Mikau: Once again, I apologize for being so late with getting this chapter out. It's been hell trying to get all of my homework done, and I've had a lot of musical rehearsals. I could go on and on about how busy I've been, but I don't want to bore you, so on with the chapter. Thank you all for being patient and supportive.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.
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Getting Acquainted
When we got to the bakery/café, I took the seat across from Valerie in a big booth by the window. There were so many things I wanted to ask her about, but I didn't know where to begin. "So, how did you come to be living with Aunt Anna?"
"Oh…well, about that—you see, I…well after I left my husband I needed a place to stay, so I went to my cousin Anna. I'm surprised that she doesn't charge me for room and board, or at least make me work for her. I guess since I raised Hana for her, she cuts me some slack, but that's really not normal for her to be so…Never mind. Let's just say that Anna's being unusually nice." Valerie smiled wearily back at me.
"And why did you leave your husband?" I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to break up their relationship.
The blonde-haired woman took a sip of her hot chocolate and almost choked on it. "We had always had communication problems but…it's not that I wanted to leave…I wish I could have stayed, but sometimes things just get too complicated and you end up in over your head."
"Oh…really? Well, you don't have a boyfriend or anything now, do you?" No air entered my lungs as I awaited her answer.
"Actually, I'm not seriously involved with anyone at all right now…" Valerie picked hesitantly at her food, but didn't really bother to actually eat.
"You know, I saw you with my father at the Masquerade. You two looked awfully cozy." I smirked suggestively making her blush.
"D-did you now? We only danced for a little while." She lied.
"Lair. You two danced together all night! I saw you! Besides, my dad has a major crush on you." I took a bite of my bagel and smiled at her reddening cheeks.
"R-really? Did he actually say that?" I could tell I had hooked her interest.
"Yep. He totally has the hotts for you. Tell me, what do you think of him? Do you like him?" 'Please say yes! Please say yes!'
"Well, this is kind of weird talking to his daughter, but—yes, I really like him too." I could hardly contain my excitement, and it took all my energy to keep myself from jumping up and down.
"Enough to marry him!"
"Just what exactly did Hao say about me!" I could tell I went a bit too far with my questioning.
"Oh, it's just that I would really like a mother, and my dad hasn't dated anyone since Ivy, so I thought that maybe if you two ever started dating…that maybe…well, you know." I nervously stirred my coffee, fiddling with the spoon.
"Oh, I see…well, I would love to be your mother if Hao ever asks. By the way, I do have a date with him tomorrow." A sly smirk covered her lips.
"Really! OH MY GOSH! That is, like, oh my gosh!" I smiled brightly as Valerie laughed good-naturedly at me.
We talked away the hours from then on. She asked about how it was for me growing up without a mother, and I told her about how much I hated Ivy. She inquired about my schooling, and my sister, and my dog—somehow she seemed to know Hane personally. We talked about boys, my family, and anything else of interest.
We had been there nearly two and a half hours before I remembered the key around my neck. I took it off and showed it to Valerie. "Hey, Val?"
"Hmm?"
"You wouldn't happen to know what this goes to, would you?" She gazed glassy-eyed at the small silver key, but in the end she shook her head and looked away from me.
"No…I wouldn't have a clue what it would open. It looks like the key to someone's diary."
"Oh really?" The Devil had said she might lie to me. "Someone told me that you knew."
"You must be mistaken; maybe they meant another Valerie." The woman across from me smiled nervously and tried again to desperately thwart my efforts.
"He said you would lie. This key belonged to my mother, but I can't find where she hid her diary. Are you sure that you don't know where it is? You seem to know so much about Ivy…"
"Take off the boots and give them to me." She replied in a dead, defeated tone. I did as she said and watched in awe as she took the key, and opened a secret keyhole in the sole of the shoes. A secret compartment came off and revealed sheets upon sheets of paper.
"Her diary. Wait until you get home to read it." Valerie handed the boots back to me and resumed her second cup of hot chocolate.
"Thorn! Like, what are you doing here!" An exasperated Hoshi stood staring intensely at me. "This is, like, my usual hang."
I looked up coldly at my sister. "I don't see your name on it."
"Uh, hello! This is like Moon and Stars Café and Bakery. Star's. As in Hoshi's. You, like, never learn. Who's your friend?" Hoshi shoved me to make room for herself in the booth.
"Her name is Valerie Kyôyama. Would you like to join us?" My sarcastic remark came out sounding more tired than anything else.
A sugary smile spread all over my elder twin's face. "I'd love to."
"She has a date with Dad tomorrow." It came out sounding like a childish threat.
"Oh, so you're the one that Hao's been talking about. He's, like, only dating you because you look like our mother, Ivy. She was sooo more pretty than you, though. Hao is, like, soooooo totally still in love with our mom. He hasn't look at another woman in years, so I have no clue why he's bothering with someone like you now. Maybe he's just, like using you—"
"—Hoshi!" I jabbed my sister sharply in the ribs with my elbow.
"Like owwww! What the hell was that for!"
"Don't say things like that! You're just jealous that Dad is finally getting over Ivy."
Hoshi glared dangerously back at me. "He is not!"
"He is too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"
"Not!"
"Girls! Hoshi, Thorn! Stop it!" Valerie physically had to pull us apart. "It doesn't matter why Hao is dating me. The truth is he probably isn't completely over Ivy just yet. They really were in love, so I'd imagine he'll never truly forget her. I don't want to take your mother's place, believe me, but I would like to date your father. Would that be all right with you Hoshi?"
Hoshi gave Valerie a scrutinizing look, as if trying to gauge her. "I suppose it would be all right, but that doesn't mean I like you, or for that matter, that Hao likes you."
Valerie just smiled happily at the two of us as she stood up to leave. "Good. Oh, and by the way, I'm actually really glad that you're so loyal to your mother Hoshi. She really doesn't deserve it for leaving you like she did. Goodbye Thorn." The blonde-haired woman left money for the meal on the table and walked out the door.
I got out of the booth and moved to the seat across from Hoshi, were Valerie had been sitting minutes before. My sister must have noticed my shoes when I moved, for she suddenly decided to comment upon them. "Well, you have the boots and you somehow found the key."
"What do you mean?" I stared blankly at the woman across the table.
"Oh come on, I found that thing and read it so long ago. Hmph, and you're supposed to be the smart one." Two eerie blue eyes rolled at me. "Don't you know about I,SR?"
"No. What's that? Some new STD you've come down with?" I smirked at the homicidal look in her eyes.
"Ha. Ha. You are like so totally hi-lar-i-ous. No, it's an acronym, idiot. It's the name of the book; her diary. It's probably the best book I've ever read." Hoshi flipped a dangling bang out of her face.
"Funny, since when did you become literate?" She smacked me right across the face as punishment.
"It's no laughing matter, Thorn. You really should read it; it'll help you understand her more, and maybe you'll get over your stupid grudge against her." She paused briefly to rise to her feet. "I'm, like, so totally out of here."
I only stayed at the café for a few minutes after Hoshi left. I felt rather uncomfortable sitting in the booth by myself, so I left my money on the table in exact change and started to walk home. Just down the street from the café was a noisy teen hangout of some sorts. I had never been out much, so I was naturally curious as I walked past the building and looked in the windows.
It took me a minute to realize that this was the arcade that Valerie had mentioned earlier; the one that Hana and the gang had gone to. I let my curiosity get the better of me, and walked in. It was a crowded, noisy place; people were bumping into each other, and it was difficult to duck in and out of the masses of bodies. I thought it quite impossible for there to be so many people in one place.
I accidentally bumped into someone and mutter a quick sorry as I picked up the purse she had dropped on the ground.
"Hey, it's you! Thorn right? Remember me?" I looked up at her bushy blue pigtails, massive chest, and gray eyes.
"Hello Ivory. How are you? Valerie said that you and Hana were here to pick up girls." I tried to smile, but I'm afraid it came out fake and much how I really felt: uncomfortable.
"Ah, yeah. Hana's got himself a whole list of hottie's digits, but as for me, I've been running guys all day." The Ainu girl guided me out of the mob and over to an open circular booth.
"What?" I couldn't understand a word of her slang. "Digits?"
"Yeah, their digits; you know. I said: he's been hooking up with a lotta good-looking girls getting their numbers, but I've been flirting with boys today. You don't get out much do you?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Stay here, I'll round up the gang. Hana and Makoto'll be really glad to see ya. Akira prob'ly won't, but he's always in such a bad mood. I really can't stand my cousin's mood swings." Ivory gestured for me to sit and relax, saying she'd be back in a moment.
Hana was the first to be rounded up by the snowboarding princess. He had to physically pull women off of him just to get away from his adoring fangirls. He stumbled his way over to the booth with messy hair and gasping for breath. "Hey Thorn. What're you doing here?"
"Oh, I was out, so I was just exploring." I smiled gently at my cousin, and he sat down next to me.
Off somewhere in the game area, a womanly yelp sounded, "No! Ivory, I was going to beat my all-time high score!" Ivory had to pry Makoto away from the pinball machine, and carry the midget over to the table.
"Oh! Hello Miss Thorn! I was not aware that you were present! I'm so sorry!" The small gentleman bowed low and gave my hand a quick kiss.
A faint blush fluttered to my cheeks; I wasn't use to such royal treatment. "It's perfectly fine Makoto; I just arrived, actually. It's nice to see you again."
"The pleasure is all mine." The Oyamada boy bowed again before he took a seat on the other side of Hana. I was afraid that he would need a booster seat; his head just barely peaked over the tabletop.
Ivory set off to find her Tao cousin next. "AKIRA! What the heck do you think you're doing!" Akira was drug to the booth by his blue-haired cousin.
"You know, HECK is where people go when they don't believe in GOSH." The violet-blue-haired punk replied scornfully.
"Whatever. What the HELL were you doing smoking?" Ivory shoved Akira into the booth next to me. He tripped and landed in my lap.
"Hey! Watch it, Asakura!" The Tao snapped at me.
"It's not my fault!" I bit back, but then blushed at my sudden outburst. "I'm so sorry…it's really not like me at all to get so angry like that…"
"Oh really? I thought that you were always bitchy." Akira straightened himself, holding his nose high in the air.
Something about him just made my blood boil. I couldn't help but grab his wrist and shock him. Just a little jolt; just enough to show him I wasn't to be taken lightly.
"OWWW! Hey! What the hell was that for, you little wh—"
"—That's enough Akira." Hana glared angrily across the table at his friend, placing a protective arm around my waist. "You're not allowed to speak to my cousin like that."
"You win this time Asakura…" The defeated Tao whispered quietly so that only I could hear as he glared at me out of the corner of his icy eyes. "Hey, flower-boy! You want a smoke?" Akira offered a pack of cigarettes across the table to Hana.
"Nahhh. You know I don't smoke. My aunt would kill me." Hana took the pack and tossed it into the nearest thrash can. "Three points for scoring from half court."
"I've always hated basketball." Akira glared malevolently at the man sitting across the booth from him. "And why, pray tell, did you throw away an unopened pack of cigarettes that WASN'T YOURS!"
"Because smoking is bad for you, and your mom and dad would never approve." Hana smiled goofily at his irritated friend. "Besides, when did you start smoking?"
"That was going to be my first time."
"Good. Then it'll be easier to quit." Hana's logic had an odd effect on Akira: he actually shut up.
"Promise us that you'll never smoke Rara-kun." Ivory noogied the violet-blue-haired boy.
"Yes, it's bad for your health." Makoto stated authoritively.
"Don't call me that! And you, don't treat me like a child! I know that it's bad for me, and I'll do whatever I damn well please!" Akira's gaze shifted over to me. I had been silently observing the situation, but had not become a part of the discussion. "Aren't you going to say anything whelp?"
"Actually I wasn't, but now that you've resorted to name-calling again: you're never going to get a girlfriend with an attitude like that, bastard."
"Oh! BURN!" Ivory shouted through a fit of laughs. Hana too laughed openly, but Makoto, trying to be polite, only let out a few stifled bouts of laughter.
"Why you little—!" Akira was about ready to pounce on me, but I was saved by my cell phone going off. The sudden burst of "Oversoul" seemed to startle him.
I fished my cell out of my pocket, but didn't answer it in time. "You have one missed call: Hoshi's cell phone." The little machine informed me. I pushed the call back button.
"Hey, that's Megumi Hayashibara's Oversoul isn't it?" Makoto questioned Hana.
"Yeah, my dad totally loves her." Hana brushed a strand of hair behind his ear.
"So does mine!" Ivory threw her two cents in.
"I don't see why you all insist on talking constantly about any subject that arises. It's quite annoying." Akira insisted on ruining everyone else's fun.
I tuned out the rest of the conversation as someone picked up the phone on the other line. "H-hello?" It was my sister, but she sounded like she was crying.
"Hosh? Is that you?"
"Thorn? Thank God! Get home right now! You have to come it's an emergency! Dad's—" My phone battery died before I could get the rest of her message.
"Hosh! What's the matter! Sis! Are you still there! What happened to Dad! Damn! I knew I should have charged my phone last night…" I looked up at everyone staring at me worried (with the exception of Akira).
"What's up?" Hana gazed seriously at me.
"I don't know. My sister…I don't know; she sounded really…scared. That's not like her at all…Well, it doesn't matter. I have to go home. Sorry guys."
"Wait." A strong but gentle hand caught mine as I stood to leave. I looked back questioningly at Hana. He took both of my hands in his. "Let me drive you. It'll be faster."
"Well…"
"Then it's settled!" Hana's arm wrapped around my waist, and he escorted me outside. "Come on guys, we're going to Thorn's place!"
"Thank you." A shadow of a blush highlighted my cheeks, and I was forced to look at the ground so that Hana wouldn't see my reddening face.
"No prob." Hana dazzled me with his brilliant grin.
Ivory and Makoto tagged along right behind us, but Akira lingered back in the arcade. That was until Ivory shouted back to him: "Yo, coz! We're taking your car!"
Akira bolted from the booth and stood defensively in front of the small Corvette. "No one is going to be driving MY car. You can't! You'll get it in an accident, and then I'll have to pay for it!"
"Oh just give Hana the keys. You know he'll talk you out of them eventually, so it's better to just give them up now." Ivory reasoned.
"No. Not this time. There is no way that I'm letting an Asakura drive MY car." Akira didn't look like he was going to back down, so I took matters into my own hands. I walked up to Akira and kissed him right on the lips. He stiffened at first, but after a few seconds, responded by forcing his tongue into my open mouth. I pretended to be feeling him out as I reached into his back pocket for the keys. When I had retrieved them, I tossed them to a severely confused Hana.
Everyone piled into the car: Hana in the driver's seat, and Ivory next to him. Makoto looked like a very embarrassed doll, sitting on Ivory's lap. "Hey! Lovebirds! Get in the car; we gotta go!" My cousin laughed slightly as Akira pulled away from me and looked scandalously at Hana. I climbed into the back seat of the car.
"How the hell did you…"
"Just get in back next to Thorn." Ivory hugged Makoto to her chest.
Akira grudgingly did as he was told, and we sped off to the Asakura mansion. I couldn't help but notice our close proximity, alone in the back seat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him stealing glances at me every once in awhile. "Can I help you?" I cocked my head to the side and looked innocently at him.
Akira looked away and blushed at being caught. "What? I didn't do anything, and I most certainly don't need the help of an Asakura."
"Then why were you looking at me like that?" I ignored his rude tone.
"I was NOT looking at you."
"Akira, stop thinking dirty thoughts about my cousin!" Hana teased, looking back at us in the rear-view mirror.
"I was NOT thinking about her like that!"
"Then how were you thinking of her, Rara-kun?" Ivory smiled evilly back at the Tao.
Akira flushed a bright fuchsia. "I wasn't thinking about her at all! I was thinking about her sister!"
"What about her?" I spoke up.
The Chinese shaman calmed down enough to answer levelly. "You called her 'Hosh' when you were on the phone. I was wondering if that was a short form of 'Hoshi'?"
"It is."
"And was she at the Masquerade?" If I didn't know any better, I would have described Akira's tone as excited.
"Yeah. So what?" I cocked my head curiously at him.
"Nothing. Never mind…you know, you look like a confused puppy when you do that. It's sort of cute." He mumbled under his breath.
I think I was the only one who heard him. "What!"
"Don't look at me like that Asakura; I didn't say anything." He didn't speak another word after that, and just looked out at the scenery as it flew by.
"Sure you didn't…Uh…by the way, I'm sorry that I picked your pocket. It was wrong of me to trick you like that. Hana, take a left here."
In less than seven minutes we pulled up into the courtyard. "THIS is your HOUSE!" Hana looked bug-eyed at me.
"Yep. A lot of people live here, so it has to be big. Thank you so much for the ride." I got out and fished in my pocket for my house keys.
"Can we see the inside!" Ivory followed me to door.
"Sure." I shrugged, turning the key and opening the door.
Hana, Makoto, and Ivory eagerly stepped inside, but Akira was a bit resistant at first.
"Whoa…you guys must be loaded." Ivory went wide-eyed when she saw the entryway of my home. Ivy had designed the place to her liking, so it was pretty classy when you first saw it. For me it was different because I had grown up rich. I was used to the lavish surroundings, and so I was numb to their elegance.
"Well duh," Makoto rolled his eyes at the Ainu girl. "Hao Asakura is her father after all, and he is the Shaman King."
"I never thought of it that way." Hana mused. "Hey! I'm the son of a Shaman King, so why am I not rich!"
"Maybe your parents don't want to spoil you, Hana-kun?" Makoto looked questioningly up at his best friend.
Akira decided to tease me as the rest followed me to the kitchen. "So, Asakura, if your father is Shaman King, what does that make you? The Shaman Princess? Is that why you're so high and mighty all the time?"
"I don't have to answer that." I walked into the kitchen to find Han Zan-Ching, Bill, Blocken, and Peyote throwing away mass amounts of alcohol.
"NOOOO NOT THE VODKA!" Peyote clung desperately to Bill's leg as the football star trashed the hard liquor. Bill gently shook Peyote off of his leg and went back to the liquor cabinet for more to throw away.
"Sorry my friend, but we have to do this. Every drop of alcohol must go." Zan-Ching patted the Hispanic musician on the head, and started to help Bill and Blocken with the disposal of all of the alcohol.
"What's going on guys?" I casually waltzed up to my father's followers and asked.
"Oh! Hello Miss Thorn! Didn't your sister call you?" Zan-Ching greeted.
"Yeah, but my phone died. Where is she now? Do you know?" I set my dead cell phone on the white tabletop of the kitchen counter, and fished a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.
"She went to the hospital with the ambulance." Peyote stared emotionlessly at me.
I choked on the water. "WHAT! What happened!"
"It's your father…" Bill looked sympathetically at me.
Hana rushed over to prop me up so that I didn't fall over in a dead faint. "Wh-wha?" I swear the room started spinning.
"Hao finally drunk himself to death." Peyote didn't even try to sound comforting.
"PEYOTE!" The others sent vicious death glares in the general direction of the Mexican man.
The musician stared incredulously at the others. "What? It's true. He's probably dead by now. He drunk half of the liquor in the house; there's no way that he's going to live."
Bill slapped Peyote upside the head and whispered into his ear. "Don't say such things in the presences of Miss Thorn. She's already looking pretty shaky." The giant turned towards me and put on a brave face for my benefit. "Don't worry Miss. We haven't heard any news yet on Master Hao's condition. Truth be told, Macchi was the one who found him passed out on the floor. We've been waiting for this to happen for years, so we were prepared. Not everyone dies from alcohol poisoning, and Hao-sama is not one to just die like that, so I figure he should be fine."
"Yes. No worries Miss Thorn." Zan-Cing smiled warmly, throwing another bottle of Gin into the fast-filling trashcan. "Master Hao should be fine."
"You all are being too optimistic. Do I need to remind you how much alcohol we had in this house? We have several hundred bottles of wine, beer, liquor, and all other sorts of alcohol. He's dead. Why can't you see that he was trying to drink himself to death." Zan-Ching hit Peyote over the head with a near-by frying pan, knocking the Mexican out.
"Ignore him Miss; he's drunk." Bill sighed.
"Can you give me a ride to the hospital?" I looked questioningly up at my cousin, who still had his arms around me, holding me up.
"Of course. Which one?" Hana agreed even though Akira looked like he was going to protest.
"St. Lucy's." Blocken muttered just loud enough to be audible.
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Mikau: Well, this was a fun, but tedious chapter. I liked the end. Hugs unconscious Hao. I feel so sorry for him….In other news, I got the Osorezan CD! I am sooooooo hyped! I absolutely loooooooooove it! I've only got the translations for the first three tracks, so that means that I'm missing the final track's English translation. I know someone has a fic on here called Osorezan, and that it's the English translation for the first three tracks, but it doesn't have the last one. I reaaaaallllly want to know how it ends. I think that hao-addict was the one doing the translation, but there are only the first three tracks translated there as well…sigh. So now I'm going to get down on my knees and beg. If anyone knows were I can find a translation of the last track of the Osorezan CD, please, PLEASE tell me! Okay, and now I would like to apologize to all who have no idea what I'm talking about. The CD is actually a drama in which Anna and Yoh first meet, and Matamune is in it, so…yeah. Oh, and by the way, I think that this may be a little longer than 20 chapters. Did I already tell you this? Oh well, if I didn't, I'll tell you again. It turns out I was wrong in assuming how many chapters I would write yet again. I can never guess the right amount of chapters I'm going to write…
Thank You To: HAO-Addictive, Kiva Kyoyama, Miss Remedy, LonelyLittleWolf, yo wuz up, Danny, MaiValentinefan, Andrea Nefisto, Hannah, KaZuYa MiNeKuRA, glitter galz, Firebane5, DarkPisces33, ChibiAnz3, megumi13, haoxivy 4 eva, sUppI, and Strawberry.
Special thanks to my beloved flamer D: (Lyserg Must Die). You're too sweet. Hugs D: (if anyone is wondering what this is about just check my reviews and read D: latest flame.)
To DarkPisces33: I have one sibling: my little brother Jordan. He is 11, but he acts so much more mature than I do…scary…I think he is like Hao, and is on a third or fourth incarnation. He just seems so much older than he should. I have two pets: my beloved Sassy, and darling Sneak. Sassy is a purebred Dalmatian who is about the same age as my brother. She's getting pretty old, but she still chases after balls and Frisbees. Sneak's mother was a purebred collie. I taught her a lot of tricks. She can sit, roll over, walk on two legs, dance, shake, stay, and other things too. Right now I'm trying to teach her to bow. It's coming along pretty well. I also have three hermit crabs that are technically Jordan's, but he doesn't take care of them, so they belong to me by default. Their names are Bob, Moe, and Houdini. I think that's enough about me for now. So sorry to hear about your acid reflex. A few of my friends have it, and they say it's awful.
To megumi13: So sorry, but I have no idea how to work DA. I was thinking about getting an account on there over the summer, but it never happened, so I have no idea how to use it. You know, that's annoying not knowing something. I'll have to learn how to use it sometime. I'd really like to see your pics though. I LOVE fanart. If I were you, I'd ask Shamanbabe, LisaTheHedgehog, or Hannah. Hannah's email can be found on her DA homepage: http / jingle360 dot deviantart dot com/ for the other two, their emails can be found on their profiles on ff dot net.
PLEASE REVIEW!
PS: All of those who asked me to email you, I will right after I post this, I promise.