This chapter is pretty weird, and you might encounter OOCs in the way, but this is an AU, is I guess it's forgivable. Credits to Bratty for one part of the story. ^^

"If you prove yourself to be a worthy shaman, I will be your friend for as long as you want to. If you fail, you would have to give Amidamaru to me," said Anna as she prepared to shut the door.

"Wait, Anna!" Yoh used his hand to squeeze himself in between the gap of the door separating them. "Am I still not worthy?" He tried to reach for her, but she shrank away from him.

"Don't touch me!" she cried. "It's too late."

 Too late for what? He had no idea. Yet he continued to speak soothingly. "No, it isn't!" he insisted. "Hold my hand, and everything will be alright."

"It will never be alright," she whispered, and her voice broke. His heart broke too.

"Anna, let me in. Just let me in, and I promise, you will be alright," he begged.

Her eyes widened, and a tear streaked down her cheek. She touched her heart. "No need. You were let in here even before you knocked."

"Anna…"

"Master Yoh!"

He opened his eyes and found his whole family looking at him. He rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Hey, what's everyone looking at? You all look like you're watching a murder scene from a horror flick." He turned to Amidamaru. "Hey!"

"How do you feel now, Yoh-dono?" asked the samurai anxiously.

He grinned. "Great!" His eyes scanned for somebody.

"Anna left," said Kino.

He froze, then all of a sudden, remembered the events when he woke up in that particular stormy afternoon. He was silenced as he recalled his dream.

Kino slowly drew towards her grandson's side. "Yoh…" she said softly.

"Grandmother?" he said.

All of a sudden, the old woman kicked him out of the bed. "Get your butt out of the house and take your fiancée back from your brother! Don't you ever think of going back here without Anna!"

Yoh wailed. "Hai, hai!"

"Move!!!"

"Yes, grandma!" he said, trying to dodge her kicks.

After an hour, Yoh was sitting in front of the steps of the house, looking up at the sky. Tamao came out of the house and saw her master. She came to him and sat beside him. "Master Yoh?"

"Tamao?" He turned to her, the smile pasted on his face not reaching his eyes as it usually did.

"Do not be sad," she said. "You'll see her soon."

He looked up at the sky again thoughtfully. "She told me once that I must become a worthy shaman. After what happened, I don't have the face to see her again. I…I was defeated." He propped his head against his elbows. "What if she doesn't want to see me again because I'm such a weak shaman? I'm not worthy at all to be a shaman king."

"Don't say that!" cried Tamao, on her feet. "I'm sure that she left because she wants you to be the best shaman. She sacrificed her freedom because she believes that you can do better. That book can help you a lot. And…and…" Her eyes moistened. "I'm a girl too. I know how Ms. Anna must have felt when she decided to leave."

"Tamao…" He looked down. "The good life she was asking for…I cannot provide her that anymore."

"Why not?" she demanded. "You're her fiancé. It's your duty, don't you forget that!"

Yoh's eyes widened. She's right. No matter what, I mustn't give up on trying to give her a good life, because I promised her that I would do that.

She turned her back on him. "Sorry for raising my voice."

"It's alright," he said softly. "If you didn't do that, I wouldn't have heard you."

"Huh?"

He stood up. "I'm going."

She turned to him, nodding. "Ganbatte, Master Yoh!"

Kino appeared, holding a bag. "Your clothes," said the grandmother unemotionally. She tossed it to his grandson.

"Y-You fixed it for me?" asked Yoh, incredulous.

"I want my student back," she replied. "She's a more dedicated student than you."

He grinned. "I'll bring her back."

"I'll tell Horo Horo to follow you once he gets back!" said Tamao, waving. "And Ryu too!"

Yoh nodded, and slung the backpack over his shoulder.

Outside the Asakura gates, he saw Manta and Amidamaru standing there, waiting for him.

"Good luck, Yoh!" said Manta, raising a thumbs up.

Amidamaru glided to his master's side. "Let's go?"

Yoh nodded, then grinned at his best friend. "Take care of everyone at home."

"Don't worry, I will!" said the midget, grinning back.

Manta watched as the shaman and his spirit headed towards the boundary of Izumo.

"Amidamaru?"

"Yes, Yoh-dono?"

"Um, where are we going to find Anna?"

"I-I thought you already know because you said that we can go already!"

"I thought you know because I was sleeping when she left!"

Manta sighed. "Birds of the same feather flock together."

"Yaaaah!!!" Ren made the initial attack.

En smirked and raised his left hand, blocking his son's attack from the back. "Ren, I have watched your training ever since you were a child, so I already know virtually all your techniques. If you will depend on them alone, you'll never win."

"Shut up!!!" Ren slashed his father's shoulder, but the latter was able to avoid his attack.

"You have weakened because of that girl!" boomed En when he anticipated Ren's blow from above. He stuck his elbow out and hit Ren, causing the latter to be thrown away several feet from him.

"Ren Tao!" yelled Horo Horo.

"She means nothing to me!" yelled Ren, trying his best to stand up.

"Liar!" boomed En. "You fighting me is already a proof!" He suddenly headed towards Ren. "You are rebelling against me, and I cannot forgive that!!!"

Before En's fist landed on Ren, Horo Horo was able to save him, thanks to his snowboard.

"Sorry. Usually, I don't meddle with family affairs, but I can't let Ren Tao the Carabao die." Horo Horo grinned at the furious father. "I hope you understand. I still have to defeat your moronic son."

"Who asked you to save me?" snapped Ren.

"Don't move too much, or we'll both fall from my snowboard!" yelled Horo. "And don't stab me with your hair!"

"Silence!" boomed En. "I'm battling with you, Ren!"

But the two didn't hear him.

"Hah! My hair is better-looking than yours! Mine is royal blue!"

"It's too hideously dark! Look at mine, it's done in the right shade of light blue." Horo touched his hair for effect.

"Hah! Light blue only goes well with Pirika's hair!" retorted Ren, crossing his arms.

Horo paused.

Ren froze, realizing that he said a bit too much.

Silence. Even En was listening.

"You…have a crush on my sister?" said Horo Horo slowly.

Ren's face turned white, then pink, then red, then flaming crimson. "Oh, shut the hell up!" cried the Tao.

"You like…Pirika? As in really, really like?" continued the Ainu boy.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!!!"

Horo doubled over, laughing. "Wahahahahahhahahahh!!!! Wahahahahahahah!!!!Mwahahahhahahahah!!!!"

"Kusu yo!" yelled Ren, not knowing how to kill the boy before him and try to stop the circus of colors on his cheeks at the same time.

"Omigod! This is too rich! Wahahahahhahahahahah!!!" Horo then blinked. "Wait, why am I laughing? He just said that he likes my sister!"

Ren gulped. He nearly forgot that Horo Horo was Pirika's brother, unbelievable as it may was.

Horo Horo narrowed his eyes at him. "The person who nearly killed me…ah wait, don't tell me you're the cute quiet boy my sister was talking about?"

"S-She said I'm cute?" squeaked Ren, blushing more.

"Hell!" Horo wanted to tear the remaining hair in his head that Tamao didn't manage to uproot. "Kami-sama, are you trying to give me a mid-life crisis at thirteen? I'm too young and cute for a breakdown!"

Ren clenched his fists. "You think you have problems? I don't like you too!"

The two stopped when they heard a strange sound coming from En. They then remembered that they were in a middle of a battle that would spell the fate of the girl both boys loved.

To their utter shock, En Tao burst out laughing.

Yoh was sitting in a bench with Amidamaru, sighing. They were in the marketplace just some meters away from the Asakura Gates.

"How are we going to start looking for Anna?" he groaned to his spirit.

"I only heard the word forest, but there are several forests here," said the samurai. "You even have your own forest in your backyard!"

"So now what?" asked Yoh. "We start searching through each forest?"

"Maybe I could be of some help."

Yoh and the spirit looked up. Faust was standing with a stern-looking priest beside him.

"Master Asakura Yoh, meet Shilva," introduced the doctor.

Ren looked up at the sky, expecting a comet to fall down on them. Why was his father laughing?

En cleared his throat. "I've…never seen that side of your personality, Ren. And in some way, I feel prouder of you than when you won in your previous matches with fierce foes."

The young Tao was bewildered. Was that really his father talking?

"Your father never succeeded in finding friends," explained En's wife, entering the room too. Behind her, a kyoshin was carrying the sleeping Pirika.

"Pirika!" exclaimed Horo and Ren. The kyoshin handed them the girl back.

"And according to the rules of the clan, no one can defy the will of the heir of the house of Tao," said En, returning to his serious mode. "Do what you want to do. I don't care."

"B-But what about the match?" asked Ren.

"You got what you want."

He stood up. "No. I'll defeat you, Father. I also want that."

"Hmp." En shrugged. "When you return, we will battle again."

"And the Asakura clan?"

"You are a spineless Tao anyway," said En, smirking. "I'll just have to count on the next generation again to defeat that clan."

"Your future children, Ren," explained his mother, glancing at Pirika.

His face started to become colorful again as Horo Horo restrained himself from hitting Ren with a snowboard.

As the three left the main room, Jun appeared, together with Pailong.

"It was a set-up," said Ren, irritated, when he saw the smile on his sister's face.

"Yes, it is," agreed Jun softly. Ren's irritation vanished immediately, but of course, he didn't show it.

His sister then brought out a red cloth-covered object. "Father wishes you to have this."

Ren took it and unwrapped it. He found a broken sword.

"It's the legendary sword that has been passed down by the Tao clan heads from generation to generation. Now, Father wants you to carry this as a symbol of your greatness." She smiled. "What happened awhile ago was just a test to see if you are already worthy enough to carry it."

"I did nothing in my battle. I wasn't even able to fight properly," said Ren slowly.

"But you did something that Father wasn't able to do before."

"Make friends?" asked Ren, echoing his mother's words.

"No. Argue about hair colors in the middle of a big fight." Jun hugged her brother tight. "I know that I won't be seeing you for quite a while. Take care while you're away, Rennie boy."

"Stop calling me that!" snapped Ren as Horo Horo snickered behind him. He then turned to Pailong. "If something happens to my sister while I'm gone, I swear I'll kill you."

Pailong nodded. "I will die before something happens to her."

Ren nodded and turned to go, but he came to his sister again. "Nee-chan?"

She knelt before him so that they would be face-to-face. "Yes?"

He hugged her tightly.

Jun felt her eyes well up. How many times had she yearned that Ren would hug her like this? To make her feel that he wasn't untouchable?

"Can I kiss my brother?"

He nodded, and she kissed his forehead.

"Can my brother kiss me?"

Ren was suddenly on his way out of the house. "We better hurry. Father might change his mind," he said as he caught up with Horo Horo and Pirika, who was still fast asleep.

"Hey, who invited you?" snapped Horo.

"Where Pirika goes, I go."

"What are you, a parasite?" yelled Horo Horo. "Leave my sister alone!"

"Make me!" dared Ren.

"When we get home, you'll get what you're looking for, Rennie boy."

"Shut up!"

Jun hugged herself smilingly. "Now, he is happy."

Pailong nodded. "And you are happy too, Mistress Jun?"

"Very happy," said the young lady.

"Then I'm happy too," said the kyoshin, his gaze following the disappearing three figures walking away from the Tao mansion.

Shilva bowed before Yoh. "It will be my honor to serve you, young master."

"Hey!" said Yoh, sweatdropping. "No need to be so formal." He held out his hand. "It's cool to meet you too!"

Shilva blinked. The future shaman king sounded so laidback! This wasn't what he was expecting from a shaman blessed by the Best Place! "Er, cool to meet you too." He looked at the scorching sun, then back at the grinning future shaman king. "I will be your guide as you try to find your fiancée."

Yoh turned serious. He bowed gratefully.

"M-Master Yoh!" said Amidamaru and Shilva at the same time.

"Thank you so much," said Yoh. "I will forever be in debt to you."

Faust smiled. "Shilva is a priest who looks after the affairs of the shamans all over the world."

" I see."

Faust handed him a jar of ointment. "This might help. It's for treating wounds and injuries."

"Thank you."

"Women like Kyouyama Anna comes only once in a lifetime. Do your best to get her back." The blond man grinned. "I'm a doctor, and I'm not suppose to take sides, but when I saw Ms. Anna, I remembered my dear Eliza."

Yoh grinned back. "Thanks again, Faust."

"Shilva is with Asakura Yoh already," reported Zinc.

Hao nodded. "I see. Then that means, he would have more direction in his battles. Shilva is a sensible man." He then grinned. "Anna is coming. You better go back to your potatoes."

As his master ordered, the priest grumpily returned to peeling the skin of the potatoes off with a knife.

tsuzuku