Mikau: Hello! This is a pretty quick update considering my recent update speed. I'm feeling a lot better, but now my friend Matt is sick with what I just had. Poor guy. Now I feel guilty for getting him sick. I really don't have much to say this time. Not much action this chapter; it's sort of a transitional chapter. Hopefully more next time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.
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Date With Destiny; Dance With Death
There are no windows in the laboratory since it's underground, so for once light streaming into the room did not wake me up. Instead, the sound of glass shattering as it hit the ground was my wake up call. I jumped and conked heads with someone. A soft groan emerged from the mass lying underneath me. My eyes slowly slid open and my x-husband was the first thing that I saw.
"Mornin'." He greeted pleasantly, sitting up.
"It's too early." I pushed him back down and lay my head back on his chest, pulling the blanket tightly around us.
"Aww come on, wake it up!" A small, high-pitched voice barked at me. "You two have had all night to sleep; what were you doing all that time? Never mind. Knowing Hao, I don't want to know all the kinky things you were doing. On second thought, the poor woman has a right to be tired."
I sat up and gazed curiously at the little Jack Russell puppy that had knocked over the empty glass container. I glared silently at Hane.
"Shh, Hane. Nothing happened." Hao smiled at his pet. The dog simply rolled his dark eyes.
"I find that hard to believe Onii-chan." I looked up to find Yoh standing in the doorway, smiling pleasantly at us. "Morning Valerie. You look terrible! Your eyes are red, and your hair is all disheveled and—"
"—You really know how to charm a girl Yoh." I glared playfully across the room at my brother-in-law.
"Sorry…" The younger Asakura male smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Uh…well…Anna told Hane and me to wake you guys up, and now that you're up I have to go run twenty miles."
"She's going easy on you today? How unlike Anna…" I mused.
"Yeah…she's been sort of moody lately. I don't know why, but I'm sort of glad that she's been in a better mood." Yoh smiled lazily as he left to start his run. Seconds later he ducked back into the lab and tossed a scroll at Hao. Hao caught it skillfully, but sent a 'What the hey?' look back at his brother.
Yoh caught Hao's glance and explained. "That's your chore list for today. Anna wants all of that done by breakfast or you don't eat."
Hao opened the scroll and his jaw dropped as the parchment reached the floor.
"We have to do all this by breakfast!" I looked incredulously at my sister's husband. "But it's seven o five right now, and I was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast five minutes ago!" I begged.
Yoh looked knowingly at me. "Anna knows. Hao has to get all of those chores done by breakfast time. Valerie, you're free to go to breakfast with your friend."
I positively gaped at his words. "I don't have to help? Yoh, is Anna pregnant?"
Yoh flushed. "I…uh…honestly don't know. All I know is what she told me. She said, 'Give this list to Hao to do before breakfast or he doesn't eat, and tell Valerie to go have fun with her friend. I don't want them doing chores together today since yesterday when I left them alone for two seconds they were on top of each other.'" My cheeks turned a soft shade of cardinal red. "Well that's all I wanted. Come on Hane, let's go for our run. Sorry Hao." Yoh sent a sympathetic gaze to his older brother before ascending the stairwell.
"What am I now? Your jogging buddy?" Hane dashed up the stairs after Yoh.
"So who's this person that you're going to breakfast with?" Hao looked me over, seeming a little worried about who I was spending my time with.
"Oh, just a friend…Lucy. It won't take long, and I'll be back to help you with the chores." I promised.
"You better hurry up; you're late." He nodded and kissed me on the cheek before exiting. "Have fun."
"I thought he would never leave."
I jumped at the sudden voice appearing behind me. "Lucifer!" I softly exclaimed, trying not to alert Hao to Lucifer's presence.
"Don't worry, he's too far up the stairs to hear you. Just don't scream." Satan smiled evilly at me.
"Great. I'll make sure to scream loudly when you try something on me." I shot back, feeling like arguing with someone.
"Haha. Very funny. Well, anyway, I'm glad that you remembered our breakfast date this morning. If you want to change clothes before we go, I'll wait down here." Lucifer offered good-naturedly.
"Thank you." I hurried up the stairs to my room, and returned minutes later in blue jean capris and a red tank top. When I returned to the lab, Lucifer had his back to me and was working on something. I slowly approached him and looked over his shoulder. What I saw startled me: a beating human heart lying on the counter where the one I was dissecting had lain the previous night. "How did you…?"
He looked up from his work at me, seeing me for the first time since I had come back into the lab. The heart stopped beating as his concentration was broken. "Oh, this?" He shrugged. "A little Carbon, Oxygen, and Sulfur fix everything."
"I've been trying to get it to do that for almost a year now! How did you make it beat!" I took him by the shoulders and shook him for the answer, not caring how desperate my voice sounded.
"I'm not sure; why don't you get down on your knees and beg me to tell you. That might jog my memory. Or you could agree to be mine, then I'll make a perfect working body for you." I would NOT give in to his demands.
I slapped him hard. "Forget it. I'll figure it out myself."
This highly amused him. "Ivy, you're a mortal, human soul. You can't play God and expect it to work. I on the other hand…I can help you. I can make a new body for you. Say yes now Ivy, this is your last chance before I have to take things into my own hands."
"My answer, for now and ever, is N-O. NO!" My eyes filled with fire as I spit venom back at his stupid, chauvinistic male boasting.
"Fine then." He grabbed my hand and suddenly we were transported right outside the nearest coffee house. He had a different set of clothes on: a light brown jacket with a burgundy undershirt and nice blue slacks.
"How'd you change so fast?" I asked, puzzling over his quick costume change.
"I'm amazing aren't I?" was all I got for an answer. He led me into the building and I picked out a window seat booth.
The green-haired waitress greeted us without actually looking up from her notepad. "Hello and welcome to Moon and Stars Café and Bakery. How may I serve you today?" It was definitely a rehearsed greeting, but I didn't really pay much attention to the words coming out of the person's mouth.
"Lyserg!" I blinked several times to see if the former X-LAW member was only a figment of my imagination.
The green-haired man, who I had at first mistaken for a woman, looked blankly at me. "You look sort of familiar." I had forgotten that my hair and eye colors had changed. "But I know who you are…" Lyserg hissed like a cat a Lucifer. "Hao…."
My companion sniffed indignantly at the confusion. "Actually, I'm Lucifer. NOT Hao."
"And I'm Ivy." I supplied.
"You changed your hair and eyes." Lyserg pointed out. "I almost didn't know who you were. And so now you're dating the actual Devil instead of that Asakura one? That's pretty sad."
"What about you! Aren't you supposed to be some hotshot detective over in London? What are you doing in Japan waiting tables?" I traded insult for insult.
"I'm working undercover." The Englishman frowned.
"Nice apron." Lucifer couldn't help but throw his two cents in.
"CAN I HELP YOU?" I could tell Lyserg was trying to contain his anger, but he couldn't help from raising his voice.
I knew better than to keep teasing, so I let the subject die, and I ordered. "I'll have a plain bagel, toasted, with cream cheese; a hot chocolate, lukewarm, with whipped cream; and a fresh orange."
"I'll have a strawberry croissant, a tall Caramel Macchiato, and an apple." Lucifer too placed his order. Lyserg nodded and went to prepare our food.
"You and Hao looked pretty cozy with each other this morning." Lucifer openly spoke his mind. "It seems like you two are getting back together pretty quickly."
"I don't think so. Actually, I'm pretty sure that things are going nowhere." I sighed and glanced out the window. It was still early, and the sky was wrought with gray clouds. "It's going to rain."
Lucifer followed my gaze to the clouds, supporting his chin on his hand. "Do you seriously hate being with me that much Ivy?"
"Huh?" I blinked and looked up, meeting the mourning look in his eyes. "No! I don't mean it like that!...I only meant that…it's going to rain is all." The clouds took their cue and released the moisture that they had been holding in.
"You Allures and your accuracy in weather prediction." The Hao look-alike rolled his eyes and a small, sly smile returned to his face.
"I hope your food is to your liking." A flustered Lyserg begrudgingly set down our breakfast and forced a smile. "Have a nice day Sir., Ma'am."
"Hey Lyserg, just what are you working undercover on anyway?" Lucy teased the green-haired waiter one last time.
"If you must know, I'm tracking down a murdering rapist who's targeting fifteen to seventeen year-old girls with brown hair. The only mark he leaves on his victims is a backwards '3' in the bottom-right-hand corner of the girl's right eye. Even though he rapes his victims, we've got no DNA on this guy. You know anyone who would do that Demon?" Lyserg's cold gaze seemed easily reflected by Lucifer's cool façade.
"No, no one I know. Do let me know when you find the sick bastard." Lucifer's smile made me feel sick to my stomach. I couldn't help but think how evil he looked when he grinned.
Lyserg nodded and hurried off to attend to his other duties. No one else was really in the small café since it was still early, and it was raining.
My fingers subconsciously traced the bottom corner of my right eye. "It has to be some sort of scary coincidence, right?" I tried to relieve my own fears, but it wasn't working.
"Not necessarily. You could be next, Ivy my sweet flower." He ran his slender finger along the side of my face, tracing my jawbone.
"I'm too old…" I tried to talk my way out of it. "He said 15-17, and I just turned 33."
"Ahh…but how old do you look? Ivy, there's not a gray hair on your head. You only know how to make a teenage body since that's all you've been trying to make for the past sixteen years. Who knows…besides you don't have brown hair anymore." Lucifer broke his entrancing eye contact with me and started on his breakfast.
"You're right." I had almost forgotten about the food set in front of me. I too started on my breakfast. "Why can't Anna just let me tell him?" I bit into my bagel and thoughtfully murmured to myself.
Lucifer heard me. "It's not part of the plan. You don't have a proper body yet, so what would be the use of telling him? Wouldn't that be awkward for the both of you? Your body is fragile, and after just one night with him you'd need a new one. It takes about a week to make a new body well. You could make a cheap one in three days, bare-minimal twenty-four hours. Just like when after you had been with Yoh, your body would start breaking down. These Jang-si bodies aren't made to withstand the strains of intercourse. That's why she wants you to wait. It'll be easier for Valerie to control herself since the Ivy fraction of you would murder you if you laid a finger on her fiancée. Ivy wouldn't be capable of self-control around Hao, and therefore she would accomplish less on her research. Trust me, it's better this way."
"I never thought about it that way…. Hey, how did you know about my sister's motives?" I stared down the man across the table from me.
"How indeed? Aren't I amazing? You'll just have to accept that I know everything, Ivy dearest." He smirked as he finished off his croissant.
"Why exactly did you want to spend time with me anyway?" I started peeling my orange.
"Have you ever considered that I enjoy your company? Or maybe I like stalking you? Maybe I'm lost in my delusional, make-believe world where Hao doesn't exist and you love me too?" That look came over his face again, the look where he looked like an abused puppy.
"Lucifer…" I couldn't help but feel badly for him. He had so easily manipulated my feelings and made me feel guilty. I quickly decided that this was a bad power that he had over me.
"Shh…I know…I don't mean to make you feel that way. I don't want to guilt you into doing something that you wouldn't normally do."
"Like sleep with you?" I snapped back to my senses and my guilt disappeared.
"Is that something you normally wouldn't do?" Lucifer teased. "I could have sworn that you didn't have a problem with it…."
"Stop it." My voice turned cold and unfeeling.
"Fine, not another word on that topic; I promise." It seemed as if he was telling the truth, so I let him off with a warning glare. "Hey, do you want to go to the movies or something?"
"Well…I kind of promised Hao that I'd hurry back and help him with some stuff…" I was determined not to let Lucifer trick me into anything again.
"Hao again…" The devil rolled his eyes at my excuses.
"But I guess a few more hours wouldn't hurt, and besides, there is this new horror flick that I wanted to see…" I hadn't intended to stay out until nightfall, but with all the fun things for two people to do in Tokyo…well, I just couldn't help it….
I heard their voices as I sat on the windowsill, waiting: "He's been sitting there for several hours now…do you think we should do something?"
"What would you do Yoh?"
"I don't know…try and cheer him up? He looks so depressed…. Can't we do something Anna?" My younger brother begged his wife as they stood in the hallway watching me. I don't think they knew I could hear them. I probably looked too lost in thought as I stared out the window and waited.
"Stay here. I'll try, but I'm not promising anything." Anna sauntered up to me and sat down beside me on the windowsill. She didn't make eye contact as we both stared wordlessly out into the darkness of the night. "Wow, Hao. That's really sad. One day with her and you're already turning into her lapdog."
For once in the past several hours my eyes looked away from the world beyond the windowpane. "I am not her lapdog." I growled back.
"Oh please. If she told you to jump off a bridge you'd ask 'Which one?'. If she asked you to do a dance you'd ask 'Ballroom or Irish step dance?'. You'd probably even let her put a collar on you with a little bell and everything. Face it, she owns you." My sister-in-law had no idea how right she was.
Still, that didn't stop me from denying it. "You're delusional Anna; I'd do no such thing."
"Well then, why have you been sitting here since who knows when waiting for her to come home so that you can meet her at the door." Anna pressed further.
"I'm bored, so I'm sitting here looking out the window. I never said I was waiting for Valerie to come home." I tried to sidestep her accusations, but I was doing a lousy job of it.
"So you're not upset that she's been gone more than twelve hours with another man and she might not be coming home tonight?" Anna had struck a blow to my heart. I could feel it lurch as she suggested that Ivy might not be home until sometime the following day.
I tried to hide my hurt by muttering, "What do I care, Anna? She's not my wife. Let her sleep with whoever she wants."
"But you love her. You're just too tough to admit that I really cut you when I suggested she may be spending the night with some other man. You really are her lapdog…" A small smile spread over Anna's face. It was a rare sight, and usually meant something really good, or something really bad. There was no real median with Anna. "Don't worry. She has no interest in other men. She's on a pity date, and should be home soon."
"Thanks Anna." She nodded and left, leaving Yoh standing in the doorway, and me still sitting on the windowsill, waiting for Lucifer to bring my wife home so I could kill him.
"Hey aniki." Yoh stood behind me. I could see his reflection in the window; he had something behind his back.
"Hello otouto." I knew he was up to something.
"You look depressed." The younger twin blinked innocently at me.
"I am depressed." I waited for him to do something. I knew he was going to.
Yoh pulled out a ball of yarn and dangled it in front of my face. I ignored the brown ball of fuzz. Yoh looked thoughtfully at the ball of entwined strings before he started to move it around, bringing it closer then further away from my face. My eyes subconsciously followed the yarn as Yoh swung it back and forth, occasionally bumping it into my face. After the fuzzy ball had brushed against my nose a few times, I batted at it with my hand. Yoh ignored my obvious displeasure and continued assaulting me with the stupid knitting material. After awhile I couldn't take it anymore, so I snatched the yarn out of Yoh's hand. He grabbed at it, trying to regain his lost toy, and soon a full blown war over the stupid yarn ball broke out, ending in me on top of my younger brother, straddling him, while restraining his arms with my own.
"What the hell is your problem Yoh!" I glared down at my own smiling twin image.
"Nothing. You'd make a good cat is all. NEKO HAO!" I rolled my eyes and let my brother go.
I returned to my post by the window and muttered under my breath. "God…what am I? A dog or a cat? Stupid Anna…stupid Yoh." I threw the ball of yarn over my shoulder at my twin.
"Hey Hao?" Yoh's voice lost its playfulness and suddenly turned serious.
"Hmm?" I didn't bother turning around to look at him as he sat on the floor.
"You're not mad at me, are you?"
"No. Just never attack me with a ball of yarn again." I rolled my eyes even if he couldn't see.
"Not about that. I know you wouldn't stay mad about something stupid like that…. I'm talking about…. Hao, you're not an idiot. The silver hair, green eyes, and slightly altered voice shouldn't be enough to fool you for long. You know about Valerie. I can tell that you do, and I know that if you and Anna ever…did anything…well, I know I'd be upset with you…so, I'm asking if you're angry, and if you are, will you forgive me?"
"So I'm not insane after all. She really is Ivy." I mumbled, smiling to myself. "I kept telling myself that there was no way it could be possible, but it really is her."
"Her soul, but not her. Valerie isn't the Ivy that you remember." My little brother broke the news to me lightly.
"But she could be herself again…once she has a real body and her life back." I mumbled.
"Hao?"
"It's okay otouto. I forgive you." I looked over my shoulder at the relieved look on his face.
"She wanted me to be you. Since we're twins…that's why she picked me out of all the other guys she could have gone to…she misses being with you more than you can know." I took comfort in my brother's words, but he didn't get the chance to say more before the front door opened and in walked Ivy.
She looked exhausted and her cheeks were rosy from the cold and rain. "Hello everyone! I'm home! I'm really tired, so I'm going to bed early." She rushed off immediately to her bedroom, not even hinting if she had noticed the two of us over by the window.
"And just where do you think you're going?" An authoritive voice echoed from the hallway that Ivy had just disappeared into.
"Bed? I'm tired Anna." The allure pleaded with her sister.
"Hao! Get in here!" I complied with Anna's orders. "I want you and Valerie to go clean up the kitchen before you can go to sleep."
"But Anna!" Ivy started, only to be cut off by her elder twin.
"No 'buts'. Hao cleaned the entire Inn today by himself, and you were out on your date, having fun. If anyone has the right to complain, it's Hao. Now, get going; you're not getting any closer to that bed standing around doing nothing."
"Anna, why don't you let her sleep, she's tired. I can do it by myself." I tried to bargin with the she-devil, but there was nothing for it.
"Don't try and talk her way out of this Hao; she's helping, and that is all I have to say on the matter. Go. Now." She turned on her heel and left us to our own devices.
"Thank you." Ivy smiled weakly up at me.
"Don't thank me; I haven't done anything to help you." I shrugged.
"Well at least you tried." She countered. "Let's go. We've got a kitchen to clean."
I grabbed a wet cloth and started cleaning the kitchen counters and tables while Ivy picked up the broom and started on the floor. "So how was your date?"
"I never said it was a date." Ivy stopped sweeping for a minute to look me over curiously. "Who told you?"
"No one had to. It was a bit obvious. Did you have fun with him? You spent an awful lot of time with him." I shrugged off her surprise and pressed the matter further.
"It was okay. It was a pity date." She tried to explain.
"You didn't have to lie to me about it." I acted like I didn't care that much when in reality I was dying to know why Ivy would go anywhere with Lucifer.
It took her a while to reply. "I'm sorry…I didn't want to tell you it was a date because…."
"You didn't want to hurt me." I finished. "I understand. Thank you."
Something in my tone of voice must have made her think my reply was insincere. "Nothing happened Hao. He took me to breakfast, then we went to the movies, and then for a walk around Tokyo, lunch, a little shopping, a little sightseeing, another movie, some other stuff, dinner, and then home. I didn't let him do anything to me…I—"
"—I believe you." I interrupted before she could become even more frazzled.
"Oh…. I thought that…never mind." A cute blush painted her cheeks.
I snuck up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. I whispered huskily into her ear, "I know what you thought. I'm not mad, just a little jealous—okay, I'll admit I'm insanely jealous of any man that gets to spend that much time alone with you. Just don't give Lucifer anything that should belong to me out of pity."
"So I'm yours now, am I? You've yet to lay claim to me." She moved my hands further down her waist, and my breathing sped up. "You've got quite an ego if you think I'm giving in to you that easily. I'm not as naïve as I look."
"It doesn't matter how naïve you are. I'm falling fast for you; don't tell me that you don't feel the same way." I felt myself getting more and more caught up in her intoxicating scent and fiery attitude.
"Is it love or lust Hao? I've never been able to figure that out about you." She pushed me further by leaning back into my embrace.
"For Valerie? Lust. The only woman that I'll ever be able to love died sixteen years ago, and my heart is still waiting for her to come back to me." I let my hands wonder to her pant's zipper.
She pushed away from me. "You're too loyal, Hao. What makes you so certain that she'll ever find a way back to you?" I could tell that she was doubting her abilities to reconstruct a working body.
"Don't give up so easily. You're not going to accomplish anything if you don't keep trying." I planted a quick kiss on her cheek and returned to cleaning counters.
She left the room, but instead of heading off to bed she went downstairs into the lab to continue her work.
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Thanks To: Hemila-Rose, Sonseray, glitter galz, HAO-Addictive, KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, haoxivy 4eva, ChibiAzn3, Katie-juliett, yo wuz up, Strawberry, Firebane5, MaiValentinefan, chibigirl, aN1mE rAwKz, and DarkPisces33.
To Firebane5: Actually you're not the only oblivious one. A lot of people were surprised with the latest twist. I tried to make it obvious in a not so obvious way, dropping hints all over the place, but making them subtle hints. I'm glad I did a good job on balancing Ivy's three personas. Poor Val must get huge headaches though. There has been a lot of controversy over Lucifer's motives. Some hate him; some love him. I think he's fun to manipulate to do my bidding. I've never seen Measure for Measure. I was going to read it over the summer, but I got sidetracked. I'd really like to see the Globe Theatre someday. I really hate when teachers ruin things that you would normally like. I think my favorite is either Much Ado About Nothing or A Midsummer Night's Dream. I gotta go do homework. See ya, and thanks for the review!
To DarkPisces33: Sorry that I haven't been writing lately. Since weren't not supposed to respond to our reviewers anymore, I have to be really picky choosey about whom I respond to. Sorry. I guess you're sort of right about the Asakuras being an elemental family. I gotta go, but thanks for the review!
PLEASE REVIEW!