A/N: Wow, the fourth chapter already! O.o;; This is a new for me…I usually don't write so fast…but everyone really seems to like the fic! ^^;; Yay! Heehee, I'm glad you all like it! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others. There some major plot development in this chapter, and some of it's very subtle, so pay close attention! Oh, by the way, in future chapters, there will be some slight OC/OC. A cookie to who ever can guess which two OCs end up together! ^.~
Disclaimer: If I owned Shaman King, I would have never allowed 4Kids Entertainment to do the dubbing. X.X;;
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Chapter Four: Mysteries
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Kyouyama Anna tugged at a stray piece of blonde hair. She flipped through countless documents of other cases, letting out an annoyed sigh when she couldn't find anything helpful. This case was going no where fast. All she knew was that the four missing boys were still alive, and well that was comforting to those who knew them, it didn't help her in solving this case.
Anna sighed, spinning her swivel chair around so she faced the window. Across from her was an office building identical to the one she was in, and below were busy streets.
She kept running over the case in her mind, frustrated that she couldn't make any sense of it. Most missing people cases were simple for Anna, and it only took her a couple of weeks to track down the person, or in some cases, the kidnapper.
She'd been on this current case for months, and lack of development was starting to drive her crazy. But she wouldn't give up on this case, after all, Kyouyama Anna always solved the case, it was her job after all.
Kyouyama Anna was one of the world's most prominent detectives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tamao jumped as the office door creaked open. A tall woman dressed in a Chinese dress and a young blue haired girl walked in.
"Ah!" Tamao squeaked, "Jun-san, Pirika-san! Good morning!"
"Good morning, Tamao-chan." Tao Jun smiled, "Is Anna-chan ready to see us?"
"Ah, let me call her and see," Tamao said, picking up the phone and dialing. It rung twice before a click and "Hello?" was heard. "Ah, Anna-sama, Jun-san and Pirika-san are here!" She said.
After a moment, "Send them in." was heard.
"Yes Anna-sama," Tamao said, placing the phone back on the receiver. "Anna-sama will see you know."
"Thank you," Jun said, sweeping gracefully over to the door that separated Anna's office from the waiting room, Pirika closely following.
"See you, Tamao-chan!" The Ainu girl grinned, disappearing into the doorway behind her companion.
"Good luck…" Tamao said quietly, watching the door close.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Please take a seat," Anna said, motioning to the two chairs in front of her desk.
"Yes, thank you," Jun said, sitting down. "How are you doing today Anna?"
"Fine, thank you," Anna said coldly. "May I assume the same for you?"
"The best I can be under the circumstances." Jun said, smiling softly.
"Anna-san, have you found out anything?" Pirika asked, her voice full of hope.
"They're still alive," Anna sighed, "Other then that, no."
"Well, that's a good thing…" Jun sighed, she had been hoping to learn something more.
"Oh, oniichan, when I get my hands on you!" Pirika growled, pounding her fist on her outstretched palm.
"I assure you, Pirika, Jun-san, I will find your brothers."
"I trust you Anna," Jun said, "If you do not have any new information, may I assume that we're done for now?"
"There's nothing that can help the case that you haven't already provided me with." Anna said, "But are you absolutely sure that-" RIIING! "Yes?" She picked up the phone.
"Anna-sama, there is a Mr. Lyserg Diethel here to see you."
"Tell him I'll be with him in just a moment." Anna said, before placing the phone back down on the receiver.
"We'll be going, then." Jun said, getting up, "Thank you, Anna."
"Thank me when I have something to tell you," Anna said her icy gaze sweeping back down to the papers on her desk.
"Bye, Anna-san!" Pirika said. "I hope this case gets solved soon, I know you're worried about Yoh-san and Hao-san as well!" She exited the office, shutting the door behind her.
Anna blinked. She'd been so wrapped up in the fact that this case was going no where that she'd almost forgotten exactly who was involved. Two of the missing boys happened to be old friends of hers, the twins Hao and Yoh Asakura.
Shaking that aside, she reminded herself that personal should not be mixed with business.
She picked up the phone, "Tamao, send Diethel-san in now."
"H-hai, Anna-sama!"
In a moment, the door opened to reveal a green haired boy around her own age.
"Ah," He gaped at her for a moment.
"Is something wrong, Diethel-san?" She asked, knitting her fingers.
"Oh, no, nothing, Kyouyama-san," He spoke with a slight English accent. "It's just that I wasn't expecting you to be so young."
"I assure you, despite my age I am a very experienced detective." Anna said, casting a cold glance at the green haired boy. "Please have a seat."
He did so, "I am very sorry…"
She waved her hand, "No need for apologies, it happens all the time. Now, Diethel-san-"
"Oh, please call me Lyserg, Kyouyama-san!" He said.
"Lyserg," She began again, "Please tell me why you are here?"
"There-there is something I'd like you to solve…" He said, lowering his gaze to the desk top, "The-the…" He took a breath, stuttering slightly.
"Take you time." Anna advised.
"Ah, thank you." Lyserg closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths before he began again, "I assume you know of the Robotics lab downtown?"
"Of course, it was a very prominent business," She said. "Does this have to do with the fire that destroyed it? If so, I really do think that's police-"
"I am certain that fire was not an accident."
Her head snapped up, her eyes wide, "What do you mean?"
Lyserg gazed sadly at her, "I know quite a lot about the building. The police found cans of gasoline around the premises. They assumed that they had been left there by employees for future use. That is not the case," He said, closing his eyes, as if to visualize the building, "All employees knew the danger of keeping flammable substances around the building, and I'm sure none of them would have been sloppy enough to leave gasoline around."
"You think someone set fire to the building." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes."
"I see…" She said, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, "And what business is this of yours, Lyserg?"
"My parents were both killed in the fire." He said slowly.
She nodded, "I see…I'll accept this case and do my best to solve it."
Lyserg stood up, "I should be going now."
"I'll contact you in case I find out anything you might need to know. Please leave your phone number with my secretary."
"I'll do that," He gave her a small smile as he reached the door, "I appreciate this very much, Kyouyama-san." The door clicked shut.
She sighed, "I wonder if these two cases could be connected?" She thought aloud. Shaking her blonde head, Anna stood up and stretched. She walked out the door, stopping as she reached Tamao's desk.
"I'm going out for lunch, please tell my clients to wait. I'll be back shortly," She said, grabbing her purse and keys.
"Hai, Anna-sama!" Tamao said, waving as Anna exited the building.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yoh nodded his head to the music blaring from the headphones.
Hao glared, grabbing the headphones off his brother's head.
"Hey, why'd you do that, Hao?" Yoh pouted.
"I've been screaming at you for five minutes."
"Really? Heh heh, I didn't notice…"
Hao let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Yoh, for the last time, we shouldn't be spending so long in public. What if-" He caught a flash of blond hair and a red bandana out of the corner of his eye. Grabbing Yoh's arm, Hao, pulled him flat against the book shelf that separated them from possible disaster.
"Hao?" Yoh blinked, looking up at his brother.
"Shh!" Hao whispered, peering over his shoulder at the next section where a blonde girl wearing a red bandana and a black dress, looking at the books in the supernatural section.
"Damn it." He growled. "If she sees us, it endangers everything."
"Hao, what is it?" Yoh whispered, following Hao's gaze. "Oh..." He caught sight of Anna.
"Quiet, I need to think." Hao hissed. Yoh nodded, staring at Anna.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can't force you to come back."
"Then why try?"
"Yoh should return."
"I won't give him up."
"He has unique gifts. Can you teach him how to use them?"
Silence.
"So you don't have an answer to that, do you? I knew it."
"I won't give him up. Don't you even try to make me."
"Hao, you will return him to us."
"I didn't make him leave with me. He went because he wanted to. He's my brother."
"I know that! Now stop being so stubborn. You will return Yoh to us. Or we will have to come and get him."
"You can't take him from me! If you try, I will kill you!"
"You'd kill your own family?"
"If you try to take Yoh away from me, I will. I may be descended from you, but you were never my family." He turned on his heel, brown hair flying out behind him.
"Hao! Hao, you will return Yoh! Hao, listen to me! Hao!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yoh toppled over, the bookshelf going with him to the ground.
"Yoh!" Hao shouted, clapping his hand over his mouth a second to late.
Anna spun around, looking at the two twins. Her eyes traveled from Yoh on the ground, to Hao, now looking straight at her. She gaped for a moment, and in that moment, Hao grabbed Yoh, dragging him up. The two took off like a bolt of lightning, leaving a shocked Anna behind them.
After a few seconds, the blonde recovered enough to realize the two were getting away. She ran after them, shouting their names.
She reached the parking lot only to see a car drive by, and at the wheel was Asakura Hao.
"I…I don't believe it…" She whispered. "Calm down Anna," She said, taking a deep breath. "Go back to the office. Add this new information to your files, and then go back out and find out more. You will stay calm…you will stay calm."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What'd you see?" Hao asked, trying hard to concentrate on the road.
"I'm not…sure…it's kind of fuzzy now." Yoh said, closing his eyes and leaning against the back of the seat.
Hao sighed in frustration. "Can you remember anything?"
"You…something about…they wanted…me…"
"What do you mean?"
"I remember…someone kept saying…that you should…return me to them…"
Hao's eyes widened. "I know what I have to do." He whispered.
"What?" Yoh blinked.
Hao shook his head, turning sharply, he drove along until he caught sight of a shock of blue hair. Pulling over, he rolled down the window, "HoroHoro!"
The Ainu stopped in his tracks, "Hao? What you doing here? I thought you and Yoh went to the mall…"
"We did. Yoh, get out of the car."
"Hao-"
"Get out of the car." The elder twin said again.
Nodding, Yoh opened the door and slid out, standing next to his blue-haired friend.
"Horo, take Yoh home."
"Wait, Hao, where are you going?" Horo asked.
"…I have an errand to run." With that, he drove away.
"Argh! I just don't get him!" HoroHoro grumbled, watching the car drive off.
Yoh shook his head, "Hao is Hao. If there is something he feels he needs to do, then he'll do it, and no one can change his mind."
HoroHoro raised an eyebrow, "Wow. You really know him, huh?"
Yoh smiled. "C'mon, let's get going."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Seems there are people with secrets almost as dark as ours…" Azin trailed off.
"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked, placing a hand over Azin's.
"It's nothing that would concern you."
"Hortensia. [1]" Hikaru said, glaring at Azin with violet eyes.
"Throatwood. [2]" Azin said, running a hand through Hikaru's messy hair.
Hikaru swatted the other's hand away, crossing his arms across his chest.
"I can't stand it any more! What the hell are they talking about?" The blue haired girl yelled.
The blonde one giggled, "Chloe, it's the language of flowers!"
"…The what?"
Sierra sighed, shaking her blonde head, "Nevermind."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I can't force you to come back."
"Then why try?"
"Yoh should return."
"I won't give him up."
"He has unique gifts. Can you teach him how to use them?"
Silence.
"So you don't have an answer to that, do you? I knew it."
"I won't give him up. Don't you even try to make me."
"Hao, you will return him to us."
"I didn't make him leave with me. He went because he wanted to. He's my brother."
"I know that! Now stop being so stubborn. You will return Yoh to us. Or we will have to come and get him."
"You can't take him from me! If you try, I will kill you!"
"You'd kill your own family?"
"If you try to take Yoh away from me, I will. I may be descended from you, but you were never my family." He turned on his heel, brown hair flying out behind him.
"Hao! Hao, you will return Yoh! Hao, listen to me! Hao!"
The young man didn't turn around. Kino Asakura clenched her hand, letting out a sigh that sounded much like a growl. "We will get Yoh back." She intoned, looking up at the sky. "We will."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And that, folks, was chapter 4! The longest chapter so far I think…nine pages. O.o;; Wow. Anyway, if the ending seems a bit rushed, I'm sorry, I wrote it in a hurry. ^^;; Please read and review!
1. Hortensia- 'You are cold' in the language of flowers.
2. Throatwood- 'Neglected beauty' in the language of flowers.
XD I just couldn't resist…