Chapter 2 of Miracles is up! I would like to thank all those who had reviewed my first chapter:
Hotaru
sweetness
the la-la idiot
anonymous01
ade5kira
Missing Pen
Neptunecake
Misanagi-Anna
Arabian Shaman Princess
Thank you for your reviews, and I'll work harder! Please remember to check the updated version of ade5kira's Destiny! She'll be updating hers by today, so do check it out! Anyway, right now, let's get on to chapter 2!
Chapter 2: Secrets
Yoh set a bowl of rice on the dining table, and glanced at the clock, which read 6.30pm. Anna strode in, wearing her usual black dress, and sat down, glancing at Yoh.
"Are you waiting for Hao?" She asked as Yoh sat down beside her. Before he could reply, however, HoroHoro walked in, looking around.
"Where's Hao? Didn't you all go to the lacrosse field together?" He asked, sitting heavily opposite Yoh and Anna. Anna shrugged.
"We left first because that idiot wanted to wait for a girl he took interest in," She said shortly, picking up her chopsticks, "If you want to wait for him to return, by all means do, but I'll be starting dinner first."
The front door banged open just as Anna's chopsticks touched the plate of kebabs, and she flinched irritably when a girl cried angrily, "Will you please LET GO OF MY HAND!"
"What do you know," Yoh told the scowling Anna with a laugh as Hao entered the dining room with Kahori and Chitose, "Not only did he bring Kahori back, even Chitose came!"
"Hey," Hao began indignantly when he realized that Anna had already started on dinner, "Why didn't you wait for me to start together?"
"And why should I?" Anna replied coldly, glaring at Hao before staring at HoroHoro. "What's wrong with you?" She demanded as HoroHoro dropped his chopsticks and backed all the way to the corner of the room, pointing at Chitose, looking terrified.
"Hao!" He yelled, "Why did you bring back that MACHINERY FREAK!"
Hao shrugged in return. "Kahori wanted her to come along, and I don't see anything wrong with it." He replied casually, looking at Chitose, who was still in her dirty uniform.
"What's wrong?" Yoh asked as he stood up to prepare more rice, "Did you two have a fight or something?"
Chitose grinned. "Why did you run away just now, HoroHoro? Weren't you the one who challenged me first?" She asked with a playful smirk. HoroHoro gulped, and glanced at Elysia, which was now resting peacefully on Chitose's shoulder, its eyes closed. "I-I didn't mean it, ok?" He said defensively, crawling slowly back to his seat as Yoh put three more bowls of rice on the table.
"I don't know what you both are talking about," Hao began, "But I do know that I need to change out of my uniform, and you ladies need to take a seat…" He glanced at Chitose as he pushed Kahori gently, urging her to sit at the end of the table, "Oi, asparagus head," He added to HoroHoro, who glared, "Pillica left some clothes here, didn't she? Lend them to Chitose; she needs to change into something clean."
"Who are you calling asparagus head, you freaking flirt?" HoroHoro snarled back, before getting up and steering Chitose forcefully out by her arm, "Come on, woman, I'll lend you some of my sister's clothes…"
They stalked out, and Yoh laughed. "Pretty lively, aren't they?" He said cheerfully, sitting back down, "Help yourself to the food, Kahori, don't be shy…"
Kahori smiled politely and picked up her chopsticks just as Anna asked, "Did Hao frighten you?"
"Well," Kahori began slowly, "You could say I was quite shocked… I mean, I haven't talked to him before, after all… It seems rather forward of him to invite me over although we've barely talked to each other…"
"You don't have to worry," Anna told her, "It's his way of doing things, he really means no harm, however bad his reputation was a few years ago…"
Kahori smiled, and said, in spite of herself, "I know, I wasn't afraid, I was annoyed because that guy came up to me for no reason at all and started dragging me over…" She laughed, "He's quite weird."
"Who's weird?"
Hao asked from behind, startling Kahori as he slipped into the seat beside her.
"You." Anna said flatly, and Yoh laughed at Hao's indignant glare.
"I am not weird," He argued, "I'm a very nice, gentle person…"
"Ego," Kahori interrupted him in a teasing tone, "You really dig flattering yourself, don't you?"
"By the way, Kahori," Anna continued, as if there wasn't any interruption, "You are only 16, aren't you?"
That caught the twins' attention.
"You are?" Yoh asked incredulously, and Kahori nodded.
"Yes, I skipped two grades and completed High School in England before I came back to Japan to do University." She said with another good-natured laugh, "But I'm not smart, really. I can catch up only because the teachers go slow with me and my parents, who are both lecturers in England, are always sending me subject notes via email."
"Your parents are lecturers in England?" Hao muttered, awed, "Hey, maybe they taught Lyzerg and Matilda too," He added with a grin, remembering their two other Shaman friends, Lyzerg Diethel, a former X-LAWS member who also joined Yoh's team for a period of time, and Matilda Matisse, one of Hao's three female allies in the Hanagumi, who had returned to their own country to study after the Shaman Fight
"Ah!" Kahori said in delight when she heard Matilda's name, "Matilda Matisse? She's my schoolmate before I came over to Japan!"
When they heard Kahori's words, their jaws dropped.
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Meanwhile, in HoroHoro's room, Chitose was changing into Pillica's blue sweater and black skirt. HoroHoro faced the wall, blushing slightly.
"You done?" He asked awkwardly.
"Almost," Chitose replied cheerfully, slipping on the sweater, "Is Pillica…your younger sister?"
There was a short pause, and when HoroHoro replied, his voice sounded different; it was filled with warmth and love, and Chitose was pleasantly surprised,
"Yeah, she's my younger sister."
"So where is she now?" Chitose asked, zipping up the skirt.
"Back at Hokkaido, our homeland. She's studying there." HoroHoro said, and lowered his head with a small smile, "You know, we used to have many other friends we met in the Shaman Fight staying here… We were really close too, although we always fight for the silliest things…" He paused when he thought of Tao Ren, a boy from China who was a year younger than him, and grinned at the thought of all their arguments, "We were idiots, I mean it!" HoroHoro said quickly when Chitose started laughing, "We were supposed to be enemies, vying for the title of Shaman King, yet we ended up working together…"
He felt a lump rise in his throat, and swallowed quickly; He suddenly felt the urge to call Pillica, just to hear her voice, or maybe phone Ren, and annoy him just for the heck of it… HoroHoro wanted to see them…
"Do you miss them?"
Chitose placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned, biting his lip to keep it from trembling. He hate to admit it, but he did miss them badly, from Chocolove's lame jokes to Ryu's retarded hairstyle… He wanted to see them; he wanted to know that they were doing ok…
"I'm sure Yoh and Anna feel that way too," Chitose said quietly, "I know how it feels too, to be separated from people dear to you…"
HoroHoro stared at her in surprise; it wasn't really possible, but her eyes… Her deep blue eyes were filled with bitterness, and did he see wrongly? Did he just see a frightful spark rise in her eyes… a spark which illuminated such loneliness…?
"I have a sister too."
Chitose said when she saw him staring, "She is two years younger than me, and if I remember correctly, my mother named her Hotaru."
HoroHoro started. "If you remember?" He asked cautiously. Chitose nodded, letting her hand slide lifelessly off his shoulder, and turned away.
"If I remember correctly," She repeated, her voice hollow, "Because when I was two, Hotaru was given away."
There was a shocked silence, and all HoroHoro could do was to look at her, unsure of what to say. Chitose smiled sadly, her expression unreadable as she said, "Do you wish to know why?"
Before HoroHoro could say anything to stop her, she continued, "Because my father divorced my mum, and she didn't have the ability to raise both Hotaru and I, so she made a choice, and gave Hotaru away."
Much against his will, HoroHoro asked hesitantly, "Do you know where she is now, then?" He edged closer to Chitose, who shook her head.
"No."
HoroHoro opened his mouth, desperate to say something to comfort her, but no words came out. What was this feeling? His chest… It hurts; the area where his heart was located, a jolt of pain was sent through his body with every throb.
He found himself wondering if he could ever live without having a sister like Pillica by his side. What would he have done if he had a situation like Chitose's? Would he cry? Blame his parent, maybe? Or would he simply live life away without giving his sister a second thought?
Another jolt of pain in his body made HoroHoro wince; what should he do…What can he do? She was obviously in so much pain…
Without thinking twice, he grabbed her from behind, pulling her into a hug, inhaling the soothing mixture of Pillica and Chitose's scent deeply.
Chitose turned and looked at HoroHoro over her shoulder, her eyes gleaming with tears. Elysia, which was sitting on the bed and blinking innocently at them, leapt off and nuzzled comfortably against Chitose's ankle.
Neither of them said anything for a long time, until HoroHoro broke the silence.
"We'll find her together!" He said fiercely, "We'll both find her, and then reunite your family."
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"Are you two finally down for dinner?"
Yoh asked with a grin when Chitose and HoroHoro both came back down 15 minutes later.
"Lost track of time while talking, sorry." HoroHoro muttered, and they both sat down opposite Yoh and Anna.
"Anyway," Hao said, "I hope you two don't have plans tomorrow. It's a Sunday, and we were thinking of going out together. Wanna come along?"
"Sounds cool," HoroHoro responded, "It's been a while since we had an outing together, I need to get out and go wild, anyway." He stuffed an oversized meat into his mouth, and promptly choked. Chitose thumped him on the back, and his choking eased.
"What about you, Chi? I'll be going too, so please join us!" Kahori pleaded, and Chitose grinned. "Ok," She said, "I need to return the clothes, anyway."
"We might be able to start tracking for your sister too." HoroHoro added to Chitose in a whisper, and she nodded.
"But did you know, Kahori and Matilda were schoolmates in England." Yoh said with a lopsided grin, and HoroHoro's jaw dropped.
"For real?" He exclaimed, "She knew that hyper bunny?"
"Yeah, I knew her." Kahori said, grinning.
"Hey," Hao said suddenly, "Maybe we can call Ren over to join us tomorrow…"
HoroHoro turned slightly green at the thought of seeing Ren so soon. Noticing his expression, Kahori asked curiously, "Who's this Ren person? HoroHoro's gay partner?"
Everyone burst out laughing as HoroHoro yelled, "I'M STRAIGHT, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE! Besides, Who'd like someone like him?"
"Well, Pillica does," Anna pointed out bluntly, and HoroHoro scowled; indeed, in her recent letters, Pillica did mention Ren a lot.
"So?" Kahori said impatiently, "Who is this Ren guy?"
"He's a boy from China we got to know through the Shaman Fight," Yoh told her, "He's mean and fierce-looking on the outside, but is a really kind person deep down."
"Yeah," HoroHoro agreed grudgingly, "He did save me a couple of times before, after all…" He looked away, flushing as he spoke, "BAH! It doesn't make him any less of a moron, anyway, so screw him!"
"He just doesn't want to admit it," Hao told Kahori and Chitose mischeviously, "But they are rather close, and I'd bet he misses Ren!"
"SHADDUP!" HoroHoro half-screamed at him, and they laughed again, "Mind your own business, old man!"
"I think it's wonderful to have someone you constantly think of, and care about, don't you agree?" Kahori said thoughtfully, and Chitose nodded in agreement.
HoroHoro half pouted and looked away again. "Fine, fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms huffily, "I sort of miss having them around, alright? And if they can join us tomorrow, well, why not?"
"It shouldn't be a problem for Ren," Yoh said, getting up to call his old friends, "After all, his family owns jet planes... He can easily pick the others up before coming here." He added before leaving.
"Isn't it great?" Chitose asked cheerfully, "You might just get to see everyone very soon!"
HoroHoro could only smile feebly back at her; In fact, he really didn't know how he would react if Chocolove turned up with his lame jokes…
"Ah," Chitose said, clapping her hands together, as if she just remembered something important, "I can't wait to meet Pillica too!"
Several minutes later, Yoh came back with a huge goofy grin on his face.
"I'm not going to say who's coming and who's not," He said, "But I'm sure you'll all be pleased to see those who will be coming tomorrow."
"I wonder if my three beauties are coming." Hao mused, thinking about the three girls in the Hanagumi- Matilda Matisse, a bubbly, happy girl with orange hair, also Kahori's schoolmate in England, Kanna Bismarch, a blue-haired woman who smokes, and Marion Phauna, a girl whom Hao had been very gentle to since he met her because of her shy nature.
"Three beauties?" Kahori said suspiciously, "Sounds wrong… " She glanced at Hao, little knowing that one of the three beauties was Matilda.
Hao grinned cheekily and leant closer to her.
"Are you jealous that I've got other girls by my side?" He teased, and, through the corner of her eye, Kahori could see Chitose, HoroHoro, Anna and Yoh exchanging glances. She blushed, and her hand instantly closed on the lacrosse stick on the floor beside her.
"YOU'RE- REALLY- DETESTABLE!"
Kahori yelled, whamming her equipment onto Hao's head again, this time with so much force that the lacrosse stick gave a devastating crack, and snapped into two.
There was another bang, and the guardian spirits, Kororo, Amidamaru and Saho came floating into the room, looking anxious.
"B-Big sis Kahori!" Saho shrieked when she saw the broken lacrosse stick, "You broke the medium!"
"Hand it over," Chitose said quickly, and Yoh grabbed the broken stick and gave it to Chitose before Kahori could whack the half-wincing, half-grinning Hao again.
Placing it on the table in front of her, Chitose removed the necklace that she was wearing and pulled out the kite-shaped red pendant from the chain.
"What are you doing?" Yoh asked as she beckoned Elysia onto her lap. Without replying, Chitose pressed the pendant against Elysia's forehead, and commanded, "Elysia, in Emblem Jewel!"
"Oversoul!" Anna gasped, shielding her eyes as a flash of red light blinded everyone in the room. HoroHoro, who was sitting just beside Chitose, saw, through the light, Elysia being sucked into the pendant Chitose called the Emblem Jewel, and then re-emerged, its eyes bright golden.
Unlike the usual Elysia, its hind legs were replaced by a longer tail, and the red Emblem Jewel was embedded into its forehead. Chitose stretched her right hand out, and Elysia obediently twirled its long tail around her arm until its head was directly in between her palm and the area where the lacrosse stick broke.
"Damage analyzed," A monotonous, robot-like voice said, and everyone but Chitose jumped, staring stupidly at Elysia, "Repair in progress…"
And without warning, Elysia leapt at the broken lacrosse stick, and twirled delicately at the broken splinters until the stick looked brand new again.
"Repair completed."
The machine-like voice said again, and Elysia returned to Chitose, winding its tail on her arm to support itself.
"Good job!" Chitose said with a wide smile at Elysia.
"Whoa," HoroHoro said, blinking stupidly, "What the heck just happened here?" He placed his face near Elysia, and it bent over and sniffed his face.
"Thank you," Kahori said happily to Chitose, who handed the lacrosse stick back to her, "I won't break it again, I promise!"
"You'd better not," Chitose replied dryly, " It's exhausting to keep doing this."
At the sight of Yoh, Anna and HoroHoro's confused faces, she explained, "This Emblem Jewel once belonged to my mum, and it was originally round in shape, but she broke it by accident one day, and decided to give one piece to my sister and I each, and kept one herself. Turns out that I've got the bit with the most power."
Chitose pulled the Emblem Jewel out of Elysia's forehead, and with a loud crack, Elysia's hind legs appeared, and its tail shortened considerably. Its eyes changed back to its original ruby color as well.
"Well, if we're meeting tomorrow morning, you girls better get home for some rest," Hao said, still massaging his head, "Need me to send you back?"
"There's no need, Chitose and I live opposite each other, and we're not defenseless little girls either." Kahori said shortly, grabbing her bag and turning to leave, "We'll meet you guys back here tomorrow morning, then."
"Thanks for the dinner!" Chitose added, and grabbing her belongings, she hurried after Kahori, Saho and Elysia right behind her.
Well... How was that? If you still can't picture Elysia, then think of Vanilla's nanotech pet. As for the Emblem Jewel, I got the idea from the Galaxy Angel Emblem Frame. I'm sorry this turned out to be a little long, but I hope that you will enjoy it! I put in a lot of effort into doing this chapter, so feel free to give any comments! And to one of my reviewers-I hope you're reading this, Hotaru , I really didn't mean to use your nickname in my story! Lol I hope you will understand! Thank you, and remember to check out Destiny by ade5kira, and stay tuned for Chapter 3! (big grin)