The next day I was going to go to see Yoh and tell him my problem.
I was about to knock on his door when I thought better of it. I didn't want to put him and his friends in danger considering how powerful Hao was.
So I went to Memorial Hill to sit and ponder my fate. Another party at my house would start in about an hour and my parents would be leaving at around 8:00. I doubted I'd see them by then.
Then a strong wind blew and ruffled my hair.
"Great. Now my hair is a mess. That's all I need." I mumbled.
"It looks fine to me." I heard a voice say.
I jumped up and turned around. It was Hao.
"Y-You're gonna have to pay for my furniture you know." I said.
"Your furniture?"
"What, you think fire doesn't do anything to furniture?"
"That won't matter when I'm Shaman King and I rule the world."
"Yeh well…" Big Point.
"I expect you're coming then." He said holding out his hand.
I went over to him reluctantly, ignoring his outstretched hand. Then what I was standing on changed into this huge red hand! Actually, it was more like a claw. And connected to it was Hao's giant Spirit of Fire!
"Whoa." I said simply, looking up.
Then the monstrous hand rose and took us up to his back. Hao helped me on, then we took off.
Flying up there was amazing.
"So where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see," he said, then he gave me a blue oracle bell, "Here. You'll need this for the shaman tournament"
In time, the others had past their preliminaries and first round matches and were now set to find Dobi Village. They were at an airport, waiting to board one of Lenny's jets.
(Apparently, he has a dozen more just like it!)
This was where Hao landed after he picked up the rest of his team. We remained behind him, invisible and shielded by Hao's guardian ghost. Trey noticed him first.
"Hey Yoh," he said, "That kid kinda looks like you."
"You're going to use a plane to fly to Dobi Village?" Hao said mockingly.
"And just what is it to you?" Len said.
"I'm using spirit control to fly all the way there."
"You're joking. All the way across the desert on spirit energy alone?"
"You may not be able to. But I can." Hao said. And with that his guardian ghost appeared.
"And just what is that thing behind you supposed to be?"
"My guardian ghost. The Spirit of Fire. One of the most powerful creatures on earth."
"So just what do you want? Just here to show off or what?" Yoh said.
"Just to say I'm gonna be Shaman King. So you have no chance."
"Oh yeh?" Trey said as he and Lenny gained spirit control. But Hao's guardian ghost merely brushed them away with its giant hand as if they were flies.
Then Yoh went at him with his Celestial Slash. It had no effect at all on his guardian ghost. The repelling force, pushed Yoh back onto the floor.
Hao then approached Yoh. "I'm going to need you to get stronger Yoh. I've got big plans for you." "What do you mean by 'plans'?" But Hao ignored that and turned and walked back this way. Then the rest of us became visible. One of his teammates, a short guy with a poncho and an afro, said, "Hao can we go now I'm really really bored. Please please please?""Of course Opacho," Hao said joining us and standing next to me, which of course brought Yoh's attention to me.
"K-Karuri?" Yoh said uncertainly.
I kept my head bowed. I couldn't meet his eyes.
"Is that Karuri?" Trey said, "WTF!"
"Why..?" Yoh said.
I could only shake my head.
"I'm sorry Yoh." I choked out as we all went onto the Spirit of Fire's back.
"This is my queen Yoh," Hao said, resting his hand on my shoulder, "And as for you...," he said as we went into the air, "I hope to see you in the second round and I look forward to seeing all of you again."
"Why did you have to do that Hao?" I said once we were in the air.
"Do what?" he smiled.
"It would be better if he didn't know."
But he didn't reply.
We were flying for some time when he decided to take a break and camp out near a forest. It had turned dark. I sat next to Hao on a log as he watched the fire burn.
I wondered about Hao. He seemed so calm, almost cheerful most of the time. Sometimes it was hard to think he was evil. I started to think about the different side to his personality.
"You don't actually want to be my queen." He said suddenly.
"Is it that easy to see?" I said sarcastically.
He smiled.
I realized I was tired and my eyes felt heavy. I got up and went to lay down on the grass and stare at thestars till I fell asleep. It wasn't long before Hao appeared next to me. He came over me and, without warning, kissed me deeply, passionately. His hands strayed from my neck down to my waist. He pushed his body against mine, making me gasp. He started kissing my neck, then going lower. I brought his lips back up to mine. Can't be having any of that now can we?
"Uh…Hao?" we heard someone say.
"Yes Opacho? What is it?" Hao replied sitting up.
"It's the X-Laws. They're in the tournament."
"I'm not surprised. They have it in for me. As if they have a chance anyway. Silva spoke to me earlier you know. Said I wasn't welcome. But if it wasn't me they had to worry about, it would be them."
"Also Hao, it seems they have they're eye on a member of Yoh's team. He seems to agree with they're cause."
"Good for them. A new member joining they're ranks. And I bet I know who."
Then he got up and walked over to the fire once more. I sat up and watched him. Intrigued by what he was going to do next.
"What's on your mind Hao?" Opacho said.
"I'm thinking about Yoh and why he so easily gets distracted. I figure he needs a wake-up call." Hao smiled.
What exactly did he mean by 'wake-up call'? I wondered.
-----END OF CHAPTER---->>>