Disclaimer: I don't own the title, "Shaman King," nor am I with any manga/anime companies in anyway. Though I do own a couple characters. All characters I didn't make go to their respected owner, Takei Hiroyki-sensei.
Enjoy!
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"That was the most EMBARRASSING thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life!" Elen exclaimed while storming into the boarding house. She now sported her original exercise clothing, with her hair and face free of anything categorized as 'Salon treated' or 'Fashionable.' In her hands, she had a shopping bag full of the clothes she had modeled -shoes and accessories included, making her feel like a doll- and her tennis shoes in the other.
"Looks like they're back." Anna stated monotonously.
"Hey, those donuts were good." Came Hao's voice. "So what if I wolfed them all down?"
"WOLF-ed them down!" The Jaguar Shaman had, in a blink of an eye (How in God's name can he change outfits so fast?) changed into a fur outfit that made him look very much like a Grey Wolf, and had his front "paws" on the very much annoyed male Ainu's head. However, in another blink of an eye, he was knocked onto the floor by a well-placed pair of dirty tennis shoes tied together at the laces before he could be burned alive.
"SHUT IT, BAKA-LOVE!" The irate blonde water Shaman screamed. She turned her deadly bone-chilling glare towards her fighting partner, almost sending a shiver of fear down his spine. "And I AIN'T talkin' about the damn donuts, ya brainless fool!"
Putting aside the 'brainless fool' insult thrown at him, (just because it's her) the reason why she was so made had finally dawned on Hao. "Oh, you mean the modeling job?" He asked.
'My God. He may be the Spirit of Fire's Shaman, but he ain't all that bright.'
"Oh, how'd that go Elen?" Pikira asked, excited to hear about it.
"If ya want my honest opinion, it was TORTURE!" She turned her head towards her male friend, her glare still present. "And that's comin' from me."
"How was it torture?" Jun asked. "Getting to wear such pretty outfits and getting your picture taken in them before anyone else? It's sounds nice to me." She told her.
"For one, the clothes showed more skin than I thought was necessary, the positions I was in felt way too uncomfortable for my taste, and on top of all that, I was paid in the clothes I wore." She held up the shopping bag, almost to try to make her point across. The males of the room started to let their minds wander, thinking they had an idea for what she was talking about. (Except for Faust and Yoh because of their girls along with the ghosts, and Marco was fiercely trying to keep the images down.) "When am I gonna be wearin' these things anyway?"
Hao smirked at all the thoughts of the teens in the room, and leaned to Elen's ear, whispering something.
"Huh? What's lingerie?" She asked quietly. The fire Shaman started whispering into her ear again, explaining what it was while her face practically caught of fire. Her fisted hand around the shopping bag trembled in agitation and humiliation at what they were thinking. She brought her hand back... "You..." and let the bag fly into the nearest boy's head it could find, knocking him down to the floor. "WEIRD-OS!" Unfortunately, that poor teen was Lyserg. The hapless green-haired male sat up from the impact, rubbing his nose and causing the bag to fall to the ground beside him.
"That hurt." He stated. The contents of the bag had spilled out in the process, revealing the dress she had worn for the pictures with Hao. Pirika picked it up, and started squealing at the sight of it.
"OH, MY GOD! THIS IS WHAT YOU WORE!?" She asked excitedly.
"It's very pretty." Tamao commented.
"It looks to be my size." Anna commented, looking more closely at it.
"Oh, and what about this nice corset?" Jun gushed out. "The materials look so fine."
"It's so smooth." Jeanne admired, running her hand down the length. "Like silk. These will be very expensive when they go out in stores."
"Want 'em, ya'll can keep 'em." She said with contempt for the pieces of fabric in the other girls hands. She turned on her heel, and went up the stairs. "I have no use for 'em. Ain't like I'm goin' somewhere formal or nothin'." And she disappeared.
"Is it safe to come out?" The pompadour poked out from the dining room, searching for any signs of the annoyed girl.
"She's gone Ryu-san." Manta called. Ryu slumped into the living room, relieved to know that Elen's presence had disappeared from the room.
"That's good. Our fight's this evening, and I didn't want to be slaughtered by her before-hand AND PUT ME OUT!" He screamed, running around like a head-less chicken with his hair on fire.
"So you're scared of Elen destroying you, but not me?" Hao asked, hurt from what he heard.
"Kororo! Put out the flame!" Horo commanded, holding his Ikupasui stick. With a 'ku ku ku' in agreement, she blew ice on the heat ontop of Ryus' hair, and effectively halting the taller boy's run.
"Hee Hee Hee. You're not the same as you were last year." Yoh told his twin. At his questioning stare, he explained what he meant. "Ryu said he was more scared of Elen than you, because he knew that you had changed since we saw you last. If you were the same Hao from before, you would've tried to kill him in order to keep your position as top dog." He flashed to longer-haired boy one of his lazy grins. "But you only just singed his hair. You're more friendly than you were. It's nice."
Hao looked amazed at this revelation. It was true. Usually he wouldn't have done all of the things he did with these guys. Like eat with them, hang out with them, talk about things with them that wasn't about Shamans. Now that he thought about it, he felt...almost normal with these guys. Almost like they were real...friends.
"You realize I'm still planning on killing all humans, right?"
"Hee, wouldn't have it any other way Nii-chan."
"NII-?!"
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Elen marched down the hallway on the way to her room, not even sparing a glance at her sister and Ren still glued together at the lips and unaware of her presence as she stalked her way down. Finally reaching her door, she yanked open the wooden entrance and slammed it behind her in her rage, and quite possibly alerting the new couple of what just passed them.
Elen threw herself face-down on the soft dark blue comforter of her bed, the best one she's had since forever, and just laid there. Uncaring of the world around her at the moment. After all, Alexa was somehow still asleep in her crib, Diana was probably still sucking face with the Tao heir and her match wasn't for another few hours. What else was there for her to do?
Really, nothing but to just take a nap so her energy level was at maximum for her fight. Getting pissed at those guys actually tired her out quite a bit.
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He tip-toed carefully into her room, cautious not to wake her in fear of incurring her wrath again. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of her abuse and get beaten up before the match even started tonight.
Gently placing a bag at the foot of her bed, he heard the tell-tale sound of Alexa awake and asking to be picked up. Smiling down at the teen peacefully sleeping on her bed, he moved to the wooden crib Silva made and saw the brunette infant smiling her gummy smile to the boy above her as he picked her up. The infant reached for the boy's long brown bangs, pulling them with as much strength as a child could and making him squeak in audible pain. He looked towards the bed when he heard the shifting of fabric, and was relieved when he saw that the blonde was only shifting in her sleep.
After propping Alexa on his hip, he moved silently to the oak wardrobe and opened up it's cabinet, cringing a bit at the very slight screech that came with the old hinges of the door. On the floor of the piece of furniture was Elen's neatly folded battle outfit. Similar to Diana's, it had a Chinese-style neckline that would reach up to her throat, a sash that had a yin-yang pin on it, with a skirt that would reach to her mid-thighs with a slit and the sleeves that would reach down her arms and wrap around her middle finger. Gathering up the dress in his free hand, he closed the cabinet door and stalked out of the room, determined to let Elen sleep for a few more minutes before letting everything go to hell.
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"Elen wants what I wanted, you know." Diana said to her friend-turned-boyfriend. "To erase my memories and take all the burden for herself."
"I know." The gold-eyed youth replied. Short blonde hair tickled Ren's face as she settled her head on his strong shoulder, green eyes looking at nothing across from her place next to him on her bed. His own settled down on top of hers, not minding that her white headband was hard against him as he got comfortable, draping an arm around her shoulders. "But she'd be up against Hao when she gets to the final fight." Ren told her with just a little bit of hope in his voice. "You and Elen have basically no control over your Furyoku when fighting, which is why I was able to defeat you. Not that Hao killing humans is a better alternative."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, reveling in the calm before the inevitable storm.
"But on the off chance that Elen does win-"
"Diana-"
"I want to be able to have these nice memories." She finished, closing her eyes with a slight smile. "I want to be able to enjoy this happiness I have with you. And I want you to find your own happiness after that."
The Tao knew that he couldn't argue with her on this. She was right, after all. The only thing that they can do right now is to make fond memories while they still have the time for it. But that doesn't mean...
"That doesn't mean I still won't fight." Ren said softly with determination heavy in his voice. Diana felt his conviction running through him, and smiled a bit more.
"Thank you, Ren-kun."
'For everything.'
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"WHAT THE FUCKIN' HELL IS THIS!?"
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Kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me kill me
JUST KILL ME ALREADY!
I haven't updated this story in over a year! I don't deserve to be on this archive!
But I guess I can chalk it up to having writer's block and my beta not getting back to me. Oh, and...
I GOT MY FIRST FLAME! SO THAT REALLY MADE IT HARD TO CONTINUE! NOBODY CALLS ME A BITCH OR MY OC'S MARY-SUES AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!
Ah...
Sorry. I just needed to get that outta my system. In any case, I'm sorry for the horrible delay, and any disappointments ya'll might have. There was a TON of fluff in this chapter and I'm hoping if my writing skills will allow me, that Elen and Hao's fight with Ryu and Faust will be next chapter!
Oh, one more thing. I NEVER flame! I give out constructive criticism to help people improve on their writing or whatever, so I would like it if everyone would extend to me the same curtesy. If there's somthin' anyone doesn't like, I would like to know so that I can get better. Thank you very much.
Oh, and I hope ya'll liked that little reference to the last manga chapter I threw in there. I thought it was about time for it.
As always, please read, review, send ideas and send to friends.
See ya'll next time!