Tribute
by Icy and J

A/N: Yes... We've lost it... The plot. But here is another one... Haha... Feel like I've escaped from a mental hospital with nothing to my name except a pair of furry underpants.-J
Speak for yourself man... I feel like I'm *living* in a mental hospital... Surrounded by nutcases like yourself. This chapter goes out to J cause the first chapter went out to me. Yeah. So I don't feel like I owe the crazy idiot something...-Icy
Well, if you weren't 2 HOURS late for our meeting to write this chapter, we wouldn't have lost the plot to begin with...-J
No comments.-Icy

Chapter 3: Meet the Parents

"YOU ARE TAMAO??????!!!!!!!" Yoh screamed, once he had found his voice again. "BUT- BUT- TAMAO IS- IS-"
"Dead?" Anna supplied.
"YEAH! SHE'S DEAD! AND SHE WAS- WAS- UGLIER! SO YOU CAN'T BE TAMAO!!!!" Yoh finished just as part of the ceiling collapsed from all the shouting. He was rewarded with a timely bonk to the head.
The gorgeous (cut it out... you're embarrassing me...-Icy)(Hey! Girls deserve to be rightfully described.-J) girl before them gave a little sigh, flipping her hair non-chalently over her shoulder.
"Dying does that to people." she said rather simply. "Well, truthfully, I did die. But Ren found me and brought me over to the Holy Maiden. After someone tried to shoot me with a gun, I quite miraculously came back to life! Now isn't *that* fascinating?"
Everyone in the room (or lack of it) blinked. Apparently, Tamao was still as bimbotic as ever.
"And besides, I have unfinished business to tend to..."
Ren raised a shakey hand. "Does this have anything to do with travelling to the west in a dragon-cum-jeep or finding a celestial robe?"

(Now what was that for...-Icy)
(Well, sitting in front of the fr**kin telly watching Saiyuki and Ayashi no Ceres can do that to a person ya know!-J)
(I thought Ayashi no Ceres was a girls' show... Heck, even I don't watch it...-Icy)
(Well, that must mean I'm not ordinary girl then!-J)
(o.O You're a guy...-Icy)
(Oh... So what?!-J)

Yomaru cracked his knuckles in anticipation, mostly fear actually, all his senses perked to full alert for any incoming pouncing being that could total his uniform...
"Yo-sama!!!!!!!"
... Too late.
While pondering over his crumpled uniform, he was rather rudely pounced on by a silver haired chibi-fied female who seemed to have consumed an overload of sugar.
(Speaking of sugar... Icy, exaclty how many chocolate bars have you eaten???-J)
(Hmm? *takes another bite* 1...2...3...7... I don't really remember...-Icy)
(*sweatdrop*-J)
"Well, Yo-sama!" she squealed happily. "Let's go! My father's car is just outside!!!!!"
She practically dragged the poor boy to the parking lot where a spanking new, jet black, high polished, sleek and definately sophisticated limo was parked, its engine tuned to a fine hum. Higashi literally threw Yomaru into the back seat, sliding in right after him and slamming the door shut.
A rather energetic looking 30 plus year old man in the driver's seat was already winding up the dividing wall between the driver's compartment and the back. Yomaru caught a flash of almost silverish blue hair and a glint in the older man's eye.
"So... *You* are Yomaru Asakura... Never thought of you to turn out to be such a bishounen..."
(*looks away innocently* She did it!!!!!-J)
(Hey! Don't push the blame to me! You put that word in!-Icy)
(I can't hear you!!!!!!!!! *starts humming*-J)
Yomaru blushed (no... there is no pairing implied here... Che... Kids now a days...) to the colour of an overripe tomato and was well ready to leap out of the car if Higashi had not decided to fasten his seat belt for him... Along with the 7 other safety belts that were springing out of the seat.
"You might want to buckle up." she explained. "My dad likes to drive reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally fast..."
Yomaru would have replied if there wasn't a seat belt strapped across his mouth.

*Meanwhile...*
Yoh slipped the headphones off his head, carefully sweeping a hand through his hair before replacing the device. Cautiously, he raised the knife. Precision was the key here and any movement would cause everything to be ruined. The counter was already stained a dark red and Yoh's victim lay there... Unmoving... completely still.
Like an invitation.
He swiftly raised the weapon, mustering all his strength and-
"You know, you don't really need to raise you hand that high..." Anna commented. Yoh abruptly dropped the knife with a loud clatter on the floor. With a sigh, his wife picked up the object and continued to slice the tomato.
"You see, if you keep chopping it like that, it will become mushy and stuff..." she explained, demonstrating with skillfull ease how to slice the offensive vege and placing it in ready sandwiches. Watching her work, he could simply just sit there, not doing anything else but to watch her. Knowing that she was safe brought more comfort to him than a million dollars... Or maybe not...
But it *did* put him at ease.
In the days of the shaman fights, he fell into restless sleep each night, wondering if she was okay. Whether she was still alive for that matter...
(Where is this going...-Icy)
(Nowhere... But down the page......-J)
(Well? Get on with it!-Icy)
"Is everything okay?" Tamao asked, popping into the kitchen to see Anna diligently chopping vege while her husband, apparently mesmerized, sat on the table behind her, watching her every move as if it were those of a butterfly's.
It was times like these that she knew she would never really have Yoh and that no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he was Anna's... As much as Anna was his.
It was times like these that brought pain to Tamao's heart...
... And a pain in her stomach too. Boy, did those sandwiches look tempting!
(Now *that* was lame...-Icy)
(What can I say? I'm the *king* of lamity...-J)

~TBC~
What will happen to Yomaru?
What is Tamao's unfinished business?
Will Tamao ever get a hand on those sandwiches?
Will we ever stop being lame?

Probably not. But we'd really appreciated some support, criticism, flames, fan mail and suggestions. In other words...
REVIEW!!!!!!!! OR ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem. Thank you. Once we hit a good 10 reviews, we'll post the next chapter...