Mikau: Hello everyone! Sorry that this took so long to get out; I have musical rehearsals every day this week for several hours, and I'm having a hard time finding time to write. Gomen people.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.

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Waking Up

My eyes slowly slithered open. I blinked several times, the bright sunlight stinging my eyes.

"You okay?" A light, cheerful, voice met my ears. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered the voice, but I couldn't really say I had actually heard the voice before. It wasn't a concerned voice as one might expect, but instead, I got the impression that she was making fun of me somehow, even if I hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't speak in a condescending way, but something in the trill of her words irked me, and struck me as she was teasing me, like my elder sister had done so many times before. Yet, unlike Hoshi's brutal teasing, this voice seemed to be joking friendily with me.

I struggled to sit up, but my body was stiff from lying unconscious for some while now. I resigned myself to lying still for a while more, and took in my surroundings. I was in what looked like a fancy guest room of some ritzy hotel. Everything was bright, warm, and inviting. The bed, especially, was warm and comfortable. The whole room was cozy, and I felt just like I would in my room at home.

Next to the bed sat a woman who looked just a year or so older than me, but the aura about her suggested that she was actually a good ten years older than I was. She looked as if she had stopped aging when she turned seventeen. She was built short, with wide hips, a flat stomach, and an expressive face. Her eyes especially told you exactly what she was thinking. Her lips were on the smallish side of medium, and her nose was just a smidge off-center if you squinted, but of course, I was trying to find something imperfect about her, so whether or not her nose was actually off-center, I couldn't tell. Her eyes were a murky blue-green, like the sea during a storm, and her hair was waist length, and silvery like moonbeams reflected off of steaming hot-spring water. She was thin, yet busty. She had a definite defiant air about her. Her clothes looked familiar, like something I had seen my mother wear in the pictures I had of her. This woman was wearing green capris like the ones the boys at Shinra Private Academy wore as uniform pants, and a black belly-shirt/tank top deal. On her left ring finger, she wore a simple golden band in place of a wedding ring. Her outfit seemed to suit her just fine, but I had never really seen anyone wear anything like it before.

"Hello?" Her eyebrows arched slightly, yet her joking smile remained. "I asked if you where okay. Do you not speak or something?"

"I…I'm fine…" I somehow managed to get out. Something about the woman made me nervous, like she had expectations of me, and I needed to live up to them.

"May I see your left calf?"

I thought that this was a strange request, and I said so.

"Sorry…I just wanted to see where that bullet got you. That is where you were shot, isn't it?" The silver-haired girl smiled kindly at me, but that teasing tone was still in her voice.

"Oh! Sorry…" I showed her my leg.

"It's okay." She assured, and set to work inspecting the bullet wound.

I had almost forgotten about my gun going off and getting my leg during the fight in the graveyard.

"It'll heal nicely, but it'll leave a scar." Her tone turned grave, and her face took on a reminiscing look, as if she was remembering something painful from her past. "A scar on your left calf." Her hand unconsciously brushed against her own calf. "You could wear pants to cover it up, but I suggest using those boots." She pointed to the black leather boots that Hoshi had given me.

I nodded my thanks, but then my curiosity got the better of me and I had to ask, "Who are you?"

"Oh! Sorry…I'm I—er…Valerie Kyôyama. Nice to meet you Miss…?" She waited for me to introduce myself.

"Uh…I'm Thorn." I gulped, something about her scared me. She didn't seem to be real, or truly alive for that matter.

"Got a last name?" Valerie urged.

"Asakura." I completed, and I couldn't help but feel that she had tricked me into revealing some sort of secret information about myself that she could use against me later.

"Hao's daughter?" She took a cool cloth off of my head and re-wet it.

She said his name so familiarly, as if she were on par with him. No one I knew called my father just plain old 'Hao'. It was always 'Hao-sama', or 'Master Hao'. Never just 'Hao'. "You know my father!"

"I use to. I can't really say I know him now, since I haven't seen him in…never mind. It's just been a long, long time, and I doubt he'd recognize me." She playfully flipped a long silver bang out of her face as a sorrowful expression threatened to take over. "How is your family anyway? Your sister? Servants? Guardians? Father? Mother?"

I stared blankly at her before answering. "Hoshi is a slut as always, but she can be okay sometimes. She hasn't contracted any sexually transmitted diseases yet, and that's always good. The servants are fine. Luca, Opacho, Mari, Macchi, and Kanna are good. Hane's fine, and I don't have a mother. I hate my mother." I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of hurt on her face for a split second, but she covered it well, and the next second, her small smile was back in place.

"What of your father?" Valerie blinked innocently at me, playing dumb, but I knew she had been secretly waiting for me to tell her how Hao was doing.

"He's…not so good." I grudgingly admitted.

"What! What's the matter! What happened! Is he sick! What do you mean he's not okay!" Valerie went on spazzing out for the next few minutes before I could get her to shut up and calm her down so that I could explain.

"Well…his drinking is getting worse…"

I thought I heard her reply under her breath, 'Damn you Hao! I told you not to drink!', but I couldn't be sure. I might have just been hearing things.

"Like, today he came home slobbering drunk…He didn't even recognize me…" I could feel the tears come back to my eyes. "He confuses me with my mother a lot when he's drunk…It really hurts me." Valerie encircled me in a half-hug.

"Poor thing…he doesn't mean to be an insensitive bastard…he just is sometimes. You'll have to just forgive him and get over it. He really does care about you, I'm sure…he was really excited when he found out that you were going to be born. He really did want twin girls." Valerie drifted off into her memories, and I was left wondering how the hell she knew so much about my father.

"He did? He never told me that…" Valerie released me from her hold and sat at the end of the bed, Indian style.

"He doesn't tell a lot of people a lot of things. He tends to keep important details to himself until last minute. Especially when it comes to his world domination and human-eradication plots."

"What!" I raised an eyebrow at the strange woman.

"Nothing." She winked at me, and the secretive expression on her face made me laugh. I was starting to really like this weird woman. "Now, when did this drinking start?"

"Oh, he rarely drinks, but when he does drink, he gets really drunk. Usually he only drinks the week of March tenth, and on January first, but this year, he's been wasted the entire month of March. But that's because today, March tenth, is my mother's birthday."

"My birthday was two days ago." She told me. It sounded as if she was correcting me, but I wasn't exactly sure just what she was trying to correct about what I had said. She seemed to sense my confusion, and tried to explain herself. "You see, my birthday and Ivy's are both on March tenth."

"You know my mother!" I still missed the fact that she was trying to tell me something.

Valerie scrunched up her nose a bit in thought before answering. "Sort of…I guess you could say I knew Ivy."

"I bet she was a total bitch. I mean, she just left us without any real reason. She could have staid. Dad says constantly that we could have worked around her situation, and that they could have been happy."

I was too busy concentrating on fuming about my mother, that I didn't see the sharp pains of hurt that spread across the woman's face. "She was a bitch…still is…she would have been a horrible mother, and you would have hated her even if she had staid." Valerie wiped a small tear from her eyes. A light drizzling rain started outside the bedroom window.

"What kind of woman leaves her children like that!" I continued venting my stored up frustration.

"Ivy did…, but did you ever consider that she had a reason?"

"There is no reason!" I insisted. These were things I had never told anyone before, but I felt that I could tell Valerie anything. "She could have staid, but she didn't!"

"Well, I suppose you're right…she shouldn't have left, but it's too late now." Valerie let out a tired sigh, and stood up to leave the room, a disheartened look on her face. "Goodbye for now, Thorn."

"Wait!" I grabbed at her clothing. She stopped, turned around, and looked questioningly at me. "Don't go…" I pleaded. "I…I really like talking to you. I don't have anyone that I can really talk to at home, and I've never really, well, told anyone any of this stuff before. Somehow…even if we've just met…I feel that…I can talk to you. Please stay?"

A bright, friendly grin returned to her face, and she happily replied. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way. Feel free to come here anytime to talk to me. I like talking to you too, but right now there's someone else who's been waiting to speak with you. And besides, I have to work on something in the laboratory with Dr. Faust." Valerie waved a quick 'goodbye', and left.

A few seconds after the door closed behind Valerie, it opened again for another. In walked the boy from the graveyard. Hana. He walked up to my bedside casually, and took a seat next to me. "Hey! How ya feeling?"

"Better…Thank you." I turned away from his handsome face and blushed.

"Hey, why the blush? We're cousins." He took me by the chin and turned me to face him, his smiling face inches from mine.

"Cousins!" My eyes widened considerably. "How do you figure that!"

"Hao's your father, right?"

I nodded.

"Hao's brother Yoh is my father, so that makes us cousins. Also, if that weren't enough, Anna is my mother, and Anna's sister Ivy is your mother, so were like…doubly cousins!" I stared at him blankly, waiting for Hana's logic to sink in.

"C-cousins?" I blinked a few times at him. He nodded happily. "Well…I guess that's cool…I've always wanted a cousin."

"Me too!" Hana happily chirped. "I'm an only child, so I really didn't have anyone to hang with when I was little. Sure I had my friends, but I really just wanted a twin or a cousin or something. I've always been jealous of both of my parents for having twins."

"I have a twin, and believe me, you don't want one. They're more trouble than they're worth." I warned, remembering my own twin…Hoshi.

"That's what everyone says." He smiled back at me. "Oh, I almost forgot—some people are here to see you. Bring them in Makoto!" Hana called over his shoulder to the door.

In stepped the three shaman from the graveyard: Ivory, and Akira, herded in by Makoto. I scooted back in bed, and glared at them.

"Easy woman, we're just here to apologize." Akira spat at me, glaring back, the point of his hair growing a couple of inches.

"Well, you're doing a fine job of it already. Apology accepted, now get out." I sent a challenging look his way, really saying, 'Come and get me, you son of a—'

"—You little!" Akira had heard my underlying message, and pulled out a sai, holding it up to my throat.

"Now, now, Akira!" Ivory shoved her cousin out of the way, and put her arm around my shoulders. "We came here to apologize to the poor thing, not to decapitate her! Besides, if you did kill her, it'll just be a waste of a perfectly good woman! Rarely do you find a woman this hott!"

Akira looked disgustedly at his cousin as she turned to talk to me. "Hello! I don't think we've been properly introduced—I'm Ivory Usui, and if you ever need a date, here's my phone number, home address, email address, aim, and cell phone number."

"Uh…thanks, but I really don't like girls like that." I carefully lifted her arm off of my shoulder. "My name is Thorn Asakura, by the way."

"Oh, but I could be a boy if you wanted me to!" Ivory insisted excitedly.

"Well, the thing is I really don't like boys like that either." I laughed nervously.

"Awww…drat!" Ivory removed herself from the bed, and went to hang on Hana's shoulder. "Well at least I have you Hana darling."

"Are you saying that you've never been in love?" Makoto stepped forward, and hesitantly pushed his glasses up further on his nose. "I'm Makoto Oyamada, by the way."

"No I haven't." I shrugged, responding to his question.

"Maybe you just haven't found the right guy?" Hana suggested while trying to free himself from Ivory's amorous grasp.

The short blonde spoke up again. "She should come to the masquerade party! It's tomorrow night at eight pm to twelve, and there's sure to be tons of guys there. There's bound to be at least one acceptable one."

Hana shoved an invitation into my hand, and smiled brightly at me. "That's a great idea! You're sure to meet someone! There's going to be people from all over the place, and lots of guys from my school are coming, and it's just gonna be great!"

"It sounds like…fun. Though…I've never been to anything like that before. What does one wear to a masquerade ball?" I cocked my head to the side and stared at my cousin.

"Uncivilized wretch." Akira rolled his eyes at me. "What do you think you'd wear! Everyone wears a fancy decorated mask, and an evening gown for girls, and suits for boys. Though, Ivory, I don't know what you're going to wear since you really don't qualify for either category."

Ivory promptly smacked the Tao upside the head. "Ignore him; nothing he says is worth listening to anyway."

Hana laughed nervously at his friends. "Well, it'll be fun I hope you can go."

"But I don't have a dress." I interjected.

"Borrow one of your mother's." A new voice entered the conversation. All eyes turned toward the door. The woman from before, Valerie, stepped in. Her silvery hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, safety goggles were resting on top of her head, and she had some ashy smudges on her face that looked like something had blown up right in front of her.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I accidentally left a bottle of Hydrogen in here, and I overheard you when I came back for it." Valerie waltzed over to my bedside table and picked up a small vial that I had failed to notice before.

"Wait, my mother's clothes?" I blinked at her, scarcely hearing what she had said.

"Yep. Ivy has a dress up in her closet that she's never worn before. You'll know which one I'm talking about once you see it. She was going to wear it for her wedding anniversary party on January first, but unfortunately things got in the way." Valerie's pleasant smile diminished slightly, but quickly reappeared when she looked at the other people in the room. "Hello everyone!"

"Hey Miss Valerie! How are you doing this fine day?" Ivory had hearts in her eyes as she spoke with the older woman.

"I'm no worse than usual. Anna, Faust, and I are getting closer to making a body that actually works though." Valerie gave a wry smile.

"Well, I must say that that color silver of your hair goes perfectly with the blue-green of your eyes." Ivory continued to compliment.

"Thanks, but I really don't like them. How are you today, Akira? Grumpy as always? You know, you really should smooth the point of your hair down for the masquerade. Otherwise, it would be too easy to tell who you are." The silver-haired maiden gave one last smile at Ivory before turning to the Ainu's cousin.

"Well, well, well…'Valerie' is it? I'm doing fine. I'm here to apologize to this simple creature," He motioned towards me. I growled softly at him. "and then I'll be on my way. There are too many chemical explosions here for my liking."

"She may be a simple creature, but she's smarter than you." I smiled gratefully at Valerie, and she winked back.

"Good morning Miss Valerie-sama. I hope you are in good health today, my lady." Makoto lowered his head to my new idol.

"You know you don't have to do that every time that I walk into a room Makoto. But, thank you just the same." A quick wink in Makoto's direction was enough to make the shy boy blush.

Last but not least, Valerie finally turned towards Hana. "Hey Auntie V! Glad to hear you're making some progress with your experiments."

"Thanks Hana. I appreciate it." The aunt tossed a wink back at her nephew.

"Do you know if my mom is around?" Hana asked.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen. Why?" Valerie was just about to leave the room as Hana asked her the location of his mother.

"Oh…no reason. I sort of was suppose to clean my room, and chances are that I might not have actually cleaned it." My cousin nervously admitted.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. See you all later." Valerie again attempted to leave.

Once again, someone stopped her, "Hey Valerie, will I see you at the Masquerade?" Ivory asked inquisitively excited.

"No. I don't think so." She answered the other girl.

"Why the blazes not!" Akira sounded almost scandalized at the thought that Valerie wouldn't be there at the ball.

"I just don't feel like going." With one last wink, Valerie was gone.

"Hana, I thought that your aunt was really in to parties and stuff like that. Is she not feeling well?" Makoto asked his best friend, worried about his aunt's health.

"She's just a little out of it lately." Hana sighed.

"She's your aunt?" I looked to my right at Hana. He nodded back at me, 'Uh-huh.' "Then I suppose she's mine too, isn't she? She's my mother's cousin, right?"

"Uh…well…if she were your mother's cousin, technically that would make her your second cousin, but I've just always called her 'Aunt'. I think she would like it better if you just called her 'Valerie', or 'Val', though." He suggested with a smile.

Akira cleared his throat, interrupting the on-going conversation.

"Yes?" Ivory rolled her eyes, and replied rudely.

"I came here to apologize, and I have, so let's leave." Akira glowered at me, clearly bored, and unwilling to waste his time with me.

"If I remember correctly, the word 'sorry' never left your mouth." Ivory glared at her cousin.

"Fine. I'm sorry. There, are you happy? Can we go now?" Akira started to make his way toward the door.

A shuriken, throwing star just missed hitting his head. "Say it like you mean it." Ivory threatened.

"I'm really sorry that I caused you injuries that rendered you unconscious for two days. Now can we go?" Akira was already out the door before he got an answer.

"See ya later Hana, Makoto, Thorn!" The blue-haired Ainu waved and blew kisses at us before ducking out the door behind her cousin.

"I gotta go too." Makoto bowed humbly to the both of us, and made his way out the door.

Hana and I were the only ones left in the room. "TWO DAYS?" I nearly fainted as my brain registered what that meant.

"Yeah, I thought you knew. I thought that I—er—Valerie told you." Hana apologized sheepishly.

"Oh. My. GOD! My dad is going to kill me when I get home!"

"Actually, he knows you're here, my mom called your house just after you woke up, and it's not really your fault that this whole thing happened." Hana rested a comforting hand on my shoulder, and it helped a little, but not really.

"Yeah, but…still." I forced my way to my feet, fighting my body all the way. I was so sore and stiff! When I finally got into a standing position, I noticed that I was already dressed in clothes that were definitely not mine. They looked too good on me to be my clothes. A red tank top, and a black pair of capris.

"Who dressed me?" I demanded of my cousin.

"That would be Anna and Valerie." He smiled awkwardly.

I nodded back at him, and then asked timidly. "If I may, what is it exactly that they're working on in the lab?"

"I'm not really sure…I'm not very informed about the things that happen in this house. All I know is that for some reason they have to reconstruct a shaman body that will function as if it were a real body. They call it project 'Corpse Bride' or something like that…Don't ask anymore of me, I'm afraid that I've said too much already. Both my mom and aunt are really strict about not telling anyone anything." He winked and held out his pinkie, "Our little secret?"

I smiled back and linked pinkies with him. "Our little secret. But, how do they know if the bodies will work?" I couldn't help but ask more questions about this mysterious experiment that they had been working on for ten or so years.

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Mikau: I really don't like how I ended this chapter…hmm. Well the next chapter should be good for all my HaoxIvy fans out there. At least I hope I get to that part next chapter…if not, I'll get to it the chapter after next. That's sort of when the plot thickens. Sort of. Well, that's all from me for now.

Thanks to: Hemila-Rose, your-wOrst-nightmARee, ChibiAzn3, LisaTheHedgehog, glitter galz, Andrea Nefisto, morgan000, KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, lil.blu.clover, Danny, MaiValentinefan, HAO-Addictive, Kiva Kyoyama, and ShadowYasha.

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