Double update! I'm so proud of meself!
Red Sky at Morning
Chapter 7
Matsua walked the streets of the small town of Omagoshi breathing air other than that of the compound. Rin had told him numerous times that he should not go anywhere where he could get into trouble, but he didn't listen to her of course. How much trouble could he possibly get into in such a small place? That's also why he had snuck out: the thrill of getting out and in unnoticed. Besides, his feet were itching terribly they wanted to walk unfamiliar ground so much. It had been horrible at that concrete barracks he had been confined in along with so many others. He didn't know why those scientists looking people had been so interested in them to begin with. He didn't even really remember how he came to be there in the first place. He had been at home playing a video game hadn't he? Or had he been watching TV? Yeah, that was it. He thought he had fallen asleep and woken up in some sort of nightmarish dream. His mom had always told him that some of those movies would rot his brain. Then he realized that it wasn't a dream. It was reality and it scared the hell out of him: white rooms, exam tables, x-rays, needles putting stuff in and taking stuff out, his spirit ally nowhere to be seen or felt, dark cells with other people he assumed were also shaman like himself.
He never saw any of the 'doctors' faces. They all wore surgical masks, which made him very uneasy. They took one boy from the cell he shared with maybe 4 others. He expected him to be brought back again in a few hours all drugged up like always. Hours and days passed, and he never came back. He didn't think about what had happened. No one thought about it and no one asked. They didn't even talk to each other.
How long had he been in there?
How did he escape to begin with?
What did they even want with them?
And what had started it all?
He let the questions just hang in the air as he bought something to eat from a vendor. He started his walk back to the Matsumura compound, taking his time while eating his food and practicing expulsing fireballs of bright red mana. He had to admit, the Matsumura girl who ran the compound was cute and the guy she was with now didn't look like much to him. It would be a fun game to play, getting on that guy's nerves. Maybe I can get a good fight while I'm at it. I haven't had one since the tournament.
Something tickled at the back of Lyserg's mind. Was something coming? He took out his pendulum and with the help of Morphine, scanned the immediate area. Nothing in particular showed up, except for the normal blips of ki from the shaman already here. He brushed it off and continued flipping through his book.
Manta shut the front door of his house and walked down the sidewalk towards Yoh's house—inn. He hadn't seen his friend for weeks because of school and work and stuff. He didn't really worry about Anna putting him to work every time he came over like she did when they were younger because she now took her position as a wife and mother seriously. Tamao still did most of the cooking and housework, but Anna helped some. Tamao also had a starting career as an Enka singer, which is very surprising coming from a girl who used to be so shy and timid.
"Yoh!" He changed his shoes at their front entrance and stepped inside.
"Hey Manta! In here!" Yoh's voice came from the main room. He was playing with Hana. "What's up?"
"Where's Anna?"
"Oh, she's watching her soaps and possibly plotting some sort of training session for me."
"Poor guy."
Yoh shrugged. "It's not so bad anymore. Besides, she's been incorporating Hana into them so he can learn to be a strong shaman too. Isn't that right Hana?" Hana stood up on his four year old legs and flexed his arms.
"I'm gonna be strong! Like daddy and Uncle Hao!"
And hopefully not as lazy or demented. Manta sweatdropped and then yelped when a pair of hands was placed on his shoulders.
"Still haven't grown from the time we saw each other last. Faust was right: it would be interesting to know why you're so short." Hao pondered.
"H-Hey! M-my dad's short too! As well as my sister!"
Hao snorted. "Ah yes, Oyamada Matsumi: the founder and owner of the Oyamada Corporation. How is the old man by the way?"
"Busy. Like always."
"Hmm. I wouldn't doubt that. Such a busy little bee." Hao smiled and sauntered off into the kitchen.
"What did he mean by that?" Manta asked Yoh, who just shrugged to the best of his ability as Hana was perched on his shoulders.
"He's probably still holding a grudge. Don't take it personally."
Manta joined Yoh and his son on the floor. "So how's life with Hao?"
"As normal as it can get I suppose. Anna doesn't like having him around, but where else can he go? Besides, I like having him here. It's nice to be able to be with the brother you never knew you had. Even if he did try to eat your soul once." He grinned. "Hana, how do you like Uncle Hao?"
"Uncle Hao has the biggest spirit I've ever seen! He's awesome!"
"Just don't say that in front of your mother okay?"
"Mama doesn't like Uncle Hao." Hana informed Manta. "She threatens to kill him. Mother is scary. So are her shikigamis." All three shuddered at the same time.
"You missed Lyserg by a few days Manta. He had that red head girl that brought Yayoi-chan back with him."
"Why? Are they dating?"
"Nah. Apparently they work together. Anyway, he brought me a big folder filled with a bunch of graphs that he's been collecting that he wanted me to look at, but you know that I have no attention span for such technical stuff."
"What was it about?"
"From what I did read, the rising violence against known shaman and their disappearances."
"Here?"
"From the western countries I'm assuming. You know how far he can see now that he's gotten older. I'll bet in a few years time he won't even need his pendulum anymore. Then he'd be like a hard-core tracking system."
"I think that that would be bad. I mean then people would try to get hold of him and make him find stuff"
"Yeah. You're right. It was a cool thought though."
"So where is the folder anyway?" Manta got up to retrieve it.
"Um…in…uh, well…"
"YOU FORGOT?"
"I'm sorry! You know my memory doesn't hold stuff like that! I had put it on the table there!" he pointed to the only table in the room.
Manta sighed and sifted through the books that had piled up there. "Who the heck is reading all these books?"
"Hao. He thought that it would be good to expand his mind since he's going to be living among humans from now on."
Manta pushed aside H.P. Lovecraft, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Issac Asimov to name a few before he finally picked up a thick white binder. "He really needs to put them in his room." He opened it and scanned through everything, his face growing darker with each turn of the page. "Yoh, this looks like some pretty serious stuff. What are you going to do about it?"
Yoh looked sad. "I have absolutely no idea. I don't want this blowing into a complete war and I don't want to kill any humans. The island was bad enough. I didn't like doing it, but then it was necessary."
"But it was Hao that killed them. Not you."
"I allowed it to happen. I knew what would happen if I didn't."
"Apparently not everyone died then."
"No. Apparently not." Yoh felt bad that it was probably the first time he actually wished someone had died.
I think this was longer. Yay for me. Um, not much to say except that it's late again. OOOOO! Matsua is going to be bad! Hao fan girls: scream "We love Hao!"
Review!
-Jai Akari
