I really thought I won't be able to type this chapter tonight. It's signal no.2 here, I think. . BTW, I do updates every other day. ^^;;
"I can't believe it!" cried Pirika two days later as she, her brother, and Tamao moved into a new, fully furnished mansion surrounded by coltsfoot. Behind her, Kororo jumped on Horo's shoulder excitedly.
"Yup! And I owe it all to our dear Tamao!" Horo Horo grinned at the fortuneteller. She smiled back shyly.
"We're rich for life!" cried his sister, dancing around the spacious living room. "I don't have to worry anymore about budgeting, balancing…"
Horo suddenly remembered the earphoned boy who helped him to get into this situation. He still wanted to find the boy and give him his rightful share of the wealth.
"Pirika…"
"Hmm?" She turned to him, smiling.
"I…have to leave though."
Her brows furrowed. "Leave? Where are you going?"
"I have to find somebody and give him his rightful cut of this wealth," he explained, narrating to her the stranger who helped him buy the lottery ticket. In the end, she was near to tears.
"I don't understand…why don't we let Kami-sama do the blessing for his kindness? You don't have to leave me!" she cried.
"No, I feel that Kami-sama may want to use me as an instrument to help him out." Horo grinned. "Don't worry. As soon as I find him, I'll come back, I promise."
She sniffled. "Onii-chan…"
He understood her reluctance. Since childhood, they were inseparable. Pirika was very young when both of their parents died, so she was very close to him.
He reached out and messed her hair fondly. "I'll be back." He turned to Tamao. "Stay here and look after my sister."
The pink-haired girl nodded. "I know. And if you see the guards of Prince Hao…"
"I'll smile my killer smile at them." He flashed her a toothpaste commercial grin.
"Get inside!"
"But the thorns-"
"Get in!" She was then shoved roughly into an encasement. Her tender skin immediately reacted when she felt the painful pricks of the thorns. She felt blood drip.
"Get me out of here!" she cried. "Please, it's hurting me!"
"Stay still! The Prince Asakura will talk with you later!"
Tears welled up her eyes. "Itai!"
All she heard was cruel laughter from outside her thorny prison.
Lyserg was just about to shut his literature book close when he heard a frightened scream from his bedroom. He panickedly headed towards it and found Jeanne hugging the blankets close to her chest, sweating nervously. "Jeanne!" he yelled.
"Don't come near me!" she cried. "Stay away!"
"Jeanne, it's me!" he yelled desperately.
She hugged herself. "It hurts! I'm going to bleed to death!"
"No, you won't!" Lyserg imprisoned the girl's face between his palms. "Jeanne, calm down!"
"Help me!" she screamed before aura emitted from her. Lyserg turned grim. He took out his pendulum and swung it in front of her face. "Look into my eyes…look deeply, Jeanne," he ordered calmly…soothingly.
She paused, but she was still trembling violently.
"You are not in danger. No one will hurt you," he continued, swinging his necklace in front of her in perfect rhythm. "You are in the company of someone you can trust. He will never hurt you."
A tear dropped her eye.
"That's right…leave all your worries behind," he said, smiling. "Hold out your left hand."
She hesitated.
"Do not be scared. I will hold your hand."
So she did. Lyserg put his necklace down and took her hand. He imprisoned it with both of his hands. "Stop crying, Jeanne. No one can hurt you…not when I'm here. And I am here, see?"
Her eyes returned to normal. "Lyserg-kun…" Recognition dawned in her emotionally turbulent eyes. With that, she fainted into his arms.
He caught her readily, then tucked her back to bed. The girl was confusing him more and more. The aura she emitted awhile ago was proof that she was more than a mortal.
"Who are you?" he asked the sleeping girl softly.
Common sense was telling him that if he wanted to stay in track with his revenge plans against his parents' murderer, he must not let himself get distracted with others' problems.
Dakedo, I can't just leave her like this.
He decided that he would just have to do the waiting game for now.
He looked out at the window. It was raining especially hard tonight. He turned to the girl again and secured the blanket around her again to keep her warm.
Anna and Yoh were under the shed of an inn, looking at the relentless rain. The former had her arms crossed in front of her chest, tapping her foot impatiently. The latter was lying down on the floor, back against the pillar of the inn, looking at the rain lazily.
He could hear her hissed mutterings cursing the rain. He then noticed that the rain started to lighten up. Apparently, even the weather feared the itako too. He stretched lazily. "The rain will cease in ten minutes."
"Since when had you become a meteorologist?" she snapped.
"I don't study meteors."
Anna rolled her eyes and shoved her palm on his face. "Talk to my hand!"
"It talks? Cool!"
Amidamaru appeared. "Ma'am Anna, where will you make Master Yoh sleep tonight?"
"I don't have the time to think of insignificant things right now," she said, looking at Yoh who was looking out at the rain with a languid smile on his face.
"One thing is for sure though," said Yoh suddenly. "I'll be sleeping wherever Anna will sleep."
"The hell you will!" she snapped.
"Well, you did say that I should keep the necklace." He looked at the black tusk band around his neck.
She exhaled sharply. "I'll think of something."
"I thought you said awhile ago that you don't want to talk about it?" he asked.
She blinked, then she looked away. "Now I want to."
The boy sighed. "Now I know why tropical depressions are named after women."
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Nothing!" He stretched again. "So Anna, why are you so hell-bent on finding a shaman king husband anyway?"
"Because I want to."
"Why do you want to?"
"Because."
"Why because?"
Anna's brow rose, and he cringed in fear. The girl looked back at the rain. "You're obviously not inquisitive."
"J-Just curious," he choked.
She shrugged. It wouldn't do much damage if she converses with him to kill time. "Because the legend of the mountains require us itakos to find ourselves a shaman king for a husband. It is said that if an itako from the mountains unite with the shaman king, the mountains shall be blessed forever."
He whistled. "That's quite a reason." He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully. "If this will help, I think I heard that the person everyone in Izumo expects to be the shaman king is the mysterious Prince Hao Asakura."
"Hao Asakura?" she echoed, a flicker of interest in her eyes.
"Not a lot of people know the Prince intimately. In fact, very few people have actually seen the face of His Highness. He does not go out in public, just like his father, but those who have spoken to him behind thick velvet curtains say that he was wise and authoritative, and that he was worthy to be the shaman king if ever the time comes for the Great Spirit to choose one."
Anna nodded. "I see. So where do we find that Hao Asakura?"
He blinked. "Y-You don't mean to say that you're going to hunt him down! They don't let just any people come near him!"
She smirked. "But I'm not just any people. I am Anna Kyouyama, and I intend to be the wife of the shaman king."
Ren shut his eyes tight when he heard his stomach grumble.
I don't feel anything. I am not hungry. I am full. Full. Full, he repeated to himself. However, after only a minute, he ended up muttering, fool. Fool. Fool.
He stood up. "That's it! Man cannot live by trainings alone. I need a job! I need money!" His stomach grumbled again. He groaned. "I need food," he finished lamely. It had been two days since his last meal. Water wouldn't be enough for him, especially when he was training himself so hard!
If I was back home, I can just holler a random maid's name and in a minute, I'll be ready to eat a feast.
But he wasn't back home. He was out in a dirt road, wandering aimlessly and hungrily, as the rain pounded him mercilessly.
Bason suddenly appeared beside him. "Master, you can always go home-"
"Forget it!" he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not coming home until I know I'm ready to wipe the floor clean with my father's face!"
"But look at you, Master!" protested his power spirit.
"That's right," he agreed. "Look at me. Having eaten nothing for a couple of days, I can still walk and talk. And I can continue this for as long as I want to. Because I am Ren Tao."
"Master…" Bason paused, then stiffened. "Master, straight ahead! I smell food!"
"Where?" asked Ren immediately.
Bason grinned. "Joke, joke, joke! I told you, Master. You are hungry."
Ren clenched his fists. "Ba-son…."
The spirit looked nervous. "Can't you take a joke, Master? Laughter can take your mind off food."
"If you were only edible, I could have long eaten you!"
"Master!" Bason stiffened again. "I smell food!"
"Don't pull the same trick on me twice, dammit!" snapped Ren.
"No, I'm not kidding this time!" He pointed to the towering mansion surrounded by coltsfoot. "Over there, Master!"
Ren nodded. "Let's go." He decided to let go of this pride only this once. After he has eaten, he would take his pride back again.
Tamao glanced at Pirika, who was sitting by the counter, sighing sadly. Horo Horo had just left hours ago. She left her porridge in the stove for awhile and pulled a seat next to her. "Don't be depressed, Pirika," she said, smiling. "He won't be gone for long."
"My brother is so stubborn," she mumbled, shaking a tear away her face. "What are the chances of him seeing that guy again anyway?"
"Fate is something that cannot be measured by probability," said Tamao. "If he and that boy connected instantly as he said awhile ago, then fate must have something in store for the two. They will surely meet again."
"But still…" she sighed. "I miss him already."
She smiled. "Why don't you eat first this porridge I made for you?"
The girl nodded. "I'll take my bath first."
After Pirika left, Tamao went back to the kitchen. Just then, she heard the door kicked open. Her heart started to beat nervously. "W-Who's there?" she asked, trying to sound normal, although deep inside, she was afraid that the people out in the living room were Hao's soldiers looking for her, or were bandits who discovered that this was where the winner of the jamboree's super ultra mega jumbo lottery lives.
To her shock, a menacing boy with pointed hair entered the kitchen, a spear pointed to her threateningly. "If you love your life, don't fight back and just give me what I want."
She freaked out. "W-What do you want? The house? The money?" She hugged herself tight. "Me and my body?" she squeaked.
He rolled his eyes. "Just hand over the porridge."
Tamao blinked. She did as told.
"Spoon too, and a glass of cold water." Ren sat down the dining table and started to eat the porridge hungrily as Tamao could only watch in amazement.
"Tamao, the shampoo-" Pirika froze when she saw the boy eating on the table. "You again?!"
Ren nearly spat out his food. "And you too?! That absent-minded idiot who blamed on me your croissant misfortune?"
She placed her hands on her hips, then looked at the porridge. "Hmm…"
"What?" he snapped.
She smiled in self-satisfaction. "So now you know what it feels to be really hungry, eh?" She strode towards him purposefully.
He eyed her alertly.
To his shock, she took the bowl of porridge and dumped its contents all over him. "This is for that wonderful croissant." She took the glass of water and dumped it on his face. "And this is for calling me an absent-minded idiot." She smiled sarcastically. "Have a nice day!" She turned to Tamao. "Don't cook him another batch of porridge…just so he would feel what I felt back when I lost my food in the jamboree." She sat down on the chair across the fuming boy.
"But Pirika…"
Ren got up furiously. "How dare you, woman!"
Pirika's eyes widened when the next thing she knew, he stopped in front of her, cupped her face roughly, and kissed her punishingly.
Horo Horo was enjoying his walk in the rain when several motorcycles passed his way, one of them splashing water on him. He instantly turned to the riders, waving his fist furiously. "Hey, who do you think you are, owning a national road?!! I'm paying taxes for this too, you overbearing road pigs! Come back here!!!"
He gulped when the motorcycles did a U-turn, apparently overhearing him. He shooed them away desperately. "Don't come back! Don't come back! I was just kidding!" He turned to his power spirit, Kororo. "If things come to worse, I can count on you, right, Kororo?"
The spirit did a thumbs-up.
The motorcycles stopped in front of him, and a fat man looked at him testily. "He doesn't look worthy enough to be robbed. He looks like a penniless wanderer."
His brow rose. "What?!!!! You mean, you don't know me?"
"It's not like we asked for your birth certificate or something," muttered a lean guy on the right.
"Like, duh, we've just met," added another.
The man with a bonnet turned to the only one who didn't go off his motorcycle. "Boss Ryu, what will we do with this punk?"
"Punk?!" Horo's patience snapped. "Excuuuuuse me, for your information. I am Horo Horo, from the proud Ainu tribe. I am neither a penniless wanderer nor a punk. I just won the jamboree's super ultra mega jumbo lottery, you know!" he said smugly.
It took him a full minute to digest what he just did – the greedy twinkle in the eyes of the men before him confirmed his suspicion.
"Lucky us," laughed the men, rubbing their hands together.
Horo sweatdropped. "J-Joke?"
"No take-backs!" The fat man grabbed his collar. "Give us your money NOW!!!"
"Kororo, oversoul!" he yelled, taking his snowboard out. He grinned. "Now, let's rumble!"
He didn't notice the Boss stand up, or come near him. He was too busy taunting the men who obviously weren't shamans.
He only noticed that when he felt something hit him behind his head. He slammed down the ground as a towering figure looked at him piercingly.
"Your money," said the Boss.
"No, you can't have it!" said Horo, wincing. "This is for the headphones boy."
"Huh?" The Boss' eyes widened. "D-Did you just say headphones?"
"That's what I said!" yelled Horo.
"Duh…Boss…he did say that," mumbled one of the gangsters.
"We know!" The boss, Horo, and everyone else yelled.
"Hmmm…so he helped you buy a lottery ticket that helped you to become an instant millionaire," said the Boss who introduced himself as Ryu. They were riding away already on a motorcycle.
Horo smirked. "Correction. It's multi-millionaire."
Behind them, the gangsters rolled their eyes collectively.
"So you will go find him now." Ryu smiled kindly at him. "OK then, we'll help you."
Horo eyes him distrustingly.
The Wooden Sword man smirked back. "Only weaklings will steal money from people who needs it badly. Besides, the boy you told me awhile ago…he reminds me of someone."
He tilted his head on one side, then shrugged. "Oh, alright." He grinned at him, and the man grinned back.
The rain had ceased. As Yoh, Anna, and Amidamaru prepared to leave, the boy noticed how the girl kept looking at the elegant marble reception desk of the inn.
"You want to take a look inside?" he offered.
She blinked, then shook her head.
"Have you been to a hot spring hotel already?" he asked.
"I saw pictures of them," she said truthfully. She found some on flyers handed out in the jamboree last night, and she had to admit, she had fallen in love with the place. She suddenly wanted to own an inn like that.
"Maybe one of these days, we'll go visit one," grinned Yoh.
She nodded, then turned to the road. "Let's go."
Yoh suddenly looked reluctant. "Anna, are you sure you really want to go to the Asakura empire? I-It's…foolish suicide."
"Are you coming or not?" she asked mockingly.
He looked at the tusk band around his neck, then sighed. "Aye."
Hao was very displeased. Until now, the Prophetess was nowhere to be found.
"Nothing but a bunch of useless weaklings," muttered the young lord. Beside him, Zinc rose. "Lord Hao, we found the last pages of the predictions of the prophetess."
Hao stirred. "Hand them over to me." He inspected the writings. "A woman will cause the twin stars of the thousand year-old night sky to break apart, and the wind will defeat the fire."
Zinc commented nothing, but he watched the lord carefully.
"The woman her predictions say…it couldn't be the iron maiden. She was already predicted by the Prophetess as the Seraph who would be consumed by the fire. Then who could this woman be?" Hao's bored eyes flickered with peculiar interest. "And the wind that can defeat the fire…I wonder…Yohmei and Kino are hiding something from me."
Tsuzuku
::: Hi! I am plugging a fanfiction… a very good Hao/Anna writing. I'm not sure when it will come out in FF.net, but I did a beta-read on it, and I didn't have to correct anything! ^^ In fact, if you liked my NEVER AND BEYOND, it won't be hard to fall in love with this piece of work too. Entitled "Reflections", this is one heck of a writing with realistic and vivid description that can make you go 'Wow' at lot of times. Please watch out for that fic by one of my tomodachi-tachi, enishi_girl. :::