Disclaimer: I don't own Nightmare Inspector or any characters therein.

..Fool

Living at the Silver Star Tea House, Hifumi had started to believe that nothing could faze him. After all, the place had been visited by two ghosts, a cat, and a pillar of wood-among other strange things-not to mention the other tenant, the baku Hiruko.

Yes; in the last few weeks, there were many odd things Hifumi had come to expect.

Walking downstairs on the morning of April 1st to find his housemate and landlady/true love evidently glued together by the lips…was not one of them.

It was several seconds (during which Hifumi's mouth simply opened and closed repeatedly) before the pair noticed the intruder.

"Oh," Hiruko remarked in his maddeningly nonchalant voice, arms still around Mizuki. "You're up."

Hifumi managed to make a noise caught somewhere between a croak and a squeak before his throat stopped working again.

"Hifumi-san?" Mizuki inquired carefully. Her face was shifting through all the various shades of pink right before his eyes. "Are you all right?"

Desperate to fill his vision with something-anything-other than the impossible spectacle his friends had made of themselves, Hifumi's gaze landed on the calendar Mizuki kept hanging behind the counter. Only then did he realize the date.

Suddenly and blissfully relieved, Hifumi started to laugh. Mizuki's expression turned worried; no doubt she was wondering if he had gone insane. Hiruko didn't even raise an eyebrow; he had pegged Hifumi for a nutcase to begin with.

"Very funny, you two," Hifumi said with his usual cheeriness, pointing a finger at the other two and grinning. "Trying to trick me like that-well, it didn't work! Nice try!"

Ignoring the perplexed and apathetic (respectively) expressions on their faces, Hifumi trotted off. He was feeling rather pleased with himself, and would now happily spend the next few hours plotting the perfect April Fool's Day prank to unleash upon Hiruko. (After all, he reasoned, it had to be Hiruko's fault. Mizuki would never play such a trick-the baku must have coerced her into it.)

..

Mizuki stared at the door through which Hifumi had just departed and blinked a few times.

"I'm not sure I understand what just happened," she observed hesitantly. "Somehow I thought Hifumi-san would react a bit more…well…violently."

Hiruko, for his part, merely smirked.

It was so much easier to carry on like this when your housemate was Hifumi. You didn't even have to make excuses-Hifumi made them up all on his own.

..End

A/N: Raahh, so much fun. Happy April Fool's Day-don't believe a word anyone says. XD