The Stranger.
Night time brought with it the warm feeling of being at home. The light in the Inn was brightly shining through out the house, giving the homely feeling. Hao, who enjoys this kind of feeling the most, had made himself comfortable in the corner of the living room, near the fire. He had hunched up – his back against the wall, his legs bent one lolling over the other, his foot bouncing up and down, as he was listening to his twin brother's headphones. On his lap he held that day's newspaper, which he had saved from that morning to read during the evening while the homely feeling had come. His mouth was moving to words, it was impossible to tell if he was miming the words to the songs he was listening to, or if he was quietly reading aloud the newspaper.
On the other side of the room, lay on her side, Anna was watching TV. She was leaning her head on her hand and laid her other arm on her side. She occasionally picked up one of her carrot sticks that she had lay there with her, to keep her hunger steadied, (and also remaining on a strict healthy diet.) She didn't seem very bothered with the soap opera she was watching, yet, she watched it anyway.
"Yoh?" called Anna after a few more minutes (and during the commercials) "How are you doing?"
"F-Fine!" came a forced and desperate voice. "But can't I come in now? It's cold out here." Hao's eyes lifted from his newspaper, he couldn't hear the shouts from the two of them, but could sense they were talking.
"Five more minutes Yoh." Sniffed Anna. Hao rolled his eyes. Poor Yoh. He thought, He's been out there for just over an hour.
Yoh had been instructed to stand out side doing air seats, he was stood directly on the other side of the window, so Anna could keep her eye on him while she watched her program. He was also holding two boxes filled to the brim with old books and ornaments not needed in the Inn anymore. The Inn hadn't been used as an actual Inn for a long time now. Anna seemed to have given up on the idea to change it into a running business. But she hadn't said anything to confirm it.
Feeling kinda guilty for being so comfy while his brother was in such pain, Hao slipped the headphones to the back of his ears and grinned.
"Let's let him come in now, Anna." He said, as if it was his idea to make him go outside.
"No. I say he stays out there longer so he stays out there longer." Said Anna, not showing any sympathy in her voice.
"Awh, c'mon Anna. I'm not much company, aren't you…missing him?" taunted Hao. Anna turned and glared at him, yet his grin remained. She sighed and turned back to the window.
"Come in Yoh, that's enough." She sighed. As she finished speaking, a loud crash was heard as Yoh dropped the boxes onto the ground, breaking most of its contents. He froze staring at the broken pieces of art, and slowly turned his head round to see Hao and Anna staring at him. Anna looked very annoyed, while Hao just looked surprised.
"You okay?" said Hao, worried if he'd hurt himself. Yoh wasn't paying any attention to him, he was watching the glare Anna was giving him. Her over powering angered eyes made Yoh go completely cold.
"S-Sorry…Anna…" stuttered Yoh. Anna decided to leave Yoh on his toes, and turn her attention back to the TV set. Yoh hated it when she did that. It meant 'I'll get you for that later'.
"Well, aren't you going to come inside?" smiled Hao, patting the ground next to him, offering his twin to join him by the fire. Yoh nodded and turned to make his way into the house, disappearing from sight from the window. Hao took this opportunity to try to bring Anna round…again.
"It was an accident you know. And you hardly use any of the stuff he broke anyway." He said calmly.
"That's not the point." She replied, cold and bitterly.
"Awh forget about it Anna. He tried his best –"
"Some times his best isn't good enough." Hao flinched that time.
"That's harsh Anna. He really does try."
"You have a habit for sticking up for him don't you?" she said, changing the subject slightly. Hao stood his ground, and frowned at her, although she couldn't see his glare since her back was to him.
"Yes I do stick up for him. That's what I'm meant to do."
"You should try helping him instead of always trying to protect him." Hao was beginning to get slightly annoyed, and didn't want this kind of argument to chase the home feeling away. Even after waiting all day to read his paper. He simply rolled his eyes.
"What ever Anna. What I do for him doesn't concern you." And before Anna could retort, he had already replaced the headphones to his ears, and moved the newspaper back in front of his face. She glared at him a few more seconds, but then turned back to the television.
As Yoh opened the front door, he was greeted by HoroHoro. He had just come down the stairs in an almost sleepwalking state, curious to know what the loud crash was.
"Yoh…" he said, then nodding his head almost falling asleep, but then he lifted his head again. "W…what was that?"
"That was me HoroHoro. I dropped a few things, that's all." Replied Yoh, smiling and beginning to lead his friend back up the stairs. HoroHoro not seeming to notice.
"Oh…" he trailed off, making a snoring sound. He then snorted and lifted his head quickly. "Are you okay Yoh?"
"I'm fine." Laughed Yoh, turning HoroHoro into his room. "Good night HoroHoro." HoroHoro yawned and lay back down on his bed.
"'Night…" and then drifted off into a deep sleep. Yoh laughed to himself, and then made his way down the stairs to be with Hao and Anna. As he turned the corner of the banister, a very loud banging noise sounded through out the house. Yoh gasped in shock of the sudden noise, and then turned his attention to the front door. He stared at it for a few moments, and then suddenly the noise erupted again. Bang. Bang. Bang.
"Yoh! Stop messing around!" screamed Anna. Hao blinked at Anna, and then crawled on his knees to the doorway, to see Yoh stood staring at the door. Hao raised an eyebrow, and stood up. He removed the headphones from his ears, placed them neatly on top of his paper, and approached Yoh.
"What's wrong?" he asked him. Then the noise shook the door again. Bang. Bang. Bang. Hao glanced at the door, quite shocked. He turned his attention to the clock. "Good God. Who would be here at this time? It's almost eleven thirty."
"Erm…I don't like the sound of this…" whispered Yoh. "Hao. You go and answer it." Hao began to laugh.
"Don't be silly Yoh it's probably just Ren or some one. Why are you so scared?"
"I'm not scared!" protested Yoh. But when the sound came once again, Yoh grabbed hold of Hao in shock. He pushed him forward. "You answer it!" he insisted, and then made his way quickly back into the living room. Hao blinked, then smiled and shrugged. He approached the door, opening it slowly.
"About time! Aren't Inn's supposed to have night duty?" came a loud and stern voice. Hao didn't get a look at this visitor, and they had already pushed three bags and a suitcase into his hands, almost sending him flying. Hao fell back and gained balance by leaning against the wall. He tried to see whom this person was, but they had already made their way further into the house. "Be a good doorman and show me to my room." Snapped the stranger.
"Yoh! Anna!" shouted Hao. "Get over here quick!"
"What the heck is going on here?" spat Anna appearing the hall. "And who the hell are you?" Hao placed the bags onto the ground, and looked up. The loud and strict voice he had heard had come from a young girl, about the same age Anna. She had short, dark blonde hair just passing her ears and was wearing long black jeans and a dark blue vest. Around her neck hung a golden pendulum, and she wore a light blue bandanna on her head, it was a small bandanna, the knot was barely visible. Her deep brown eyes were glaring at Anna.
"My name is not of any concern to you." She snapped. Then turned to Hao. "This is a Inn, is it not?" Hao struggled to reply, worried what would happen if he said the wrong thing. Anna was staring at him.
"Err…it used to be…" he muttered.
"How dare you barge right into our home un-invited!" persisted Anna.
"Is this an Inn or not?" said the girl, ignoring Anna.
"Yes this is an Inn," hissed Anna through gritted teeth.
"Good. Then let me check in and show me to my room." She said, crossing her arms and eyeing Anna head to toe. Yoh came into the room, trying to be as carefree as possible.
"Hi! My name is Yoh!" he smiled, holding his hand out to her.
"What a pathetic name." She sneered, focusing her gaze on him now. Yoh swallowed, quite scared of this girl. Hao looked at Yoh and Yoh looked back. I'm scared too. Was the signal their eyes were showing. Anna challenged the girl. She crossed her arms and stood her ground. They both began to slowly circle one another. First slowly sidestepping to the left and then paused, then slowly sidestepping to the right and then paused again. They took a step forward closer to each other. Their eyes never flickered, as they gazed at each other. Hao and Yoh watched helplessly. These two girls…were very alike!
"See that this girl stays out of my sight." They both said simultaneously, turning their backs to each other and walking in opposite directions. Hao raised his eyebrows, amazed. Yoh shuffled on his feet.
"Well, are you going to show me to my room or not?" she said, directly at Hao. Obviously, she was convinced he was the doorman. He looked at Yoh, Yoh shrugged.
"Go on let her stay the night then. It's her money we're getting." Called Anna, very angered about the intruder in her home. Hao nodded feebly, picking up her belongings and then showing the way up the stairs. Yoh shook his head and then returned to the living room.
Hao opened the end door, which was one of the spare rooms, and went inside. He placed her bags down on the circular table next to the window, and then straitened the bed. She walked inside, eyeing the room.
"Hmm…" she mumbled, inspecting the shelves. She ran her finger along it. "Slightly dusty, but I guess it will do." Hao looked at her, he wasn't too pleased about this girl either. Yet he didn't show it. He flashed one of his charming smiles at her, as if to be flirting. She ignored him, and sat on the bed. "You may leave now." She said. "And don't expect a tip." Hao laughed quietly, and then approached the door. "Oh, on second thought…" she stood up and walked to the smallest of her bags. She reached inside the front pocket and pulled out 5 yen. She walked to him, lifted his hand and shoved the money into his palm. Hao blinked. He opened his mouth to thank her, until she butted in. "Get a hair cut." And then she shut the door on him. Hao stood on the other side of the door, slightly surprised. He blinked a few times and shoved the money into his pocket. He shrugged, and then made his way back down the stairs to join his two companions.
The next morning, Yoh and HoroHoro were sat around the dining table. Yoh was slowly peeling an orange while HoroHoro struggled to stay awake. He kept nodding his head and lifting it. He sighed deeply, covering his eyes with both hands and leaning back in his chair. Yoh quietly coughed, before placing a slice of orange in his mouth. HoroHoro remained in his awkward position. Yoh nudged him. HoroHoro opened his fingers on his face to peer at Yoh, he was offering a piece of orange to him.
"No thanks mate." Sniffed HoroHoro. Yoh shrugged and slipped it into his mouth instead. Yoh slumped back in his chair sighing heavily.
"What's wrong with us this morning?" asked Yoh quietly.
"We're just tired dude."
"Yeah but why?" blinked Yoh, then yawning.
"What time is it?" asked HoroHoro, now leaning forward resting his head on the table. Yoh glanced over at the clock.
"Ten thirty." He replied. A silence grew as the two of them began to doze. Hao walked into the room, staring at them for a few moments. They acted like he wasn't even there. Hao placed his fist in front of his mouth, then coughing the kind of sound you make when you want attention.
"Ah-hem." Yoh lifted his head to look at him.
"Hi…" he muttered, then lowering his head again.
"If you two are so shattered then why don't you just go back to bed?" said Hao.
"Dunno…" murmured HoroHoro.
"I don't see what's wrong with everyone this morning. Opacho and Anna are the same." Said Hao, sitting down reaching for that day's newspaper, and moving it from the kitchen table to the shelf – saving it for later that day.
"They…are…?" muttered Yoh, still dozing.
"They won't even get out of bed. Maybe all the girls are like that. But that would be wrong, since that one is awake." Said Hao rolling his eyes. HoroHoro lifted his head.
"Huh?" he garbled. Hao cringed when he looked at him, his eyes were barely open and a long drip of drool was running down the side of his mouth. Hao shook his disgust off him and smiled at his friend. Yoh nodded his head.
"Didn't I tell you about her?" said Yoh, waking up slightly.
"About who?" replied HoroHoro. Yoh had already fallen asleep again. HoroHoro grunted.
"I'll tell you. Last night we got a visitor. She actually thought this place was an up and running Inn and demanded a room to stay in. I was surprised at Anna's reaction. She let her stay, although, she didn't sound too happy about it." Hao then realized he had just wasted his breath. HoroHoro had fallen asleep again. He sighed, and stood up. He stood in position for a moment, wondering why he, out of his friends, was the only one awake. "This isn't normal." He told himself aloud. He shifted on his feet, deciding what to do. He had one possible idea, which could lead him to the reason why the atmosphere had suddenly changed in the house. But it didn't make any sense. Could this girl be the reason? He thought.
Well… there was only one way to find out!
He quickly made his way up the stairs and to the end room, which this girl had slept in that night. He paused in front of the door, before knocking on.
"Hello?" he called.
"I didn't ask for a wake up call! You're wasting your time I'm already awake so go away!" came an angry shout.
"Shhh… will you be quiet? Some people are still asleep!" he hissed. There was a pause.
"Oh yeah… I forgot…" came a mutter. "People get really tired of me…"
"Huh?" this shocked Hao. What exactly did she mean by that? 'Tired' of me. Was she being cynical? Or did she mean it like it happened all the time…? Hao cleared his throat, there was only one way he was going to get answers. "Please may I come in?" he said, in the strictest voice he could come up with.
"What ever." Came the reply. Hao opened the door and stepped inside quickly, before he had a chance to change his mind. He glanced around the room, not really noticing her right away. She was sat near the top of her bed, leaning against her pillow. She seemed as cold as she did the night before. "Well, what do you want?" she spat.
"I want to know who you are." Replied Hao, folding his arms.
"Don't even think that you can tell me what to do, mister." She sneered.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with." Retorted Hao, making fun of her sarcastic change of tone on her words. She blinked quickly, and then stood up taking a few steps towards to him.
"You are Asakura Hao. You're the reason the Shaman Fight had been canceled all those months ago, and you've lived for just over one thousand years." Hao couldn't get any words out. "Now, tell me all about myself."
"I err… well I err…"
"You could say I'm a shaman. Or are you to stupid to realize that out of what I just said?"
"How did you know all those things?" Hao paused and then gasped. "What else do you know about me? And my friends?" he demanded.
"I could say that's none of your business but then that would be wrong wouldn't it? Since it is your business in the first place? Right?"
"Who are you?" was the only three words Hao could come up with. He was feeling un-easy now, and regretted coming into the room at all.
"I didn't expect you to be able to resist me. I thought I could get away without paying for last night's stay. Ah well. I guess that was my stupid mistake, since you are the one and only, Hao Asakura." Hao blinked again, still stuck for words. So she really was the reason everyone was so tired! "How much do I owe you? Twenty? Twenty Five yen?" Hao blinked again. If he was able to resist what ever she was doing to everyone, that meant he was stronger than her. He shook his head, now glaring at her.
"I want answers!" he blurted at her. "Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? And how the hell did you find out those things about me?" he seemed angry now. She took a step back, holding her hands in the air, smiling in an almost taunting manner.
"Woah! Woah! Easy there tiger. Anger doesn't look good on you, Hao." She grinned. Now Hao was beginning to get very annoyed, it wasn't easy to get him wound up, but there was just some thing about this girl that really ticked him off!
"Answer my questions. Now…" he said through gritted teeth. Now another thought hit him, what if she had managed to get him to stay asleep too? She could have done anything! Was she planning on robbing the house? Or worse! Even hurting everyone?
That made him sick to the stomach…
This girl was capable of anything.
"Fine. You really want to know who I am?" she said, her smile still remained. Hao nodded his head. "Okay then have a seat." She sat on the bed, and gestured her hand to the chair in front of her against the wall. He stared at the chair, like he was staring right through it. She started laughing. "God what's wrong now? I don't bite!" she laughed. Hao reluctantly approached the chair and sat down, still glaring at her. She smiled, leaning back on her pillow again, she began to play with her golden pendulum around her neck.
"Well, if you want to know what my name is. For starters, it's Abbi. Okay?"
"Fine, Abbi." Replied Hao, still annoyed.
"Second of all, you want to know where I came from. I come from a small village in the mid west of Asia. I can't remember much about it, but I know that's where I came from. I've been traveling and following the Shaman Fight ever since." Hao nodded his head, quite happy now that he was getting his questions answered. He suddenly began to feel his anger lifting away from him, he didn't really know why it had left him so quickly, but he liked it. "Why I'm here? I'm here because I needed a place to stay, is that simple enough?" Hao didn't really think that was entirely true…yet he began to feel some how…relaxed, and chose not to question her about it. "Now, you want to know how I knew those things about you." Abbi sat up off the bed and leaned on her knees. With her right hand, she was swinging her pendulum slowly, and she had been doing so for the past few minutes. "If I said it doesn't matter, you would say…?"
"Anything you say Abbi." Said Hao, smiling. His eyes were following the beautiful golden pendulum.
Back and forth…
Back and forth…
"Good boy." Smiled Abbi, now letting go of her necklace and standing up to approach him. He still gazed with awe at her. When she was stood directly in front of him, he leaned back in his seat, smiling at her. Yet, he looked so bewildered it was unimaginable. "I like you Hao. So I've decided not to steal from you and your friends like I was planning to. I was going to leave right after you all had fallen asleep again, but since you resisted me…I liked that. Some how, I don't really know why, but I liked that. And I like you. Lucky you. I don't like anyone." Abbi then approached her bags, she hung the three of them on her suitcase, and then she clicked her fingers and they vanished. In its place was left a small golden glow, it slowly drifted its way to her pendulum, and disappeared into it. She grinned, and turned back to the dumbstruck Hao still sat staring into space. She put her hand on his head and stroked his hair a few times. "Shame. You weren't as strong as I thought." She said smiling again. She lifted his hand and placed in his palm thirty yen. "Keep the change." She approached the door about to leave. Before she did, she turned back around and looked at him. "Oh and Hao. What ever you do, I've changed my mind. Please…don't get a hair cut." And with that, she left the room…
Left the house…
And never came back, again.