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There was a sense of excitement in the air, something Atsushi was an eager participant in.
Tonight was finally Halloween, and it was Eri’s first official holiday with him and Ryuu as their legal daughter. Really, legal or not, it didn’t really matter to them; Eri was theirs no matter what anybody else would’ve said, but at least now the government acknowledged that fact. They received tons of important documents that he and Ryuu signed, all of which basically said the same thing: Eri was Atsushi and Ryuu’s daughter, and if anyone tried anything with her, they were legally allowed to kick their asses.
(They would’ve done so regardless and their respective jobs gave them more leeway with legality, but now if they were to do so, they wouldn’t get the side-eye from the Special Abilities Department, and the police department wouldn’t give the ADA the cold shoulder or silent treatment if they were to collaborate on a case.)
But anyway. Halloween.
The entire month of October had been rife with anticipation for this holiday. The first thing that Atsushi and Ryuu did at the start of the month was watch a lot of movies geared toward Halloween, or at least with a spooky vibe, to see what would be suitable for Eri to watch.
(And on that note, Atsushi was never, EVER watching Coraline ever again. No way. The night they had watched it, Atsushi had wrapped himself around Ryuu like a monkey, and ended up wrenched from nightmares featuring a button-eyed headmaster emerging from their closet, hysterically screeching ‘Don’t leave me, don’t leave me!’ while holding up a knitting needle with thread and purple-ish gold buttons. Nope. Never watching again.
But, of course, his loving husband had thought the movie was fascinating, and he loved every second of it. Jerk.
At least he agreed that it was too much for Eri at the moment, but Gods help Atsushi if Eri ever decided to ask for a doll with button eyes because he’d be unable to tell her no and would be totally screwed.)
But Eri really loved the Hotel Transylvania movies Lucy suggested to them, not to mention The Nightmare Before Christmas.
(And if Atsushi and Ryuu had their own horror movie nights after Eri went to bed…well, that was between them. Sometimes, if Dazai and Chuuya or Kyouka and Gin or even all four at once were over, they’d all watch scary movies together, especially after Gin became obsessed with the Netflix Fear Street movies.
And unknown to Atsushi, even though Ryuu loved his scary movies, the main reason he liked to watch them with Atsushi was because his husband would always end up clinging to him, sometimes almost entirely in his lap as they watched, something he secretly enjoyed.)
But watching Halloween-themed movies wasn’t the only thing they did for the holiday. Eri also had a blast putting up all the Halloween decorations they had bought around the house, in their backyard, and on the front porch. True, she did shy away from the bigger and scarier ones when they went shopping, like the giant tombstones and spiders, not to mention the masks depicting zombie faces and snarling werewolves, but she didn’t mind picking out the miniature bats and pumpkins, or even the smaller skeletons that didn’t tower over her.
Dazai and Chuuya, who had already been visiting a couple of times a week even before Atsushi and Ryuu adopted Eri, would help them bake homemade sweets, such as caramel apples and spooky-themed sugar cookies decorated with frosting and sprinkles.
(Well, it was mostly Chuuya who helped them bake since Dazai was sort of hopeless when it came to cooking, but as Eri’s not-so-secret favorite Uncle, his presence was enough to make her smile.)
Kyouka and Gin carved faces into pumpkins with them, with Atsushi and Kyouka making silly faces on theirs, while Ryuu and Gin tended to lean towards more ‘scary’ ones, though their little girl smiled at them more than flinched, so it was a win.
Their sisters also went with them when Atsushi and Ryuu took Eri shopping for a costume, which led to their current predicament.
“What are you smiling about, jinko?”
Atsushi turned at the sound of Ryuu’s voice. His husband was sitting on their living room couch next to him, staring with a raised brow. “Just everything we’ve done this month,” Atsushi admitted quietly.
Ryuu softened a bit at that, and a tiny smile appeared on his face. “She’s come a long way,” he said, turning his face towards the base of the stairs that led to the second floor, where the bedrooms were.
Atsushi nodded, his smile growing bigger. “She has.” The times when Eri would go quiet and withdraw into herself were becoming less frequent as the days and weeks passed. She was more open to spending time with people outside of Atsushi and Ryuu, too, even if, for the moment, it mainly was Dazai, Chuuya, Kyouka, and Gin.
(Though Kunikida was becoming a fast second due to the tutoring sessions he was giving her.)
They had, at first, thought that maybe Halloween would be too much for her — too spooky, too many people during trick-or-treating, and too overwhelming.
But Eri surprised them all by being excited about it, which made Atsushi and Ryuu proud. She was most excited about trick-or-treating tonight and had spent a while picking out the right costume.
Atsushi could still recall the squeal of excitement he had heard from Eri as he and Ryuu checked a different aisle while she looked with her aunts. They had gone over to see what they were up to, only to have Gin hide a costume behind her back with a grin. “It’s gonna be a surprise, Papa!” Eri had exclaimed with sparkling eyes, practically jumping in excitement after Atsushi had asked what she had picked out.
“A surprise?” Ryuu had asked, though the slight smile on his face negated any anxiety Eri could’ve felt for her keeping it a secret.
“Yes! But I promise you’ll like it, Dad!” Eri’s smile had been large, so much so that Ryuu’s small smile had grown bigger and softer in response.
The sound of footsteps brought Atsushi back to the present. He and Ryuu turned to see Gin standing in the doorway that led to the rest of the house. Their sister wore a broad smile and a witch's hat to complement her black dress.
She cleared her throat dramatically. “Introducing,” she said in an announcer’s voice, “one of the strongest warriors in the land, the Dragon Rider Astrid!”
With a sweep of her arm, they heard the patter of small footsteps thumping down the stairs before Eri arrived, a beaming grin on her face and her arms held out to her sides as she spun in circles. “Do you like it, Papa, Dad? Do I look nice?”
Atsushi leaped to his feet, a laugh bubbling up from his throat as he took what Eri was wearing. “Wow, Eri, you look amazing!”
She was dressed like Astrid from the second How to Train Your Dragon movie, which was one of her favorites, complete with a fake axe that she gripped in one hand, and a dragon plushie that was secured on her shoulder. Her hair was styled like Astrid’s too, clearly Kyouka and Gin’s work, falling over one shoulder.
“Who is this tough warrior?” Ryuu asked with a fake frown, reaching out to poke Eri’s forehead with a finger, causing her to giggle. “Where did my daughter go?”
“So I take it you approve, then?” Came Kyouka’s voice as she appeared on the steps behind Eri. Instead of her favorite red kimono, Kyouka wore a deep purple kimono, accented with orange and tied with a black obi. And instead of her flower hairclips, her hair was held in place by a black cat hairclip.
“Of course we do!” Atsushi declared as Ryuu nodded, which made Eri’s smile grow impossibly bigger and lean against Ryuu’s legs. “This was a nice surprise.”
“Picture time!” Gin exclaimed suddenly, picking Eri up and holding her in her arms. “Atsushi, Ryuu, get a good picture of me and my adorable niece for me to coo at later.”
Eri giggled again as Atsushi laughed. “Sure, sure,” he said, pulling out his phone. “We should send some to Dazai and Chuuya, too.”
“Don’t forget Shouto-nii, Papa,” Eri said.
Ryuu turned his head and brought a hand up to cover his smile, while Atsushi didn’t bother to. During the party they held in Eri’s honor last month, and after Atsushi overheard the backstory that sounded almost as horrific as his own, he and Ryuu gave Shouto their number if he ever needed to talk.
An offhanded text every couple of days turned into nearly daily communication, with at least two phone calls a week. And once the rest of the ADA found out about it, not to mention Ranpo spilling Shouto’s tragic backstory to them, they all got in on it too, even if it was mainly Gin and Kyouka.
Ranpo liked Shouto’s analytical mind and would message him complicated scenarios for the kid to solve (which he did ninety percent of the time, much to the detective’s glee).
Kenji sometimes loved sending him pictures of his animals, since ‘seeing cute animals always cheers people up!’
Gin, the cook of their messed-up family, sometimes sent him recipes she really liked for him to try making at the dorms.
Kyouka, the hidden chaos gremlin child that she absolutely was, liked to message Shouto about all the times Atsushi, Ryuu, and anyone else acted ridiculous, idiotic, or straight up embarrassing, sometimes even with photo or video evidence. Her most recent submission was when she and Gin came over for a movie night, where they put on KPop Demon Hunters for the hundredth time. (If Eri hadn’t loved it so much, they would’ve suggested something else.) And Kyouka, their sweet, innocent little sister, practically blackmailed them into singing one of the songs, to their dismay and Eri’s delight, (it was called ‘Free’ if Atsushi remembered correctly) while she secretly recorded them and sent it to Shouto with the caption ‘this is so them coded.’
Atsushi and Ryuu hadn’t realized what she did until Shouto sent them a message later, complimenting them on their singing while asking what it meant to be ‘coded.’
(She had been so grounded for that.)
But anyway, back to Eri. They had explained to her about Shouto, about how his father wasn’t a nice man and that they wanted to help him, which in turn made Eri want to talk to him too. It didn’t take too many conversations with him before she was declaring the kid her big brother and asking when he could visit.
Honestly, there was a part of Atsushi that wanted to bring him back here, away from his toxic asshole of a father, and he knew Ryuu felt that same.
“Okay, okay,” the weretiger grinned, holding up his phone. “Don’t be so antisocial Ryuu, get in there.”
“It’s as if you don’t know me at all,” the mafioso drawled, but went over nonetheless, grabbing Eri from Gin’s arms as she and Kyouka gathered around for a picture.
Many pictures were taken, first by Atsushi and then by Gin and Kyouka. “Are you sure you can’t come?” Eri asked her aunts once the final picture was taken.
Gin patted her head with a soft smile. “Sorry, Eri, but my boss is making me work tonight.”
“And I promised your Uncle Kenji that I would meet him for a movie marathon,” Kyouka added, though she did look a little apologetic. “But I promise to come over tomorrow to see all the candy you got.”
Eri brightened at that. “Okay!”
-
Ryuunosuke glanced down at his side. “Are you ready?”
They were in a neighborhood Ranpo had told them to visit. According to him, this one mainly consisted of elderly people or couples with children of their own, either too young to go out for trick-or-treating or old enough to think it ‘lame.’
(Also, a lot of the people who lived in this neighborhood came to Yokohama seeking sanctuary from the world that deemed their quirk ‘useless’ or ‘villainous,’ so they shouldn’t bat an eye at the little horn on Eri’s head.)
Eri eyed the house in front of them, her empty trick-or-treating bag clutched tight in one hand as she leaned against Atsushi’s legs with Rashomon wrapped around her waist. “Yes,” she said, though she still sounded a bit hesitant.
When the family in front of them turned to leave, Eri stepped forward on shaky legs, though she never hesitated. The woman who was handing out candy hadn't gone back inside yet, and she watched them approach with a kind smile.
Eri held out her bag with both hands after Atsushi took her toy axe. “Trick-or-treat,” she said softly, her arms trembling a bit as she stuttered over her words.
Thankfully, the woman didn’t react to Eri’s obvious nervousness beyond a gentle smile and compliments aimed at her costume. “Here you go, sweetie,” she added kindly, dropping a small handful of suckers into her bag, to Eri’s wide-eyed wonder.
Eri looked back up at the woman with a bright grin. “Thank you!” she exclaimed before she hurried back to them. “Dad, Papa, look, look! She gave me some candy!”
“Yeah, that’s awesome!” Atsushi cheered, allowing Eri to take back her axe as Ryuunosuke placed a hand on her shoulder, Rashomon still wrapped around her waist, not that Eri minded.
(Rashomon made her feel safe. The few times the three of them left the house for somewhere other than their backyard, Eri always asked for Ryuunosuke to wrap Rashomon around her so no one could take her away, a request her father had no qualms in complying with.)
Eri looked up at them with shining eyes. “Are we going to more houses now?” she asked excitedly.
Atsushi laughed. “Of course! You ready?”
“Un!” Eri nodded enthusiastically, clutching her trick-or-treat bag close to her chest.
Ryuunosuke smiled. “Then let’s go.”
Which they did. And with each house they went to, Eri became less and less nervous, her ‘trick-or-treat’ coming out steadier and louder. It also helped that every person who opened the door was kind to her, and some, like the woman from the first house, complimented her costume. By the end of the night, Eri’s smile was the biggest they’ve seen from her, even with it tinged in exhaustion.
“Okay,” Atsushi said as they walked away from the last house on the block, Eri’s candy bag in his hands since it was beginning to get too heavy for her, “I think we can call it a night now, Eri’s getting sleepy.”
“No, I’m not,” Eri tried to protest, though the rather large yawn she let out right after she said that made her blush.
“I think you are,” Ryuunosuke said, using the grip Rashomon already had on her to lift Eri into his arms. “I don’t think you’ll run out of candy anytime soon, and it’s starting to get cold out here. If we go now, Papa will make hot chocolate, and we can watch the second Hotel Transylvania movie with the cats. Does that sound good?”
Eri pouted a bit, but let her forehead thump against his shoulder as she yawned again. “Okay.”
“Alright, let’s go.” Ryuunosuke could feel Atsushi gazing at him as they began walking towards their car, but he didn’t look back because then he’d end up gazing back at him like they were in some cheesy romantic movie having a moment.
Eri let out a sigh and snuggled closer to him, her arms wrapping around his neck while her legs wrapped around his waist. “This was so much fun,” she said quietly, though Ryuunosuke was sure Atsushi heard it too with his tiger hearing. “Thanks for taking me. You and Papa are the best.”
A lump formed in his throat, and Ryuunosuke had to blink against the sudden burning in his eyes. “We love you, Eri,” he said softly.
Eri didn’t hesitate. “I love you and Papa too.”
She started lightly dozing against him after that, unaware of the emotional rollercoaster she unleashed. Finally giving in, Ryuunosuke turned to look at his husband to find Atsushi already looking back at him with a soft smile. He reached a hand up to cup the side of Ryuunosuke’s face. “You’re a good dad, Ryuu,” he said, quiet enough that he didn’t disturb Eri. “And I am so glad you’re my partner.”
Ryuunosuke felt his face flush, and his arms tightened around Eri, though he didn’t look away from Atsushi’s eyes as his lips twitched into a small smile. “And same to you, jinko.”
Atsushi’s smile grew before he threw his arms around the two of them. “Let’s go home.”