Mikau: Hello! I am back! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to update this as fast as the original Ivy, but I shall try my best. Oh, and if anyone knows where I could get the original Shaman King episode scripts from the last three episodes, I would really appreciate it. I have all the episode scripts up to episode 61, but I need episodes 62, 63, and 64. Even if you have the subbed version and could possibly type out the scripts and email them to me at mikauzoran at msn dot com, that would be great, because all I get is the stupid English dub, and I'm dying. If someone could please do me this one favor, I would be eternally in your debt. PLEASE HELP ME!
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. If I did, then I wouldn't have to be begging for someone to supply me with the last three episode scripts. Stupid 4KIDS TV and their dubbie version!
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Hana
"Achoo!" a petite sneeze echoed throughout the onsen's kitchen.
I smiled, smirked rather, evilly at the sneezer. "Sneezy, sneezy, 'Achoo!' Someone out there's thinking 'bout you!" I teased.
A woman, looking about 17 glared up from the table at me. "Honestly Hana…" She rolled her mischievous onyx eyes at me as she gracefully flipped a fawn colored bang out of her face. "You are such a child."
The condescending tone in her voice slapped the smile off my face. I sat down across the table from her and concentrated souly on my unbuttered toast. Normally I didn't care what people thought of me, but her opinion was the only one that mattered. "You sound like Mom…" I sighed sorrowfully; I hadn't seen the teasing glint in her eyes, or the subtle smirk on her bright red lips.
When I was busy with my dry toast she took the opportunity to fling butter at me with her fork. It hit me right in the forehead.
"Don't compare me with my sister." She winked slyly.
I couldn't help but laugh at her childish games. "Don't scare me like that; the last thing we need is another Anna running around!"
I flicked a spoonful of butter back at the woman across the table. Soon our little butter battle turned into an all-out food war.
"Careful what you say, the Ice Queen might hear you!" The brown-haired beauty laughed easily back at me in warning.
"What do I care if she hears?" I ducked as the whole tub of butter soared over my head.
The butter tub just barely missed me, but it hit another target. A blonde-haired, brown-eyed, she-devil target. Both sides immediately ceased fire.
"You two had better clean up this mess before the customers wake up." Anna Kyôyama Asakura, my mother, stood directly behind me, looking extremely pissed.
"Hello Anna!" My partner in crime stepped in front of me, boldly facing my mother. I was in awe of how the brown-eyed woman confronted Anna, all the while, smiling cheerfully as if everything was fine. I silently thanked her for shielding me as I snuck off, away from my mother's rage.
"What do you think you're doing?" Anna calmly eyed the shorter girl as if this was a daily event (which it was.) "Is it really that hard to act your age?"
The younger of the two smiled gleefully and chuckled, "Oh Anna! You know perfectly well that I don't remember my age! What does it matter anymore? I don't look a day over 17, and you know it!"
"Ivy, you are 32 and a half. Start acting like it." Anna glared at her younger sister, and for once my aunt's smile dropped like a sparrow shot out of the sky.
My mother handed my aunt a dishtowel and ordered her to clean up the kitchen. Anna turned on her heel and headed back upstairs.
My aunt dropped to her knees, and her body took on the mechanical motion of scrubbing the floor while her mind clearly wandered somewhere else. The sharp coloring drained from her eyes, and her already fair complexion evaporated making her look deathly pale.
"Ivy?" I picked up a towel and joined her on the ground of Funbari Onsen's kitchen.
"-es?" She muttered, losing the 'y' of the word to the floor.
"I think you're a really great person." I paused to watch her pretty eyes flash a glance in my direction. "Anna didn't mean it that way."
Ivy's eyes, the windows to her soul, look me directly in the face as she asked, "Hana, what are you talking about?"
I gestured vehemently with my hands as I explained: "When Anna told you to 'act your age', she was indirectly hinting that you should take responsibility, and the only thing in your life that you need to take responsibility for is your children. Therefore, what Anna really meant was that you needed to go home to your family, implying that you were a bad mother." I took a breath. "Now, I don't know if you think this way or not, but in most people's opinion, bad mothers are bad people, so in order to cheer you up, I said that you were a good person. In which I was saying that you were a good mother, and the world's greatest aunt, and that I really think that it's your decision whether or not you wanted to go back." Just as I said this, I made an enthusiastic arm gesture with the hand that was holding the wet towel. The towel slapped me in the face, interrupting my speech, and instantly cheering up Ivy.
I smiled sheepishly as she laughed at me. "Wow…nice Hana. Really smooth." She lightly teased. "If you don't get a girl with your looks, you can always win her over with comedy."
"That's not funny." I pouted back at her, wiping the water off of my face.
"Maybe not, but you know what is?" I gave her a questioning glance, signifying my interest. "You are reading too far into things as always. There is no way that Anna meant all that by telling me to act my age." The wide smile faded slightly from her warm face. "Though…maybe I should go back."
I looked down at the wooden floor and returned to scrubbing. I couldn't bare the thought of my aunt leaving us. She had raised me, after all, and she was the one who saved me from Tamao's insanity. Tamao's mental heath had deteriorated over the years, and it just so happens that she was the one whom my parents left to raise me. I think it was the unrequited love she had for my father that drove her off her rocker. Once I was born, Tamao had given up all hope of ever getting with Yoh. I think that's why she hated me so much. But now it didn't matter since she had married Horo Horo and had had a child of her own. A slightly unusual child, but still one of my very best friends.
My thoughts were ripped away from me with the sound of Ivy's voice, "I couldn't go back to him now…it's been way too long. He's probably already found someone else anyway. The twins probably hate me…that or have totally forgotten me and have accepted their new mother as their only mother. Besides…what good am I to him…the way I am now?"
Ivy looked down at her body and sighed. The body was borrowed. It wasn't hers. Ivy's original body was in storage somewhere, and the one she was currently using was only a corpse puppet, created by Anna, Ivy, and Faust. Something had happened to Ivy's original body, making it less than desirable for her to use. I was never exactly told what really happened. For all I knew, she could have gotten a scar on her leg, and didn't want to be seen in public with the hideous thing, so she transferred her soul into a corpse puppet, and ran away from her husband and day old twins. I had no idea why she couldn't use her old body. Ivy was a pretty vain person, so there really was no telling why she did what she did.
"Hey, Ivy?"
"Hmm?" My aunt looked up dully at me, lost in her own thoughts.
"I'm gonna go to Karasumori." The cemetery was one of my favorite hangouts. "I'm supposed to meet the gang there. Okay?" I started to get up, but paused mid-way to see if she'd stop me and make me clean with her. I felt terribly for ditching her, but I had forgotten that I was supposed to meet my friends there at 6:30, and I was going to be late.
"It's only 6:33." She looked back down at her work. "I'm sorry, but it's going to rain soon. I'm afraid that it's going to be a really bad storm."
"Please don't cry…" I begged the sorrowful Allure.
"I'm afraid I can't help it. I've kept these emotions inside for too long, and now they're going to all spill out at once. I'm sorry if the rain will ruin anything that you and your friends have planned." I could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes, and outside, grey storm clouds were rolling in.
And yet, even though she was about to cry, she thought of me. Me and my friends, and she worried that she would ruin our day just because she was unhappy. I was pretty sure she would have held the tears in if I told her the truth that rain would spoil our plans, so I lied.
"No, actually we're not doing anything in particular. I'll make sure we get inside before we all catch colds." I gently smiled at her as I made my way to the door.
"Have fun." She blinked back tears and bid me on my way. "Oh, and be sure to tell your friends about the masquerade party the Onsen is holding this weekend. Anna says the more customers the better." She slipped some business card-sized invitations into my pocket.
"I will. Don't cry too hard Ivy…You're a great mother. You raised me pretty well." I forced a smile at her before slipping out the kitchen door.
"I raised you as an aunt would…not a mother. I may be the 'world's greatest aunt', but I'm a total flop as a mom." The Allure sighed as tears lightly fell from her dark orbs.
My name is Hana Asakura. I am 17 and 3/4 years old. My parents' are Yoh Asakura, the Shaman King, and Anna Kyôyama, the owner of the hot spring resort Funbari Onsen where we live. I finally had the pleasure of meeting my parents when I was six. I know that sounds extremely odd, but it's true.
You see, when I was born, my mother and father had just been crowned Shaman King and Queen, so they had duties to attend to. They left me in Tokyo, and traveled around the world. They couldn't take a baby with them, so they left me. Tamao Tamamura, an old friend of theirs was left to raise me. The only problem was, that Tamao was partially insane. Like I said before, I think she lost her mind right after I was born since she was in love with my father.
I was scared to death of Tamao ever since I was first placed in her arms as a baby. Needless to say, I didn't have a happy childhood. My only escape was when 'Uncle Ryo' took me on adventures. We visited Uncle Ren in China, Uncle Horo Horo while he was caring for his Coltsfoot field, and even Uncle Chocolove in jail. But even with all my little outings, I still spent a majority of my time in the Onsen hiding from Tamao.
For the longest time, until I was about six, I thought that Tamao was my real mother. I had never met or heard of Anna and Yoh. No one bothered to mention that I wasn't really the son of that crazy pink-haired woman. I thought I was doomed to forever be unhappy, and suffer, but then one day something wonderful happened to give me hope in life, and a reason to hang on.
I still remember the day that Ivy came to stay with us: the best Christmas present I ever got.
It was the day after Christmas; I was about two years old. That year, I had gotten nothing from my 'mother' Tamao for Christmas; not that I expected Tamao to get me anything; besides, I was too young to understand the whole principle of Christmas and gift giving. I did, however get various small gifts from my 'Uncles' and 'Aunts', and a small package containing a peculiar clay-like red knife from 'Yoh and Anna'.
It was early in the morning, about six o'clock, but I was up. A faint knocking sounded at the door, and I automatically went to answer it. I pried open the inn's door and peeked at the visitor.
At first I thought that she was a fallen angel; she was so pale and weak looking, but still gorgeous. Her brown hair fell messily on her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes were dull and misty. Her skimpy red top, and short black skirt were wrinkled, and slightly falling off of her. I couldn't help but stare.
Slowly her bright red lips parted, and she spoke, "Hana?"
I nodded, my mouth slightly open in awe.
"Is your mother home? I need to talk to her." The angelic woman leaned heavily on the doorframe.
I nodded again, still unable to speak. Taking a few steps backward, I signaled for her to follow me, if she could. She looked rather shaky, and I was unsure if she could stand by herself, let alone walk.
Yet, even though she was lacking in strength, she followed without complaining. "My name is Ivy Kyôyama. I'm your mother's sister…your aunt; I was hoping that I could stay here at Funbari Onsen with you. What do you think of that?"
I stopped outside the kitchen door and smiled brightly up at her. "I…would like that."
"Hana! Who are you talking to!" Tamao came stalking out of the kitchen in a maddening rage. She hated me, and found any excuse necessary to yell at me. Tamao stopped when she saw who I was with. "Ivy…"
"Hello Tamao." My newly found aunt smiled cheerfully at my 'mother'.
The insanity immediately drained from the pink-haired prophetess. "Miss Ivy! What are you doing here! Weren't you in the hospital just yesterday!" A timid, shy, mouse replaced the woman I had come to accept as my mother.
Ivy pushed her way past Tamao into the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee for herself, and taking a seat at the table. "Yes, I was at the hospital yesterday. I have twins; two girls; Hoshi and Thorn. They were born on Christmas; December 25th; 12:00, and 12:03 am."
"Why aren't you with Hao celebrating?" Tamao followed Ivy inside the room and took the seat opposite her.
"Look at me Tamao. Does that answer your question?" Ivy placed a small, shaky hand over Tamao's.
"Ivy…your hand…it's so….What happened to you!" Tamao's eyes flickered with horror, and she shivered at Ivy's touch.
"It doesn't matter. All that matters now is that I can't be a mother to those girls, and I can't be a wife to Hao. So I've come here. Are Anna and Yoh still…?"
"Yes…They left Hana with me to raise. I'm sure they wouldn't object to you staying. You can help with Hana; I just can't stand him. Yoh's son." The prophetess's eyes filled with the built-up tears she had been saving for the past two or so years.
"It's all right…I understand. Please just don't tell Hao that I'm here." Ivy smiled gently, pleadingly at Tamao, who nodded, as Ivy stood up and walked towards me. "Don't worry about a thing Hana." She smiled gracefully and whispered into my ear. "I'm here for you; I'll protect you…"
So from that day forth, Ivy raised me like I was her own son. Even after my real parents came back to the Onsen when I was six, Ivy staid and played the role of my mother, even if Anna did try to take over her motherly roles.
Anna had returned to take care of the Inn, Funbari Onsen, and me. The business was going well, but Anna still had a lot of spare time. In that time, she, Ivy, and Faust (the inn's resident doctor), worked in a secret underground lab, trying to make a new body for Ivy that would function exactly like her original one. So far all they had come up with were a bunch of corpses that Ivy's soul could be infused with; Ivy's soul could only stay in the body for twenty-four hours at most, so Ivy's freedom was extremely limited. Still, the 'Corpse Brides' as Anna called them (because they were all dressed in wedding gowns for some unknown reason. I think it was because my mother liked the look of them.) were getting better everyday. I tried to help as best as I could since I owed so much to Ivy, but I was never really any help in the laboratory at all.
The years rolled on, I got older, and no real progress was made on the Corpse Brides. Ivy insisted that she couldn't go back to Hao in her 'present state', so Ivy staid with us at the Onsen, and taught me everything I needed to know in life. I learned how to have fun, how to make friends, how to flirt properly, how to ask for favors without seeming to be asking for anything, how to get what I wanted out of life, how to use a laptop, how to play baseball, how to use a gun, how to clean a sword, how to apply makeup, how to taste wine properly, how to mix a drink (though she would kill me if I ever drunk), how to look cool when lighting a cigarette (again, she would kill me if I ever actually smoked so I never have), how to give a proper massage, how to oversoul, how to dress so I looked cool, but not too trashy, how to do household chores, how to pour a glass of milk in the Chinese fashion, how to eat an orange, and how to apologize in 33 different languages.
I owe a lot to her, and it was quite depressing to see her so sad. I reluctantly made my way to Karasumori, where my friends were waiting for me. Little did I know that my chance to make Ivy happy again waited to bump into me in the graveyard.
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Mikau: Okay people, has supposedly forbidden answering reviews. That makes me especially sad because that might mean that I won't be able to converse with you guys as much as I use to! SOB! I suppose that I'll just have to answer questions in a general way in my author notes. Well, personally I think this chapter is confusing. There is just too much info contributing to the back-story and so on and so forth, so I think it's a little hard to understand in some parts. Thank you so much everyone for the positive feedback about the first chapter!
Thanks To: MaiValentinefan, KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, Hemila-Rose, longbca, Fish and Chips, MiStraLL, Kiva Kyoyama, morgan000, keiiris, basseygirl, and Milly!
Response To Reviews: To answer some of the questions I got: I'm doing great. I broke up with Matt, so now we're just friends. My cousin Anna is fine, she's off doing something with some of her friends. I hope this chapter answers some other questions you people had about where Ivy is, why she left Hao, why Thorn hates Ivy so much, etc…I think that this will have maybe 20 chapters at max (watch me be wrong and end up with another 74 chapter fic…), so it should be shorter than Ivy. Don't worry if the fic seems depressing at first: it has its funny moments later on. I shall see you all later!
PLEASE REVIEW!