Halloween Police Prologue Part 1

In society there are certain faiths that are strongly rooted in it. But those too are things that change with the times. As generations pass, these faiths show a different side of themselves from their original starting point. One example would be the day of martyrdom punished for conducting forbidden marriages outlawed by the emperor now being a day for the blessings of love. Another example would be the day for memorial services for the dead, where people hide themselves from spirits and pray for good harvests when summer turns to autumn. A third example is the day a compassionate woman had an immaculate conception and give birth to a blessed child inside a stable. Whatever the case, the explanations for these days get blended together, changing forms and become closer to other kinds of faith. And here in Tokyo where worlds connect and varied beliefs coexist, it happens even more so. The thoughts of a time determine its beliefs, and as a result there are times where things change completely from where they began.

Title card pops up, and this episode is simply Prologue.

Things then tune in Some Day in October over at Shinjuku Academy. Guy A tells people to make way for the Great Halloween Pumpkin. Girl B complains that she's out of blue paint, then considers using a blue magic marker instead. Wolf C yells about being so busy with stuff that he'll take any help he can get. 'Tis the season of falling colorful leaves as the sounds of busy voices and noisy bustling carry to the horizon. Shinjuku Academy's Halloween Festival is coming up, and the decision to hold it happened about a month ago. With the deadline coming up, everyone is scrambling like hell to get things done in time.

Class 2-B is no exception as Behemoth yells about there not being enough plywood as he counts them and asks if people made sure to ask for the right amount. Kengo decides they can just take some from another class and tells Moritaka and any randos open to coming to go with him. Moritaka and a few guys get up in response, but Shirou yells for him to stop. If the class is low on stuff they should just report it in, and Shirou asks for someone to go check the supply depot. Moritaka volunteers to do it.

Ryouta and Chouji come by, with Ryouta announcing that the cooking club has brought snacks for people. And by snacks he means pumpkin pie, cake, and cookies. Chouji explains that they're going to be for sale at the Halloween event, and he asks that people give him their thoughts on the taste and appearances of all the goods.

Girl A is working on her arts and crafts thing and creates a pumpkin monster strap. She's working with Wolf B who gets competitive and makes a bead-wrapped Evil strap. An Evil is apparently also helping them, and while Girl A doesn't seem to know what it made she suggests that they make whatever it is too. Three other rando students chime in to agree. You either comment that everyone is getting excited about prepping for the event, say you're feeling proud as an organizer, or cheer people on to work hard. In A, Kengo agrees and says it's hard to tell what's the main thing. In B and C, Behemoth prompts you to help too as he asks you to hold down a board so he can set it in place.

Anyways, Shirou says you've been working hard as an organizer too. Ryouta says it's because of the Halloween festival, then comments that it's unusual for Shinjuku to be the school hosting it. Rando students psyche themselves up, and at that point Ziz starts talking into the PA system. She thanks everyone for their hard work, then asks you to come to the main office since Sandayu wants to see you. Behemoth is curious about this and asks if you did something. Shirou brings up that he heard other people called over to the office too, though he doesn't know why. He tells you that they can handle things, so you should head on over. Kengo says there's still tons to do, so he asks you to get it over with and come back quick. Some other randos wave you off too before you leave the classroom.

Time skips a bit to mid-conversation with Sandayu, and you ask him to repeat himself. He's sympathetic given what's happening, but he informs you that there's currently discussions of cancelling Halloween for the school and no clear idea of when it'll be reopened. He also says it's possible the discussions will continue up to Halloween itself, which starts an uproar among everyone gathered.

You ask Sandayu for an explanation given how short notice this announcement is. Sandayu is sympathetic since it was sudden for the teachers too, and they haven't quite accepted it either. A liaison council was abruptly called with schools in Tokyo being asked to attend. Mononobe was the one to go, and he in turn passed on the message to Sandayu to tell you guys. The news is that many schools are seeing a sudden explosion of pranks being pulled, so people are considering delaying Halloween celebrations. And while this is framed as a discussion, Sandayu says it's a matter of time before it's officially a cancellation.

You ask about this sudden increase in pranks and/or be outraged that Halloween would be cancelled over that. Sandayu says it's not odd to have pranks at Halloween and says everyone else thought the same thing at that. That said, Sandayu also says it's a matter of time before they get out of hand and get the police involved. He asks if you guys keep up with social media and if anyone's heard of the rumors circulating online.

Girl A pulls out her phone to check and quickly finds the rumor he's talking about. So, have you heard? Has anyone told you? There's a rumor that only children can enjoy! If people give you treats, then you can't play tricks. But if you don't get any treats, then you can play as many tricks as you want!

Guy B expresses disbelief at the rumor, saying it doesn't really sound like the sorta thing that would go around during Halloween. You also find it dubious and ask if people actually believe it. Sandayu says he doesn't know if it's true or not, and he doesn't know what the higher ups think about it either. What IS true however is that pranks are being seen as a problem. They're just little tricks now, but they could spiral into something bigger. With that in mind, the council has brought to police in to look into things, but Sandayu says it backfired and made the rumor believable.

Wolf C asks why only Shinjuku is stopping their Halloween festival if other schools are going on with theirs. Sandayu informs you guys the other schools actually are stopping with theirs, and he lists off Yoyogi, Daikanyama, Umamichi, and Toyosu among others. Girl A asks if he's serious, so Sandayu says he'll try talking to Mononobe and the other teachers. He suspects some sort of decision will happen by the weekend, and he says the students can direct all their complaints of wasted work to the teachers. They can do whatever they want for the last few days they were going to use to prepare for the festival, and Sandayu ends the meeting there.

You are dismayed that a decision will be coming in a few days and look sad at the idea. Sandayu asks you to not look so disappointed, asking for you to understand but accepting that you wouldn't just accept it just like that. You ask Sandayu if anything can be done since people are doing so much right now. He quietly looks you in the eye before sighing to himself, surprised that this played out exactly as Mononobe told him it'd go. He then gives you a phone number to call that he was told to give you if you tried to persist.

You open a folder to find a printout with a police officer in a costume drawn on it. Sandayu explains that the police was going to offer a training activity for teachers and planned it out before recent events happened. He says it's supposed to be the basics of safety so each school could stay safe as they hold their Halloween event. It might not be needed now, but Sandayu stops himself there and mentions the schools have been contacted again over it. The new suggested plan is to make it something for the festival organizers for each school as a way to respect their independence, and Sandayu asks if you have an interest in going.

You inspect the printout flyer again and see it has Halloween Training Meeting written in big letters across it. You also see it says Kioh Police Academy, so you wonder what's going on with a certain someone who has oni blood, uses swords, and has transferred out of Shinjuku and decide to try calling them. 

Time passes and scene jumps to Touji's end where he tells you his break is almost over and is about to hang up. He responds affirmatively to whatever it is you say to him at the end, then ends the call. He sighs a moment after, only to be surprised when Tajikarao teases him about having caught him. Tajikarao jokes about how he's not supposed to be on the phone when he's doing his work training rounds. Magami is there too and tries to extort being treated to lunch for this.

Touji is taken aback by the two and tries to explain he was just on his daytime break. Tajikarao laughs and says he knows, so he was just kidding. Magami is surprised by this before quickly covering himself and agreeing. Tajikarao then asks Touji how his first police box training is going. Touji reports that he's so far dealt with three neighborhood trouble incidents, four cases of lost items being asked about, and zero cases of being asked for directions.

Magami is shocked that nobody asked Touji for help getting around given that they are near the orienteering abomination that is Shinjuku Station's map layout. On an average day there's 20 questions an hour regarding that. Touji says his other senpais took over leading people around and nobody else really asked him about it. He's kinda worried that he's bothering the others because of this.

Tajikarao tries to encourage Touji to smile instead of scaring people off with his grumpy frown. Touji says he's aware of it, but he feels that a public servant needs to be dignified. He loudly insists that if he doesn't comport himself appropriately, then he can't protect the safety of the public. Tajikarao gets freaked out at how intense Touji is about this and asks him to calm down. He then comments to himself that Touji is taking things too seriously, though he's not sure if he's just working on it or just naive. Touji asks if Tajikarao said something, so Tajikarao denies as much and changes the subject to ask who Touji was talking to.

Touji answers that he was talking to you since you called about the Halloween training meeting thing. Hougen pops up out of nowhere to comment on how busy you/the guys are, shocking the three of them. Touji quickly greets Hougen and asks when he got back. Tajikarao insists to Touji to refer to Hougen as master rather than sensei when he's acting as a Kioh student, so Touji apologizes and corrects himself.

Hougen says he just got back from the meeting and is about to go on patrol. He talks about how the recent case has been getting serious and the station is getting flooded with reports. He then asks how things are with Tajikarao and Magami, so Tajikarao reports that in his one hour patrol, he's had one problem to deal with, two cases of police questioning to do, and 48 cases of pranks from children. Magami says 11 of those pranks involved him, mostly in the form of children grabbing onto his tail. Tajikarao says that while there is a lot of those incidents, they haven't actually become crimes yet. Before he says more on the subject, a couple of kids run by yelling Trick or Treat, shocking the group before running off.

Tajikarao continues with where he left off, saying the kids are doing things like shooting people with water guns and stuff that's pushing the line but not crossing it. Touji however is appalled at this disrespect for public order. The long arm of the law will come down and slap the taste out of dem kids' menacing little mouths! Magami is so freaked out at this that he uses dog commands to tell Touji to stay and reminds him that he's talking about civilian children as he grabs him. Tajikarao sighs and tells Magami to keep a hold of Touji, saying his stubbornness can be a problem.

Touji demands that Magami let go and swears to correct Halloween. Hougen approves of Touji's determination and drive, saying he'll give him his express permission. Tajikarao, Magami, and Touji are all baffled at this, so Hougen says he totally understands and encourages Touji to bring Halloween to becoming something better. It takes Touji a moment to process this, and while he admits he doesn't get what he means he swears to do his best. Magami asks Tajikarao what just happened, and the episode half ends with Tajikarao shrugging and saying he doesn't know.