Xander was annoyed. There was no other word for it, at least no nicer one, he was pissed off, peeved or simply put, annoyed.
Here he was, in this crummy junky shop, trying to find a new, cheap costume, after his plan to go as a soldier was cancelled rudely, due to the fact that the water-pipe in the army surplus store had broken, drenching everything in the shop in ice cold water.
He had run home, taking a few bills out of his secret stash and now was hoping to find a bearable cheap costume. If he was honest with himself, he'd already given up, it was simply too late to find something he could wear without the need for a bag over his head.
Or... wait! There halfmashed in the corner of a clothesrack, hung a simple costume, consisting out of lose white kung fu pants, an equally white shirt and a red sash, that was to be tied around his waist. Also part of the costume where a pair of green coloured, cheap contact lenses and a longhaired red wig. He had no idea who this character was meant to be, but the costume was cheap and didn't looked half stupid so he bought it.
Shuuichi Minamino had no idea how he had gotten here, wherever here was, but he knew that he had to help those around him and he also knew that he alone wouldn't be enough. Even he couldn't be everywhere at the same time. But he had to try and help as many as he could.
A girls scream cut through the air and something deep inside him recognised it. And it made him angry. Angry enough to let the reins of control slip and to let his other side out to play.
Taller, silverhaired and with fox ears and tails, the kitsune was an impressive sight and every halfway intelligent monster fled, as he rushed to help the girl that had screamed.
The night after Halloween, Giles sat in the library, researching the spell Ethan had used. He was worried. Xander was looking a bit strange and from the tales he had heard, he had changed twice, once in his costume and then once more into a kitsune. And he had still traces of the costumes magic working on him. His hair had grown to the same length as the wig had been and there were red highlights in it and specks of green were in the brown of his pupils.
Ethans spell was only good for one transformation per costume, but until he could find out exactly what had triggered the second transformation, he couldn't help Xander turning back to normal.
Halfway hidden behind stacks of books, there was a flowerpot, with a tiny, mostly withered plant a student had brought to the library once to make the room more lively. Giles watered it from time to time, but it was still small, halfway dead and mostly forgotten.
Not anymore. Strong stalks and bushels of bright blossoms gave witness to the love Xander had bestowed on them.