Mikau: Hello everyone. Sorry for taking so long getting this chapter up; it's been ready since Friday night, but I got sick, and now I feel really badly, and I didn't even touch a computer on Saturday. I won't be responding to reviews this chapter. So, so sorry! Gomen nasai! I just feel way too sick. I really am sorry…cowers in fear of reviewers like frightened puppy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.
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Girls and Flowers
I woke up the next morning feeling so stiff. I had been at the hospital one night, and now I felt like my entire body was made out of lead. My eyes opened, slowly adjusting to the bright white walls of the room. A woman was lying on top of me, her hands some most inappropriate places. Even if I was 18, my mother would not approve. 'Hoshi.' Her name came back to me, echoing in the halls of my memory.
Surely this slut couldn't be the same Hoshi that I had fallen in love with at the dance, could it? Sure she was gorgeous, but she made me uncomfortable. Hundreds, if not, thousands of men had had their way with her, or maybe it was the other way around? Was she the one having her way with them? It didn't matter, what did matter, was that she couldn't be my Hoshi. My Hoshi was a blushing virgin. Had I not stolen her first kiss? Hoshi Asakura had been messing around with men for years, and was an experienced woman. There was no way that my Hoshi and this woman were one and the same.
Since Hoshi was a pretty uncommon name, I could only think that my girl had lied to me. 'Yes, I remember! She hesitated when telling me her name. She must have lied. Just like how I gave her my father's name instead of my own…' I mentally slapped myself for my idiocy. 'I'll have to email her later and find out.'
I pulled her email address out of my pocket. I didn't know why, but I carried it with me wherever I went. 'ThornsOfABriarRose at SK dot com.' She had occupied my thoughts the past few days. Dancing with her, our conversation, the kiss…Oh the kiss… I could almost taste her lips upon mine when I closed my eyes. She was taking over my every waking moment, and most of my dreaming ones too. She was intoxicating in that way. I was getting sort of obsessed with her, speculating about what she looked like under that mask, what her real name was, if she had any feelings for me. I thought about where she went to school, what kinds of pets she had, if she had a boyfriend, what her phone number was, what our kids would look like, what she would look like without clothes on, and after that, my thoughts were of a more sexual nature.
I had to talk to her again. I had to know. I wanted to get to know her; I wanted to maybe even date her. She made me feel so differently than other women. I could talk about myself with her and know that she'd understand. I had to email her. Only then would I know. I tried to reach for my laptop down at my feet, but Thorn's sister was still asleep on top of me, and I couldn't reach it without disturbing her. 'Chikusho.' I cursed.
I slowly drifted back to sleep, only to wake a few hours later as someone jumped off of me, relieving the great weight that had been holding me down.
"OH MY GOD! DAD!" Hoshi screamed as she raced to her father's bedside. Thorn soon joined her sister screaming and yelling and both of them bawling. It was quite comical to watch both girls sobbing and hanging all over their father. It was hard to decipher a thing that they were saying; Hoshi and Thorn both yelled at Hao at the same time, screaming different things. Occasionally I heard Hao apologize or promise to quit drinking. A few other comments were mixed in as Luca, Opacho, Mari and Macchi, and Yoh woke up to yell at Hao and thank God that he was still alive.
I sat on the sidelines next to Hana and watched the female Asakura twins quietly. Thorn was so different from her sister…I couldn't help but notice Hoshi's obvious sex appeal. The older twin flaunted her perfectly shaped chest and sculpted body, whereas Thorn had a less womanly allure. Thorn didn't know she was attractive to men. She didn't know how to tease a man properly. She had no idea what she was doing when it came to the opposite sex. She was too innocent for her age.
'Aw man, I'd like to strip her of that innocence.' My cheeks flushed as I realized what I had just thought. 'Where did that come from!' I panicked and started to tear my eyes away from Thorn. Just as I was looking away, she leaned forward, and I got a great view down her skimpy spaghetti strap nightgown top. She wasn't wearing a bra. My breathing sped up and my eyes widened. I swallowed hard and I instinctively gripped the arms of the chair. I let my mouth hang open, and I think I started drooling. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Soon, mountains of dirty thoughts started to flow through my head. I couldn't help my thoughts or behavior as my testosterone levels skyrocketed.
Hana turned towards me and smiled wickedly. He must have noticed my lustful looks at his cousin. I was too preoccupied with Thorn to notice as he crept up close and whispered in my ear. "Oooh GOD. I just want to tackle her to the floor, tear off all her clothes with my teeth, and rape her."
"Yeah…" I whispered back huskily, no longer able to control my body. I didn't realized what I had said until it was too late.
Hana dragged me out into the hallway and took me down the hall a bit to stand by the vending machine. "Ha! I knew it! I knew you liked her!" He accused enthusiastically. "Get all those dirty thoughts of my cousin out of your head you sick bastard!" Hana pushed me up against the wall playfully and punched my shoulder.
"NO! I didn't mean a word of it! You're putting words in my mouth, Asakura!" I raised my hands in defense as I tried pitifully to deflect his accusations.
"Aww, come on Akira, I know what I saw. I saw where you were staring." Hana smiled suggestively at me. There was no way to beat him.
"No, no, no! You have it all wrong!" I tried walking away from him, but he followed me down the hallway.
"Then you weren't looking down her shirt? Because I know I was, and I'll tell you, you missed a good show. Wow…that's pretty gentlemanly of you. Wait…you know, a normal teenage guy that had seen a girl naked before would have no problem looking down a girl's shirt. That means…!" He paused dramatically, waiting for the tension to make me confess.
"Oh stop it! You know, some guys don't get lucky with girls like you do!" I glared at my younger friend. I couldn't describe how jealous I was that he was a year younger, but he had gotten more action with the ladies than anyone else I knew.
"Akira!" Hana mock-gasped. "Does this mean you're still a…a…oh, I can't say it! It's just too horrible to imagine!" The little drama queen fell to his knees and reeled back in utter horror.
"Oh shut up you bastard. Have you ever considered that some people wait until marriage!" I was thoroughly red in the face by now, talking about such a subject with someone so experienced when I hadn't even gotten past kissing.
Hana broke out in peals of laughter and a lazy grin returned to his face. "Chill, I'm still one too."
"Don't lie to try and make me feel better. I've seen tons of girls drag you off to various bedrooms during parties." A cold expressionless glare highlighted my face.
"Well yeah, but I've never gone all the way with anyone." He replied seriously. I had no choice but to believe him. He wouldn't lie. Hana never lied.
"Fine." I turned away from him, and was about to go back to the room, but curiosity stopped me. "So…have you ever seen a girl naked? Or better yet, has one ever seen you?"
A cute, boyish smirk adorned his face. Sometimes he looked too innocent to be such a womanizer. He truly was a mix of his father and uncle's personalities. The smile was the only answer I got so I was left to assume that 1: 'Yes.' He had seen plenty of women, 2: 'Yes.' Plenty had seen him, and 3: 'Sometimes these two actions had happened at the same time.' Meaning that—yes—Hana Asakura had gotten further with more women then I could ever hope to get with one.
"I hate you so much right now." A low growl escaped my throat.
"Most men with girlfriends do." I found myself wondering how a person who looked so innocent could be so…so…was there even a word for it? 'Asakura.' That's what I decided to call it. He was so Asakura. All men of that clan were natural playas and women magnets. 'Why can't the Taos be like that? No! I had to get stuck with the bloodthirsty, power-hungry clan instead of the sexy ones! No wonder the Taos hated the Asakuras so much.
"Anyway, the whole point of this conversation was supposed to be that you actually do like Thorn don't you?" Hana changed topics slightly so that the subject of conversation was less perverted. "Sorry about the whole side tracked, teasing bit." The Asakura leaned up against the soda machine and put some change into the slot.
"I'm not forgiving you." I mumbled grouchily. "But about Thorn, that was nothing. My hormones took control of me for a brief second, and I was acting purely on testosterone." I paused to look uncertainly at my best friend since childhood. "That can happen right? It doesn't mean I'm in love with her or anything does it?" I showed a scared, more naïve side of me for a moment.
"Of course. It's only natural for guys our age. That can happen sometimes and there's nothing you can do about it." Hana shrugged casually and picked up his orange soda.
"Oh good…even to you?" I leaned up against the whitewashed wall of the hospital hallway.
"Yeah, even to me. Akira, we're guys, we're allowed to act like complete hormonal jerks sometimes." His bright smile as he opened the can reassured me that I wasn't losing my mind.
"So just because I really enjoyed looking down her shirt and having dirty thoughts about her doesn't mean I'm in love with her?" I relied on my friend heavily for consul.
"No, you're not in love; you just have the hots for her is all. Hey, is that why you're always so grouchy around her; do your leather pants get too tight?" Hana took a playful poke at me, but caused more anger than it was worth.
"Tread lightly Asakura, you're on thin ice with me." I growled.
"Uh-hehehe…right." Hana rubbed nervously at the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly at me. "What I meant to say was that it doesn't mean you're in love, but it does mean that you're a horny pervert."
I resisted the urge to slap him. "Thank. You. Hana. Well, that's certainly a good thing because I think I'm in love with someone else." I handed him some change to get me a soda as well.
"What's her name?—Orange or grape?" Hana continued lazily leaning up against the machine as he inserted the coins.
"I think it's Hoshi. At least that's what she told me, but I'm not sure—Do they have peach?" I drew my knees to my chest and rested my head on the tops of my knees.
A disapproving look grazed Hana's face "Hoshi! You mean my other cousin!—They don't have Peach. It's orange, grape, strawberry, or watermelon."
"Nah, not your cousin, some other girl. The one you were dancing with.—Do they sell milk?" I shifted uneasily, sitting against the wall was uncomfortable for my back.
"Which girl? I danced with hundreds.—No, no milk. They only have soda, but if you want, I could get you coffee?" It amazed me how we were able to keep two conversations straight for so long.
"You know, the girl you were practically making love to! You wouldn't let anyone else dance with her until that Dao Lian guy came.—No, I don't like coffee; what were the flavors of soda again?"
"Oh yeah! That son of a gun stole my dance partner!" He paused, and remembering what I had said, "And I wasn't 'practically making love to her.' WAIT. You like THAT one!—Orange, grape, strawberry, watermelon, and peach."
"No, I'm in love with her. I was sort of Dao Lian…I didn't want anyone to know who I actually was, so I gave her the wrong name, and I think she gave me a pseudonym too. You have to help me! I need to meet her! I've fallen for her Hana!—I thought you said that there wasn't peach?" I switched from begging for his help to yelling at him.
"Stay away from her Akira. She's already taken! She's mine! I swear, if I hear you've been hitting on her I will have to ring your neck!—Sorry, did I say peach? I think they're out of peach." My friend was threatening to kill me over a girl one minute, and apologizing about soda flavors the next.
"She didn't tell me that she had a boyfriend. Since when did she become yours?—Just see if there's any peach left." I glared.
"Look Akira, just do as I say on this one. I don't want you messing with my girl. I saw her first. You can have any other girl than that one.—Will you look at that! There was peach soda left!" Hana happily handed over the peach flavored drink.
"Fine. She'd probably rather have you anyway. You don't have any objection to me emailing her do you?—Thanks." I took the soda from him and popped the tab open.
"I suppose you can email her, just nothing more.—You're welcome." Hana casually moved over to where I was sitting, and leaned up against the wall, standing right next to me. He took a small sip of his orange beverage.
"Hey, Hana? Could you give me lessons?" I took a drink of my own soda.
His answer came slowly. "What kind of lessons?"
"You know, how to do what you do with girls. You're so good…I'd like to know how you do it." We didn't look at each other as we talked. I'm not sure why; maybe just because it made us seem cooler than we actually were: standing there having a tough, manly conversation, not needing to look at each other to know what the other's face showed.
"Oh, like how to attract women? All right. I could easily do that now with all the cute nurses running around." Hana broke the 'cool-guy tradition' by looking at me and smiling.
"Great, but first I have a question." I gazed steadily at his face out of the corner of my eye.
"Hmm?" He took a quick drink of soda.
"Do you like Thorn?" Hana gagged on the liquid going down his throat, and coughed several times before he was able to speak.
"No! I mean, she's my cousin! That's just sick…isn't it?" Hana looked questioningly in my general direction, but not all the way down to the floor at me.
"Well yeah, that would be incest, but by what you said before about her—you know, when we were in the room and I was staring at her…about tackling her and her clothes and stuff?—well, you really seemed like you meant it…" I half looked at him, but my gaze was focused more away from his face than anything. In truth, I would have no problem if he had such fierce romantic feelings for his cousin. They had just met, so it wasn't like they had grown up together. She would have been just any other girl to Hana if she didn't share his last name. Actually, they were quite cute together, in my opinion.
"Of course not! That would be gross! I mean, she is my cousin after all…" He sort of trailed off, not knowing how to go on deigning any feelings that he might or might not have had for Thorn. "I mean, sure she's pretty, and she's not a ditz like some girls, and she's really nice, and she's got an amazing personality, and she's definitely got a body, and her eyes—did you notice how pretty her eyes are?—oh, and she's—"
Hana continued to babble on and on about his cousin, and I was forced to decided that he was, in fact, in love with her. Not just some crush or a minor case of puppy love, he was in love, and he had it bad. I also decided not to judge him because I could definitely see where he was coming from. She was pretty great, but I was still in love with my girl. My 'Hoshi'.
"—but anyway, she's my cousin, so NO I do NOT like her like that. So, Akira, pick any girl." I had stopped listening to Hana's babbling, so the mention of my name startled me.
"I'm sorry, what?" I snapped back to attention.
"You said you wanted some courting lessons, so pick any girl." It sounded more like he was challenging me, silently making a bet that he could seduce any girl in the entire joint.
Of course this irritated me. 'Who does he think he is!…The son of the Shaman King…right.' I looked around, trying to find a girl that wouldn't easily give in to him. I spotted the perfect one: a shorter blonde girl with soft grey eyes. She looked like the kind of girl that would be too shy to talk to men. "ANY girl, Hana?"
"ANY girl, Akira." He confirmed in such a mocking way. I felt the need to hit him.
"That one." I indicated the nervous looking, shy girl walking down the hall towards us.
"That one?" Hana gave her an evaluating glance and smiled. That was when I realized I had picked the wrong girl. "No problem. Hold my soda, and just go along with what I say." He handed me the soda, and started talking like he was telling a story or something. Hana used his arms to gesture emphatically, and I wondered where he was going with this. "So then this girl, she just comes up to me and she says—" He stepped back. Right into the way of the little blonde nurse. He had timed it perfectly so that she wouldn't be able to stop in time.
She fell over and the papers in her arms went flying. The woman fell forward right on top of Hana, and he sort of caught her in his arms to cushion her fall. The little nurse just lay on top of Hana for a moment, not able to figure out what had just happened to her.
"Uhhh…hi." Hana pretended to be completely entranced by her.
His words broke the spell of confusion over her, and she jumped off of him. "I am so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going, and I—I didn't mean to….to fall on top of you like that!" She looked away from him, blushing.
Hana remained on the ground sitting. Most likely looking up her tight-fitting, white, mini-skirt. "No, it was totally my fault." He picked up all the papers scattered on the ground, and stacked them in a neat pile. The Asakura stood and handed the papers to the blonde. "I'm really sorry about that. I'm the one who wasn't watching where I was going. Um…Hana Asakura…" He held out a hand for her to shake.
She hesitantly placed her hand in his. "Wendy Gale…" She blushed as he raised her hand to his lips and gently placed a ghost of a kiss on her hand. "It's really nice to meet you Mr. Asakura. Do you have family here?"
"Please, call me Hana, and yes, my father's here. Asakura Hao, room 366. Ever since my mother died he's been drunk constantly; he finally gave himself alcohol poisoning. I thought he was going to die, but it seems he'll be fine. He said that he's going to stop drinking, so maybe he'll stop beating me now that he's sober." My best friend lied to the pretty nurse.
"He beats you?" Wendy shrieked in horror.
"Oh! Did I say that? I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't have. It's not his fault after all; he's a really great father when he's not drunk. He actually feeds me sometimes." Hana tried to reassure her.
Wendy's eyes widened. "You mean he doesn't feed you!"
"Well one day when he was drunk, he sort of ordered the servants to not feed me. Shoot…that didn't come out right. I mean…you know I have no idea what I mean. I really don't talk to pretty girls often, and I'm sort of really nervous right now." I don't know how he did it, but Hana faked a blush.
The pretty blonde blushed bright red. "You think I'm pretty?"
"Well, yeah…actually you're gorgeous…but you probably want to get back to work, and I'm in your way. Sorry…" He stepped out of her way and smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, no…I…here…" She blushed heavily and scribbled something on a sheet of paper before nervously handing it to him. "You seem like a really nice guy, and I think you're really cute. Call me sometime?" She placed a quick kiss on Hana's cheek before scurrying off.
He caught her by the arm, and spun her around, kissing her full on the lips. He pulled away, leaving her breathless. "Sorry…I just…here…" He offered a small slip of paper with his own phone number on it. "I'd really like it if you called me too."
She smiled brightly and stole a quick kiss on his lips before running off.
"I really do hate you Asakura." I spoke up for the first time in several minutes.
"Aw come on Akira! You asked me to help you, and you did pick that girl. Pick another." Hana handed me the first nurse's phone number.
"Yeah, but I don't see why you had to lie to her about your father…"
"Because I can." Hana smiled goofily. "Besides, it's not like I gave her a fake number or anything. I'll call her later and I'll arrange a date. It wouldn't be right to just play with a girl's emotions and not call her a couple times after seducing her like that. I'm not that low. Pick another girl.
I hastily picked out a tough looking red-haired nurse who was fighting off a guy that was hitting on her. "That one."
"If you say so." Hana shrugged, carefully scrutinizing her like he had done the first.
"Aww come on, baby! Why won't you say yes!" The guy got in front of the nurse and blocked her path.
"Leave me alone! No means NO, you creep!" The girl yelled, finally getting fed up with the relentless punk.
"Excuse me, but I don't appreciate you hitting on my girlfriend when she obviously doesn't want the attention." Before I had time to notice he was gone, Hana had walked up to the young man and woman, and had stood up to the annoying guy.
At first the nurse looked startled, but after a quick wink from Hana, she decided to play along. "You heard him, get away before my boyfriend decides to beat you up!" The red-haired woman stepped behind Hana and looped her arm around his. The young man nodded grudgingly toward Hana, and ran off.
"Thank you." The girl smiled towards the Asakura boy. "That creep's been bugging me all day."
"Don't thank me; I really don't deserve it." Hana sheepishly smiled at the girl, who was an inch or so taller than he was.
"Of course you do. My name is Kelly, and I want to thank you, so I will regardless of whether you want me to or not." She kissed Hana lightly on the cheek and smirked as he blushed.
Again, I couldn't figure out how he faked the blush. Normally there was no way a simple kiss could make him of all people blush, but now it seemed he blushed at will.
"Actually, the only reason I got rid of that guy back there was because I wanted to hit on you myself." Again, a sheepish grin covered his face. "Sorry…but now I feel sort of selfish. I'll just leave you alone."
"Without leaving your name?" She stopped him as he was about to walk away.
"Hana Asakura."
"Hao or Yoh's son?" The girl asked.
"Yoh's…do you know my father?" Hana responded curiously.
"No, but my mother did. Sally of the Lilly 5? Have you heard of her? She traveled some with Yoh, Ren, Horo, and the others." Kelly conversed openly with Hana.
"Yeah, actually I have heard of her. The one with anger management issues? That's how Ren described her; speaking of Ren, that's his son, Akira. Hey, Akira! Come over here and stop being anti-social!" Kelly laughed at Hana's cuteness, but I just wanted to ring his scrawny neck.
Regardless, I got up and joined their little conversation. "Hey." I nodded in acknowledgement toward the girl. How did I know Hana was going to make a fool of me?
"Hello. I'm Kelly."
"Akira." I grunted. I hated talking to women. Unlike my Ainu cousin, or my stupid Asakura best friend, I had no clue what to say to impress such pretty creatures.
"Oh come on Akira! How are you ever going to get a girlfriend if that's the way you greet a lady?" Hana poked me. I wanted to slay him then and there to avoid further embarrassment. "I'm trying to teach him to talk to girls." Hana explained.
"So that's why you helped me out. I should have known you where a no good vermin when I first saw you Asakura, but you seemed like such a nice guy." Kelly glared playfully at Hana.
"I'm not that bad a guy." The blonde Shaman replied. "I'm just trying to help out a friend in need." Hana shrugged off her teasing.
"Well, it was nice meeting you two. Good luck with the ladies; I have to get back to work now if you don't mind." She tossed a slip of paper over her shoulder at Hana. "If you're anything like your father, give me a call some night, playboy."
"Will do." Hana caught the paper, and after checking it for authenticity, saluted her retreating figure playfully.
"I still can't figure out how you do it." I glared as the girl sauntered off.
"You will someday." Hana patted me on the back and escorted me back to the vending machine area.
"You're, like, blocking the soda machine." A female voice right behind us made me jump. I turned around to see Hoshi Asakura.
"Sorry, Hosh." Hana steeped out of his cousin's way.
"It's, like, all right Hana." Hoshi smiled warmly at Hana, but she glared at me.
"I'm going back to the room." Hana picked up his orange soda and nodded goodbye to the both of us. As soon as he had gotten out of hearing range I turned toward Hoshi who was inserting coins into the soda machine.
"So…were you at the Masquerade last week?" I attempted to make light conversation with the she-devil.
"Yeah, like, what's it to you?" She glared at the drink selections, but I knew the glare was intended at me.
"Well…I was wondering if you remembered dancing with someone named Dao Lian?" I prayed she said no. My heart would break if this was the girl I fell in love with.
"No. I, like, don't remember all the perverts I dance with. Men matter little in my life, so I don't see it, like, fit to remember their names." She picked up her grape soda and opened it.
"What if you ever got pregnant? Wouldn't you need to know who the father was?" I tried to not make her sound like too much of a slut, but it was hard to find the proper wording.
"I can't get pregnant; I'm sterile. Now, what did you want to talk about?" She rolled her eyes as I gave her a blank stare. "I'm not an idiot. You purposely stayed behind after Hana left."
"I wanted to ask your email address." I held my breath and awaited my death.
She looked strangely at me for a minute, but answered anyway. "HoshiGaHoshiiDesu at Sk dot com. I also have another one: 'PrincessOfTheStarSanctuary', but that's on msn."
"Oh thank God!" I let out the breath. "You see at the dance I met this girl who looked a little like you, and she said her name was Hoshi."
"Afraid of falling for someone like me?" She smirked evilly, reminding me a lot of her father. "I don't know who would give you my name in place of their own…Unless…was this girl really naïve and wearing a green dress with a really exquisite green mask?"
"Yeah. Why! Do you know her! Please, Hoshi, I have to find her!" I grabbed desperately at the collar of the older Asakura twin's hot pink jacket.
"Like, God! What's your problem! How far have you like gone with this girl that you need to find?" She glared at me, and I felt that if I said the wrong thing she would kill me. She easily freed herself from my grasp by twisting out of her jacket.
"I've kissed her is all…Please Hoshi, can't you at least tell me her name?" I begged.
A loud slap resounded down the halls of the hospital. I held onto my cheek as it stung and burned. "What the hell was that for!" I reeled in pain.
"I saw you looking down Thorn's shirt, and I don't like it! I don't mind when bastards like you do that to me, but when you start going after my baby sister, that's when I get angry! If I ever catch you coming on to her, then I will make you suffer in ways you can't even begin to fathom." The murderous look in her eyes was enough to tell me she wasn't playing around with me. "Do you understand me?"
"Yes, I swear I won't ever try anything like that ever again." I held up my hands to defend myself from her on-coming wrath.
"Like, totally awesome." Hoshi regained her ditzy attitude. "Oh, and like, about your mystery girl: be nicer to my little sister, and like totally don't tell your Hoshi girl your real name. Also, don't ask for her real name until you are like, totally sure that you're ready to find out. She's not who you think she is." Hoshi walked off back into the room, and I followed cautiously behind her, making sure that I didn't get too close so that her mood swings didn't rub off onto me.
The room was a circus. Well, maybe not a circus…a freak show would also properly describe it. Hao sat up in bed eating some substance that looked sort of like food while Opacho, Luca, Mari, and Macchi lectured him on the severity of the situation. Ivy sat next to him, beaming happily as she played with loose strands of his hair. She was overjoyed to be with her husband again. Both looked to be enjoying each other's company immensely. Anna and Yoh looked to be discussing something. Sometime in my absence Ivory and Makoto had arrived, and they, Hoshi, and Hana were talking about some topic that seemed very interesting—well, at least to those participating in the conversation. Amidamaru and Ivy's ghost Aikido were making goo goo eyes at each other as Chip, Isabelle, and some other ghosts played a round of poker.
I sat down in one of the armchairs next to Thorn, but for the most part ignored her. She, in turn, ignored me as well. She seemed to be busy anyway reading what looked like a bunch of random notebook pages thrown together. They looked old. I had to know what she was looking at, so I leaned toward her to look over her shoulder.
Somehow this made her mad. She hid the papers from my view and glared at me. "Do you mind?"
"God, don't be so bitchy, Asakura!" I glared back at her ten times as hard.
This made her even angrier. "I have a first name, you know! Why don't you use it sometime!" She stood, leaving the papers on her chair. "Never mind," She replied sarcastically, "You don't even know my first name! I'm just ASAKURA! Well, you know what? I'm sick of it. SICK!" A hard smack hit me straight across the face and she stormed out into the hall.
The entire room had gotten silent as the girl had blown up at me. Now they all stared menacingly at me, ganging up for the kill. Hao and Ivy looked like they wanted to ring my neck for hurting their daughter. Hoshi, Anna, Yoh, Ivory, and Makoto looked on extremely disapproving of me. Hane growled softly, baring his teeth at me, ready to bite. Hao's followers had murder in their eyes. The ghosts looked angry enough to attack me for offending their mistress.
Hana stood and walked to the door, drawing everyone's attention away from me. "I'm sure she's just having a bad day. After all Hao did give us a pretty bad scare. She needs to go home and sleep in a real bed and eat some real food. This hospital isn't really helping her health or mentality." Hana reasoned. "It's not entirely Akira's fault that he said the wrong thing at the wrong time. I'll go see if she's doing all right." The Asakura boy was about to completely exited when a thought occurred to him, "Though, you could be a bit nicer to her from now on Akira. You're too harsh."
All I could think was 'Way to be on my side, BEST FRIEND.' I sat down, opened up my laptop, and wrote a rather sappy email to my mysterious 'Hoshi-girl'.
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Mikau: Well…that was a rather…different…chapter. I hope it's not too weird, but Hana and Akira are teenage boys after all (so sorry to all non-perverted teenage boys). I'm going back to sleep. Hopefully I'll be better soon and the next chapter won't take so long. Oh, and someone asked if I would consider HanaxThorn for a pairing. Well, yes they're cousins, and I don't like the idea of incest, but you really have to admit that they are so darn cute together!
Thanks to all my reviewers from last chapter; I really do appreciate it!
PLEASE REVIEW!