Chapter 4: Shaman Fight In Tokyo

In A Building, Somewhere In Tokyo…

Hao opened the door to let the crowd outside enter.

The 'INTERVIEW FOR HAO'S FOLLOWERS' banner fluttered in the wind, as he sat down and welcomed his first candidate.

"So what can you do?"

"I can shoot beams out of my eyes. Observe!"

The Arabian man took out a pair of sunglasses, and did an over soul. The beams, did not blast in front however, but blasted inwards – at his own eyes instead. He screamed in pain as he writhed and turned around on the floor.

Hao shook his head, and bellowed, "NEXT."

The second candidate was a small, bald, Black girl. Hao turned his head behind in disgust, and asked, "What can you do?"

"Opacho is small!"

"Yeah whatever. You're in. Anyway, what happened to your hair?"

"I don't have hair. But I did find some fluffy white material by the seashore. But it's white – Opacho is Black!"

"Dye it black."

"Good idea, Hao-sama."

With that, Opacho entered the next room happily.

"NEXT."

This time, an ordinary looking man entered the room.

"Can I use your bathroom?"

Hao yawned, and then spoke, "whatever."

"NEXT."

Another Arabian entered the room and pointed at his feet.

"I can shoot beams out of my feet. Look!"

Apparently, he could shoot beams out of his feet, but this energy also propelled him through the rooftop, and out of the building. Hao shook his head again.

"NEXT."

The next candidate pushed up his spectacles, and spoke, "I want to join the X-Laws." He pushed up his spectacles again and continued, "I need to defeat Hao."

"WRONG PLACE. It's in the building opposite." Hao slapped his forehead. "NEXT."

"Good day, my name is Peyote"

"Let me guess," Hao rubbed his chin. "You're a Mexican."

"Eres Correcto"

"You play the guitar."

"Eres Correcto"

"You use skeletons as mediums."

"Eres Correcto"

"Alright. You're in."

"Eres Correcto"

"NEXT."

Another Arabian entered the room. Hao sighed deeply, and motioned for him to sit down.

"I can shoot beams out of my hand. See!"

He aimed outside and yelled, "BEAM!" Indeed it worked much better than the previous two Arabians. It blasted a hole through the wall.

"You're in."

The Arabian bowed and entered the next room.

Finally, Hao gave a relieved sigh, and he went on to lock the door. That was all for the day.

Somewhere Else In Tokyo…

Anna was still sitting on the couch, watching her programme. Then she spoke suddenly, "Jaken, you may take the guest room. Stay for as long as you like."

"Yes-s, Anna-san. Tha-ank you," Jaken replied timidly. For a second, I thought this human girl feels more dangerous than Sesshomaru-sama.

Jaken went to the room quickly, tripping over a loose wooden plank on his way.

"Yoh, your training begins tomorrow morning. I would advise you to get some sleep now. Enjoy your last few hours of beauty sleep."

"[I have a bad feeling about this…"

Yoh shook his head in pity for himself, and went straight to bed after saying "Goodnight" to Anna. Inside the room, he began to sob.

"You know, Sesshomaru. I have a bad feeling about this too…"

They were both spot on. The very next morning, Yoh woke up, thinking that he did not have to make breakfast for Anna because of the training. He was, however, VERY wrong. For the first day, Anna made him cook breakfast, lunch and dinner, and he ran a total distance of 20km. The second day, he cooked the meals, and then ran 15km, with 20kg weights hung all around him. The training got worse after every passing day, and it was made worse because of the slippery, melting snow.

Then school reopened. Yoh was relieved of his training, well, most of it. Anna continued to torture Yoh, even in school. Manta wanted badly to help, but he knew that was nothing he could do to stop Anna. It has become a fact that the penalty for opposing Anna was DEATH. All he could do was to encourage and comfort his poor pal.

Soon, spring was over and it was summer. They were on vacation again, this meant more training for Yoh. This was also the time when Yoh began his quest to become the Shaman King.

The weather was burning hot, and Anna and Yoh was taking a stroll in the park. (This is also Yoh's first pure rest time.)

"Great job in all the training, Yoh."

Afraid that this rest time will become a discussion session on his training, Yoh hastily offered, "The weather's hot. Let me get you a drink."

Anna nodded her head and sat down at a bench.

"Make it quick."

"Hehehe. Okay."

With that, Yoh rushed off to the drinks shop nearby. He entered the shop and asked for drinks. The shopkeeper was a tall and long-haired guy, and did not look like a local. Yet, there was something familiar about him.

"That will be 200 yen please."

Yoh dug his pocket, found his 500 yen bill, and handed it to the shopkeeper. As he counted the change, he commented, "Seems like there are many visitors to Tokyo recently, don't you think?

"Uh… I didn't really notice."

"It's like as if there is some sort of an event or something."

"Hehehe… You're right, I guess."

"Here's your change sir. Please come again."

Yoh smiled and left the shop, and rushed to Anna.

"[Yoh, there's something weird about that shopkeeper. I can sense it", Sesshomaru warned.

"Hehehe. It's okay. He seems harmless, and he's friendly, too."

"[You're just as easy-going as ever…"

"Hehehe…"

"What took you so long?" Anna was standing, with her arms crossed.

"I delayed him a bit. It's not really his fault." A man in an American-Indian attire was sitting at the other bench.

It was the shopkeeper. Yoh chuckled and then waved at him (He waved back).

"I'm here for an urgent matter," He spoke, as he slowly stood up. "My name is Silva. I'm one of the ten priests in-charge of the Shaman Fight. I came today to test whether you are worthy to even join the fight.."

Yoh scratched his, and asked, "How?"

"You must defeat me, and upon my defeat, you will get this oracle bell which will give you the eligibility to join the Shaman Fight."

"Hehehe. Okay, when can we start?"

"Now. Hit me with your best shot."

Yoh's eyes twinkled, and he ran towards Silva.

"SESSHOMARU! IN KYŨSELSHU, OVERSOUL!"

Then Yoh stopped in his tracks. His oversoul has taken a new form – the armor given by Jaken has evolved into spikes, which appeared along his left arm. In his right hand was a glowing kyũselshu.

"I see you have learnt the 'Oversoul,'" Silva laughed. "Great job."

"Uh…"

"Come' on now, don't hestitate"

Yoh nodded his head, smiled, and then charged at Silva once more. His first blow whacked down on an invisible barrier. Looking more closely, Yoh realised it was a tortise spirit – Silva had used the tortise oversoul as a shield to block the attack. Looking even more closely, Yoh noticed another four more spirits – an eagle, a snake, a fox-like creature and an ox.

Yoh smiled, and charged once more with great speed. His blows showered on Silva like raindrops on a steel roof. It was Silva's turn to smile this time. He used the eagle oversoul and flew backwards.

"If you survive this. I'll take it as you pass." Silva combined the five spirits to form some sort of a giant cannon. "SILVER ARMS!"

A massive beam of energy blasted at Yoh, the surrounding benches and trees were demolished. Anna's eyes widened in fear of losing Yoh. Yoh, nothing bad must happen to you. The dust from the attack settled slowly, revealing Yoh, panting badly, but perfectly fine other than that. There was a blue barrier around him. Thank goodness… Anna erased the worried look on her face and gave a relieved sigh.

"[The armor still works. That Jaken… Armor's demonic powers neutralised eh? I'll get him."

"Excellent work, Yoh." Silva smiled widely, and handed him the oracle bell. "Take it, you deserve it."

Yoh smiled back weakly and gave two thumbs up.

"Thanks Silva, but really, I owe it to Anna and Sesshomaru. Ain't that right, Sesshomaru?"

Anna blushed slightly, but Sesshomaru was not listening anymore. He was looking at a young girl walking in his direction.

"[Rin?…"

-END-

Once again, thank you for reading and reviewing. Very nice of you. Note: The barrier in this chapter is similar to that of Naraku.