Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King, etc, etc...

To become the Shaman King. To be the savior of this earth. Each shaman with its own vision of it, each wants to save the world their own way. By their own means. Though, there are some who use fouler means than others. For fouler purposes...

Yoh was meditating this in his room at the Patches' Inn, while he gazed out his window, into the starry night. The thought of Hao came instantly to him. Hao. His twin brother, his counterpart; whose only purpose in life -his third life, to be precise, since he had already resurrected two times- was to become Shaman King to clear this planet from the human scum. In fact, it was because of this that he had come back from death twice.

And Yoh though: 'How can there be someone so evil, so wronged? Why would anyone want to do that, anyway?' Once, he had tried to know why would his brother want such a thing; he had tried to understand him; he had tried to love him. but after seeing all of Hao's evil deeds throughout his journey, he had no other feelings towards him but hate. Yoh smiled. He couldn't help thinking: 'Hao is just a bitch'.



At that very moment, he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," Yoh said.

In came Anna. "Yoh?" she asked as she stood in the threshold. "What are you doing?"

"Just thinking a little," he answered.

"Thinking?"

"It is food for the spirit," he said with a smile.

Anna did not take her eyes from him. But what did she think as she watched him, was impossible to tell. Then she glanced at the clock on the wall. It stroke nine thirty.

"Say... it is a little late. Are you going to bed already?"

Yoh sighed. "I'm not sleepy."

"Great," she said with sudden enthusiasm. "Then I want you to go train a bit outside. Why don't you run a few laps around the village as a warm up?"

Yoh was shocked at her words. His pupils shrank until they were no more than two tiny dots. Then he came back to his senses, and with an angry voice cried: "Hell, no!! I am not going outside to kill myself running around like an idiot! Much less at this hour!! If you even dared think I would, you are simply out of your mind!!"

As soon as he finished saying this, he grew pale with dread, his expression filled with anguish, and then he realized his great mistake. Anna was expressionless, her fists closed.

With a trembling voice, Yoh managed to say: "I'm sorry... Anna... I'm really sorry... I don't know what happened to me... please..."

But he said no more. Once Anna grabbed him, her punch was enough to send him flying downstairs, as she shouted from the top: "And don't ever talk to me that way again, or I'll beat you so hard that you won't be able to open your mouth for a week!" And she went to her room and shut the door. She didn't even mention the training again.

As Yoh laid at the foot of the stairs, half-conscious and with spirals on his eyes, he heard the voice of Horohoro.

"Yoh! Whatever happened to you!?" but the answer came instantly to him. "Oh, right. But what exactly what exactly did you tell her this time?"

Yoh then sat upright and looked at him. He and Pilika were sitting at a table in the lobby. It was a little, low rectangular table, with a flower arrangement at the center, and a small sofa on each of the long sides. Pilika and Horohoro were sitting side by side.

"Oh, nothing really," he said after a moment. "I would rather not talk about it right now."

"As you wish," Horohoro said amusedly, though he turned his head away as to pretend indifference.

"Oh, but Yoh!! How very badly she hit you!" Pilika broke in. Her expression was slightly worried. Yoh turned towards her. Pilika, he realized for the first time, was a very pretty girl. "I don't think you should stand her treating you like that," she went on. "Poor little thing..."

"Oh, no," Yoh started. "It is nothing really. We shouldn't pay much atte..."

"Hey, don't get so sweet with this guy, now!" Horohoro cut him short. "He already has his girl, remember? I don't want my little sister hanging around with brats like him!" he said mischievously.

"Oh, brother!" Pilika pushed him playfully. "I wouldn't let any guy hang around with me..." she said and cut the phrase in the middle. Then, the look on her eyes became somewhat strange, and all of a sudden, she wrapped her arms around his neck. With a low mellow voice, she spoke to his ear: "besides my big brother,". Horohoro looked at her, his eyes became lost, and he too, surrounded her neck from behind with his arm.

A huge sweat drop ran down the back of Yoh's head. 'This is getting odd' he thought, and for a moment he didn't know what to do, but at last he simply smiled sympathetically at them. Then he tried not to pay much attention to this, or at least look as if he didn't. 'After all, Horohoro is, indeed, one of my few true friends.' And very soon, more than ever, more than anything, Yoh would need friends...