Chapter 1

Okie doke, that’ll do it~ I think it turned out pretty good, don’tcha think?¹

It only ended up this good because of you, Niki-han. Thank ya kindly.

Wait, Niki-han. I was so absorbed in baking that I totally forgot—It’s gettin’ late. Don’t we have to get down to ES? It’s our costume fitting today.

Oh, now that you mention it. Then let’s get outta here.

Sure thing. I’ll go run these cookies to my room, so just hang on one sec.

Wassuuuup~ Not too often we see Niki hanging out with Kohaku-chan, huh?

We were at the dorms already, so we just decided to come together.

Hey, is Anzu-han not here anymore?

She was a while ago, but she left to go pick up the costumes. She should be back soon, though.

Huh, okay. Then I guess we just wait here for her.

Hm? Oh, it looks like she’s back already.

Whatcha think, Anzu-chan? Are the costumes everything you coulda imagined?

Hmmm, I’m glad. Everyone’s breaking their backs over this ES Halloween. And of course, I assume that includes the costuming department too.

Right, right? I’m shaking with anticipation over here ♪

(Sigh… Here it comes. I’m about to come face-to-face with the costumes…)

(I bet they’ll be just perfect for the atmosphere. It’s just a matter of how elaborate they’ll be.)

(I don’t have one clue what kinda demons they’ll look like. But at the very least it’ll be some pale-faced specter with a grudge against the world.)

(Or some kinda rotting zombie with its skin fallin’ off. Eugh, I hope it’s not that…)

(God, Buddha, please help me…!)

Oh? This one’s mine? Thankies!

Thanks for this, Anzu-nee-chan!

—Hm? Huh?

—This one is for HiMERU? Thank you.

Oh? This is…

(It’s fine, I’m fine. I’ve done everything I can to get ready for Halloween.)

(We told ghost stories, watched horror movies, visited haunted spots around ES… I’ve had to have become desensitized thanks to all this training. I ain’t as pathetic as I was before!)

! This is my costume, then… Thanks. Now what the heck kinda demon is it…?

—Huh?!

…Are these… spider motifs?

Umm… Anzu-han? I’m just checkin’, but are you sure these spider costumes are for Crazy:B?

This doesn’t look anything like a ghost or zombie out of a horror movie, or even a terrifying demon from the beyond…?

Huh? Why’re you laughin’? You wanna know why an idol’s costume would look like that?

…Oh yeah, I guess so. Now that you say that, it makes sense… When you think about it, it’s like duh…

Even if they’re settin’ up a bona fide haunted house to show off the Halloween spirit, we’ve still got a live.

There’s no way they’d make idols wear the special effects makeup that made it hard to distinguish them, yeah…

What the heck… It’s like my body’s deflating all in one go… I thought I was gonna have to dress up like some horrifying monster. I had no idea what it was gonna look like.

Good for you, Kohaku-chan! Now you can put all your focus into the ES Halloween without any worries!

…Huh? Hang on a sec. What’d you say just now? Can you repeat it?

Hmmm? We were given the themes for each unit’s costumes when we decided to participate in the ES Halloween…?

…I never heard anything about it.

…Gh. Shit.

Ah. Rinne-kun must’ve been—

—Teasing Oukawa from the very beginning, then.

Wh–whatcha talking about? It musta just, yanno, slipped my mind.

…Rinne-han. (cracking his knuckles)

I’ve gotta thank you for helpin’ me overcome my weaknesses.

…Uhh, Kohaku-chan? Why’re you cracking your knuckles?

Square up!

Fuck! You’re serious! I’m getting the hell outta here!

Get back here, you bastard! I’m not lettin’ you get away!

Ah! Amagi, Oukawa! We aren’t done with the fitting. Come back!

Man~ Those two are gone.

Sorry, Anzu-nee-san. Can HiMERU-kun and I get our costumes fitted first?

I’m sure they’ll come back when they get bored, or if Kohaku-chan catches Rinne-kun. Whichever.

—Are you sure they’ll return? Should we go after them?

They’ll be back~ ‘Cause Crazy:B’s always like this, aren’t we? ♪

…Well, that’s true enough.

Then we’ll leave them alone until they get bored. Sorry to trouble you, Anzu-san, but let’s just start off with HiMERU and Shiina.