The Pumpkin Lantern and the Parade - 神威がくぽx巡音ルカ

💜💗💜💗💜 Story 💗💜💗💜💗 The next evening, the street outside the studio was already strung with orange lights. Last night's costumes had been neatly tucked into garment bags, and the two of them had changed back into everyday clothes. Gakupo wore a simple dark jacket, his long hair loosely tied behind his head, the horns taken off, leaving only a small black hair tie in his hair. He leaned against the wall outside the studio, watching the crowd gather in the distance: children draped in little capes, adults in exaggerated pointed hats, someone with their whole face painted white, someone else hauling an inflatable pumpkin taller than they were. Neither of them had mentioned going home. Last night, they had sat in the hall until very late, until the cleaning lady knocked gently on the door and said, with an apologetic smile, that it was time to lock up. When they stepped outside, the sky was already turning pale. They looked at each other, yawned at the same moment, and then laughed at the same moment. Thinking back on it now, that tiredness was strangely sweet. "Gakupo." Luka poked her head out of the prop room, her eyes sparkling. She wasn't wearing a Lolita dress today, but a soft beige knit sweater with a deep red knee-length skirt. Her cat-ear headband was still on. She said it was her "everyday accessory," and that without it her head felt like it was missing something. She held a pumpkin-shaped lantern in both hands, its round orange face grinning, the eyes and mouth cut out to let warm yellow light shine through. Looking closer, inside there wasn't a candle but an entire basket of candy wrapped in colorful foil, purple, orange, and blue, packed to the brim, rustling with every step she took. "The prop crew gave it to me. They said I could take it home after the shoot." She lifted the lantern to her chest. "I just checked inside, and they secretly added half again as much candy." "They were afraid you'd eat the props again." "I did not!" She paused. "...I only ate three." Gakupo chuckled softly. Luka hugged the lantern, took two steps forward, then stopped, as if organizing what she was about to say. The street lights fell across her profile, tinting her eyelashes a faint orange. "I just thought of something." "What is it?" "Let's go to the Halloween parade!" She said it quickly and quietly, and only after saying it did she press her lips together and hold the lantern tighter, as if afraid of being refused. Her cat ears twitched slightly with anticipation, and her tail quietly curled into a small circle behind her. Gakupo looked at her. She was hugging a pumpkin lantern almost as round as her face, her cheeks faintly flushed with excitement, her eyes reflecting the orange glow of the whole street. She could have simply said "Let's go" with a smile, yet she insisted on asking so carefully, so earnestly, as if making some momentous request. He remembered how, as a child, every Halloween night he had stayed home to guard the door. Children's laughter passed by outside, people ran across the cobblestones carrying lanterns, and all he could do was gather those lights, bit by bit, through the crack in the door. He had never imagined that one day someone would walk up to him holding a lantern and ask if he wanted to go out together. He thought that he would probably never see a sight cuter than this for the rest of his life. So he reached out a finger and gently poked her cheek. "Hey!" Luka jerked back and puffed out her cheeks, which made the soft cheek even more noticeable. She glared at him, but her eyes had no bite at all. "Why did you poke me?" "No reason." Gakupo withdrew his hand, unable to keep the corners of his mouth down. "I just wanted to confirm you're real." "Of course I'm real!" "Good." "So are you going or not?" She pushed the lantern toward him, her voice growing smaller. "If you don't want to... that's okay, I can go by myself..." "I'll go." Luka froze. "I said, I'll go." Gakupo straightened up and took the lantern from her arms. It was heavier than he'd expected, the candy clinking and clunking inside. "But I'll carry this. You've held it so long your fingertips are red." Luka looked down at her fingers. They were indeed red. She hadn't expected him to notice even that, and not knowing where to put her hands, she ended up gripping the hem of her skirt. "...When did you see that?" "When you said 'parade.'" "That early?" "I look very carefully," Gakupo said, perfectly straight-faced. "People who guard the door all have sharp eyes." Luka couldn't help laughing, her shoulders shaking. She ran to his side and reached out to poke his arm, but all she hit was the stiff sleeve of his jacket, so she settled for gently tugging at his cuff instead. "It's a deal. Today we give out all the candy." "And after that?" "After that," she blinked, "I'll treat you to the whole shop." "I've heard that line several times now." "Then this time, it's for real." He drew a paper bat from his sleeve and flicked it lightly. The bat took wing, circled once among the strings of orange lights, its wings leaving a faint trail of purple light, and flew toward the crowd of the parade. "It's going to find the hungriest kids," Gakupo said. "Then let's follow it." The two walked side by side into the glow of the street. The parade had just begun to move, drumbeats rolling in from afar, along with the children's delighted cheers. Someone tossed colorful paper flowers into the air, and they landed in Luka's hair. She brushed them away, only to be covered by another that fell. "Gakupo, look!" She pointed to the street corner, where a little boy in a ghost costume stood on tiptoe, gazing at the lantern in their hands. His bedsheet had been cut a bit too long and dragged on the ground, and the eye holes were crooked, revealing only half an eye. Luka crouched down, opened the lantern, and let him pick for himself. "How many can I take?" the boy asked in a small voice. "As many as you want." The boy chose and chose, finally taking a purple one and an orange one. "I'm saving one for my little sister," he said seriously. "Then take one more." Gakupo bent down and placed a third piece in his palm. "This one's for the bat." "Do bats eat candy too?" The paper bat swooped back just then and landed on the boy's shoulder, flapping its wings twice. The boy's eyes went wide, his mouth forming a perfect circle, and then he clutched the candy and ran off, shouting as he went, "Mom! There's a flying bat!" Luka stood up, watching his back, and said softly, "When I used to give out candy alone, nobody ever asked if the bat wanted any." "Now they do." "Mm." She said nothing more. She simply reached out and gently hooked her finger around the pinky of the hand that held the lantern. Gakupo glanced down, said nothing, and didn't pull away. He only switched the lantern to his other hand so she could hold on more comfortably. The candy in the lantern dwindled piece by piece, and the laughter on the street surged in waves. The bell tolled ten in the distance, then eleven. They walked past one pumpkin lantern after another, a trail of crooked little ghosts and tiny witches following behind. "Luka." "Mm?" "That poke just now," Gakupo said, gazing at the lights ahead, "I want to do it again." Luka's ears shot straight up. "...No." "Why not?" "Because I'll, I'll blush." "You already are." "That's the lighting!" Gakupo finally burst out laughing. It was an unguarded, toothy smile, so wide that even the little hair tie in his hair swayed along with it. The light inside the pumpkin lantern glowed warm, reflected on both their faces. The drumbeats grew closer, and the two of them walked side by side into the crowd, neither looking back.