Chuck: Yo! The next to chapter is linked with this one, so the titles for both of them are linked as well. Hee hee hee. Well, hope ya all enjoy this one, cause you get explore the bullies' bakgrounds a bit. ENJOY!
once again, my proofreader is unavailable. Gomen! TT
Please R&R
Chapter 8
Two down
Takashi knocked on his friend's door. "I told you. Junen's mom left when he disappeared. Stress, you know? She's staying with her friends while they try and find him." No answer. He turned to the group with a sigh. "Like I said, no one's home."
Hao suddenly kicked the door down.
"Dude! You can't do that!"
The shamans entered the apartment quietly. The lights were off and the windows closed. There were no traces of Junen or his mother.
Mikihisa began to search the kitchen, while Ren and Horo checked out the living room.
Lyserg sighed. "It's convenient how you all live in the same building."
"Yeah. It works out pretty well."
"Have you ever done work like this before?"
Takashi looked to the emerald shaman. "What do you mean?"
"Have you ever killed people for money before? If we're going to nail you for Yoh, we might as well bring some justice to your other victims."
"Hey! Like I said, killing Yoh was an accident. Things got crazy, okay?"
Keiko sighed. "Can we hold off with all conversations about Saturday night? I'd rather wait until this is all over."
Lyserg nodded, then the bully eyed the group. "So . . . do you guys do this often?"
"Nani?"
"Hunt ghosts. Are you like professional ghost busters?"
Ren sighed. "It's as we've said at school, Takashi. We're shamans. We don't usually 'bust' ghosts, but we do work with them. Why, Ryu's partner spirit is putting his hand through your stomach as we speak.
"Nani!" The boy jumped.
Amidamaru floated around the room quietly. "Tell the boy, we're not necessarily hunting a ghost."
Mikihisa looked to Takashi. "Amidamaru says 'we're not necessarily hunting a ghost."
"Who's Amidamaru?"
"He was Yoh's partner spirit until you . . ." He sighed. "He is the spirit of the samurai Amidamaru from 600 years ago."
"600 years ago? You mean . . . You guy's are hanging out with the Fiend!"
Tamao frowned. "He's not a fiend! Tell him, Anna-san!"
The Itako studied the bully. "What was written about Amidamaru was wrong. If you survive this . . . perhaps we will explain it to you."
The bully froze. "What do you mean 'if'?"
Faust looked to him. "There is a slight chance that we wont be able to stop Yoh from getting to you."
Hao sneered. "Slight? There's a 99.9 chance that when Yoh shows up, we're just gonna leave with him."
Keiko sighed as the bully began to rant, then she walked over to Amidamaru. "Daijoubu?"
"I just don't understand. If this is Yoh-dono's spirit, why hasn't he revealed himself to us? It just seems . . . strange."
"Well, he is an angry spirit."
"Yes, but not even us spirits can sense his presence."
Keiko smiled softly. "Perhaps . . . he's mischievous."
Amidamaru looked to the women.
"Before I found that boy's body in the attic, I heard something run up stairs. When I looked into the dinning room, all the chairs were up on the table."
The spirit was quiet.
"I think . . . maybe someone was playing a game."
"Sou kaa?"
Keiko nodded. "Aa. When Yoh was little, and he was grounded, he would play small tricks on the family until his punishment was through. Simple things, nothing dangerous. Just small things to annoy us."
Amidamaru saw the women's eyes becoming misty.
"I . . . miss him so much."
The spirit wrapped held the women close, trying to somehow ease her pain.
"I . . . I thought I was getting over this, but I guess not." She suddenly looked up, seeing Mikihisa approach.
"Daijoubu, Keiko. We're going to help him. Then he can rest in peace."
Keiko stared at her husband quietly, then nodded with a soft sigh. "Hai."
"Hey guys, come here!" The group ran into the bathroom, hearing Hao's call. The shaman was brushing his hand over the think frosty glass doors that encased the tub. "I keep getting weird vibes from the tub. Maybe . . . Junen disappeared here."
Ren shrugged. "Sounds a little weird, but there's always a possibility."
Hao sighed, then closed his eyes as he began to focus.
Takashi stared. "What's he doing?"
Miki eyed his son for a moment. "He's trying to use his empathy to see what happened."
"How can he do that! That doesn't make any sense! Are you guys-!" The bully's mouth was suddenly duff taped.
Ren smiled. "There! That should shut ya up!"
Hao ignored the voices, as they began to fade away. Everything was fading. He had to know what had happened to Junen that night. He needed to know how far gone Yoh really was . . .
Satoshi Junen hummed a soft tune as he showered himself. The weight of his actions were becoming too much, so he planned to finish his shower, soak in the bath, then go to a movie. He had already made the note for his mom to see when she got home from her shift at the mall. As he stroked his hands down his hair, he was reminded of how Yoh's had felt as he carried him into the dark attic. The blood on his hands had stained it, leaving the once soft hair matted and damp with red. He shuddered. "God, why did we ever think of taking that crappy job? Dammit, the pay wasn't worth it!" He wanted to go to the police, but they had all made a pact, and it would be wrong to break it, but wasn't killing a fellow student a lot worse? He was just rinsing his hair when he felt something in his hand. "Nani?" He looked and saw a few strands of red hair. He sighed. "God, I hate stress." Junen's mom loved bathing and she had this tub designed special. Though it was a tub, it also had frosty glass doors that extended to the ceiling, incase someone were to walk in by accident. Junen, however, never closed them because he was claustrophobic. He finished rinsing, and was about to reach for a towel, when his hand his a sheet of glass. He whipped around to see the door was closed. "Nani!" He began to panic immediately. After several moments of struggling with the handle, Junen found the door was locked from the outside. "Mom! Are you there! Please, if you are open the door!" Not knowing what to do, he turned the water off and sat quietly. He drew his knees to his chest, as he began to panic. The tub seemed to be shrinking. "What's going on?" He looked down sadly, only to discover that the drain was clogged by hair, but it wasn't red like his. It was a dark color. "Nani?" He examined it quietly, then shuddered as he felt bit of his hair lifted up. Hands were running up his neck and through his hair. He slowly looked up, then became wide-eyed with what he found.
Yoh hung from the ceiling, pale and as bare as Junen was. The boy was still covered in the bruises, and cuts the four had inflicted upon him, and with soft rattle, he continued to run his crimson fingers through Junen's hair, such as Junen had done as he carried Yoh into the attic.
Junen stared in horror, and began to jump up, when he suddenly pushed down onto his back by an invisible force. "Eh!" The tap at the rim of the tub suddenly began running scarlet water, while the shower head began spewing mats of dark hair on him. "Nani!" As he struggled to free himself from the ghostly grip, he found that the hair seemed to be alive, as each strand slowly began to wrap around parts of his body; his legs, his arms. Everything seemed to be devoured by the dark strands. He tried to call out for help, but he was easily muffled as a matt of hair shot into his mouth. "Uh!"
The ghostly boy, slowly lowered himself into the water and sat on the boy's stomach. He began to move his hands up and down Junen's body and as he did, more hair covered him. The phantom boy continued to release the same soft rattling sound that the red head had heard him make as he tried to call his family for help, and Junen knew this was punishment for his deeds.
He pleaded in his mind, begging for forgiveness from the undead shaman, but even that was broken when the black strands began to enter his nose and ears. In a matter of seconds he lost all feeling in his body. He couldn't move, he couldn't breath. He was nothing more than a pair of eyes in a black mass in the crimson water.
The ghost stared upon him with emotionless eyes.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, just please stop it, Yoh! Please let me go!" the boy's mind begged.
Yoh slowly waved goodbye to the mass, then simply pulled the plug.
When Junen's mother finally returned home, she found a note on the table.
"Out late. Seeing a movie. Will be home soon."
She smiled, then entered the bathroom. She began to wash her face when she noticed something strange in the tub. She gasped at the horrid sight. There sitting in the tub was a small ring of red hair around the drain.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. That boy." and so she ran the water for a moment, then left the bathroom, unaware that the remaining bit of her son had just been washed down the drain.
Hao gasped, the world rushing back to him. The voices returned, and with them the present.
"Hao! Daijoubu!"
He slowly looked to his father, his eyes wide. "Yoh is . . . really messed up."
Takashi cringed. "So spill! What did he do to Junen!"
The shaman sighed, then suddenly looked up."He . . . killed him."
"I kinda figured that, but how did he do it!"
"The whole thing was kind of twisted. I'd prefer not to talk about it." He lifted his hand from the glass, then looked to the bully. "Was their any reason for Yoh to kill Junen involving hair?"
"Well . . . uh . . ." He though for a moment, then the silver-haired boy sighed. "When Yoko and Junen put him in the attic, Junen said he accidentally got blood in his hair. Could that have anything to do with it?"
"I want to see what happened to Yoko as well. I want to get all the connections figured out."
"Nani!" Mikihisa cringed. "Hao, you've already used your empathy a lot today. Perhaps, you should wait."
"No! I want to see it now!" The shaman shot past his father, and out the door. Yoko's body had been left at Takashi's room. When he entered, he sighed, seeing it hadn't moved. He lifted the sheet a little, and placed his hand on the boy's arm. The shamans followed several seconds later, but by then the world was already fading away again, leaving the shaman quiet and alone, he then felt the images begin to play in his head.
He was silent as he walked. The whole ordeal had left his friends weary, and he himself also felt exhaustion weighing him down. He looked up to Goro, who probably felt the worse. Though they had tried to convince him that he wasn't responsible for what happened, the massive boy was still guilt ridden. Yoko sighed. "Goro, it's like we said. That wasn't your fault. You were like another person."
Junen sighed. "Can we please not talk about it. I feel bad enough."
Yoko became silent, then lowered his gaze. Then he discovered it. "Shit!"
The other three boys stopped, and looked to him. Takashi sighed. "What is it?"
"My ring! The one with the onyx and ivory yin yang! It's gone!"
"Well where could it be?"
Yoko froze for a moment, then sighed. "I bet it's back at the hotel."
Junen frowned. "Well you can't go back there! They could be home by now."
"I'll just go poke around. If their not there, then I'll search the place."
Goro shook his head. "You . . . you shouldn't Yoko. Something bad could happen."
The Goth-like boy tilted his head. "Like what? The only person there is already dead. What's he gonna do? Come back to life and eat my brains?" His friends were silent, then he turned away from them. "I'll catch up later, alright? Don't worry about it," and with that he began to run back to the hotel. A silly ring. Why would anyone tale such a risk? As he ran he remembered what it represented. The time before badness had come. Yoko's mother, Miano Eokie had divorced her husband, due to his compulsive drinking and aggressive behavior. All had been right, once his father was out of the picture. Yoko was cared for quite well, and was never sad with his mother. She was able to make up for the lack of a male role model with her own love, and knowledge of the other gender. This combined was enough to raise her son into a wonderful person. Then it happened. One might, after Yoko was put to bed, a fire was suddenly started inside the house. The flames consumed the house as quickly as they appeared. A neighbor had been able to rescue the boy, but unfortunately, his mother was unable to escape. After further investigation, it appeared the fire was started in her room, so the police assumed it was suicide, though Yoko never believed it. With no other guardians available, the police had no choice but to release Yoko into his father's custody, along with his step mother. Life was hard after that. His father was abusive both emotionally, and physically and his step mother was the type who would just sit back and watch the show that her husband provided. The ring that he now cared for was all he had left of the women he once knew. It had been found on her body when she was taken from the house, so Yoko automatically received it. He could no longer remember her face or her voice. All that remained was a vague memory of her eyes, deep and blue. He had to find that ring no matter what.
He soon arrived at the hotel, then sighed when he saw the lights were all off. "Probably not back yet." He slowly opened the door, then began to head up the stairs. He had remembered seeing it on his hamd when he carried Yoh up into the attic. It was probably there. After checking the rooms to be sure no one else was there, he finally entered the dark room. He walked to the closet, then slid it open half expecting something to jump out. Nothing did. There was a moment of silence, then he sighed as he pushed away the small trap door. Darkness. He drew a flashlight from the small bag he carried, then began to brighten the musty room as he climbed up. He waved the beam around, now noticing the amount of dust that was there. "Geez. No one's been up here for a while." He began to crawl around the dark attic, praying the ring would be undamaged, then froze when the light illuminated the pale figure in the back. He sighed, then slowly crept over.
The boy hadn't moved from his spot, his eyes still staring into the darkness.
Yoko knelt down and began to study the corpse. Tears still dampened the pale face, and the sheets around him were now scarlet. The bully had been quite cold when they had discovered the shaman dead, but now, sitting alone in the darkness with him, he began to feel guilt. He slowly sat the flashlight down, then placed a hand on the cold cheek. "I'm sorry this happened ,Yoh. I'm sorry we did this to you. We had . . . no right." The boy looked down, then winced when he noticed something. One of the hands was exposed, revealing the ring. "Nani?" He slowly lifted the hand, then slipped it off. "How did you get on him?" Thump. Thump. He looked back hearing the noise, then cringed. "Who's there!" No response. He began to crawl to the other side of the attic, when there was suddenly a strange rattling sound from behind him. "Nani!' He shuddered, then slowly looked back. Nothing. Only darkness, and the corpse. Wait. The body was no longer wrapped in the sheets. "Eh?" He jumped to his feet, then began to stumble back, when he suddenly was tripped. Crash. He landed in something soft, yet damp. What ever it was, it was moving. Slowly sitting up, he began to tremble, seeing the sheets that had broken his fall were no wrapping around him tightly. He struggled to free himself, but it was no use. In a matter of seconds, his lungs couldn't receive any air, and his body ached. What was happening? He thoughts were cut off, when he suddenly felt something grab hold of his foot. Struggling to sit up, he shot his head up, then became horrified discovering the ghostly boy that now crawled out of the darkness. How could this be possible? He looked to the corner, but still found Yoh's limp figure there. He had no time to figure anymore out, for in a matter of moments he felt himself being dragged into the dark corner, consumed by both the sheets and the strange rattle sound that now clouded his mind.
"Hao!"
The shaman woke up, then smiled slightly seeing he was in Keiko's arms.
"Daijoubu?"
"Aa. It was just . . . intense." The boy sat up, then looked to the bully. "Yoko wa sthe one who pointed out the attic, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
Hao lifted to his feet. "Yoh's killing you guys in ways that are related to his death."
The bully cringed. "Sou kaa?"
Ren was quiet then he looked to the others. "We should get to Goro's place. Two down, two to go. Who knows what Yoh's gonna do to him."
"Aa." Mikihisa looked to Hao. "No more empathy for tonight, alright?"
"Okay. I promise," and with that the group quickly left the room, and headed to the next floor. Goro was there, but the bully had problems of his own.
Chuck: Hee hee hee! My updating's been pretty good. So yeah, I hope everyone's really enjoying this fic, cause I've been really hauling butt! Well, I'd better get started on the next chapter. TTFN!
