Hello there, here is another story of mine. I hope it doesn't result as bad as my previous story (which would be "there they stood" god! that was horrible!)

The story is set in the real world, in the modern time. There won't be any shamanic powers or any magic variation.

The story is about Hao going to school, after spending most of his life in a mental institution, the reason of this will be explained later. Due to his personality he has serious problems to adapt.

The main pairings are: HaoxTamao, YohxAnna, RenxPirika.

Most of the characters have a very different personality than in the anime, but some of them remain the same.

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king............ do we always have to say that?

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Chapter 1: The Lion approaches

"Hey, Yoh! Wait up!" a boy, of about seventeen, with brown hair and eys, turned around to see his best friend, Ren Tao, an small boy with spiky black hair, running towards him. He stopped. "Thanks for waiting pal" said Ren, a boy of his same age, smaller than him in height, except for his spiky hair which gave him a few centimeters more, after having catched his friend. They were now leaving the school

"No problem" said Yoh

"Hey isn't your brother coming here the next week?" asked Ren, Yoh nooded.

"Yep, he is" he said, smiling slightly.

"Wow, Yoh's twin brother, I wonder what is he like" said the small boy. They turned around in a corner, heading straight towards the taller boy's house.

"Well" said Yoh "I don't don't think you want to meet him" Ren turned to him.

"Why? Is he just like you?" Yoh laughed nervously at this.

"Nope, he isn't" he said, Ren looked at him expecting more information "I think we are very different".

"Yeah? In what way?"

"Well... he has some... issues... some troubles..." he tried to say something coherent, but it resulted difficult to him.

"Troubles? What kind of troubles? Is he on drugs?" he asked

"What? No! No drugs. Geez, why are you asking so much questions? It's annoying" said Yoh turning away.

"Well, you are the one not giving any answ..." but Ren was interrupted by a scream coming from behind them

"Yoh!!" the aluded boy froze, with an scared look on his face, he turned to Ren, who burst in laugh as he watched the reaction of his friend. Yoh slowly turned around.

"Ana! You don't know how much I've missed you" he said, smiling nervously towards a group of three girls. The one in the middle was tall and thin, and had shoulder-length blonde hair, like Yoh, which was covered by a red scarf, tied behind her head. She had a serious, almost pissed expression on her face. The shorter one looked younger than the blonde, and had long sky-blue hair, just like her eyes. She was smiling in a friendly way, quite the opposite to her taller friend. The last one had shoulder-length pink hair, same as her eyes. She wasn't relly paying much attention to the guys in front of her, and was staring at the floor.

Yoh walked towards the one in the middle, with still smiling nervously. She had her arms crossed in front of her.

"You don't know how beautiful you..." he began to say but was interrupted.

"Save it Yoh" said the girl, looking at him with a killing intent "Why didn't you wait for me?" she asked. Yoh looked around at Ren, in a pleading way, he just shrugged and smiled.

"Sorry pal, she is not my girlfriend" he said.

"That's right" said the girl with blue hair "I am your girlfriend" Ren blushed.

"But I haven't asked you to be my girlfriend yet Pirika!" he said, the girl chuckled, enjoying his surprised expression.

"I know, I..."

"Sip it" said Ana suddenly, who was still waiting for an answer to her question. While Yoh had began to sweat, even though the day wasn't so hot "So?"

"Well..." he began to say, scratching the back of his head, trying to find the right answer "The maths teacher sent us so much homework you know, so me and Ren were heading to my house to finish it right away... Right Ren?" the spiky haired boy looked from Yoh to Ana. Then back to Yoh. Feeling a little intimidated.

"Ye-yeah, right... lots and lots of homework" he said trying to follow his friend's game, something he failed miserably.

"Yes, exactly" said Yoh, nodding "lots and lots of homework" Ana raised an eyebrow, not swallowing any of the boy's words. Then she sighed.

"Ok, ok. I'll let it pass this time, but would you please stop forgetting that you have a girlfriend? You know that that guy Ryu and his pals have the hot for me" she said. Yoh smiled, more serene, and mature, placing his arm around her waist.

"Don't you worry " he said placing a kiss in her cheek "I would never let anybody lay a single finger on you" Ana blushed a little and smiled.

"Well, aren't they cute?" said Pirika. The pair ignored her, and gently kissed. Ren smiled at the sight, then looked at Pirika, who was looking at him. He blushed a little, but then he noticed that the pink haired girl was staring at the pair too, smiling slightly.

"Hey Tamao" he said, the girl turned to him "aren't you going to say hello?" he said, Tamao blushed a little.

"Umm.... yeah.... sorry. Hi Ren" she said smiling at him "how was your day?" the boy shrugged.

"I'll live" he said "You?" he asked back.

"Same" she said. Then silence invaded the atmosphere. While the pair was still kissing each other, obviuosly enjoting the moment.

"Well, Yoh!" said Pirika suddenly, the pair broke from the kiss, and the boy turned to her.

"Hmm?"

"Are we going to stand here all day while you two make out?" she asked, Yoh laughed slightly.

"Sorry sorry" he grabbed Ana's hand and began to walk, the others followed.

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"So" said Ren, while a glass of juice was placed in front of him. They were now at Yoh's house. The boy stared at him, with a puzzled expression.

"So what?" he asked

"Your brother" said Ren "what is he like?"

"Your brother?" asked Pirika, who was sitting besides the spiky haired boy "you have a brother?"

"Yeah, sure I do, haven't I talked about him to you?" the girl moved her head, no.

"You never talk about him" said Ana, who was sitting besides Yoh, While Tamao was at the head of the table.

"What is he like?" asked Pirika "is he younger than you?"

"Nope" he said smiling.

"So he is your older brother"

"Well, he is for 20 minutes" he said, they all looked at him, surprised.

"He is your twin brother?!" asked Tamao. Yoh nooded,

"Why didn't you ever told us?" asked Ren, Yoh shrugged.

"Well... I told Ana" he said looking at her.

"No you didn't" she said in a serious tone, the boy frowned.

"Really?" everyone sighed, annoyed.

"Man" said Ren placing a hand on his face "you are unbelivable" Yoh chuckled.

"Hehe, sorry" he said

"So?" asked Pririka

"So what?" they all sighed again, much more annoyed.

"Your brother damn it!" screamed Ren.

"Oh right, my brother" he saighed, making a humorless smile. They looked at him, a little worried. He was staring at the table now, with an slightly sad expression on his face "my brother.."

"What's wrong Yoh?" asked Ana, looking worriedly at him. He turned to her, still smiling.

"Well, there are some problems with my brother" he said

"What kind of problems?" asked Ren. Yoh scrathched his head, something that he usually did when he was in a uncomfortable situation.

"Well..., you know... some problems" he tried to say.

"Is he on drugs?" asked Pirika, Yoh turned to her, then to Ren, and the boys burst into laugh. The girls exchanged puzzled looks between them.

"What's so funy?" asked Pirika, the most annoyed of the girls.

"Nothing, nothing" said Ren between laughs, trying to stop. The girls just remained quiet while the boys regained their breaths.

"God that was funny" said Yoh after he had regained his composture, then he turned to Pirika "and, no. He is not on drugs" he said.

"So what is the problem with him?" asked Tamao, already exaperated for the evasives of the brown haired boy.

"Well... I don't really know if I should tell you" he said looking around nervously.

"Aww come on" said Pirika "You allready made us curious, maybe he can be Tamao's boyfriend, is he cute?" she said smiling. Tamao blushed madly.

"Pi-pirika!" she said aloud, the blue haired girl just shrugged.

"What? you surely need a boyfriend, since you broke up with my brother" she said, Tamao remained quiet, blushing a bit.

"We are not talking about me right know" she said "we are talking about Yoh's brother"

"Or, your soon-to-be boyfriend" said Pirika. Everyone bursted in laugh, except Tamao, who looked quite annoyed now.

"Nah, I don't think he'll be looking for a girlfriend any time soon" said Yoh

"Why? is he gay?" asked Pirika. Yoh laughed a little.

"No, he is not gay, he is just...." he moved his hands as if trying to express something, something nobody got right.

"Just...?" asked Ana, Yoh looked a little annoyed. He standed up, and walked around the room. Scratching the back of his head again.

"It's just that.... you should just wait for him to arrive" he finally said, but nobody was satisfied with this.

"Oh come on, you can at least tell us something can you?" said Ren "like... were has he been all this years, you never mention your brother, why is that?" Yoh now looked really annoyed.

"Well if don't want to tell you about him you should just live the subject don't you think? geez you guys really are nuisance" he said. Everyone felt quiet, looking at him. He didn't look at them, just stared at the floor, thinking again what he had said. "Sorry" he said after a few minutes of silence "I didn't mean that"

"What's wrong Yoh?" asked Ana, a little worried. She could notice that something really troubling was going on through his head. He remained quiet. Serious.

"Ana" he said lowly.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Could we please talk in private?" he asked, not looking at her. Ana stood up from her chair.

"Sure" she said following him towards his bedroom. The rest of the group remained quiet.

"What do you think is going on?" asked Pirika to her friends, they both raised their shoulders, not having the slightest idea.

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"What's going on Yoh?" said Ana right after they entered his room. He stared through the window, still scratching his head.

"Have I ever talked to you about my brother?" he asked

"No, you've only said to me that you have one" she answered. It was the truth, he had come out in random conversation, and had inmediatly changed subject. He turned around, and rested his back against the window.

"My brother..." he paused "Hao" he said finally.

"Hao?" she wondered.

"That's his name, Hao" for some reason, Ana noticed that it resulted hard for him to say that name, which only made her more curious. She nooded. "I haven't seen him for about..." he scratched his head, counting with his finger "three... or two...no! it was three, three years" he said, Ana recalled her thoughs, she had been with Yoh for about seven years by now, and she had never seen that mysterious brother.

"But... how come I haven't seen him?" she wondered, he stared at the floor. Now she was really getting worried, Yoh never acted like this. He usually was so carefree, so pacive. He always had an smile on his face, no matter what problem arosed.

"The truth is, he has been living in a mental institution for the last seven years" he said lowly. Ana's eyes widened.

"W-what?" she stuttered, not giving credit to her ears. He remained the way he was. He sighed, trying to give himself the courage to speak.

"The same day that my fther died in a car accident" he paused, the took a deep breath "Hao was with him. He watched him die" Ana covered her mouth with her hands. He remained quiet for a moment, then went on "I don't really know what happened there, I only knew that suddenly i had lost my father and that my brother was in a coma" he said. Ana had never seen him so serious "Three years ago he regained conscience, nobody knows why, they say that those kinds of things happen. People just... wake up from those comas, and nobody knows the reason to that" he said.

"Yeah, I've heard about that" added the girl. He nooded slightly "did you see him then?"

"Yeah, I did" he said "me and mum went to visit him but..." he paused, his eyes still fixed on the floor. Ana waited "But... he... he was different... he was..." he paused for a moment "he looked and acted like a completly different person. He wasn't my brother, he had changed is so many ways" he sighed loudly, moving his head a little to clear up his thoughs "that day we and my brother argued. Well, it mainly was him screaming at us. For some reson he looked really pissed, he just xcreamed things like I don't want to see you again, or leave me alone. Those kinds of things" he said, he was talking with more ease now, he smiled in a sad way "we were recomended to not visit him until further notice, and that further notice took years to arrive. A month ago we recieved a letter saying that Hao was ready to leave the institution, that it was up to him to recover fully, that there was nothing else they could do. So he is coming back" he said finally, sighing. Ana remained quiet for a moment, studing her boyfriend, with a serious expresion now.

"Is he going to enter the same school as us?" she asked, he nooded, she rested her back against against a wall, crossing her arms "and you haven't seen him for three years?" he nooded again, she sighed "well, I don't know what you should do. But I do know what you have to do" he turned to her.

"Which is?" she looked at him for a moment.

"Try to speak to him, as soon as he comes home" she declared. They remained quiet for a moment, looking at each other.

"Guess you are right" he said, he walked towards her, and rested his head against her elbow "I just hope that he isn't the same as three years ago" Ana remanined quiet. And gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you" she whispered "always" he lifted his head, and looked at her dark, mysterious eyes, and smiled. He gently kissed her. When they broke up, he was feeling better.

"Guess we dhould go back to the guys" he say, walking away from her, but she grabbed his hand, with an evil grin.

"There is no hurry" she said, while she placed her arms around his neck, and kissed him. He looked at her, then smiled.

"Guess you are right" he said, gently pushing her body towrds his.

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"They surely are taking their time" said Ren, as he played with his empty glass, which content had been emptied minutes ago. Pirika was resting her head against his shoulder, while Tamao walked around the house, trying to find something interesting. She had been in that house countless times, and being a very curious girl, she had inspeccionated every part of it, from pictures to bedrooms. Sometimes, when nobody was looking at her, she would open some drawers of closets, just to see what was in them, she hadn't stolen anything in her life. This time she noticed that something above one of the pieces of forniture was a picture that she didn't recall ever seeing before.

It was a picture of a man in his early therties, with two identical boys being hugged by each arm of the man. The three of them had identical brown eyes and hair. The man was grining cheerfully, while the two boys were doing the opposite to each other: one was kicking and trying to get free of the mans grip, clearly annoyed for the position he was in, while the other was more relaxed, and grinned in the same fashion of the older man.

"Hey guys, comoe look at these" she said, turning around and walking towards her friends, They both turned to her, curious.

"What is it?" asked Pirika, Tamao gave them the picture. They both stared at it for a while.

"That's Yoh's father" said Ren "I've seen other pictures of him"

"We all know thst it's his father" said Pirika, Ren grunted.

"But the other boy..." began to say Tamao "I've seen pictures of Yoh when he was younger. But I never noticed this one, where he appears with his... umm... brother" she said. They both nooded. Pirika stared at the picture for a moment, then grinned.

"Which one do you think is Yoh?" she asked, both her friends looked at her then smiled, it was quite obvious. Tamao stared at the boy protesting, he truly seemed quite annoyed, he wasn't even lookig at the camera at the moment the pucture was taken.

"I wonder why I didn't noticed this one before" she asked aloud.

"That one was kept hidden by my mum" said a voice from behind, startling them. They turned, Yoh was coming out of his room holding Ana's hand he looked serious. He approached them slowly, and took the picture out of Tamao hands, and stared at it. Melancholy and sadness made themelfs present in his eyes, as he stared at the piece of paper in his hand.

They all remained quiet for a moment, wandering what the young boy was thinking. Then Tamao noticed odd at the back of the picture, there was something written there.

"Excuse me" she said as she grabbed the picture and read what was behind it. It was had-written, it said: tle Lion and the Sleepyhead. "the lion and the sleepyhead?" she said aloud, she turned to Yoh "what does it mean?" she asked. He smiled, as the others grabbed the picture and read the inscription.

"Oh! That" he laughed lowly a bit "my mun used to call us that way, Hao was the lion and I was the sleepyhead. You he had quite a temper even before he went away" he said, with a little of sadness in his words "and also his hair was much more longer than mine, and he refused to get it cut" he added smiling.

But after a moment, he erased it from his face, and turned to his friends.

"Guys" he said "there is something I need to tell you"

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Ok! there goes the first chapter

I was right: this is going to be boring

Oh well... guess I'll just keep on writing, since I don't have anything better to do.

I wish you all a good night.

And good luck