[Next chappie was started before author-dearest could get any reviews so forgive her if she cannot meet the others' demands if there are some.]

Oh, crap, has the narrator gone lose again??? And now you've come to ruin my life?! Can't you be contented by creating commotion in my friends' lives?!?!?!

Leave me with my craziness…. –_–;;

I hoped you guys likes my first chap and I hope you'll like this one too but I can't guarantee that this'll be as long as the former one. Anyway, I'll try my best.

I wanna leave you guys hanging, okay? You have been warned.

[ Here, Naisho-san presents the second chapter entitled - ]

Shut up! Leave me alooooonnneeeee!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Not creative today…I'll put a poetical disclaimer in the next chap…I promise…. So, for the meantime, stick with this one: Shaman King is something I cannot take money from no matter what I do (unless I become the owner of the publishing house ^_^)

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CHAPTER TWO

            Meetings

"Tell me again…why are we walking?" Horo horo asked for the twentieth time.

Ren's eyes flashed. "WOULD YOU STOP ASKING THAT?!?!?!?!?!" he screamed even though the Ainu wasn't even facing anyone in particular.

"Anna said it'll be good training for the Shaman Fight." Yoh breathed.

It was already noon and they had been walking for five straight hours now. Anna and everyone else who wasn't part of the Shaman Fight took a vehicle to Patch Village but the itako ordered Yoh and the others to walk towards the village for her so-called 'shaman training', which Horo horo refers to as 'shaman torturing'. They were just a thousand kilometers away from Patch Village and, if everything goes right, they would arrive there in about two weeks and will still have time to rest for a week or so. And in that pace, they're not even hurrying.

"But its sooooo damn hot!!!!" Ryu complained, crouching down and sweating like hell.

The sun was high up and every one of them was crouching low – except Yoh who was still walking properly with the same happy smile. He had taken the lead with the harusame leaning on his shoulder.

"It's so hot; I can't even think of a good joke right now." Said Chocolove, fanning himself with his hand.

"None of your jokes are good." The Ainu spat back, glancing at the dark-skinned jester.

Yoh laughed.

"What the heck is your problem, Yoh? Can't you feel the heat?" Horo horo mumbled; irritated by the fact that Yoh wasn't suffering like the rest of them were. Kororo was floating around him, blowing a soft cold breeze to make her master feel more comfortable but it was doing nothing at all.

The dark-haired shaman shook his head and turned at them. "Why are you guys acting like that? It's not even that hot!" he rubbed his head, looking clueless at the sweating shamans. "In fact, it's very cool here." He explained as a slight breeze made his bangs fly.

The shamans looked at each other and stared at Yoh.

"AAAAHHH!!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!" the ice shaman started stomping his feet on the hard ground, starting a childish tantrum. "WHY THE HECK IS IT SOOOO HOOOOOOOTTTT?!?!?!?!?!" he screamed. Then Kororo blew hard, making a small snowstorm pass the Ainu. Horo horo paused, eyes wide-open. Half his body has now been frozen.

A few dust particles flew past them.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! Come one and all! Try our new delight! The Frozen Ainu!!!!" Chocolove started shouting out in the open but nobody except the group of shamans were there to hear him. They were walking across a barren land, almost like a desert because of its solidarity.

The Ainu shook off the ice that covered him and snatched Kororo. He pointed the kurropokuru at the jester and the next thing they knew, Chocolove was more frozen than Horo horo.

"Let's go. We don't want to waste our time here." Ren ordered, now taking the lead. It seemed that they had all recovered from the heat.

Everyone agreed and followed Ren, leaving the dark-skinned shaman to melt from the sun.

"Hey! Don't leave me here! Guys!" Chocolove shouted, his head wet with the melted ice.

"Finally! A town!" Ryu and Horo horo exclaimed, taking a deep breath. "I think I smell something nice!" Horo horo smiled then turned to his companions, "Let's go eat!" he raised a fist. Everyone agreed, raising their knuckle just the same except Ren.

"We should find a place to sleep first then we could go eat." The Chinese shaman muttered, his arms crossed but nobody was there to listen to him.

"Don't worry about it, Ren. Everything will be fine." Yoh tapped the back of the younger shaman, smiling as always, then dragged him towards the rest of the group who had just found some place to eat.

Horo sneered, resting his head on his arms behind his head. "Yeah, Ren Tao carabao is such a worry wart! It's not as though we won't get any rooms!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but our last and biggest room has been taken already." The lady at the counter bowed. "All our rooms are booked already and the others are under construction so we have nothing to offer you."

Ren glared at the rest of the group. "I-"

"Aren't there any hotels here in this town?" Yoh asked, leaning on the counter but the lady just shook her head and apologized once more.

Horo horo loosened his collar and looked at the Chinese shaman, sweat dropped. "Uh…well…look at the coincidence…. Hehehehe…." He backed away, trying hard not to meet the angry yellow eyes of his companion; Ren just approached him slowly, eyes glaring.

"Well, that room was taken only by one person so if you could ask him, then maybe he could let you share his room. The young man is right over there." Said the girl, sweat dropped because of the scene the Ainu and the Chinese were showing. She pointed to a young man with green hair.

Bright smiles entered their faces. "LYSERG!!!!"

Lyserg Diethyl smiled and waved at the group. "Yoh! Minna!" he greeted, "What made you come here?" but he was never answered. Horo horo quickly put a friendly arm on him and everyone looked at him with expectant eyes.

"You are a good friend, aren't you?"

The English shaman nodded, blinking. He just didn't understand what that question was for. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Arigatou, Lyserg." Yoh said for the third time in the row. He was sitting on a rocking chair and was resting his head with Amidamaru floating beside him.

Lyserg nodded and opened the window, letting in a cool breeze. "It's nothing. This room is too big for me in the first place. It's just that it was the only one left." He explained, looking back at Yoh and the others. "It'll be like last time. We'll be traveling together." He smiled.

"Lyserg!!!! I'm so happy to finally see you!!!! I've missed you!!!!" Umemiya Ryunosuke jumped towards him for a hug but the younger shaman dodged him.

"So, Lyserg, why are you still going to the Shaman Fight?" Horo horo asked, leaning forward. "Don't tell me the Iron Maiden and Marco are going to the fight too?" everyone looked at Lyserg expectantly. They hadn't thought about that or – if they did – they never thought about bringing it up.

The green-haired shaman smiled softly then nodded. He gazed at the floor, "Jeanne-sama asked me to come. She said she wants me to help her gain the Seirei no Ou with Marco." He looked up, "Marco said Jeanne-sama gained a new spirit. It was the closest they could get to Shamash." He laughed, forcefully and shrugged his shoulders.

The others looked at each other suspiciously.

Yoh stretched his arms and leaned on the backrest, making the chair sway a bit. "Well, then, it'll be nice to see Mistress Jeanne again, right?" he grinned, "The more the merrier!"

Horo horo and Chocolove agreed, nodding and passing on the subject. Ren snickered and crossed his arms, leaning on the wall behind him.

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Yoh took a deep breath and exhaled. He turned back to his companions and smiled. "Let's go!" he said. Ren and Horo horo took the lead, bickering at each other. They were reminding him of old times, times when they were all just traveling to Patch Village even though the trip wasn't as pleasant as this because of Hao. His smile faded. He didn't know why but the every time Hao's name came into his mind, he felt something squeezing his chest. He could feel his breathing hasten and his fingers dug deep into the flesh of his palm.

"Yoh-dono?" Amidamaru shook him back to reality.

The dark-haired shaman shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, looking up at the sky, pale from the first rays of the sun. I shouldn't be worrying about these things. Hao is dead and he's not coming back to life anymore.

"Yoh-dono?" his spirit repeated, now with a more worrying and alerting voice.

The shaman turned to the samurai and grinned. "Don't worry, Amidamaru. Everything will be fine." He said his trademark words. He swung harusame onto his shoulder and put his remaining hand in his pocket.

"Yoh! Hurry up or we're gonna leave you!" The Ainu called, waving at him.

"Can you ever be slower?!" Ren spat, his temper building up at such an early hour in the morning.

"Yoh-danna!" "Yoh-kun!" each called the young shaman.

"Hai!" he shouted back, smiling and approaching them. Instantly, they were back in their own thing; Ren and Horo horo fighting over something silly; Chocolove creating useless yet endless jokes about the Chinese and the Ainu's argument; Ryu sticking to Lyserg, who was trying hard to ignore the whims of his friend; Faust holding Eliza tightly in his arms. Yes, that issue isn't important at all. This is what's  important.

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"How far is the next town?" Yoh asked, looking at Ren and Lyserg.

"About two kilometers ahead." Lyserg pointed to the distant cluster of uneven mountains that were faded in blue because of the sky. Morphine sat on his shoulder gazing at the same direction her master was. Her wings suddenly stiffened and flinched. She floated up then turned to her right.

The green-haired English shaman turned at the same direction his power spirit was looking. "Why? Morphine? What is it?" he asked as his power spirit flew away from him. He followed diligently, trusting the pixie's instincts.

The whole group of shamans followed their friend and his fairy. Soon, they heard different feline voices that all seemed pretty familiar. They looked at each other and peeked at the shallow ravine. There, on the bunch of smooth boulders, was an upturned red truck and beside that truck were five girls, two of which were busily arguing at each other.

"But I'm hungry!!!!" said the small one with a pink dress and matching headband. She stomped her feet and glared at the taller girl with ochre hair.

"Well, you can't do anything about it! It's your fault why we ended up here!" spat back the other, crouching down with her hands on her waist, "If only you weren't whining about your hunger then we wouldn't be stranded here!" she glared and gritted her teeth as sparks flew between the gazes of the two.

Yoh looked at his companions then turned back to the girls. "Milly! Ally!" he called the attention of the two. He crouched down and gave them a slight wave. "Yo."

Milly's eyes grew wide as she spotted a particular green-haired shaman. A bright and big smile entered her small face. "LYSERG-SAMA!!!!!!" she approached the ledge where Lyserg and the others were standing. The said shaman smiled back and gave her a wave, which made her forget all of their worries.

"Do you need some help there?" Yoh asked Sarona.

The blonde quickly turned to the brains of their team, Lily. "What do you think? Should we let them help us?"

The green-haired girl pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "They are part of the Shaman Fight but I don't think they'll be the ones cheating on us. This could be a good chance to make a trap." She whispered to their leader but, Sarona, being the *eherm* not-fully-gifted-by-such-intellectuality-by-God person (Naisho: *sweat dropped*), she thought it too obvious to accept the help as easily as that.

Sarona took a deep breath then faced the dark-haired shaman with her fakest and most ridiculous smile. "Gomen, Yoh-kun, but we can manage this." She said, resulting to reverse psychology instead.

The dark-haired shaman stood up and lightly clapped his palms at his pants to get rid of dust, "Okay then. Good luck." . He turned around and one after the other, they faced their backs at Ly-ly five.

"Bye! We'll see each other in Patch Village!" Horo horo called with a smirk on his face.

The blonde's jaw dropped but no words came out of her hanging mouth. Only Milly was the one brave enough to protest. The little girl kicked her legs, stomped her feet and waved her hands in the air as a tantrum started.

"NOOOOO!!!!" she shouted, which instantly caught the attention of the leaving shamans. "I WANNA LEAVE NOW!!!!!!" Milly screamed facing their oldest member. "It's your fault why we can't have Lyserg-sama with us!!!!!"

"I think you should thank Milly for not letting them go." Said Lily as Sarona drove their vehicle down the road. She turned her head at the back window. Milly was there, enjoying herself with Lyserg's arm, while Ryu was looking at the two, face vaulted.

Sarona nodded then looked at the reflection in the rear view mirror. She smiled then looked back at the road.

"LET GO OF LYSERG!!!!!" Ryu yelled but he didn't even try to pull Milly away from the young boy. He just stood there and gaped at them with anger and envy.

The little whiny girl stuck out her tongue and pulled the arm closer to her, which just made the tall shaman angrier than he was then. Lyserg just sat there looking at Milly and Ryu sweat dropped. He maybe a powerful shaman but he was helpless when it comes to situations like these.

The argument lasted for minutes and the Chinese shaman's hair grew longer and sharper at every passing minute.

"SHUT THE HELL UP BOTH OF YOU!!!! CAN'T YOU BE MORE QUIET?!?!?!?!" he screamed, waving his spear threateningly. For a moment, silence reigned the vehicle but it didn't last that long.

The Ainu smirked. "You're just jealous because you're not the one they're fighting over." He snickered as he watched veins pop out of his friend's head. He surely knows how to irritate Ren Tao and it seems like he had developed a habit out of it.

"NANDA' TO?!?!?!?!?!" The yellow-eyed Chinese hollered, turning to face the northern shaman. He sent the weapon he was holding down the place where the Ainu was but Horo horo had already jumped out of the way. Anger built up inside of him. He threw his glaive aside and face the ice shaman.

"Yup! That's what I said! You're just jealous!" he grinned as he noticed the spear lay forgotten on the floor of the car. The other shaman's eyebrows narrowed more as he let out his anger in a scream fest.

Milly and Ryu quickly forgot the threat the Chinese shaman had given them and continued their bickering with Lyserg covering his ears between them both.

Faust and Eliza lay beside each other; cuddling, hugging, and giving each other pecks on the cheek; their fingers were laced into each other's palms, each looking at the other with loving eyes.

Yoh slumped back on the car, watching Chocolove make useless jokes that just led to him being hit hard on the head by the Chinese and Ainu. He laughed along as he observed the everyday situation he knew would last.

In the car, the remaining member of the Ly-ly five were holding on tightly to their seat as their ride grew bumpy and jumpy because of the fights occurring on the back. Ally had hit his head on the top for twenty times already; Lily had her seatbelt tight around her and she was holding the chair stiffly; Sally, on the other hand, had her head, which was now a nasty shade of green, out of the window; Sarona was crouching down, her face close to the steering wheel and her hair ruffled. "We can survive this." She muttered, driving zigzag-ly.

"LET LYSERG GO!!!!"

"DIE, YOU ACCURSED AINU!!!!"

"CRY, YOU ABSURD SHAMPOO!!!!"

"CHOCOLOVE~!!! STOP MAKING USELESS JOKES!!!!!"

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Ally and Milly crouched behind a boulder then peeked back at the Funbari Onsen Team and Lyserg who were playing in the hot springs. Both were blushing madly but, they weren't here to watch them. They were here to carry out the plan Lily had created for them but…they just couldn't bear to do it.

"I don't wanna hurt Lyserg-sama." Milly whined, teary-eyed. She had been chewing the hem of her skirt ever since they arrived there.

Ally looked at her sweat dropped. She hated to admit it but she also didn't want to do anything to harm their new found friends. She peeked back at the relaxing shamans then at her little sister. "Uh…Yoh and the others are very kind to us, right?" she asked with worried eyes.

The little girl stopped sobbing and let her hem go. "NEE-CHAN!!!!" she jumped and hugged Ally. "Of course they are! That's why we shouldn't be doing this!!!!" she rubbed her cheek to her sister's. "Milly! Keep it down! They might hear us!" said the older one between chuckles.

"Oh? Ally? Milly? What are you doing here?" Yoh asked, taking a look at them with a yukata covering his semi-dry body. Faust, Ryu and Lyserg were looking at the two behind the Izumo shaman, all with confused looks on their faces.

The two members of Ly-ly five blinked with humongous eyes of shock. They crawled away from them, still clinging onto each other's arms. Then, before they could be reached, they sped away into the forest with bright red faces.

Yoh turned back to his companions and shrugged his shoulders.

Ally and Milly fell on their knees, panting hard and wiping their faces off sweat. Ally was rubbing her cheeks vigorously to get rid of the blush but it only made her cheeks redder. Milly was shaking her head vigorously as though an insect was sticking to her hair.

Sarona blinked. "What happened? Did the plan go successful?" she asked.

The two stopped glanced at each other then smiled. They both stood up and took a deep breath. "We don't want to hurt them anymore!!!" they exclaimed. "Yoh had always been kind to us! Remember! He tried to save us even though we weren't listening to him anymore! If it weren't for him, then we wouldn't be alive!" Ally pointed out with Milly nodding her head behind as support.

Their leader grew sweat dropped. A rustling of leaves signaled the arrival of the remaining members of Ly-ly five. Both Sally and Lily were looking at the ground solemnly but Sarona failed to notice that.

"At last! Lily! Sally!" she breathed, "Would you believe what these two said?! They don't want to trap Yoh and the others anymore!" she exclaimed with a pinch of irritation in her voice.

Lily nodded while Sally turned her head away, trying to avoid eye contact with their head. "Yes, we heard them and…" the green-haired girl turned to the redhead, "We agree with them! We don't want to hurt Yoh and the others anymore! They've always been kind to us so why can't we be to them?" she exclaimed. Sally nodded along.

Being outnumbered, Sarona finally got the point of their protest. She smiled then sighed. "Okay…so Yoh had been kind to us…." She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Ally and Milly who were looking at her with expectant eyes. "We won't trap them anymore."

"YIPPPEEEE!!!!" Milly and Ally jumped. Then the two of them started dancing around in circles.

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"Are you sure its okay if we travel with you guys?" Yoh asked uncertainly. Anna had strictly told him to walk to Patch village and he didn't think that Ly-ly five giving them a ride would be an exception. He just hates it when his fiancée is mad at him; he suffers too much.

Horo horo pounded his back and jumped in the car. "Of course it is! Why are you so hesitant anyway? Don't tell me you don't want to travel with the Ly-ly five?" he asked suspiciously.

The dark-haired shaman shook his head, a worried look across his face. "No…it's not just…. Well, it's Anna…. She…" Yoh looked at the seemingly endless road in front of him. "I think I'll just walk." He turned to leave but Ren grabbed his collar and pulled him into the car.

"Can you be whinier?!" The Chinese shaman held his weapon near him.

"But in truth, you're just worried about Yoh-sama traveling alone!" said Bason, appearing here and there around his master.

The rest of the group laughed. And, in no time at all, the warrior spirit was cut in half. "AAAAHHHHH~!!!!! I'm broken!!!!" Bason screamed,

"Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru floated beside his master with a troubled look on his face. He obviously knows what Yoh was worrying about.

"Don't worry, Amidamaru. Everything will turn out fine."

"…I think." Yoh flinched as he saw the fuming look on his fiancée's face. It just so happens, that Anna was there when the Funbari Onsen team, the Ren team and Lyserg were dropped off by the Ly-ly five. And boy, how bad his stay here in Patch village will be.

His feet involuntarily took a step backwards. "Uh…hi, Anna. Nice day we're having today, right?" he said, trying to change the subject quickly.

Anna raised one eyebrow and stared. "Didn't I tell you to walk to Patch village?" she stated, arms crossed, with her cold spine-chilling voice.

The shaman felt his collar tightening on his neck. He swallowed hard and let out a tiny, high-pitched nervous, "Yes."

"A hundred laps around the whole Patch village." She ordered but Yoh stood there not moving a muscle with a flabbergasted face. Irritated, the itako glared and said, "Three hundred laps." She added.

"Anna~!!!" Yoh whined.

"Five hundred."

The shaman sighed and turned around, facing the blank faces of his friends. He gave out a long sigh and set out for his punishment.

Everyone looked at him until he was out of sight and turned back to Anna.

"What are you looking at?" she spat, her hands tightening the grip on her elbows, "Do you want to follow Yoh?"

Nobody said anything.

The itako closed her eyes then faced her back at them. "Ryu! Go get me something to eat! I'm hungry!" she sent out a command to the tallest shaman in the group. She went inside the building they were staying in.

Ryu quickly disappeared into Patch village.

Lyserg looked at the remaining shamans. "Is it always like this?" he asked.

The Ainu grinned then nodded at him. "Good thing Pirika hasn't found me yet."

"ONII-CHAN!!!!" called the blue-haired sister of the said ice shaman. She jumps up to her brother and envelopes him in a hug. "Anna-san said you didn't receive enough training! So we'll have to make up for it now!" she said in a worried and urgent tone. The Ainu could only nod his head as he was pulled away from his freedom. "Darn you, Anna…." He hissed

"REN-KUN!!!" Jun Tao, the older sister of Ren, appeared with her kiyonshi, Lee Pai Long running just beside her. She gave her little brother a hug and crouched down to his level. "Could you please buy some of these for me? I've run out of stock." She smiled brightly.

The Chinese's jaw dropped. He looked at his aneko and was about to refuse but that smile of his sister's face was too much to refuse.

"Please?"

"Fine." He snatched the paper and made his way to a few of the shops in Patch, grumbling angrily on the way.

The English shaman turned to Chocolove and Faust, which were the two he didn't know that much. He glanced at Morphine then sighed. I guess I better get used to this.

"Lyserg!" The jester put his hand on the other's shoulder, smiling brightly.

"Eliza, do you want to go and eat? It's nearly lunch." Faust offered his wife and power spirit. The two were soon in a restaurant in Patch. The ten guardians must be so happy now that they received a few customers.

The pixie watched her master laugh a little at the useless jokes of the dark-skinned shaman. She smiled softly and laughed along.

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Added notes: Seirei no Ou = Great Spirits; Umemiya Ryunosuke = Bokuto no Ryu's full name

I was finally able to plan ahead and this story will reach 11 chapters alone (not unless something happens to alter this). I looooooveeeee my ending!!!! And I tell you, it won't be something like "and they lived happily ever after". I can't wait to finish this!!!!

Anyways, what do you think of this chapter? Am I going too slow? Isn't everyone SOOOO OOC????? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Flame me!!!!!

Lyserg is the most gender-ly confusing character I've ever known! My fingers kept typing 'her' instead of 'him'!!!! Sheesh, I'm gonna die here….

Hey, what is Opacho's gender BTW? And what does Bason call Yoh anyway (I'm not sure about 'Yoh-sama)? And what does Jun call Ren???? And is the spelling of kiyonshi correct???? Forgive the ignorant please…T_T

But really, please complain if you have problem. I can't guarantee, though, that I'll be doing something about it. I just wanna know how much of a suck-y crappy author I am because I already know that I am one T_T. Nonetheless, you're the ones to decide.

Reviews, please!!!!

Next chapter title: "Mirror, Mirror". Now, its your turn to guess what the content will be *wiggles eyebrows*.

Let me just remind you; I am a Hao fan. Yes, HAO-CHAN RULZZZZ!!!!!!!!