Disclaimer: *huggles Hao* Not mine, but still cute!
Hao: Heh... ^__^() This is a strange one, but still cute!
Author's Notes: Heh...told you there was a twist! Interesting take on the Soul of Fire, ne? This chapter is a bit strange...but bear with me! It's part of the plot! ONWARD!!!
~***~
A Dream Come True?
Chapter Eight
~***~
I headed into the crawlspace. It reminded me of a rental house my grandmother once owned- -every time the slobby occupants skipped town we had to clean up after them. It's currently in the process of being sold, and after that I'll be getting a brand-new computer.
Anyway, the place smelled of mold and termite decay. Not to mention there were dust bunnies all over the place. I had to stop once in a while to sneeze. By the time the beam of the flashlight found something on the floor I was gray from head to toe with dust.
I wriggled over to the mysterious object and picked it up. A newspaper from the early seventies. Oh, well...at least it wasn't a human skull I'd picked up. "Alas, poor Yurick," I whispered as I went on. "I- -ACHOO- -knew him well."
After what felt like half an hour I spotted a tattered old bag a long way off. I crawled over to it and sneezed from the blanket of dust on it. Then I reached out and grabbed the rope that was around it.
I suddenly screamed as something lashed across my back. It felt like someone had dragged a searing poker across my skin. Turning to see what had attacked me I saw Shiro there.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I shouted.
He scratched at me again. It looked and felt like his fingers had turned to nasty red-hot sharp claws. "Thank you for locating my physical form, Asakura Hao. Now open the bag so I can reanimate my flesh."
My eyes widened. "You're a demon."
"That's right. Those two fools knew what I was from the start. So they kept me locked in the house, thinking they could keep me from harming people. And when I tried to escape they robbed me of a physical body. Now open that bag!"
He started scratching violently at my back.
I can't exactly remember what happened after that. The pain from the demon kid's hot scratches was numbing my mind. At one point I think I whispered something...and then I heard a scream that wasn't my own.
Looking back over my shoulder I saw Shiro's spirit being engulfed in green fire. 'What just happened?' I thought. 'What did I say that did that? Oh wait...must've been from that book...'
"Hao? Hao! Are you okay? What happened?"
Yoh's voice from above me! Fighting off the pain in my back I banged on the underside of the floorboards above. "I'm down here! Get me out!"
I heard the sound of an electric drill. They were unscrewing the floorboards and lifting them up one by one. Yoh peered down inside. "My God...what happened to you?!"
"That Shiro kid was a demon in disguise. He wanted me to open this bag so he could come back to life and make Tokyo a living hell. I refused, and he didn't like me very much after that."
Manta started giggling. "You look like a mouse."
I glared at him. "And my back feels like I've been laying on a bed of hot coals! Thank you very much for caring!"
"Umm...sorry."
The Soul of Fire appeared behind them. 'Forgive me for not protecting you, Lord Hao.'
He stepped forward, inviting a scream from Manta. It was strange, seeing this big faceless, almost emotionless spirit kneel down gently, his head almost to the ground. I reached up and grabbed one of his antlers.
"No need to apologize," I told him.
He pulled me out of the hole and Yoh started putting back the floorboards. I was so exhausted that when I swung up onto the Soul of Fire's shoulder I fell asleep.
~***~
I woke up to find myself lying on a tile floor. My back didn't hurt as much as it did the night before. I got up and saw the Soul of Fire a few feet away from me.
'I've done my best to heal you, Lord Hao.'
I smiled. "Thanks. But what time is it, and where are we?"
"It's almost twelve noon," Anna's voice replied. "And obviously you're back at the Asakura residence. In the laundry room, anyway."
I sneezed again through my dust coating. "Let me guess. You left me in here so I wouldn't track dust all over the house."
"Exactly. Not to mention my allergies were acting up. Now go take a shower. You smell like mold."
I froze. "Shower. As in, naked?!"
"I'm not sure how Americans take showers, but yes. Naked."
I could feel my face turning red. "Come ON, Anna! I'm really a girl, remember?!"
"So?" She began shoving me toward the bathroom. "Don't you have any male relatives?"
"Younger cousins, but- -"
"Did you use to give them baths?"
"Well...yeah- -"
"So it's nothing you haven't seen before!"
We stopped in front of the bathroom door. I yanked my arm out of her grasp and glared at her. "It's not the same thing!! This time it's on MY body! And excuse me for complaining. It's not like I've actually had any of the stuff that's normally on my body missing or other stuff normally NOT there, THERE!!!"
"Then just close your eyes."
Now I really hated her. "Bite me."
"Where, when and how hard?"
Before I could come up with a decent comeback she shoved me into the bathroom and shut the door. I sighed and peeled off the now-ruined shirt off my back. Anna had already moved my duffel bag in there...oh well. Hao's old clothes were the only ones I had at the moment.
When I was taking off my boots and socks I got the best idea I've had in a while. Keep Anna captive in a torture chamber of one of those old European castles. Yes, she would die a very painful and VERY slow death. Not to mention I'd make HER pay for the plane tickets.
Hao: Heh... ^__^() This is a strange one, but still cute!
Author's Notes: Heh...told you there was a twist! Interesting take on the Soul of Fire, ne? This chapter is a bit strange...but bear with me! It's part of the plot! ONWARD!!!
~***~
A Dream Come True?
Chapter Eight
~***~
I headed into the crawlspace. It reminded me of a rental house my grandmother once owned- -every time the slobby occupants skipped town we had to clean up after them. It's currently in the process of being sold, and after that I'll be getting a brand-new computer.
Anyway, the place smelled of mold and termite decay. Not to mention there were dust bunnies all over the place. I had to stop once in a while to sneeze. By the time the beam of the flashlight found something on the floor I was gray from head to toe with dust.
I wriggled over to the mysterious object and picked it up. A newspaper from the early seventies. Oh, well...at least it wasn't a human skull I'd picked up. "Alas, poor Yurick," I whispered as I went on. "I- -ACHOO- -knew him well."
After what felt like half an hour I spotted a tattered old bag a long way off. I crawled over to it and sneezed from the blanket of dust on it. Then I reached out and grabbed the rope that was around it.
I suddenly screamed as something lashed across my back. It felt like someone had dragged a searing poker across my skin. Turning to see what had attacked me I saw Shiro there.
"What the hell are you doing?!" I shouted.
He scratched at me again. It looked and felt like his fingers had turned to nasty red-hot sharp claws. "Thank you for locating my physical form, Asakura Hao. Now open the bag so I can reanimate my flesh."
My eyes widened. "You're a demon."
"That's right. Those two fools knew what I was from the start. So they kept me locked in the house, thinking they could keep me from harming people. And when I tried to escape they robbed me of a physical body. Now open that bag!"
He started scratching violently at my back.
I can't exactly remember what happened after that. The pain from the demon kid's hot scratches was numbing my mind. At one point I think I whispered something...and then I heard a scream that wasn't my own.
Looking back over my shoulder I saw Shiro's spirit being engulfed in green fire. 'What just happened?' I thought. 'What did I say that did that? Oh wait...must've been from that book...'
"Hao? Hao! Are you okay? What happened?"
Yoh's voice from above me! Fighting off the pain in my back I banged on the underside of the floorboards above. "I'm down here! Get me out!"
I heard the sound of an electric drill. They were unscrewing the floorboards and lifting them up one by one. Yoh peered down inside. "My God...what happened to you?!"
"That Shiro kid was a demon in disguise. He wanted me to open this bag so he could come back to life and make Tokyo a living hell. I refused, and he didn't like me very much after that."
Manta started giggling. "You look like a mouse."
I glared at him. "And my back feels like I've been laying on a bed of hot coals! Thank you very much for caring!"
"Umm...sorry."
The Soul of Fire appeared behind them. 'Forgive me for not protecting you, Lord Hao.'
He stepped forward, inviting a scream from Manta. It was strange, seeing this big faceless, almost emotionless spirit kneel down gently, his head almost to the ground. I reached up and grabbed one of his antlers.
"No need to apologize," I told him.
He pulled me out of the hole and Yoh started putting back the floorboards. I was so exhausted that when I swung up onto the Soul of Fire's shoulder I fell asleep.
~***~
I woke up to find myself lying on a tile floor. My back didn't hurt as much as it did the night before. I got up and saw the Soul of Fire a few feet away from me.
'I've done my best to heal you, Lord Hao.'
I smiled. "Thanks. But what time is it, and where are we?"
"It's almost twelve noon," Anna's voice replied. "And obviously you're back at the Asakura residence. In the laundry room, anyway."
I sneezed again through my dust coating. "Let me guess. You left me in here so I wouldn't track dust all over the house."
"Exactly. Not to mention my allergies were acting up. Now go take a shower. You smell like mold."
I froze. "Shower. As in, naked?!"
"I'm not sure how Americans take showers, but yes. Naked."
I could feel my face turning red. "Come ON, Anna! I'm really a girl, remember?!"
"So?" She began shoving me toward the bathroom. "Don't you have any male relatives?"
"Younger cousins, but- -"
"Did you use to give them baths?"
"Well...yeah- -"
"So it's nothing you haven't seen before!"
We stopped in front of the bathroom door. I yanked my arm out of her grasp and glared at her. "It's not the same thing!! This time it's on MY body! And excuse me for complaining. It's not like I've actually had any of the stuff that's normally on my body missing or other stuff normally NOT there, THERE!!!"
"Then just close your eyes."
Now I really hated her. "Bite me."
"Where, when and how hard?"
Before I could come up with a decent comeback she shoved me into the bathroom and shut the door. I sighed and peeled off the now-ruined shirt off my back. Anna had already moved my duffel bag in there...oh well. Hao's old clothes were the only ones I had at the moment.
When I was taking off my boots and socks I got the best idea I've had in a while. Keep Anna captive in a torture chamber of one of those old European castles. Yes, she would die a very painful and VERY slow death. Not to mention I'd make HER pay for the plane tickets.