AN: Okay so we're now on the second chapter of this fic. This one is LONG. Like a sentence or two over 17 pages. I have the story outlined and I think I'm looking at 10 chapters total. Hopefully they won't all be this long -_- I'm not going to update it again until I have another chapter of W.o.B. uploaded (my Naruto fic) so hopefully that'll encourage me to get through both stories at a decent pace. If I'm right in guessing that this is going to be 10 chapters long then more main Shaman King characters should be showing themselves about chapter 6, though that doesn't include the regular characters who will be introduced in the next chapter (you'll know who they are at the end of this chapter.) If I believe the story length is going to change I'll "AN" about it. Enjoy the story :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this and I'm not trying to sell any of it.

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Chapter 2: Will Christmas Never Come?

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A little boy scrambled out of his bed and raced towards his cracked, wooden dresser. He yanked the drawer as hard as he could but it wouldn't budge. The boy, who had long, dark-brown hair that fell past his shoulders, put his foot on the dresser and pulled again. There was a strange squeaking sound and then the door slid out several inches. He shoved his hand deep into the drawer and dug around for some fresh clothes. Once he had found a shirt and some pants he stripped, then changed, and headed out of his room.

"Miss Maria, I'm going outside mm'kay?" The boy asked as he headed for the front door.

Miss Maria sighed, "have fun, Zeke, be back by lunch."

"Will do," Zeke said before leaving the orphanage. Zeke ran towards his favorite place in the city: Patch City Cemetery. Down the street, take a right, and then up a long hill, and up the top of a hill is the entrance to the large cemetery; the only cemetery in the city.

But as it had been for the last several days, a group of boys, aged nine to eleven, were standing at the cemetery gates waiting for him.

"Uh-oh…." Zeke mumbled as he stopped running. He would have hidden but the boys already noticed him. He looked at the stone wall that was separating him from his friends hiding in the graveyard. One of his friends poked her head over the top of the wall; the fact that she was transparent made it so he almost didn't notice. "Hello grandma Yohko!" he said, waving frantically, his face lighting up with a big smile.

"Who you waving to?" One of the young boys said. This boy was named Samuel Shai, and he had a bad attitude. Nine years old and he was already bullying poor little orphan boys like Zeke.

"Just my friend…" Zeke mumbled. He knew the boys couldn't see the ghosts like he could.

"Weird that the orphanage lets a four-year-old play with ghosts, isn't it guys?" Samuel laughed to his friends.

"Better than being a nine-year-old who's jealous of his older brother…"

Samuel jumped towards Zeke, grabbed the front of his shirt, and punched him in the face. He pulled Zeke closer and whispered into his ear, "I don't know how you know about that…" he began to say.

"I know because I can read your mind," Zeke said, whispering back.

Samuel punched him several more times before throwing him to the ground and kicking him once. "Let's go guys." The gang of kids left, mumbling about how creepy Zeke was.

After several minutes Zeke stood up and dusted his pants. He stumbled towards the cemetery entrance, wiping blood off his face, and sighing in relief as he entered the premises. Zeke walked down the familiar cobblestone road, making his way up another hill. From the top of the hill he could see the familiar glow of the Great Spirit, as the ghosts in the cemetery called it.

"Rotten of them to hurt such an innocent four-year-old," the spirit from before said as she floated over to him.

"Yes, but I am different than the other kids my age," Zeke reasoned. "I can see why they'd be scared." He sat down beside a tall, old tree, leaning back and resting his head on the trunk. "Granny, tell me again why I'm so different?"

Yohko laughed lightheartedly and took a spot next to him as other spirits made their way out of their graves and over to the two. Spirits of young children, men and women, and of course old people who had lived long lives, surrounded Zeke in a large assortment. As Yohko began to explain, spirits of animals began to make their way over as well.

"Four years and some months ago our ancestor, Hao Asakura, reincarnated into this world. He stole you away from my descendants, your mother and father, and brought you to the Great Spirit where he pulled you from your body and took possession of it." Zeke gulped nervously, that part always made him sick, like he could remember the pain in his gut as his soul was pulled out. "You refused to merge with him and he gave you to the Great Spirit. I, along with other spirits from the Asakura family, remade you and left you with the orphanage."

"You left out the best part Granny," Zeke wined playfully.

Yohko chuckled. "Right dear, right. You have a twin brother named Yoh."

"And Yoh get's to live happily with our mother and father," Zeke said, curling into a ball and pouting. He looked up to Yohko. "I can see him sometimes, you know?" Yohko gave him a quizzical look so he went on. "Every now and then a small movie pops into my head and I see him. Like recently I saw him learning shaman stuff from our grandpa. Not a lot though, he doesn't pick this stuff up as easily as I do. Why is that?"

"Because you some of Hao's and the Great Spirit's power in you," Yohko said.

"Granny, why are you the only relative here watching over me?" Zeke said.

"The other two went back to the Great Spirit but I wanted to make sure that you grew up knowing everything."

"Is it okay for spirits to mess with things like that?"

She smiled at her little descendent. "What would be the point in seeing and talking to me if not to learn from me?" Zeke smiled and stood up, then decided to play tag with the ghost children.

Over the next two years not too much changed. Zeke, now six, had already started primary school. Classes were easy and he passed them effortlessly; he was far more advanced than the other students, as he was friends with the spirits of several teachers. Yohko stayed with him for another year, teaching him shaman basics such as summoning the spirits of leaves, meditating, and integrating with spirits.

"You'll have to learn on your own from now on. There's only so much, as a spirit, that I can teach you," she told him on his fifth birthday. There were tears and a party in the cemetery and then, smiling, Zeke watched as she crossed over to the Great Spirit. Even though he was saddened by her departure, he understood why she had to leave. He wished that he could help all the spirits cross over.

As the next year went by Zeke began going to the public library. He would borrow books on the supernatural and read them at the cemetery; practicing their ways with the spirits haunting the graveyard. He was growing smarter and stronger spiritually, but physically he was only six and he was still being bullied by Samuel and his friends.

He still didn't fight back. He knew he was too small against an eleven-year-old, but he was getting better at dodging and running away. Samuel threw an arm around Zeke's middle as Zeke tried to escape. Then, after lifting Zeke into the air Samuel shoved him back onto the ground. Zeke's head hit the cement with a loud CLUNCK.

"Samuel Jonathan Shai, what on earth are you doing to that poor boy?" A woman said, storming her way from a nearby car and up towards the two boys.

"M-mom!" Samuel said; his voice and face filled with pure terror. Samuel obviously took after his mother. They had the same pale completion, the same dusty black hair, and they were both tall and lanky, though Zeke knew Samuel would grow out of his lankiness as he grew older. Mrs. Shai grabbed hold of the back of Samuel's shirt and hoisted him off of Zeke. Apparently he had been so shocked that his mother was there that he didn't think to get off of Zeke himself.

"You've got two seconds Samuel," his mother said, her voice making both Samuel and Zeke quiver. As Samuel stumbled around his words Zeke noticed a boy getting out of the car and walking over to them as well. The boy was obviously Samuel's older brother. He appeared to be about fifteen and he was already taller and lankier then his mom, his hair was also dustier.

"Maybe Sam dyes his hair black?" Zeke thought to himself humorously.

"Mother, you're making a scene," the boy said. "I don't think you want these passer-byes to get the wrong idea."

Mrs. Shai sighed. "You're right Martin." She looked at Zeke. "Why don't you come with us, I'll give you a ride home."

"Sure, that'd be great," Zeke said. Yohko and the books that he borrowed from the library were always telling him about trusting people and being kind and genuine to everyone. They taught him how to read auras and what a different colored aura could mean. He was always readily guarded when around Samuel because Samuels aura burned like fire around his body; the red and orange showing off his clear frustration of the world and his reasons for lashing out. Like all fires though, there were traces of blue and yellow within his energy so Zeke suspected that as Samuel grew older he'd be able to tame his spirit.

Martin's energy was a grey-green color and Zeke decided to keep his guard up around him as well, knowing that Martin was self-sacrificing and disbelieving in Zeke's ways automatically. He was someone who needed pure facts to believe something. His mother though, shined with a bright red-pink energy. She was a mass of pure love and Zeke easily trusted her.

Mrs. Shai ushered the kids back into her car.

"Where do you live?" She said kindly to Zeke as he buckled up into the back seat of her car.

"The Patch City Orphanage," He said back, a smile on his face. He liked talking to her. His smile faded as her expression dropped. He had made her uncomfortable by mentioning he was an orphan. Mrs. Shai was glaring at Samuel and Zeke knew she couldn't believe that her son would bully an orphan. None of them knew that he actually had a family living in Japan though, so technically he wasn't really an orphan. Did it matter if he was an orphan though? He didn't want to be different just because he currently didn't have parents.

They arrived to the orphanage in mere minutes and Mrs. Shai escorted Zeke into the quaint, rundown building. Miss Maria was in her office making schedules on her computer when Mrs. Shai ushered Zeke into the room.

"Oh!" Miss Maria said, jumping from their sudden appearance. "What can I help you with dear?" She didn't bother asking if Zeke had done something to upset her; he had never been in trouble for anything.

"Not at all miss," Mrs. Shai said. "As you know I've been looking into adopting for awhile now. My husband and I have filled out forms and gone through assessment tests, passing every exam with flying colors. The only thing left is a child to adopt."

"And you'd like to adopt our little Zeke?" Miss Maria asked. A smile was growing on her face. She would miss Zeke, having raised him since he was a baby, but she was happy he was getting a family. Miss Maria never understood why Zeke hadn't been adopted yet. He was polite, well mannered, highly intelligent, and very friendly.

Mrs. Shai frowned slightly. "To be honest, I don't want to adopt him just yet." She gave Zeke an apologetic look. "What I would like to do is go through a trial run and watch him for a couple of months. We live right in town so his class schedule wouldn't have to change or anything. I just want to make sure that he will fit in well with the rest of my family."

Miss Maria beamed. "That's not a problem. We actually encourage this so that the kids don't get stuck in any horrible circumstances because a parent might begin feeling like the child is a burden. Would you like to take him today?" Mrs. Shai nodded her head yes and Miss Maria turned to Zeke. "Go pack your things then dear."

Zeke whooped and sped off to his room while Miss Maria pulled paperwork out of her desk for Mrs. Shai to fill out. It was October twentieth and as Zeke bundled up his clothes into his backpack he wondered what staying with a family would be like. What dinners would feel like, would he have his own room, cooking with a new mom, were they going to take him trick-or-treating on Halloween? He pilled some rocks into a pouch on his bag and then dug into his back pocket for a leaf. It was crumpled from when Samuel shoved him to the ground. As he placed it in the pouch a leaf-spirit flew out of it.

"Why don't you ever fight that Samuel kid?" The spirit asked.

"Because he's way to big Leafy, I'll fight once I'm bigger," Zeke said. He called all of the leaf-spirits Leafy. He also called all of the rock-spirits Rocky. He wasn't creative when it came to naming things.

"You could always send us on him," another leaf-spirit said, sneaking out of his backpack.

"Yohko always taught me that I shouldn't fight unless absolutely necessary, and Samuel doesn't try to kill me, he just punches me a little and then leaves."

A rock-spirit came out to join the conversation. "It'd be nice to know why he attacks you though."

"He pretends that I'm his older brother," Zeke said. "Every time he punches me I see and hear his older brother telling him off for not trying hard enough in school or his dad is telling him he's a disappointment. Mrs. Shai doesn't mean to but when she talks happily about Martin it causes Samuel to be jealous and that's another reason too." He and his spirits had reached Miss Maria's office.

"Who were you talking to?" Mrs. Shai said. She had finished filling out the paperwork and was waiting patiently for Zeke at the front door.

"Just talking to my spirit friends," Zeke said.

"Oh? You have some imaginary friends then?" Mrs. Shai asked the six year old at her side. She opened the door for him to go through.

"Silly! They aren't imaginary, they're real!" Zeke said playfully. He knew she didn't believe him but adults didn't mind him having these so-called imaginary friends. It was only when they found out that he liked to hang out and play in the cemetery that they distanced themselves from him.

"What's he doing here?" Samuel said angrily as Zeke climbed back into the car.

"He's going to stay with us for a couple of months," Mrs. Shai said. "And I don't want to hear another word out of you young man, you're grounded." Zeke giggled and Samuel shoved him but Mrs. Shai didn't say anything. Interactions like that were expected from brothers and she didn't want Samuel to think she was playing favorites with Zeke. Zeke understood that too and proceeded to smile dumbly as he looked out his door's window.

After arriving at the house Mrs. Shai gave Zeke a brief tour and explained the house rules. This house had four rooms: a master bedroom for Mr. and Mrs. Shai, two rooms for their sons, and then one room for guests. He would be staying in the guest room but if the family decided to adopt him then he would share a room with Samuel so that the guest room was still available for… well… guests. Everyone was expected to wake-up on time every day, no hitting the 'snooze' alarm, and they were only allowed to sleep in a max of two hours on the weekends.

Homework was to be finished right after school before any activities could take place. Clothes were to be worn properly, manners were to be had when out, at the dinner table, or when guests were over. No skipping classes. No profanity. Everything seemed pretty standard and Zeke was sure he'd do well with the family. His favorite part, and he was shocked because he didn't realize beforehand, was that the family had a pet dog.

The dog was a beautiful Belgian Shepherd named Fang. "Samuel named him," Mrs. Shai explained. They warned Zeke before introducing him to Fang that the dog was slightly reproachful towards strangers. "That's alright, animals love me," Zeke said. Sure enough, Fang took to Zeke quickly. He was taught that there were strict rules for Fang. No giving an undeserved treat, no feeding him human food and he had to be walked twice a day.

Upon Mrs. Shai's orders, Martin escorted Zeke to the guest room so he could put his things away, Samuel following behind them and then heading to his own room. The room was filled with Victorian décor. It had a queen sized bed, a dresser, an amour, a small table with a chair, and a beautifully designed lamp.

"I'm sorry about the way my brother's been treating you," Martin said.

"It's alright," Zeke said, placing his backpack on the bed and removing his clothes from it.

"No, it's not, that kid has problems," Martin watched as Zeke grabbed the rocks and leaf from inside his backpack.

A queasy feeling wrapped in anger, sadness, and betrayal swelled up inside Zeke. "Samuel is listening…" He brought the rocks and the leaf to the Victorian style dresser and set them atop it. "Well, he's just a kid. He might grow out of it." The queasy feeling slowly drained out of Zeke.

Martin looked at him curiously, interested in how a six-year-old could be so mature.

Mr. Shai was shocked to see Zeke but was nevertheless happy to have him. He was upset with Samuel after learning about the bullying and sent him to his bedroom to eat his dinner alone. Shortly after dinner the Shai's sent Zeke to bed since tomorrow would be Monday and he had school. As Zeke walked down the hall to the guest room he passed Samuel coming out of the bathroom. He nearly expected a confrontation to occur but nothing happened. Samuel just grunted at him and kept going.

Monday came around and Mrs. Shai attempted to awaken Zeke for breakfast, stunned to find Zeke awake and meditating on his bed. He greeted her pleasantly and was happy to eat breakfast with the Shai family.

Zeke found himself easily easing his way into the Shai family way of life. He was taken aback when Mrs. Shai dropped him off at school and he realized that he went to the same school as Samuel. Because of their age difference they never saw each other in the hallways and ate lunch at different times so really nothing changed. After school, Zeke surprised his temporary family yet again by having his homework completely done, and continuing to do so during his several weeks there; they assumed it was because homework for a first grader was highly simple.

Martin would leave for his part-time job shortly after school, leaving Samuel and Zeke to go home where Samuel was left to grumble about his homework while Zeke played with Fang, meditated, and talked with the earth-type spirits that resided in the backyard. After Samuel had completed his work he would leave to play with his friends; Zeke stayed beside Mrs. Shai and helped her cook dinner. By the end of the night, Mr. Shai, Samuel, and Martin would come home and they would all eat dinner together and talk about their day. Zeke was molding in with them flawlessly and, besides Samuel, they were growing to love the young boy.

October thirty-first came faster than Zeke thought and soon he was being asked what he wanted to be when the family went trick-or-treating.

"Oh man, mom, I don't want to go trick-or-treating," Samuel said as his mother pulled up to the school. "That's for little kids."

"Well what about Zeke?" She said as she looked back at the boys sitting in the backseat.

"Honestly, I don't want to go trick-or-treating necessarily," Zeke said.

"Necessarily?" Samuel said, wondering what he necessarily wanted to do; Mrs. Shai gaped at Zeke's use of such a big word.

"While candy is nice and all I'm just curious to watch the other kids as they go trick-or-treating, that and I wouldn't mind going to the graveyard, I haven't been there in a while," Zeke said.

"Oh, okay, well then Samuel can take you out after school then," Mrs. Shai said, smiling.

"But—," Samuel started to say but stopped when Mrs. Shai glared at him. Zeke and Samuel left the car and headed into the school. There was no time for Samuel to berate Zeke, the school bell chiming for class to start, sending the boys in a mad dash for their first classes.

After school the schedule went on as usual until seven o'clock came around. Mrs. Shai gave them a bag full of sandwiches and a couple of juice boxes and then sent them on their way. Before leaving, Samuel ran up to his room and then came back down with a white sheet. He threw the sheet over Zeke's head.

"There, now no one will know who's with me," he said.

Mrs. Shai chuckled and cut two holes for Zeke to see through. "Sammy, you're so silly," she said.

They walked down the street and Zeke watched the kids, and their parents, running from housed to house, dressed as witches and princesses, prisoners and cowboys. The children didn't look scary and the ordeal seemed relatively normal, but with no spirituality. Zeke frowned through his sheet and almost thought that Samuel could tell he was upset.

"Not what you were expecting?" Samuel asked.

"No…" Zeke replied. "I'd like to go to the graveyard now."

Samuel threw his hands behind his head and began walking towards the cemetery. "Whatever. At least I won't run into my friends there." Zeke sulked more, knowing that Samuel was embarrassed to be seen with him, but he focused on the chance to see all of his friends at the cemetery again

The cemetery was filled with ghosts galore. Spirits that normally spent their time sleeping in their graves were floating around with the other spirits that haunted the graveyard. Animal spirits chased one another around the tombstones and ghouls loomed about in the shadows, their yellow eyes glowing ominously at the other spirits. Seeing his old friends wafting around the ground cheered any gloom that Zeke was feeling. A smile spread on his small face. He pulled his sheet off and he ran deep into the cemetery.

"Hi One-Eyed Jimmy! Hey there Sally-Sue!" He said as he dashed past acquaintances and friends. "Hello Maggie!" He ran deeper and deeper until he came to the heart of the graveyard, Samuel following behind him awkwardly.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Samuel asked as he sat on a bench, the sheet in a bundle under his arm, and watched Zeke roll around on the moist grass.

"Just my friends, Sammy!" Zeke said, laughing wildly as he played with a ghost child.

"Don't call me Sammy or I'll beat the stuffing out of you!" Samuel said. "And what friends are you even talking about?"

Zeke simmered down, "I mean my spirit friends…" Samuel was about to criticize Zeke for playing with imaginary friends but stopped abruptly; Zeke had gone into a sort of trance, sitting on the ground with glazed-over eyes, staring at nothing.

"Zeke?" He said. Zeke's head fell forward and then popped back up as he came out of his trance. He looked back at Samuel sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was having a vision."

"Of what?" Samuel said skeptically.

"Oh, my twin brother, Yoh," Zeke said. Samuel continued to stare at him unsurely so Zeke continued. "He lives in Japan and he's sleeping right now. Really it was just a short image of him passed out against a tree, not a whole lot else. Sometimes I have a vision of him and sometimes it's a vision of Hao. They both seem like they don't know I exist though."

"Yea right, like you have a twin brother in Japan. I know you look Japanese but if anything you're just an Asian-American whose parents either died or left him on the stoop of that stupid orphanage."

Zeke stood up and tears started falling down his face. "My parents are alive and in Japan! Sorry that they don't know about me!" He gasped for air a few times while Samuel stared at him. "…I want to go home now."

Samuel stood up and walked to Zeke, grabbing his arm roughly and pulling him towards the cemetery entrance. Once they had left, Samuel let go of Zeke's arm and pulled a juice box out of the paper bag and threw it at Zeke.

"Drink that and stop crying or else my mom's going to yell at me again," Samuel said. Zeke sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand while he sucked up his juice.

When they arrived home Zeke told Mr. and Mrs. Shai that he had grown tired from playing in the cemetery and wanted to go to bed early. Samuel followed him upstairs and headed for his own room. He was shocked to see a side of Zeke that cried, so used to Zeke always talking about his imaginary friends and being far smarter than general six-year-olds.

Weeks continued on and things went back to how they had been, Zeke waking up the day after Halloween as his usual self and continuing to be chipper for the days to come. Soon Thanksgiving was coming up and Zeke was looking forward to a family feast.

"So, Mrs. Shai, are all your relatives going to come to Thanksgiving?" Zeke asked while Mrs. Shai was dropping him and Samuel off at school.

"Sweety, ask me once you get home, Mama's in a rush this morning," Mrs. Shai said, a friendly smile on her face; she had begun to make it a habit of referring to herself and her husband as Mama and Daddy whenever she was talking to Zeke. Zeke nodded his head and followed Samuel out of the car.

"Hey Sammy!" Zeke said, calling out to Samuel who was rushing to get into the school and away from Zeke. "Sammy!" Zeke chased after him, hoping he would stop. As Mrs. Shai drove away from the parking lot, Samuel turned on his heel and punched Zeke on his forehead.

"Stop calling me Sammy," he said, his voice raised and his eyes narrowed. Zeke looked up to him from his new spot on the ground.

"I just wanted to know if your relatives are coming home for Thanksgiving," Zeke said. He stood up and dusted off his back and school bag.

"They live too far away and we aren't really close with any of them," Samuel said nonchalantly.

"Oh…" Zeke said.

Samuel sighed, "Doesn't matter to me."

"Is it at least going to be fun?"

"Well duh; it's Thanksgiving. It's not as good as Christmas but there's a lot of good food," Samuel said. Zeke smiled and headed for his class while Samuel went to find his friends.

Just a few more days passed and the school was on break for the holidays. Zeke made it a habit of going to the cemetery or playing in the backyard all day; Fang never leaving his side. Martin would leave for the library to study or worked at his part time job; occasionally going out at night to hang out with friends as well. Samuel brooded over the first few days because Mrs. Shai forbade any fun to be had until all the holiday homework was finished, but with Martin's help Samuel had gotten it done quickly. He spent the majority of his vacation with his little gang of friends, terrorizing Zeke or finding ways to vandalize buildings or cause other forms of mischief.

At long last Thanksgiving Day arrived. Zeke awoke to the smell of a cooking turkey. He headed downstairs and found the table decorated with a crème-colored tablecloth and five Thanksgiving-themed sets of plates, saucers, goblets, and silverware.

For once the family didn't disperse during the day. Mrs. Shai stayed in the kitchen making the turkey dinner and the three boys stayed with Mr. Shai in the family room, playing bored games, watching football, and having conversation. After hours of relaxing, Mrs. Shai announced dinner and together they all ate the feast.

"Why don't we take the time to acknowledge what we're thankful for," Mr. Shai said before digging into a turkey leg. "Martin, you're the oldest, why don't you start."

Martin stared at the ceiling perplexed for a minute. "I'm thankful for having decent teachers for a change," he said nonchalantly. He looked to Samuel to continue.

"The only thing I'm thankful for is moms cooking," Samuel said as he shoved a large spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

It was Zeke's turn. "I'm thankful for the chance to experience all these holidays with a real family," he said.

"And we're thankful to experience this time with you too," Mr. Shai said, a smile on his face.

"So thankful in fact, that we were hoping you would become a permanent edition," Mrs. Shai said.

Zeke stood on his chair in excitement, his hands landing flatly on the table. "Are you serious? Really?" He had figured it would come to this with the way Mrs. Shai would call herself mom and everything but he didn't want to work himself up over nothing.

Mrs. Shai continued. "We've already discussed it with the boys and they agreed to take you in." Zeke stared at Samuel sitting to his right. He focused intently on Samuel, trying to see past the images and feelings in his head until thoughts began to form. Samuel had grown used to Zeke's presence. Even though he was annoyed by him he was willing to put up with him.

"Why are you staring at me you creep?" Samuel yelled.

"Just trying to figure out if you really agreed to let me into the family," Zeke said, sitting back down in his seat and continuing to eat what little was left of his food. Mr. Shai had begun discussing Martin's studies and Mrs. Shai excused herself to get dessert. "I got my reason."

Samuel looked at him angrily. "Quit reading my mind. You don't have my permission to be in there. If you have a question then ask me because the next time I find out you've been reading my mind—," he leaned in close to Zeke and whispered the rest, "…I'll make sure you regret it."

Zeke began to see very violent images of what Samuel would do, but he forced the thoughts out his head. "I-I haven't tried to control it like that yet, but I'll teach myself so that I don't invade your privacy." He gulped. "Forgive me for any time I see your thoughts in the near future while I get a handle on the ability."

"Fine," Samuel said. "Then you better tell me each time you've seen my thoughts so that I can trust you." Zeke nodded his head. He was going to say more but Mrs. Shai was coming back in with pecan pie and pumpkin ice-cream.

The family finished their meal and then everyone went to sleep early, the turkey making them very sleepy. As it had turned out, the Shai's brought the subject of adoption up during Thanksgiving in hopes of having the paperwork filled out by Christmas. As the days went by Zeke had found himself in Samuels clutches; it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be though.

One morning Zeke had been playing with Fang when Samuel strolled over to him and said the two of them ("and the dog I guess") would be going out. They headed to a rundown park, with rusty swings, lopsided slides, and terribly brown grass, where Samuel's friends were hanging out.

"What are we doing here?" Zeke asked.

"That big guy, the fourteen-year-old over there, he's in charge of the group," Samuel mumbled as they walked to the group. "You can analyze the rest." Zeke took the initiative and delved into Samuel's mind. He didn't have the greatest handle on his power but even just trying to control his it was strengthening the ability, if only a little.

Samuel's thoughts raced across Zeke's mind as they drew closer to the group of kids. "You're going to read that bastards mind and then you're going to scare him. He hates paranormal shit. If he tries to hurt you I'll take care of him." And then Samuel cracked his knuckles.

"Why'd you bring that freaky kid with you?" A goon who was the same age as Samuel asked.

"We're adopting him and my mom wanted us to hangout or whatever," Samuel said.

"And why did you think I'd let you bring a runt like that over?" The fourteen-year-old asked.

"Better watch what you say about my little brother, Randall," Samuel said. "He's got creepy powers and stuff." Randall began laughing obnoxiously; making a show of how much of a fool he felt Samuel was. Zeke looked to Samuel, who nodded, and then began walking slowly towards Randall, opening up his mind.

"You're bulimic," Zeke began. He was being flooded with image after image of Randall's home life and secrets. Everyone in the group had stopped laughing and was staring horridly at Zeke; even Samuel's mouth had dropped an inch in surprise. No one had known that about Randall. Randall stood transfixed, looking at Zeke with utter confusion, his mind trying to keep himself sane.

"You're wondering how I know…" Zeke continued, "Since you only force yourself to throw up while you're home alone, after your family has left you to fend for yourself and have gone off to luxurious restaurants or to the movies. You refuse their offer to accompany them because you're scared that they really think you're too dumb, immature, and unmannerly to go with them. You—"

"Shut up!" Randall said. He was sweating, his eyes were beady, and a vein was throbbing at his temple. "What are you playing at?" He said, looking to Samuel for answers.

"This is my gang now," Samuel said, a sinister smirk was going over his face.

"You really think that I'm going to hand over the gang to an eleven-year-old?" Randall asked. He charged Samuel with a look that could kill.

"No!" Zeke yelled. He raced in between Samuel and Randall, placed his hands beside his back pockets. "Summoning!" From his back pockets sprang two spirits, one of leaf and one of rock. They were balled up in the palms of his hands, which were now moving fluidly around to the front of his body. "Partial INTERGRATION!" He flung the spirits into his chest and then brought his arms into a defensive position in front of his chest and head as Randall punched into him.

"Ouch! Damn-it!" Randall said, gripping his fist. Despite Zeke being six, Randall had barely moved him half an inch. He was grounded in place like a rock. As Randall came at him again Zeke, reading Randall's mind, swept to the side of him fluidly like a leaf in the wind. He kicked Randall's shin with his rock-hard body, and then flittered underneath Randall as the older boy began to double over, gripping his leg. Zeke punched Randall's face, sending him backwards onto the ground.

After a minute, Randall shakily stood up and then retreated away from the group with unhidden fear of Zeke; the other older members of the gang following close behind. What was left of the group gaped at Zeke in shock.

"Was that alright, Sammy?" Zeke asked sheepishly. He felt a little guilty for reading Randall's mind and spilling his secrets to everyone, but the guilt had been short lived when Randall had lunged at Samuel. Unlike Samuel, who only ever wanted to beat Zeke up a little, Randall was hoping to kill. That was the only reason that Zeke had decided to partially integrate with the spirits occupying the leaf and rock he had in his back pockets.

Samuel walked over to and backhanded Zeke across the face, sending the boy to the ground. "What did I tell you about calling me that? (Are you reading my mind? Nod if you are.)"

Zeke nodded and then bit his lip. "What right do you have to say that I can't call you that?" He said angrily. "I'm your brother now."

Samuel snorted. "Get up and go home, I'm done with you now. (You better explain to me what the hell that 'Partial INTEGRATION' was when I get back.)" Zeke nodded again and took off running back to the house.

Mrs. Shai was gone from the house, having left to run errands, so Zeke was left alone to play with Fang. After half an hour of catch Zeke decided to meditate for awhile; he was feeling divided about his confrontation with Randall. His mind raced and images of Yoh began to flood his mind's eye. Yoh was being chewed-out, by whom Zeke assumed was their grandpa, for not concentrating while summoning spirits from leaves. "But I already know how to do this," Yoh whined. Before Zeke could watch more another image was flooding into his head, this time of Hao.

He watched as a boy, who looked more like him than his own twin brother, confronted a man and woman, demanding that they join him. The man and woman refused and Hao created a fire within their house that began to consume them and everything around them. Zeke watched as a door opened and a small boy with green hair and a pink fairy burst into the room and tried to attack Hao. Hao began laughing and Zeke scrunched up his face and forced himself out of the trance.

He wheezed and then gasped for air. 'What was that just now?' he thought as he clutched the part of his shirt that hung right above his heart. As he got a hold of himself he stood up and then felt a warm trickle run over his lips and down his chin. He wiped the back of his hand across his chin and looked. Blood. He fell back to the ground and scrambled backwards, as if trying to get away from the site as well as the few drops that had landed on the ground in front him. 'I never get a nose bleed when I have a vision…'

Again he stood, only this time he ran back to the house, Fang barking uncertainly behind him. Through the sliding glass door, through the kitchen, up the stairs, down the hall, and into his room, Zeke raced for his collection of library books and pulled one out titled Know Your Psychic Abilities. He skimmed through the index until he found an article on visions. Quickly he flipped the pages of his book, coming to the corresponding page. Zeke jumped from heading to heading looking for something that would jump at him. Seeing the FUTURE. Zeke's finger trembled as it outlined the words.

Those who are able to see into the future generally enter a trance. Side-effects of seeing the future can include: Clamminess, Hot-flashes, Tremors or Seizures, Headaches or Migraines, and the Expulsion of Blood through the Nose.

"Well, I only have one side-effect… but it felt differently than any other vision I had… I must have seen the future," Zeke said quietly to himself. He slammed the book shut and curled into a ball. "Why, Hao, why would you kill that man?"

Zeke shut himself in his room for the rest of the night and refused to come down for dinner.

Some hours into the night, Zeke was awoken by the sound of his door creaking open. He sat up and watched Samuel enter his room, walk to his bed, and sit on the edge.

"Why didn't you come to dinner?" Samuel said.

Zeke looked down at his hands holding onto his comforter. "I… saw the future." Zeke could see the dark outline of Samuel's face turn mildly confused. "It was my ancestor, Hao, he was burning a family to death."

"How can you see your ancestor in the future?" Samuel said.

"That's rather complicated to explain. He… uh… reincarnated, kinda?" Zeke tried to explain. "I'm not too sure but I really don't want to talk more about that."

"Fine. Then explain what happened earlier."

Zeke took a deep breath. "That's relatively simple. To me, at least, every living thing, or anything connected to nature, has a spirit. I simply summoned the spirits of a rock and leaf that I had in my back pockets and merged my soul and body with them. Their attributes contributed to my abilities and that's that."

"That's supposed to be simple?" Samuel said.

"If you can't understand something like that then go and open a book or something. My head hurts and I'm really upset that in a year's time Hao is going to kill two innocent people and there's nothing I can do about it."

Samuel stood and began heading back to the hallway. "My advice. If there's nothing you can do then get over it. It's out of your hands. Either stop him or suck it up." He left the room, slamming the door.

More time passed and soon they were a few weeks into December. Zeke was trying to take Samuels advice but it seemed the happier he was trying to be then the more futuristic visions of Hao he was having. He was growing broody as he saw death after death coming up. The visions didn't last long, just mere seconds, and most of them were the same deaths over and over. Zeke was starting to assume that he was seeing the nearest of futures.

Samuel decided to leave Zeke alone since he seemed greatly out of it and was acting less like a happy little boy and more like an empty shell. The rest of the family assumed that Zeke was just experiencing a lot of different emotions and didn't understand how to handle it because soon he would legally be a member of their family. They at least had the different emotions part right.

The night of Christmas Eve, the family was sitting down for dinner when Mr. Shai brought up Zeke's birthday.

"So the orphanage told us, while we were finalizing the paperwork, that they pegged your birthday on May twelfth, because you're so interested in this spirit stuff your mother and I thought it would be a fun idea to take the family to our local Indian Resort," Mr. Shai said. Zeke looked at him curiously. The young boy's eyes were horribly dark and his skin had grown sallow from the lack of sleep.

"Do natives normally let people onto their resorts like that?" Martin asked.

"I'm not sure dear, but this particular tribe loves tourists. They're always setting shops up around the town and in Main Street and whenever I walk buy they're telling me and the other passerby to stop by their resort for a whole tour of their culture," Mrs. Shai answered.

"I'm sure there's a small fee of course, but they seem very spiritual and I think it'll be right up Zeke's alley," Mr. Shai said, continuing from where Mrs. Shai left off.

"What tribe are they?" Samuel asked. Zeke was listening intensely. If his family were going to take him to a tribe of very spiritual Native Americans then maybe someone there would be able to teach him how to control his visions.

"The Patch," Mrs. Shai said. "What other tribe would it be? We are in Patch City."

Samuel chuckled sheepishly. "I guess I never put the two together."

"That's because you don't pay attention in History class," Martin said.

"So what do you say, Zeke?" Mr. Shai asked.

Zeke was beyond himself with excitement. For once he was in the same boat as Samuel. He hadn't put the two together either, but now that he thought about it he realized that the Patch Tribe lived right next to the Great Spirit. They'd definitely be able to help him. He only had to wait five more months and then his problems would be solved. These visions weren't going to haunt him for the rest of his life like he feared they would.

"I'd love to go!" He said, looking slightly healthier, with color filling his face.

The next day he woke up early and headed downstairs, deciding not to meditate for once. It had been the first time in the last several days that Zeke had actually had a decent night's sleep. He came to the tree that the family had positioned in the family room and found Samuel kneeling beside it, shaking boxes.

"Morning Sammy," Zeke said, looking at the pile of present for himself.

Samuel grunted as he pressed a particularly heavy box to his ear and shook it, frantically trying to figure out what was inside. He gave up and watched Zeke pick up a skinny, but hard package. "You seem to be in a better mood." Zeke nodded enthusiastically as Martin made his way into the family room as well.

"Ooh, why don't you open that one," Mrs. Shai said. She and Mr. Shai were standing in the doorway, watching as their youngest boys observed the un-opened presents; Martin sitting on the couch maturely.

Zeke smiled and delicately peeled the taped wrapping sides away from one another until he had uncovered a framed piece of paper. He took a second to read over it. It was an officiated adoption form with his name on it and Mr. Shai's and Mrs. Shai's signatures at the bottom. He looked over to them.

"Welcome to the family Zeke Shai," they both said.

A grin bigger than any other he had ever had spread across his face. "It's good to be here."

xxx

AN: If anyone finds an error or something feel free to let me know... I'm not in the mood to reread this atm.