As Far as the Soul Goes
Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for the four reviews! :) In such a large section, I had hardly expected two. But I felt the need to update, despite a pressing workload.
Because I'm being rather scornful of certain romance pairings in my profile and the previous chapter, I think that I should probably clear up right now that I'm wholly certain that romance will not appear; it may or may not, depending on the feedback. All I know about the fanfic at the moment is that it's probably going to be Hao-centric, and there may be pairings. And there's going to be at least –one- one-sided pairing involving Hao. Whether this is from him, or to him, I won't be telling until said chapter. ;)
Oh.. –vaguely guilty look- There will be spoilers ahead, just a warning. Just three main ones (this takes place after the anime concludes), which are: Hao is defeated. No Shaman King is determined. No one knows what happened to Hao. There will be no details, so if you don't want the specific spoiled, there you are.
So thank you again for the reviews, everyone, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. Regrettably. Asakura Hao is debatable.
Chapter One: A Painful Return
"So why did Anna want double the amount of groceries this time?"
It was a casual question, and Manta asked it both because it was unusual cruelty (even) for the blonde to require it.. and because he took great pleasure in the generally wryly given replies that his companion made. A year since the Shaman tournament had not changed Yoh; though a deepening understanding of adolescence had touched those childlike eyes, they still remained pristine, unsullied.. and thoroughly weary thanks to Anna's unrelenting schedule of training. Despite the Patch Tribe's suspension of the Shaman Fight until further notice, the itaku seemed still convinced that they were simply waiting for the shaman to resume their lax lifestyles before reannouncing the recommencement of the Shaman Fight.
Or so she told Yoh, in any case, and her fiancée was generally too weary from the harsh regime she imposed to contradict her.
"Ryu reminded her that the Patch tribe hadn't made me Shaman King.." Yoh admitted shamefacedly, with a wry smile as his head dropped beneath his load. It was at that select moment that Manta noticed that his companion was towing a pile that seemed at least twice his own height.
"Uh.. Yoh?"
"Hai?"
"You might want to consider keeping out of her way in the future if it gets you out of stuff like this." That much of a strain on your back is probably going to bend you over for the rest of your life, he added mentally, though he was careful not to voice it aloud. Anna had a tendency to appear at the most inopportune of moments, and even now, in the midst of the open road, Manta didn't trust that tendency not to manifest itself.
There was a thoughtful pause before a response was emitted. "And since when has that ever worked?"
Considering their past experiences with Yoh's ferocious fiancé, the shorter lad smiled weakly in reminiscence. "Uh.. never?" He inquired, sheepishly.
"My point exactly."
PAIN!
It screamed through every nerve of his body, burning through the fibers as though they were mere paper beneath the pressure of the hottest flame. It seared into his muscles, clenching, as he writhed and fought to endure it. It was both darkness and a light too bright to bear, an entity that surrounded him and consumed him.
He had anticipated this, though not so vividly, had anticipated the eviscerating pain that seemed as though it would have no ending. But even that had not prepared him for the actual experience
And then it was over.
For the rest of his life, Manta could never comprehend what happened next, try though he might. It was not that his was a lesser intelligence; hardly. He had won awards in his school for his marks. He was regularly bullied by the popular and made to do their homework, a definite sign of genius. (Or at least, he had been until Yoh had arrived.)
But the agonizing scream that leapt from Yoh's lips like a writhing, living creature and beat clumsily into the night was entirely unlike his friend.. and so was the fact that the dark-haired boy promptly dropped his groceries and crumpled to the ground, thrashing and squirming desperately beneath an assailant that he could hardly identify.
"YOH!"
Alarm sped the tinier lad's legs as he rushed to his friend's side, ignoring the spill of groceries that glistened upon the roadside.
"Yoh!" The boy said urgently, shaking his friend's shoulder with a bewildered strength. "Yoh, you have to snap out of it! What's happening!"
Despite the onslaught of pain, the shaman managed a tiny sliver of a smile for his ever-present companion. "Don't.. worry.." He managed to croak between spasms. "It's not.. any worse.. than what Anna makes me go through.. for the exercises.."
Manta smiled tremulously, a tiny fragile butterfly of a smile that leapt away from his lips and was quickly lost in the night. "Please be okay, Yoh.." He whispered, though a dread had already begun to settle in the base of his spine as the shaman's screams refused to cease.
An explosion outwards into the shadows of the night. A breath stolen beneath cover of darkness, like a guilty, furtive secret hidden in the treasure chest of some tiny child's heart. Dark eyes snapped open, their contents stagnant, swirling with an anger, a passion that had died centuries before, and left only its twitching corpse behind before that, too, settled into rigor mortis.
But now it was alive again, and with it, so was he.
It seemed that it was night here as well, though he hardly minded its dark. For within its cavernous depths, tiny stars glittered like pinpoint jewels in firelight.
The stars..
Just as abruptly as it had come, it was over. With careful caution, and a weakness derived from uncertainty, the shaman sat up, entirely bewildered by the apparent resilience of his body.
"Are you okay?" Manta demanded, and instantly felt foolish for the question, for Yoh's trademark smile had already begun to steal across his features.
Raising his head, the dark-haired boy smiled brilliantly at his companion, with a lighthearted ease that made all worries tease away, as though they were wholly unimportant. "Hai." He said agreeably. "But I think we should get home soon.. there's something important waiting for us there."
Glancing behind Yoh, the shorter boy froze. "Yes.." He said slowly, and with a terror that made his friend start. "There's definitely going to be something important waiting for us at home.."
Catching the slant of the boy's glance, Yoh, too, glanced behind himself. In a fashion not unsimilar to Manta's own, he, too, froze.
"Ai-ya! All the groceries have been spilled! Anna's going to kill you!"
Shaking his head, Yoh flashed a smile at his companion as he began to run with a renewed freedom and speed. "Whatever's waiting at home's going to be more important than spilled groceries." He assured his companion, whose legs were a blur as he struggled to keep up with his friend. "Anna will forgive us."
"You hope." Manta grumbled, but under his breath.
They arrived at the front door as moonlight had just begun to filter into the courtyard, spilling excessively to illuminate the porch.. and the quiet figure that leaned against one of the wooden pillars upon it. The doors opened all too easily, as though they had expected Yoh to push against them with the brutal force of the panicked, with Manta only stumbling clumsily behind, wearied by the swift, unrelenting pace that Yoh had set.
Anger glinted in the normally easygoing shaman's eyes as his body tensed into an automatic fighting stance. A name hissed out from between his teeth, as though he were unwilling to grant the other boy even that title.
The figure whose features mirrored Yoh's own to a perfect consistency raised his head, pushing gently away from the pillar against which he seemed to have fallen into a vague slumber Slowly, with an exaggerated languidity, his lips tilted into a smile.
"Long time no see.. ototo."
Author's Note: I do need some criticism to work off of.. any specific pairings that you think that I should try to do for this fanfic? Other advice? Again, thanks for the reviews from the previous chapter..