Alyx skipped into homeroom, throwing her stuff down and pulling out the chair next to Hikaru.

"Good morning!" she all but sang. Liza walked into the room in the exact opposite mood of Alyx: grumpy, pouty, and tired-looking.

"You're cheerful," Hikaru noted. Alyx nodded like a kid in a candy store, but offered no explanation. Hikaru sighed, exasperated.

"Any particular reason why you're so cheerful?" She nodded again, staring starry-eyed out into the deep space beyond his head.

"You know, Alyx, if I didn't like you so much, I'd probably strangle you," he said, his annoyance soaring by the second. She snapped out of her trance, cocking her head. "Huh?"

"Would you care to tell me whyyou're so cheerful?!?" he practically yelled.

"Sheesh, impatient, much," Haruhi muttered.

"HALLOWEEN!!" Alyx sang, a huge smile coming on her face. Liza groaned, putting her head on her arms.

"No!" she moaned. Alyx turned to her, a taunting grin on her face.

"Yes! The most wonderful day of the year!"

"SHUT UP!" Liza yelled, throwing a pencil at her twin's head. Alyx dodged the projectile and cackled evilly.

"Liza, why don't you like Halloween?" Haruhi asked, trying to distract the twins from throwing things at each other.

"'Cuz she's a wimp!" Alyx exclaimed, ducking behind Kaoru before Liza could throw something again.

"Hey, why are you ducking behind me?" Kaoru asked. "Shouldn't you be ducking behind him?" He motioned towards his twin.

"'Course not. She's not willing to hurt you, while she doesn't really care that much about Hikaru."

"Touché."

"It's not just that I'm a wimp," Liza explained, bringing them back to the original question, "it's that you try to make Halloween as hard for me as possible!" She turned to address the others. "She always plays the most horrible pranks on me, and I usually end up in tears because I'm so scared."

"As I said—you're a wimp," Alyx said cheerfully.

"No, you're cruel!" Liza shouted. Their argument was interrupted by the class president, Kazukiyo.

"Well then, let's move onto the next item on the agenda," he said. Alyx started doodling. All she heard was: "Discuss…special activity…next week…" She yawned. "Boring," she muttered under her breath.

"Yeah, Halloween," she heard Hikaru explain. She immediately started listening.

"What's this about Halloween?"

"After we finish taking our exams for the fall, we're allowed a few days off until the end of October, and we get to throw costume parties on campus to celebrate!" the Kurakano, the vice-president explained.

Alyx zoned out again, not really listening until Renge appeared, screaming, "BORING, BORING, BORING!" at the top of her lungs. "Oh, great," she muttered. She ignored Renge as she babbled on about rubbish, until she said: "So I propose holding a Halloween Test of Courage Tournament, where the bravest student wins!"

"Oh my god, she actually came up with something intelligent!" Alyx exclaimed, bouncing in her chair and clapping her hands. "That sounds like so much fun!!"

"No it doesn't," Liza squeaked. As Renge went on to explain the event, Alyx became more and more excited, while Liza became more and more upset.

"And anyone who leaves gets a feature on the front page of the school newspaper as the 'captain of all cowards!'" Hikaru said excitedly.

"No, that's not fair!" Liza exclaimed. Unfortunately, her cry was drowned out by the number of people agreeing to the plan, including, of course, her twin.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Alyx exclaimed, already plotting things with Hikaru to do to Liza.

"Um, all right then, are there any objections to the majority vote?" The president asked, looking directly at Haruhi. Liza started to raise her hand, but Alyx and Hikaru tackled her to the ground before she could protest.

"Oh, very well. The motion passes unanimously. The last 1A event for this year will be a Halloween Test of Courage Tournament," the president said weakly.

"No!" Liza groaned, shoving Alyx off of her. She stalked angrily out of the room, not bothering to wait for her so-called "friends."

~*~

As Liza opened the door to the third music room, her jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me!" she moaned, regarding the coven of vampires staring at her.

"Halloween might be a week away officially," Tamaki proclaimed, "but here at the Host Club, we start haunting season a little early."

"Perfect," Liza snarled, stomping into the kitchen. "Just perfect. I guess everyone hates me today."

"Vee don't 'ate you," a voice came from right behind her. She screamed, dropping the tray she was holding on her foot. She turned around, glaring at her sister, who was in full vampire garb.

"Vee just vant to suck your blood!" She cackled evilly. Liza smacked Alyx on the shoulder.

"You're horrible!" She stormed out of the kitchen in time to see the boy-twins and Haruhi telling Tamaki that they wouldn't be doing any club activities until after Halloween was over, because they'd be too busy preparing for the class event.

"Wait," Liza called, running over. "Does that mean we don't have to be here either?"

"Hmm, I suppose it does," Kyouya said. "Duty calls, then."

"Have fun!" Hunny-sempai exclaimed. Then, of course, Tamaki went all crazy-rant and everyone ignored him, as usual.

"You're a drama queen," Alyx exclaimed. Liza jumped.

"When'd you get here?" she asked coldly.

"Oh, about three seconds ago…" Liza rolled her eyes, and was about to retort when the boy-twins grabbed them and pulled them from the room. "Adieu!" they called. As soon as they were clear of the music room, the boys let the girls go.

"So," Hikaru said.

"Let's go prepare for our Fear Trial!" Kaoru finished. Liza sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Uh-uh," she said. "I don' wanna." She realized that she was acting with the maturity of a 2-year-old, but she didn't care.

"Liza, you're part of our class—you have to participate," Kaoru explained gently. "Don't worry," he continued. "We can be in the same group—I'll protect you."

"Awww, isn't Kaoru soooooooo sweeeet?" Alyx gushed.

"Shut up!" Liza seethed, close to tears now.

"You're quite the knight-in-shining…whatever, Kaoru, but nothing will protect her from us," Hikaru grinned evilly, Alyx copying him, and thunderclouds and lightning in the background.

"NO! I HATE YOU ALL!" Liza screamed as she ran away. Alyx and Hikaru high-fived each other.

"This will be good!" they chorused in unison.

~*~

Liza sat in the homeroom classroom, sulking and doodling her favorite anime characters while the others were discussing budgets and costumes and everything else for her night of terror. Suddenly, she saw Kazukiyo outside, waving at her, beckoning her out. She looked back at her classmates and sighed. Well, they don't need me anyway, she thought. She turned to see Haruhi joining her.

"Let's just see what he wants," Liza suggested.

~*~

"You have nyctophobia…" Haruhi began.

"…So you're afraid of the dark?" Liza asked.

"Yes, and you can add to that horror movie-phobia, scary ghost story-phobia, being startled by a loud noise in the other room-phobia, and accidentally seeing trailers for horror movies-phobia," Kazukiyo complained.

"You sound like me," Liza empathized.

"And what's with those things?" He continued. "Why do they keep showing those without warning us about them first? It just doesn't make sense to me!"

"I'm glad someone finally agrees with me on this!" Liza exclaimed excitedly. "Wow, we're a lot alike, aren't we?"

"What ever happened to the Civil Rights for the fraidy cats out there? Cowards are people too!" He exclaimed, his voice growing more frantic.

"And what about the other classes, with their tea parties? IT'S JUST NOT FAAAAAAAAAAAIR!"

"Class rep, calm down!" Haruhi said, exasperated. "If you opposed the idea from the start, why didn't you just bring it up in the meeting?"

"Yeah, helped the rest of us who were scared out of our wits at such a prospect!" Liza pouted.

"I tried to, but I don't want to look like I'm throwing my weight around up there! I was counting on your help to SAAAAAAAAVE MEEEEEEEEE!"

"Please calm down!" Haruhi exclaimed, sharing a worried glance with Liza. "How was I exactly supposed to save you?"

"I was desperately giving you signs to oppose the motion while it was up for vote, but you just didn't seem interested!"

Haruhi glanced at Liza.

"Did you notice?"

"Uh, no, I was tackled to the floor, remember? Otherwise I would've objected!" The president had tears streaming down his face.

"If just one person objects, then it goes up for discussion!" he wailed.

"Uh…sorry," Haruhi said, looking slightly sheepish. "I guess I had no idea."

"Please, Fujioka, you have to let me be on your team! If I'm with you, then maybe your peace of mind will help me, AND I CAN REMAIN MORE CAAAAAAAAAALM!

"Class rep!"

"And one more thing—you can't tell the Hitachiin brothers, or your twin, Liza!" Just then, the three aforementioned peoples' faces loomed suddenly by them out of darkness.

"Good lord, where did you come from?" Liza asked, clutching her heart.

"Rumor has it the stork brought us," they all said in unison. They turned to the class rep.

"Is someone a fraidy-cat?" they all asked, grinning devilishly. After exactly three seconds of silence (Liza counted), he started spazzing.

"Oh, there you are!" Kurakano said. Everyone turned to her. "We're about to choose groups. So do you have any idea who you want to have on your team?" The twins-and-a-half (the Hitachiins and Alyx) stood up and gathered the rest of the group.

"Yeah, the six of us will be one!" they chorused.

"Great! You guys will be team B, then!"

"Sounds like fun, right, class rep?" the twins asked.

"Yeah, right, Liza?" Alyx added. The two cowards looked at each other.

"This is a nightmare!!" they cried.

~*~

It was Halloween night. The school was completely decked out in frightful decorations. Well, Liza mused, the decorations aren't that bad. There are mainly a bunch of Jack-o-lanterns around. It's the dark part that's scary. She and the rest of her group were sitting in their assigned post, waiting for the "fun"/"torture" to begin (whichever way you looked at it).

"Hey, Kaoru," Hikaru said. "Tell us the story about the evil clock tower witch!"

"Wh-what?" Liza stammered, her teeth chattering. She and Kazukiyo were both shaking like leaves. The twins-and-a-half weren't helping any.

"One Halloween, many years ago," Kaoru started, "a girl dressed in a witch costume fell to her death from the tower." Liza let out a small squeak of terror.

"And now," Alyx began,

"Whoever sees her ghost on Halloween night WILL BE CURSED FOREVER!" the boy-twins joined her. Liza screamed, and they were just a few inches away when they started yelling.

"God, Kaoru, you're such a hypocrite!" She stood up and stormed down the hallway, trying to hide the tears of fear running down her face.

"Liza, wait," Kaoru called as he ran after her. That left Hikaru and Alyx, who were grinning maniacally at their joke.

"Would you guys knock it off?" Haruhi yelled. "The point is to scare someone NOT on your team! Why don't you save that dumb shtick for somebody else?" The two troublemakers were doing some sort of weird dance thing that made them look stupid.

"No one's come yet!" they complained in unison. "We're tired of waiting around!" Haruhi turned away from them in disgust to help the class rep, and they sat down together to plot their next move. Meanwhile, around the corner…

~*~

"Liza, wait!"

"Just leave me alone, Kaoru," she said, her voice cracking. She just wanted out of here as fast as possible.

"Liza, if you leave, you'll be in the newspaper!"

"I don't care!" she yelled back at him, speeding up. He ran and caught her arm.

"Hang on a second. Just tell me what's wrong," he said, his voice gentle. Liza let out an exasperated sigh.

"Kaoru, it's seriously like you're two different people," she said. "You go from being sweet and chivalrous one minute to bringing me to tears the next," she continued, wiping her eyes for emphasis.

"Liza, what are you talking about?" he asked, hands on both of her shoulders.

"I guess the whole 'Oh, let's be in the same group, I'll protect you!' thing was a lie, huh?" she asked, doing a crappy imitation of him.

"No, of course—"

"But then, next thing I know, you're trying your absolute hardest to scare the crap out of me!" She turned away from him and wiped her eyes.

"Liza, I'm not trying to scare you, I'm trying to scare—"

"Does it really matter?" she seethed, furiously turning around. "It's just the same! It doesn't matter who you're trying to scare! It pisses me off just as badly that you're trying to scare—"

But this time it was Kaoru who cut Liza off, and in a very different way.

He wasn't entirely sure what it was that had possessed him to kiss her, but now that he had jumped in with both feet, he could enjoy the water for a little while. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. She stood still for a moment in shock, not entirely sure what to do. Then, slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck while he entangled a hand in her hair. She held on a few moments longer, then pulled away. Kaoru looked shocked.

"I'm sorry, Liza, I really don't know—" She kissed him again, harder than before. Their lips remained locked for several minutes before both of their brains were screaming for oxygen.

"You're not mad at me?" Kaoru asked, looking slightly scared. Liza gave him a "look."

"Seriously, do you even have to ask me that?"

"Well, I thought you'd be pissed!" Liza shook her head, a small smile on her face.

"No, actually, that was…rather enjoyable." Kaoru grinned and took her hand.

"Liza, I promise that from now on, I'll be the chivalrous one. I'll be the person you want me to be, okay? And I promise, I will protect you tonight." He put an arm around her waist and led her back to the others. After a moments' hesitation, he turned to her.

"So, are we dating now?" Liza cocked an eyebrow.

"Is that your way of asking me out?"

"Erm…yes, I suppose it is."

"Well, then yes, I suppose so." She grinned and laughed as they turned the corner. The twins' jaws were on the ground.

"You leave for two seconds and now you're dating??" Hikaru asked. However, Kaoru didn't get a chance to answer, because Alyx was whacking him repeatedly on the head with a pumpkin.

"YOU SEDUCED MY SISTER??" she screeched. "HOW DARE YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!!" The bottom of the pumpkin gave out and slipped over Kaoru's head. Luckily for him, this made Alyx start giggling so much that Hikaru and Liza could pull her off of him. Of course, no one bothered to try helping him get the pumpkin off of his head. Everyone sort of ignored him while Liza confronted Alyx.

"Alyx, really, that was uncalled-for. You can't go around putting pumpkins on peoples' heads, especially 'people' who happen to be my boyfriend! And he didn't seduce me…well, not really, I guess…well, since seducing implies—er—never mind. But seriously, do I ever do this to you???"

"Liza, as your older sister, it is my obligation to protect you!"

"…Alyx, we're twins. And I'm older, by two minutes."

"That is completely irrelevant," Alyx pouted.

"How--? Never mind," Liza sighed.

"And anyway," Alyx continued. "You've never had the opportunity to need to protect me from jerkwads who might end up hurting you, because—"

"Whoa, wait, you're telling me you've never dated anyone before?" Hikaru asked, incredulous.

"No, I haven't. Does that surprise you?" Alyx questioned.

"Well, it's just that…um…because…" Hikaru's stammering were interrupted by Haruhi.

"Did you see that? That creepy shadow just now, outside the window?" she asked nervously.

"What?" Liza asked nervously, glancing around.

"Aw, come on, not you too, Fujioka! Knock it off, would ya?" Kazukiyo begged, spazzing once again. Suddenly, everyone was still. They heard a strange sound.

"W-what is that?" Alyx whispered. They all peered anxiously around the staircase to see a skull bouncing down. They all screamed.

"N-no way! It's a sneak attack from those A-team acts!" Kaoru whispered.

"Hey, it's not your turn, guys!" Alyx yelled, putting on a brave front.

"Yeah, follow the rules!" Hikaru yelled, kicking the skull. It ricocheted back up the stairway.

"Yeah, you show 'em!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"Stop—did you hear that?" Liza breathed.

"My skull…my skull…" Everyone stared up at the top of the staircase in fear. The clock began to toll the hour. A tall figure in a white robe stood on the stairs. Its black hair covered its face.

"Could it be…" Kazukiyo asked.

"The clock tower…" Liza continued.

"WITCH?" they screamed together.

"Why did you kick my SKULL?" The figure lifted its head, showing pale, taut grey skin with bloodshot eyes and a stream of blood trickling from the mouth.

"RUN!" Everyone screamed together. Liza, Kaoru and Kazukiyo went one way, while Haruhi, Hikaru and Alyx went the other.

"H-Hikaru, w-where are we g-going?" Alyx panted. Before he had a chance to answer, Haruhi tripped over a rope, springing a trap that was laid for them. The trio was caught in a net suspended from the ceiling.

"Ow! This was supposed to be a tournament, not a hunt," Hikaru muttered.

"No kidding!" Alyx complained, trying to get somewhat comfortable in their strange predicament. Suddenly a thought occurred to her. She gasped.

"Oh my God, where's Liza?" She shrieked.

"Kaoru! Where is he?" Hikaru yelled. They both started thrashing around, much to Haruhi's distress.

"Hey, cut it out!" she yelled. "Quit thrashing around like a bunch of idiots! I can get us out of this with my sewing scissors!" The twins both stopped.

"Wow," Alyx said, amazed.

"Even you have a feminine side!" Hikaru finished.

"Impressive," they said together.

"And just what is that supposed to mean? You've got a smart mouth, Hikaru!"

"What do you mean I've got a smart mouth?" he retorted. "Kaoru has one too, you know!" Haruhi laughed.

"Dream on! Not when he's all by himself, he doesn't. Unlike you; when you're alone you only get worse, believe me." Alyx giggled, knowing it was true.

"Oh yeah?" Hikaru retorted lamely.

"Now hold still for a second," Haruhi commanded, ending the argument. She got up (to the best of her ability) and leaned over Hikaru. He gasped softly.

"Whaaaat are you doing?" he asked, his eyes as big as saucers. Alyx burst into hysterical laughter, though she could feel something gnawing at her stomach. She was still mad about the whole Kaurizawa incident.

"Grow up," Haruhi muttered, speaking to both of them. "This is the only way I can reach where I need to cut. I know it's awkward, but it'll only take a minute."

"No, ah, it's all right. Take your time." Alyx gasped.

"Pervert!" she exclaimed, putting a hand over his eyes.

"Hey!" He shoved her lightly. "It's not my fault!" Alyx shoved him back…

Unfortunately for all involved, Haruhi had just finished cutting the ropes. The twins came tumbling to the ground and, even more unfortunately, Alyx's lips landed on Hikaru's.

~*~

Meanwhile, after being scared by various members of the Host Club in costume, Kaoru, Liza and Kazukiyo had been shoved into a room, and the door was locked behind them.

"Damn," Kaoru muttered.

"It's hopeless," Liza sighed.

"Looks like the A team got a little overzealous, huh?" he asked. Liza nodded, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Er, which ones are you?" the class rep asked, looking at the twins confusedly.

"I'm Kaoru, and this is Liza."

"Are you scared?" Liza asked kindly.

"Well, not anymore, no. My nerves have kind of shut down." The twins smiled kindly.

"Man," Kaoru sighed. "Our plans are completely shot."

"Such a shame, we even had it all figured out," Liza continued. "Down to the last detail."

"We had worked out a plan scaring Kurakano half to death, and you'd come charging to her rescue." Kazukiyo smiled.

"Wow, you'd do that for me?" he asked softly. "That's really thoughtful of you. But, I don't stand a chance. There's someone else she likes," he said sadly. "While it's true Fujioka doesn't seem to feel the same way quite yet, I'm positive that it's only a matter of time."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen, I can promise you that!" Kaoru said.

"Well, how do you know?"

"It just won't," Liza confirmed. The class rep then told them how he didn't want things to change, and that he loved things the way they were.

"So, in other words, you've cast a spell on the carriage," Kaoru mused.

"…What?" Liza asked. He continued on, neither of the others having a clue what he was talking about. As soon as he finished, they heard a loud crash.

"Kaoru?"

"Hikaru?" The boy-twins embraced, Liza's twin following shortly after, not having been able to run quite as fast. Which led them to…

"So…what happened to Fujioka?" Kazukiyo asked.

"Oh yeah," Hikaru said.

"That's right…" Alyx pondered.

"We kinda lost track," they shrugged together. They all came into the hall to see Haruhi jogging slowly up the hallway, barely able to breathe.

"What is wrong with you guys?" she asked, panting heavily. "I get us out and then you go tearing off by yourselves!"

"Sorry!" they exclaimed.

~*~

"So," Hikaru said. The group was going back to the starting place to try and find out who had tricked them. "About the kiss…"

"What about it?" Alyx was glad for the darkness, because it masked her blush. She was thankful that no one else was close enough to them to hear. "It didn't mean anything. It was just an accident, right?" Hikaru got a funny look on his face for a moment, then quickly shook his head.

"Right, of course. I just wanted to be sure you didn't think anything of it."

"Well, I didn't."

"Good."

"Good."

"Great."

"Yeah."

The twins fell into a somewhat awkward silence, which was broken when they returned to the tournament headquarters.

"There they are!" Renge called. The group quickly discovered that it hadn't been the A team, and that the tournament had been called off to look for them.

"But…wasn't that you guys trying to scare us?" Kaoru asked.

"No, we didn't do anything!" Suddenly, a group of girls screamed. Alyx rolled her eyes.

"Do teenage girls do nothing but scream?"

"There's something outside, by the window! There's a dark figure!"

"Oh please," Alyx muttered, her eyes drawn up to the ceiling with everyone else's. When a monstrous shadow appeared, the entire class freaked out, and they all died a little inside.

~*~

"Wow, they sure got us," Haruhi murmured.

"Nekozawa is such a jerk!" Hikaru muttered.

"Hey! Don't knock Neko-chan!" Alyx protested.

"How did we not know that was Belzenef?" Kaoru mused. Liza saw that Kurakano was talking to Kazukiyo, and she motioned for her friends to listen. She told him that she thought he was really sweet for going through with the tournament. Then Kaoru started talking about carriages again.

"What are you talking about?" The other twins asked.

"Nothing, just my own private joke. Come on, let's go." Kaoru gave Alyx and Hikaru a little push, and they continued walking on ahead of him.

"Are you coming, Kaoru?" Liza asked, turning and extending a hand. He shook himself out of his reverie.

"Yeah, let's go.

~*~

A/N: so like this is my first oneshotttt nad im super duper exitedddd and its for a contestttt and i hop e i winn!!!!!!! :):):)