Yay my first Shaman King Fic, I hope you like it, I'm still working on it so any suggestions or comments are more then welcome, I haven't really come up with a real name yet so Manta hurt will have to do. Basically it's about Manta getting hurt by his father to the point where he may need to be hospitalized, but how will Yoh cope and will they be able to get Manta away for the family and man that would have killed him had it not been for the fact that they would have been late for the opera. Anyway enjoy.

Hurt

Manta sat with his back against the wall, his breathing coming in sharp breaths. He was late coming home, and to make things worse, his father had found out that he had been skipping out on his cram schooling so he could hang out with his friends, resulting in one hell of a beating for the abnormally small boy. He was convinced that he had a few broken ribs, he figured that he was lucky that his skull hadn't fractured. He felt hot tears roll down his cheeks, his dad would have killed him, the only reason he stopped was because his mother had pleaded with him, oh she wasn't worried about Manta no, you see she had opera tickets, and if they didn't leave they would have been late. He shook in fear as he recalled his father's last words.

"I'll be back to deal with you afterwards you ungrateful, selfish, brat," he said as he walked out of the room, following his wife as Mannoko followed behind her father, an evil grin on her face. His mother stopped at the door briefly.

"Honestly why can't you have been more like your sister, you're a disgrace to this family Manta," she had said to him before leaving, before leaving him alone broken and bleeding in the place he called home. Home? Yeah right, this wasn't a home; this was just a place where he slept, no his home was back at the inn with Yoh and the others, that was his real home.

He closed his eyes trying to gather up enough strength to move, he cried out in pain before falling flat on his face. More tears flowed from his eyes, no this wasn't the time. He had to get out of here, he may have lived from this beating, but there was no telling whether or not he would survive the next. He steeled himself before trying to push himself back up.

Once he made it to his feet, he grabbed onto anything that he could to help him stand. Slowly he made his way over to his door. Tears of pain welled up in his eyes as he slowly made his way through the halls, using the walls for support.

He froze as he heard footfalls coming from round the corner, squeezing his eyes shut tightly; he prayed that it wasn't his father.

"Master Manta!" a voice called out to him. Manta released the breath he had been holding, it was one of his father's servants. With a lot of effort Manta managed to look up at the startled female servant.

"Yuki, What are you doing here?" he asked her knowing that his mother had given the staff the night off. Yuki looked to the boy with tears in her eyes.

"I saw you coming home, I was worried about you when I realized how late it was. I came too make sure that you were alright," she said rushing over to help the kneeling boy. Manta tried to put on a smile for the women, but it came off as more of a grimace.

"Thank you Yuki, I'm ok," he said through gritted teeth, doing his best to keep the tears of pain at bay. He didn't want to worry her, he had always like Yuki. She always cared for him and even bought him presents. Before Yoh she was his only friend.

Yuki burst into tears as she scooped the small child up into a gentle embrace.
"I'm so sorry Manta, I'm a horrible person!" she cried trying her best not to hurt the boy, "I know what your father has been like towards you, we all knew. But....But we were so scared....So scared about our own asses that we just overlooked your suffering," she sobbed as she held to the small blonde. Manta smiled at her before putting his arms around her.

"I understand Yuki, I would worry about your safety too, and if my father finds you here....." he said trailing off sadly as he pushed her away to look her in the eyes. "You must leave," he said firmly to her. Yuki's eyes widened, he was such a special boy. She felt more tears fall down her face.

"We will," she said, Manta squirmed in her grip.
"No! If my father finds out you helped me...." again he trailed off, not liking to think about the consequences. Yuki smiled a sad smile at him.

"Manta ...I'm dying," she said sadly.
"W-what?" Manta asked in a disbelieving whisper.
"Cancer. The doctor says I've only got a couple of months left, but....But I want to help you, I need to help you Manta, I need to repent for my sins," she said with unshed tears shining in her eyes. Manta felt a few tears begin to roll down his face, he was crying. But he wasn't crying for himself, he was crying for her. He nodded in understanding, she needed to do this, and he had no right to refuse. She smiled at him before standing. He was nestled in her arms as she walked back to his room.

Manta rested his head against her, he could hear her rummaging around for something but was too tired to even move now that he was comfortable.

"Ah got it," Yuki said to herself as she pocketed Manta's phone. She looked down at Manta and could see that he was losing consciousness. She panicked, she couldn't take him to the hospital otherwise his father would know that she had helped him.

Before she even knew it she was in her car with Manta safely belted into the passenger seat as she drove away from the house. She drove around idly for forty-five minutes before she realized she didn't know where she was going. She couldn't go back to hers. That would be kidnap. She may be dying but she didn't want to spend her last few months in prison. She looked over to Manta and mentally cursed, he was out cold. She pulled her car over and tried shaking the boy, but his lack of reaction only caused her to panic further.