"Stops struggling! This is why I tied you up in the first place!"

"We even dunked his hair in vinegar but it didn't come out."

Protector of Silence

Chapter Nine - Halloween

At first, Kellyn had thought Keith had finally lost it. He'd been playing more pranks than usual, that was for sure. First, Kellyn had woken up to find a plastic Ariados on his face. He'd squeaked the school down to make an understatement. Mind you his wake-up prank hadn't been as bad as Isaac's.

Then lessons begun. Well, lessons begun late thanks to Keith now releasing Kaplan's Bidoof into the school. Kellyn wasn't sure why the ginger had made the Bidoof all wear black masks and Haunter-purple capes, but that wasn't the relevant bit. The nine of them together had created such a disturbance their history lesson had to be transformed into a catch-and-tidy lesson. Then, all the way through Geography, Keith had proceeded to throw mini plastic pumpkins around the classroom until Kincaid confiscated them all. Kellyn was half glad he did. Even if they weren't much bigger than tennis balls, those things really hurt when they hit you on the back of the head!

Lunchtime had also been eventful after Keith had plucked up the courage to lead the Ghastlys out of the basement and send them on a mission around school to scare at least thirty people. Although Kellyn wasn't sure how they would have achieved that since there were only 12 pupils, 2 teachers and then the Principle, Kaplan, his co-work Claire, Cook and Janice. Considering that added up to 18 Kellyn could tell Keith had been sleeping through Maths again. Only today he wasn't asleep through that or Art after lunch as he pulled out all the stocks to spook everyone to death with his pranks, which included a half-wild Glameow which he had strangely painted black.

It wasn't until Dinner when he finally got some answers out of the girls.

"Didn't you check your calendar?" Rhythmi giggled. Kellyn frowned. Rhythmi knew he didn't have a calendar "What's the date?"

October 31st. So?

"Oh come on Kellyn!" Kate sighed, smiling "It's Halloween!" Kellyn tilted his head to the side. Yeah, Luke and Clio had talked about that name a lot at this time of year, but he had never exactly taken part in, whatever it was.

"Which translates as 'Trick-or-Treating Night'" Rhythmi explained "We were hoping you would join us. I mean Isaac's not coming and I don't think any of us could bare to be stuck with Keith and his friends all night. I mean you saw how unbearable Keith is in the daytime!" Kellyn paused, then shrugged and finally nodded. Then he wrote something:

Okay, but one thing. What's trick-or-treating?

What bomb went off in here?

Kellyn's eyes widened as he looked into the dorm room. He'd only come up to get his book, but he'd received nothing short of a heart attack when he opened the door. One thing he hadn't expected was Keith to be standing right in front of him in a black and white skeleton costume. But now he was inside and had finished squeaking the school down again, he saw everyone was getting dressed up. Ponte was apparently a Gengar whilst Nick was dressed up as a vampire. Liam had a strange costume but he called it 'Jack the Ripper' or something like that and had his own mini flick-knife. Isaac was apparently not taking part and had gone to take cover in the library or the basement. Kellyn didn't blame him. Nick and Liam were having what appeared to be a claw-on-knife fight on one side of the dorm.

Isaac's bed hadn't survived, there were so many costumes and clothes on it Kellyn couldn't even see the duvet. Thankfully his own bed had been untouched, but that was probably because it was a top bunk, and because Keith knew that Kellyn would personally kick him halfway around Ranger School and back if it was touched.

"No bomb" answered Keith "We were just trying on our Halloween costumes." He rubbed his chin, studying Kellyn's uniform "Not much of a costume..." He then called "Hey Nick! You got another costume over there for Kellyn?"

"Oh please! Spare Kellyn the misery of your fashion sense Keith!" They must have left the door open, because leaning in the doorway was Kate.

"Hey! Boys-only dorm!" Ponte complained.

"Yeah! Scram before we call Janice!" Liam added, pointing his knife half-threateningly in Kate's direction.

"Nice try boys, but I've got permission" she laughed. She unfolded a piece of paper with: 'Permission to enter the boy's dorm under any circumstances' written on it with a blue stamp shaped like a Cranidos in the corner.

"What!" everyone's jaws dropped, it was Nick who spoke though "How did you get one of those things?"

"Isaac stamped one for Rhythmi for their joint science project last year, but since she doesn't need it any more she gave it to me." All the boys except Kellyn groaned.

"Isaac!" Keith groaned "Fine! What do you want Kate?"

"All I want to save Kellyn from you guys" smiled Kate as she walked into the dorm "Kellyn doesn't have a costume, right? And Rhythmi has taken the other girls down to the library to plan something, probably a Christmas party or something. So what I suggest..." She placed a hand on Kellyn's shoulder "...is that I find a costume for Kellyn."

"You?" Keith asked, considered it, then smiled "'You got an idea?"

"Yup" Kate nodded.

"Alright then" Keith smiled "Give it your best shot. But if you fail then we'll take over and find Kellyn a costume." Kellyn folded his arms. He wanted to snap back something about not needing anyone to put a costume together for him, but since this was five on one he could see it was not going to happen.

"Okay then short-stuff" Kate smiled, grabbing his wrist and yanking him towards the door "Time for a make-over."

Kellyn had found it bad enough being dragged into the girl's dorm, but being literally tied to a chair by a rope was too much.

"Stop struggling!" Kate complained, checking the ropes "This is why I tied you up in the first place!" Kellyn sent her a death glare. That wasn't the only reason she had tied him up, particularly his arms. He couldn't reach his notebook, and therefore couldn't protest any further than his grunts and squeaks. That was what annoyed him the most.

Kate took a few steps back, using her thumbs and forefingers to make a square which she looked through with one eye in a camera-like manner.

"Keeeete..." Kellyn began, but Kate was for once wasn't interested in his attempt to speak.

"Don't 'Kete' me" she interrupted, opening what he hoped wasn't a make-up bag but wanted to bet was "Now, I've got the perfect idea for your look..." She explained the idea, and Kellyn eyes widened into an 'Are you serious?' look.

"Completely" Kate nodded "Now, here we go!" She removed a pot of blue-black inky powder from the bag. Kellyn's white pupils dilated as he shook his head.

"Oh come on, don't be a wuss!" Kate complained, placing her hands on her hips "It just goes in your hair and washes out when you go in the shower! It's not going to permanently dye you blue!" Kellyn didn't look convinced.

"Kellyn, please!" Kate gave him puppy-dog eyes "I wouldn't force you to do anything that wasn't safe for your health or social status!"

'Clio's exact words before she dangled me off a cliff by my arm unless I helped her prank Luke' Kellyn thought. However he did trust Kate a lot more than Clio. Very reluctantly, he nodded his consent.

"Good" Kate smiled, putting on a pair of plastic gloves which made her look too much like a surgeon for Kellyn's liking "Let's get started!"

Whilst he complained about it a lot, Kate rubbed the powder into his hair. His annoyance fuelled his desire to speak and he just managed to give Kate a piece of his mind.

"Who cares if your hair is messy?" Kate protested "You only ever brush the front anyway!"

'Yeah, so?' Kellyn thought 'That's only because Keith comes and drags me away somewhere before I get round to the back!' But since Kate was ignoring him, he just gritted his teeth and bared it.

Some time later, when she was sure the powder wasn't going to rub off onto his clothes, Kate pulled an outfit out of the wardrobe and shooed him into the bathroom to get changed. Thankfully there was no one in the common room area when he had to cross it. The clothes were a tad on the big side, but he could cope. Well accept with the headband.

"It's not a necklace you know" Kate smiled when he came back with it around his neck. He folded his arms and began squeaking to her how he'd tried and tried again to get that thing round his forehead but had only proceeded to end up with it constantly falling down his face.

"Alright, alright! I get it!" she waved her hands out in front of her to ward off Kellyn's death-glare "I'll find you another one!" Once they had found a smaller headband, Kate sat him down in the chair again (this time he had promised he wouldn't run away also she didn't tie him up) and started on the make-up. First she sponged his face white and then started playing around with some thin brushes. Then she took a few steps back to marvel at her handy work.

"Your eyes are the wrong colour" she commented "Well, not much I can do about that." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room "Come on, I want to see Keith's face when he sees you. You're going to blow those boys out of the water!"

Once again Kate grabbed Kellyn's wrist and proceeded to drag the now very fed up boy into the room next-door. At first, both were a bit afraid to go in as they heard Nick and Keith laughing, Liam shaking a tin or bottle of something and Ponte crying out in what might be agony.

"Sounds like Liam and Nick have dragged Ponte into that fight, huh?" Kate raised an eyebrow at Kellyn. Kellyn could only nod, a little afraid of what he was going to see on the other side of the door.

Thankfully, as Kate pushed the door open, Kellyn noted Liam had yet to carve anyone up with his knife and Nick had yet to shred someone with his claws. Keith and Nick were on the floor rolling about in laughter, Liam was practically skipping around the room and Ponte was on his knees in front of the long mirror, crying. It was immediately obvious why, and it told them what the bottle Liam was shaking whilst he was skipping was. Hair spray. Poor Ponte's hair was now a deep cerulean colour that could be only be described as turquoise.

'Great Arceus!' Kellyn raised an eyebrow 'What possessed them to that?'

"Holy Mew!" Kate spluttered "What in the name of Latios did you do to Ponte?" She directed her attention to the way-too-hyper blond who was dancing around with a hair-spray bottle, but Liam was dancing around so much and laughing so loudly they all doubted he could hear her. So she turned and glared at Keith with her hand on her hips.

"W-What? Why are you glaring at me?" Keith raised his hands to ward off Kate's icy glare. He pointed at his friend "It was Nick's idea!"

"Not true!" Nick protested "You suggested it Keith!"

"I did not!" Keith shook his head defiantly.

"You did too!" Nick nodded furiously.

"Did not!" Keith pushed Nick even though they were sitting cross-legged.

"Did too!" Nick did the same to Keith.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did n...!"

"ENOUGH!" Kellyn could practically see the smoke swirling gout of Kate's ears and possibly her nostrils in a Typhlosion-like manner as she yelled.

"He started it!" Nick and Keith unisoned, using both their hands to point at each other.

"I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!" Kate fumed "Now, WHAT HAPPENED?" Ponte sniffed and looked at her with teary blue eyes.

"Liam suggested it" he whimpered "He said Janice had some temporary hairspray I could use to turn my hair purple and make my costume look great..." He burst into tears "But the instructions were in Orrian!"

"And he takes Kantonese" Nick explained.

"And now it won't come out" Keith explained "We tried everything, we even dunked his hair in vinegar and it didn't come out." Kellyn blinked. If they had dunked Ponte in vinegar and laughed about it, he wondered what other types of cruel punishment they'd put the marshmallow-eating boy through whilst he was being dragged around and tied to chairs by Kate.

"Oh Ponte!" Kate sighed "You know those cheap hair sprays are as reliable as Keith staying awake all the way through reading-period!" Ponte whimpered and curled up into a ball from his kneeling position on the floor. Kate sighed again and crouched beside him, patting his shoulder.

"Ponte, cheer up" Kate tried to cheer him up "Your hair's not so bad. I mean, look at Kaplan, his hair's blue and he doesn't care."

"Kaplan's a weirdo though!" Ponte groaned.

"Can't deny the logic there" Keith nodded un-usefully, just avoiding getting his hand trodden on by Liam who was sill skipping and laughing "Oi! Watch it Liam!"

"Ignore Keith" Kate continued to try and cheer Ponte up "Ponte, you don't need to look pretty to be a great ranger. You got the second highest test mark in our class. And I mean, look at Keith. He's a once-record-holding capturer and have you seen his ugly mug? One word: Trubish."

"Hey!" Keith protested "You're one to talk, with those spiky pigtails! And what's wrong with my face exactly?" Ponte uncurled himself, chuckling.

"Everything's wrong with it Keith" Kate answered, standing up and folding her arms "Remember when that new kid fainted at the botto of the stairs when we were coming down them last year?"

"I thought he passed out from nervousness?" Keith asked, cocking his head to one side "He went home after a week."

"Oh he passed out alright" Kate nodded "He passed out because you were so hideous to look at his brain couldn't take it." Kellyn was glad he was mute. That way Keith wouldn't hear him cracking his ribs with laughter in the doorway.

"Why you!" Keith felt to his feet, red with rage.

"Seriously Keith, facial surgery is needed" Kate couldn't resist going on further "Your face is so hopelessly scrambled there are days when I want to try and save it myself, before it's too late." She said the last bit in a sinister tone that caused Kellyn, Nick and Ponte to start cracking up. Liam had no idea what he was missing in his own stupidity.

"You doing facial surgery!" Keith snorted, sulking and folding his arms "That'll be the day that kills me! I probably won't survive it!"

"Well Kellyn survived his costume surgery" Kate pointed out "Aren't you even going to look at my creation?"

"Hmph! Why should I?!" Keith snapped, subconsciously turning his head to look at Kellyn out of the corner of his left eye "I mean it's not like it's going to be any go... YOW!"

Keith sprang so high up Kellyn wouldn't be surprised if he hit the ceiling. That seemed to ring true when he landed with a thud and start nursing his head and and his back. Liam then looked at him, snapped out of his lunatism and dropped the bottle of turquoise hair-spray, making no move to pick it up again. Ponte looked like he was about to try and crawl into a mouse hole in order to hide and Nick looked frozen, his jaw dropped.

'What?' Kellyn thought desperately 'What did Kate do to me?'

"You wanna see?" Kate smiled, beckoning him over to the large mirror. Avoiding standing on the costumes and what-not littered all over the floor, Kellyn made his way over to the mirror. He jaw dropped when he saw his reflection, his eyes widdening.

"Whoa!" Keith gasped somewhere behind him "I gotta hand it to ya Kate, that's a darn good job!"

"It's more than a good job!" Liam put in "Kellyn you look just like...!" He broke off, as if he was almost afraid to say the next two words. So Nick said them for him:

"Lunick Kazuki."

And he did. Kate was a genius, officially. She'd made his hair looked even messier than normally above his head and the powder now made it look a dark shade of cobalt. The costume she'd forced him to wear (he hadn't been able to get a good look at it in the bathroom thanks to the lights that seriously needed repairing) was a Fiorian ranger's uniform, a Ringtown one to be exact. For a second he wondered why Kate had a Fiorian ranger's uniform in her wardrobe, even if that was her home region, but pushed the thought away. To add a ghostly element to him, Kate had put her make-up kit to good use and made his face, hands and legs looked corpse-white and decorated his face with scars.

'Is that what my brother really looked like?' Subconsciously, his hand reached up to where his locket hung, but fell to his side again as he remembered it wasn't around his neck any more. That was the only tie he had to his brother, accept for these psychic powers he possessed. Not for the first time, he wished he could have known the one who had cared for him so much just a little longer, so he could at least remember his face. He had the same feeling as a child who was orphaned near birth, wishing only to know what it's parents looked like.

"So, did I do a good job?" Kate elbowed him. Kellyn wondered whether he should tell Kate that Lunick was actually his older brother and he was over the moon about her choosing this costume instead of dressing him up as a Gengar or a vampire...or whatever Jack the Ripper was. He also wondered whether he should tell her how he found it strange, looking like his brother, but as something to be feared.

'No, not now' he decided 'It's better if some things are left unsaid until it necessary for them to be told.' So instead he wrote:

It's great Kate, seriously

Kellyn frowned as Kate read the message. Was there a reason her cheeks were going red? Was she coming down with a fever or something? Huh, why is Keith smiling? That's never a good thing.

"Oooh!" Keith smiled "Is that a blush I see?"

That only made the ginger female's cheeks turn an even brighter red.

"Um...I-I'd better find the girls and tell them to put their costumes on" she said as quickly as possible "See you guys later! Bye!" She hurried out of the room as fast as her legs would take her.

'Well that was odd' Kellyn frowned 'When since did Kate start acting nervous?'

"Well well well" Keith folded his arms and shook his head "Looks like someone has a crush."

That just made Kellyn even more confused. But when he asked for answers, Keith found that even more amusing:

Since when did you have a crush on Kate?