#but i did open sai and saw these on my limb doodle canvas so in the meantime. throwing em out into the wild once again

[sunshades]

i never did post these did i.

[justaramblingromantic]

Thriller Night

Characters/Pairing: Kobayashi Rindou, Tsukasa Eishi, Tsukasa Hi’en (OC), Tsukasa Chouko (OC)/EiRin

Type: Canon-divergent AU, Post-series, Peerless-verse, Freestyle

Word Count: 4022

A/N #01: Tsukasa!Family shenanigans: Halloween Special! It’s the spookiest time of the year and the whole family gets ready for a frightful night out! 

“Rindou, I need help-”

The redhead lifted her head by the dresser where she had been putting on the final touches for her makeup, just in time to see Eishi wander into their bedroom, fussing over the rather unusual design of his bowtie. Like her, he had already changed into his costume for the evening, and in his case, he was dressed smartly in a black pinstriped suit with a snowy white dress shirt, that which subtly emphasized his long, graceful limbs, his masculine, whipcord lean build.

He was fiddling distractedly with the black, bat shaped cravat with the long, elaborate, spindly wings as he wandered over to her, bewilderedly trying to figure out how to wear the elaborate accessory, hopefully without poking someone’s eye out in the process. Rindou set down her makeup brush after filling in the last of the details on her face…her blue face. Eishi paused briefly and did a double take once he glimpsed of her amused, impish features…that beloved, familiar expression presented in a way he had never seen before.

She stood up and did a quick, prancing pirouette for him, preening mischievously and showing off the full effect of her cheery patchwork dress and the intricate detail of her costume makeup.

“How do I look~?”

He gazed at the black needlepoint ‘stitches’ that she had penciled and shaded in along the seams of her rose tinted lips across half her cheeks as well as down one side of her face, from forehead to jaw. There were even lines of the faux amateur sutures circling the circumference of her slender neck and stretching across her slender clavicles, before disappearing down the modest neckline of her charmingly simple ragdoll dress. Dramatic black eyeshadow smudged her twinkling gold eyes and made them glow in a mesmerizing, near preternatural shade, and a coat of dark mascara over her dense lashes further accentuated that dramatic doll-like effect. Her long crimson hair fell in lustrous waves down her back. She was also powder blue from head to toe, in the spirit of keeping as true to the character that she had chosen to portray this year. More haphazard lines of needlework drawn over her arms and legs with black body paint completed the rest of her appearance, further adding to the illusion of a true ragdoll.

“…Very spooky,” he solemnly gave his verdict at last.

She grinned at his stamp of approval.

“Good! ‘Coz I’m done, so now’s your turn. Ah, don’t bother with the bow tie yet, Tsukasa! I gotta put on your face paint first~”

He mentally resigned himself for what was to come ahead. But Halloween was a once a year event, so they usually went all out and in the process he was always roped into joining the festivities. Nobody actually asked him if he wanted to be in it or not; he was just automatically included, for a very obvious, redheaded reason. He didn’t dislike all the fuss, though. Rindou always made it fun or at the very least quite entertaining. There was always something different to look forward to every year…and this time was no different.

She pulled him to sit down on the edge of the bed, and then she turned briefly back to the dresser to prepare her concoction of paints from all her little colorful pots and palettes that a visual makeup artist friend had recommended, and he got ready to become her living canvas. His only consolation was that he wasn’t the only one. The other two had turned out decently enough…though they probably wouldn’t mind too much even if she doodled prolifically all over their little faces.

“I leave myself in your capable hands.”

She snickered with a maniacal glee that wasn’t really very confidence inspiring. “Yes, please do~” She turned back to him brandishing a small tub of white paint and a clean brush.

“Now, close your eyes and be still!”

Fifteen minutes later, she finally set down her brush, took a step back, and surveyed her handiwork with satisfaction. She sighed happily.

“I’ve got the most handsome husband in the world.”

He opened his eyes cautiously and gazed upon her pleased expression. Even now, after all these years together, her easygoing, random praises still had the ability to make his heart beat a little faster.  

“Why are you saying that after you painted all over my face, though.”

She smirked at his mildly exasperated query.

“’Coz you’re still the most handsome even after I’ve drawn a giant wiener on your forehead~! I’ll gladly look at this gorgeous mug for the rest of my life even if the ink never rubs away-”

“…What.”

Dawning horror quickly replaced vague bemusement, and then he moved so quickly to the mirror to verify the authenticity of her statement, he practically teleported. She burst into laughter at that priceless expression on his face. She also hadn’t seen him move that fast ever since that time Chouko suddenly professed the urge to potty when they were at the beach and the nearest restroom was a good half a kilometer away.

There were no wieners to be found, however.

She peeped over from his shoulder, appearing in the mirror innocuously beside his reflection, mirth reflected in her bright gaze. “Trick or treat!” she chirped, laughter still evident in the lilt of her voice. He met her eyes through the mirror with chagrin.

“Rindou…”

There were no penile-shaped anything drawn on his bone white face… No, literally – his lean, angular face was now bone white. Eishi blinked. He paused again to study himself. His new eerily alabaster complexion extended all the way down past the neckline of his equally white shirt. The only other contrasting color on his pallid appearance were the black face paint that were carefully smudged over the hollows of his lavender eyes. A grotesque, jagged line of black also ran across the seam of his pale lips and over half the length of his cheeks, painting a faint, ghostly smile on his face.

He looked grimly…dashing…in a ghoulish, macabre sort of way. Even his hair seemed to compliment his entire appearance.

She poked his shoulder with one finger to regain his attention, grinning faintly. “Now we fix your bow tie and then we’re ready to get this party started.”

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“Adorable offspring, time to go~!”

Rindou stood with her arms akimbo and hollered cheerily down the hallway. It didn’t take long before she heard the muffled response from the two youngest ones in the family.

“Coming!!”

“‘Kay-”

She turned back to the living room where Eishi was just tugging on a pair of gloves to complete his costume. The articles in question made his graceful, adroit hands look downright skeletal – the back of the black gloves were embedded with pieces of faux finger bones for a creepily authentic 3D effect.

Pitter pattering footsteps thumped down the hallway not too long after.

“Chou, please don’t run,” the little girl’s father rebuked absently just as she popped into view. Chouko skidded comically to a stop when she saw her male parent, her lavender eyes wide, her mouth falling open with amazement at his cool, debonair appearance.

“Papa…?”

The seven year old still looked visibly surprised by her stunning discovery, as if she had just learned something new and bewilderingly unexpected. “…Papa is…handsome?”

Rindou snickered at her daughter’s innocent proclamation, whereas Eishi was trying not to sigh. Next time anyone remarked upon his ‘astonishingly modest and down-to-earth’ character, he would be sure to give due credit to his family, namely his wife and daughter in particular for their exceptional ego-deflating ability.

His only other ally in this family plodded into view then, as usual looking like he had just been disturbed from a nap, even when Eishi knew that was not the case. Like his sister, he, too, paused briefly when he saw his father. Slit pupiled gold eyes gleamed with interest and appreciation.

“Awesome costume, tou-chan,” the younger redhead remarked. The nine year old was at the age where things like the undead, zombies and skeletons were extremely exciting subjects to explore and think about.

Meanwhile, Chouko had wandered up to him and was tugging at his pants. When Eishi looked down, she raised her arms expectantly, wanting to be picked up. She was starting to become a bit too big to be carried around, but no one seemed to have shared that memo with her doting papa, who unhesitatingly lifted her and held her in his arms readily enough. If anything, Eishi was acutely aware that it would not be too long now before Chouko herself would no longer want to be coddled like that ever again, so he might as well make the most of it until that time inevitable crept upon them.

Small hands patted his cheeks affectionately, and lavender eyes the exact shade as his own peered at him. “Papa is sooo cool,” Chouko declared with a firm nod after a solemn inspection of his newly upgraded features. It was amazing what a bit of (costume) makeup could do, isn’t it. Eishi could not help but feel his chest puff up a little at his mini lookalike’s heartfelt praise. In a few years’ time, Chouko might likely revise her opinion when it came to her parent’s level of ‘coolness,’ but for now her father was more than happy to take that compliment.

“Thank you, Chou.”

“Is Chou-chan not afraid of papa when he looks like this?” Rindou asked, grinning. Chouko shook her head loyally.

“Papa is papa! Chouko’s not scared at all! Papa’s only scary at work; Izumi-nii says so!”  

…What was his sous chef telling his daughter now, Eishi wondered exasperatedly. Rindou was less reserved; she burst into laughter again.

“That Kenjiru always was a funny one, huh,” she chortled merrily. “No wonder you like him so much, Tsukasa.”

“…I never said that.”

“No, of course you didn’t~” But she could tell all the same, when he found people he genuinely enjoyed working with. He was more reserved now when it came to letting people in too close, compared to back when they were still in Tootsuki, in the sobering aftermath of all that went down with Central and Nakiri Azami. There was a distinct line between professional respect and friendship, and Eishi was careful never to mistake one for the other again.

As such, anyone in the same field who could exasperate Eishi to the point of breaking that glass wall by sheer personality alone was perfectly alright in her books. Heaven knew that Eishi certainly needed more interesting characters to spice up his daily life.

Hi’en pressed into Rindou’s side, content to be silent and let his family’s conversation flow over him like a warm, fuzzy blanket. Sometimes, it seemed like he wasn’t paying attention to anything at all, but his gaze was clear and alert as he eyed his parents and sister, and he observed all of their interactions with an astuteness and a level of comprehension that was uncannily mature for his age. Rindou rested her hand on the top of her son’s crimson hair and affectionately combed through the tousled strands. Predictably, he leaned into her touch more, and she gently ruffled his hair some more.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, puppy,” she remarked fondly. “We still need your cute face to go trick or treatin’.”

Chouko gasped loudly at the highly likely possibility of her nii-chan drooping off. She swiveled in Eishi’s arms to frown down at the older boy.

“Nii-chan, you promised no nappy until we finished trick or treatin’!” she reminded him with as much fierceness as her current gaptoothed appearance could let her. Her front center teeth had recently fallen out, making way for the adult set to grow in. She was a bit self-conscious after being teased about her missing two front teeth in class, but it was her parents’ completely unbiased opinion that her shy, lopsided smile was cute as all heck. “We’re goin’ home wit’a mountain of candy this time!”

Rindou cheered at Chouko’s ambitious agenda. “Yep, we’re gonna conquer the neighborhood and come back with the largest bounty ever!! Awesome House of Tsukasa, let’s do our best!”

“Yeahh!!!” Chouko rallied enthusiastically, wiggling to be let back down now. Her amused papa obliged. His youngest child scooched off to her brother’s side and bounced antsily on the back of her heels, eager to start.

“Let’s do the roll call before we head off!” Rindou declared. “Tsukasa family, who are we this year?”

Chouko’s hand shot up. “Me, me!! I wanna go first!” the white haired girl was more than eager to introduce her character and show off her costume.

Like her papa, her cherubic face was painted to look like a skull. Unlike Eishi, her design was less austerely gothic and more sweet and colorful, like a sugar skull. The bone white background were interspersed with bursts of flowery lavenders and dark pinks that complemented her big eyes. Cheerful, stylistic lines and curves bordered her forehead and danced across the bridge of her button nose in graceful inked outlines that randomly bloomed into florets and ferns, and tiny little black butterflies fluttered across her cheeks whimsically. A pretty ring of flowers sat upon the crown of her fluffy white hair, and she wore black tights with prints of a skeleton’s legs underneath her pastel lavender tulle princess dress with a poofy chiffon skirt.

Despite that cute cotton candy appearance, she made a comically aggressive pose. It was coincidentally the same pose that their sensei in Aikido class had taught her for throwing people.

“I’m the Pumpkin Princess, defender of Halloween! Hyahh! I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!! Whoever tries to take Halloween away, I, the Pumpkin Princess, will beat up with no mercy!”

Rindou had whipped out her phone and was happily snapping photos every which way. Chouko was also more than willing to oblige her mama, gleefully making various poses to show off her costume, pleased that her attire was being thoroughly appreciated.

“Way to go, Pumpkin Princess!!” she cheered. “Beat ‘em all up!”

Eishi gazed at his beaming wife and daughter. Usually, ‘beat ‘em all up’ was the last thing he wanted to hear when it came to his daughter’s upbringing, but in this case, it seemed appropriate. Questionably appropriate.

“Do your best tonight, Pumpkin Princess,” he added, and Chouko was so happy she was practically glowing.

“Haiii, Chouko will~!”

“You’re up next, favorite firstborn!” Rindou called.

“I’m your only firstborn, kaa-chan,” Hi’en pointed out.

“Yeah, but you’re also my most favorite firstborn~” Rindou insisted with cheeky smile.

Hi’en wanted to sigh at his mother’s noisy boisterousness, but his lips was twitching upwards on their own somehow. As per the Halloween tradition of the Tsukasa family, he started to introduce his character.

“I’m the Pumpkin Prince. I like candy and people with common sense. I dislike trouble. If you give me a treat, I’ll let you keep your brains,” he uttered calmly.  

“Nii-chan, you’re so boring. You gotta be more exciting than that!” Chouko rebuked, poking her sibling in the side. Hi’en poked her back immediately, eliciting an indignant squeal of laughter from the younger girl as she danced away out of his reach.

“I’m a zombie. Have you seen energetic zombies?” he retorted. His sister stuck her tongue out at him.

The nine year old wore a black leather jacket unzipped over a tattered white shirt that had been stained with fake blood. His blue jeans were ripped and dusted with chalk at some places to give it a dirtier look. His face was pale from the white face paint and there were even darkening purplish blue bruises on there to emulate stages of decomposition. Red were smudged liberally on his chin and pallid lips to imitate blood, and there were even bits of material that had been soaked in dark crimson dye stuck to his cheek and around his mouth that looked startlingly like flecks of raw human flesh.

Hi’en had made all the costume modifications himself after searching for all the related information online, and had even insisted on carefully applying the visual makeup on his own. He was rather pleased with the overall grisly effect. Next year, he would like to try an even more challenging style.

Kaa-chan was always very encouraging and enthusiastic when it came to helping him with his exploratory projects. He had been interested in the topic of death and decomposition lately so his cool kaa-chan had brought home an actual flying fox skeleton when she came back from one of her travels the other day, and they had learned to identify the anatomy of all the parts together. That skeleton was currently mounted on his wall inside a special frame, and it was his most treasured possession at the moment. All the boys in his class were envious of his luck – they would never be allowed to bring this sort of macabre things into their houses.

When he mentioned to his parents in passing that he thought that it was interesting to study dead things, tou-chan had taken him and Chou to the natural history museum to view all the amazing exhibits and fossils displayed there one day after school. Kaa-chan had wanted to go too but she had work, and besides, random strangers sometimes liked to stop them to talk to kaa-chan and take photos with her when they all went out together, so maybe it was just as well she wasn’t able to tag along. The three of them had spent the entire afternoon wandering through the halls of the museum until closing time, exploring all the treasures and secret knowledge that the building guarded, telling of stories and factoids derived from the remains of beings that had once lived a very long, long time ago. Even Chouko who tended not to find old, dead things fascinating (unless she could eat them), had been captivated and had made tou-chan read every exhibit signage they came across aloud and explain what each meant.

His friends were wrong. He wasn’t just lucky. He also had the best parents in the world.

“I’m so proud; my ‘lil brain muncher is growing up so fast,” Rindou was saying. “I remember just not too long ago when you wouldn’t go to bed without your favorite stinky pillow and cried up a storm when your tou-chan could not take it anymore and snuck it away to wash-”

“Kaa-chan. Stop.”

Chouko was giggling so hard at her nii-chan’s quietly aghast expression that she was snorting like a little piglet. Nii-chan was usually always so laidback so it was funny to see mama ruffling his feathers so easily.

“Kaa-chan, are you recording?”

“But of course! I’ve got all the videos of you and Chou-chan in your Halloween costumes from the years you were born till present,” Rindou chirped, beaming from behind her phone and looking very proud of herself for this achievement, considering how busy both Eishi and her work schedules were. “Do you know; you were ‘bout six months old when you attended your first Halloween party? We swaddled you up real nice and snug and placed the cutest little sunflower beanie on your little head. Your tou-chan carried you around against his chest in a baby carrier. You were such a huge hit at the party – most popular baby ever…and you slept through the whole thing!”

Hi’en silently eyed his father with weary accusation at the embarrassing recollection which he had absolutely no memory of, but Eishi only shrugged. “Your mother’s idea.”

“It’s ‘coz you’re our precious little sun, En-chan!”

Hi’en could not help but feel his cheeks flushing at his mother’s happy words. He had never met anyone more openly loving than kaa-chan, and could only admit defeat before her boundless affection.

“…”

Eishi rested his hand on Hi’en’s shoulder, and squeezed subtly. He recognized that flustered expression – it showed on his own face often enough, after all.

“Mama, what ‘bout Chouko?” the seven year old demanded to know next, not to be outdone when it came to being loved by their parents. “If nii-chan is the sun, then is Chouko mama and papa’s precious little moon?”

“Yes, Chou-chan. You’re our sweet little moon~ The cutest one!”

Hi’en took his mother’s phone from her and directed the camera right back at her. It was a little embarrassing to be fussed over so much by their parents. “It’s tou-chan and your turn to do the introductions.”

His parents glanced at each other. Rindou’s lips lifted. Eishi’s head tipped to the side. It was as if the two of them were having an entire conversation even without having to speak.

Then, Eishi moved first. He sketched a slow, elegant bow before the beautiful ragdoll.

“Good evening. Jack Skellington, at your service.”

Rindou was trying not to smile at his solemnness. She lifted the skirt of her patchwork dress to her knees and returned his greeting with a proper curtsey.

“Good evening to you too, Pumpkin King.”

He straighten from his bow and met her eyes. He lifted one gloved hand towards her, quietly seeking her favor.

“…My dearest friend… my dearest Sally, if you don't mind... I'd like to join you by your side. Where we can gaze into the stars...”

A delighted grin grew on her face at his recital of a very familiar quote. She stepped towards him and took his hand, allowing him to draw her close. Their fingers entwined, and he cradled her palm against his chest. Eyes shining, she joined him to finish the rest of those words.

“…And sit together, now and forever. For it is plain, as anyone can see. We're simply meant to be.”

Chouko clapped her hands to her mouth, her shoulders quivering as she tried to contain her giggles at her parents’ acting.

“Whaddya think, kiddos? Think we can win the ‘Papa and Mama Best Couple Costume’ competition like that?” Rindou asked, still grinning, cuddled up happily against their father. The siblings exchanged a glance.  

“Papa should also princess dip mama at the end!”

Eishi broke character and looked briefly dubious. “…Dip your mother? Did that happen in the movie?”

Rindou concurred. “No, I don’t think so. ‘Sides, I’m not too sure ‘bout your papa’s dipping skills…”

Eishi was vaguely offended by that. “My dipping skills are not that bad…”

“The only thing you’ve been dippin’ a lot all this time is meat in marinate, I reckon,” Rindou teased back, which of course naturally incited his competitive nature. His arm tightened around her waist.

“I’ll show you a great dip-” Without warning, he tipped her right over, as low as he could go, much to her startled shriek of laughter. She of course ended up grabbing at him for dear life, and she pulled at him so hard they ended up overcompensating-

Eishi’s eyes widened. “Rindou, stop-”

They went down in a messy tangle of limbs; Eishi barely had time to cup his palm over the back of Rindou’s head before they hit the ground. Not that she seemed to have registered his efforts to save her from a concussion; she was so amused by his spontaneity that she was still cackling her head off.

“You really suck at this dipping thing,” she was telling him in between chortles. “You need to dip me more often.”

Chouko’s cherubic face popped up on the corner of the phone screen amidst the chaos. “Nii-chan, still filming?”

“Yes…”

The graphics on the phone blurred briefly as Hi’en shifted and turned the camera around until the entire family could be seen; he and Chouko in the foreground, their parents still halfheartedly untangling themselves at the back. The youngest Tsukasa immediately made peace signs and grinned a friendly gaptoothed grin at the camera while her brother was a picture of bland placidness.

“Tou-chan, kaa-chan look over here-”

Eishi and Rindou lifted their heads just in time for Chouko to start off the countdown, their startled expressions plain as day once they realized what was going on.

“What-”

“Wait, wait-”

“One, two, three!”

“Happy Halloween!!”

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A/N #02: Soooo hard to think up another canon otp with EiRin’s coloring, but I settled on Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas in the end because if you think about it, their story is very similar to EiRin’s! The Pumpkin King who’s weary of doing the same thing over and over again and wants to experience a ‘new world,’ as well as the sweet, brave ragdoll who’s worried about her dear friend and wants to save him from his unhappiness - he recognizes her efforts and her feelings in the end, and they grow even closer together...it’s a perfect choice!! <33 

Hi’en and Chouko are growing up so fast too - I feel like a nostalgic grandma all over again, lol.