>"But then, it turned out that the humble bean sprout farm had been closed for years already."
>Yomi turned off the flashlight she had been aiming up at her chin and handed it back to Homura.
>Hikage stared blankly at Yomi and Haruka chuckled. Meanwhile, Homura was trying to figure out what the scary part of the story was supposed to be, while Mirai was starting to drift off.
>"Poor thing," Haruka said as she ruffled Mirai's hair a little, "I think we should head back now. Wouldn't want to be outside when the real scary stuff comes out, right?"
>Mirai shot up a little, as she had become more sensitive to these things from the lack of sleep.
>Hikage stood up without thinking, not realising that there was no real agreement yet. Yomi assumed this meant that the majority wanted to leave, and stood up herself. Only Homura was still seated on the tree stump she had been sitting on for an hour or two now.
>"But, I didn't get to do my special Halloween impressions...!"
>But even Homura realised there was no point in staying on her own as the others began to pack up, and she got up as well. Besides, she might still get her chance in the Crimson Squad's base...
>The five walked home, with Mirai hanging on to Haruka's back, talking softly amongst themselves about simple things like the candy they liked and that it was a shame that they couldn't really go trick-or-treating this year.
>As they got back to the cave Haruka let Mirai off her back, the younger girl quickly walking to the sink to brush her teeth. However, as she flicked the light switch, nothing happened.
>"Guys, power's out again."
>"Goodness... I'll fix it again."
>Haruka walked deeper into the cave, where they had decided to concentrate all the most important wiring.
>Yomi opened a bag of bean sprouts and began eating them as if they were crisps, with Hikage staring awkwardly as Homura looked for her comedy props, realising she left them in the woods, meaning that she lost another chance for her Halloween imitations.
>As Mirai slipped into her sleeping bag, but right as she was about to drift off she heard a scream from inside the cave, clearly coming from her mistress. Her eyes widened (even the one under her eyepatch), and she struggled to get out of her sleeping bags as the others ran in without a moment of hesitation.
>When the four of them reached the "center" of the cave's wiring (with the pajama-clad Mirai arriving after a slight delay), they saw that Haruka wasn't there.
>"M-mistress Haruka...? T-this isn't funny...!" Mirai said, frantically looking around.
>"Pfft, it's obviously a prank. Very funny, Haruka, now pop out and go 'boo!'"
>However, Homura's tone changed completely a few seconds later, when a distorted voice began speaking.
>"Weak... So very weak..."
>Homura froze completely, her mind going numb from her fear of ghosts.
>Homura felt a hand on her shoulder, and she immediately ran further into the cave, all rational thought disappearing as she did.
>"Wait, Homura-!" Yomi shouted, not sure what they should do.
>However, Hikage just decided to follow, her pace somewhere between walking and running. This forced Yomi and Mirai to follow, not wanting them to split up even more.
>"W-we should have brought a good light source..." Mirai said after a few minutes, chills running down her spine as they felt their way through the cave, their pace a lot slower by now.
>"It's fine, we're ninjas, so we-" However, Yomi cut herself off when she saw a faint light in the distance. "Light? Maybe it's Homura."
>Mirai nodded, and they picked up their pace again. However, once they saw the source, Yomi froze up.
>Bean sprouts. Burning bean sprouts.
>"N-no... No! No!!" She shouted as she fell to her knees, tears in her eyes.
>"Yomi...?" Hikage asked, trying to see if she could comfort her screaming friend.
>"Go on without me..." Yomi said, confusing Hikage. Is someone supposed to stick around or do as they're asked in such a scenario...?
>"I think I'll stick with Yomi." Hikage said, not realising that this would leave Mirai to go on alone.
>"B-but... Fine..." Mirai said, hoping to put this behind them so they could all just go to sleep. It was all just a prank by Haruka, after all.
>Silently the smallest member of the Crimson Squad felt her way through, eventually reaching a dead end.
>"Damn... Where did Homura even go...?" Mirai was starting to get fed up with the prank. She just wanted to sleep really badly, as she had already woken up a bit too early for her taste today.
>She turned around, and the moment she did the loneliness began to kick in. She really didn't want to be here. They had more or less kept this part of the cave off-limits because they didn't want to get lost. It wouldn't be that bad to go there in general, but it was the fact she was alone that bothered her. They could conquer any threat together, but if they were to be divided...
>But Mirai couldn't think about it much longer, as she could finally see something after she explored some more. It was a faint shape, but it looked like the proportions were definitely human.
>"Mistress Haruka...? Can we stop now, I'm really getting sick of this..."
>She walked closer, and she finally saw that it actually was Haruka. However, she realised something was wrong after she got closer, as she didn't appear to move. This part of the cave had a very high roof, and she saw what was off: Haruka was attached to said roof. Faintly visible was the thin rope attached to her joints, causing her to hang limply like a puppet. She must have been hanging there for at least half an hour, Mirai guessed
>"Mistress Haruka!"
>Mirai ran up to her, but stopped dead in her tracks when her mistress began talking.
>"I'm a puppet... Nothing but a weak puppet... I should just be... A slavegirl..."
>"N-no, please, don't be like that! I-I'll help you down!"
>Mirai jumped up in hopes of taking the ropes down, but at the highest point of her jump she suddenly stopped in mid-air, as something had grabbed her. Or rather, it was like two arms, or two bars, were jammed under her arm pits, suspending her in mid-air.
>Her eyes shot up in horror, and she began to shout and struggle, trying to kick whatever was behind her, but only hitting thin air.
>"Let me go, please, let me go!"
>Mirai didn't stop kicking around, exhausting herself quickly from the futile struggle, almost crying.
>She nearly passed out from the stress of the moment when she heard slow clapping, and someone stepped out of the shadows behind Mistress Haruka. The ropes had gone limp, and she could now see who had been behind it.
>The teacher had a strict expression, and Homura under her shoulder.
>"I should have been stricter. If I hadn't come here solely on my personal time, it would have not ended pleasantly."
>In a flash Mirai and Haruka were released, revealing that it had been coatbot that had held Mirai up in the air.
>Ten minutes later they were all in the central part of the cave with the power back on.
>Mirai was slightly more awake from the scare, Yomi had recovered from the scare (and was eating from her bag of bean sprouts once more), Hikage was staring blankly and Haruka was hugging Mirai from behind. Homura was on the floor, completely passed out.
>"...And so, a divide and conquer strategy is your biggest weakness. Don't ever split up when you think there's a threat you can't see."
>After the small lesson, Rin began to smile.
>"I did give you a good scare, though."
>Haruka was hugging Mirai a bit tighter than intended, as the feeling of being a puppet again had gotten to her a bit too much. Mirai looked at their leader, surprised that Homura had simply crashed into a wall and knocked herself out because of her fear of ghosts.
>The five of them decided to use this chance to catch up, with Rin figuratively letting her hair down for once. Even if she was officially still supposed to capture or kill her ex-students, she preferred to use holidays for some time together with those she liked. Perhaps she could even catch up with Kiriya next Christmas...
>They kept talking for about an hour, with Homura waking up halfway through it all, before Rin left them to their own devices.
>Haruka ended up cuddling with Mirai for the night, keeping her from having any nightmares about her previous situation. The others all slept normally, besides Yomi's nightmare about burning bean sprouts.