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Halloween was a controversial holiday by nature for humans and Karats, both of which got up to their own brands of insanity when the night in question rolled around.
Seriously, it was like the lot of them took it as an excuse to throw all trace of sanity out the window after setting it on fire!
As an exorcist, Tarot had had to deal with his share of Halloween-inspired bullshit over the years. Mistaken identity, cursed candy, magic spells animating lawn ornaments gone awry, humans faking Karat kills, Karats faking human kills, unfortunate drink combinations that had a guy puking from the church rafters onto the parishioners...you name it, he'd probably dealt with it.
All Hallow's Eve was nonstop work for demon slayers, jobs that didn't even require their skill-set slipping through the cracks until they found themselves knee-deep in swamp trying to figure out if that bobbing light was a Will O' Wisp or a globe light hanging from a tree.
(It took four freaking showers before he stopped feeling swamp muck between his toes and his boots were a total loss.)
Unquestionably, it was one of the busiest nights of the year aside from Christmas and Valentines Day.
Really, he considered himself lucky that he didn't need to be out in the field this year, free to munch on popcorn and watch his cousin run himself ragged as BIRD's Alpha dealt with the insanity.
Or at least, he wasn't supposed to be out in the field, and as far as he knew, he wasn't!
Evidence, however, said differently.
Bang!
The door slammed open, the man responsible not giving anyone a chance to speak as he announced, "Tarot! If anyone asks, you were assigned as security for the St. Agnes Halloween Ball!"
Four pairs of eyes, three Karat and one human, turned to look at a beaming Aokideso Senri.
There was a long pause.
"....why?" Tarot finally asked.
He felt his hair stand on end as the former CEO's grin grew wider, goosebumps rising on his arms, and thankfully that's when Kiritaki Kazuhiro entered behind his best friend.
"Because you were," Kazuhiro deadpanned, nodding towards Miru, Iruu and KiRah, the human and two Karats sitting off to the side.
"Pretty sure I wasn't," Tarot replied.
"Yes, you were." Kazuhiro answered right back, his voice filled with almost malicious glee, "and I have the report to prove it."
The dark-haired man promptly whipped out a very battered sheef of papers.
"...that looks like it's being held together with paperclips and spite." Iruu said.
"It probably is," Senri agreed.
Tarot's attention, however, was on the fact that from what he could see, the words scrawled on the first page were in his handwriting. The writing matched his exactly, and he would swear that he had never seen those papers before in his life. What the fuck?
"What the fuck?" He voiced the thought.
Kazuhiro handed him the papers.
"Read those, so if anyone asks you know what happened." The man said, adjusting his glasses and turning to leave, pulling a whining Senri with him as KiRah, Miru and Iruu gathered around to read over his shoulder. The first line read: When I find out who spiked the drinks, they're getting shot. Repeatedly.
"Off to a solid start," KiRah noted, recognizing his cousin's writing style. If it was a forgery, it was a very good one.
Tarot was forced to admit that what followed was very much like one of his own field reports, swearing, scribbled out words and all. One page was too stained with blood to read, while another page just had MOTHERFUCKING DRAGON!!!! written on it.
By the time they finished, Senri and Kazuhiro had returned.
"...What the fuck?" Tarot asked, more than a little disturbed.
Senri took pity on the Omega, explaining, "someone thought it was a good idea to activate a spell during the Halloween party. It turned everyone into their costumes, only it also affected their minds, so suddenly there were over a hundred students and faculty transformed into Karats who thought they'd always been that way."
"We didn't find out about this until it was over because other than the initial burst, the chaos was contained on school grounds thanks to the quick thinking of several transformed students and the BIRD agent on site." Kazuhiro added, "the agent in question being Kiba Tarot."
"I wasn't there!" Tarot shouted, exasperated and sort of freaked out.
"You...kind of were?" Senri coughed, looking slightly uncomfortable as Kazuhiro pointedly cleared his throat.
"What's that mean?" Iruu asked, ears and tail perked up in interest.
Silence, as everyone stared at a Senri who was starting to look decidedly sheepish. Finally, he coughed again as he admitted, "okay, so remember that they turned into their costumes? Weeeell, there might have been someone who dressed up as Tarot..."
"What."
"I'm honestly impressed that she got enough details right for the spell to latch on and copy your powers and personality!" Senri continued.
"What?"
"Okay, so maybe Aki used my access to get some pictures for reference, but I'm sure she meant it as a compliment!"
"What?!"
"So yeah, if anyone asks, you were assigned as security as a test run to see about ending your probation and clearing you for field work," the genius finished, "and wouldn't you know it, you passed with flying colors!"
Awkward silence descended as Miru and Iruu slowly edged away from the stunned exorcist, KiRah simply sighing as he braced himself.
He wasn't disappointed.
The following roar shook the whole floor and the one beneath it.
"What the fuck?!"
Tarot had thought he'd seen all the insanity Halloween had to offer, but it turns out that BIRD was just full of new experiences.