Spiritual Connection

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fanfiction. All characters belong to Hidekazu Himaruya.

(phrases written "like this." are Kiku's thoughts)

Kiku walked dolefully into his home. He didn't exactly have the "best" day at school, failing a test was sure to make anyone frown. He looked at the piece of paper once more. The F written in red pen mocked him. He was sure that he would at least get a C on the science test. Now don't be fooled, Kiku was a very smart kid, but getting a new video game on the day before a big test was not a very good idea, and staying up into the wee hours of the night to play that game was certainly not a good idea either. So poor, somewhat irritated, and sleep deprived Kiku sulked into his room and pulled out his science textbook. He had begged his teacher to retake that test and he wasn't going to screw it up this time. His brothers and sisters were all out, so the house was actually quiet for once, which was very rare.

Kiku focused on the textbook, soaking in every word. Everything was going well, he actually started to understand things that he didn't quite understand while in class. That was until he heard the bump. At first he just blew it off as nothing, a simple bump was nothing to fret over. But then he swore he saw his bookbag move; that made him grow suspicious. What really spooked him is when the lights started to flicker.

"Young Soo is that you?" Kiku asked, only to have no one answer him. He slowly got up from his sitting position and looked around the house, making sure that it wasn't just a prank from his sibling. Secretly, he was hoping it was just a silly prank, for if it wasn't, Kiku didn't think that he would be able to sleep that night. Playing horror rpgs is completely different from being haunted by a ghost in real life. Not that Kiku believed in ghosts, that would be ridiculous...right?

When he was sure that no other human was in the house with him, he began to get even more anxious. Suddenly, the lights turned off and the television in the living room was going berserk. It was flipping through channels at an inhuman speed and then there was nothing but static. "What's going on?" Kiku whispered, as he reached for the remote. He pressed the power button multiple times but the TV just refused to turn off. Kiku decided that it would be best to leave the TV alone and find something to defend himself with. He couldn't let a ghost kill him! He had a make-up science test the next day!

Kiku was a big fan of horror movies, he had watched just about every one that you could think of, so he had more than enough knowledge about defeating a mere ghost...or so he thought. Kiku hastily walked to the kitchen and retrieved the salt. Using it he made a ring around himself.

"I-if you're here to kill me, I am sorry to say but I won't allow it. Please just leave Ghost-san, you wouldn't like it here anyways." Kiku said, hoping that the "ghost" would hear him.

And then, as if the ghost had heard him, everything stopped, the TV, the lights, everything. It was pitch black in the house and uncomfortably silent. Goosebumps appeared on Kiku's arms as he felt a cold spot quickly pass him.

"Kill you? Dude, are you crazy!?" An unfamiliar voice said very loudly. Kiku froze, the salt that once "protected" him was blown away.

"The old 'ring of salt' trick huh? You know that only works in movies right?" The voice asked.

"S-so you are a...a ghost?" Kiku asked, voice faltering somewhat.

"Yeah man, been one for a while now!" The ghost replied enthusiastically.

"And y-you're not going to kill me?"

"Right."

"So, not to be rude, but why are you here then?"

"Because this is my house, and I kinda want it back."

"I am sorry to say Ghost-san, but this is my house now. My siblings and I have been living here for a few years now."

"Yeah, well I lived here my whole life! I just found the damn place again so, no offence, but I think that I deserve to be here more than you do!"

Kiku stayed silent, mostly because this ghost wasn't making any sense. Him and his family couldn't just pack up and leave so that a ghost could live here.

"So, what time do you guys think you could be packed up and outta here?" The ghost asked as if he was asking about the weather.

"Never, we are not leaving." Kiku said firmly. Kiku wasn't one to be irritated easily, but this ghost was really getting on his nerves. He didn't even know if he was actually talking a real ghost! He couldn't even see the damn thing!

"So that's how its gonna be huh?" The ghost asked.

"I suppose so." Kiku replied.

The ghost said nothing more, and once Kiku was sure that it wasn't planning on talking to him anymore, he went to turn on the lights. After all of the lights were on and the salt that was scattered all of the living room floor was swept up, he went back into his room to study. At least thats what he had planned to do, but he couldn't find his text book. He looked all over his room but he just couldn't find it. Kiku was about to give up on finding the book until he saw it...hovering in the air? "Ghost-san!" Kiku thought as he stared at the floating book. He jumped up, trying to grab the book from the mischievous ghost.

"Please give me back my book, it's important that I study! I have a test tomorrow!" Kiku pleaded as he continued to jump. He heard the ghost laugh, a terribly obnoxious laugh, and his eyebrows furrowed. The book was promptly dropped on Kiku's head as the ghost laughed even louder.

"Why would you do that?" Kiku asked in an annoyed tone. Before the ghost even had a chance to answer someone opened Kiku's room door.

"Kiku? Are you okay?" Kiku's older sister Xiao Mei asked as she entered his room.

"A-ah yes everything is fine. I just dropped my text book." Kiku replied, a small smile on his face.

"Well I was going to start making dinner."

"Oh, okay, I will be there shortly."

Kiku always helped his older sister cook since Yao was always too tired from work to do it, and Young Soo was destined to set the house on fire. "I guess I'll just have to stay up late studying after dinner." Kiku thought, sighing.

Kiku helped his sister in the kitchen, washing and cutting vegetables as his sister tossed them in the pot. She was making a stew or something, Kiku wasn't really paying attention to what they were cooking, he was too busy thinking about the ghost. He was sure that it would pop up again, it seemed very determined to get Kiku and his family out of "it's" house. And, as if to prove Kiku's point, the pot on the stove tipped over, boiling water and vegetables all over the floor. Xiao Mei shrieked and Kiku gasped, they both ran out of the kitchen and towards the closet in the hallway to get some towels to clean up the mess.

"Young Soo stop!" They both yelled as their sibling was inches away from entering the kitchen.

"Wha-oh!" Young Soo exclaimed as he look at the mess below him. "How did that happen?" he asked.

"I-I have no idea I was just cooking and…" Xiao Mei began, but Kiku blocked out the rest.

"I think I know what happened." He thought as he looked at the stove. "What the hell was that ghost thinking!? Someone could have gotten hurt, Xiao Mei could have slipped or gotten burned." Once they were sure the water on the ground was no longer hot they began to pick up the vegetables and wipe up the water.

"So, I guess this means pizza for dinner." Xiao Mei said quietly.

Young Soo's face lit up once he heard those words and quickly pulled his cell phone from out of his pocket.

The rest of the Kiku's evening with his siblings contained Yao asking why there were no more towels in the closet and Young Soo eating what seemed like half his weight in pizza.

Kiku was now in his room, teeth brushed and pajamas on.

"Ghost-san." Kiku called out, hoping that it would answer him.

Silence.

"What you did today wasn't right, Xiao Mei did nothing wrong, you could have hurt her." He said louder. The ghost was only mad at him right now right? He was the one that refused to move out, so he had no reason to attack anyone else.

"All you have to do is leave, leave this house and you won't have to worry about stuff like that." The ghost finally replied.

"If anyone will be leaving, it will be you Ghost-san." Kiku said sternly.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." And with that the ghost left.

Kiku gritted his teeth. Now he knew that the ghost wasn't planning on leaving until he drove Kiku and his siblings out. This was a war, a war between a second year high school student and a ghost. Kiku grabbed a notebook and a pencil, to hell with studying, he had to start thinking of plans to get a ghost out of his house.

The next morning Kiku woke up with a notebook full of ideas and a dried out pen. Kiku also woke up with a disgustingly messy room, which he had not fallen asleep to last night.

"Ghost-san, put everything back where it goes please." Kiku said firmly.

A familiar laugh filled the room.

"Aw man, is that supposed to scare me? Why yes sir sir I'll put everything where it belongs, as soon as you agree to move out!" The ghost laughed even harder.

"You can pull all the pranks you want but you will be out of here soon."

"Oh yeah? And how are ya gonna make me leave?"

Kiku picked up the notebook and put it in his book bag.

"You'll see."

"Yeah, whatever." The ghost mumbled.

"Oh, Ghost-san, before you go I have a question to ask you."

"And what's that?"

"Will I ever be able to see you?"

It was silent for a while and Kiku assumed that the ghost must have left. Kiku was kind of disappointed, he wanted to see what he was up against. Normally he would have imagined the ghost to look grotesque like in horror movies or video now he wasn't so sure, the ring of salt hadn't worked so maybe horror movies and videos weren't one hundred percent accurate when it came to ghosts.

"Kiku, you're going to be late for school! Hurry up and get dressed!" His older brother, Yao, yelled, as he stood in the bedroom doorway.

"H-huh? Oh." Kiku replied, quickly snapping out of his thoughts.

"And clean your room when you get home, it's a mess in here."

"Yes Yao."

Now dressed in his school uniform, Kiku ran to his sister's car and hopped in the back seat.

"I am sorry that I took so long." Kiku apologized, buckling his seatbelt.

"No problem little bro!" Yong Soo smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Actually, I was talking to...nevermind."

The car ride to school was noisy as usual, Xiao Mei and Yong Soo argued about what station on the radio they were going to listen to, as usual, and as usual, Kiku had to come up with a solution to get them to stop. He was actually pretty grateful to be out of the car and walking to his first period.

"Arthur-kun, what would you do if you saw a ghost?" Kiku asked the British boy walking next to him.

"A ghost? Kiku, are you mad?" He asked, chuckling a little.

"I don't think so...it could be a possibility, I hadn't really thought abou-"

"Kiku, I don't think that you're crazy, I was just a little shocked is all. Why would you even need to ask me about ghosts?"
"Nevermind Arthur-kun, it was a silly question to begin with…"

"My God Kiku, do you have a ghost in your house!?"

"I believe I do, so I was wondering if you would help me get rid of it. If you don't want to or are too busy I understand its just tha-"

"Say no more Kiku, we'll walk to your house together after school and rid your home of this thing."

"Arigato, Arthur-kun."

First through third period felt as though they lasted only mere seconds. It was time for lunch now, and mobs of hungry kids quickly made their way down to the cafeteria, Arthur and Kiku included.

"I wrote down a few plans and ideas yesterday, on how to get rid of the ghost. You can look at them if you want to." Kiku handed his friend the notebook and began to pull his lunch out of his lunchbox.

Arthur sat across from Kiku, setting down a plate of cafeteria chicken nuggets and taking the notebook. Kiku watched nervously as the blonde flipped through his notebook. After a few minutes Arthur handed the notebook back to Kiku and they began to discuss some of the ideas scribbled down in the book and other strategies to use later on that day. Soon, lunch was over, and Kiku was making his way towards his science class. Once inside the classroom, he was ordered to go to the back and retake his test. Snickers and giggles could be heard from immature classmates, laughing at the F they all know he had gotten yesterday. Honestly, Kiku didn't think that he was going to get anything higher than a D this time, he wasn't able to study that long last night.

"Aw man, I remember when I had to retake tests." When Kiku heard this he froze. "It couldn't be." He thought.

"Woah, science sure has gotten a lot harder, when I was in high school we didn't learn this stuff. What is that question even asking?" The voice said again.

"It is. Can anyone else hear him?" Kiku wondered.

"You followed me to school?" Kiku whispered.

"Yeah, I figured if I can't bother you at home right now, I should bothering you at school. Maybe you'll change your mind about staying in my house." The ghost replied snarkily.

"Keep your voice down please, someone might hear you."

"Hear me!? Hahaha! You really don't know do you?"

"Know what?"

"You're the only one that can hear me!"

"And why is that?"

"I could explain, but it's way more fun to leave you confused."

"Why you…"

"Well, if you don't mind, I am trying to take a test here."

"Oh, don't mind me!"

Kiku gasped as the chair he was sitting on was pulled from beneath him. The whole class stared at the flabbergasted boy and laughed.

"Kiku, what are you doing!? Stop fooling around and finish your test!" His teacher yelled at him.

"I-I'm sorry sir." Kiku apologized softly, his face ten shades of crimson.

"Oh my god you look like such a dork right now!" The ghost laughed at Kiku as he sat back in his chair and tried to start his test. The embarrassed boy went to grab his pencil, but it was thrown on the floor. He tried to pick it up, but every time he would reach for it, it would roll further away from his hand.

"Ghost-san, please stop!" Kiku yelled. Kiku hardly yelled, Kiku couldn't even remember the last time he had even raised his voice. Once again all eyes were all him, but there was one pair that stuck out, a pair of angry eyes that belonged to his science teacher.

"Kiku, principal's office now! You can forget about retaking that test too!" He heard his teacher yell. He couldn't believe it, Kiku had never been sent to the principal's office, he didn't even know where it was. Kiku slowly packed up his things and handed in his blank test before leaving the classroom. He looked back only to see his teacher crumble up the test and throw it in the trash. "I hate you, you stupid ghost, the sooner you leave the better."

After asking a few students wandering the halls where the principal's office was, he was on his way there. Each step felt like a journey, he was afraid of what would happen, what his older brother would say. Kiku almost couldn't believe it as he stood at the door to the dreaded office and knocked lightly.

"Come in." A voice said from behind the door.

"You're Kiku?" The principal asked as the boy in question took a seat.

"Y-yes."

"Your teacher said you would be down here. So, trying to be the class clown, hm?"

"N-no, not at all m'am, I-" Before Kiku could finish his sentence he heard a voice.

"Dude what are you gonna tell her? A ghost was bothering you during class? Yeah good luck with that one." As much as Kiku hated to admit it the ghost did have a point.

"Actually yes I was, I thought that...that it would be funny." Kiku swallowed the huge lump in his throat. He hated lying, he rarely ever did it, plus this lie was going to get him in trouble.

"Well, this is your first time down here, correct?" The woman asked.

"Yes m'am."

"Then I will let you off with a warning, just this once. Don't let me see you in my office again, because next time it will be much more than just a warning."

"Yes m'am, thank you."

Kiku walked out into the hallway. He let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding. The bell rang and Kiku jumped. "Fourth period already? Just how much time had passed while I was in there?" The rest of the school day passed, not soon enough for Kiku though.