Disclaimer: If Shaman King were mine, I wouldn't need to write fanfics. If any of these songs were mine, I wouldn't be writing fanfics.

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Minimal fluff 09!

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There had been a bleak time when Lyserg never smiled. It was a fast from the cheerful expression, beginning with the ashes Hao left behind. He didn't smile even when he realized he could do many things with his enhanced shamanic powers. He didn't smile when his grandfather told him stories about his parents. He didn't smile when he found his first break in finding the arsenic murderer. He didn't smile when he was accepted to join the Shaman King Tournament.

Even when he claimed he was smiling, although his face had the gentle curve that usually articulated happiness, his soul was churning bitterly. It was more attractive on him than scowling, that was for sure, especially if he wanted the help of a strange boy who looked eerily like Hao himself. Yoh tested his patience but he was brought up well enough to know that in situations like those, you were supposed to react in a positive, constructive way. He wanted to smile; wanted to show he had more to his life than the vendetta he had carved into his mind. Lyserg wished he could have Horohoro's mischievous smirk or Yoh's carefree grin.

The wind carried him along, soaring past Yoh's wavelength until he was gently deposited into a group of avengers in his same situation. They never smiled either. Little Jeanne may have shown a beam or two, but they never really counted. Lyserg figured that if he couldn't overcome, he could at least surround himself with people like him.

He missed feeling cheerful, relieved.

He was starting to hate his resolve.

He couldn't abandon the source of his spark of hope.

Yoh broke through one day. Without even knowing it, Lyserg was smiling again, radiating cuteness and angels like the way only he knew how. The brunette could bring out the best in anyone, if they let him. He had so many smiles he could give them away for free. Turn that frown upside down! You're cuter that way.

Yes, Lyserg realized he embraced the smile, along with the jumble of feelings that came with it.

The jerks at his heartstrings.

The yearnings that left him hollow.

Whenever Yoh was around, he smiled brightly.

And just like that, the smile was gone again. There had been no competition – there had just been Anna. She scowled, she reprimanded, she loved. Yoh grinned, he withstood, he loved back. Lyserg was left with the taste of bitterness in his mouth and a new determination never to smile again, if it just brought this unwanted pain and suffering into his life.

Personally, he never liked standup comics very much.

Anyone can look attractive; it just takes a curve. Smile! Chocolove was known to bring in more frustration and anger than laughs and chuckles. His jokes flopped worse than a sock animal. Still, he tried and tried, usually the lone one who found himself amusing. He wanted nothing more than acknowledgement and an understanding laugh but Lyserg had promised himself he would never smile again. But even if he wouldn't smile, he wouldn't attack Chocolove for not being funny. For this reason, the comedian decided to work his gigs on his easiest critic.

Chocolove's jokes were at times confusing, others wound up until he didn't know where he was going off on. He was very earnest, explaining himself and throwing around word choice. As Lyserg watched, he tore himself apart until it was just raw Chocolove and his limited talent with words and humor. Everyone around him was heavily guarded to prevent getting hurt but Chocolove was the only one who revealed his innermost self in an attempt to earn an admittance that he was indeed skillful.

Lyserg found himself, against his will, smiling again. It was a slow start, a small shadow of a smile that crept onto his face. In the safety of solitude, he scolded himself for opening up again; hadn't he told himself it was worthless trying to smile because something, someone would just come around and knock him down again? Obviously, a part of him thought otherwise, because when Chocolove came around again, he was smiling yet again.

One day, he tread into unfamiliar territory. At one of Chocolove's lamest jokes, Lyserg had actually laughed. It was a sound he had almost forgotten about, a rich alto full of sound and feeling. He didn't know who was more surprised at this, him or Chocolove.

Chocolove worked even harder after that for another chance to hear that laughter again.

Lyserg worked even harder after that to stop this strange sensation from taking over again.

The world continued to turn, regardless of a smile or not, but it was a beautiful sight with it and a dreary one without it. Selfishly, Lyserg pursued the former choice. Maybe he could crash and burn this time, but hope was an annoying little thing. One chance at happiness and he reached for it, ignoring the practical, realistic voice speaking to him. There was a bigger conundrum at hand but for a moment, he came first.

A smile can brighten up any room more than a light can. His was fleeting and could snuff out with a word or a gesture, but he had already shown it to a limited number of souls. Chocolove could keep it there, without even being physically present with him.

He was not going to disappoint himself this time around.

Owari

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Note: What happened to the Shaman King category? It's full of het stories now! ARG! But of course, I retaliate with the abuse of the word 'smile'…so I can't be that far gone. To one guy: my biggest critic, what do you think of this one? Abrupt ending? Subliminal messages I don't even notice? I can take it. Review, please!