And so a new story begins. My first Shaman King story, how exciting. Haha. But let me get on to the point. I hope everyone enjoys the story. It's basically set ten years after the Shaman Tournament. After ten years of being apart, the group comes back together in celebration. I feel inspired by the show, since it's coming to end soon. I will miss, it's been a great show. I highly would recommend it to anyone.
Yoh yawned as he stretched his arms toward the endless sea of blue sky. Never in all of his twenty-two years of living had he seen such a perfect day. The day's breeze rustled the leaves and shifted his hair into his eyes. Sighing as he ran fingers through his hair, Yoh debated between the idea of getting up or remaining in his comfortable position in the cool grass.
"Have a nice nap?" The old, familiar voice was no surprise to Yoh. Amidamaru and him had meet about ten years ago and although they had a rough start, they soon connected and from then on they've been inseparable.
"I always do." Yoh grinned care freely, but was secretly still debating between getting home to Anna or sleeping for another few hours.
"What do you think?" Yoh asked, already knowing that Amidamaru had guessed what he was contemplating.
"You're already late. So there's no doubt Anna will be furious when you get home."
"Alright then. I suppose I should go home…but how about a quick stop at the diner? We can get a couple dozen hamburgers and maybe some milkshakes or how bout som-"
"I doubt Anna will appreciate us bringing food home again Yoh. Don't you remember what she told us last time? 'Yoh if you bring this junk you call food home one more time, there will thousand push-ups and hundred laps to go with each of one of them hamburgers.' I doubt she was lying."
"Don't worry. By the time we get home, I'll have them burgers long gone. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Anna will never even know we were out eating, cause I'm not going to tell her and neither are you." Yoh gathered himself up from his cushiony position, picked up his bag and with Amidamaru behind him, happily walked toward the city for their fast diversion.
"Yoh that's you're third burger! Don't you think you ought to slow down and maybe trying chewing them?"
"Don't you worry, Amidamaru. I'm an expert in the art of eating. After twenty-two years of doing it, I think I'm more than qualified to eat without swallowing. Just you wait till I get going on my fourth one, that's when things might get a little crazy." Yoh chuckled between his too large of bites from his hamburger.
Amidamaru could only watch in amazement and utter disgust as his long time friend managed to finish off their plateful of burgers. Even after years of watching Yoh scarfing down burgers, the revolting site was still a little too much for him. Yoh had turned the experience into a game though. Each visit to the diner, Yoh would have to increase the amount of burgers he ate. This time the goal was a simple six burgers. But as of now he was up to fourth, which was a ridiculous amount to eat in one sitting.
"Oh, that fourth burger didn't taste as good as the first three." Yoh moaned, grabbed his stomach in one hand and with the other empty hand reached for the fifth burger.
"Yoh I really don't believe that would be a smart choice." Slowly Amidamaru reached out to grab the hamburger from Yoh's hand.
"I've got to do this! If I don't, I'll lose and then I'll to eat seven burgers next. Do you realize what kind of pressure that is? Skipping the lucky sixth hamburger would be setting myself up for failure. I've been training for this event forever and not finishing these two hamburgers would be a disappointment to myself and to everyone who has ever believed in me and this dream. I can't let them down, so I've got to eat these last two." Lifting the fifth hamburger from the plate, Yoh slowly brought it to his mouth.
"Who is it that you are disappointing exactly? I find it hard to believe that these strangers really care. Why don' t you just drop the hamburger before you end up throwing them all up? After all wouldn't that be disappointing your supporters?"
"Sorry but I just can't do that." Yoh laughed still stumbling to pick up his hamburger. Meanwhile, a man with gelled down, golden hair quickly walked toward the cashier. She, like all the others in the restaurant, had gathered around Yoh to watch chow down on the last of his mountain piled hamburgers. The man, however, appeared to be in no mood to wait around on the distracted women. Impatiently tapping his finger on the table, the businessman failed in his attempt to attract the attention of the young women.
"Excuse me! I'm trying to pay for my meal here! Last time I checked it was your job to satisfy the customer, which is me! Now why don't you stop gawking at this lowlife and start assisting me!" Red faced and breathing at an alarming rate, the man walked away from the once laughing group toward the cash register. Reluctantly the young cashier walked to where the fuming businessman was standing. The man slammed the money into the women's hand and immaturely stomped out of the busy restaurant.
"He seemed nice." Yoh sarcastically remarked after the man and the crowd had disappeared.
"Yes, I hope we don't have to see him next time."
"Next time? I see someone has changed their mind about sidetracks." Yoh grinned in victory, but still was making his attempt to bite into his hamburger.
"Would you stop trying to force yourself to eat that burger. You're going to make yourself sick."
"Aw, don't worry. I'm an ex-"
"Excuse me, but I just wanted to apologize for what my friend did over to you earlier. It really wasn't necessary for him to say that about you."
Yoh looked on as the young man, probably a year or two younger than he, who continued with his apologizes. The man was dressed in a sharp black suit that perfectly patched his scarlet tie. The shoes he wore were probably from an expensive store that had polished them especially to his liking. But all of the suspicions of a spoiled child disappeared from Yoh's mind when he caught site of the young man's face. It was not any handsomer than the average man, but it had a certain look of wisdom. His eyes displayed nothing but complete honesty and his smile was genuine. Although his hair could use a good hairstylist. The poor guy.
"Aw, don't you worry about it. I've meant plenty of people like that and even befriended a few. He'll see that it's not always about rushing and working." Yoh scooted over into the next chair. "Care to sit down and eat some burgers? I think I can spare one or two, maybe."
"Oh, um." The man quickly looked to the door and back at the young man who had invited him to sit and eat. This had better not be some kind of joke. "Well, I suppose I could stay for awhile."
"Great! Now about we get you something to drink and eat. Miss, could you come here for a minute? We need to place another order for my friend, um. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name Mister…"
"Oh I'm Mister Oyamada. Mortimer Oyamada."
"Morty!Ohwow!Doyourememberme? It's Yoh!" Not only had his yelling shocked the poor young man out of his chair, but also his eagerness to help back up and hug him.
"I'm sorry I can't really understand you. Could you slow down please?" Although worried about the poor guy's sanity and his safety, Morty continued to stay only out of pity for the man.
"It's me, Morty! YOH!"
"Yoh? Ha, it's you!" Morty jumped up off the floor with no help from his friend.
"It's really you! I can't believe it! It's been what? Eight years?"
"At least that. I just can believe you're here Yoh."
"I know." Yoh sighed regaining his seat beside Morty.
"Morty, how nice to see you again." Amidamaru chimed in before Yoh could continue with another 'I can't believe'.
"Amidamaru! It's so great to see you again too! You look…well you look the same. But it's still so great to see you." Morty smiled and finally faced the waitress who had returned at the wrong time. She stared mindlessly at the group.
"Amedamaroo? I hope you're not referring to me in some new slang term for a woman. That's just disrespectful and I refuse to spoken to in that manner."
"Oh no, I was just addressing my um, my friend here." Morty stuttered when he realized that the women was unable to see their ghost friend.
"Hm yeah sure. Is there anything else I can get for you two gentlemen?" After several hours on her feet, the women was becoming increasingly irritated.
"Oh no thanks. We're just leaving anyway." Yoh left the young woman a tip and gathered up his hamburger.
"You gonna take yours Morty?" Yoh glanced down at the other hamburger. "I really can't take it with me. Anna would kill me if I brought another hamburger home. And technically we're not even suppose to be here."
"Yoh you really haven't changed at all. And from you've just said, it sounds like Anna hasn't either." Yoh began laughing his contagious laughing and was soon joined by Morty and Amidamaru.
"You know what, Yoh? It was really great seeing you again. It's kinda just like the old days. " Morty whispered the last part, reflecting on the olden days when the Shaman Tournament was happening.
"Yeah same here Morty. It's a shame we've gotta split. I know you're probably really busy."
"Um yeah. I suppose I should be going. Thanks for the hamburger, Yoh."
"No problemo Morty. I'll be seeing ya." And although both men had said their goodbyes, neither of them could make their feet move. Standing there in the middle of the road, they realized that they weren't ready for a second goodbye. Their eyes locked and they both were overwhelmed by memories of their adventures together. It wasn't until the boisterous honking of the car horns, did they finally realize that they were still standing on the road.
"You know what Morty? You should come over tonight." Yoh grabbed Morty by the arm dragging him out of the road.
"Oh, I couldn't Yoh. I've got to get home; it's really late and it's a long way."
"Don't worry about it. I don't mind, Amidamaru doesn't mind, Anna will probably mind, but as long as you cook that great meal of yours, I'm sure she won't hurt you." Yoh laughed at the thought of the four of them all being together. The house held so many wonderful memories.
"Haha…yeah well…I guess-"
"Great! Then it's settled! This is going to be fun. It'll be just like the good ol' days." Laughing, Yoh grabbed his short friends arm and pulled him in the direction of the familiar house.
"This is going to be great! We can stay up all night talking about what we've been up to, eat junk food till we spew, then eat some more."
"Yoh, how can you even think of eating after you just inhaled five burgers?"
"Morty, there are some things you just don't question. You don't ask weather man to tell you the news. You don't ask a fast-food restaurant for a salad. And from what I've learned today, you don't ask Yoh why he continues to eat beyond a normal person's intake." Amidamaru had remained silent for most of the walk. Having with Yoh for several years, he had seen no limit to the amount of food he could eat. Especially hamburgers.
"Well we're here." Yoh stopped in front of the house that had been his home for nearly ten years. The house had been empty of guests, parties, and friends for too many years. The walls were desperate to bring the laughter of old friends and good times back. To celebrate the simple joy of being with friends. If given the chance the house would have flung it's doors and windows open in a formal welcoming to the old comrade.
Morty stared back at the house with excitement and content. Never in those ten long years had he seen such a more joyous site. He'd give anything to go back to the times of endless laughter, good friends, boasting, jokes, and bickering.
The group of three walked toward the same old house that their minds refused to let go of. The hall, the kitchen, the living room, everything looked the same. But there was an air of difference to the house. Something hung in the air that gave off an icky sensation to Morty's skin.
"Yoh what are you doing home so late!" The voice that echoed through the house demanded rather than questioned. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Morty at once knew who the voice belonged to. Who else could it possibly be?
"Yoh, you were suppose to be home three hours ago! On top of that you smell like those fast-food joints. For your sake, you'd better have gotten into a fight with a fry cook." Anna emerged from one of the back rooms and marched toward Yoh, momentarily overlooking Morty. Her hair was still the beautiful shade of golden hay, but was longer; well past her shoulders. She still dressed in her simple black attire with a red scarf, that only made her look ruthless. Anyone that knew her would have to agree that the image she portrayed did reflect her personality, but once you saw past all those gigantic barriers and into her heart, you'd see she really had the best of intentions.
"Oh I see you ran into Shorty while you were out. I hope it wasn't at any place you weren't supposed to be." Anna's voice was drenched with suspicion at the return of Morty.
"Good to see you too, Anna." Morty put on his best smile, though it was vain, because Anna's indifferent stare still remained on her face.
"So Shorty when did you run into Yoh? I mean it's been practically ten years and now you just run into each other. What are the odds?"
"Hahaha. Anna you don't want to know all the details behind our simple encounter. It's actually really boring and you wouldn't be interested." Yoh jumped into the conversation with sudden interest, that only added to Anna's suspicions.
"Actually I thought it was quite interesting Yoh."
"Really Morty? Why don't we catch up on those years, beginning with what you and Yoh did tonight." Anna pushed Morty down onto a chair, while Yoh was pulled to the couch beside Anna. Amidamaru, afraid to interfere with what he predicted would occur, remained helplessly by Morty.
"Oh well it all started when I went into Burger World with an associate of mine." Anna's eyebrow arched at the note of Burger World. "And that's where I meet up with Yoh. We stayed for a while and talked, but came here afterwards."
"Lovely. Did you happen to eat anything? You know we have food here." The tone in Anna's voice didn't give off a hint of generosity, but more of an annoyed tone.
"Well, Yoh and I had some burgers but he sai-"
"That's all I wanted to know, Shorty." Anna grabbed Yoh just as he attempted to escape the room. "And just where do you think you are going? I believe you owe me some pushups. From your bragging record to your students, I think you're on burger six. That's around six thousand pushups. You can get a jump start on them tonight. And Shorty over there can join you, if you have nothing better to do."
"Uh…no thanks." Morty looked at Yoh with sympathy as he began his to set of pushups. Anna left the room, satisfied in knowing she was correct and had dealt with the situation properly.
"So, um, Yoh…what have you been up to for the past ten years?" Morty's curiosity had gotten the better of him. Since they met up at the diner, Yoh hadn't mentioned what he did nowadays. And it did bother him a bit. Had his friend been able to make it alright with living a normal life? Or a semi-normal life with all the ghosts.
"Oh you know. Just hanging out working."
"Really, what do you do?"
"Just training…" Yoh went down again for his twentieth pushup.
"Training? What are you training for?"
"Oh just training kids."
"Kids? Yoh what do you do?"
Sitting up, Yoh rested after finishing off another set of pushups. "Well I started up a dojo for kids to train at."
"That's great Yoh. Do you get shaman kids?" Finally having some information on Yoh's new life, Morty wasn't about to let the conversation die down.
"Yeah., that's all I train. I find the kids in local cities with shaman abilities and help them hone their skills. I teach them it's okay to have this gift. It may not sound it but it is fun. The kids are amazing. All of them are so enthusiastic about learning this stuff. I never remember being that eager. It feels like I'm doing something great here, you know? Something that'll make a difference in their lives. I'll tell ya Morty, I thought moment after the shaman tournament I thought there was nothing left for me to do in this world. I'd been training for it all my life and didn't really know what else to do. But once I opened this place, it was like I found my calling. This was what I'd actually been training for." Yoh sighed as he sat down on the sofa. His face looked older. Maybe wiser. But then his smiled and laughed his carefree laugh. And every bit of wisdom his eyes once held disappeared.
"Sorry about that. I didn't mean to get so serious there. I think I've been watching too many of those soaps with Anna."
"What made you want to do that? I can see all the rewards from it, but it does seem like a lot of work."
"Well I can always remember how I felt. You now, being a shaman. Seeing spirits. Everyone treated me like a freak, an outsider, a loon. Expect for you. But I believe that no one else should have to go through that. They have a chance to make friends…and that's better than food any day."
"You really haven't changed at all Yoh." Morty smiled. It was wonderful being back with Yoh. The place was his home away from home.
"Neither have you Morty. So what do you do now?" Yoh questioned back, while moving Morty, Amidamaru, and himself to the kitchen.
"Well you know I just work. I inherited my father's company an-"
"Oh Morty I'm so sorry to hear about your dad like that. It must have been tough."
"Well actually he just went to the Bahamas." Morty looked at Yoh with uncertainly. What was he thinking, that his dad had…oohh.
"I gotcha now. So go on. What do you do? Are you the head of the company and just order people around all day while you sit in your office and eat all day?" Even if Yoh's voice had sounded scornful, his face showed nothing but complete support. His life was pretty much the polar opposite of Morty. Whereas Yoh worked for the public, Morty worked with some of the most elite people in society. If anyone had seen the two together, which many probably had, none of them would believe they were friends. They were now working at the polar opposite jobs.
"Yeah. Well except for the eating all day part. I'm basically in charge of the whole company. Believe it or not, I was a little worried about the whole thing at first."
"No Morty, not you." Yoh joked. "I have nothing but complete confidence in you. I'm sure you're doing an amazing job at your job."
"Thanks Yoh."
"Incase you boys didn't know, it's going on two in the morning and I'd like to get some sleep. But I can't do that till you both shut your yaps." Anna's figure appeared at the kitchen entrance. "So wrap up this up fast and go to bed."
"I'll help Morty find a room for him to sleep in." Yoh leaped up from the table, grabbing Morty and leading him toward the back of the house.
"This is one of my favorite rooms in the house. You're gonna love it."
Opening the door, Yoh walked in and gestured around at the simple but beautiful room. There was a low mattress on the floor, with too many pillows on it. The nightstand beside it was a beautiful piece of oak, obviously handcrafted. There was a large amount of closet space, which was very helpful considering Morty hadn't brought any clothes with him. The room itself was a light sky blue and for good reason.
"I usually come in here and just relax when it's rainy or something outside."
"Yeah it's a beautiful room. Um, Yoh. You don't think Anna's made at me or anything."
"What? Of course not. She just acting that way cause she missed you, but is too stubborn to admit to it. Right now she just adjusting to your visit."
"Oh okay." Morty sighed with a bit of relief, knowing that he wouldn't receive the full wrath of Anna.
"But I would get a good night's sleep. I wouldn't doubt that in the morning she's expecting your usual gourmet meal. And I myself am a little guilty about wanting to have some of it."
"I couldn't think of any better way to repay you for this. Good night Yoh."
"Night Morty." And as Morty laid in the warm bed staring up at the ceiling that mimicked the sky, he realized that the icky feeling was now gone. He felt at peace with himself. Now I know why Yoh likes this room so much. There was a soothing feeling toward the room that just seemed to chase away all ones worries. And before he knew it, he was fast asleep.
And it's done. The first chapter is complete. Feed back is much appreciated and anything I could do to improve upon it. Thanks and have a great summer.