Chio-sama: This fanfic was first posted on my website. I didn't originally plan to put it on here, but since I'm having writer's block with my other stories, I thought you may be entertained to read this. Right now, there's not a lot of action in this story, there's not supposed to be until… probably the fifth or sixth chapter. That's when it will get really interesting. I hope you like it so far though.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King, plain and simple. Oh how I wish I did though. I could make it so great… so many ideas I have… like this one.
Yoh
was sitting in his classroom, waiting for the bell. Manta had been
out of school for weeks, and Yoh had been told by his parents that he
had an extreme case of the flu. Anna was also out school today
because she had had an accident in the gym yesterday and now had a
sprained ankle. The bell rang, its muffled sound almost not strong
enough to penetrate Yoh's mind. He slowly got up and walked slowly
out of the classroom. Yoh was glad it was Friday. It was one day
closer to reopening of the Shaman Tournament. He only had two weeks,
or so the Patch had said, until their next instructions came. Yoh
took the train as he usually did to Funbari, and has he stepped off
it at the station, something caught his eye. There was smoke rising
in the distance, from the direction of the Flame Inn. And it wasn't
just a little wisp of gray either, it was a heavy cloud of thick
black smoke billowing quickly from the exact location of Yoh's home,
right where Anna was. Yoh suddenly became panicked.
"Sir? Sir? You forgot your bag, sir!" yelled
a train cabby, but Yoh didn't care, he was running, full speed,
toward the steadily rising column of black. Please let her be okay,
Yoh thought, please.
He was still about one hundred yards away,
but already he could feel great heat coming from the Inn. Yoh stopped
dead in his tracks when he reached the front gate, horrified. it was
gone, burned beyond recognition. It was not like a normal fire, which
took many hours to burn out. Yoh had seen the smoke begin to rise
only a few minutes before, but the Flame Inn was now nothing
more than ash and cinders. It had burned to ground in less than five
minutes, and, if Anna had been inside, she was dead.
Yoh was
having trouble believing this. It had had to be a shamanic fire, made
of powerful mana, to burn this quickly. Yoh walked slowly through the
ruin and rubble that was a few moments before, Yoh's home. He walked
to the very spot his room used to be and found, to his great dismay,
Harusame, burned and blackened. It was cracked and broken, useless.
Anna, or her body, was nowhere to be found. Yoh gained, or what he
thought, was a sense of false hope. Maybe, he thought vainly, she
escaped.
Then Yoh was hit with an almost ungraspable thought.
There was only one person who could have done this. One person with
the power to create such destructive power. One person, who he had
long believed dead. The person who months ago, he had defeated after
he had received the mana of ever shaman in Patch Village. The person
who had stolen the Great Spirits' power. Hao.
Amidamau
appeared beside his master and close friend. He knew Yoh was thinking
the same things as him.
"Come on, Amidamaru,
we're going to see Manta, now. We have to contact all the guys as
fast as possible." Yoh said suddenly. Amidamaru was about to ask
Yoh 'What about Anna?', but when Yoh turned suddenly to make a dash
for Manta's, Amidamaru saw a bright wet sparkle begin to flow from
his master's eyes. It seemed Yoh, Amidamaru thought, had truly become
enough of a man to put his duty to the world over his own feelings.
Amidamaru did not say another word.
Yoh was
running as fast as he could. He was taking routes he did not usually
take, ones that were a faster way to Manta's. The ten-minute train
ride back into Tokyo had been almost unbearable for Yoh. Old ladies
and others kept asking why he was crying. For once in his life, Yoh
had been rude, telling them all to stay out of his business.
He crossed an intersection and began to run down a
street of cafes. Amidamaru was following close behind. Suddenly, Yoh
stopped dead in his tracks. Amidamaru quickly caught up with him.
"Lord Yoh, what is wrong?" he asked
worriedly. Yoh did not reply. He just gaped at a cafe across the
street. His eyes were wide with terror. Amidamaru looked exactly
where his master was and then he saw HIM to. Hao. Hao, sitting in
that cafe, Horisaki school uniform on, reading, wearing reading
glasses, and sipping a latte, completely oblivious to the fact his
brother was across the street. Yoh was horrified when a startling
revelation hit him. If Hao was here, if he had not burned down the
Flame Inn, if he had given up the 'shaman kingdom' dream, if he had
not taken Anna, then what had happened to her?
Suddenly Hao looked up and just happened to glance over at Yoh. His
eyes widened, the carefree, relaxed, normal looking Hao was gone,
replaced by one who looked absolutely terrified that his own brother
had seen him. A tractor-trailer went by loudly. Yoh was instantly
snapped out of his gaze. The end of the truck went by. Hao was gone.
Two seconds and Hao was gone. Now Yoh could only guess where his
brother had gone. He ran across the street and could've sworn he saw
a flash of long brown hair wisp to his left. He turned but saw
no one there. He followed his best instincts and turned left.
Yoh rounded the corner, heading to another train station. He
had a hunch Hao didn'rt dare live anywhere IN Tokyo. He took the
train station route.
Yoh was forced
to buy a ticket at the gate. Now, he had to decide where to go. He
only had two minutes before the train departed the station. He looked
over his choices. KYOTO (Anna's Home Town),IZUMO, OR FUKUSHIMA (Near
Mt. Oku Shirane).
It was now or never. Yoh
looked over at the trains. He could've sworn he saw Hao boarding the
Fukushima train. Was he imagining this? Yoh thought to himself. He
quickly asked the ticket master for one ticket to Fukushima. Next,
Yoh was on the train, car after car, he looked through all of them
until he came to door of the last one. Yoh slowly put his hand on the
door and wrenched it opened.
The
car was dark. There only light was the one pouring in from the other
previous car. Yoh was sure to be cautious. He took a few steps
forward. There was complete silence. Then he felt the train begin to
move.
Suddenly, a quick sliding sound came
from behind him. Yoh turned immediately to run, but it was to late.
He had fallen into a trap, and an obvious one.
In the complete darkness, and his fear and anxiety overtaking him,
Yoh could not sense a thing. He heard movement behind him. He turned,
a sharp blow landing on his head. Then it all went black.
Yoh
slowly opened his eyes, the room coming into focus. It looked as if
he was in a large log type cabin, beautiful architecture, Yoh thought
to himself. Then the memories of what had happened the previous day
flooded back into Yoh's mind. Hao. He had been chasing Hao. Where was
he now? How did he get here? Where was here?
"Amidamaru? Amidamaru, where are you?" Yoh asked
nervously. There was no reply.
"Sorry, I don't allow foreign spirits near my house, dear
brother." said a malicious voice. Yoh sat straight up in the
large bed he was lying in. There, on the frame of the open wooden
door, was Hao.
"Ha...Hao..."
was all Yoh managed to get out. He was trapped, no friends, no Anna,
no family, no Amidamaru to help him get out this. He was caught at
Hao's mercy. This was the end. He now belonged to Hao.
