Chapter 14: The Plan
Haru slowly made his way back to the hotel where Hao and the rest of the group were staying, it was late night and the streets were practically deserted. Haru didn't mind this because he never really liked large crowds, however as it was late night it was also much colder and Haru was starting to shiver, I need to get this coat insulated he thought to him self as he made his way along the lamp lit streets. He finally came to the entrance of the hotel, he walked up to the front doors and waited for the sensors to pick him up and open the door but they remained shut.
"What the hell now?" Haru muttered under his breath, he tried to open the doors with his hands but found that they were locked, Just great, all I need now is for some mangy guard dog to come round the corner, almost as soon as Haru thought this he heard a growl come from behind a tree, he turned round and saw a rather vicious looking bull dog make it's towards him.
"I don't have time for this" Haru said to no one in particular. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the dog started to charge towards him with its mouth open barking furiously as it did so, just before it reached its intended target Haru vanished and the dog unable to stop charged head first into the locked doors.
Haru reappeared a moment later on the other side of the doors panting slightly; it took a lot more energy for him to morph without Zhou. His amulet was glowing with a bright blue light, which slowly died away. Haru looked at it and didn't move until the light had completely vanished.
When the light had disappeared Haru made his way slowly around the dark corridors of the hotel trying to remember where his room was. After several wrong turns and five dead ends he finally managed to find his room. As he closed the door he relaxed and took off his coat to find that his right arm was practically covered in blood that was flowing from the wound in his shoulder.
"Just perfect" Haru grumbled as he went over to the bathroom and rinsed off as much of the blood as possible before tearing up one of the spare sheets for his bed and using it to bandage his arm. He would have to get it looked at later but right now he was just too tired, not surprising I've probably lost way too much blood, he thought to himself as he fell onto the bed and went straight to sleep.
Luca was in his room sitting at a desk on top of which was a whole series of beakers, vials and other fragile scientific equipment; every few minutes he would stir the contents of one vial before pouring it
into another and then write down some notes in a large blue book, his movements were slow and controlled. A timer started beeping on the edge of the desk and Luca looked up and saw the time; he'd been up all night working on his experiment and he had almost come to the end. Leaning forward he carefully removed a vial that had been under a flame for about five hours, gripping it with a pair of tongs he got up slowly and walked over to the other side of the room where what looked like a large black cauldron was sitting on top of another table; it was full of a dark red liquid that looked quite a lot like blood except blood didn't give off blue smoke. As Luca approached the cauldron he held the vial over the mouth of the cauldron and very delicately started to tilt the vial so that only a drop of liquid would fall into the cauldron.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Distracted by the noise Luca ended up pouring the entire contents of the vial into the cauldron, which promptly exploded and covered him in black smoke, Luca sighed and said, "The doors not locked"
The door opened and Hao came walking in, "What happened to you?" he asked, seeing Luca's face was completely black.
Luca rubbed the soot off his face and replied, "Someone distracted me while I was working on a particularly stressful experiment" Luca shook his head ruefully, "How ironic, I'm always telling you knock instead of teleporting and the one day you choose to listen to me…" Luca gestured to the burnt out corner of the room.
"I always listen to you Luca, you know that" Hao told black robed man conversationally. "I just don't always remember what you say"
Luca chuckled and his voice was actually full of humour, "All right Hao what do you want?"
"What makes you think I want something?" Hao replied innocently
"Your never polite to me unless you need my help" Luca told him, "So stop playing games"
"What did you think of my latest follower?" Hao asked quickly changing the topic
Luca blinked as he tried to collect his thoughts, "What? you mean Haru? I thought he was slightly withdraw and rather cynical, other than that he appeared to be a normal teenager, apart from the fact that he was polite"
"Does that mean you liked him?" Hao asked trying to get a straight answer
"I found him agreeable" Luca responded
Hao laughed, "Yes for some reason he seems to respect you more than he does me"
"It might be the fact that I helped him instead of beating him into oblivion, but that is just a thought" Luca wandered over to his desk and started clearing up his equipment
"What were you working on anyway?" Hao asked
"A shamanic drug" Luca replied coolly
"Really? What does it do?" Hao asked not bothering to mask his interest
"I don't know because someone interrupted me" Luca answered with a certain emphasis on the word someone.
"Ah well mistakes happen, I'm sure even you make the odd mistake from time to time; such as incorrectly labelling your pills" Hao said this a little too innocently for Luca's comfort.
"What are you getting at Hao?" the priestly man asked sternly
Hao quickly sketched out the girls plan to drug Haru and then get their revenge, which left Luca slightly speechless, finally he said, "Thank you for telling me Hao, I'll make sure that they don't get what they're after"
"Actually you must make sure that they get what they're after" Hao told Luca. Luca stared at him for a moment but didn't say anything so Hao continued, "Well at least let them think they get what they want"
"What are you plotting Hao?"
"Do you have any of those anti-depressant pills left?" Hao asked conversationally
Luca's eyes narrowed and replied, "Hao I do not use my skills to take advantage of others"
"Don't think of it like that Luca, you said yourself that Haru was withdrawn, we're just going to help him come out of his shell" Hao said persuasively
Luca sighed and pulled out a plastic container of pills, "These are what you're looking for" he said in a defeated tone of voice
"You're just giving them to me?" Hao seemed taken aback at this move
"I've been with you long enough to know that nothing I say can change your mind, but beware Hao if everyone else finds out that you planned this you may find yourself victim to a similar plot"
Hao laughed, "You may be right Luca, but I doubt anyone would try it when they know I can read their mind, now this is what I want you to do…"
Haru woke up and glanced at the clock on the bedside table; it was 11:00am. Grumbling how there was never enough time to sleep he dragged himself out of bed and made his way over to the shower; he didn't bother turning up the temperature instead allowing the icy cold jets of water wake him and clear his mind. Ten minutes later Haru was out the shower and was dressed in another pair of blue jeans but with a red t-shirt, as he left his room he grabbed his coat which was still slightly stained with blood and went to look for Hao. Haru hadn't taken five steps before he heard a door open behind him and he turned round to see Hao coming out of Luca's room.
"Hao" Haru called out in a dull monotone, Hao paused and turned to look at Haru, "You know my other followers refer to me as master"
"Good for them" Haru said dismissively, tossing the crystal pendulum at Hao as he spoke, "there, now I expect you to live up to your side of the bargain"
Hao examined the crystal momentarily as though checking whether it was genuine, apparently satisfied he placed the pendulum into his trouser pocket and then placed both hands behind his back when he brought them back round one hand was holding a black memorial tablet the other was holding Haru's Dragon Blade which was in it's scabbard. Hao tossed both them at the time and Haru caught them expertly. As soon as Haru touched the memorial tablet Zhou formed in front of him.
"Master are you safe?" he sounded extremely concerned
"I am fine, don't concern yourself" Haru replied
"Now that you have your weapons back I expect you to start training again, I have no use for a weak shaman" Hao told Haru curtly
Zhou turned and when he saw Hao went instantly into a fighting stance despite the fact that he was dead, "What are you doing here?"
"Relax Zhou, things have changed" Haru told the restless spirit calmly. Turning back to Hao, "Exactly what do you classify as a weak shaman? Because I would have thought that Mia would certainly be countered as one"
"A weak shaman is someone who has no desire for power, someone who will not work to get stronger, in short a weak shaman is someone who does not have determination" Hao replied sombrely
"She doesn't exactly strike me as determined, spoiled maybe…" Haru started to say
"Do you know what she asked of me when I allowed her to join?" Hao cut Haru off. Haru shook his head and Hao continued " she asked me to train her until she could defeat you in battle, you obviously had quite an effect on her"
"I only showed her how weak she was, you realise it will take you at least a year before she comes to par with my power" Haru said
"Actually I believe it will only be a matter of weeks but if you do not consider her a threat then I believe you will get a quite a shock when she challenges you" Hao leaned in closer and whispered to Haru, "If I were you I wouldn't think quite so highly of myself; because with your amount of power Macchi could take you with one hand behind her back"
"You underestimate me" Haru said coldly
"What's wrong? Don't like the idea that you're not so strong anymore?" Hao said with a smug look on his face
"Hao if you want me to fight say so, don't attempt to bait me" Haru said keeping the cold edge to his voice
"Oh, why not?" Hao raised an eyebrow
"Because it won't work
"Really, I seem to remember you had quite a temper when you fought me"
"Is there anything else you want to say? If not I'm leaving" Haru sighed and started to turn away.
"Haru, do you remember my brother Yoh" Hao said genially
Haru paused and turned back to Hao and debated with himself for a second, but it was too good a chance to pass up; "Yoh? Let me see, scrawny little kid, with a face that has an aversion to mirrors (i.e. they crack, PS: to all Hao and Yoh fans this is just joke)" as Haru finished speaking he heard someone try and suppress a snort of laughter and turned round to see Kanna leaning against a wall, with a smirk on her face.
Haru quickly turned back to Hao as he started speaking, "You know, not everyone appreciates your brand of humour, you should be careful about who your jokes relate to" Hao had a dark look on his face and Haru could sense him gathering Furyoku around him and realised that he should back down, but the guy had really pissed him off earlier.
"Who said I was joking?" Haru replied with a straight face. Hao's expression did not change but he conjured a fireball in his right hand and aimed it at Haru, just as he was about to throw it Haru vanished and a gust of wind blew past Kanna who smirked and walked up to Hao who was fuming silently.
"I'll get him for that" Hao muttered
"I'm beginning to like that kid" Kanna said with a chuckle
"What?" Hao said with deadly calm
"He managed to get you angry Hao, he took you down a peg or two, no one else would even dare try but he did; it will be good to have him around he'll stop you becoming to high and mighty about yourself"
"I thought you and Luca already did that" Hao said his anger subsiding
"Yeah but you've started ignoring us" Kanna said as she pulled a cigarette out of nowhere and lit it.
"How is Mia's training going?" Hao said changing the subject, Kanna took a drag of her cigarette before she spoke.
"Fine, she's doing quite well. Are you ever going to tell her about the weights she's carrying?" (Hao had replaced both of Mia's bracelets with led weights and had put a illusion spell on them so that she wouldn't notice, he had also had weights put into her shoes).
"No, if I did she would only complain" Hao answered
"You know I'm surprised you haven't tried anything with her…" Kanna began
"You obviously haven't been watching then, I had the misfortune of walking into her room just as she came out of the shower, suffice to say she didn't care for my…forceful approach"
Kanna stared for a second and then started laughing, "I bet she didn't use those words"
"No I believe her exact words were 'get out of here you filthy pervert' or something along those lines" Hao said with a wry grin
"Well the Boz owe me fifty bucks; I told them you wouldn't get anywhere with her" Kanna said with a grin
"If you are implying that I cannot win her over I will gladly prove you wrong" Hao said with a smile
Kanna's grin vanished and she took on a stern tone, "Don't Hao, that would be cruel even for you. Don't make her fall in love with you if you don't love her"
Hao shrugged and said, "Your right, besides Macchi and Mari would probably get jealous"
Kanna rolled her eyes, "well it seems you climbed up two more pegs again perhaps I should get that punk back here"
Hao's face took on a devious look as Kanna mentioned Haru, "Ah yes I nearly forgot, I'll have to do something about him, it can wait though. Now Kanna what are you doing here?" Hao said with complete innocence
Kanna blinked in surprise and stumbled to come with an excuse, "Oh um… I came to see Luca… have to get an aspirin for my migraine" she tried desperately to think about something other than the plan the Hanagumi and Mia had come with yesterday in case Hao tried to read her thoughts.
"You know you wouldn't have so many headaches if you stopped drinking" Hao said with a smile
"Hmph, the day I stop drinking is the day Bill takes up figure skating" Kanna replied darkly
Hao laughed and said, "I'm only trying to look out for you health, but I'm sure Luca will do that for me goodbye then" and Hao made his usual exit in a pillar of fire
"Mia must wake up" Mari told her brown haired companion
"Umm, give me five more minutes" Mia said sleepily, rolling over to the other side of the bed and drawing up the covers more tightly around her.
Mari tapped her foot and put Chuck down, the little doll immediately wandered off to the bathroom and out of view. "Mia must wake up or Mia will be late and Kanna will be mad"
Mia didn't reply; she had already gone back to sleep, at this point Chuck came back from the bathroom with a glass of water, he wandered round to Mia's bed and stopped in front of her face and glanced at Mari who nodded, Chuck then threw the water in Mia's face; the effect was instant.
"AHHH!" Mia screamed and jumped up in bed and immediately started wrestling with the covers before falling out of the bed and onto the floor. Mari giggled and when Mia got up her face was crimson
"That's not funny! You know I don't like the water!" Mia stormed.
"Then Mia should wake up earlier" Mari told her still smiling slightly at Mia's reaction
Mia grumbled slightly but didn't argue and slowly got changed and walked outside with Mari and was instantly met by Macchi who was waiting outside her door.
"Come on! Come on! We're gonna be late!" she told them excitedly and started dragging Mia towards the restaurant.
"What are we gonna be late for?" Mia asked; she still wasn't 100 awake yet
"Operation Snooze, remember? You planned half of it and Haru's already started eating" Macchi said still dragging Mia
"What! Come on what are we waiting for!" Mia started running and ended up dragging both Mari and Macchi before coming to a stop outside the double doors that were the entrance to the restaurant/cafeteria. Pausing a moment to catch her breath and then opened the doors and looked around quickly for Kanna; she was sitting over in a corner of the room at a large table. Mia quickly made her way round and took a seat beside her, Mari and Macchi appeared a second later.
"Your late" Kanna snapped
"Hey don't blame me Mia's the one who wouldn't wake up" Macchi exclaimed and pointed a finger accusingly at Mia.
"Yeah, yeah, I over slept sorry" Mia apologised quickly, "where's Haru? I don't see him anywhere" Mia asked as she scanned the area.
"There" Mari indicated across the room to a table that was slightly obscured by potted plants. Haru was sitting by himself but Mia noticed was talking quickly to what appeared to be a suit of armour floating in front him Mia also saw his sword, which was leaning against a pillar within easy reach of the wielder.
"So that's his spirit huh?" Kanna muttered to herself as she examined Zhou
"Hey he kinda looks like Ashcroft" Macchi said slowly
"Despite the fact his armour is clearly Japanese" Kanna replied
"Yeah well apart from that" Macchi said
"Umm Kanna did you get the stuff from Luca?" Mia asked tentatively
"Yeah it was easy; he just left it lying about, I was kinda surprised but I read the label and it's just what we want" Kanna answered confidently as she showed Mia a half empty container of little red pills
"Has anyone actually put it in Haru's food?" Mia asked again
"Mari did" the blonde girl answered somewhat excitedly
"Where's Peyote? Shouldn't he be here?" Mia asked
"He's over there" Kanna jerked a thumb behind her and Mia saw the guy sitting at a table by himself nursing a bottle of beer, but every now and again he would look up and gaze at Haru before returning to his drink.
"Umm is it just me or is Haru not looking very tired?" Macchi asked in a puzzled tone
The girls glanced up at Haru and sure enough he did not at all tired, if anything he looked as though he had slightly too much coffee; he couldn't seem to sit still, his fingers were drumming on the table and his head kept twitching as he looked from side to side as he talked.
"You know what he reminds of…" Macchi began slowly
"Yeah, he's just like Mari when she used to take those…" Kanna voice died in her throat and she gazed thoughtfully at Haru
"What are you guys talking about?" Mia asked confused
"Well Mari used to get really depressed when Hao first took her in, so he started giving her these pills to help her be a bit more… I guess you could say cheery" Kanna finished lamely
"Yeah and right after she took the pills she'd get just like…" Macchi indicated to Haru who was still acting as if he was on a major sugar high "…then she'd get really relaxed and just sit there smiling to herself, it was kinda creepy" Macchi finished with a shudder.
"Luca stopped Hao from giving them to her because she started having mood swings after they wore off" Kanna remarked
"Give Mari the pills" the blonde haired girl ordered suddenly. Everyone jumped as she spoke; they had completely forgotten she was there. As Kanna handed over the pills Mari examined them closely and read the label a few times before she suddenly ripped it off exposing another label underneath. Mari then wordlessly handed it back to Kanna.
"what the hell, we got the wrong stuff!" Kanna exclaimed
"You mean you got the wrong stuff" Macchi pouted as she said this, "Now we can't carry out operation Snooze"
"Maybe not but I just got a better idea" Mia said quietly a devious grin spreading over face. Everyone turned to look at her and she explained, "right now Haru is basically drunk right?" the Hanagumi considered this and then nodded, "Well then how about we give him a night out and get him really drunk and see what he does, I don't know about you but most of the guys I know do really stupid things when they get drunk"
As Mia explained what she had planned the Hanagumi slowly developed wicked grins that were very similar to Mia's.
"Mari get a camera, I have a feeling we're not going to want to forget this"
"Macchi could you round everyone up? I want everyone to be there"
"Kanna do you know any good bar's?"
Author: Well that's the end of the chapter hope you liked it. Sorry for the long wait; my parents banned me from the computer until I passed my driving test, but with that done I am free to update, until Friday when I go on holiday then you'll have to wait till September because I won't be anywhere near a computer.
If you didn't like the chapter don't worry the next one will have a lot more action which will mainly consist of the X-Laws getting beat up repeatedly specifically Macro; I really don't like him, sorry to any Macro fans (if there are any)
To my Reviewer(s)
Mikauzoran: once again thanks for the info it really helps as I haven't read the manga or even seen the entire anime (I got just up to where Yoh reaches patch village, so a lot of my character impressions are from other peoples fanfics). I may be able to do one more update before Friday but I will have to work fast.
HAO-Addictive: Right well firstly: "L'ho detto era carino" – "I told you he was cute" "Perché lei porta quella bambola?" – "Why are you carrying that doll?" that was just to the Hanagumi know Haru spoke Spanish and could understand what they were saying. I was sure I put translations at the bottom of that chapter but anyway there they are again. As to your other question I was planning on keeping Hao single but that doesn't mean he can't hit on the Hanagumi every now again, if you want a really good Hao romance story read "Ivy, Shaman runaway" a brilliant story, but then again if you really like Hao stories you've probably read it already. Glad you like my story I always like to get positive feedback.
To all other readers please remember to REVIEW, if you've written stories as well I'm sure you'll know that you enjoy writing far more when you know that people are enjoying your stories.