Ah, Halloween day. Is there any other holiday that would better fit the personality of a certain telepath? I think not. Tracey sat in his first class and yawned as he glanced around the room noticing all the students in costumes.

'How absurd… I haven't worn a costume since I was in 4th grade. Halloween is a time for pranks and mischief.' He thought. A teacher setting foot in the classroom interrupted his mental discussion with himself.

The bell sounded and the room fell silent as the kids took their seats, waiting for their teacher to speak. The woman at the head of the class seemed to have been in her early twenties; her flowing brown hair was streaked with blue and purple hair dye. Obviously she was into the holiday spirit. Her light blue eyes shimmered as she gazed at her students.

"Good morning, class. I am Ms. Farseric, your substitute. Now I know today is Halloween so as a treat I've brought you all some candy." She lifted a mental bucket that was filled to the rim with all sorts of goodies that were hazardous to your teeth. Walking down each row she allowed the teens to take a handful.

Tracey shook his head at the offering. Had he known that the normal bitchy math teacher would be absent and the sub was going to hand out candy he would have skipped breakfast. The boy's violet eyes landed on the seat next to him, seeing that the desk was empty it caused his black eyebrow to arch questioningly. 'Sora, where are you?'

"Now" the teacher once again stood at the head of the class with a smile on her face. "Just because Halloween is a fun holiday doesn't mean we can skip out on work. So first thing second, let's do roll call." She took the attendance sheet into her hands and read the names off, getting a 'here' or 'yeah' in response until she reached 'his' name. "Sora Evens?" she waited, but got no reply. "Has anyone seen Sora?"

"He probably went somewhere to whack off at his thoughts of Tracey." Whispered one boy.

His friend snickered. "Or he went to go get a sex change so he could be his dead sister for Halloween." The two laughed, then for no reason or rather no reason to them, their heads slammed into one another.

"OW!!!"

"Is there something wrong boys?" Ms. Farseric asked.

"No…"

"Okay then." She marked something on the sheet then continued. "Tracey Galace."

"Here." He mumbled his eyes never left that of his best friend's desk.

The teacher finished reading off the attendance sheet then began to teach the math lesson. Needless to say the violet-eyed teen was too preoccupied with his missing friend to pay too much attention. But his ears were fixed on what the other students were talking about, however the main comments to catch his ears were from the two losers that had said the inappropriate things about Sora and they continued to do so.

At that time Tracey was getting rather angry with the senseless chatter that came from the two and used his telekinesis to make textbooks and other things fly around the room. Lightly he slammed the books into the boys' heads, causing them to scream in pain. Ms. Farseric whipped around, her blue eyes quivered with fear as she witnessed the flying objects.

Shaking, she dropped her textbook she was copying things out of and the chalk. "Cl-class is dismissed!" she shouted then ran right out the door, screaming at the top over lungs.

The students cheered and picked up their belongings as Tracey had the books drop to the floor. One after another the kids filed out of the room, but when the violet-eyed teen tried to pass the two who were bashing Sora stood in the doorframe.

"You know Galace, it's obvious that you care for the twerp that sits next to you, so why don't you go find him and screw him up the ass."

He arched an eyebrow. "Hm? Am I missing something? Do you have a problem with homosexuals or is uncalled for comments and pervertedness the only way you know?"

The other boy in the doorway snorted. "We have no problems with homosexuals just as long as they're hot lesbians and are rolling around naked in mud. You're the one with the problem seeing that you want to blow the blue-haired freak."

"When did I say that?"

"It's written all over your pants. You practically go hard any time that geek walks by you."

"I don't know where you got that idea, unless you were lookin somewhere you shouldn't be." He stopped for a moment for a small 'mental stroll' then a tiny smirked appeared on the young man's face. "Of course I also don't have erotic dreams about the nimrod standing next to you."

The boy blushed, while the first one that had spoken opened his mouth again. "What are you trying to pull?! Galace, you are a sick person for saying that about my good friend here not to mention that you obviously want to fuck your little Nancy-Boy friend."

Tracey again took a 'mental stroll'. He had had about enough of these two clowns. "I never once said that I have a romantic interest in Sora Evens, he is my friend and that is all." He glared at them, "If you two don't stop your harsh remarks regarding him I will go on the PA system and announce to the entire school your erotic fantasies and that YOU wear your mother's panties. What's it gonna be?"

"Y-you have no proof."

"So what if I don't?" he smirked a little more, "I'll do it any way. So which is it; keep bad mouthing Sora and receive public humiliation or leave him alone and no one gets hurt?"

"Fine." Said the second one. "We'll leave the singing sissy alone."

"Good." Tracey brushed passed the two, but stopped right after he set foot out of the classroom. "By the way, his name is Sora. Remember you say anything bad about him and it's on the PA system I go. And I might want to warn you that if you say that shit about me again I will become your worst nightmare…" he chuckled, "I hope this sinks into your thick skulls. For the rest of your high school days you are at my mercy…" with that he gave a small wave and walked off down the hall.

The telepath released a heavy sigh when he sat at his usual cafeteria table. He taped his fingers mindlessly against the top.

"Tracey, if you keep that up I'll sit somewhere else."

The black-haired boy lifted his gaze to see Jason standing in front of him with his tray of food. "I'm sorry, Jay. I just have something on my mind is all."

"I noticed." He sat down, "I hollered after you when we broke for lunch, but you just kept walking. What's going on?"

"Sora's not here."

"You know…" Jason started to chuckle as he whispered, "it's fairly obvious that you like Sora, why not ask him out? You know he'll say yes."

"What makes you think I'm interested in Sora?"

"Tracey, come on. You worry about him nonstop and you joined Iyada so you could protect him. It's clear that you love him."

"You mean I can't worry about a friend?"

"What?"

"I said, I can't worry about a friend. Sora and I have known each other for 15 years and we've always been close. The only time I have EVER hurt him was when I moved to Germany."

"You lived in Germany?"

He nodded. "I moved back after a year because my mother and I couldn't take it there anymore, plus I kept accidentally swearing the locals. When I came back he was in tears…"

"He was that happy to see you?"

"No…" Tracey shook his head sadly as he recalled the continuous river of tears that flowed down his friend's face. "I can't tell you anything more without Sora's okay. All I can tell you is that it had to do with his sister. That's also the reason I'm worried right now."

"I don't follow."

"Rachel, Sora's sister, wrote a letter to herself. In it was a list of things that needed to be kept in order for her to wear a ring."

"The ring he wears around his neck?"

"That would be the one. Only three of the five promises needed to be kept before she could wear the ring. Sora wants to keep all five since it's extra special to him. One of the promises was 'work hard'. We took that to meaning at home, at school or wherever."

The redhead arched an eyebrow, a little curious of the whole that was left in Tracey's story. "There's one thing that isn't making sense. So what if Sora isn't here? I mean, yeah he works hard here and at home, so he still kept Rachel's promise, right?"

"Yes, but he didn't keep the one that he made to himself." Tracey roamed his violet eyes around the cafeteria then looked straight into Jason's blue orbs. "What I am about to say must stay between you and me. Do not repeat any of this to Sora, it will only upset him." He saw him nod then continued. "Three years ago Sora got sick and stayed home from school. That morning was the last time he saw his sister alive. He blames himself… because had he gone to school and went through his normal routine Rachel would still be living. That's all I am going to tell you. If you want the rest of the story you have to ask Sora." He got up from the table and went over to the soda machine.

The blue-eyed teen glanced over his shoulder and watched his friend closely as he thought. 'Only a lover would care that much about someone…'

Tracey sat back down at the table with his can of Dr. Pepper then started to eyeball the other boy's food. "Hey Jason, can I have some of your fries?"

"Where's your lunch?"

"My mother didn't leave me any money this morning." He let out a small chuckle. "I guess I should have taken a handful of that candy the sub-math teacher was handing out."

"You got candy? Lucky you. I had a test for the first block, but yes you can have some of my lunch."

"Thanks." Reaching out the black-haired telepath took a large handful of fries and placed them in front of him.

Jason took a bite of his burger and forcefully swallowed it. "Yuck… I should start bringing my own food." He mumbled.

"What?" his companioned questioned with a mouth full.

"Never mind…"

The violet-eyed boy sat in the back of his creative writing class, staring at the empty seat in front of him as the teacher answered the ringing phone. The man at the head of the class hung up the receiver and looked at the boy in the back. "Tracey, take your stuff and go to the principal's office."

He sighed, knowing very well that he was going to get caught from his earlier actions. He picked up his bag and silently walked to the principal's office.

He sat in the average sized room, waiting for the man behind the desk to say something. "Mr. Clarkson, with all do respect if it's going to take you this long to punish me, shouldn't you have waited to take me out of class?"

"Don't get smart with me Tracey. Because of your pranks most of your teachers want to call in sick on Halloween and April Fool's Day. Tracey," he sat back in his seat, "do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Nothing really."

"Ms. Farseric came in screaming that the classroom was haunted."

"See, now that was your fault. When a new teacher comes in, aren't you supposed to notify them of some students' abilities? To me that's sloppy work."

"Watch it. After school you'll be going back to your math room and listen to the lesson plan that you had missed. Is that clear?"

"Yeah…" he got up so he could head back to class when the secretary walked in.

"Tracey, Sarah Evens called and she wants you to call her."

'What the hell…?' he shook off his thoughts and entered the main part of the office. Picking up the receiver he dialed Sora's home number. "Hi, Sarah. You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes. Sora is home sick and I need you to bring his assignments for the next two weeks over here. Can you do that?"

"Is it okay if I don't get there until 4:00?"

"Tracey, what did you do?"

"The usual for Halloween. Is Sora okay?"

"He's nibbling on some dry toast right now. Hopefully he'll be able to keep it down."

"Fine. I'll get his work and be there around four." He hung up.

The door to Sora's apartment creaked softly as the wind caster's best friend stepped in. As quietly as he could, he shut the door, took off his shoes and made his way down the tiny hall and into Sora's bedroom.

Tracey tiptoed over to the other boy and peered over him. The boy's back was to the telepath and his blankets were tightly wrapped around his shoulders. The violet-eyed teen placed his left hand on his friend and shook him gently. "Sora?" he whispered.

The sleeping boy moaned as he opened his tired aqua eyes. Moving slowly to his right he saw his best friend. "Tracey?" he said, but the sound of his voice made his 'secret crush' frown.

"Man, you don't sound good…"

"Why are you frowning?"

"How'd you know? I'm wearing a surgical mask."

"Your eyes…"

"So" he pulled over the computer chair and sat next to the bed, "how'd you end up like this?"

Sora groggily sat up, along with him was a stuffed panther. "I wasn't feeling too well last night after dinner…" he coughed.

"You… you still have that thing?" he pointed to the stuffed animal.

"Yeah, it always made me feel better…" 'Just like you…' he reached out for a tissue.

Tracey grabbed the box off of the nightstand and held it out to him. "Anyway, did you eat something bad last night?"

"No." he blew his nose then started talking again. "I don't know what happened… When I got up this morning I had to drag myself to the kitchen." He coughed again, "I ate breakfast and then went into the bathroom. Lucky me, I got to taste the food all over again…"

"Have you eaten anything else?"

The blue-haired boy sat silent for a few seconds as he took in a couple breaths through his mouth since his nose was clogged. "I had a couple crackers around lunch, threw it up. Then I had some dry toast about two, two and half-hours ago maybe…"

"Did you bring that up?"

"Not yet."

"What's your temp at?"

"Both this morning and at lunch it was at 101."

"Okay." The telepath picked up the thermometer from the nightstand, "Put this under your tongue."

His friend obeyed and they each sat silently, waiting for the small plastic thing to beep. When it did Tracey removed it from Sora's mouth and shook his head. "Sora, if this was any higher I'd take you to the hospital."

"Why? What is it?"

"103." He stood and headed for the door. "I'm going to get you something that might help your fever."

"Okay… But can you get me some juice first, please?"

"Sure." He stepped out of the room.

Shortly after his friend's departure, Sora began to hear something that sounded an awful like running water. He arched an eyebrow then shouted out for Tracey. His voice was too horse for the other boy to respond right away, but after a couple minutes the black haired boy returned.

"What's the matter?"

"Is my fever making me crazy or do I hear water?"

"No, you hear water. I'm filling the bathtub."

"Why?"

"Sora," the telepath paused, not really liking what was about to escape his mouth, "there's no easy way to say this. You stink."

"Huh?"

"Sora, I know the best way to get better is to rest. But you've been lying in this bed for what I assume has been the whole day with a 103 temperature. You have chills so you cover yourself with your blankets and at the same time your sweating a lot. Face it kiddo, you need a bath."

"Don't call me a kid." He tried to sound serious, but his voice wasn't helping him any.

"Sorry." He took the stuffed toy out of Sora's grasp and placed it on the headboard. "I'll help you into the bathroom."

The aqua-eyed teen nodded then began to cough. As a gesture Tracey began to rub and pat his friend's back. To bad Tracey's two second precognition didn't kick in, because if it had than he would have stopped the motion and Sora wouldn't have brought up the only thing so far this day that he had kept down.

"Sora… I am so sorry. I didn't think that'd happen."

"It's okay… I was getting nauseous anyway…" he slowly removed himself from the tiny puddle of vomit that rested on his bed.

"Here. I'll help you to the bathroom then I'll throw your sheets and blankets in the washing machine." The violet-eyed boy placed his arm around his friend with a very nice grip. Slowly and carefully they exited the bedroom and entered the room right next to it. He set the other boy down on the toilet and looked into his sleepy eyes. "Strip down and get in the tub. I'll be back in a few." With that he once again left Sora to his own devices.

Minutes passed and the ill aquamarine-eyed boy slid into the cool water that rested in the tub. Tracey was right about one thing, the water would help his fever. Though he started to doubt anything would help his stomach. He sat there with his eyes shut till the bathroom door opened up and footsteps quietly made their presence known on the tile floor.

Sora opened his eyes when he felt something touching his chest. His cheeks flushed when he saw his best friend moving a washcloth over his front. "Tr-Tracey…"

"Hm?"

"Wh-what are you doing?" he managed. His voice was still not above a scratchy whisper and his embarrassment wasn't making the situation any better.

"Shh. Don't strain your voice. Sora, I know you don't have the strength not to mention the will to move. This way you can relax."

"Tracey, please stop." His blush deepened when he noticed the way his body was reacting to his friend's touch.

"What's wrong? You and I have taken a million baths together."

"Yeah, when we were five!" he leaned forward and coughed.

"Okay." The telepath stopped what he had been doing and stood from the floor. He set his purple gaze on the boy in the water. "I'll go put clean sheets on your bed. Just promise me that you'll call for me if you need my help." He saw him nod then turned on his heels and left the room thinking, 'I guess that was the ultimate applause. Standing ovation and all… But I should have stopped when he asked me too…'

After a twenty-minute soak Sora staggered back into his bedroom. Tracey frowned as he went to his friend's side. "I thought I told you to call me."

"I did." His voice was barely audible even at a close distance.

'Now I really feel bad…' The violet-eyed boy pushed aside his thoughts of guilt and assisted the wind caster to his bed. He laid him down and moved some of his blue bangs out of his eyes. "Do you think you can eat anything?"

Sora opened his mouth, but then decided to save his poor voice and pointed to the notebook and pen that rested on his schoolbooks. Once Tracey handed them to him he wrote; I'll try.

"Okay… how about some soup? Ya know, get a little variety, so if you do puke it won't taste the same."

The boy then wrote; Sounds good. And very funny. (<= Sarcasm.)

"I see. I'll be back in a couple minutes." He grabbed the panther and gave it back to its owner. "Curl up with your little friend here and look over your assignments." He then left to go fix some soup in the kitchen.

Ten minutes had passed when the black haired teen entered the room with a tray that held a bowl of soup and a glass of orange juice. He arched an eyebrow. "Did you look over your work?"

Sora shook his head and wrote; You never gave it to me.

"Whoops." He set the tray on the blue haired one's lap. "Your schoolwork is in my bag and I'll help you when I get back."

Where are you going? He wrote.

"Your aunt called. She's gotten caught in traffic and wants me to go get some cough syrup for you. You going to be okay for a half-hour?"

Sora nodded and slurped a spoonful of soup.

"Don't worry if you can't finish it. Just set it on the floor when you're through and I'll take care of it when I return." Taking one last look at his sick friend he left.

Tracey, Jason and Kimberly sat in the apartment and stared at the video footage that Sarah was showing them.

"This is your new target. Her name is Marina Platunious. She has been poisoning her family and cashing in on their life insurance."

"So in other words whoever is in her will, we're about to make them very happy." The blond commented.

"That's one way of looking at it. But it's not just her family, she's been doing it to co-workers as well. So she can reach the top without any real effort." She shut off the tape and looked at the three teens, "Go forth into the night…"

~~~

The three stood on a rooftop that was right across from the office building that their target 'worked' at. Tracey sighed in aggravation. "For not doing any real work she sure stays late."

"You're worried about Sora, aren't you?" Jason questioned, still recalling their earlier conversation.

"Yes. He really wasn't looking too good when I was with him…"

"Then ditch the mission." Kimberly said flatly, "If you are going to ruin this it is best that you leave."

"Take the stick out of you ass. Yes I'm worried, but I can go back to him once we're through." The telepath snorted, then out of the corner of his eye he saw someone carrying something in a rather large sack. "Looks like she's punched out…"

Kimberly jumped from the roof and landed on the woman's car. "Excuse me Miss, but may I see what you have in your bag?"

"Get off my car. I don't need to show you anything…"

"Well at least tell us." Jason said as he leaned against the office complex, "Just don't say that they're children's letters to Santa."

"Where are you brats coming from?!"

"Ah, does Bitchy McBitch have her panties in a wad?" that came from Tracey who stood on the top of a street light. He concentrated for a moment then hollered to the fire caster. "Kimberly, get that sack! The person inside is still alive."

"Hn." Marina threw the bag to the ground when Kim unraveled the end. "You three are as good as dead…" she held her hand out to the green-eyed female.

"Kimberly!" Jason surged the lightning and fired it at their target, but seeing him out of the corner of her eye she dodged it with ease.

"Jason, Kimberly! Don't' touch her! She's made of poison!" Tracey shouted telepathically. Carefully balancing himself on the light he loaded his crossbow and aimed. He fired, but the woman just caught the arrow and snapped it in her hands.

*BANG*

Their target fell to the ground and the three members of Iyada turned to the source of the gunfire. There stood their wind caster friend. He staggered forward and breathed heavily.

"Sora!" the two boys said in unison while Kimberly took out her cell phone to notify their boss of the success and request an ambulance.

Tracey stood before the sick teen, concern written all over his face. "Sora, what are you doing out of bed?"

The boy managed to look his best friend in the eye and said, "Cough syrup my ass…" then his eyes fell shut and he leaned right into Tracey's arms.

"I wasn't lying…" he whispered, "I really did get a call from your aunt requesting cough syrup."

~~~

In the passenger seat of Tracey's car sat a bottle of medicine and next to it was a small, lavender, stuffed, demented bunny.