Chapter 13

TT: I'm back!

Eris: Kyooo! Make her go away!

Kyo: She's your creator, you do it.

Eris: But she's mean! She made me die!

Kyo: You were already dead.

Eris: Only because she made me that way!

TT: Ignore that for now. Eris is just upset that I told her death story for the entire world to hear.

To everyone who said they don't like ouiji boards: Neither do I, I actually think that they are kind of evil, having grown up with a strong Christian background. But some people think differently, and I respect that.

DragonLady – no, I haven't seen 'Ghost', horror movies aren't something I tend to watch, because I'm rather bad with them.

Tidus – Eris and Akito will meet all in good times, just be patient. I have plans for them, but its much closer to the end of the story. Mwahahaha!

Eris: Now she's never going to stop laughing! Maybe Kyo and I should quit, then she can't update any mo - Oooh, are those brownies?

TT: Kashuneko – I did mention, in passing, that Eris was named after the ancient Greek (it was either Greek or Roman, I can't remember) goddess of chaos and discord, but I don't know if anyone else really picked up on it. I just thought that old Gods was a cute theme for the names of her and her brother.

Sora – thanks for pointing out my typos. When I start getting into my writing, my grammar slips. ;;

Since last chapter was so sad, I'm going to try and make this one funnier – if I get myself into an angst loop, we'll never see the end of it. So this one is more fun, and hopefully just as enjoyable to read as it was to write. BEWARE THE SILLINESS! The alternate title for this chapter is 'Death to The Ouiji Board!' Warning: Slight OOCness may be found, Kyo's reactions are a little extreme.

Eris: Ooh, look, chapter 13! Kyo, are you superstitious?

Kyo: No, now share the brownies already!

TT: Hey, don't I get any?

Eris stopped her story abruptly, and for a long time didn't say anything, her face taking on a haunted look. "Once I worked it out, worked out I was dead… I was terrified, and confused. I followed them when they took my body, but I can't really remember any of it, can't even remember my own funeral.

"After that, I followed Loki around for a while – you know, he never touched alcohol again after that. But I guess he couldn't forgive himself, because three years later… Well, after he died, I saw him once – right afterwards. He thought I was an illusion of his dying mind, and just wanted to know that I forgave him. Once I said I did, he moved on." She shrugged, almost helplessly, "He just moved on, and I was all alone…"

Kyo stared at her for a moment – the cheerful demeanor of the ghost-girl he knew so well had been replaced with a deep-set hurt. It was just another link between the two. Without hesitating, he reached a hand over and resting it on her shoulder. Instead of falling through, it stayed there, and she smiled weakly at him.

For a long time, they sat there, simply staring out into the twilight in a comforting silence.

"Hey, NeKyo?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Thanks."

Eris stuck her head through the door, glancing either side, before pulling her head back, turning to Kyo, "Cost is clear. I can't believe you were actually serious about this!"

Kyo gave her a half-heated glare, "Come on, hurry up before someone comes."

"Oh, right!" Obediently, she followed Kyo down the stairs, humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme song as she did so.

In this fashion the pair slowly made their way to the living room, where the ouiji board sat innocently on the table. The sight of the – no doubt evil – object made Kyo's skin crawl. He'd seen what these things could do before.

"Are the gloves necessary?" Eris held her hands up defensively when the cat glared at her, "I was just asking!"

Ignoring her for the moment, Kyo put another pair of thick rubber gloves over his current pair, before lifted the board up at the corners with the tips of his fingers. He flinched, but after a moment opened his eyes and – finding that nothing bad had yet happened – relaxed slightly.

The ghost, hovering at shoulder-height, rolled her eyes, "Want me to carry it for you?"

"No! You'll drop it!" The cat held the object away from her. "Is it safe to go?"

"Hold up -" Eris disappeared through the wall, reappearing moments later, "I think Yuki's at his garden-thing. Tohru's still out with her friends, but I didn't see Shigure anywhere."

"He's probably tormenting his editor, or doing something perverted that I don't want to know about… Stupid dog." Shuddering slightly, the cat snuck towards the door.

Just as Eris was about to open it for him – the cat struggling to keep the board balanced while using only his finger tips – the door opened from the other side. Kyo jumped, and Eris grabbed the ouiji board, holding it above her head near the ceiling.

The door opens, revealing Tohru on the other side. The brunette looks surprised to see Kyo standing there, looking almost nervous. "Oh, Kyo! Were you going out somewhere?"

Heart still pounding, Kyo nods, "Er, yeah."

"Oh… Where were you going?"

"Just for a walk." His breathing paused as Eris, taking an initiative, creeps around Tohru through the door, the offending evil object still held high above her head. All Tohru had to do was look up…

Tohru, fortunately, was unaware of this, though she did shiver from a sudden cold sensation, "Well, alright Kyo, enjoy your walk. But maybe you should take a jacket, I think it's getting chilly out there…"

"I'll be fine." With that he let Tohru through the door, before walking out himself. He waited until the door had closed, before letting out a sigh of relief.

"You're getting too stressed about this, Kyo."

"You shut up!"

On the other side of the door, Tohru paused, wondering what had been with the gloves Kyo had been wearing….

Giving his eyes a rest from his computer screen, Shigure glanced out the window, surprised to see Kyo almost looking… paranoid… as he took something towards the forest – what, he couldn't say. But that wasn't what worried him. No, what worried him was that the cat had his head turned to the side, and appeared to be talking to someone who didn't exist…

From where he was working in his 'secret base', Yuki thought he heard a girl's voice – one he didn't recognize – and looked up, nervous that he'd find some admirer standing over him. But all he saw was a flash of orange – which he assumed was Kyo – wandering deep into the forest.

"I really think your being silly about this, NeKyo."

"The board is evil – evil I tell you! It must be destroyed."

Worried about the gleam that had suddenly appeared in Kyo's eye, Eris held her hands up defensively, "Okay! Okay, geesh. When'd you get so superstitious? It's just a painted bit of wood."

"It is evil! If we don't destroy it, it'll try to steal Tohru's soul!"

"Where'd you hear that?"

"…The internet." Kyo admitted, looking the slightest bit sheepish for his earlier outbursts.

"Maybe you should go back to fighting the ra – I mean, Yuki – you're new way of relieving stress is scaring me. Plus, I think its unhealthy to think a piece of wood wants to steal your friend's soul. Does that doctor-dragon/seahorse guy have a degree in psychology? Maybe counseling would make you feel better. I know that being dead means that I'm kinda out of touch with how the latest generation acts, but this is just weird, even for you…"

Kyo ignored the ghosts rambling, instead looking around the clearing before nodding in satisfaction. "This will be fine."

"Okay, what are we going to do? Bury the board?"

Instead of answering, Kyo placed the wooden ouija board on the ground and, much to Eris' shock, brought his fist down on the object, making it break and splinters fly in every direction.

"Kyo! What do you think your doing? You're going to hurt yourself!" The ghost grabbed his hand, looking it over. There was blood on his knuckles, and a splinter was stuck in the back of his hand – which the girl promptly pulled out for him – but seemed otherwise unhurt.

Kyo gathered the pieces of wood and put them in a pile, before pulling out a box of matches.

"Oh – Ooooh! Can I light the match? Can I? Can I? Pretty please?" Eris pouted childishly when Kyo lit the match himself – the cat stuck his tongue out in reply – and dropped the match onto the remains of the ouija board.

"Mwahaha! Yes, burn you evil thing! Burn and return to the depths of hell from where you came!"

"…Hey, that's what I used to say to my maths books when I had to return them at the end of the year."

Half an hour later – with several strange, slightly disturbing and gloating remarks from Kyo towards the burning object – the ouija board was nothing more than a pile of ash that the wind was slowly blowing away.

Suddenly feeling much calmer and more rational than he had been since the ouiji board had entered his home, Kyo turned to walk away from the clearing. He glanced at Eris, "Come on, lets go torture Yuki."

Eris gave a mischievous grin, and nodded her head, darting after the cat, "Ooo, you should put a mousetrap on his pillow some time! Or under the blankets where he can't see it, and when he climbs into bed – SNAP!"

Late that night, after Kyo had gone to bed, Eris disappeared, and sat hunched on the road guard. Between her feet, attached firmly to the guard, was a bouquet of fake flowers, the colour long since drained out. The cloth petals fluttered in the breeze of passing cars, but no one ever seemed to notice.

One day, she reflected, she should see if she could get Kyo to come here. She couldn't quite remember where her grave was – though she had an idea – but this place was much more a memorial in any case. It was something worth sharing with a friend like the Sohma cat.

A car zipped past, backing her form wavering like a wisp of smoke in its slipstream. If the driver had thought to look in the rear-view mirror at that moment, he might've seen a shadow of a figure by the edge of the road. But, as he didn't, no one will ever know if it would have been the case.