Chuck: Yo! As usual my updating's a little off. Sorry bout that. Anyway, here's the next chappy! -

Please R&R!


Chapter 4

Paper Cut

The next morning was quiet, the incident of the night before unknown. The shamans were relatively early to their home-form class. Fujiyama wasn't even present yet, though it was unknown to them whether he would even bother to show up at all. The same seemed to be with Manta. He hadn't come to class, or even phoned the shamans, and they were beginning to worry. As they dropped their items on the desks, Horo Horo grabbed the newspaper from Fujiyama's desk. He read it for a moment, then with a look of distress he dropped the paper on Hao's desk. "The shit has hit the fan!"

Hao cringed. "Someone blabbed! But who!"

Lyserg sighed. "I bet it was that Yuri guy."

Hao stared at the bold letters that gradually formed words.

It read, "Asakura out of the Closet. What is the family hiding?" Under it was a long article, describing what had happened and how the shamans hadn't told the police.

"Kisama." Hao then glanced down and became horrified when he saw the image of his brother hanging from the closet, immortalized in a photograph that now covered the front page. "Nani!" Shredding the paper, the Asakura became enraged. "The only ones there that day were us!" He rose to his feet, then scowled at them. "So who did it! Who took this picture!"

The group was quiet as Hao's fury began to increase.

"It . . . was evidence."

"Nani!" Hao looked to the emerald shaman as he hung his head.

"I don't know how he got it. I had a theory about how we could find the killer . . . I just . . ."

Seething, Hao slowly began to approach Lyserg. "My brother was hanging from that horrible closet, murdered, and you took a picture of it!"

"I'm sorry, Hao! I was just . . ." His words were suddenly cut off, when Lyserg suddenly found himself thrown against the wall as Hao began strangling him.

"Kisama! You're lower than a human! How dare you take a photograph of him in that state! How dare you!"

"Hao stop it!" Ren and the others began to pull the enraged shaman off, but he simply threw them away like insects. Even the spirits were cast aside.

"I swear, you're going to regret ever buying that camera!"

"It's not like I killed him, Hao! I'm just trying to find out who did! The same as you!"

"I don't know, I could come up with some pretty good motives!"

"Motives! What are you talking about! Do you think I . . ."

"It's a possibility! Still a little sore about the shaman fight, are we; or maybe you just wanted to get back at me for killing your parents!"

"How dare you!" Lyserg cringed, then suddenly kicked Hao in the stomach, the shot of pain knocking the enraged shaman to the floor.

Hao looked up at him, slightly dumbstruck from the attack. "Nani?"

Lyserg straightened his collar, then looked down, trying to control his own anger. "How dare you call me a murderer? How dare you accuse me of killing Yoh-kun? And especially when I was with you guys that night! If anyone here is to be questioned, it should start with you!"

Hao cringed. "What does that mean?"

"You have no idea . . ." Tears began to weld in the emerald shaman's eyes. "You have no idea what it's like . . . to live with the murderer of your own family! You call me low! My parents were good people, Hao! Good people! They were loving, and trusting . . . " Wiping his eyes, Lyserg could feel his throat going dry. "They loved me, and you took them away! And why? Because they were good people! They didn't want to join you and your psychotic quest for power!"

Hao rose to his feet, his temporary insanity now fading into regret. "Lyserg . . . I'm sorry."

"No you're not! You meant every word of it! You're completely unstable, but you know what? You're right! If taking a picture of my dead friend so I can help bring him a little justice is wrong; if that's how you define low, then yes Hao, I am low!" Lyserg pushed through Hao, then lifted his books of his desk. "But I'm no murderer. I'll leave the killing to you." And with that the emerald shaman pushed through the group of students that now began to fill the room.

Hao stared at the door quietly, then sat in his seat. "I'm really sorry, Lyserg."

"Lyserg-chan . . ." Tamao sighed, then as the students sat down, Takeshi walked over to Hao's desk where the shamans all stood. "Is this like some kind of meeting place for freaks?"

Hao looked up, the anger now returning.

"Aw did one of your little lover boys break up with you?"

Ren frowned. "We're not in the mood, Takeshi!"

"Well, I guess I can't blame you guys, what with this shoved in everybody's face." Takeshi dropped another newspaper on Hao's desk, then pointed to the large image. "Not very attractive, is it?"

"Kisama!" Hao leapt to his feet, but then he remembered the words his brother had said. "You promised me Hao! You promised!" The words plagued his mind. Yoh would understand; wouldn't he? No. Yoh would never allow him to do this, even if Takeshi did deserve it.

Anna looked and saw Takeshi was alone today. "Where's your band of merry men?"

The bully shrugged. " I don't know. I'm not their mom."

"You don't even care about them?"

Takeshi looked to Tamao. "Of coarse I care; but it's not like I'm super obsessive like you guys. They're big boys. They can look after themselves."

"Students, to your seats!"

The class was fully seated after Fujiyama entered the room, and as Hao looked down he spotted a familiar name mentioned in the article. "Omoi Yuri."


The halls seemed to empty quickly as Lyserg walked. He sighed, while rubbing his throat, the feeling of dryness still present. "I should probably check this." He walked into the boy's washroom, relieved when he discovered it was empty. He walked to the mirror, then began examining the ring of black and blue that now acted as some sort of horrific, necklace. Wait. He knew this ring. But from where? He studied it for a moment longer, then with a sigh, walked to the door. Locked. "Nani?" He lifted the latch, then pulled the handle again. It began to open, then slammed shut. "Hey! Who's out there!" Not receiving a response, he looked to Morphine, who now hovered close to him. "Morphine, check it out."

With a nod, the small pink fairy passed through the door.

"Morphine?" No response. "What the heck is gong on here?" Just then, a sharp, high pitch, almost static sound shot through the shaman's head. "Ow!" As he feel to his knees, the lights suddenly went out. "Nani!" There was a moment of darkness, then a soft glow filled the room. The emergency lights. There was a moment of relief, until Lyserg suddenly heard a strange rattling sound. He looked around, then jumped when he saw a twisted figure smash one of the lights. "AH!" It shot around the room, smashing them. Soon only outlines could be seen. Now trembling, Lyserg backed into a wall, not even noticing the door opening. There was a loud slam, then the shaman found himself in almost complete darkness, as a familiar sound came into hearing. Footsteps. Were they outside? No; they were inside the room. "H . . . hello?" The light seemed to be flickering away as the shaman stood confused. He felt tears building. What was going on? Where had Morphine gone? Wait? What was this? Lyserg suddenly felt hands massaging his shoulders. It was odd, yet comforting. He began to enjoy the treatment, when he was suddenly struck by a thought. How could there be hands when he was backed up against a wall? He tried to yell, but all that escaped was a soft rattle as he felt his throat suddenly being crushed in the once comforting hands. He was thrown to the floor, then became confused when he saw the attacker was gone. There was only a soft outline of a person, standing before him.

The figure opened his mouth, only breathing a strange rattle that the shaman had made earlier.

Frightened, Lyserg began to struggle away, but the figure merely walked towards him, then slowly placed a damp hand on his face. The hand was gentle at first, stroking the shaman's face as if it were a beloved possession, but the softness quickly vanished when Lyserg felt the hand slowly push him onto his back, as it covered his nose and mouth. He kicked and struggled, but the hand wouldn't budge. He tried to call for help, but all that escaped was the muffled rattling. It was then that a horrible realization struck him. He was going to die. As he began feeling dizzy he looked into the dark eyes that stared into his. They were dark, empty; unworldly.

"Lyserg!"

The shaman woke up hearing Hao's voice. "Nani?"

Hao stood at his side, while the class peeked into the boys' washroom. "Daijoubu! You're bleeding! What happened! Morphine told me you were locked in here, and she couldn't get back in; then she heard a bunch of crashing and . . .Daijoubu!

Lyserg sat up, then placed a hand on his face. When he lifted it he saw it was stained with scarlet. "I . . . don't know . . ."

Fujiama pushed his way through his class then crouched down to the boy's side. "Diethel . . . did someone . . . try to rape you?"

"Eh! No, Fujiyama-san . . . I . . ."

"You what?"

Lyserg was silent.

The teacher stared at him for a moment, then with a sigh, rose to his feet. "Would you like to be excused for the day?"

"Uh . . . Actually, I'd rather not, if it's alright with you."

"A student wanting to stay in class? Makes no sense to me, but do as you wish." And with that the teacher signaled for his class to return to their home forum. As they did, then shamans joined their emerald friend.

Tamao hugged him. "Lyserg-chan, daijoubu?"

"Uh . . . yeah, I guess."

Horo frowned as the shaman started washing his face. "What happened in here?"

"Something . . . tried to kill me."

"Nani!" The group became alarmed.

"It was in the dark, and something started trying to suffocate me."

"Like what?"

Lyserg finished cleaning the scarlet off his face, then looked to Horo. "I'm not sure. It looked like a person but . . ."

They began to walk back to class, then Anna looked to the Lyserg. "Well, Hao found out who talked to the press, so we should go pay him a visit after school."

"Really? Who?"


"How could you do this?"

Omoi Yuri looked to the emerald shaman, then smiled. "You had dropped one of your photo's, and I knew enough of your story, so . . . yeah." Receiving dirty looks, he smiled. "Oh, come on! Do you have any idea how much they paid me for that story? I can almost quit this crummy job."

"You told . . . for pieces of paper?"

Yuri looked to Hao then nodded. "Duh! Where have you been living; a box? Of coarse I did it for the cash!"

The glass of the booth was suddenly shattered as Hao's hand shot through and grabbed the pitiful human. "Kisama!" As he was about to release a fiery attack, he suddenly felt a surge of pain through his head. The pain was followed by an image. He stumbled backward, then dropped to his rear.

"Hao?" Ren was the first by his side. "Daijoubu? What is it?"

"I . . . don't know. My head just got a really bad pain, then I thought I saw something."

"What are you! Some kind of freak!"

The group looked back to Yuri, who stood trembling in the booth.

"Who's gonna pay for this!"

As they helped Hao to his feet, Horo looked back to the man. "Why not just use some of that money that you got?" and with that they left the man.

Tamao brought up the rear. "What did you see, Hao-sama?"

"I . . . don't know. I think it was . . . ." He paused for a moment, then the shaman lowered his head. "I think it was the murderer?"

"Nani!"The group froze hearing this.

"It was like I was looking through someone else's eyes. I could see Yoh standing at the stove making noddles, then I suddenly ran over, and . . . hit him over the head"

Ren frowned. "Maybe we should tell your parents."


"It's probably your empathy."

Hao sat in the couch quietly while his father explained his circumstance.

"You and Yoh were close. You're probably so desperate to find out what happened, that your empathy is channeling the emotions that were here that night, and that's producing images. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Only if you lose control of it."

Hao nodded then looked down. "Uh, Dad? You didn't see the paper today, did you?"

Miki was quiet, then he sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately I did . . . and so did your mother."

"Is she okay?"

"I think so. She had a little cry, then went up to take a nap."The group was quiet, then Mikihisa examined them. "Where's Manta?"

"Oh!" Lyserg looked up. "He wasn't at school today. You think he's okay?"

Miki shook his head. "Yoh and him were also close. They weren't brothers, but they were close. Has any of you tried to talk to him?"

Ren shook his head. "I tried to phone him, but no one picked up."

"Hm?" Miki fixed his mask a little, then sighed. "We should all go over to his place tonight. It would probably help him."

"How do you figure?"

Ren kicked Horo in the shin. "Aa, Mikihisa-san. He probably thinks that without Yoh here, he has no place with us." So the plan was made; they would see Manta that night, and take him to the Amusement park.

"Nani?" Manta stood at the door quietly, as his friends cluttered the door; even Keiko was present. "What . . . do you guys want?"

Hao pushed through the shamans, then lifted the small boy up. "We've come to kidnap you, and stuff you full of candy and chocolate, while you try not to lose your cookies!"

"Uh . . ." The small boy sighed. "I can't."

"Huh?" The group was shocked. What could Manta possibly be doing that would keep him from them.

"My dad and I are gonna go see a movie. It's . . . special."

Oyamada Mansumi's voice rang into the room. "Do you have your shoes on, Manta?"

"Hai!"

Lyserg was shocked. "You're giving up time with us . . . to hang with your dad?"

The small Oyamada slipped his coat on. "My dad's never really done anything like this. It's . . . kinda nice . . ."

Mansumi looked to Mikihisa, then bowed slightly. "I'm sorry about your son. It must have been devastating."

The masked man looked down, then nodded. He then turned from the group and began to walk away. "Let's go home. We shouldn't keep Manta from his plans."

"Mikhisa-san!" The group chased after the grieving father, leaving the Oyamadas as the door. They were unaware of what was happening at the hotel.


Omoi Yuri wanted more money. The people at the paper told him that if he got some more pictures from the inside of the hotel, he could earn a great amount of payment, so like any human, the man took the offer. Yuri explored the house throughly, using up a whole role of film, unaware of the sets of eyes that were watching his every move. He soon climbed into his car, then quickly drove down the road from the hotel. 15 minutes later, he drew the photo's from his pocket, a toothy grin spread across his face. "These are great." As he flipped through the images, he noticed an area of distortion on the one that was taken of Keiko and Mikihisa's closet. "Nani?" He examined it closely. "You weren't there before." He flipped to the next one, and saw another area of distortion on the one of the hallway. "What is this?" He flipped once again, then cried out in surprise. His final photo that had been taken inside the attic was consumed by dark eyes that seemed to be staring into his. "What the hell's going on!" The locks in the car suddenly flipped on, and the windows rolled up. "Nani!" Struggling with the handle, he began to hear a strange rattling noise. He looked around, then slowly looked down at the photo in his hand, he discovered the source of the sound. The photo's shot from there resting pace, and onto his face, covering his nose and eyes. As he struggled to pull them off, they seemed to be held on by an invisible force. The last photo in his hand was still for a moment longer, then as the others had, it leapt up and covered his mouth. No could hear his muffled screams; no one could hear the honk of the horn. He had driven too far away from any living people, and the only witness was the dark, distorted figure that sat in the back seat, watching his demise from the rear view mirror with dark empty eyes. It wouldn't even be until morning and by then it would be far to late. All that would remain would be an empty envelop of flesh.


Chuck: Well, that's it for this chappy. Hope all who reads this is enjoying it. - Please R&R!