HELLO HAPPY BUBBLE WORLD! *grins like a lunatic*

KTF: Ignore her, she's just really happy that you all reviewed.

Oh yea. Neo and I are both totally thrilled that this is turning out so well. I mean, 29 reviews for two chapters. LUVIN IT! Anyways, I'd normally go through and thank everybody individually, but I don't wanna waste more time. How about we just move right along, shall we?

Disclaimer: Neo and I don't own anything. I own the plotline, and Neo does too because I said so.

ALSO! I came up with another idea that Neo and I are going to write! So be on the watch for that! It'll be called Vampire Creek, an AU Taito.

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It was now October in this point in our story. The Ishida boys had well adjusted to their new lifestyle and things where starting to mellow out. Well, for one of them anyway. Every night, Matt would lay wide awake, able to hear the painful screams of that one boy. And yet every morning, he would find nothing. He had had just about enough of it. He was going to get answers, right here, right now.

"Hey Mimi." He greeted the girl in the library. The pink-haired girl looked up and smiled warmly at him.

"Hey Matt. Where have you been? You weren't in first period." She said to him, pulling out a chair for Matt to sit. Matt sat down and looked at her expectantly.

"I had a doctor's appointment today." He replied, not breaking eye contact with her. Mimi fidgeted in her chair, feeling slightly nervous under Matt's intense stare.

"What's that look for?" she asked him finally.

"I want you to tell me everything about my house." Matt said firmly. Mimi blinked in surprise and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she asked, baffled at this request.

"I know that there's something weird about my house. And I know that you know it too. And I want you to tell me what happened." Matt demanded. Mimi got out of her chair and grabbed her bag.

"Follow me. I think you need to meet another one of my friends." She said. Matt stared at her oddly, but followed her out of the library and down to the newspaper room. Mimi knocked on the door first and then walked inside. The only person in the room was a boy their age with brown hair and violet eyes.

"Hey Mimi. What brings you here?" the boy asked, turning around in the computer chair he was sitting in. Mimi smiled and sat on a stool next to him.

"Matt, this is my friend Adam Inoue." She introduced them.

"Nice ta meet ya, Matt." Adam nodded hello. Matt smiled in return and nodded back.

"Anyway, I brought him here to talk to you." Mimi continued.

"About what?" Adam asked, tucking his pencil behind his ear and crossing his arms over his chest.

"He wants to know about his house." Mimi replied for him. Adam turned his attention to Matt, looking into his blue eyes critically.

"Where do you live?" Adam asked, violet eyes twinkling with mischief and curiosity.

"666 Madison Avenue." Matt replied, waiting for the reaction he knew he'd get. Adam's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

"DUDE ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Adam yelled, shocked at this discovery.

"Oh, so you DO know something about my house." Matt said as a blonde eyebrow quirked up.

"Hell yea! You live in that weird-ass house on the hill!" Adam exclaimed, scooting his chair closer to Matt and Mimi.

"That's right. Now, what do you know about that house?" Matt said firmly, relieved that he was finally getting somewhere.

"Dude, there is some majorly freaky shit that happens in that house." Adam said, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, even though he knew what Adam meant.

"That house is haunted!" Adam exclaimed, getting worked up again.

"Ok. Now tell me what you know about it being haunted." Matt asked, resting his chin in his hands.

"Well, let's see. People say that a family was murdered there about 5 years ago, wasn't it Meems?" Adam asked, looking for clarification from his friend.

"Something like that." She replied, waiting for Adam to continue with the story she had heard so many times before.

"Right. So anyway, they say that it was a little boy who was killed. Actually, since the guy killed the kid, the mother and then himself, it'd be considered more of a homicide. But there's a ghost in that house. It's rumored that it's the ghost of the little boy, wanting to tell the story of that night. If you listen carefully, you can hear the screams and cries of him, just before he was shot. At night, sometimes the lights on the second story will blink in a S.O.S pattern." Adam described. 'A ghost huh? So that's what I've been hearing this whole time….' Matt thought to himself.

"Have you ever been inside the house?" Matt asked him. Adam nodded slowly with fear written in his eyes.

"Oh yea. Only once though. Me and a few of my buddies decided to go poke around inside just to see if all the rumors were true. At first, nothing seemed out of place. The house just appeared to be all run-down, but nothing scary about it. Then we started hearing the voices. And we ran out of this one room on the second floor and down the stairs. Somehow I ended up taking a wrong turn somewhere and I opened up a broom closet instead of the front door. And when I looked inside, there was one pair of glowing red eyes glaring at me. Nearly crapped myself and I took off running. All my friends were outside waiting for me and we just took off, not bothering to look back." Adam finished his ghost tale. Matt nodded grimly, suspicions confirmed.

'So I wonder if those stories are all actually true. And if they are……..then why me? Why isn't TK hearing anything or seeing anything? Maybe I'm just going crazy and no one realizes it yet.' Matt thought to himself, letting everything sink in. Suddenly the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and jerking Matt out of his thoughts. He grabbed his backpack and headed to his English class, not giving a second thought about ghosts or the murder in his house.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Matt hopped off his skateboard and opened the front door, throwing it off to the side. He kicked off his black sneakers and wandered to where he knew his brother would be. The kitchen. Sure enough, TK had his head inside the refrigerator, poking around for anything edible. Suddenly having a very evil idea, Matt snuck up quietly behind TK. He was about to grab TK's sides to scare him, but something stopped him.

"Please help me………I need you……" That hauntingly childish voice whispered softly in Matt's ear. Matt stopped in mid-motion and stood there, listening for that voice again.

"Please……..LOOK OUT!" The voice yelled. Matt jumped and yelped, causing TK to jump and turn around, yelling out loud in surprise at how close Matt was.

"What the hell, Matt?" TK scowled. Matt blinked in surprise and slowly shook his head.

"I-nothing." He changed his mind, reaching around TK to grab a Mountain Dew from the refrigerator. He closed it behind him and turned, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He opened his bedroom door and closed it behind him, flopping down on his bed.

"I've gone insane." He muttered to himself. He opened the can of soda and drank a swallow, eyes now wandering around his room. 'Lights on the second story will flash in an S.O.S pattern…….does that explain why my lights have been acting so weird? And the screaming, well, only I can hear it. What's this all mean?' Matt thought to himself, lying on his back with his eyes closed.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Matt asked aloud, not expecting an answer from anyone.

"So you believe in me now, do you?" the childish voice replied. Matt's eyes shot open and he bolted into a sitting position, looking around in all directions.

"All right, show yourself. Where are you?" Matt demanded. From the corner of his eye, Matt saw something move in the shadows, followed by a laugh.

"This isn't funny. Look, uh…..whatever you are, you've been driving me nuts for the past month and a half. And I particularly don't want to keep playing games!" Matt yelled. Again, he saw movement, but no actual person.

"Go look in the closet." The child spoke again, sounding very close to Matt. Curiosity getting the best of him, Matt heaved himself off of the bed and stopped in front of his closet. His hand hovered above the handle, having sudden second thoughts.

"C'mon! Open it!" The voice urged him. Matt nodded firmly and opened the closet door, but found……………….his clothes. Typical.

"All right, this is ridiculous. I'm not messing with this bullshit right now." Matt said to himself, starting to close the closet.

"No! Don't do that!" The voice cried out. Matt raised his eyebrow.

"Why am I even listening to you? You're not even real." Matt groaned.

"Look in the back. On the shelve." The little boy's voice instructed. Matt growled in frustration and re-opened the closet.

"All right, but if this is another one of your crazy games….." Matt trailed off, searching through his closet. Suddenly his hand hit something on the shelve. He pulled it out and examined it.

"What the?" Matt asked, examining the wooden board. It had all 26 letters, numbers 0 through 9, and yes and no printed on it in black letters.

"There's a piece missing!" The voice said in surprise. Matt heard some rustling in the background, and was soon hit in the head by a little wooden heart.

"Ow! You little brat!" Matt yelped, rubbing his forehead where he had been hit. The child giggled again and said nothing.

"I swear, if you were real, I'd choke you right about now." Matt muttered under his breath.

"Uh, Matt? Who are you talking to?" TK asked, standing in the doorway of Matt's room. Matt jumped and spun around, eyes meeting those with a very suspicious TK.

"Um……nobody?" Matt said, nervously glancing over his shoulder as if he could see the ghost.

"Ri-ight……" TK drawled out, shaking his head. Matt forced out a grin and shook his head as well. He then remembered the wooden board in his hands.

"Hey Takes, do you now what this is?" Matt asked his brother, showing him the little wooden heart and board. TK's eyes lit up and he nodded.

"Cool! That's an Ouija board!" TK said in awe, prying the board away from Matt's hands.

"A what?" Matt asked, puzzled about the little board. TK had pronounced it "wee-gee" but Matt had never heard of it.

"An Ouija board. They're so cool. You call up spirits and they answer questions for you." TK babbled on.

"How do you know?" Matt asked, amazed that his brother actually knew something.

"Me and Dameon played on one once last year. His brother's friend brought it with him." TK replied. Matt nodded and placed the little wooden heart on the desk, along with the board that he had reclaimed from TK. TK walked up behind his brother with a smile on his face, a smile that could only mean one thing.

"What idea do you have now?" Matt sighed, running a hand through his messy blonde hair.

"Well, Halloween's on Friday. I was thinking……maybe we could play it then." TK suggested with a smile. Matt frowned and poked at the board doubtfully.

"I don't know about that Takeru….." Matt trailed off. TK stuck out his tongue at the use of his whole name and shook his head.

"Oh come on Matt, it'll be fun! I promise." TK begged him. Matt sighed again and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Will Mom and Dad be around?" Matt asked his brother.

"Nope, they're out to a party that night." TK's grin became wider, knowing he had won the battle.

"Fine, whatever. We'll play the stupid thing." Matt groaned, knowing that he would regret it all later.

"Awesome! Can I bring a friend over too?" TK asked, suddenly remembering what Kari said about wanting to come over.

"Whatever. Now go away, I'm busy." Matt said, pushing his brother out the door.

"Busy talking to yourself?" TK teased him.

"Yes, busy talking to my-NO! Get out!" Matt growled and slammed the door. Matt glared around the room, almost daring the ghost to come back.

"Great, now you've got my brother thinking I'm a schizophrenic. Thanks a ton." Matt groaned and stormed out of his room, just wanting to take a nice, warm shower. Behind him a pair of red eyes shone in the back of his closet, followed by a fit of giggles, and they slowly disappeared.

*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~

Friday came far too quickly for Matt's liking. Friday meant Halloween. Halloween meant playing TK's stupid game. Playing TK's stupid game meant………….well, he wasn't quite sure yet, but he didn't like the sounds of it.

"Hey Matt!" Mimi bounced up to him after school. Matt pulled his head out of his locker and smiled wearily at his friend.

"What's goin' on Meems?" he said before putting some more books inside his locker.

"Nothing. Just so happy it's Friday!" she beamed.

"Yea tell me about it. I just want this week to be over." Matt sighed, slamming the locker shut. He carried his skateboard under his left arm and he and Mimi walked down the hall.

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Mimi asked him suddenly.

"Why?" Matt counteracted with his own question.

"I'm having a Halloween party at my house. An all-nighter. Wanna come?" she asked him, sparkles shining in her big, brown eyes.

"I wish I could Meems. Really wish I could. But I kind of promised my brother we'd do something tonight." He shrugged. Mimi nodded in understanding, but still a hint of disappointment was on her face.

"Oh, all right. I'm going to guess that you don't get to spend a lot of time with him lately?" Mimi said.

"Yea. So it's just kind of a hang-out thing." Matt shrugged it off again. By this time, they were outside of the building.

"All right. Well then, I guess I'll see you on Monday." Mimi waved and turned, walking away from Matt. Matt waved back and dropped his skateboard. He hopped on and skated to his house, not looking very much forward to playing on the Ouija board. He jumped off the board and slowly walked up the steps and stepped through the front door.

"Hey Matt." TK called out, bouncing into the front hall to greet his brother. Matt nodded in return and threw his skateboard into the hall closet.

"Right, let's just play your stupid board and get it over with." Matt sighed, kicking off his shoes.

"No way. We got to wait. At least until it's dark out." TK protested. Matt shook his head and flopped down on the couch, switching on the TV. He had quite a few hours to waste before dark.

Time passed by slowly, but the clock soon chimed 9 o'clock. TK came out to the living room and dropped the board on the table. He looked at the clock and nodded to himself.

"My friend should be here any minute. I said 9." He informed Matt. No sooner had the words left his mouth there was a knock on the door. Matt got to his feet and walked out into the front hall, opening the door. On the other side was a young girl about TK's age with shoulder-length brown hair currently pulled back.

"Hi, is TK here?" she asked Matt, blinking up at him with her warm, amber-brown eyes.

"Um, yea. He's-"

"Right here." Matt was cut off by TK joining the conversation. TK smiled at the girl and she stepped inside, eyes wandering around the house.

"So this is what it's like inside huh?" she said amusedly. TK nodded in response. Matt raised his eyebrow and watched the girl before him.

"Who are you?" he finally asked, patience wearing thin. TK smiled at his brother and nodded in her direction.

"This is Kari, my friend I told you would come over and play on the board with us." He explained. He turned to Kari and nodded at Matt.

"And that's my brother Matt." TK introduced her.

"Nice to meet you, Matt." She said cheerfully. Already Matt felt a happy aura around this girl. And he instantly liked her.

"Likewise. Did my brother drag you over here?" Matt teased, causing TK to grunt in result. Kari laughed and shook her head.

"No, I've always wanted to come here. Just to see what it looked like inside." Kari explained.

"Well, we can show you around before we play the game." TK offered, wanting to please his friend.

"That sounds great. As long as you don't mind of course." She added quickly.

"Nah, it's cool." Matt stepped in. All three kids walked into the kitchen and dining room area. Kari examined the kitchen very closely, opening some random cabinets. Suddenly she walked over to a painting on the wall. She looked at it closely, and then moved it to the side, revealing a small cubbyhole.

"Whoa, I didn't know that was there." Matt said, genuinely surprised.

"Kari, how did you know that was there?" TK asked his brunette friend. The girl blinked in surprise at well, not sure of her actions.

"I'm…………not sure." She replied. She continued to stare at the cubbyhole, eyes not even blinking.

'It was like a sudden sense of déjà vu. Like, I've seen this before. But, that's not possible. I've never been inside this house before…..so how could that be?' the young girl thought to herself. She shook her head vigorously, as if to clear her mind of abstract thoughts.

"Well, where else boys?" she asked them expectantly. The two brothers continued walking around their house, showing Kari every room. They reached the second floor and walked into Matt's room first. Kari stood in the middle of the bedroom, looking in all directions. Suddenly, another sense of déjà vu came over her.

"I promise no matter what, Kari, I'm always going to protect you. And that's a promise." Those words rang through Kari's mind, for no apparent reason. There was something about this room that held another sense of familiarity. She walked away and into the next room, which happened to be TK's room. In TK's room, there was a sense of security. Something about his room made her feel safe. More images filled her minds slowly.

"You know, I was wrong about what I said earlier. About not wanting a baby sister. You're the best thing I have. I love you, Kari." Kari swallowed hard and shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the voices. In her mind, she could clearly see a nursery. The crib was where TK's bed was, by the window, the changing table next to the door, and a rocking chair in the corner.

'How is this possible? What on Earth am I missing? I've never been here! So why…..is this happening..?' The amber-eyed girl was confused beyond belief as she followed the two blonde boys out of the room. She looked down to the end of the hall and noticed a door.

"What's in there?" she asked, pointing to the door.

"We THINK it's the attic. Mainly because there's no other way to get to the top floor." Matt shrugged.

"Can we go look?" Kari asked, curiosity growing by every minute.

"We should probably get to playing the game if you have to be home by 11." TK interfered.

"He's got a point." Matt stated. Still disappointed, Kari reluctantly agreed and the trio walked down the stairs, back into the living room where they started. All three sat on the couch in front of the board.

"Well, Matt's never played on one of these. Have you Kari?" TK asked his friend.

"Nope. I've watched, but never played." She explained. TK nodded and put the little wooden heart on the board.

"Now, we all put our hands on the heart and wait for a spirit to come." TK said.

"I'll just follow your lead." Matt said, placing his hands on top of Kari's, whose were on top of TK's. TK nodded and shifted the weight on his hands.

"We all have to believe in this, otherwise it won't work." He firmly stated. The other two nodded and waited for TK's next move. TK closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Spirits of the world, if there are any of your kind present tonight, let them be with us." TK said. Matt had to bite his lip to prevent from laughing out loud. The whole speech was pretty corny, but he had to just wait. Or 'believe' as the younger put it.

"Is there anyone with us now?" TK asked. Time went by slowly, each minute creeping along. A good 8 minutes had passed when Matt was getting tired of this.

"Guys, I don't think anything's going to show up." Kari voiced Matt's opinion. Suddenly, the little heart started to move.

"Are either of you making it move?" Matt asked, eyes darting around the now slightly darker room.

"No." Kari whispered, in awe of the heart.

"It's working." TK whispered excitedly. The heart stopped on 'yes'. TK's grin grew wide across his face in triumph.

"Yes! Ok, what should we ask?" TK looked up at his brother and friend. Neither answered as they thought about questions.

"I've got one." Kari said after some time of thinking.

"Go ahead and ask it then." TK encouraged her.

"Ok. Is this house really haunted?" she asked. The little heart started to move again, gliding over to each letter, and stopping briefly so they could read it.

"I-N. A. C-E-N-S-E." she spelled along with it.

"What?" TK asked.

"In a sense. In other words, sort of. The spirit just spelled it differently." She replied. TK nodded and spoke again.

"How is it sort of haunted?" TK asked. Again, the heart moved.

"I. L-I-V-E. H-E-R-E." he read out loud. All three children blinked at one another in realization, or possibly shock.

"Are you the little boy who died here?" Kari asked. The heart moved and landed on yes.

"Guys, this is that kid. The one in all the ghost stories!" TK exclaimed. Matt didn't say anything throughout this whole ordeal, but just sat watching the younger ones.

"What's your name?" TK asked. The ghost began to move the heart.

"T-A-I-C-H-I. Y-A-G-A-M-I." TK read.

"Taichi Yagami?" Kari repeated, looking down at the board.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"No better yet, how old were you when you died?" TK changed the question.

"10." TK read from the board. Kari shook her head.

"So he would be 15 now." She filled in.

"The same age Matt is." TK commented. Suddenly, Matt himself spoke up.

"Were you really murdered?" he asked quietly, yet firmly. The little heart didn't move again for a long while.

"Did we loose him?" Kari whispered. The heart jerked around a bit and finally spelled out another word.

"Y-E-S." TK's eyes widened. Kari gasped and Matt bit his lip. They were dealing with a 10-year-old ghost who had been murdered in that same house 5 years ago. He would be 15 if he was alive, and his name was Taichi Yagami.

"I vote we stop playing. This is freaking me out." Kari said.

"We can't stop playing though; we're just now getting somewhere." Matt protested. Then there was the sound of keys jingling and the door opened.

"Boys, we're home!" Natsuko's voice rang throughout the house. TK quickly shoved the board under the couch and Matt put the heart in his pocket, both boys jumping up to greet their parents.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad." They chimed simultaneously.

"Hello kids. Hope you stayed out of trouble." She said. It was just then she noticed the girl who was still sitting on the couch.

"And who's this?" she asked.

"This is Kari, Mom. I hope you didn't mind that I invited her to hang out for a while." TK said hastily.

"No of course not. Nice to meet you, Kari." The woman shook hands with the young girl.

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Ishida. And Mr. Ishida." She addressed Masaharu as well. TK grabbed Kari by the arm and headed out into the front hall.

"I'm going to walk Kari home." He hollered over his shoulder and the front door slammed. Matt was left by himself. He stayed and talked to his parents for a while longer before deciding it was time for bed. He ran up the flight of steps and into his own bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He stripped down to his boxers and crawled under his covers. He couldn't stop thinking about that boy though. Or the ghost, whatever he was.

'That's what's been trying to talk to me for the past month huh? Wow…..who'd have known that ghost stories are true?' He thought to himself. He forced himself to block out all thoughts of the earlier séance type ordeal, since thinking about it creeped him out. Another hour of tossing and turning later, he dosed off.

*~*~*~* Matt's Dream ~*~*~*~*~*

Matt was walking down an endless hallway, trying to find a way out. He was going to crack if he stayed inside these walls any longer. He pressed on and on, hoping for an end. And miraculously, there was a door at the end of the hall. Matt broke into a run, dashing for the door. He turned the knob open and ran through the door, only to find himself in the living room. In front of him sat a little boy, no older then 4-years-old playing with some sort of action figure. His mother then came bustling out and walked towards the little boy.

"Sweetie, there's something you should know." She spoke softly to the child.

"What is it, Mama?" the little boy inquired, eyes so full of trust and innocence. Matt could see that the woman was pained in whatever it was she was going to tell her son, but it had to be done.

"Honey, we have to give up Hikari." She spoke in that same gentle voice. The little boy's lower lip quivered and his brown eyes filled with tears.

"What? Why? We can't get rid of Kari!" the boy protested. 'Kari?' Matt thought to himself, waiting for the rest of the scene to unfold.

"Your father says we can't keep her. She needs to grow up in a better home." The mother kindly explained. But the little boy wouldn't hear of it.

"YOU CAN'T GET RID OF HER!" he yelled as loud as he possibly could, breaking off into loud sobs. The mother picked him up and held him in her lap, hoping to at least bring some comfort to the boy.

"It's better this way honey, it is." She kept saying over and over again. The little boy glared at his mother.

"I hate you." He said quietly, but meaning every word.

"What?" the mother asked.

"I hate you. And I hate Daddy. You're making me loose everything I love!" the little boy shouted, now defiant against his parents' judgment. The father soon came in, just in time to hear those words leave his mouth. He marched up to the boy and slapped him across the face.

"Taichi don't you EVER say that again!" his father roared before storming away. The women soon left also not too long after the father did. They left the little boy there, all alone to cry his sorrows and lull himself to sleep. Or so it seemed. Matt moved closer to the little boy, whose name was Taichi. 'Just like the ghost.' He noted to himself. He sat down next to the boy, smiling at his appearance. All around, he was a cute kid. Matt brushed some hair out of his face, and wiped away some tears. Suddenly, the little boy's eyes shot open.

"Help me." He whispered in a chocked voice.

~*~*~*~*~*~ End of Matt's Dream*~*~*~*~*~*~

Matt awoke with a start, panting and gasping for air. He looked around the room frantically, looking for anything out of the ordinary. His eyes landed on the clock, which read 2:53am. Matt groaned and got out of bed, walking into the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and cupped his hands, letting them fill with cool water. He splashed it on his face and wrists to calm himself down. He dried his face with a towel and looked in the mirror. Even though it was dark inside the bathroom, he could still see his reflection.

"Just chill out, Yamato." He scolded himself firmly. "It was just a dream. It meant nothing." He reassured himself. He put the towel down and walked away, heading back to his own bedroom. Had he stayed a bit longer, or maybe if he had just looked closer, he would have noticed the large pair of chibi-like red eyes, watching his every move.

"Welcome to my nightmare." His hushed voice breathed out briefly, just before he disappeared.

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Holy cheezits! This took me a long time to write this. But that's ok it also took me a long time to update, lol. Well, let's see. If anybody's ever seen the show Tru Calling, they'll know what I mean when I said Tai's eyes shot open. In the show people will be all calm and stuff, eyes closed, and then BAM! They shoot open and whisper, "Help me." It's freakin' scary if you're not paying attention. Also, neither Neo nor I own the Ouija board idea and I personally don't have one. I don't know if she does or not, but still. Well, I can't really think of what else to say, but review please! Next chapter is Neo!