Question: What is the one thing that can shatter Syao-chan's Hao/Anna fantasies?

Answer: The Tagalized voice of Hao that is cuter than Anna's.

--- syaowee ---

"He will be asleep for quite a while," said Faust as he, Manta, and Amidamaru watched the sleeping boy. "The tranquilizer I used on him is quite strong."

"Thank you." Amidamaru bowed at him, but Manta cowered behind the spirit. Faust VIII was starting to scare him.

Faust noticed that, and he turned to the midget. "I'm a little hungry. Do you have excess food for hungry and chilled to the bones traveler like me?"

Manta nodded slowly. "I-I'll ask Tamao to prepare you some food."

"I'll come with you," he said, but Manta vehemently shook his head. "Please don't!!!" cried the little boy.

"Hee hee. You're so cute," gushed Faust, patting the midget's hair. "You're tickling my funny bone."

Manta pulled away. "A-Ah, Tamao! Prepare food for 1 person!!!"

"Do you have juicy ribs?" asked Faust suddenly, looking at Manta meaningfully.

The boy instinctively hugged his chest.

"I heard that they go well with gravy," smiled Faust. "Do you have stock of ribs in your kitchen? I can cook."

"The bath is ready!" announced Tamao.

Ren went into the bath, annoyed. "Do you always scream like that with your shrill, high-pitched voice?"

Horo playfully shoved the guest into the bath. "Stop picking on my girl. Let's go, let's go!"

Ryu entered the bath too. "I might as well take a relaxing dip too."

Lyserg shrugged. Rather than looking up at the ceiling and pretending to think of plans to get Hao when he couldn't think of any now, he decided to join them too.

Ryu was shocked when he saw Lyserg join them. "H-Hey, Lyserg! This bath is for boys only!" he said frantically. Horo Horo and Ren sweatdropped.

"I know," said the green-haired boy, loosening his ribbon.

"Don't do it!" cried Ryu, covering his eyes with both of his hands, but he was peeking through the gaps of his fingers.

Lyserg threw the ribbon on the floor and began to unbutton his shirt.

Tamao shut the door as the dowser threw his shirt on the ground. Ryu's eyes widened.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!" Ryu was taken aback. "He's…a…m…m…ma…"

"Male," said Horo. "A boy, a lad, an xy-chromosomed body, an Adam, a guy, a chap, a gentleman-"

"Waaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!!" The man buried his head on the narrow-eyed Horo sorrowfully as Lyserg joined them in the bath as if nothing significant happened.

"I'm sure by this time, the book is in my brother's hands now." Hao turned to Anna, who refused to make eye contact with him. He sighed. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why should I be mad at you?" she asked mockingly. "Imagine, you went as far as to send Yoh a doctor. Oh, I can't think of the words to express my thanks."

"Anna…" He reached out and touched her hair gently.

She looked up at his face, but looked down again quickly. She could only see Yoh's grinning face. They look so much alike, but they are so different.

"I will make you happy too," he murmured. "I can give you a better life, if you would only give me the chance…"

She knew that he could, but even so, her heart was still foolishly crying for her fiancé's name.

Hao knew that. He sighed. "We better eat."

The kyoshin pushed Pirika in front of a very large double-door room. Her eyes widened. "I wonder why they made the doors so big?" she wondered aloud.

"Why, so I can fit into it, my dear."

Pirika turned ahead, but all she was a very large pair of feet. She looked up and saw the smirking face of a giant.

"W-Who are you?" asked the girl. Is he one of En Tao-sama's body guards?

"You came here without knowing who you would talk to?"

"Y-You mean, you're En Tao?" She felt silly with what she thought of him awhile ago.

"Right." The giant nodded. "I just have some questions to ask you regarding my son."

"H-Huh?"

"Are you the one who weakened him and put all those kind of absurdities and doubts in his mind?" asked the father.

She was bewildered. "I…I don't understand."

She gasped when she felt the floor beneath her shake. The patriarch of Tao stood up.

"You are the reason why my son cannot do what he's supposed to do. You're the reason why he became a coward." His hand reached for the trembling girl. "For that, you will pay."

Ren froze.

"What's wrong, Ren Tao the Carabao?" asked Horo Horo, puzzled.

He stood up. "Pirika."

Horo's forehead creased. "Pirika?"

Ren's eyes became alert. "Pirika!"

Horo's eyes widened. "Pirika?!"

Ryu and Lyserg watched them, eyes quizzical.

Without wasting any second, Ren scrambled out of the bath. Horo followed him.

Lyserg sighed. "The least the two could have done is cover their naked body."

Ryu nodded in agreement.

The two heard Tamao's terrified scream.

"There goes one traumatized girl," said Lyserg. "I wouldn't be too surprised if she would have to undergo a sex therapy after this."

They heard Kino's scream next.

Ryu looked at Lyserg.

Lyserg looked at Ryu.

The two burst into laughter, not mentioning any more about trauma and sex therapies.

"Hey wait!" yelled Horo. "Do you know my sister? Where is she? Wait up!" He followed Ren out of the house, dressed in a robe that he managed to snatch from the clothesline. "Damn you, Ren Tao! What happened to my sister?!!!!"

The boy glanced at him. "I don't know, but I better go back." Ren pulled his mandarin-collared coat to his body.

"Back? Go back where? Is Pirika there?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then I'm coming with you!" Horo narrowed his eyes at him. "For all I know, you kidnapped my sister because you want to have a rematch with me."

"Hah! I won't have a rematch with someone as weak as you are."

"What did you say?!!!!!"

"Weakling!"

"Braggart! Hair failure!"

"Stop picking on my hair!" Ren did his best not to utter profanities. After all, the boy before him was still Pirika's brother.

"Where is that place anyway?" asked Horo.

"The Tao residence, where else?"

"Tao?" Horo blinked. "The name sounds so familiar…how are you related to the Asakura clan?"

Ren smirked. "We're their archenemy, that's all."

Manta and Amidamaru watched as Faust greedily finished the rib soup he asked for.

"He likes bones very much, doesn't he?" remarked Manta to the spirit in a whisper. The spirit nodded.

"Ah! The meal was great!" Faust placed the bowl down. "Your cook is almost as good as Eliza."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Faust knelt beside Yoh and checked his temperature. "His fever is going down."

Manta and the power spirit sighed, relieved.

"It was just too much stress," continued the doctor. "But he will get well soon." Faust turned to them again. "He will be the future shaman king, am I right?"

The two nodded.

"Then it's best that we become friends." Faust grinned. "Do you know that Asakura Hao says that he too, will be the future shaman king?"

"He said that?" asked Amidamaru.

The doctor shrugged. "I don't really care who becomes the shaman king, as long as he grants my wish."

"Wish?" echoed Manta.

"Yes. To bring my beloved Eliza back."

"D-Did she leave you?" asked Manta cautiously.

"Yes, yes. To somewhere I cannot follow her." Faust smiled sadly. "To the other world."

"Oh." Manta looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Apologies cannot bring my lovely Eliza back." Faust looked at the sleeping Yoh. "Only the shaman king could do that. So he must get well soon."

Ren and Horo Horo were met by a kyoshin.

"Pailong!" said Ren. "Where is Pirika?"

"Your sister sent me here to tell you something." Pailong was upset. "Your father is talking to Ms. Pirika."

"What?!" Ren hurried into the mansion.

"Wait a minute! I want to see my sister too!" Horo followed Ren.

The young Tao went straight into his father's room. "Pirika! Pirika!" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his father standing in the middle of the room, as if waiting for him. Behind him, Horo Horo gasped at the size of the creature before them.

"If you want the girl back, you have to defeat me first," said En, smiling evilly.

Tamao brought in another basin of water as Manta and Faust took care of Yoh.

"I heard you guys scream downstairs," said Manta, frowning. "What is it now?"

Tamao's face turned pinker than her hair. "Um…"

Kino entered the room. "A couple of naked boys were running in the hallway awhile ago."

"One of them is Horo Horo," said Amidamaru and Manta at the same time, rolling their eyes.

Kino nodded. "And the other one is a Tao."

Manta blinked. "The notorious family that the Great Spirits rejected?"

"The very same. What would a Tao be doing in the house of the Asakura clan, bathing with its members?" Yoh's grandmother touched the sleeping face of her grandson.

Tamao gulped.

Kino turned to the doctor. "You were sent by Hao?"

Faust nodded politely and handed her the old, tattered book.

"Hao gave this to Yoh?" said the old woman in disbelief.

"In exchange for Ms. Anna," replied the doctor.

Kino's forehead creased. She stood up slowly. "This is the book where Hao derived almost all his powers. He wouldn't give this to Yoh so easily unless…unless Anna means that much to him."

Anna noticed a small leaf by her feet. She picked it up and wiped it with the hem of her skirt. She then turned it to the other side and began to blow on it softly. It created a melody resembling that of a flute's.

Hao watched her from afar, a soft smile on his face. The girl could delight him so much – truly, an angel who pretends to be a devil.

He began to feel sleepy. No, he had never ever felt this peaceful before that he could actually sleep. His heart melted readily and trustingly to the notes of her music.

I want her melody too. I want to belong to the source of that beautiful melody…her heart.

He paused when the music stopped. He looked at Anna.

"I'm sorry. I was disturbing your sleep," she said, voice blank.

"No. It's lulling me to sleep," he corrected. "Come here."

She was his possession already, so she dutifully came to his side.

He asked her to sit beside him. She did so, and he laid his head on her lap. "Now, continue playing."

"A-Are you sure you want to hear it?" she asked with surprising uncertainty.

He nodded, smiling at her fondly. The smile he reserved only for her.

He closed his eyes and allowed her music to put him into a peaceful slumber.

"What? Why is your father holding my sister hostage?!!" yelled Horo Horo, turning to the grim Ren.

The young Tao felt his blood boil. "You didn't have to involve Pirika here!" yelled the boy to his father.

"Guess what? I did," boomed En. "Because she's the reason why you lost your tiger courage – the clan's most precious heritage."

Ren clenched his fists.

"I heard your conversation with her. And I won't let her ruin your priorities. Your most important concern is not her, but the destruction of the Asakura clan!"

"I live my own life!" yelled Ren. "And you can't meddle with the way I choose how to live my life! I'm tired of perpetual hatred…the Asakura clan is not that evil-"

"Listen to yourself!" bellowed his father. "Are you really Ren Tao, my son, who is speaking? The Asakura clan is a clan of devils!"

"I met the people who love the Asakuras and I realized that those people will not love them so much if they indeed are demons." Ren finally took out his weapon. "But since you won't listen to my arguments, then I would just have to make you do so."

Lyserg bowed in front of Kino and Yohmei the next day. The storm had passed, thankfully. "Thank you again for your hospitality. I will return soon to pay Asakura Yoh a visit."

The two nodded, and he left the house.

Ryu was outside, waiting for him. "Where are you going now?"

Lyserg blinked. "T-To the church." He was tossed a helmet by the man.

"Hop on," said Ryu, gesturing to his motorcycle.

The dowser grinned. "Thanks."

"Sister Jeanne, Lyserg said that he will drop by here," said a man dressed in immaculate white.

The nun nodded, then continued her prayers.

"And Hao was located already."

She paused. "Is that so?" She turned to the stained glass window. "Do not worry. I am sure Lyserg can bring Yoh here. We will have to worry about bringing Hao here later on. As for the Gates of Babylon, they are stronger than he thinks. My prayers will protect them."

"His fever is gone," announced Faust that afternoon, to everyone's relief. "All we have to do is to wait for him to wake up."

Tamao nodded tearfully. "Thank Kami-sama."

Manta looked down. "I'm scared."

Amidamaru understood him at once. "Hey, I'm sure Master Yoh will be calmer this time. He was sick when we broke the news, that's why he wasn't able to accept it calmly."

"If I didn't let Anna leave…"

"No one in this family can stop a determined person like her, Master Manta," said the spirit comfortingly. "Not even the Mistress Kino."

"I had never seen Yoh so mad…" said the midget slowly.

"Me too," agreed the samurai.

They stopped talking when they heard Yoh groan.

"He's going to wake up!" said Tamao excitedly.

Manta and Amidamaru looked at each other.

tsuzuku