Another new day, but for whatever reason, today has an ominous feel about it. Something bad is in the air, I don't know what, only that I don't like it. I wonder what's in store, though really, I don't think I want to know. Someone has something nasty in mind, and I can't help but assume that it's my family, with intents of carrying out their threat. Do they honestly mean to take my life, just because I'm with Hao? Can't they trust in me, even a little? Is it really so hard to see that we love each other? It hurts that my own family don't trust me, but at the same time, I couldn't care less, it's very confusing. I seem to be a walking contradiction, I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing, or if it's healthy…
Anyway, what was I thinking about? Oh yeah, something's wrong… Should I talk to Hao about it? No, he probably knows already, and I don't need to bother him with more things to worry about either. Hao has too much to take care of without me running scared to him. Whatever is going to happen, I can take care of it myself, I'm a much better shaman then I used to be, all I need to do is trust in my own abilities and instincts and everything will be just fine. I don't need to worry about it, and I don't need to bother Hao with it. Besides, how much could they possibly do while I'm here? They're not stupid enough to take us all on, they know they're outnumbered and out skilled, so it'll all work out fine.
I wonder if anything's planned for today or not? I hope I'm not going to be left to die of boredom again. It really isn't any fun at all; I don't like being left all alone with nothing to do. Not that there's really much I could do about it. I mean, I could go and see Manta and the others, but I don't want to see Anna, certainly not so soon. She'll be really angry okaasan broke the engagement and I really don't feel like dealing with the pissed off itako any time in the near future. But then, I've never really appreciated dealing with Anna, she's always angry about something. I swear there's something seriously wrong with that girl. I guess it isn't my problem anymore though, not that I'm complaining. It's nice not having to worry about her, or rather, her flying off the handle.
I wonder if the tournament will actually end properly this time, Hao said that the Great Spirit is known for being, difficult, when it wants to be. Also, I can't help but wonder who our final opponents will be, I think it's going to be Lyserg, Horo Horo and Chocolove, sure, there are a few teams better than them, but for what ever reason, I really think that they're going to be the ones to stand in the way. It's disappointing to think that they will no doubt go to great lengths in an attempt to stop us, I mean, really, don't they want a better world to live in? I don't like everyone thinking so badly of our intentions; it isn't fair to judge us so harshly. Still, the future will be done by and those in generations to come will be the ones with the rights to judge our actions of today, for it will be their lives that are bound by them. None can know the future until it becomes the present in which they exist, but I'm sure everything will work out. I trust Hao to make things right for us, that's all I can do.
I suppose I should decide what I'm doing, rather than laying here thinking about nothing particularly important. Still, I wonder why Hao didn't stay; he normally waits until I wake up. Maybe he was bored, or just needed to get on with things, we didn't really do much yesterday. Whatever the reason, it can't be anything to worry about, or Hao would have woken me. My concentration is wandering yet again, maybe everyone isn't totally wrong about me after all… Right, enough thinking too much, get up, get ready and find Hao to find out if there's anything major going on today. That way, I can find out anything I need to do and then I can decide what to do, otherwise I'm just going to stay here talking to myself. I'm babbling again, aren't it? Oh well, I suppose some habits do linger; it's just something I'll have to deal with.
"Ne, niisan." Wow, I've amazed even myself with my simplicity.
"Morning Yoh. Something wrong?" Am I bothering him?
"No, I just wondered if there was anything I needed to know. Sorry if I'm interrupting."
"Of course you're not, sorry if I was too blunt. To answer your question, no, there isn't anything you need to do today, but I'll be busy all day, so you'll need to keep yourself entertained. Okay?"
"Yeah. Later." I really can't wait until this tournament is over; I want more of his time again. I really miss when we got to spend so much time together. I guess I'm just being selfish though.
"Yoh. I'll see you at the lake later, okay?"
"No, no, you don't have to, it's fine, really." I didn't mean to make him feel guilty.
I really, really do love the feeling he gives me when he kisses me. "I know you don't like us being apart, but it can't be helped. I will make time for you though, so don't get upset. I'll see you when the stars come up, just wait that long."
"Thanks Hao, but really, I have to learn that I can't have your attention 24/7, so don't worry about it, I'll be okay."
"I love you. Now, run along, and don't stand me up later."
He's too sweet. I'm so glad he came back to me. He's really good to me, even if I do seem to be acting like a spoilt brat; I really am so very lucky to have him. Enough mushy thoughts for the moment, I need to find something to do, before I get completely unmotivated…
What was that? Did the ground just shake? We're not going to get an earthquake here are we? No, this isn't natural…but what is it? The ground is going to split, I'd better move out of the way, and quickly. Okay, is that an Oni? Great…why me?
"Amidamaru!"
"Be careful Yoh-dono, the ground could collapse at any time."
"Wakatte. Let's finish this quickly."
Well, as soon as I figure out how to defeat it anyway. I think there's a trick to elemental Oni's, guess I should have listened to them...
"Ahh!" I nearly lost my head then…this thing really doesn't seem to like me. I wonder if…could this be their threat? I wouldn't put it past them; certainly Anna has created an Oni before…
"Gah! I've really got to concentrate on this fight, or I'm going to get myself killed..."
Normal attacks aren't working… How do I do this? I've got to win this, but how am I going to do it? I don't want to lose to this; I don't want to let Hao down. If I can't figure out how to defeat this though…
"What beats earth?" Why didn't I pay attention to my lessons? Oh yeah, because they made me stupid and lazy… This is all their fault! This isn't helping…
"Shit." I don't normally cuss, but there really isn't anything else to say, I'm cornered by a huge earth Oni, that I don't seem to be even remotely capable of harming…
"Water!" That's what wins, earth breaks up in water! And I just happen to be right next to a lake; all I have to do is knock it in. Should be easy enough to do with Amidamaru's help, maybe I'm not going to die after all. Right, lets give this a try.
"Yes! We rock!" No more Oni!
"That was close, good thinking Yoh-dono."
"It was pretty close huh? Don't tell Hao, he'll be disappointed with me."
"Of course not Yoh-dono."
"Arigato!"
Right, now what am I doing? I don't really think I want to stay here anymore. Maybe I'll go into the woods instead, that might be more peaceful…I hope. I mean, they'll give up for a while at least, right? I guess I'll just have to keep my guard up in case; they can be really stubborn, especially when it comes to Hao. They're so mean, making our lives so difficult. Maybe if they'd actually tried being nice to him, things would have turned out differently. A nice, friendly family would have done him good, it might have taken some of that hatred away; maybe it would have made him understand sooner that his actions were wrong. I suppose its all just conjecture though, we can't know what could have been, only what was. I have always been an optimist though.
Well, the woods seem to be nicer, but I think I'll sit down on a tree branch, just to be sure, not that I'm paranoid…much. It isn't as if having the ground fall out from under one's feet is particularly pleasant though, I think I have the right to be a little unsettled. But then, if I believe that, why am I trying to justify my actions to myself? I guess I'm just used to people arguing with me, or putting me down… Anyway, enough thinking for now, I need to relax after that, not so pleasant event.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me? Now I'm being attacked by leaf spirits! I knew this was going to be a bad day, but still, isn't this just a little OTT? I can't even be bothered to fight these though; I'm just going to use one of the secrets Hao unlocked instead. There isn't really much point in making things more difficult than need be, and to be honest, I am pretty tired after fighting the Oni, so it might not be exactly safe to fight so many spirits all at once either. Besides, what's the point in learning all these new skills if I'm never going to use them?
Right, that was easy, no more swarms of evil leaf spirits, which were undoubtedly a gift from Yohmei. So in theory, Miki and Kino are the only ones left, I have no idea what to expect from them. Well, actually, I have a pretty good idea what to expect from him, it's just her. Kino isn't very nice either, so I'm not sure I want to know, I swear she's a sadist…I guess that's where Anna gets it. Kino certainly seems to have trained Anna in her image. Lucky us…
I think I'll leave the woods, so many trees means way too many leaf spirits. Where can I go now though? I know, I'll go and see what Ren's doing, should I get attacked again, at least I'll have help and someone's company wouldn't go amiss either. I guess I'm far too used to having people around, I kind of miss it now I don't have it. Not that I don't appreciate having time to myself, I really do like having some freedom for a change, I'm just not used to it, so I don't know what to do with it, if that makes any sense…I think I'm just going to confuse myself if I don't shut up.
"Ne, Ren? Ahh!! Gomen!" Oh my…what…I did NOT want to see that! I think I'm traumatised…
"Gomen Yoh, even if you are the one who walked in on us. What did you want?"
"Uh, nothing, sorry, uh, don't worry about it… Ano…I think I'll go now…"
"Yoh…"
"I'm glad for you, I just got a bit of a shock is all. I'll see you later."
"Sure. Knock next time or something, ne?"
I can't do much more than nod, before swiftly leaving. I really feel quite ill now, and I can't stop shuddering. I really didn't want to walk in on that, I mean, walking in on anyone in that kind of situation is bad, but Ren just seems to be worse for whatever reason. I know it isn't that I'm jealous, maybe it's just because it's not something I'd expect, or more likely because of what exactly I saw. I don't know whether I should be worried that girls make me feel so sick…Well, not generally, just in 'those' sort of situations… I don't think it's wrong not to want to see Ren and Karina 'making-out', being as polite and non-descript as possible, just because I don't want to think about it. That was so horrible…must not throw-up… I hope I didn't offend Ren, I'm not going back to check though, not until I feel better, or I'll make things worse. I just want to forget that happened. I don't think wishful thinking will make that happen though, pity. I'm back to square one now though, what am I to do? There aren't many places I can go and I have to be careful what I do anyway with all these things happening.
"Something wrong Yoh?" Sion's talking to me? That's unusual, he normally only talks to his team or Hao.
"No, not really." I don't really feel like showing any enthusiasm right now; I can't even be bothered to turn around.
"Walked in on Karina and the Chinese idiot?"
"Ren isn't an idiot."
"He almost lost didn't he?"
"Hn… Is there something you wanted?"
"Not really. I'm a little bored and you looked as if you were too."
"Yeah, I am. Just trying to figure out what to do…"
"How about…"
Whatever Sion was going to say was cut short, the tremor far too prominent to ignore. I do hope it isn't more Oni's…please, please, don't make me fight any more of them.
"Ahh!!" Itai… Why did the ground fall out from under me? And what did I land on? It's painful whatever it is. This really isn't my day… Do they really hate me so much? I guess that's a stupid question.
Looks like I ended up falling in a cavern, covered crystal formations, said formations being what I landed on, they're really sharp. I guess this must be natural, but I wonder how it was formed? I'm a long way down and there are no walls near the hole I fell through, so it looks like I'll have to go exploring if I want to find a way out. Well, it's certainly a more interesting environment than what I'm used to, and it holds a lot of natural beauty. So long as I don't get attacked again, this could be quite fun. Otherwise it could be problematic, there isn't much room to manoeuvre and I'll have to be careful not to do anything that might cause the rocks to cave-in on me. Of course, if there isn't an exit anywhere I'll be in trouble, but hopefully that shouldn't be the case though. These places are usually formed by water, so there must be somewhere the river ran out to, I just have to find it. It can't be that difficult, right? Just follow the tunnel, water is pretty easy-going, it doesn't like doing difficult things, so everything should be straightforward enough, I hope.
This is a really long tunnel…come to think of it, I wonder why the floor, or ceiling, whichever it is, just fell down all of a sudden, well, I guess the tremor weakened it, but was the tremor natural, or was it deliberate? If it was deliberate, what am I likely to have to deal with? Am I going to drown down here or something? Wait, since when did I become a pessimist? I guess it's hard not to be at least a little bit pessimistic considering.
There are slight vibrations in the tunnel; someone or something else is down here. Please don't let it be the river, I don't want to drown, certainly not down here, where I could possibly never be found…I'm being a pessimist again, I'm meant to be optimistic. It's pretty hard to be positive though, if this place has been hidden away, as it seems to have been, anything down here isn't likely to be a good thing. Spirits and something else, I guess this is a joint effort between Kino and Mikihisa then. This could be very difficult. I'm worried that other 'feeling', is a barrier to block my abilities, getting out of this safely with my skills would be difficult, but facing spirits in a confined area without any shaman skills would be near impossible, though I suppose that is the idea.
"Yoh. This is your last chance to come home." Mikihisa, as I expected.
"Iie chichioya." I won't, not matter how much you beg. I love him too much.
"Yoh, please, I don't want to hurt you."
"You already did! I won't leave Hao, if you want to hate him so much, fine, waste your time and why not add yet another crime to your list while your at it? You already tried to murder one son and failed, so hey, why not try the other one too?" Wow, I shouted and was actually sarcastic, that wasn't like me at all…am I really that angry with them?
"Yoh…I am sorry, but we have to put an end to this. You will understand our choice, even if not while you live."
No, I will never understand why you are so incapable of putting faith in your own children, have I not proven myself to you? Is it so hard to see how much your actions hurt me? Do you have any comprehension of how awful it is to take the life of your own family? After all, you were all too aware you failed with Hao; I thought I had succeeded your will, and it tore me apart. Do you know what that feels like? How could you ask me to do that again? Even if the words have yet to be spoken, I know that's what you want me to do, I can see it all too clearly.
"Enough. Get on with it, I'm not standing here all day." Well, that annoyed him, I guess it was too unlike what they expect from me, oh well, it can't be helped, I really don't want to be stuck down here any longer than necessary. This isn't exactly much fun and Hao told me not to stand him up, so I can't be too long or I will, even if I don't mean to.
"If you truly wish to forfeit your life, so be it. We cannot allow this unholy unity to continue."
What can possibly be 'unholy' about love? It's one of the purest emotions there is. I can't help how I feel, neither of us can, it's just how things are, how things are supposed to be, that's the way love works, not through human-made arrangements. It doesn't matter, they don't know any better and aren't prepared to learn, so there is nothing I can do about it, all I can do is protect myself; I'll just have to hope for the best.
"Mo ii." Hao is here? Did Sion get him after I fell? I didn't expect any help.
"Leave us be Hao!" As if he'll listen to you Miki…
"And have you kill him with your cheap tricks? I don't think so." Hao, Ren, Hanagumi, Team Royale…do they think so little of me? Or did they come just because they care?
Hanagumi and Ren looked relieved, so they were worried, Team Royale just looked vaguely curious, and Hao already stated that he thought I'd end up dead without his presence. I'm sort of glad that they came, but more so, I feel hurt that they all assumed I couldn't do this by myself. I'm better than most of them, so why do they look down on me so much? Haven't I proved myself to them yet? This isn't fair…
I can't be bothered with this, Kino's barrier has been lowered and chichioya is busy arguing with Hao, so I think I'm going to carry on looking around down here, I don't feel like being babied by them, there isn't any need for it.
"Yoh! Where are you going?" Trust Ren to notice me leaving, he can be a real pain.
"Away from here." I'm surprised I managed to keep such a neutral tone, but I can't complain, it won't cause unwanted reactions.
I made sure to carry on walking before anyone had time to argue with me, I seem to be getting good at doing that. Still, it will save me the trouble of saying something I don't mean, which can't be a bad thing. I'm not usually one to get like this, but these last few days have been emotionally draining, so my temper is a little short, though I feel more like crying than anything else. I've been trying to stop crying for no good reason, but just lately that's been getting difficult, maybe it would be good for me if I did though, it may save me feeling so melancholy all the time.
I can see light, so I must be near the exit now; I wonder where it comes out? I'll get my answer soon enough though; I'm almost at the mouth of the cave now. Wow, what a view, this place is beautiful, I wonder where it is though, I've never seen it and I've been all around the village. Strange it could have been missed, it's quite expansive. Come to think of it, I can't see the Great Spirit anywhere and that isn't something easy to miss. Could I be somewhere else? I didn't walk very far though…
"Yoh, come on, let's go." Hao decided to follow me, did he?
"I'm not interested." I think I actually surprised him.
"Yoh?" Yeah, I definitely surprised him; he sounds a little upset too.
"Just leave me alone, all of you." My dear family and friends can give me some space; I don't want to be caught up in some stupid argument.
"Yoh, what-"
"Take a hint Hao! I don't need your help, I'm not interested in being babied, or harassed, so all of you just go away!" Really must stop shouting at people…I really think I just need to curl up and cry for a while.
"Yoh." Now chichioya is giving it a try…
"I am NOT in the mood for this. Just give me some space."
Hao isn't very good at taking no for an answer, but certainly I don't mind him having his arms wrapped around me, his soft breath against my ear. "Yoh, please come back, it isn't safe for any of us to be here. Just trust me on this."
"Hao…" I know I can't argue with him on this, he wouldn't have said it unless he was sure it was the case. I guess I'll have to go, whether I want anything to do with them right now or now.
"Whatever you're angry about, I'm sorry, but please, just come."
"Fine…"
I suppose I have no choice, even though I know they won't leave me alone for the rest of the day now. I didn't do this for attention, but they're going to give me it anyway, regardless of what I say. I just hope I can survive the experience; Macchi already looks ready to glomp me or something. I'll just have to hope for the best I suppose…
--
Carly-chan, you're back too! Welcome back and your review is fine, thanks.
To answer your question Shaami (even though it was rhetorical), you said disappointing 8 times.
Fisou, Yoh is just smart, he always gets everything right, haven't you noticed? As for Anna, I agree with Yoh and Shaami, it isn't a nice thing at all.
Thanks everyone for the reviews, they make me much happy.
I'm trying to get back into updating weekly again, though no promises, but if all goes to plan, the next chapter will be up next Friday/Saturday.
Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed the chapter; it was quite a long one for me. Please review! Ja!