wished that he would not show up for the rest of his life ^^; Suzu-kun laughed and told Naoto that he better not say those words in front of Hinamori, since the latter had been looking forward to meeting him and making friends with him XD But he realised later on that perhaps the person who Hinamori wanted to make friends with was probably jack-o-lantern himself actually ^^; Naoto sighed and remarked it doesn’t matter to him who Hinamori wanted to befriend, since he would protect both Suzu-kun and the muffins no matter what. (I guess Naoto’s mindset just won’t change that easily ^^;)

Just then, we received the news that the pumpkin man had appeared near the train station, and thus quickly made our way there.

Upon arriving there, we were surprised to find that a large crowd had gathered over there, Suzu-kun wondered whether everyone had gathered here after seeing the news that were being spread around on the internet. Hinamori was there too, and was surprised to find us here. He was carrying a large amount of candies and answered that he had came to buy even more candies for the halloween party since it was still not enough. Hinamori made his exit soon after that, claiming that he had to leave. 

Naoto started to get suspicious of Hinamori after that, as he wondered whether Hinamori was actually the pumpkin man. He wondered whether the the candies in Hinamori’s hands were actually “given by the pumpkin man” and also guessed that Hinamori might be acting as the secret guest for the halloween party, who might turn out to be the pumpkin man, since he guessed that if Hinamori revealed his true identity (that he was the pumpkin man afterall), it might make the party even more livelier. 

However, Suzu-kun pointed out that the pumpkin man had his right arm much more larger and muscular than his left, and Hinamori’s arms were both at the same size, and thus felt that it couldn’t be him. But Naoto guessed that Hinamori could do that himself to show such an illusion since he was good at horror make up. Since the event organiser was also a fan of Halloween, Naoto guessed that the event organiser might even be Hinamori’s old friend, and they’ve worked together to create such an event. He also voiced out that Hinamori had a gentle manner, and thus was suitable in thief’s description that he was a gentleman and would not hurt the people he had stole from. 

Suzu-kun doesn’t want to suspect that Hinamori might be the pumpkin man though, and replied that he believed that Hinamori would not do such a bad thing. Naoto answered that in that case, we would just have to capture the pumpkin man to reveal his true identity. 

Chapter 9: 追跡,カプ男! / Let’s Chase, Pumpkin Man!

We decided to join the night parade on the night before Halloween. Even though it was very crowded full of people walking around, Naoto felt that our outfits were the best among all the cosplayers. He really like how Suzu-kun look with his werewolf outfit, and went on to take yet another photo of him again, even saving the photo into his “Suzu-kun’s Special Folder” on his phone. He complimented that Suzu-kun looks really suitable in this outfit, which Suzu-kun thanked him for the compliment~ 

However, Suzu-kun felt that our outfits seems to be on a different level than just cosplaying, as the outfits looks really expensive. He thanked Naoto for his efforts to make these outfits and complimented “my” outfit as well. Naoto remarked that he had made “me’ look even more fashionable, and added on that dressing “me” up as a devil was a request by Kuki actually. Suzu-kun wondered why Kuki had requested “me” to be a devil, asking Naoto whether Kuki likes devil actually. Naoto answered that he doesn’t know either and told Suzu-kun to not bother about it and instead... compliment his shinigami outfit soon XD Suzu-kun complimented him, saying that Naoto really looks suitable in it~

Suddenly, we heard Kuki’s order through the earphones and walkie talkies that were equipped on everyone. Kuki said that he would confirm with us the operations that we would carry out today, since we only have another two more days to capture the pumpkin man. He mentioned that the pumpkin man runs really fast, and told us that in the event if we’re unable to catch up with him, we should not give up, and should instead check on the pumpkin’s man escape route and how he escapes to use those information for tomorrow’s operations. 

Naoto revealed that he had actually secretly equipped a GPS tracker on Hinamori and got the master of Cyan to inform him when Hinamori had left the building. Using the GPS tracker, Naoto planned to tail him in order to check whether he was the pumpkin man. If Hinamori was still in Cyan when the pumpkin man appears, he would have an alibi that proves that he wasn’t the pumpkin man actually. 

“I” was knocked down by a passerby who seems to be drunk, but thankfully Suzu-kun held onto “me” before “I” fall and asked if “I’m” alright. (Suzu-kun is so gentle ^///^) Naoto wasn’t pleased and said that if Suzu-kun was the person who was being knocked down, he would let the other party see hell instead, to which Suzu-kun told Naoto not to say such scary stuff ><” He remarked that there seems to be more people who were drunk today compared to the usual, and was worried for “me” (since “I” might get knocked down again.) Naoto seems jealous as he asked Suzu-kun why wasn’t him worried for him XD Suzu-kun answered that Naoto might be dangerous instead for a different reason... XD (Dangerous as in he might ended up attacking other people instead? XD)

Hijiri and Yu were stationed at the train station instead, with Hijiri complimenting how cute Yu was that he might be even ended up getting more candies than the pumpkin man. As Yu was really shy and was humble, the other passerbys decided to sneakily put in candies in his bag instead XD Yu noticed it and still thanked them shyly though, before heading off XD (Ahh~ Yu is too adorable here in his pumpkin outfit ^////^)

He hurried back to Hijiri and told him to hide him. Hijiri smiled and told him that he doesn’t have to be so scared, but Yu found the cosplayers to be really scary that he can’t help but to want to hide afterall ^^; He wondered why does the passerbys in the streets had to dress up in such scary costumes, since he would rather if everyone dressed up in teddy bear costumes instead XD (That would be cute~ >///<)

Hijiri complimented that Yu was the cutest among all the cosplayers, and thus he could understand why everyone would want to give him candies actually~ Yu sighed and said that he understood that, since it had been countless times that the people around him had told him that he looks adorable and the outfit was suitable for him ^^; He wanted to be complimented by “me” actually, but unfortunately because of work, he was unable to meet “me”. He had not seen “my” outfit yet currently, and asked Hijiri what “I’m” dressing up at. Yu just wanted the work to end quickly for him so that he could meet “me” soon, but in order for that to happen, he would first had to capture the pumpkin man~! 

Chapter 10: 守れ! 清人の夢 / Protect! Hinamori’s Dream

As we walked around the streets, there were no sightings of the pumpkin man, Suzu-kun wondered whether the pumpkin man had decided to take a break at such a day (the day before Halloween). However, Naoto frowned and said that it would be hard to prove Hinamori’s alibi in that case, since he had just received news from the master that Hinamori had left Cyan, and was making his way to the shopping streets. 

We walked on, and saw a man dressed up as a zombie informing the public that there were candies giveaways happening at the shopping square. Naoto remarked that this event seems like it was planned to lure the pumpkin man to appear, and thus decided to head there to get ourselves some candies. We ended up getting alot of candies as they were giving out one large sack for per person, and it even had a strong scent as the candies were made with brandy, which was actually quite rare. Suzu-kun noticed that “I” had a coin chocolate in “my” sack and wanted to exchange something for it with “me” since he likes coin chocolate very much. Naoto was disappointed to find that his sack doesn’t have any coin chocolate, since he would definitely offered his to Suzu-kun~ He ended up making an order online for coin chocolate, and told Suzu-kun that 1kg of it would be delivered the next day OWO” Suzu-kun felt that 1kg of coin chocolate was too much for him, and guessed that perhaps he would just give it out at the halloween party tomorrow. 

We wanted to get more news about the pumpkin man, but when Naoto checked his phone, he mentioned that he’s getting a weak signal for his connection since it seems that everyone on the streets had been actively posting about the pumpkin man and it ended up affecting the overall connection.

Suddenly, the pumpkin man appeared before us and had stole the candies before we realised it. We tried to catch up to him but he was fast and was already far away from us. Suzu-kun told us to leave it to him as the candies he had stolen had a strong scent of brandy and thus he could trace him using his scent of smell~ (Way to go Suzu-kun~! ^^)

We traced the pumpkin man until we reached the dark alley, and Naoto remarked that the pumpkin man must have know his way around the town very well. We were near the japanese confectionery shop that sells really good yokan and Suzu-kun suspected that the pumpkin man had actually went into the shop...

But suddenly Hinamori appeared in front of us, which surprised us. Suzu-kun decided to be blunt and asked Hinamori whether he was the pumpkin man actually, with Naoto adding on asking Hinamori whether he had decided to act as the pumpkin man as a collaboration with the event organiser to make the event even more livelier. Hinamori denied it was him, and he doesn’t know about it, to which Naoto continued asking him why was he behaving weirdly recently. Suzu-kun said that he doesn’t want to suspect Hinamori actually, and hoped that he would come clean with everything to them. 

Hinamori revealed that he had actually called jack-o-lantern to make an appearance at the halloween party tomorrow, and said that rather than the pumpkin man, it was the real jack-o-lantern who he had invited. He knew that the jack-o-lantern had lived in this japanese confectionery shop, and thus had been coming here everyday to plead him to make an appearance at the party. But no matter how many times he had pleaded to him, he was still rejected... TWT (Aww... poor Hinamori~)

Naoto comforted Hinamori and told him to return for today and come back tomorrow, saying that the jack-o-lantern might have changed his mind tomorrow instead. He asked Hinamori whether he had noticed that the jack-o-lantern had the scent of brandy on him, to which Hinamori answered that he did noticed that.

After Hinamori had left, Naoto said that Hinamori must have mistaken the pumpkin man to be the real jack-o-lantern actually, since Hinamori himself had not seen the pumpkin man stealing candies at all, and thus had been thinking that the pumpkin man who the others are talking about was a different person from the jack-o-lantern which he had seen. 

Chapter 11: カプ男の正体 / The True Identity Of The Pumpkin Man

But, what’s important for us was to find out who exactly was the pumpkin man. However, there doesn’t seems to be anywhere the pumpkin man could escape to or hide in at the dark alley other than the japanese confectionery shop, and thus Suzu-kun suspected that perhaps the old grandpa who was the owner of the shop could actually be the real identity behind the pumpkin man...? Suddenly, the shop owner appeared and admitted that he was indeed the pumpkin man. He also mentioned that Hinamori had mistaken him to be the real jack-o-lantern, and he had decided to continue with this act pretending to be the real jack-o-lantern before him, since he knew that if he’s known as the pumpkin man instead, he would be captured for sure. The shop owner had heard the conversation between Hinamori and us just now, and now felt embarrassed about his actions and him lying to Hinamori.

As the shop owner had been making candies for many years, he had used his right arm extensively till it had became muscular, just like how a pro sportsman would. Suzu-kun asked the shop owner why he wanted to steal the candies and the owner explained that due to Halloween, his japanese confectioneries had not sold at all, and thus he thought if he had stolen the western candies from his rivals’ shops, perhaps more customers would come to buy candies from his shop instead. He now realised what he had done was a stupid act since somehow he helped to increase the sales of his rivals’ shops instead ^^; 

Initially, rather than planning to disrupt the business of his competitors, the shop owner had wanted to make it a fair competition between him and others shops in terms of taste actually. He had made some japanese confectioneries that were suitable to be sold in the halloween period. (Like bloody sweets or Dracula theme candies ^^;) However, he was too focused on making these scary sweets that in the end his wife and daughter had said that these candies were too scary to be sold and thus the shop owner had no idea what he should do next (other than disrupting his rivals’ business). 

Suzu-kun suggested that he actually had an idea for the shop owner. Suzu-kun had actually attempted to make some japanese confectioneries that’s suitable for Halloween himself. He thought of making pumpkin yokan, and said that with the help and skills of the shop owner, they might be able to make it taste even better. The shop owner started to get excited and showed Suzu-kun the scary sweets he had done, and Naoto started dissing that the shop owner was Hinamori’s type of person .(People who really like horror stuff ^^;) Suzu-kun gave a weak smile and asked “me” to please take Naoto away from here XD (Since he was just causing a disturbance XD) 

Suzu-kun told the shop owner that people would like candies usually even without those scary decorations, and thus suggested him to make some new flavours that were delicious, and gave it out to everyone on the streets as an apology for his actions instead. The shop owner wondered whether he would be forgiven just like that since he had seen himself to be a really bad guy who had stolen everyone’s candies. Naoto came back to join in the conversation, and said no one would mind and instead this would make the event more livelier. Suzu-kun told the shop owner that we had accepted the event organiser’s request to capture the pumpkin man (even though it just sounded like a game instead) and thus suggested that the shop owner would continue to be the pumpkin man and let us get captured on the streets instead tomorrow. The shop owner thought that he would get punished like this in public, but Suzu-kun said that the shop owner would just apologise to the crowd who had gathered and gave out the new flavoured candies which he had made to the crowd, saying that the public would definitely forgive him this way. Since now that hey’ve decided on the new candies and places to distribute them, Suzu-kun urged the shop owner to join him to make some pumpkin yokan~

Naoto told the shop owner to come to the halloween party after distributing the candies tomorrow, since Hinamori had invited him to come to the party countless times. The shop owner replied that what Hinamori wanted to invite was the real jack-o-lantern... but Naoto cut him off by saying that to Hinamori, the pumpkin man which the shop owner had acted as was the real jack-o-lantern, and told him that he should just fulfill Hinamori’s wish like how a santa claus would showed up during Christmas. (Naoto sound so cool saying this >///<) In the end, the shop owner agreed to come to the party, but warned them that he would be late since he would have alot of candies to be given out, and thus would need us to make some time for him to make his appearance.

We started smiling at Naoto, and he confessed that he’s just doing this favour for Hinamori since he would feel troublesome if the main organiser of the halloween party was in low spirits XD 

Chapter 12: ハロウインの夜は更けて / The Halloween Night Continues On

It was finally the night of the Halloween party~ “I” entered the place and was surprised by Suzu-kun who had casted some spider webs at “me”. The spider webs was part of Hinamori’s collection, and told “me” not to worry since these spider webs are fake ^^; He remarked that “I” was late but upon noticing that “I” was wearing makeup that Ran had helped “me” to put it, he complimented “me”, saying that it suits “me” and “I” looked really adorable~ ^/////^ 

Even Naoto complimented that make up, saying that Ran had did it just like what he had requested, and said that he had requested it because it won’t make sense for him if the make up doesn’t match with the outfits which he had made ^^; (Naoto is indeed a perfectionist  ^^;)

(When questioned about the decorations of the venue, Naoto was glad that it came out really good and said that “I” must have worked hard at it. Even though usually he dislikes these disgusting decorations, he felt that overall the decorations actually looks quite good and thus alright with it.)

Hinamori noticed that “I’ve” came to the party, and told “me” to enjoy “myself” here~ He was sorry that he had not managed to invite the “secret” guest (jack-o-lantern), and said that even though he had wanted to invite him to the party again today, he was disappointed to find that the jack-o-lantern wasn’t at the japanese confectionery shop, wondering whether he won’t be able to see him after that for the rest of his life TWT He said that he had wanted to let us meet up with him, since he had felt that the jack-o-lantern was a wonderful person. Hinamori continued on by explaining that the lantern that was jack-o-lantern’s head was a symbol of him being alone. Jack-o-lantern was unable to reside in the heaven or in hell, and thus was always floating around, and that lantern was his only hope. Hinamori explained that because he used to be alone in the past as well, he could understand really well about this feeling. (Aww Hinamori~~ T////T *pats) 

Naoto and Suzu-kun joined us, and told us that we should get started with the game time at the party, since if Kuki had gotten impatient with the waiting, he would get started on singing nostalgic songs on the karaoke XD Hinamori thanked the two of them and said because of the two of them as well as the rest of the detective agency, Hinamori doesn’t feel lonely anymore ^^ 

We started playing with a bingo game, which Kuki had won after getting a triple bingo. Turns out that the present was a replica version of a certain someone’s heart, which Kuki gave a weak smile but still accepted with a thanks to Hinamori, saying that he would treasure it even more than his own heart~ 

(I just want to show Kuki’s devilish halloween outfit here ^^)

Just then, Yu arrived, with Kuki mentioned that someone cute had came to join us~ However, Yu was scared of the decorations and started panicking, making Kuki flustered as well as he called Hijiri for help instead ^^: Hinamori guessed that the decorations must be too hard for Yu’s heart, and said that in order to make Yu enjoy the party in the future, he should change the decorations used for the next party~

“I” went on to help out with Suzu-kun, and he told “me” that he had helped “me” to keep some pumpkin candies for “me” in the fridge. Even though Suzu-kun had make some yokan as taught by the shop owner, he felt that making pudding and pies were easier for him since he was used to making these instead. “I” couldn’t decide on whether “I” should eat the pudding or the pie made by Suzu-kun, so he recommended that “I” ate both instead, even suggesting we eat together later on~ (That was a sweet moment with Suzu-kun ^////^)

At this moment, Naoto appeared and told Suzu-kun to help him in moving away a doll which was put up as a decoration at the party, since Yu might ended up fainting if he had seen these ^^; Suzu-kun asked Naoto whether he would feel sad if the scary decorations were taken down, but Naoto answered that he had already enjoyed them and it was more important that they try to fit to Yu’s taste as well to make him felt at ease at the party. (Awww~ Naoto was actually being really nice here ^^) Naoto said that he’s always a really nice and gentle person, especially to Suzu-kun~ ^^ 

The bingo game which the other members in the agency were playing had ended as well at this time, and thus Hinamori told everyone to help themselves to the food and enjoyed himself. Kuki had eaten alot of coin chocolates, and ended up getting a nosebleed ^^; Suzu-kun was glad that Kuki was a fan of coin chocolates as well, while Naoto worried that Kuki might ended up eating Suzu-kun’s share but guessed that he won’t eat so much since he ordered 1 kg of them ^^; 

And... that was the end of the Halloween event story~ Sad that it ended halfway through the party and never really showed us the part where the pumpkin man appears... I wanted to see Hinamori’s face lit up when he saw his jack-o-lantern made an appearance though... =3=“

As I’ve stated above, this was mainly a Class 5′s event story so as a fan of Class 5, I was glad to see them shine in this event~! ^^ (Since there was so much moments of them ^^) Kuki and Shiro made quite alot of appearance too, which I enjoyed, and together with Hijiri and Yu, it seems that the cast this time round was full of characters that I really like ^^