Chapter Text
Conan didn’t believe in the supernatural. Ever since he was a kid, he hadn’t had any stake in the paranormal. After all, once you eliminate the impossible, that which remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. And the supernatural, the things that go bump in the night…
They were impossible. Preposterous. A figment of one’s imagination. As such, he wasn’t really scared of the supernatural.
After all, at the drop of a hat, he could deduce that the ghost was actually a guy in a sheet, that the monster was a carefully set up contraption of fur and smoke and mirrors, that the demon was just a poor dog dressed in a frightening costume.
And even if he had believed in it, he had encountered much scarier things than ghosts and ghouls. That being the sick, delusional, and twisted minds of many of the murderers caught by either his hand or by his puppeting of Kogoro, and the fear of being killed, or worse, by the Black Organization.
But tonight wasn’t about these fears. Because tonight was the night before Halloween.
“Oi, Kudo!”
Conan’s back straightened at the sound of Heiji Hattori, who was hollering loud and clear from up the street. Hadn’t that moron learned not to shout his name like that?!
“Who’s Kudo?”
Great, now Genta was asking questions. Hattori should be glad that only the Detective Boys and Haibara were here right now, or else he would’ve kicked a soccer ball at him. Then again, the only reason they were outside, standing on the path to a ‘haunted’ house in the middle of the night, was partly because of the Osakan.
It was the night before Halloween, and, while Conan didn’t really celebrate the holiday, the Detective Boys wanted him and Haibara to celebrate with them. He probably would’ve backed out last minute had it not been for Ayumi getting Ran to join up with them and then calling Hattori over for a ‘surprise’ visit (Surprise, as in she whispered it really loudly to Genta and Mitsuhiko during school one day).
“He’s that detective who keeps making Ran-neechan cry, Genta-kun.”
“I knew that!”
Mitsuhiko, you say the darndest things.
Anyway, since it was the night before Halloween, the kids and Ran decided it would be fun for everyone to wear costumes to this despite it not actually being Halloween.
Why he didn’t object to being humiliated, Conan had no idea. Maybe his head hadn’t been screwed on right that day…or ever.
But that meant everyone, including him and Haibara, was wearing something special.
As he lifted up his head to look at the two teenagers (Ran having gone to the train station to pick up Hattori) joining the group, he could see their costumes in full.
Hattori, by the looks of it, was both incredibly sloppy with his and also having a lot of fun with this whole predicament. His was a simple and lazily–slapped-on werewolf costume, with ripped-up jeans and a shirt that a crime scene had obviously ruined in more ways than one. The most ‘Werewolf’ part of the whole thing was a giant latex mask covered in fake fur and ketchup that obscured the entirety of Hattori’s head, giant holes in the mask made for his eyes and his ability to not die from asphyxiation.
Meanwhile, Ran was ten times more put together and polished, her costume being that of a witch. Pointy hat, bathrobes that had been craftily changed into wizard robes, an actual wooden broom in her hands, and a stick in one of the bathrobe pockets as a ‘wand’. She apparently even was going to use a small plastic cauldron as a candy bucket for Halloween.
Honestly, Conan liked the look of modesty from her. Sure, he didn’t mind the more…revealing outfits she’d worn, but he personally loved the witch look.
Very cute and very comfortable, at least from what Conan could see.
Speaking of cute…
“Ai-chan, you don’t have to scoff at the tail.”
“But I said you didn’t have to-”
“NO BUTS!”
Conan turned to see the rest of the attendees standing all behind him, excited for and distracted from the new arrivals to the party.
“*Sighhhh…*I told you, you didn’t need to give me the belt or the whiskers, I liked what I had bef-.”
“Hey, I think they look cute on you. Plus, you with just the cat ears looked…iffy.”
Conan spotted Ayumi and Haibara chatting amongst themselves, their costumes on such completely different ends of the spectrum that it made Conan want to laugh.
Ayumi’s was probably the best and most custom-made costume in the group, a gigantic suit made to look like the King of Monsters, Gomera!
And by giant suit, he meant GIANT, towering over Ayumi’s normal height and tall enough for the highest scale on its head to reach Hattori’s chest. Honestly, Conan was surprised the first time he saw it.
It was clear that Ayumi and her parents cared heavily about the design, the costume being a near copy of Gomera down to a few shades of paint and a couple of different or missing details. Well, except for the thin layer of mesh around its neck, obscuring but not fully hiding the face of Ayumi Yoshida.
Meanwhile, Haibara was the exact opposite. She had the same attitude Conan had toward Halloween, though for a completely different reason, so the only thing that she wore when she joined the group was a simple cat ears headband she found at the bargain bin at a pop-up Halloween Store.
However, the moment Ayumi had laid eyes on her, she immediately wanted to change various details and embellish the catgirl aesthetic.
Conan could now see this in full effect, with a dangling belt tied around her waist to act as a tail and a set of whiskers drawn on her face with makeup markers.
If he was being honest, every time he looked at Haibara, he felt the urge to just point and laugh at how ridiculous she looked. She looked stupid before but now? Just seeing her made Conan feel the urge to make fun of her.
Then again, it was probably not wise to do so, especially with the giant plastic vampire fangs in his mouth.
“Ayaumi-chtan iss vight! You wooked wike a genewic aneemeh carectah befowe.[Translation: Ayumi-chan is right. You looked like a generic anime character before.]” Conan tried to say as he walked over to the girls.
God, he hated these things. It was like someone shoved putty into his mouth, his teeth and gums covered by a giant piece of white translucent plastic with no breathing room. It messed up how his lips fell together and messed with how the vibration from his vocal cords circulated through his mouth.
“Conan-kun, if you don’t like those, you can take them out. They are REMOVABLE for a reason.”
‘Very funny, Mitsuhiko.’ Conan thought as he turned toward the lankier Detective Boy, dressed in a cheesy Kamen Yaiba costume with printed-on features and a plastic mask held by a string that covered his face except for the eye holes in the mask, which were cut out by whoever manufactured the mask.
“Oi, Mitsuhiko, when are Ran-neechan and Hattori-niichan gonna go to the house?” Genta leaned in to say, his face covered in a sickly zombie-green color and a fake-blood-covered fake gash on his right cheek looking like a huge chunk of flesh had fallen off.
“Be patient, Genta-kun. Besides, it’s been a while since Hattori-niichan came to visit. He’s probably just catching up with Ran-neechan.” Mitsuhiko scolded as Hattori and Ran finally caught up with the children.
“Oi, gaki-domo! Nice to see ya guys again!” Hattori called from behind, his voice slightly muffled by the wolf mask but his intentions as clear as day.
“HATTORI-NIICHAN!”
Instantly, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi all ran up to the Osakan, tackling him in a giant hug just as he kneeled down to the ground.
“OOMPF-”
However, the force of three charging 7-year olds, combined with Hattori’s lack of balance at that moment, quickly sent all four of them careening to the ground, lying spread out and the children lovingly gripping onto the poor teenager.
At this, Ran chuckled and Conan scoffed.
“Oi, oi, giwve Hauttchori soume bweating rwoom, gthuys. [Translation: Oi, oi, give Hattori some breathing room, guys].”
“I mean, I wouldn’t be so negative, Kudo-kun.”
Haibara rolled up right next to him as Conan heard Hattori begin chatting and messing around with the Detective Boys, her face displaying a very smug cat-like grin.
“If it weren’t for those fangs, you probably would be with them right now.”
Conan deadpanned at that, but knew that whatever he said with these stupid things on would fall on deaf ears.
“So, guys, wanna head ta that house ya wanted ta go to?” Hattori asked, an inkling of excitement leaking into his voice. Of course he was excited. He was the one who actually got invited and not forced along like Conan or Haibara.
“YEAH!”
The Detective Boys then scurried on along with Hattori, running like they were about to do the most exciting thing in their entire lives. These kids were way too excited about some abandoned house in the middle of the woods.
“Conan-kun, Ai-chan, it’s time to go!”
“Hai…”
Even though Ran’s face was meant to be comforting to Conan, all he could feel was encroaching embarassment and dread. Especially as she began walking off in the rest of the group’s direction, her broomstick grasped firmly in her hands.
Haibara then turned to Conan, a small smile adorneding her face as her fake belt tail dangled behind her.
“Let’s go, Kudo-kun…”
Conan sighed. Could this night get any worse for him?