A/N: Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai!! I'm sorry I can't update sooner. I stored the second chapter into a floppy and then gave it to friend so she could print a certain document. When it came back, I couldn't open it! Uu… I had to rewrite the whole chapter… Well, this chapter should be interesting. And thanks to the following reviewers.
yaoikid-Thanks for your review and encouragement! : )
chocolate5-Knowing Horo Horo, it should turned out hilarious. Thanks for the review. : )
Kitsune-I can't say it'll come soon, but I can promise you that they'll be things between the Ren and Shizu. Thanks. : )
cutieangel-Thanks for the review. Yeah, a lot of people say that about the translation. My bad, but I have no idea what'll be in Japanese so I put the translation at the bottom. : )
Nat-Thanks! : )
Now, for your information, the romance won't be so early into the story. I don't do overnight relationships. I mean, how can two people just decide they are meant for each other unless they've known each other for quite some time? It's just so…surreal. I believe in building up relationships, so you might not see any signs of fluff or stuff in the first few chapters. Now then, on with the story.
Disclaimer: If I owned SK, I'd make Ren-kun mine!
"…" talk
'…' thoughts
= = = = changes in scene/time
Chapter 2: Seeing Double
The night sky was sprinkled with stars. There was no moon that night, just stars. Yoh leaned back, head tilted to the sky. He was watching the stars with a smile on his lips, the bright stars reflected in his obsidian eyes. They're such beautiful things, they were. But the stars also reminded him of a particular person. That person loved stars so much, he had them on his earrings, on his pants and even named his team after it. A shuffle on his right told Yoh that his best friend had just walked up to him. "Kirei da yo ne." "Aa." Manta sat down beside Yoh. Stealing a glance at him, he could tell, the shaman was probably thinking of his elder twin. Asakura Hao. Yoh's twin brother, a reincarnated shaman of incredible power and 1000 years of knowledge. The pyromaniac wanted to capture the Great Spirit as his own and with it, create a world where only the stronger shamans may live. For him, human beings were simply insignificant.
"Shizu-san seems like a nice person, ne?" Manta commented. Yoh nodded, "Aa. She can't see spirits but she's a nice person. Amidamaru would probably like to meet her. Ne, Amidamaru?" A ghost suddenly materialized beside Yoh. He had armour on and had blue-grey hair. "Sou de gozaru yo, Yoh-dono." "Sou da, how's Mosuke doing?" "He's fine but I left him at home today. He didn't really like the idea of recharging though." "Three years of being stuck in a laptop and you'd think he was used to it." Yoh laughed. Manta grinned, "He says it feels really weird, so I told him to move into my personal computer first while I recharged the laptop. I just hope no one touches the computer, they'll get a huge shock." They laughed at the thought of Mosuke's face popping out of a computer screen and the person who switched it on falling back in shock.
= = = =
Somewhere in the streets
"Neesan, I understand you like shopping and yes, we probably need some stuff, demo…" Ren balanced the bags and packages as carefully as he could. "Isn't this too much?" Going shopping with Jun was always like this. "Why don't you ask Pailong?" he grumbled. "He'd attracted too much attention. Imagine, a dead man walking among the living. Onegai ne, Ren. It's just a little longer." "Fine." The things blocked his view, and he walked headlong into someone. Tumbling backwards, he landed painfully on the pavement. "Gomenasai! Daijoubu desu ka?" cried a somewhat familiar voice. He opened his eyes to stare into mystic grey orbs. Shizu was surprised, "Ren-kun?!" "Sh-Shizu."
A little while later, all the fallen objects had been collected and they sat together in a café. Ren introduced her sister, "Ore no neesan, Tao Jun. This is Kibouno Shizu, Yoh's new classmate." "Yoroshiku, Jun-san." "Ara, kawaii no musume da ne." Shizu blushed a bit and bowed her head down, "S-Sonna! Jun-san mo totemo kirei desu!" "Sonna…" Jun laughed. Shizu turned to Ren, "It's such a coincidence to bump into you and your oneesan in the street, Ren-kun." Ren said nothing. He merely nodded. Suddenly, the bell rang, indicating that some customers had entered the shop. Ren recognized them immediately. Ryu saw them and waved. They headed quickly to their table. Shizu kept quiet and looked back and forth a pair of boy and girl with light blue hair.
Ren's POV
Horo Horo eyed Shizu with a cheeky grin, "Kawaii ne. Ren, is this your girlfriend?" My ears burned. "Chi-Chigau! She's Yoh's friend." On cue, Shizu stood up and introduced herself. She had a tint of pink on her cheeks too. "Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Kibouno Shizu desu." "Horo Horo. Kochi wa imouto, Pilika." Pilika bowed slightly, "Yoroshiku." Before long, we were seated together and Shizu was busy answering queries. Neesan and Pilika particularly were doing the questioning. I sweatdropped at neesan's attitude. "Malisha? Where's that?" "It's Malaysia, oniichan!" "Yeah, where's that?" I snorted. 'If there's a bigger idiot than him, it'll be Chocolove.' Neesan patiently explained the position of Malaysia while Ryu was just too busy staring at my sister to listen. When Shizu got to where she was currently studying, the Ainu snickered, "Gee, here I thought Ren got himself a cute girlfriend." "Nandato, kisama?" "Kanojo wa hoshii…" sighed Horo Horo. "With the likes of you, it isn't surprising why you don't have one." Horo Horo jumped up, a vein popping on his head. "Nani o?!" "You're too thick. That's why you can't get a girlfriend." "Kono-" A small laugh broke the argument up and everyone turned to regard the brown-haired girl. Shizu smiled apologetically. "Gomenasai, demo, you argue like brothers." "Him? Brother?!" "No way!" Shizu just smiled knowingly. Soon after, she had to leave.
= = = =
At night school (or was it cram school?)
"Ne, Manta-kun. I don't understand this." Shizu could be seen inquiring Manta about their latest lesson. Manta patiently explained as Shizu nodded now and then. "Heh, now I get it! You're so smart Manta-kun!" Manta smiled sheepishly with a hand on the back of his head. "Nani…" As Shizu packed her books, she asked the short boy to stop by her house for a drink. Manta agreed. They had a bit of a conversation while walking to Shizu's home. "We're here." Manta was surprised to find a rather large and old looking building. No, not old as in dusty and rickety. It had a sort of ancient feel to it, a sense of it being there since a long time. Shizu took out her keys and unlocked the heavy wooden door. "Come in." she held the door open for him. Once inside, Shizu made some tea. Manta meanwhile took the time to look around. The house had Western features. There were two stories, four rooms, the ones upstairs have balconies. Towards the back of the house was a kitchen. The place looked very clean. "Dozo." Shizu said as she placed a cup of tea in front of him. "Arigatou." Manta slowly sipped the tea. It was of a western brand and tasted sweet, unlike the usual bitterness in the Japanese tea he had. "This place is pretty big." Shizu just smiled. 'If they come, then it'll be just right.' "I didn't know there was a house in this area." Manta mused. "I found it rather…accidentally, as well." After a while, Manta bid Shizu goodnight and left.
= = = =
Shizu's POV
Ah…the thing I loved about days off was that I didn't have to do anything. I could relax all I like. The breeze rustled the leaves of the trees and the thick foliage gave plenty of shade. 'This place is just so beautiful.' I smiled silently to myself. This forest offered the quiet and tranquility I needed to get away from the pressure of life. Here I could think and relax. And with no one around… I let my eyes drift shut as I remained on my feet. Slowly, the delicate presence of the forest made itself know. I grew increasingly aware of the slight sounds. 'It's close…' Suddenly, "Chit! Chit!" I jerked out of my trance. 'What was that?' I walked around, trying to pinpoint the source of anguished chirping. "Oh, you poor little bird." I knelt down next to the naked chick at the foot of a tree. I scooped it up gently, taking care not to hold it too tightly. Looking up at the tree. I spotted its nest, "Wow, amazing that you survived a fall from that height." Putting the chick into my pocket, I slowly began to climb. It wasn't exactly hard and I soon reached the nest. Carefully, I returned the chick to its nest.
"There, you're home now." There was a chirp. I laughed lightly, "No need to thank me." I watched the little chick. "You have a very strong will to survive. That is what saved you. Well, bye now little bird." I stood up on the branch. Turned out to be a very stupid thing to do. It snapped under my weight and I began to fall. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the impact to hit me. I did felt something, though it wasn't as hard as I thought. Noticing that I had not broken my back yet, I opened my eyes. I realized I was in someone's arms. Tilting my head up to see the person who caught me, I couldn't help the gasp that escaped. Midnight black eyes stared back into my grey ones. 'Other than the hair and outfit…' "Daijoubu ka?" the stranger asked me gently. "H-Hai." I stammered as he set me on my feet. "Anou, anata wa dare desu ka?" My curiosity peaked. 'This boy, they looked so much alike… It's not possible for two people to look so similar.' Said boy raised his delicate eyebrows. He seemed surprised by my question. "Boku? Boku wa Asakura Hao."
Japanese translation
Sou de gozaru yo-That's right. ('gozaru' is an old term, usually used by samurais. Kenshin use this phrase a lot too.)
Yoh-dono-Master Yoh.
Neesan-Elder sister
Onegai-Please
Gomenasai-Sorry
Daijoubu desu ka?-Are you all right?
Kawaii-Cute
Musume-Actually means daughter, but the term for young girls (shoujo) didn't apply very well in that sentence
Totemo-Very
Kirei-Beautiful/Pretty
Sonna-In this case, it means 'That's much too high a praise.' Sometimes used to express disbelief
Chigau-It's not/It's wrong (to deny something)
Kochi-Here
Imouto-Younger sister
Oniichan-Elder brother
Nandato-What did you say?
Kisama-A rather rough way of referring to others, meaning you. Ren uses this term all the time. Also used to express anger at the person.
Kanojo wa hoshii-I want a girlfriend (Horo Horo always musing about this)
Nani-What/ In Manta's case, it means 'That's too much compliment.'
Dozo-Please (accompanied with action. Eg: please have a drink)
Arigatou-Thank you
Boku-A masculine term for I. Functions like Watashi.
A/N: Ne, ne, how was it? At the last part I put delicate eyebrows. I had no idea why. Guess Hao sort of presented a feminine image. Anyhow, I hope it could compensate for the lateness (but I highly doubt it) I'll try to update as fast as I can. Do review to let me know what you think. Arigatou gozaimasu! : )