Okie, here it is, a Yoh-centered fic (this'll come out the other way around in the previous chap ^_^ figure out what that means or, on the easier side, just read the crappy fic). Hope you like and tell me how it is in the review (if you plan to review)

Oh, and before everything, I do not make shounen-ai or yaoi or june or whatever.


Ano…Kaori-san…I don't think it's that…well…you know…^_^;; *chuckles uneasily to herself then scoots off to nowhere*


Disclaimer: Shaman King is created by Hiroyuki Takei.



Part Two: Yoh


I could vaguely hear the birds chirping outside as I sat up and felt around for that noisy alarm clock. Argh…why did I have to wake up this early…? Wait…is that clock really fixed? It's nearly noon!!!! Ack-!!! I hope Anna won't kill me for sleeping in this late. But then, if she did have a problem with it…she should've woken me up a while ago…with an angry scream that is….

I shook my head to shrug away those thoughts as I fixed the futon into a neat pile in one corner. Anna would make me fix that anyway if she sees how messy my room was. Besides, it's Christmas day and I don't want Anna to be in a bad temper right now.

I let out a contented sigh as I looked at my room, which was now…uh…what was it they say? Ah, spick and span! Whatever that means….

Anyway, no time to think about such matters. It's Christmas and it's time to have some fun!

I hurriedly opened the door, causing a loud bang. I think everyone's awake now since it is almost noon so I don't think I'll disturb anybody. Besides, if I was disturbing somebody, they would be shouting at me right now and the whole place is quiet.

Yeah…quiet….

I jumped down the last few steps of the stairs and, by instinct, I gritted my teeth and sucked in as much air as I could. This weird chill I was feeling seemed…very familiar…but I haven't felt it for so many years and whatever it was, I don't want to feel it again…never….

I took a slow tour around the house, carefully looking in every room for Anna and the others. They should be here. I mean, they were here last night. Anna actually agreed for a sleepover – even with Hao, would you believe? – and now…

I stopped at the hallway. I can feel the silence making my ears deaf…and I didn't like it, but I couldn't stop it.

I instantly jerked my head up and made a quick dash to the dining room hoping with all my might that they'd be there, just waiting for me and saying it was all a joke.

But that room was still as desolate as the others.

"Calm down, Yoh. This must be a joke Chocolove came up with. You know he was never that funny. And this isn't funny now." I shook my head furiously as I left for the next room…the last room.

"Tamao!" I shouted, expecting her to be there in the kitchen, cooking the food as she usually does.

But there was still nobody there.

I can feel my throat being squeezed as I felt something uneasy creep up to my chest. My smile faded into a complete frown, my eyebrows furrowed…and I had always prevented myself from feeling sad…especially since it's Christmas. But I just can't hold it back anymore….

I let out a sigh, finally noticing how cold it was. My head dropped down as I stared at the cold floor…for what? A couple of minutes? Maybe even hours, I don't know, I'm not sure. I was just there…staring…letting time pass by…letting this illusion disappear….

My hand flinched. I resisted the urge to cover my ears from the overly deafening stillness that had become clearer and sharper by the second.

Without wasting anymore time, I turned my back at the kitchen and dashed out of the house. I ignored the fact that I was bare-footed and treaded through the snow. I finally fell on my back, feeling the cold snow covering the ground in the backyard.

I took deep short breaths to overcome my heartbeat's sudden increase. If Anna could see me this tired after a few meter's walk, she'd force me to undergo a far worse training than what I was following now.

Yeah…if only Anna was here...*sigh*

I force myself to sat up and look at the scenery before me…, which is literally just the onsen coz most of the trees surrounding the house were behind me. I never noticed how dark the onsen was before…almost creepy if you look at it…as though ghosts inhabit it….

Ah!!!!! Ghosts!!! How could I have been so stupid???? Amidamaru should be here!!!! Why didn't I think of it before???? No wonder Anna calls me baka all the time!!!

With newfound hope, I stood up and tried all my best to summon Amidamaru in front of me.

"Com'n, com'n, Amidamaru, show yourself…."

My jaw dropped and the previous sadness came back. After a dozen times of trying, I failed to call him here. He can't just vanish! It's just not possible for everyone to just disappear overnight…. It's not possible…and I don't want it to be possible…. It just can't be….

But it's right here. I can't deny that.

I fell back on the ground, shocked, and let out a sad sigh. I closed my eyes tightly.

And then it came back again – my eyes now wide-open – that feeling, that cold and empty feeling…. It has been a long time since I felt like this and I was happy about that. From what I heard from everyone in Izumo, they call this thing 'loneliness'.

I can remember my childhood very clearly each time I feel this. It's not a childhood I can be proud of nor any memory I want to remember. Everything just hurt and no matter how much I try, I couldn't bring myself to hate them. Maybe…it was because of my family…or…just because…I wanted to fit in…to be accepted…to be understood….

With one sigh – hopefully the last – I flopped back on my back and stared at the dull skies and the slow-moving gray clouds. Then…I smiled, softly at the heavens. I have always done that. When I feel so miserable, I just…smile. And then I feel better…much better…but still, somewhere in my head, I know the truth is still there and it's screaming so loud – and I ignore it. After some practice, you'll get used to it. Besides, it's nicer to see yourself in a mirror with a bright smile; you can convince yourself you're happy.

Maa…I just wish all this was just a dream and I'd wake up to find myself with everyone once again…. But then…I know you can't always get what you wish for…. Maa….

My head relaxed on the snow-covered ground, my eyes fluttering. I can't feel the cold anymore because…something hurts more inside….

"If you wanted to catch a cold, you should've told me in the first place. I could take you to the North Pole. There you could freeze to death all you want and you could go see your imaginary Santa Claus."

I jolted up, my eyes growing as big as saucers. That voice was very familiar and I know I'm not hallucinating or anything. I turned around and went face-to-face – or eye-to-eye – with…

"Ha-Ha-Ha-Hao-" I gasped for a breath, "Onii-chan!!!!!!" I exclaimed, quickly scrambling up to my feet.

"What the hell are you doing outside?! You know, you're spirit's only human. If you expect to withstand such cold, you should get an elemental spirit like mine. Feel free to ditch that samurai any time." Hao suggested – more like ordered – looking at me with his usual stare.

But I didn't care about any of those at the moment. I was just happy someone was here! "Onii-chan! Why didn't you tell me you were there?!" I raised my voice a bit, not because of being upset but because of joy…and maybe a little whining…hehehe….

Hao sighed but still had a smile on his face, "You seriously need more training. You can't even sense when a shaman is near you without concentration! It should be instinctive." He commented.

I can sense it when a shaman is near me without concentration but…I was just…too distracted to care.

I gave him a chuckle and a grin then approached him slowly, "Well, how long have you been standing there?"

"Hmm…I don't know…maybe a couple of minutes or so…." He said, looking at his fingers in a fake distraction then grinned at me. And I got what he meant.

"You've been there for that long???? Why didn't you say something????" I raised my eyebrows at the place he was standing. He was behind me and the onsen is in front of me and the gate was in front of the onsen. "You didn't use the gate?????"

Onii-chan shrugged his shoulders and grinned more, "Hey, I have my ways. You don't have to be involved with it." He said casually, snapping his fingers and creating a small flame then back again.

I sighed, regaining my slacked posture. I dusted off the snowflakes in my hair, my shoulders and crouched down for my pants. Hmm…I'm so close to the snow on the ground, I could make a snowball and throw it at Hao before he notices.

That might be a nice idea…. And it'd be a nice start for fun. Everybody knows how fun a snowball fight can be.

I scooped up a handful of snow and quickly rolled it into a ball then…

"You should go inside now. Don't tell me you're afraid of -" I got him right on the face! "- ghosts…." Hao's eyes narrowed towards me and then he gritted his teeth hard. I realized, this might not be that good an idea as I thought it would be.

"Ah…onii-chan…?" I forced a smile on my face and turned to run but…SPLAT! Awww!!!!! He got me too.

"If you think that you can hit me like that and just get away with it…" I looked up at him and saw him rolling some snow between his palms.

But I was faster than him at this. I was more used to this than he was.

With a smile across my face, I quickly made a snowball and hit him back. "What if I say yes?"

"You're gonna regret messing with me!!!!!" I can hear him shout as I ran towards the onsen to escape his range. "Come back here!!!!" Hao may be shouting that much but I could feel his smile.

I glanced back at my onii-chan, grinning. I can see him ready to fire a snowball at me but, lucky me, just when he fired, I bumped into somebody and fell down, dodging the snowball at the same time.

Unlucky me, it was Ren.

Lucky me, it was somebody!!!! Somebody's back!!!!

"Who the-"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! That looks sooooooooooo good on you!!!! You should wear it more often!!!!" came another's voice.

And guess who it was? You got it, it was Horo horo.

One by one, the missing people appeared from the onsen like magic, each having their own reason for their sudden disappearance.

Ren said that his nee-chan asked him to go for an errand, which took so long coz I bet he got lost but he just won't admit it. Bason was actually spilling out everything. Horo told me that Pirika dragged him to the department store to get a Christmas card to send to their parents. He said Pirika took forever to choose a card. Manta had to fix some problem with his parents.

And Anna – would you believe? – went with Tamao and Chocolove to buy some food in the grocery – or supervised their grocery shopping. She made Amidamaru come with her because I wasn't awake yet and it was 'my punishment'. Hehehe. I should learn to wake up earlier from now on. Or maybe I should ask for a new alarm clock this Christmas.

Faust was out buying something for Eliza with Ryu but Ryu had broken his motorcycle and they had to push it the whole way back here.

It didn't matter much though. I was just glad they never vanished. And am glad that they're now in one big snowball fight with me.

"You're the one that hit me in the first place!!!! It's not my fault you look like a clown!!!!!"

"NAN DA'TO?!?!?!?! You're the 'ice shaman' here!!! You should be used to getting hit with snowballs so much!!!! So I'm gonna hit you till you're dead!!!!!"

"Onii-chan~!!!! Don't use Kororo like that!!!!!!"

"Anyone who hits me will die. SO STOP PUSHING YOUR LUCK!!!!!"

"Ack-!!! Anna-san!!!! You're gonna mess up my hair!!!!! And I worked so hard for that this morning!!!!"

"Don't you dare hit Eliza!!!!"

"Help me…just because I'm small doesn't mean you can abuse me this like this…. I don't wanna be buried in snow…."

"You look like snowman, Manta! Kawaii!!!"

"Snowkiddo, you mean. Get it? Snowkiddo?"

I chuckled a bit as I got full view at the scene in front of me. To think that I even got Anna to join in, this is a big success. And a very memorable Christmas.

"Onii-chan," I called while scooping up some snow from the ground and smoothing it into a round ball. "Arigatou."

"Hmm? For what?"

"Arigatou gozaimashita, onii-chan, for everything." I repeated, my eyes focused on the on-going fight.

I heard Hao laugh softly, "Any time, Yoh."

I don't know if he really got what I meant - I didn't care - but somehow, I felt that if he hadn't showed up at that time, the others won't come as well and, even if they did, it won't be this fun. And I want to thank him for that. Maybe he planned it, maybe he didn't. All I know is that right now, this is the best Christmas I've ever had in my entire life.



***Can you guess who says which in that all-dialogue part? I tried to be as obvious as I can. If it ain't obvious, please feel free to inform me and I'll put up the sequence in the next chap.


Take note: This is the first time I used Notepad for this so forgive me if I mess up a couple of things. Take it from someone who just found out about html -_-


Now, minna-san, what do you think about that? (It was longer than I expected though) Sucks? OOC? I now it's not likely for Yoh to be this angsty but…let's just say, I wanna touch a few of his not-very-familiar sides ~_^ but sides just as well.

Anyway…any violent reactions? Any flamers ready to flame? I'm not used to a cold Christmas, ya know, since I am SE Asian. Anyway, everything is up to you. Oh, and I was supposed to post this yesterday but my imouto and nee-chan and otouto hogged the PC and caused me to be apart from this fic…*sigh*

Okay, please review! Thankies!!!!

Next is Anna-san!!!!!


And before I leave, something I need to stress out in case people don't see: THESE FICS MAY NOT BE INTERRELATED AND MAY NOT BE IN A CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. Arigatou gozaimashita, minna-san desu *bows*.