Chapter 3
Anna was sitting on the sofa planning Yoh's new training program. Just because the shaman fight was over didn't mean that Yoh didn't have to train. Of course, it wasn't as intense though Yoh did have to do some training before going to Hogwarts since there will be no time to train there. Anna folded up the schedule and put it on the desk. Then, the phone rang again for the third time that day.
"Yoh, make dinner! Hao, answer the phone!" Inn hostess Anna yelled over Manta's protests to Tamao against trusting Hao. Tamao, like Manta was still in doubt. But unlike Manta, she decided to keep her mouth shut. Yoh ran to the kitchen, knocking Manta over in the process.
"Sorry!" Apologized Yoh. Hao, on the other hand, glared at Anna and answered the phone.
"..."
"Yoh?" Asked the voice that was obviously Lyserg.
"Nope."
"Oh... Can I talk to him?"
"Not right now. He's busy appealing to the Ice Queen. What do you want with him anyway?" Said Hao in his usual arrogant voice. It took awhile for Lyserg to realize who he was talking to.
"HAO?!?!?"
"Took you long enough."
"What the hell are you doing at Funbari Onsen??? Touch Yoh and the others, and I'll kill you! You're supposed to be dead! You-"
"- killed your parents. I get the point already. Now, tell me what you want with Yoh, or I'll just have to read your mind."
"Y- You can do that?" Hao smirked as he imagined Lyserg's eyes wide with surprise.
"Now, for the last time, what do you want?"
"None of your business!" Lyserg cried hysterically over the phone. 'Soon I will wake up, and find that this is a dream!' He thought desperately.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but this isn't a dream and I'll prove it right now. You wanted to speak to Yoh, am I not right? Instead of speaking to him, why don't you see him?" Hao hung up, and raised his arm. Lyserg Diethyl appeared in a burst of flames with his cell phone still to his ear. He dropped his phone and looked around wildly.
"Wa-"
"He's in the kitchen." Said Hao pointing to the hallway.
"You! Morphine, oversoul! Into the pendulum!" Cried Lyserg spinning his pendulum round and round over his head. Lyserg's fairy companion flew into the spinning pendant and formed a bright green glow.
"So you finally ditched that ugly robo-angel thingy. Though it won't make any difference. I guess it's better to have friends that power, a lesson Yoh taught me."
"You know nothing!"
"Like I said either way it'll make no difference to me. It's obvious that both of your spirits are no match for mine."
"Well, it doesn't mean I won't try!" Lyserg spun the pendulum round and round and aimed it. There was a rush of air as the pendulum whizzed towards Hao. But the pendulum never reached its target. Hao raised his hand causing the pendulum to freeze as if there were an invisible barrier between the two. Hao's expression was calm and maybe even relaxed. Lyserg tugged on his oversoul causing it to return to his hand.
"Morphine, full power, giant oversoul!" Commanded Lyserg with a look of determination on his face. Hao rolled his eyes and flicked his finger causing the still-spinning pendulum to fly out of Lyserg's hand and into the air. At that moment, Yoh and Anna just had to walk in. Before any of them could react, the pendulum flew towards Yoh, and whacked him on the head. Yoh cried with pain and fell onto the floor.
"Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru hovered above his friend.
"Craaaaaap." Swore Lyserg. This time, he said it out loud.
"Owwwwwwwwwwwww!"
(Three minutes later...)
Yoh collapsed onto the sofa while holding and ice pack on his head while Lyserg apologized profusely to him. Manta and Tamao were in the kitchen cooking the rest of the food.
"I'm so sorry Yoh-kun!"
"That's ok!" Said Yoh giving him an assuring smile. "I'm fine."
"If you say so..." Said Lyserg cheering up a bit himself. Honestly, Yoh's smiles were contagious. He, Lyserg had no reason to be happy. Because Hao, the person that his killed his parents, who was supposed to be dead had returned. Lyserg scooted over to where Yoh was sitting to try to keep as away from Hao as possible.
"Alright, misters. One of you is going to tell me what is going on!" Yelled Anna startling Yoh and Lyserg almost out of their skins. Hao got up and began to explain.
"Lyserg called wanting to talk to Yoh, but Yoh was in the kitchen cooking for us," Hao emphasized us looking at Anna. Then he continued. "So, I simply teleported him into the house so he could talk to him."
"And you started fighting?" inquired Yoh. Hao nodded.
"Nice move hotshot. Yoh's head is badly bruised, and now he won't be able to do the new brick-breaking training I've set up for him for at least a week. I hope you're happy now." Said Anna glaring at her future brother in- law.
"If it's the head you're worried about, I can easily heal him." Said Hao eyeing Yoh. 'Nooooo don't heal me! I don't wanna do Anna's new training!!!' thought Yoh frantically. Hao nodded at him and looked at Anna. "What I'm worried about is what Lyserg wants with us."
"None of your business!" Lyserg glared at his parents' assassinator.
"-and how we are going to keep a certain someone from killing me."
"Don't get me started!" Growled Lyserg.
"Lyserg, it's okay!" Said Yoh.
"But he-"
"I'm neutral." said Amidamaru.
"Nobody asked you, vapor-brain." Amidamaru immediately shut up.
"-changed. It's okay." Lyserg hesitated and looked at Hao.
"I'm not asking you to trust me." Lyserg sighed.
"You are asking me to do something, I can't do. I'm sorry Yoh. Maybe I'll learn to trust him one day, but I can't right now. I hope you understand."
"That's just being yourself, and if you ask me, that's the best thing to do!" said Yoh happily. "Now, what did you want to tell me about Hogwarts?"
"How did you know what I was going to tell you?" Tamao and Manta came in carrying trays of food. Tamao looked concernedly at Yoh's head as she placed the food on the table.
"Dunno. Maybe it was a lucky guess. I just got this feeling that we were all going to go." Said Yoh taking a bite out of a sushi. 'Or maybe your true potential is starting to show...' Thought Hao.
"Well, Horo-horo and Ren don't really believe these letters, and ignored them. The headmaster seems determined to make us go so he sent me to tell the others. Jeanne has already contacted Chocolove and the Hanagumi. Chocolove his coming, but Mari, Macci and Kanna think they know enough about witchcraft, so I doubt they'd be going."
"Holy-Girl Iron Maiden Jeanne? She's the leader of the X-Laws right?" Asked Yoh.
"Yes." Said Lyserg blushing a bit. "My phone broke so I asked Jeanne to call them while I got my supplies. Because of the time differences, Jeanne was only able to call those few people. So around 1 AM in London called you guys from my house."
"1AM? You must be tired!" Exclaimed Yoh.
"Me? I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine?" Said Lyserg while yawning.
"Face it. You're tired. You can stay the night here."
"You sure?"
"Sure thing. There's a room next to mine on the second floor. Hao, you can sleep in my room!"
"What?!" exclaimed Lyserg and Anna.
"Who said I was going to stay here?" said Hao.
"Aww come on, it'll be fun!" Insisted Yoh.
"Fine..."
"And then, we can go to China and meet Ren!"
"-and how do you suppose we do that, genius?"
"We can fly on the spirit of fire!" Said Yoh cheerfully.
"Joy..." said Manta. He hated heights.
"No problem." Shrugged Hao. "The Spirit of Fire is bigger than any airplane."
"Then we'll meet Horo-horo, and fly to Hogwarts-" said Amidamaru.
"After we pack-air-head." Said Anna. Amidamaru floated to a corner with anime tears pouring down his face.
"Don't let her get to you," Said Manta patting him on the back.
"Alright, I want you all up by 8:00 tomorrow. Then we will meet Ren in China. Understood?"
"Yes, Anna."
(Midnight. Hao's Point Of View.)
I sat on the roof of Funbari Inn and looked up at the stars. Beautiful if I say so myself. I stretched and lied down. It had been a long day, in which I have accomplished something I never did before. I won Yoh's trust. Though it wasn't the hardest thing to do for normal people, I felt warm inside. Almost complete. This is a chance to renew my soul, and to start over. I won't let you down, Yoh.
When we split, everything to do with us did. Yoh and I seem to lack essential emotions that others have. One being passion. He has half of the emotions and I have the other. I have power, and Yoh has the power of unity- what defeated me. The power form his friends.
Yoh seemed to have many different friends. First there was Ren Tao that Chinese kid. I'd bet they didn't get along too well in the beginning, but if you ask me, he's a good ally to have around. Then there that short kid, Manta. Not the best shaman around, but I have to give him credit for his oversoul on the final battle between them and me. Horo-horo didn't seem to get along with Tao, though his sister seems to like him. Then there was Lyserg and this guy in a skirt making bad jokes. There was the necromancer Faust and that Wooden Sword Ryu person who had a really weird hairstyle. Finally, there was Anna. Yoh's fiancée. I know the two really like each- other. Though they are too stubborn to admit it. Yoh really has a weird bunch of friends. Speaking about Yoh, it was getting late.
I jumped off the roof, and landed onto the ground without a sound, then, and went into the Inn and ascended the stairs to Yoh's room. Like me, Yoh was also awake. I opened the door and stood in front of the window next to Yoh.
"The stars are pretty, aren't they, Aniki?" Said Yoh leaning on the windowsill. For a moment I had a look of surprise on my face. Then, I gave him my second genuine smile today. I nodded.
"Yes, yes they are."
(Yoh's POV)
I got out of bed and walked over to the windowsill. I pulled over the curtains and looked at the stars in the sky. I couldn't sleep tonight for some reason. It was just unlike me. Usually, I would sleep on any given chance. But not today, today I felt happier than normal. Maybe even complete-maybe also a bit excited about meeting Ren and Horo-horo again after a long time. In the morning, I was dying of boredom. Now from today, I don't think anything will be the same again.
As soon as I defeated Hao, I felt like my soul had been ripped apart, yet I didn't feel anything. Of course, I found a way to totally ignore and forget about it. But I was still a little worried. Until I found out Hao was alive. Man, I can't wait until tomorrow. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my door opening. It was Hao. He came and joined me.
"The stars are pretty, aren't they, Aniki?" I asked him.
"Yes, yes they are."
An hour later, I yawned and got into bed. Hao was still stargazing. I lay in bed and thought more about what happened: I finally had something to do; I found out that Hao was alive, and he, my brother, had smiled at me.
I've decided to put them all in Gryffindor giving Hao and Ren an excuse to give Malfoy a hard time.
In response to PickleBob's question, Manta's oversoul is a Mallet. (You'll see it in the final episodes of Shaman King.)
Finally, I would like to thank you all for reviewing.
Ja ne