"It's almost Halloween and yet, we don't have time to celebrate," Van whined.

"I know right!" Nagi joined.

"It'll be our first Halloween together," Eiji smiles.

All the HEAVENS' members, excluding Eiichi and Kira, were gathered in their living room doing their own things.

"I've never celebrated Halloween before," Catarina states. The whole room falls silent.

"Eeh?!?!" Nagi, Eiji, Van and Yamato shout out causing the sleeping Shion to wake up.

"You mean never in your whole life?" Yamato gets up from doing push ups.

"Uh-huh. In Permafrost you don't celebrate it."

"I didn't know that,"Eiji says ,feeling sorry for the girl.

"But, how is Halloween celebrated?" Catarina asked curiously.

" We wear costumes and ask for candies!" Nagi answers shortly.

"Woah!! Does that mean you get candies just for wearing costumes?" Catarina's eyes sparkle.

"You can say it like that."

"What do you do during Halloween?" Shion asks after catching on the conversation.

"I don't celebrate it now," Yamato said.

"Eeeh?Why not?" Catarina pouted.

"It's for kids."

" I used to do it when I was still young too," Van grinned.

" Last year,our schedule was packed during this season," Nagi says dejected.

"Well,when we were younger,Nii-san and I used to dress up. We used to give each other chocolates since father didn't like the idea of us going to other's house asking for chocolates," Eiji smiled at the memory.

"Aww!So sweet,"Van gushed.

"Eiji, let me guess, did you used to dress as an angel?" Catarina grinned.

"E-eh! H-how did you know? Nii-san used to make me wear those." Eiji flushed.

The female tried to create an image of a chibi Eiji running around the house in an angel costume. The thought made her squeal with an imaginary flowery background.

"Bet she's picturing Eiji as an angel," Yamato pointed out like it was nothing new.

"Agree. In this regard,Na-chan is no less than Kira-chan."

"They even have this imaginary background behind them!" Nagi said.

"Mou! Rin-chan, don't think about it!" The younger Otori cried.

"Amakusa thinks Eiji looks cute in anything."

"Shion, not you too!" Eiji pouts. Everyone laughs at him.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

The next day, Catarina and Van are in a building for Van's upcoming fashion show.

"The weather's getting chilly. Make sure not to catch a cold, Na-chan."

"Like I always say, I'm not at all cold."

"Mah, mah, you're never too careful." Van patted her on the back.

They continue walking till a deep voice comes from the end of the hallway, "If it isn't Van. Hey." They turn to look at the person.

Jinguji Ren.

"Heya, Ren-chan! Long time no see."

Jinguji comes closer to them. "And you must be Catarina. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, little lady." Out of thin air, Jinguji hands Catarina a rose.

...Little lady?

The words that come out of her mouth is,"Why a rose?"

Silence keeps enveloping them before Jinguji chuckles,"Now that's an interesting question no one asked before."

No,seriously, why a rose?

"Little lady, a red rose is the perfect present for beautiful ladies like you."

Catarina wasn't taken aback by his flirting. Why? She was used to noblemen trying to flatter her for their benefits. The blonde accepted the rose.

"Thank you for the compliment. But how did you pull that rose out of nowhere?"

"A gentleman must be ready at all times, my la-"

Suddenly, Van pulls the female to his side. "Waah!! Don't flirt with our little angel!!"

"It's just a little greeting," Ren smirks.

"Whatever! Na-chan is too young for such greetings. Onii-chan won't let you have her!" Van argued.

Little angel? Isn't he sweet?

"Alright,sorry." Jinguji was amused at his protectiveness.

"Still,you're pretty interesting,my lady. Not only did you ask a funny question but also you aren't flustered a bit."

"Thanks?"

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

After Catarina and Van entered their house, they heard a song being played. It was unusual since everybody always wore earphones.

The two look at each other before following the sound's direction.

They found Nagi in their lounge area watching a video in his laptop. The sound was coming from there.

Catarina went behind the younger boy and leaned in to watch the content.

"I knew it,"Nagi smirks.

"Natsuki?" The female asks ,looking at the video.

"Woah!!!Rinna, don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Were you scared?" She teased.

"N-no. Surprised,that's all."

"Come on , Na-chan. Don't surprise Nagi-chan without me."

"Fine. By the way, is that Natsuki?" She points at the video."He seems different."

"That's right."

" 'HAYATO concert crashed'?" By Natsuki?"

"What?" Van also peered over Nagi's shoulder.

"I'm surprised too! It's almost like he's a different person," said Nagi.

"Like Gemini Syndrome? That'll mean that he has a split personality," she mumbled.

"I thought so too!"

"Split personality?" Van asked confused.

"But, we shouldn't jump to weird conclusions like that." Catarina advised. "Besides, why are you even investigating this?"

"Um...I was just doing research on my partner." Nagi closed his laptop and ran off.

"Weird," Catarina and Van muttered.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

"Alright ,Van. Catch ya later!" With that, Catarina ran off leaving Van alone in the room.

Catarina walks at a dangerous speed to get out of the tv station. Just as she is about to, a pinkhead comes into view. The blonde stops in her tracks.

"Haruka! Fancy seeing you here."

"Rina-chan,hi. What brings you here?"

"Van's gonna be on a reality show this afternoon.I'm accompanying him."

"I see...But why are you going away if he's still inside?"

You see, there's this limited strawberry shortcake in this shop. I HAVE to get it no matter what," Catarina replied with fire in her eyes.
Haruka nervously laughed.

"Oh,and your 'Haruhana' was really good like all your songs."

"Thanks.So was your 'Killer kiss', Rina-chan. Anyways,I don't want to make you late. See you later."

"See ya." Now, Catarina dashes off to her destination.

As the sun sets, Catarina returns to HEAVENS' dormitory. "I'm home~" She called in a sing-song voice. She carefully placed the cake in the refrigerator. While doing so, her eyes fall on a chocolate bar. Without delay, she reaches for it.

"Rinna,"a voice from behind called her.

She turns around,"Oh hey,Kira."

"After coming home,...at first...wash your hands," the raven scolded.

"But this chocolate..."Catarina pouted.

"It's unhealthy to eat without washing  your hands."

"Fine." She hands the chocolate to Kira and starts walking to her room looking dejected.

"Rinna." At his voice, she turns around again. "After everyone returns, let's eat the cake together."
The blonde smiles ,"Okay!"

"Thanks for the food!"

Catarina takes a bite of the cake for which she had to stand in line for two hours."So good~" That single bite sent her to heaven.

"It's tasty!"Nagi chimes.

"Sweet."Shion smiles.

"It was worth ditching me to buy this, Na-chan."

"She won't listen. She's in her own world now," Yamato told them like it was nothing new.

Everyone looks at her and finds her surrounded by sparkles with a dreamy look on her face. They sweatdrop at the scene. Soon, Catarina returns to the original world. Kira smiles,"Thanks for the cake."

Eiji also smiles,"Thanks, Rin-chan." The others also thank her and then continue eating.

"Nagi, you're not gonna eat it? Then I'll have it." Without warning, Yamato takes the strawberry from Nagi's plate and eats it.

"Waah!!! Yamato, I was saving that for the last!!!"

"Eh?! I thought you weren't gonna eat it."

Nagi starts pounding on Yamato's chest;of course, his hits were too weak to hurt the muscular man. Finding the scene adorable, Catarina takes out her phone from her pocket and takes a photo.

"Yamato! Idiot!Idiot!Idiot!"

"I'm s-sorry, Nagi."

Catarina leans towards the person sitting next to her and whispers, "You think he's gonna cry?"

"To me it looks like he's holding them back," Eiichi replied.

Shion nervously intervenes between those two with his plate in his hand.

"Nagi,do not be upset. Amakusa will give you his strawberry."

Shion's words causes Nagi to stop hitting Yamato,who just sighs in relief. Shion picks his strawberry with the fork and holds it out for Nagi. The later eats it and becomes happy. Seeing him happy makes Shion smile too.

TOO ADORABLE!!! As if reading her mind, Eiichi chuckles. He looks at Catarina and nods in agreement.

Kira goes over to the two youngests,  "Shion, you can take my strawberry."

"Amakusa is fine."

"Then,Nagi?"

"Since you're insisting so much, I'll have to take it."

You tsundere. If you wanted to eat it then just say so. This incident made them realize that despite how smart Nagi is, he's still the youngest among them.

After giving his strawberry to Nagi, Kira goes to Yamato and scolds him.
"Yamato...don't...eat other's foods...without asking."

"But I asked!"

"You didn't even wait for my reply!"

Kira then turns to the female,"And Rinna, don't...take photos of people fighting."

"Oops." Catarina nervously laughs. Didn't think I'd be caught.

After the little incident, their leisure time went without a hitch.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .

The next night, Nagi had been reading a magazine featuring Natsuki.

"Eiji, why is Nagi reading with that pissed off look?" Catarina asked while making her tea.

"I don't know.He's been like this after he came home."

"Hmm.He had a meeting with Natsuki,right?" Eiji nods. "Let's just ask him."

Eiji and Catarina enters the lounge area. Eiji stands behind Nagi while Catarina sits beside him, her teacup in hand.

"Is the duet project coming along?" Eiji asks.

"Not at all. I have no idea what Natsuki's thinking. I thought he'd be interesting. But ,he can't even hold a normal meeting." Nagi throws the magazine on the table.

"Have you been taking his feelings into consideration? "

"Y-yeah, I have. I'm doing what I need to do."

Catarina watched their conversation while sipping on her tea. She narrows her eyes.

"Did you perhaps say something to Natsuki? For all I know, he's a nice guy."

"I-I didn't do anything!"

"Really?" Catarina stares at the pinkhead.

" I just told him the truth!"

"What truth?"

"That he was completely different when he crashed the HAYATO concert. And that, he might have a split personality."

"What happened then? "

"His split personality came out." Seeing Catarina's state made him continue,"He was angry at me."

"...You provoked him,didn't you?"

Nagi's silence proved her right. Sighing ,she took another sip of her tea before continuing,"You shouldn't have done that .Maybe he was trying to protect Natsuki or something. "

Seeing that the youngest was quiet, she asked him,"Are you feeling bad because of what you did?" He hesitantly nodded.

"Well, you can't undo what you did. So,try to be gentler with him from now on.Don't mess with the other him," she gently said.

Nagi speaks,"But, I did all that only for the project. It just didn't turn out how I planned it to be."

Ruffling his hair with her free hand, she smiles,"I know."

Eiji,who had been quiet this whole time, sat on Nagi's another side and gently said,"Take his feelings into consideration when working with him, okay?" Nagi nods.

Few days later, Catarina went with Nagi to his recording to see how things had turned out.

"Have you made up your mind?" Nagi asks Natsuki.

"Yes.I'll play the violin, and you'll play the viola."

"Just so you know...I said those things so the duet project would succeed."

"I know that.So,let's man wonderful music together."

" As long as I'm playing,of course, it'll be wonderful."

"Nagi-kun, you're so cute. Can I squeeze you?" Instead of waiting for his reply, the tall blond hugs him.

"Hey,stop!I can't breathe!"

"Squeeze."

Looks like everything worked out for the better. Haruka and Catarina share a smile.

"I'm glad it worked out well," Haruka whispers for only Catarina to hear.

"Me too.Also,I'm sorry if Nagi went overboard. Really,he can be bratty but  he only wanted Natsuki to put his all in this project and leave no regrets."

"I understand. "

Nagi and Natsuki's duet song 'Grown Empathy' was perfect for the Halloween season.

Van's solo 'My Cutie...Drive me crazy' was also recorded within that time.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

"Man!It was so fun!" Van plopped down beside Nagi. Catarina also sat on an armchair.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"Thanks for the song again, Na-chan."

"You're welcome." Then,she turned to Nagi."When will the others be back?"
And by others,she meant the Otori brothers and Yamato.

Stealing a glance at Kira, he answered, "Eiji said they'll be late."

Is he hiding something? Her thoughts were dissolved by Kira's call to have dinner.

After dinner, when Catarina was about to heading to her room, Shion hugged her from behind. Chuckling, she asked,"What's wrong, Shion?" The albino just shook his head.

"Na-chan, come here for a second," Van called her. He was standing beside their closet;Shion's favourite place.

Is something wrong?

"What is it,Van?"She asked after reaching him. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Nagi and Kira standing not too far.

"We have a present for you!" Van exclaimed.

"A present?" It's not my birthday or any special day.

Nagi came over to them. "Happy Halloween!"

"Oh!"Then she remembered it was the night of Halloween.

With that said, Nagi opened the closet door .The female found something that didn't belong to the idols.

"A...costume?"

"Yup. It's out present to you!"

She looked at the four smiling faces before smiling herself,"Thank you. It's really nice of you to do so.But, am I supposed to wear it now?"

"Duh. When else?"

I'm really thankful that they went through the trouble to get me a costume. But..

"But....doesn't it feel weird if I'm the only one wearing costume?"

"Who said you'll wear costume alone?" Van asks.

"We'll...be wearing one too," Kira adds.

"Oh."

"Don't waste anymore time. Let's get dressing."Nagi pumped his fist in the air. Van followed suit.

Catarina peeked inside the living room. She sees everyone in costume, well except Kira. Kira was wearing the same shirt he had been wearing earlier. The only difference is that he's wearing rabbit ears. Van was disguised as a wizard. While,both Shion and Nagi were dressed as..

Kya!!They look so cute as fairies!

Shion felt someone's gaze on his back. So,he turned around. "Rin, you're back."

Still poking only her head, she replied, "Uh..yeah."

"Don't be shy,Na-chan. It's Halloween!"

Catarina slowly entered the room wearing the angel outfit they had prepared for her.

Feeling everyone's gazes on her, she puffed her now pink cheeks."Don't laugh!"

"We're not laughing.You look REALLY cute, Na-chan!" Van jumped to hug her but she moved aside ,making him whine.

"You do look cute in your outfit, but not as much as me though."

"Rin looks like an angel."

"Cute,"Kira smiles.

"N-not really." Now that she was wearing the dress, she couldn't but be shy. "This type of dress doesn't suit me... This is too cute for someone like me." She kept her pink face down.

"Don't say that,Na-chan! It really suits you." Trying to divert the topic from herself, she spoke,"A-anyways, you all look great."

"I know right."

"Nagi ,you're too honest." Catarina deadpanned. "Kira, why are you only wearing that?" She points at the bunny ears.

"I really like this." Everyone knew about his love for rabbits, so she just smiled at his answer. "Shion and Van,  you look adorable too."

"Yay! Na-chan called me adorable!" Van jumps up and down.

"Amakusa also finds Rin adorable."

"I agree!" Van joins.

Why is the topic back to me?! Thank goodness the others aren't here to see me like th-

"Good! Everyone's in their costume, I see."

"Sorry ,we're late."

"Why are you three wearing children's costumes?" Yamato asked the three males. Van was blocking their view of Catarina.

"Don't be like that,Yamato-chan! And, it's not only the three of us. Ta-da~"
Van moves away to reveal a pink faced Catarina.

The three stared at her while she stared back, her cheeks growing hotter at the sudden silent staring. Suddenly, Yamato turns to the side and covers his snicker with his hand.

"Ya-Yamato!!"

"You look interesting,"Yamato grins. The female huffs and crosses her arms.

"Don't be mean,Yamato. Rin-chan, you look great."

"Good!Really good. You look just like an angel, Catarina."

At their compliments, Catarina's cheeks turn red. "Th-thanks." She takes a good look at them. "Were you guys working wearing those?"

The three understood what she was referring to. In similarity with Kira, Eiichi and Eiji were wearing cat ears; Eiji's one being kitten ears. Yamato was wearing wolf ears.

"Don't be ridiculous! I would've died of embarrassment if I did." Yamato points at his ears.

"Aww.Aren't you a shy little wolf?" Catarina teased him.

"Oi!"In the meantime, Eiichi put down the bags he had been carrying on the table  and Eiji sits beside Kira.

Yamato soon smirks before continuing, "And, aren't you a cute little angel? Look you even have wings." The male points at the attached wings. Her face becomes redder from both anger and embarrassment.

"You two, stop it,"Eiji interrupts."Rin- chan, look, Nii-san bought cake and candies." The younger brunette points at the table. Catarina happily skips there, her angel wings too.

Yamato scratches his neck," Like I was saying, why are you three in  costumes? Aren't we supposed to wear these stupid ears, except Catarina?"

"Mou,Yamato! I won't be able to show my full cuteness by wear in only those ears. Of course, a cute outfit will make me much cuter."It was said by none other than Nagi.

"Actually, we thought that it'd nice if we wore costumes too. Only wear in those headbands would've boring," said Van.

"Whatever," Yamato muttered.

"It was certainly a nice idea. The mood turned much more festive. Good." Catarina peeks inside the bags and her eyes twinkle with joy. Eiichi watches this and smiles.

"I'm glad the dress fits you, Rin-chan."

"...you bought it?"

"Yup.Along with Van and Nagi. We wanted you to have fun on your first Halloween with us."

"Thank you guys." She genuinely smiles.

"You really look like an angel when you smile ,Catarina." At Eiichi's sudden compliment, the blonde flushes again.

"Wa-wait a second. Weren't you guys supposed to be late?"

"We changed our schedule. "

"But Nagi-"

"I lied." The gray eyed boy interrupts her. She sighs. Kids shouldn't lie.

"Let's eat the cake." At Kira's words, Catarina grins.

The eight of them spend a pleasant Halloween together.

                                       To Be Continued.