"That's good. We should let her stay here for a little bit. I don't think that she would want to go back to her school." Yoh suggested. "Do you think…"
"That Hao is alive and burning houses again? It's a possibility." Anna confirmed. "I mean, we didn't actually see him dead."
"Anna's right Yoh. Maybe he is recruiting more followers again. From what Cloud told us, long brown hair fits Hao's description." Morty stated. "However, Yoh hurt Hao pretty badly to have him up and walking that quickly. He would need time to heal."
"Hmm…" Yoh nodded, deep in thought. "Why do you think that those students acted the way they did? She told us that they only wanted to accuse her and didn't seem to think of other possibilities. I'm sure that there might have been more that one person with long brown hair. Seems kind of strange don't you think Anna?"
"Of course. She could be telling lies Yoh. I think you should be on guard. We still can't trust no one. Cloud said that everyone seemed to be brainwashed. They turned on her in one day, when the day before everyone was normal. They wanted her out, which is kind of weird." Anna pondered then realized something. "Yoh, since you think that we should let her stay here, you know what that means…"
Yoh groaned. "But Anna, I thought you're going to lighten the load…"
"Quit complaining Yoh. Get up and going." Anna ordered.
"But-" Yoh started.
Anna glared at him and crossed her arms. "No buts Yoh. I want my floor to be squeaky clean in the next hour." Her eyes shifted to Morty. "You too Shorty."
"Ye-es, Anna." Morty quickly got onto the floor and began wiping furiously with a frightened expression. Anna laid back on the couch with cucumbers on her eyes suddenly and egg smoothed across her face. Morty looked at Anna awkwardly and Anna shouted without looking at him. "Get back to work Morty! I don't hear scrubbing! And in case you think I'm weird, eggs are good for the skin!"
Morty stumbled and hastily resumed beside Yoh, who was pouting. When they finished they were sprawled out on the floor breathing heavily.
"Yoh, time for you to make dinner." Anna said as she walked past them to the television. "Don't whine Yoh." She managed to say before Yoh made any objection.
Yoh smiled and got up. "Anna, when-"
"Not until you become Shaman King." Anna answered.
Morty sweat dropped. "How did she-"
"I'm psychic Morty." Anna's voice sounded from the television room.
Yoh just laughed. "I gave up trying to figure that out. Anna will be Anna."
"Yeah. I'll say. It scares me." Morty replied with a shiver.
About two hours later, after Yoh spent tormenting labor in the kitchen trying to cook something edible, he finally was able to have something on the table.
Anna walked into the smoke smelling kitchen and sat down at the table. "Let's see what you got." She said calmly.
Yoh gave an uneasy chuckle and placed a bowl of rice and some broccoli and beef in front of her. He sat down along with Morty and they all began to eat. There was silence for a couple minutes as they all tried the food.
"Not bad Yoh. I have to say, you surprised me." Anna commented and Yoh breathed out a sigh of relief. Morty just didn't say anything and ate.
Cloud awoke in a room she didn't recognize and panic for a second. Then she remembered that she was talking to Anna, Yoh, and Morty when she fell asleep. She had told them what happened, but she didn't know why she did it. It had all seemed to slip out when she was just thinking about it. She wasn't talking to them directly, but just staring off and speaking.
Cloud stood up and pushed off the covers. The house smelled like burned food, so she headed towards the kitchen. She saw Yoh, Anna, and Morty sitting and eating and walked towards them. "What happened?"
"Oh, Yoh cooked, but it actually came out better than I expected." Anna took another bite of the food. "Come try some Cloud." Anna pointed to the chair beside her. "Sit. And Yoh, please go get some for Cloud, and another bowl for me." She stuck out her bowl to Yoh.
Yoh was sweating nervously. "Uh, Anna?"
"Yes?" She stared at him menacingly. "Is there a problem?"
He waved his hands around. "Um, no, no, no problem at all. I'll go get some for you guys." He took Anna's bowl and headed into the back kitchen.
Cloud turned to Anna and saw her eyebrow twitching in annoyance when Yoh was taking longer than five seconds. Uh oh, Cloud thought to herself.
Yoh returned, chuckling nervously. "I'm sorry Anna, Cloud, but I… there isn't anymore food."
Anna stared at him emotionlessly. "There's no way you could've cooked so little rice in that rice cooker… so that meant…" She stood up walked over to him and hit him in the head. "Yoh! What did I tell you! I DO NOT LIKE MICROWAVED FOOD!" She shook him angrily. "Get it through you thick skull of yours that radiation can kill! I demand fresh food from you every time you cook!"
"But Anna! You liked it! And how-" Yoh was cut off by Anna shaking him harder.
Cloud stood up worried. "Stop Anna." She was about to walk over to them to pull them apart, but Morty pulled her arm and stopped her.
"It's okay, just leave them. It's Anna's weird way to express her love for Yoh." Morty stated and shrugged.
"You sure?" Cloud asked.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure." Morty said and turned over to look at Yoh and Anna, but he only saw Yoh lying on the floor with a dizzy expression. "Where's Anna?" He turned around to see a scary expression on Anna's face and her towering over him darkly.
"What did you say Shorty?" Anna glared.
Morty cowered. "Uh, nothing Anna."
Anna grabbed Morty and now begin shaking him. "If you ever say that again Morty, you won't ever see another day!"
"Ah" Cloud moved towards them. "Anna…"
Yoh appeared beside her scratching his head. "That's the way Anna has always been. So don't mind her. You don't want to face her wrath." He chuckled.
"Um, okay." She replied uneasily.
"Yoh! Don't you think that I haven't forgotten your punishment!" Anna yelled out and stared at him.
"Punishment?" He asked. "Oh yeah…" Yoh hung his head.
"Anna, why is he being punished?" Cloud questioned.
Anna turned her gaze on Cloud and she felt shivers going down her spine. "Simple, for making me microwave food."
"I thought you said it was good though." Cloud noted, remembering her line she said before.
"Are you questioning my decisions?" Anna asked fiercely.
Cloud smiled and placed her arms behind her head. With one eye closed, she said, "Apparently. I'm just wondering that's all."
Yoh began to chuckle again, but was cut off short when Anna threw a pan at his head. "Ow," He laid on the floor and twitched.
Anna pointed at Cloud. "You are to join Yoh in his 15 mile run after dinner!"
"What?" Cloud exclaimed. "Why do I have to do that? I'm not part of any of this."
"Well, now you are. You can't escape from me especially since you are staying in this house." Anna crossed her arms.
"What?" Cloud repeated. "When did I say I was staying I this house?"
Yoh stood up wincing and rubbing his head. "Well, you don't want to go back to your school right? I thought you would like to stay here for awhile."
Cloud stared at him surprised. "It's okay. I'll go back home. Thank you very much for your consideration though. I really appreciate it." Cloud bowed.
"No problem. I'll walk you home later. For now, I'll find you something to eat." Yoh smiled.
"Thanks." Cloud smiled gently.
Anna's eyes glowered and grew darker. She eyed Cloud, taking in her long brown hair and her blue eyes. Wait, Anna thought to herself, her eyes look like there are two colors. She stared deeper, indeed her eyes were blue, but the rims of her pupil were purple. They were enchanting. Her features made her beautiful and though she'll never admit it out loud, cute. However, her Yoh was being too kind to her. Of course he always was nice to everyone, but did he have to be like this especially since she told him to be on guard? Anna sat back down at the table.
Yoh motioned Cloud to sit as well. "I'll whoop something up right away." He said as he walked into the back. Then there were tons of crashes and screaming.
Cloud looked concerned and stood up. "I'll go-"
"Sit down. It's okay. I'll go help him." Anna stood up and walked into the kitchen. Anna's voice was heard yelling and there was a clanging noise. Then it sounded like someone started cooking.
"So Cloud, are you going to go to school tomorrow?" Morty asked.
Cloud turned her head to look at him. " I think I should. It's just one more day, then it's the weekend. I'll see how it goes and figure out what I should do after."
"Oh I see. That's logical. There must be something that's affecting them. I don't think that they are acting the way they should be from what you told us." Morty analyzed.
"What do you mean?" Cloud gave him a curious look.
"My theory is that someone or something is causing them to be the way they are. There is something that probably causing them to do the things. Or you are just being framed." Morty informed.
"I see. You may-" Cloud was interrupted by Anna coming into the room with two plates of food.
Anna placed one in front of Cloud. "Here you go. This was the only thing I could make fast."
Cloud smiled. "Thanks Anna." She had to admit that Anna was pretty nice even though she was cold on the outside.
"No problem." She sat down and started eating her plate of food.
Yoh stumbled out of the kitchen and whined. "Anna…"
"Yoh, Morty, go wash the dishes." Anna ordered and they trudged into the kitchen with Morty dragging Yoh back.
Anna ate in silence, then looked at her and saw her watching her with big eyes. "What?" Anna asked annoyed.
Cloud closed her eyes, took a breath, murmured something to herself, and then smiled at Anna. "It's nothing." She continued eating slowly, taking one bite at a time.
Anna thought to herself, she must have saw something. "Cloud, do you know what a shaman is?"
"A shaman?" Cloud looked at Anna puzzled. "Isn't that where a person communicates with a spirit? Like the Indians that perform rituals and stuff?"
"Yes, you can say that. Did you know that shamans exists today?" Anna stated calmly.
"Um, no. Why-? Um…" She looked confused.
"Amidamaru." Anna called out without taking her eyes off Cloud.
A second later, the samurai ghost appear beside Anna. "Yes Miss Anna?"
Anna watched Cloud's expression, but her face remained unchanged. Either she sees him and isn't surprised or she doesn't see him at all, Anna figured. "Do you believe in ghosts Cloud?"
Cloud watched Anna. "I believe in anything…"
She stared hard at Cloud. It was really hard to read her. Anna turned to face Amidamaru, "Go ask Yoh if he is done with his washing."
Cloud's eyes finally shifted to Amidamaru and watched him disappear. Then she looked back at Anna, not saying anything.
"Do you see spirits Cloud? Do you know they exist?" Anna asked. "I believe you see them."
"What difference would it make? Seeing ghosts don't mean anything." Cloud stood up.
Morty and Yoh walked in about that time. "It means you have one of the few abilities that very less people contain." Morty noted. "I can see them too."
"Oh, did you find out that I'm a shaman?" Yoh asked abruptly and in return, received a pan to his head.
Cloud gazed over to Yoh. "You're a shaman? What is that suppose to mean to me?" She turned back to gaze at Anna, who was still sitting down and watching them, unfazed. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I have a feeling that I need to… Perhaps in due time, things may become clearer." Anna stated. "I do not understand this either, but maybe later…"
"Thanks for the food, but I think I should go home now." Cloud bowed. "Goodbye."
"I'll walk you home," Yoh smiled and added, "while I'm doing my run."
"Thanks, but you don't need to." Cloud said. "I can protect myself."
Yoh chuckled. "I'm sure you can, but I insist."
She smiled. "Whatever you like, but I'm leaving now." She bowed once again. "Goodbye."
Anna watched Cloud leave with Yoh following behind. She was trying to figure out the strange feeling she was receiving from her. She couldn't seem to grasp it and it made her uneasy.
Cloud walked out of their house and started on the path back to her house. It was now dark outside and the moon was shining brightly. Cloud looked up at the sky and smiled as she walked. The stars were shimmering beautifully.
"It's a nice night. Isn't it?" Yoh walked up beside her.
She nodded. "Yup. I love the stars."
"They light the way, when a person is lost." Yoh grinned.
"Yeah…" Cloud paused and thought for a second, then spoke up. "Once when I was younger, I saw a bunch of boys picking on this one little girl…"
Yoh wasn't watching her, but was listening intently.
"I ran up and punched the leader of the boys without thinking. I think I was about eight-years-old. Then suddenly the whole group turned and ran after me… I was running for so long and so far… when I finally stopped, I didn't know where I was." She laughed. "I was nowhere near home. I had ran all the way to the beginning of some forest… I was so scared, but when I looked up at the sky, I saw a single star shining brightly… So I followed it, somehow it made me happy and filled me with confidence. I walked for about two hours, but I got back to familiar surroundings." Cloud smiled. "My parents and brother were so worried for me…" She stared off then looked ahead. "That star usually comes out when I need help. It has always been there for me! I named it Valiant."
Yoh tried to suppress his laughter. "You named a star that isn't even yours?" He began chuckling.
"Hey! Be nice!" Cloud made a face. "I was eight."
Yoh only continued chuckling.
"Yoh! Stop! It's not funny! I was being very serious!" Cloud shouted, then looked away. "I shouldn't have told you."
Yoh stopped. "Hey, I didn't mean it. I'm glad you told-" Yoh stopped talking.
"Hey, why are there so many people around my house?" Cloud interrupted and began to run towards it. "Hey-!"
Yoh grabbed her arm and covered her mouth. "Shh!" He pulled her behind a bush.
The group of black cloaked people turned and looked towards the direction they were in. They had heard Cloud call out. A couple of them walked towards them, checking the area.
"What's going on?" Cloud whispered.
Yoh was watching them inching closer. "I'm not sure."
There was a sound of a radio call and a cloaked man close by them received it. "Commander, Cloud Yuumi isn't detected in the house."
The cloaked man looked back to the group in front of the house. "Alright, return to the outside." He replied and another voice entered.
"Commander, return over here. We need to discuss some matters."
"Yes Master." The cloaked man replied. He gave one last glance around the area then began walking back to the front of the house.
Yoh and Cloud crawled closer and watched from behind a bush to try to hear what they were discussing.
"Master." The cloaked man bowed to another dark figure.
"Commander, do you know where Cloud Yuumi is?" The dark cloaked figured asked.
"I'm sorry Master, but Cloud Yuumi didn't return home today."
"Pitiful. Commander, I would like you to meet Jalate, a seer." The figure gestured his arm to another cloaked figure. The figure removed her hood to reveal herself.
Cloud was watching with amazement. She was breathtakingly gorgeous. Her lips were red and her large eyes were so hypnotizing along with her long eyelashes.
"She will help us locate Cloud, Commander." The large dark figure informed.
There was a hesitation. "Is this necessary Master?" The cloaked figure asked.
"I would say so. We need Cloud immediately." The reply was firm. "No time should be wasted."
"I would agree. And this must be luck because…" Jalate pointed the bush that Yoh and Cloud were hiding behind.
Cloud scrambled backwards as quickly as possible and they tried to sneak away as hastily and quietly as possible.
"Cloud is located there." They followed her slender hand and saw them trying to escape.
"After them!" The large dark cloaked figure shouted.
Within seconds, a large group of dark cloaked figures flew after them and surrounded them. Cloud and Yoh turned and saw that they were circled from all sides.
"Well, well. Cloud Yuumi I presume." The large cloaked figure chortled.
Cloud glared. "Who are you? What do you want?" Yoh, beside her was standing still and watching.
"I would like you to come with us." The man removed his hood and smiled, revealing his teeth. "My name is Yashi. That is all you need to know." He was a large towering man, with a stern expression even when he smiled.
"No thanks." Cloud eyed around them, looking for a chance to escape.
"I'm sorry, but you have no choice." He laughed and pointed to them. The circle grew tighter as they close in on them.
"Stop right there!" Yoh had brought out his sword and stood poised, ready to fight. "She isn't going anywhere."
Yashi gazed at Yoh. "You must be Hao Asakura's twin brother. It's such a shame you don't work out your sibling rivalry, Yoh Asakura." He shrugged mockingly. "I think you should be ashamed that you must do that to your brother. However, I'm glad you did. It makes it easier for me."
"What do you mean?" Yoh glowered.
"He was interfering with my plans with his plans of the Shaman only world." Yashi looked over to the Commander. "Oh well, it's not the time to dwell on the past. Yoh Asakura, I would like you to meet your executioner, Ryo, my Commander."
Cloud bit her lip, they needed to escape somewhere, somehow. However, Yoh seemed to be one step ahead of her because without warning, there was an explosion and she felt Yoh grab her arm. And within the second, they were running.
Yashi waved his hand, pushing away the dust in his face. After it started to clear, Yoh and Cloud were nowhere to be found. Jalate and Ryo stood beside him. "I didn't expect any less from the person who defeated Hao Asakura…" They watched the empty street. "We'll obtain her tomorrow…"