Kaleidoscope
by IceFire and J

"A Kaleidoscope. A manifestation of life. Intriuging and challenging. Beautiful and iridescent. Timeless and unpredictable."

Just to tell you in advance. That paragraph has nothing to do with the story itself. Just a tribute to my old principal whose wise words now hold the world together for me. ^_^

WARNING!!
Major OOCness ahead. Mild hints of pairings here and there. Nothing much really. Just something that comes out when I suffer from jet lag... Just came back from Rome with a 9 hour time difference...

It was one of those mornings when he didn't really want to wake up. A kind of feeling assailed him. One of those which seeps into your bones and warns you that something bad was about to happen. Either way, he couldn't stay in bed much longer. 3 more seconds...
3...
2...
1...
BANG!
"WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!" Anna burst through the door, screaming (as usual) for him to get himself out of bed. Yoh groggily cracked open his eyes, only to see a large frying pan flatten itself on his face.
"I said WAKE UP!!!!!!"
The brutalised shaman unhappily got up, grabbing the frying pan and heading off to wash up. Satisfied, Anna went on her way downstairs to the door, preparing to retrieve the mail.
THUD.
Yoh scrambled out of the bathroom at the sound of the dull thud half dressed and a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth to see Anna, unconscious on the floor. Hurriedly, he dragged his K.Oed fiancee to the couch, tossing a glass of ice water on her face to revive her.
She slowly regained her senses, grimacing as the ice cubes hit her solidly on the head. Yoh glanced out of the open door to see...
"Whose baby is that?!" he yelled frantically. But being it kinda hard to speak with a toothbrush in your mouth, it sounded more like "Hoot haby his hat?!"
Either way Anna seemed to understand him and shrugged. She strolled to the telephone and rang up several people as Yoh cautiously dragged the basket in with his toe. The baby inside seemed unpreturbed by the amount of noise the two were making and was sound asleep.
Amidamaru appeared in a wisp of smoke, only to start screaming at the sight of the baby at Yoh's feet.
"Yoh-dono! You never told me you had a baby!" he exclaimed, his stoic face going all gooey-eyed and watery with emotion. The baby woke up, giggling at the sight of the ghosty samurai.
"He can see me!"
"That means he is the son of a shaman." Yoh deduced, squatting down to peer at the smiling mess of blankets and tiny human in the basket. The baby seemed awefully small and overly energetic. His dark brown wisps of hair on his head almost covering the large and awefully familiar brown eyes.
"Right. The rest of the callafare are on their way." Anna stated, walking over and deftly picking up the baby in her arms. "We have to get this baby indoors instead of just staring at it."
"It's a he. HE. HEEEEEEEEEEE." Yoh emphasized, picking up the empty basket. Anna glared at him. And that was when...
"Your eyes..."
"Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru exclaimed holding up a note in his hand. Yoh turned his attention to the over excited ghost, taking the note from him. The note was scribbled in rather bad handwriting and scrawling kanji. It seemed to be written in a hurry.
"It says here -'Please take care of Yomaru. I think he'll be in better hands with you.'" Yoh read slowly.
Anna blinked, not really registering the situation. It wasn't everyday that a baby was dumped at your doorstep. She looked down at the gurgling infant in her arms, melting slightly at the puppy dog expression on its face. Yoh had already gone completely soft and stared goo-goo eyed at the baby as he playfully grabbed a lock of his hair. A slight tweak in his heartstrings caused him to falter and his smile broke into a big grin.
To the tiny child, this grin looked more like a huge smirk from a large shark going to eat him and started to wail uncontrollably like a siren. Anna, being the more composed one, shoved the dejected Yoh aside and laid the baby on the couch.
"OKAY! WE'RE HERE!!!!!" a familiar voice sounded out. The blue-haired shaman bounded into the house, stopping short in his tracks to stare at the Itako and the baby. He was closely followed by Ren whose jaw immediately fell to the floor.
"Asakura... Explain yourself." the chinese shaman warned, not taking his eyes off the baby.
"He's not mine!" defended Yoh angrily, pointing at Yomaru who had slowly begun to settle back down in Anna's arms.
"Then explain why he has your hair!" pointed out Horohoro. "And those eyes..."
"I am here! There is nothing to fear!" announced Ryu as he skidded in a gust of dust. However, all his bravado went to dust when he set eyes on the adorable infant, his eyes turning into large hearts once again.
"That is soooooo cute..."
There was a soft clicking of boots on the gravel outside and a sudden rush of warm air. Hao stepped in a sweep of long brown hair and glinting eyes, making everyone in the room turn to look at the powerful new addition to the odd collection of characters.
"So what seems to be the problem?" Hao asked nonchalently. He moved closer and almost stumbled backwards again at the sight of the itako and the bundle with her.
"Right. Now that nearlly all are here I shall begin." Anna said. "Whose is that bundle of noise?"
Everyone in the room remained deafly silent, casting sideward glances at one another.
"Anna-san..." called a soft voice. "The baby's eyes..."
Everyone looked at Manta who was kinda lost in a maze of legs. Horohoro hauled the small boy up onto a tall stool, allowing him better view. Everyone started to gaze at the baby's eyes in wonderment...
"Hmm... The eyes... Looks awefully familiar..." Hao nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
At that moment, who would choose to barge in but Yohmei and Kino, both huffing from the exertion of running halfway across Japan.
"This-This better be-worth it, boy." wheezed Yohmei, beginning to stare daggers at Yoh and his brother. "And what is this baka doing here?! You know better than to mess with these kind of rifraff..." he muttered, glaring at Hao.
"Hey! That fearless itako of yours invited me!" Hao whinned, pointing a finger at Anna who had taken to moving to the kitchen for some clean blankets to wrap the baby in. She was promptly followed by the enraptured Ryu still gazing at Yomaru with large anime-style eyes.
"Yoh. Explain. Now." Kino barked, calmly sticking her walking stick into Yohmei's head for shouting in her ear.
Her grandson shrugged, running a hand through his dark brown hair. He sighed and began to explain everything right from the begining.
"Well, you see..."
"Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry..."
Everyone once again turned to the door to see Tamao appologising profusely and behind her stood...
"You!" the X-Laws yelled out, staring at Hao.
"And you!" retorted Hao, jabbing a finger in their direction. "And why is it that everyone in this fic hates meeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!" the powerful shaman screamed, jabbing an unmentionable finger at the author.
Suddenly, a piece of magical duct tape taped Hao's mouth shut.
(IceFire hi-fives J)
"Maybe we should give him back his speech man..." said J, looking at Hao who had taken to kicking anything in his path.
"Fine..." sighed Icefire, peeling the duct tape off in such a fashion that it ripped out several hairs on his head, sending him squealing.
"I thought he was your favourite character..." whinned J, staring at his co-author. Icefire shrugged and continued with the story.
"Maiden-sama," began Marcus, pushing his spectacles higher up his nose because that was what he seemed to do all the time. "I think it is not wise to come here and meddle with... fool's affairs."
Maiden raised her hand to stop Marcus. "I wish to see this... Child of the shaman. Besides, I didn't get much of a role in the manga to begin with."
"So, you have answers for us?" Manta asked, hopping lightly off the stool. Maiden shrugged. "If you have questions."
"I have one." stated Ren, adjusting his shirt. "Whose baby is that?"
"Hmm... Tough one... But I think it is the child of a shaman." said Maiden after much thought. "A powerful shaman at that."
Everyone turned to look at Hao.
"What did I do now?!" he yelled, trying to reattach the hairs to his head. "It's not mine!!!"
"Then whose is it?" Tamao asked. "The ouiji board also says that it is the child of a shaman but doesn't say much more."
"Then who is the next powerful shaman?" Yohmei pondered aloud. Everyone quite automatically turned their attention back to Yoh who had begun to doze off on the couch.
"Yoh!" yelled Horohoro. "How could you! You're only... 19!" the icy haired shaman exclaimed, counting off his fingers.
"Huh? Give me a break..." yawned the lazy shaman.
"But-but-" Horohoro squeaked out, spitting onto anyone unfortunate enough to be in the way.
"What my stupified friend here is trying to say is that-" Lyserg tried to break in.
"The baby's eyes are-" continued Amidamaru excitedly.
"Mine." a voice broke through above the noise, gaining everyone's attention.

~TBC~

Well? That has got to be the most stupid story I've ever bothered to write. Please R&R and if things go well, I'll post the second chapter. Guess whose baby it is! -J & Icy