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◈ The second Saturday in September was 'Izumi's Choice' for movie night at the orphanage. She'd waited weeks for the chance to watch the movie she'd found in the bargain bin at Sanī on her last trip with Kiryu. It was an animated movie, American, made by an international media conglomerate. She remembered when the movie first came to Japan, it was all the kids in her class could talk about! She wanted to see it too but she was never responsible enough with her allowance to save up to see it. Finding it in the bargain bin at only ¥500 was like a miracle!
◈ The film followed two kid protagonists on a quest to 'save Halloween' from the big bad that tried to destroy all the candy in the world. It sparked a great debate in Morning Glory that evening that gave them all sorts of wild ideas. Not only did they want a Halloween party this year, they wanted to decorate, carve pumpkins, eat baked goods shaped like ghosts and most challenging of all-- go trick or treating!
◈ Most everything was doable on a budget but trick or treating wasn't a tradition that was really done in Japan. Kiryu wasn't sure how he felt about the idea of bothering strangers and letting his kids beg them for candy but there was something about the hopeful looks in their eyes that tugged at his heart strings and led him to decide that their requests wouldn't fall on deaf ears. Sure, he wasn't keen on knocking on strangers' doors but he had more than enough favors he could call in from friends who would be thrilled to help bring smiles to these kids' faces. So, he set out to make it happen.
◈ Majority of the immediate neighborhood was on pretty friendly terms with the orphanage, they came by to volunteer time and resources more than enough for Kiryu to assume their involvement was a no brainer. Out of the twelve houses on the block, nine of them enthusiastically agreed, two out the three left would be empty on Halloween because they were working families and the final one was an elderly couple-- the wife, too busy taking care of her ailing husband, promised to drop off some sweets for the party instead.
◈ Rikiya and Mikio were excited to lend a helping hand and Shigeru Nakahara was thrilled for a chance to allow Saki to experience something she never had before. After a few weeks, it was finally time for action!
◈ Kiryu called a family meeting to discuss it so that he could figure out what they could afford. Thanks to a recent generous, anonymous donation they could spend a little more than usual: the budget was set at ~¥40,000. That would be ~¥20,000 for the decorations, activities and food. As well as, ~¥18,000 divided 9 ways for the kids to buy costumes or at the very least, materials to create their costumes and if anyone went over their ¥2,000 costume allowance, it was their responsibility to dip into their general allowances to cover the difference.
◈ Obviously, he cut corners and chased bargains where he could when it came down to the general budget- the ¥20,000- but if he found himself digging into his own pockets to cover what the budget couldn't he'd remind himself that the smiles on their faces were more than worth it.
