Sorry for the long wait, you guys. I'm in a deep writer's block and I can't seem to break it down… *sigh*
Besides, I'm only doing this because Okami-san reviewed and asked me when I'm gonna finish this. Hai, that's how easily I'm persuaded -_-;;
Well, here's the next chap. Thanks to everyone who reviewed (though I usually refrain from doing this but…well…I am grateful): Okami-san, mikaii-san, miyu-san, Joruri-san, Hikaru-san, Kaori-san, Chang Wumei-san, blaze1029-san, rini zoro-san, A.Y.-san. I don't know what happens but some of the reviews (mainly those not signed) don't show up in that review alert thingy so this I only read some of the reviews just now.
Disclaimer: Shaman King will never be mine.
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CHAPTER SIX
Clue
"How's Yoh?" Manta asked as soon as Faust came out of the room.
The blonde shaman sighed and shook his head. "He's still unconscious. I've cleaned up his wound and it stopped bleeding." He kept standing and fixed his gloves in a solemn manner. "Whatever happened is a pure mystery. I'm sure the wound isn't the reason for his loss of consciousness. I can't find any traces or signs of drugs, poison or anything else either." He took a seat near the human and sighed once again. "And the wound on his hand…the weird thing about it was that it looked like it was burned and cut deeply at the same time. But it couldn't have been burned. There was neither a sign of fire in the room nor any smoke at all."
The others sighed.
"What do you think happened last night? I don't think Yoh would be attacked though and if he ever was, there should be some signs or something, right?" the Ainu asked the shaman nearest to him, which was Ren.
Ren remained silent and unmoving. He had his eyes closed; arms and legs crossed, and he was leaning on the wall behind him. He looked like he had no such care about the situation but everyone knew better.
Horo horo sighed and stretched his arms. "All this waiting is making me numb." He mumbled.
"There was nothing in the room last night; nothing that indicates any struggle whatsoever." Ren mumbled, talking for the first time in hours. "The only one
"If I was there with him, then none of this would've happened…." Said the samurai spirit in a completely depressed voice. He sighed then slouched his shoulders inward.
Manta looked at the spirit sympathetically. As far as he knew, none of them could've done anything. "It's okay, Amidamaru." He muttered, forcing a small comforting smile on his face.
A flush of pink flew past them. Everyone turned to the room's door and found Tamao holding a basin of lukewarm water and a towel in her hands. She pushed open the door and squeaked, letting half of the water splash to the floor.
"Uh…Anna-san…I didn't know you were…uh…here…." She pushed the basin towards the itako and bowed low. "I was thinking that maybe Yoh-sama could use this." She said, blushing in deep red.
Anna stared at the basin, "No need for that."
"But-!!! Yoh-sama! He-"
The itako glared at her and raised on of her eyebrows. "I said no need for that. Yoh is not sick." She explained, pushing the door fully open. "He'll resume his training tomorrow." She said, eyes darting to the bed. "You won't escape the training just because you were in bed. In fact, it should be doubled because you were utterly helpless last night – whatever it is that happened."
The dark silhouette slowly cleared into view. He bowed, rubbing the back of his head and forced a laugh. "Hai, hai." Yoh Asakura was finally awake.
Tamao gasped, dropping the basin on the floor with a loud clank. "YOH-SAMA!!!!"
All the waiting shamans stood up, pushing chairs and benches on the way. They all scuttled to the room, cramping inside the room. Anna turned away and left.
"Yoh!!!" Horo horo jumped onto the bedside and embraced the dark-haired shaman in a tight headlock. "How could you make us worry like that????" he beamed, ruffling the shaman's hair.
Ryu nodded, standing beside the Ainu. "Yeah, Yoh-danna!!!! How could you?!?!?!?! We were so worried!!! I couldn't even sleep last night!!!!" he whined.
"Stop the fussy talk and tell us what happened." Ren stared, eyes narrowing at the shaman.
The Ainu released him and stepped away, positioning himself near the Chinese shaman. "Yeah, what happened? Don't tell me you got attacked!" he pointed at the bandaged arm.
Yoh lifted his hand and looked at it, closing and opening his palm repeatedly. An eerie silence overwhelmed them all and to think that this was coming from the usually jovial shaman was hell. He had a thin line on his face, eyes staring seriously at the wound. A moment's silence then…
A snicker…
A chuckle…
A laugh…
Yoh Asakura was laughing out loud and used the wounded hand to scratch the back of his head. He threw back his head and slouched, "I don't know! I don't know what happened!" he stuck out his tongue and shrugged his shoulders.
All fell down, sweat dropped.
"Do any of you know?" he inquired the nearby shamans with innocent eyes. He straightened his back and gazed at the empty space with a clear look. He closed one of his eyes, rested his chin on his palm and sighed, "Really, I don't. Funny, isn't it?" he chuckled, "All I remember was getting back here and Tamao calling me to go to your fight then I saw myself here." He explained.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!" Ren hollered, waving his fist in the air.
"No, I'm not. By the way, how was your match? Did you win?" he asked, purposely changing the subject.
"Don't start changing the-"
Yoh's face dropped, "You lost…?"
"LOST?!?! ME?!?!?! Of course I didn't!!!" Ren shouted, furious at the other shaman's presumption, "It was against Ly-ly five!!!!! What do you expect?!?! Get your brain cells to work for once, Yoh!!!!"
The dark-haired shaman stared at him, looking with serious eyes.
Ren froze. What the - ?! Yoh doesn't look at people like this. , he thought, unaware of the sudden attention he gave to himself.
"What?" his expression was then changed by his usual blank look, blinking stupidly.
The Chinese shaman clenched his fists, scoff marks popping of his head, "AAARGGGGHHHH~!!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!" he lunged for Yoh's neck, who was, at that time, covering his head with his pillows and blanket.
The others quickly went between the two shamans.
"Hey, calm down, Ren!!!"
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"We've got burgers, fries - "
"Cut the crap, we're not here to buy anything."
For the 20th time that day, Silva's efforts to make any of the current participating shamans buy food from his stand was a failure. Nobody seemed to be interested in buying anything. Don't they know we need the money to support this event…?
Sighing, the said guardian leant forward, staring into space with a disappointed and worried look on his face. "I wonder if Yoh-kun is alright now. From what I've heard, he's been in a critical condition. We had to move his fights just because of that. He's lucky to have the Seirei no Ou at his favor."
Then, just at that moment, a blur zoomed past him. "I want two burgers, one large fries and - "
"You don't need to buy any of those. That's just a waste of money."
"But Anna!!!"
Silva stood up straight and blinked a couple of times. "Yoh-kun?" he called, narrowing his eyes at the young boy in front of him, who was whining at his fiancée. "You're healed already!" he exclaimed.
Yoh paused then turned to Silva, "That was three days ago but now Anna's torturing me with endless training!!!" he explained, a smile pasted on his face, "I'm so hungry…. Couldn't you give me free food or something? Anna doesn't want to spend at all." He said, eyeing the guardian with pleading eyes.
The itako's hand reached for the shaman's cheek and stretched it to the peak, "I said, you don't need any of those. Now come here and we'll continue your training." She said sharply, dragging the helpless shaman away.
"Demo-!!!!"
"You got a problem?" she gave him one of her coldest stares.
Yoh grew sweat dropped, "Uh…no…." he said as Anna dragged him under the shade of the umbrella. He gave Silva one look of pleading…asking if he can somehow lessen this torture given to him.
The guardian blinked, getting a bit speechless, "Ano…uh…Anna-san…well…since Yoh-kun's already healed, Funbari Onsen's next battle will be scheduled tomorrow at noon." He informed, watching Anna sit down on the nearest bench, "I do recommend that Yoh-kun should rest - "
"Then, Yoh should get more training!" The itako stood up, "Call Ryu and Faust, all three of you should start training for tomorrow."
"Silva…." Yoh groaned.
"Which unlucky team is Yoh gonna battle?" Anna asked, stopping and turning back at Silva.
Swallowing a big lump in his throat, he croaked, "Hanagumi."
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"So your next battle is against Hanagumi?" Manta asked for confirmation, "Are you sure you'll be fine with this, Yoh-kun? I mean it hasn't even been a week since that accident. You might be lacking strength." The young boy turned to his friend. Despite the fact that he knew what Yoh would say, he couldn't help but worry a bit. That 'accident' did remain a mystery.
"Don't worry about it, Manta. I'll be fine." Yoh assured, taping Manta's back.
"You sure -?"
"You worry too much, Manta! The last time Yoh-danna fought against those pesky girls alone, he won with ease!!!" Ryu exclaimed, now giving him a big slap on the back, which sent Manta falling on his knees.
The Elvis wanna-be started laughing out loud carelessly. Soon, Horo horo and the others followed him.
"That's right! Everything will be fine!"
Yoh nodded. Yeah, I hope so…
They arrived at a barren wasteland, surrounded with towering mountains of rocks, accompanied by a scorching sun hanging right above the participants.
"Why do they have to fight at noon? It's making the heat unbearable!!!" The Ainu complained, fanning himself under the shade of the umbrellas they set up for Anna and Tamao.
"If you have a problem, then just leave." Anna said – no, ordered – hogging up the biggest umbrella to herself. But she had her eyes down at the empty valley, overlooking Yoh and the others.
"Let the match START!!!"
The blue-haired leader of the group crossed her arms, circled Yoh a little then stared, "Even if you defeated Hao-sama, we still won't acknowledge your strength." She stated, getting voices of agreement from her other teammates.
"What the-?!" Ryu started but Yoh raised a hand to stop him.
Yoh shook his head, "It's okay, Ryu. Don't worry about it." He gave a little laugh.
"You killed Hao-sama!!!!" Matilda shouted, stomping her feet on the hard ground.
At her words, the rest of the team went into formation. "YOU SHALL PAY!!!!!" they lunged at Yoh but Ryu and Faust pushed away Marion and Matilda, leaving Kanna to attack their leader.
The dark-haired shaman jumped out of the way with ease, calmness still in his face.
"If it weren't for you, then Hao-sama would still be here!!!" Kanna shouted, jumping back as she pointed her finger sharply at her foe, "ASHCROFT~!!!" the said spirit attacked Yoh with speed far greater than the last time they fought.
A cloud of dust covered both the spirit and Yoh.
"Yoh-danna!" Ryu shouted but was too busy with Matilda to help the leader of their group. Damn it! They got really good this time! , he blocked another attack Matilda sent with Jack though he was pushed back. "That's it! No more Mr. Nice Guy!!!!" (Naisho: Ugh! So cliché!!! _) Ryu's big over soul appeared.
"Yoh!" Shouts and calls of worries resonated from the point Ren and the others were staying, watching carefully.
"Don't worry. Yoh's fine." Anna muttered, eyes unchanging.
Manta turned at the itako worriedly, "But-"
"I trust Yoh."
The dust cloud cleared, revealing Yoh blocking Ashcroft with his over soul.
With one burst of effort, he threw the spirit away, sending it crashing on the mountainsides.
"Ashcroft!" Kanna shouted, running in front of her spirit. "Get up, Ashcroft! We need to avenge Hao-sama!" she screamed as the knight stood up with renewed strength.
Yoh approached, harusame empowered with his furyoku. "Hao's not dead." He clutched his chest and bit his lip yet never showed a look of uneasiness he felt. "He's not. At least, not yet." He whispered, soft enough for only Kanna to hear.
"Stop mocking Hao-sama!!!" she cried, making Ashcroft stronger. She lunged at Yoh, completely forgetting her poise, Ashcroft with her for support.
Yoh hung his head down. Using only one hand, he threw Kanna's defense up, crouched down and gave her strong kick on the stomach.
The leader of the Hanagumi landed hard on the ground with her body aching. That move… She coughed a little blood then wiped her mouth with the back of her palm. A shadow hovered over her. She looked up at saw Yoh giving her a very familiar stare. "Hao-sama?" she muttered.
"I told you, Hao is not yet dead." Yoh repeated once again.
The other members of the Hanagumi stopped and looked at the two. Like Kanna, they too noticed what just happened.
Yoh stumbled backwards, rubbing his chest in a circular motion.
"Yoh-dono? Daijobou desu ka?" Amidamaru asked.
The dark-haired shaman nodded, grinning at the samurai, "Hai, daijobou." The light of Kanna's over soul vanished, leaving her helpless under Yoh's presence.
Kanna glanced at Matilda and Marion then gave a slight nod. At that instant, both Matilda and Marion got beaten by Ryu and Faust.
"With Hanagumi's over soul gone, the win goes to Funbari Onsen!"
"AWRIGHT~!!!!" Funbari Onsen and their friends cheered.
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"It must be true. There's no other explanation. I don't think Yoh would learn the same techniques as Hao-sama." Kanna explained to her other teammates.
"Then what does that mean?" Matilda asked, getting jumpy and excited at their new discovery.
The blue-haired female shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, signifying that she doesn't know either.
Then a tiny voice echoed from the dark chamber they were in. "Opacho thinks that we should let Yoh-sama reach the Seirei no Ou. Opacho thinks that maybe Hao-sama is inside Yoh-sama and Opacho says that we should trust Hao-sama." The little shaman explained.
Few voices agreed with Opacho.
"Then Opacho should clear the road for Hao-sama."
"You guys should stop celebrating all the time you win. It's useless. It's not as though you already won the Seirei no Ou." Anna commented, standing behind them with crossed arms.
"This isn't just for the win, Anna-san. It's also for Yoh-kun's recovery. Winning the match just tells us that Yoh-kun's fully healed already." Manta explained, but regretted it the moment the itako stared at him. "Uh…well…I'm just gonna get something to drink."
Anna looked at Yoh the out the window. Then why do I still feel uneasy?
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Hehehe…finished this crappy chapter at last…yeah, very crappy (it's SOOOOOO short!!!! Only 4 pages T_T!!!!!!) _
Punch me anybody…
Next chap is entitled "Mystery". I do hope you guys see the connection of the title to the chapter. If not…well…we'll see….
Well…I'm gonna go hide under a rock now…*scoots off to nowhere*
