Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Haunted ❯ Chapter 01 ( Chapter 1 )

Kali Notes: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!! *hands out TyKa shaped chocolates* (Dryad: Uh…Kali?) For all you TyKa fans out there…Halloween fic! (Caitlin: *tugs on Kali's sleeve* Kali…Halloween's over…like, WAY over. *sweatdrops*) I don't care! Halloween fic! I promised one, so here it is!

 

Disclaimer: No, we don't own Beyblade or its characters.

 

Warnings: Ah…weirdness, general insanity… and the usual (yaoi, language, action/violence, etc.) excepting the fido-friendly version on ffnet. Sorry, folks. You know where to find it elsewhere…

 

Pairings: TyKa, Rei/Mariah, Max/Hilary, hinted Tala/Bryan & Kenny/Emily, others to be decided.

 

Summary: (AU) When it comes to romance and love, this isn't the first date one thinks of. For it's Halloween…when the line between life and death blurs and the spirits of the dead appear. Some are mundane, others are malicious, and then there are the playful ones…the ones who just want to help and have a little fun doing it.

 

 

~*~*~*~

 

HAUNTED

 

~*~*~*~

 

Chapter 01

 

October was one of his favorite times of year. Well, autumn in general was, but October specifically. The leaves on the trees had turned gorgeous shades of red, gold, brown, and orange, and had begun their gradual shedding of these organic gems of colour. October meant family dinners, since his Dad and older brother, Hiro, came home for an entire month. It meant beautiful scenery, outdoor sports and activities (although the chore of raking up all those pretty fallen leaves from the massive yards of his home - a dojo that had been in his family for generations - wasn't all that appealing), festivals and fairs, a week-long break from school, and…

Halloween!

Kinomiya Tyson grinned to himself as he walked down the steps of the high school, his book bag slung carelessly over one shoulder and a jacket clutched loosely in the other hand. A warm, autumn breeze ruffled the bangs of his blue-black hair, while a pair of storm-blue eyes searched the grounds around him for familiar, friendly faces.

He was especially looking forward to Halloween this year. There was a big Halloween party being held at the house of one of his classmates who happened to be one of the wealthiest - if not the wealthiest - in his class. And while Tyson wasn't really what one would call close friends with the guy, they weren't enemies, either.

Tyson was excited about this party. Though he wasn't the best of buddies with the guy having it, he was still part of that group of his peers, by virtue of being friends with a couple of others who were friends of their host. Tyson usually hosted a Halloween party of his own, but this year he'd been invited to one before he even had an opportunity to plan his own. Not that he was complaining - neither was his grandfather. The wacky old man loved throwing parties and celebrations, but he despised the mess to clean up afterward. So he hadn't been too upset at not having a Halloween party this year.

Chuckling to himself, Tyson spotted his friends standing around under the shelter of a huge chestnut tree near the high school's gate. His Japanese-American friend, Max, had somehow managed to snatch away their youngest friend Kenny's beloved laptop, and was holding it up above his head out of the bespectacled young brunette's reach. Smiling, Tyson made his way toward them as the clock in the clock tower chimed four o'clock, announcing to everyone that it was time to go home.

“Give it back, Max! You're going to drop it waving it around in the air like that!” Kenny pleaded, holding out his hands to the blonde. “Please?”

“No way, Chief! I won't give it back until you promise to come with us to Kai's big bash.”

“But I have to work on my program for…”

“No! One night isn't going to hurt! In fact it'll probably do you some god. Your social life needs more in it than this, me, and Tyson, Kenny.” Max dodged a jumping attempt to grab the computer back. “It will be fun! Especially if you're there, too!”

“Alright! I'll go!” Kenny huffed and gave Max a plaintive look. “Just please give me back Dizzy!”

Max, satisfied, presented the little personal computer with a flourishing bow. Kenny grabbed it an hugged it to his chest protectively.

“Chief, you're the only person I know who names their hardware.” Tyson snickered, coming up behind the brunette and ruffling his hair fondly. Kenny yelped and ducked away.

“Tyson! Don't scare me like that!”

Max laughed. “So, guys, where are we going today? Tyson's, my place, or Kenny's?”

“I still need my costume.” Tyson admitted sheepishly. “What? I can't decide what to be this year!” He added when they stared at him incredulously.

“Tyson! You're usually the first of anyone to get a costume. What's so difficult about this year?” Max tilted his blonde head at the bluenette curiously, blue eyes like the sea questioning him.

“I don't know! I've been so many different things over the years, I guess I just can't pick something now.” He replied, shrugging. The three teens began to walk, leaving the high school behind.

“Well, we may have to buy bits and pieces of things to make up a costume, Tyson. I don't know what would be left at the costume store by this late date.” Kenny said, pondering the possibilities thoughtfully.

“Yeah, I know.” Tyson sighed mournfully. “I really don't have a clue, though.”

“Don't worry! We'll think of something!” Max patted him on the shoulder and grinned.

As they rounded a corner, a voice from on high spoke up, dry and rather bored sounding. They looked upward, spotting three teens lounging along the wide ledge of the school's outer wall in their uniforms - or at least most of it. None of them were wearing their jackets, and the two boys had removed their ties and left two buttons undone at the neck of their shirts.

“Don't think too hard, Mizuhara. Or you either, Kinomiya. It would be such an awful shame for you to hurt yourselves like that.” The red-headed boy snickered.

“Yeah, you should leave the thinking to the brainy one, there.” The lavender haired boy sprawled next to him smirked. He propped himself up on an elbow and looked them over, eyes like some bird of prey considering its meal. “At least Kenny knows how to use his.”

Kenny scowled. “Gee. Thanks, Bryan.”

Bryan shrugged. “I tell it like I see it. Tala, on the other hand, likes to push people's buttons.”

Tala, running pale fingers through his flame-red hair, smiled and lightly punched his boyfriend on the leg. “Ass. You're no better.”

“Quit picking on each other, you two.” The honey-eyed female, sitting back to back with Tala in order to be semi-comfortable up there on the ledge in a skirt, rolled her eyes and reached back blindly to find Tala's arm and grip his sleeve in warning. “And quit picking on them. Tyson and Max are smarter than the two of you put together and you know it.”

Tala took her hand from his sleeve and crossed his arms. “It's just teasing, Hilary. Relax, cousin.”

Tyson ignored them, his eyes drawn a little farther upward by some weird sixth sense to a silent, watchful figure perched on a massive tree limb that hung just over the wall. One leg hung off the limb lazily and his back leaned comfortably against the thick trunk. Tyson's blue eyes met piercing, bloody-crimson and the bluenette felt a definite, curious tingling run through his body in a shiver from head to foot and back up again. The boy in the tree gave a slight nod of greeting - or at least acknowledgement - and Tyson gave him a tiny head-bow in return. It was the same every time they ran into each other. There was always a current of…something between them, and they always seemed to know when the other was around. And there was a careful politeness and respect that they always observed with each other, odd as it was.

Max, on the other hand, was laughing. He never took any of that stuff seriously when Tala and Bryan started ribbing him. It was all in good fun, to Max. “You guys are a riot! What are all of you doing up there anyway?”

“Discussing the party and making plans.” Hilary replied, disengaging herself fro Tala and sitting up properly. She began buttoning her school jacket up as she continued. “Kai says the third floor of his house is haunted.”

Standing between Max and Tyson, Kenny froze. “H…haunted? You're not serious.”

Tala, spotting an opportunity, grinned and nodded. “Very serious! Everyone knows that house has been haunted for years! Weird stuff is always happening around it, but especially on the third floor.” He swung his legs around to dangle over the edge of the wall. “Maybe you'll get to see the ghost or maybe something really spooky will happen when you're there, Kenny. Think of the research possibilities…”

Kenny clutched at his laptop, shivering. “I don't believe in ghosts or supernatural things.” He tried to state in as firm and steady a voice as he could muster.

“Why not? Even if you say you don't, the chances are good that you'll change your mind after the party.” Bryan shrugged, a devious gleam in his eyes.

“Okay, guys. Quit picking on him.” Tyson laid a hand on Kenny's shoulder and the brunette jumped slightly. “Whether or not it really is haunted, the party will be great, I'm sure!”

“Have all of you picked out your costumes yet?” Max asked, deflecting the subject.

Hilary pouted and glared at her cousin. “I know what I want to be, but Tala won't co-operate and be my counterpart to the costume.”

Ice blue eyes rolled upward. “I refuse to wear a bloody toga, Hilary. Forget it. It's so…so…”

“Frat-boy?” Bryan supplied. Tyson snickered, Max grinned, and Tala scowled.

“Shut up, Bry.”

“What was it you needed Tala to wear a toga for?” Kenny inquired curiously.

“I wanted to go as Cleopatra, and it's only right that my `date' for the party be Marcus Antonius.” Hilary flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Max tilted his head thoughtfully, considering it. “I think you would make a great Queen Cleo, Hilary.” He said, a small hint of pink staining his freckled face.

The brunette female blinked and blushed prettily. “Why thank you, Max. That's sweet.”

Tyson got an idea, and grinned deviously. “Max could go as Antonius, Hilary. Why don't you two go to the party together?”

Max's blonde head whipped around to stare at his friend with a `what the hell are you doing to me?' expression of shock and nervousness. Okay, so he had liked Hilary for a long time now, and maybe he hadn't been able to work up the courage to do anything about it yet, but come on!

Hilary's eyes widened and her blush deepened, but she nodded and looked down at Max in question. “That would be fine with me…” she agreed, pausing hesitantly. “Um…Max? Would you…consider…”

“Oh! Ah…sure!” The blonde turned, looking up and smiling widely. “I was going to go as a Roman gladiator anyway, so with a few changes…”

“Great! Thank you!”

Tyson and chuckled and nudged Kenny, who rolled his eyes under the fringe of his hair.

“What are you going as, Kenny?” Hilary asked the petit teen.

“A scientist.” Kenny replied on the spot. Everyone looked at him and shook their heads collectively. “What?”

“That's too easy, Chief!” Tyson sighed. “That's alright though. We'll find you something much better. Won't we, Max?”

“You bet!” The blonde, forgetting his annoyance for the moment, totally agreed.

“What's too easy?” A new voice inquired. Tyson glanced over as two more familiar teens - a young man with extremely long, wrapped, raven-black hair and a young woman with long, pink hair done up in a pony-tail - approached from the direction of the high school's main gates. They were holding hands, in a way that was obviously comfortable and automatic to them. Since they were childhood sweethearts, this wasn't much of a surprise.

“Hey, Mariah! Hi, Rei!” Max greeted them with his characteristic exuberance. “We were talking about Kenny's costume for Kai's Halloween party.”

“Ah. Well, I'm quite sure whatever he chooses will be perfect for him.” Rei smiled, a hint of pointy fang showing. “Mariah and I are all set for costumes, too.”

“Really? What are you going as?” Tyson asked with great interest. He really needed ideas for himself.

“Rei is going as a spy - you know, like in the movies.” Mariah looked up at her boyfriend with a wink. “And I am going as his female interest.”

“Ooooh! That's a great idea, Mariah!” Hilary shared looks with her pink-haired friend. “And guess what? Max agreed to help me out and go as Marcus Antonius to my Cleopatra!”

“That's fabulous!” Mariah giggled, glancing at the blonde, who had flushed red again. She caught Tyson's wink and grinned back.

“Guys, if we're going to any stores, we'd better go right now.” Kenny suggested, glancing at a pocket watch. “It's getting late and they'll be closing soon.”

“Right. Come on, Tyson!” Max grabbed his sleeve and tugged him forward. Stumbling after them, Tyson waved over his shoulder at the group of teens they left behind.

“But we didn't ask Kai what he was going to be for the party!” The bluenette could be heard protesting. They rounded another corner, out of sight and ear-shot.

In the comfortable perch on the tree limb, Kai Hiwatari leaned back and closed his eyes, shutting out the chatting going on below amongst the people he called his friends, a small smile of amusement flittering over his features.

You'll have to wait and see, Kinomiya. Wait and see…

~*~*~*~*~

The day of the party began with mild, partially sunny weather. As far as Tyson knew, everyone had their costumes and were ready for the bash of the year. Even Kenny was beginning to show signs of interest and excitement about the party. Though, that could be more to do with his sudden decision to investigate any possible paranormal occurrences that should happen while he was at the party, to “prove once and for all that ghosts didn't really exist,” as Kenny declared one day at lunchtime, than for any other reason.

It was lucky for everyone that this year Halloween fell on a Friday. It meant that anyone going trick-or-treating, and/or any parties (including Kai's) would be able to do so without worrying about going to bed early so as to get up for classes the next morning.

To that end, Kai had decided to let the party run until midnight before he kicked everyone out. His parents were away, visiting his grandfather, but they'd given permission to host the party. Their house-servant, an older gentleman named Gregory, would help with the food, setting up, and cleaning up - as well as be the `adult supervision' to keep everything and everyone in line. Kai didn't mind so much. He liked Gregory and got along well with him, and in truth was glad for the help. He'd never hosted a social event before so he had no clue what he was doing, really.

The millisecond after the bell rang, announcing the end of the last class o the day, Tyson was grabbing Kenny and Max by their jacket sleeves and dragging them hurriedly out of the school, off the grounds, and to his house to get ready.

“Geez, Tyson!” Max laughed and shook his head as he began peeling off his clothes to change into his costume. The three teens were in Tyson's large bedroom with costumes at the ready. “ What's gotten into you?”

“Yeah, really.” Kenny agreed, doing the same and digging out pieces of his costume from his bag. “I don't think I've ever seen you this excited about a Halloween party before.”

Tyson shrugged, opening his closet door to get out his own costume. “I don't know what you mean, guys. I'm always excited for Halloween.”

“Yes, but this time it's like…you have a hot date or something.” Max observed. Then he blinked, pausing in fixing his Romanesque costume. “Or like there's someone who's going to be at the party whom you want to impress…”

“Urk!” Tyson blushed and turned away quickly to hide it. “Uh…you're just imagining things, Max. Who would I be trying to impress, anyway?”

Kenny didn't even look up as he put on his shoes. With a disbelieving snort, he stated flatly, “Kai, that's who. You've been eyeing him for nearly a year and a half now, after all.”

Max's eyes nearly popped out of his head. “What?! Kai?! Where have I been that I didn't notice this?”

Tyson wanted to sink under the floorboards in embarrassment. Leave it to Kenny to notice everything that goes on around him. Still, he tried denying it as adamantly as he could muster.

“That's ridiculous, Chief! Ha ha…I think you need to stop reading those psychology textbooks. You're reading too much into anything…”

“Kai? Really? Wow, Tyson…you don't go for the easy ones, do you?” Max, awed, shook his head. “But…does anyone know if he even…you know…likes guys?”

“I have no idea.” Kenny shook his head, while Tyson attempted to disappear into his closet. “That guy is impossible to read.”

“Yeah, you have a point there. Actually, I wonder why he even invited us to this party of his, anyway. It's not like we're all best buds or something…” Max observed, voice muffled somewhat as he tugged the leather armour over his head and wriggled into it.

Tyson, tuning them out, stripped off his school uniform and started to put on his own costume - which he thought was rather lame but it had been the only thing left that would fit him (and wasn't completely stupid-looking) at the last costume store they'd gone to.

“Maybe not, but we are friends with Rei and Mariah, and with some of the others who are part of that circle. We're not hated either.” Kenny pointed out. He was struggling to put on the hat that went with his costume. “Are you sure this outfit doesn't look ridiculous on me?”

“It's great, Chief!” Max exclaimed with a beaming smile. “Isn't it, Tyson?”

“Yep. It's a good costume for you.” Tyson smiled, too, and pulled on the pants of his own costume, then the shirt, quickly buttoning it up. “At least you don't look like one of the Village People…”

The other two teens snickered at his grumbling. “Aww…come on, Tyson! You look great and I'm sure Kai will love the costume much more than we do!” Max winked at Kenny.

A shoe came flying at Max's head.

“Now, now…” Kenny intervened before one of their infamous scuffles got started. “Just finish getting ready, you two. We're going to be late getting there if you keep messing around like this.”

Tyson grabbed the scarf and the hat that went with his costume and walked over to the mirror that hung on the back of his bedroom door so he could see what he was doing. Proceeding to tie the scarf appropriately, he studied his reflection. “Well…I guess it could be worse. It was this sailor costume or the big purple dinosaur, after all.”

Max sniggered. “Oh, come on! I still think the dinosaur costume would have been cute.”

“Mizuhara, you are going to die.” Tyson launched himself at the Roman armour-clad blonde in a tackle. Kenny sighed.

“I'll phone Kai and let him know we'll be late.” He said to the air, resigning himself to the fact that these two would never grow up. Unconsciously straitening his elfin tunic and hat self-consciously, he went to use the telephone.

************

Kali Notes: YAY! X___X There we go! Extremely belated, but nonetheless done! We have the makings of a Halloween fic… *sweatdrops* Enjoy? Hate? Indifferent? Let me know!

 

This first chapter is a part of the mass update I am doing of all my WIPs (aka the Chaos Wave), except Endure…which I pretend doesn't exist anyway. The other fics that have been updated are Mnemosyne (my 1st Saiyuki fic), Daze of Paradise (my Yu-Gi-Oh! fic not found on ffnet), Once A Thief (a Beyblade fic), and Written In The Stars (a birthday one-shot for Jen not found on ffnet). All of these can be found by following the links in my bios on any of the fic sites. For more info, also see my bios, or email me, or message me, or whatever works for you. You will get a response as soon as I possibly can come up with one. For now, enjoy this chapter and check out the other updates as well! Thanks for reading! Hope you're enjoying it so far! Please R/R!!!