Disclaimer: If Shaman King were mine, I wouldn't need to write fanfics

Breakfast at Tiffany's, Lunch with the Patch

"Maiden!" cried the greenette, turning frantically toward his leader, a young girl standing a few feet away from him, her silver hair tousled and messy around her innocent little face. "Help us or we'll…"

His call was cut short as he saw the defeated look on her face. Her amber eyes were sad and she stared at the body of one of her most faithful follower, still at her feet. He had been the driver of the car and had been instantly killed in the crash. Oh Marco…she shook her head, feeling the desperation of the greenette pleading with her. "I'm sorry…"

"Maiden!"

The feeling of fear that surged through him while under attack by that terrible monster in the deserted city was indescribable. Morphine and Zeruel had abandoned him in his time of need. How could they have left him so suddenly when he was sure they were next to him during the accident? He sat under the huge clock face on the clock tower…so close to home, yet so far. He tried to stop his bleeding while wondering how long it would be before the monster caught up to him…

The next second, there it was. There had been no warning, no time to dodge. He fell stories down…this was it. He was getting defeated by this huge monster, and he still hadn't been able to…

No, it was because he kept telling himself that…no, he could win! He had too! Glittery wings formed before his eyes as he turned to face the monster again.

Without the attacks of Morphine and Zeruel, he had no chance of survival.

"Hello, Lyserg…"

Lyserg Diethyl was startled awake. The starch white sheets under him told him that he was in a clinic…he was alive, wasn't he? He had somehow survived the car crash and the training in hell…that was what Paschal Avaf told him. He felt stronger, stronger than before. But that wasn't what he was worried about at the moment…were Jeanne and Marco okay?

He sat up and looked around. Something fluffy and pink was resting on the side of his bed…Tamao had fallen asleep trying to take care of him. He looked on the bed next to him to see his mentor, Marco. Lyserg breathed a sigh of relief as the man shifted in his sleep. Where was Jeanne? Was she alive?

"Hello, Lyserg."

He had known the fiery furyoku even before he turned around to the window. "Hao, what are you doing here?" Anger rose in the greenette. "You were the one who ordered those guys to kill us, right? What, are you here to finish the job?"

The amused look in the brown eyes staring back at him annoyed Lyserg more. "Actually no," Hao said, his voice suggesting laughter, as if the suggestion was a joke. He was sitting on the ledge of the clinic window, in normal people clothes. At least he looked normal; a white crisp shirt instead of his usual cape and jeans. "I was hoping to talk to you."

"I have nothing to talk to you about," Lyserg said, turning away. Okay, so he was acting childish, but when it came to Hao, it didn't matter.

"Congratulations on passing hell, Lyserg," Hao continued, ignoring Lyserg's silent treatment. "I guess it was a good idea to resurrect you."

Lyserg didn't want to, but he turned to face the hated pyro shaman. "You brought me back to life?"

"Who did you expect, that Maiden girl of yours?" Hao rolled his eyes. "She's still alive, since you were wondering."

Since you were wondering. Lyserg knew he had to be careful in everything he thought. "Why are you here?"

"I hate repeating myself," Hao said, sitting still and staring at him. "I told you, I'm here to talk to you."

"Where's Yoh?"

"There," Hao said simply, nodding toward the arena behind him. "Fighting with your hot-headed Chinese friend and his little group."

"Already?" Lyserg started to slide off the bed. He had to go see. He heard faint cheering of the crowds in the Patch Arena.

"Not now you aren't." Hao slid smoothly off the windowsill and crossed the room to stand next to Lyserg. "You're coming with me. I have to tell you something."

"What if I don't want to go with you?" Lyserg stood as tall as he could and stared the Asakura in the eye. It was a bit hard to feel brave when you've just been resurrected and are instantly thrown into a confrontation with your rival wearing a white dress shirt and black shorts. But he was an X-Law…things like this happen all the time.

"It's to your advantage," Hao said, shrugging. "I guess if you don't want a heads up, you don't have to…but it did Yoh wonders."

"It's different," Lyserg retorted. "Yoh's your brother."

"Not really." Hao looked him up and down. "So are you coming or not?"

He could defeat him. He really could. But Lyserg didn't feel so sure as he watched Hao's eyes linger on him a moment more before turning to the door. "Well, if you don't want to…"

"Fine, I'll go." Damn! What'd I go saying that for? Lyserg mentally kicked himself as he threw the covers around Tamao. It was probably a trap…

"I'm not going to hurt you," Hao said, his voice interrupting Lyserg's thoughts. "At least, nothing I can think of…let's hurry up, there's something I want you to do afterwards."

Hao had a fetish with capes, didn't he? Lyserg hoped Hao hadn't read that thought as he fingered the black cape that Hao 'just happened to have' and gave to the greenette as it was a bit chilly outside to be wearing shorts. They had arrived at a little café on the outskirts of the area. A sign with the character for 'bean' hung above the door, with 'Patch Café' on a board next to the door. "We're here," Hao said, looking up at the sign. "Everyone should be watching the match right now so we'll have a little privacy."

Great. All he wanted was a little privacy with the person he hated most.

The bell above their heads rang cheerfully as the taller shaman pushed open the door. The young Patch manning the counter turned to them.

"Welcome to Patch Café, how may I help youohhelloHao-samawhatcanIdoforyoutoday?"

"My friend and I would like a drink," Hao said, looking at the menu above the Patch's head. "I'd like…another espresso, thanks, and he'd like…" Hao looked at Lyserg. "What do you want?"

"Same," muttered Lyserg, disliking the fact he was being seen with Hao. An X-Law and Hao Asakura. That would make headlines.

"Don't try to be all tough on the outside, Lyserg. Inside, you're just a sweet, vulnerable child like my brother is." Hao turned back to the Patch. "He'll like a latte."

Dammit! Damn Hao for knowing him, and damn him for calling him a child! There was nothing for Lyserg to do but simmer quietly as the Patch nervously rung up the orders. The café was deserted, like Hao had predicted. The older shaman took their cups and led the greenette to a table in the far back, where the Patch wouldn't be able to hear them.

The two sat in silence for a while, Lyserg gripping the hot cup with both of his hands. The burning sensation was nothing like the dislike he felt inside. It really wasn't hate anymore; he had come to a different conclusion. He just wished Hao would get it over with instead of torturing him with silence.

"Don't be a masochist like that stupid mentor of yours," Hao said, staring at Lyserg's hands. "He thinks pain means gain, like the Maiden. Why do you think he hits you so much?"

"Shut up," Lyserg whispered. He didn't want to think about it; didn't want to think of all those nights he had considered leaving the ship, leaving the times he spent nursing his wounds. Maybe he was a masochist, staying with the X-Laws in those conditions for so long, but the pain helped him cope.

"The pain helped you cope?" Hao said, reading Lyserg's words in his mind. "Please."

Lyserg decided not to say anything and blew on his coffee.

"Are you going to listen to me?"

It depends.

"It depends? So are you going to listen or not?" Hao leaned closer to Lyserg. "Cause if you won't, I'll try violence."

Lyserg tried to look past that gleam in Hao's eyes, but it was unnerving. He wasn't sure what kind of violence Hao meant, but he was sure it was going to be something he didn't want. He tried to calm himself to answer.

"I'll talk to you as long as you like and hear everything you have to say, whether reasonable or unreasonable."

Hao smiled, a slow smile that creeped across his face like syrup. The kind that a killer makes before he strikes the final blow. He leaned back again across the table and flicked a piece of his hair out of his face. "Good. So I'll just cut to the chase. I like you."

Lyserg nearly choked on his coffee.

"I know what you're thinking. He's bluffing with me. He's just saying that because I got stronger. He really doesn't mean it." Hao put his hands together. "Let me explain what I mean.

"When I say I like you, I don't mean the way I like Opacho because she is trustworthy or the way I like Luchist because he is strong. There is no doubt in the world you've gotten stronger. I could use another follower after that incident on the beach." Hao took a breath and continued. "But that's not what I mean. I've been watching you all this time."

"All this time?" Lyserg tried to calm his thoughts. Losing his cool in front of Hao was not an option.

"That's right. I had a feeling that after I killed your parents," Hao said, as if the statement itself was just like commenting on the weather, "that you'd come after me. It's what humans do. You're acting on instinct. I was waiting for you. Then I saw you eight years later, older yet not wiser. You'd have learned by now that fighting back is useless."

Lyserg bit his tongue to prevent from saying something.

"Go ahead and say it. I know what you're about to say anyway. Anyway, you still fought back. Like a little helpless puppy that doesn't get why it's being shut out of his house. For a moment, I was disgusted with it. But then I thought, why not humor him? Why not show him how useless it would be? So I killed your precious little X-Laws. Did that stop you? Nope. It was then when I started watching you. Marco and that little girl Jeanne had already thrown away their lives, but you had a taste of my brother…not literally, of course," Hao added, smirking. The joke itself made Lyserg blush.

"You knew how it could be to feel free and worry about your stupid little revenge another day, but you decided to burden yourself with it, strapping it to yourself and beating yourself with it. You confuse me, Lyserg, and that at the same time fascinates me. Humans usually try and take the easy way out and that ends up destroying them, but you decided to hurt yourself instead…" Hao stopped and watched Lyserg.

The silence prompted Lyserg to say something. The spotlight had been thrown on him…but what could he say? Hao had practically laid out how he felt…no matter how sick and twisted the reasoning was.

"I don't think I actually said how I like you. It's not a friendship kind of like, Lyserg. It's one of those complex heartbreaker chic-flick kinda thing." Hao stopped to let this sink in. "You know this isn't going to prevent me from killing you if you get in my way, however."

Okay, so it was extremely sick and twisted. Lyserg opened his mouth to say something but he knew he was only going to be catching flies. He had to think about it so he took another sip of his coffee. Hao seemed to know this (well, he could read minds) and sat back in wait.

"I don't feel the same way," Lyserg started.

"You will," Hao said confidently. "I know how your mind works. You'll be thinking about this so much that you'll actually start believing it. That's what got you started on your whole little 'mission', right?"

Lyserg glared at him. "You seriously expect me to like you, even as a friend with everything you say to me?"

"Yup." Hao smirked. "You're a masochist, remember?"

Damn. That came back to bite him. His thoughts were becoming jumbled again. "I'm going to go see Yoh's fight," the greenette announced, standing up.

"Great. Go do that. And by the way, crash it. Don't bother seeing who wins. I've got my father's team out of the way and that Gandara team too. So Funbari Onsen, X-I, the Ren, and Hoshigumi are in the final four." Hao stared at him. "You can go now. I've said all I wanted to say. Think about it."

Like hell I will.

"Oh, you will." Hao chuckled to himself as he finished his coffee. "You're thinking about it already in the back of your mind."

"Here," Lyserg said, cutting Hao short. He thrust the black cape back at the pyro shaman. It would be breezy, but he'd handle it.

"It's yours. Keep it." Hao waved it away.

I don't want anything he gives me. But it's a nice gesture, right? Lyserg repeated it to himself as he swung the fabric over his shoulders. It's a nice gesture, so I have to accept it.

"See you later, Lyserg," Hao called as Lyserg pushed the doors open. "Hey, Patch, what does the bill come up to?"

Lyserg was so absorbed in his thoughts that it seemed like only a minute that he had come back to the clinic, to the woods surrounding the Patch Arena. He had been thinking so hard that he felt a little dizzy and put his hand on a tree next to him to support himself. Morphine appeared, glancing nervously at the greenette.

"I'm fine." Lyserg stood up straight and looked at the arena facing him. Crash the match. It was a tall order. The pillars were supposed to block all other people from trying to sabotage the match. What if he wasn't strong enough to break through? The wind blowing across the area ruffled the soft black silk against his skin, reminding the greenette of the hard gaze Hao had gave him. Damn, the pyro shaman would stay in his mind for a long time. It was twisted in his own way that it was Hao that gave him reason to live, gave him courage to go on. And now, it was the same person who made him walk closer to the arena.

Maybe he was a masochist.

Maybe he was strange.

But hey, at least someone liked him like that.

OWARI

Note: I really liked this one. I don't own any movies, any quotes from Jane Eyre, or capes. This oneshot explains the huge unexplained gap between Lyserg's training in hell to his crashing of Yoh's fight.