Mikau: Well, this chapter didn't take long to do. I'm sick with strep throat, and am home sick. I really enjoyed writing this one. Maybe because it's got a lot of Lucifer in it. For those who can't tell, Lucifer is my favorite OC. -hugs Lucifer- Yep, he's my baby. Um, a little while ago someone asked to use him in a fic. I lost the email I got about it, and I can't remember who asked. I remember I said yes, but who was it who wanted to use him please? I'd like to read the fic, but I can't remember whose fic it was. Sorry that I'm so forgetful.
Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.
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Heartbreak
It was a perfectly dreadful day at the Onsen. It was raining—Again. 'I have to have a talk to Ivy about that…she's hurting my business with her stupid depression.' People don't like to travel in the rain, so my Inn's business was suffering. My sister was in a full-blown depression despite my efforts to cheer her. Well minimal efforts. I hadn't been trying very hard to make her happy….
It was a dreadful, dreary day at Funbari Onsen. My husband was off in England settling some matter of terrorist activity or some such thing. I hadn't paid much attention when he was telling me about it, so I couldn't recall the exact facts. He had left several days before hand and wasn't due back until later that night. Yoh hadn't seemed too worried about the trip so neither was I. My son, Hana, had gone off with his little group of friends, and had yet to return. Hoshi, the older of my nieces had left a little while ago in her flashy new car to meet up with the others. Thorn, the younger of the twins, had gone with Hana, and she wasn't back at the Inn yet either.
I was virtually alone in my home. Hao, my brother-in-law was lurking somewhere around the house, most likely sulking, but he wouldn't bother me. Hao always got sulky when it rained, so it goes without saying that he had been in a pretty rotten mood lately. It hadn't stopped raining for a couple days now. I think he hated the rain because it always rained when Ivy cried.
The only other person in the house was my sister, Ivy, or Valerie, whichever you prefer. She was off sulking somewhere as well. She'd also been depressed lately for some unknown reason. I couldn't imagine why, though. She was finally reunited with her husband. Ivy was melodramatic that way, hopelessly caught up in her own self-constructed soap opera.
I walked slowly down the steps with a laundry basket filled to the brim with dirty clothes. I was on my way to the washroom to drop the clothes off. I myself would never dream of actually doing manual labor such as doing the wash, but I was kind enough to Hao to gather the clothes for him and put them in the laundry room. He could do the wash later after he was done moping.
I was almost to the bottom of the stairwell when the shrill shriek of a cat's wail met my ears. I fell down the remaining step and the basket of clothes went flying. An orangey-red tabby cat scurried away, keeping his injured tail close to his body. Luckily I hadn't been hurt, but I was very mad, to say the least, at that stupid stray.
It hissed evilly at me, as if reading my nasty thoughts about it. "And just what are you doing in my house?" I growled at the cat, kicking it lightly, so that I didn't hurt it too badly.
The tabby hissed again before taking its humanoid shape. Lucifer glared at me. "You didn't have to kick me, Anna. I was only taking a nap. Plus, you stepped on my tail." Lucifer still retained his cat ears and tail, both of which he flicked angrily at me.
"You shouldn't be here impersonating a cat Lucifer." I glared again, stooping down to pick up the dirty laundry.
Lucifer retracted his ears and tail and bent down to help me gather the clothing scattered on the floor. "I wasn't doing anything wrong, you jerk."
"Don't give me any lip, demon. Why are you here?" I picked up the basket and made my way to the washroom.
"I was looking for your sister." Lucifer fell in step behind me. "Speaking of which, is that her bra?"
I swatted his hand away as he reached for the black lacey object. "You really are a stalker. I should exorcise you now and save time later."
"God, Anna, you're mean." The demon rubbed the hand I had hit. "Is it a crime if I'm in love with her?"
"Yes. They have laws against stalking people, even if you think that stupid human laws don't apply to you." I dropped the basket of clothes on the floor of the laundry room and walked back to the kitchen.
Lucifer changed back into a cat and followed me. Somehow he must have known that Hao was sitting in the kitchen at the table. "Good morning Hao."
"It's past noon." My brother-in-law didn't look up from the morning's paper as I walked over to the sink to wash dishes. Lucifer followed me, rubbing up against my legs like a real cat.
"And yet you are still in your pajamas." I countered.
Hao looked himself over and shrugged. It was true that he was still wearing black cotton sleeping pants and a faded mahogany bathrobe, but Hao didn't seem to care, nor plan on changing any time soon. "You're not dressed up much either Anna." It was the usual back and forth argument between Hao and me. We never seemed to be able to get along.
I looked over my plain floor-length black dress; similar to the one I had worn during my youth. It was a bit dirty, dusty since I had been doing chores the whole morning. I wore a simple white smock, and had my long fawn hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of my way. It was true that neither of us were very dressed up at all.
"What's up with the cat, Anna?" Hao gestured with little interest towards Lucifer in his tabby cat form.
"The annoying little creature won't leave me alone. I keep trying to get rid of it, but the pest just won't go away." I finished with washing up the dishes, and pulled out a clean mug to make coffee.
"Hmm…" Hao made a small noise just for the purpose of showing he had heard me. There was no real significance in our exchange of empty words.
'Looking back…I am so glad that I didn't sleep with him that one night on the roof in Patch Village. If I had married him instead we would have had a pretty dry relationship. I mean, look; we can't even stand to talk to each other for a few minutes! How long would we have lasted as a couple?'
"Still thinking about that night Anna?" Hao chuckled evilly.
He had been listening in on my thoughts. I blushed and kept my back to him, facing the sink. "Hao Asakura, you are pure evil! Listening in on a lady's thoughts."
"Act outraged all you want, I know that you're embarrassed to be caught thinking like that about me." I needn't look at him to see the smirk on his lips.
"You really are horrible." I bit back. My blow had little to no effect on him.
He got to his feet and stood behind me, as if considering…doing something. "It would have been fun." He whispered in my ear; his warm breath tickling my neck.
"Stop." I commanded weakly. I could really care less what he did.
"Is that what you really want?" I didn't know if Hao was picking my thoughts or what, but it scared me at how accurately placed his words were.
"You'd take advantage of me while my husband—your only brother—isn't home?" 'He's never home…and I'm always lonely…maybe…No. Not with his brother.'
Hao smiled like a cat that got into the cream. "Is Yoh ever home anymore?" The elder Asakura twin wickedly picked out my weak points. "I'm lonely too, Anna. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we…. Just this once? Why didn't we do anything before? That one night so long ago? I can't remember…"
'You said you didn't feel anything for me.' I didn't answer his question out loud. I didn't trust my voice as he sucked at the tender parts of my neck, sinking his teeth gently into me in all the right places.
"Well maybe being completely starved of love for the past month that I've been here has made me desperate enough to want you?" He was so mean, blatantly admitting that he didn't care for me at all, but still trying to seduce me just because he wanted someone to screw.
'But still…something is better than nothing right? Yoh and I haven't done anything together for over three months…not even a walk in the park let alone…' A small tear escaped from my eyes.
Hao gently licked it away. "Poor Anna…I'm sorry that my little otouto isn't such a great lover. I guess I got all the skill in that area." He turned me around and nibbled at my throat, right by the jawbone.
"Hao, I command you to stop right now." My voice quivered.
"Or what?" Hao smirked back at me, sneering and taunting.
"I refuse to be unfaithful to my husband with his twin brother!" I swatted Hao away half-heartedly with little to none of the desired effect.
"He's been unfaithful to you." As soon as Hao said it, he looked like he wanted to take it back. The look on his face was one of 'I shouldn't have said that.' or 'Yoh trusted me and I let him down.'
"With whom?" Hao looked away, weakly wishing to be anywhere but there at that exact minute. My brother-in-law shook his head and shrugged, feinting ignorance. "Hao!" He shrugged again. "It was Valerie, wasn't it?" He cast his gaze at the floor. "It was. I can see it in your eyes." My hands were shaking, and my gaze was faintly blurred by my own tears. "Hao?"
He looked up at me with questioning eyes. "Hm?—Mm!" Hao tried to jerk away as I kissed him, forcing my lips against his, but his resistance didn't last long. I ignored the fact that Lucifer was still in the room, and threw myself full force at Hao.
When he broke away for air, I took the opportunity to question him. "So how long has this been going on behind my back?"
"Anna…" Hao whined in protest. "You know I didn't mean to say anything. Forget that I ever told you." Hao returned to fiercely attacking my neck. He slipped off his bathrobe, throwing it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs; he unzipped the top half of my dress and let it slide down.
I let his hands wander my body as his tongue explored my mouth. All the while my mind told me what I was doing was wrong. 'But it's been so long…Yoh doesn't care anymore. He's cheated on me too, so technically I'm not doing anything wrong.' Lucifer nudged my foot urgently as if he was trying to tell me something, but he couldn't say anything because Hao was there and it would mean compromising his cover. All the sudden I felt sick. 'Damn this morning sickness…'
Hao had heard my thoughts. He pulled away and looked at me wide-eyed, "You're—!"
The faint sound of the kitchen door clicking shut cut Hao off. There, staring at us was my husband, soaked to the bone from the rain. His eyes were devoid of emotion at first as he objectively took in the scene, trying to find a reasonable explanation that would prove he hadn't just witnessed his wife making out with his older twin brother. Soon the dark abyss in his eyes was filled with hurt. He glanced questioningly at me, but only for a split second. He couldn't take the sight of me, half topless in his only brother's arms with hickeys up and down my neckline. The look in Yoh's eyes turned to vicious, spiteful, malicious hate when his gaze fell upon Hao.
"How…could…you?" Every syllable was oozing with murderous intent.
"Yoh…" I tried to explain to him that it wasn't what it looked like, but it was. It really was what he thought it was. I was caught in the act of adultery, and there was no talking my way out of what he saw. I couldn't even mutter a small 'I'm sorry.'
He must have gotten back from his trip early, and had entered at the exact wrong moment. Yoh turned his back to us and reopened the door to the back yard. He set his suitcases and things on the floor, and took only a jacket. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. I'll come back later." My husband disappeared back out into the pouring chilly rain. I could only let him go and pray that he came back. There was no use trying to talk to him until he calmed down.
Only after the door slammed shut did I come to my senses. Hao and I still had our arms around each other, and I was still half dressed. I drew back away from him and re-zipped my dress. Only then did the tears come. Whatever hope I had had of salvaging my relationship with Yoh was dead.
"I'm sorry." Hao's faint whisper caused me to look up and wipe away the oncoming flood of tears. "Anna, I am so sorry. I didn't mean for things to happen like this; I was only teasing, but…. God, I'm an idiot."
"Shut up." I choked back more tears and tried to save face. "It's not completely your fault. I shouldn't have let you. I could have stopped you at any time, but I didn't try hard enough."
He let the silence rein as he picked up a mug from the rack-full I had just washed and started the coffee maker. "So…are you really…?"
"So you heard that 'morning sickness' comment?" I groaned inwardly. I hadn't even told Ivy yet, and here I was talking about such things with my stupid brother-in-law.
"Yep."
I handed Hao another mug, deciding that some coffee would be good for me, but just a small cup. Too much caffeine would be bad for the baby. "Yes, I'm three months pregnant. I haven't told anyone yet."
"Why not?" My pesky houseguest bothered the hell out of me.
"Because, that's why. It's better this way. No one fusses over me, and no one babies me. I'm not made of porcelain, and I don't like being treated like I am. It's not like Yoh cares; he's not home enough to. I'm surprised I even got pregnant again. I didn't think I was ever going to. He stopped taking me on trips, and we grew further and further apart…. I wouldn't see him for months at a time. Whenever he was home, on that rare occasion he would always be too tired to do anything with me. I considered myself lucky if I was ever able to have more than a few word conversations with him. I was always lonely. He was never there for me anymore. I missed him. I tried not to be angry with him since it wasn't his fault. He had held up his end of the bargain; he had made me Shaman Queen, and he gave me my Inn and my easy life. I tried not to complain, but I wanted him to be with me. I never thought that being Shaman King would take over his life so completely. It did though. I could actually feel the love we had once shared dying. We didn't know each other anymore. We still loved each other, but it was a dry, stale love. I was still in love with the lazy shaman I had trained, and he was still in love with his heartless ice queen of a trainer. He wasn't my lazy shaman, and I wasn't his ice queen anymore…. We had both grown up…and we had changed. I didn't say anything to him about it because I didn't want a divorce. I want to stay trapped in this dead end marriage because I still love him, and if we ever did get divorced, I really would be all alone…. Just like I was before I met him…" Without my having noticed, I had started crying lake-fulls of tears, and Hao had taken me in his arms and was holding me in his embrace.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to—to…" I shut up and let him comfort me.
"Maybe you can still save your marriage. I'll talk to Yoh about it later when he comes back if he'll listen to me. He still loves you Anna. He probably doesn't even realize that you're hurt."
"Thank you." I dried my eyes and left in the direction of the living room. I couldn't stand being around Hao anymore. The little Lucifer cat followed close behind me, occasionally glancing up at me worriedly. "What do you want?" I spat at the orange tabby.
"I'm sorry Anna." Lucifer transformed back into his human form as I took a seat on the windowsill in the living room. "I tried to warn you that he was coming, but with Hao there and everything, I couldn't very well start speaking or anything."
"It's not your fault." I offered him minimal comfort. "Now, let's get down to business; how's the plan going?"
"Hm? Oh! Yes, the plan is going quiet well. Thorn is falling in line nicely, and so are Ivy and Hao and Hana and Akira and Hoshi. Everyone else too is acting according to plan. Everything's splendid." Lucifer smiled happily at me.
I easily saw through his bluffing. "So, in other words, things are a complete disaster?"
"I'm afraid so." The devil rolled his eyes in a frustrated manner. "Ivy is being difficult as expected, and Hoshi is an evil, conniving witch, and Hao is figuring things out too fast, and Akira is being stubborn, and Hana is being indecisive, and Thorn is falling in love with Hana—"
"Hana! MY Hana?" I was shocked to hear this turn of events.
"Yes, your son and your niece are falling for each other. I don't know if either will act on their feelings though. It's hard to tell. Hana is such a gentleman, and Thorn is such an idiot…."
"You like her though." I smirked, enjoying making him turn different shades of violet.
"So what if I do?" He blushed just as I thought he would.
"It's all right. I don't care as long as you stick to the plan. We have a plan for a reason. So, I'm trusting you. You better not let me down." I glared at his reflection in the glass of the window.
Lucifer turned into a cat as Thorn walked through the living room and greeted me. "Hello Auntie Anna. I'm sorry if I get the floor wet; I was just on my way up to change clothes."
"It's not a problem, Thorn dear." I nodded pleasantly at her and watched as she passed.
Lucifer changed back when she was gone. "I won't let you down. This plan not only serves your purposes, but mine as well." A sick, triumphant grin claimed Lucifer's face, contorting it even further.
"You'd better not, or it will be your head or some such nonsense. Now, what of your brother?" I moved on down the checklist of things to talk with him about.
"My brother? What about him?" Lucifer tensed at the mentioned of his elder sibling.
"You haven't told him anything have you?" I drilled into him for answers.
"No. Nothing."
"And you're sure that he won't interfere?" I checked.
Lucifer nodded, responding: "He doesn't know anything about what I'm doing, so how could he? I had nothing to do with what happened to those girls if that's what you're thinking…"
Hana walked slowly, drenched form the rain, through the living room and up the stairs, giving our business meeting only a brief glance and minimal interest. In truth he didn't care. My son was nosey, but he knew when not to interfere, and he knew that anything I was involved in need not be explained. Everything would play out sooner or later, and everyone would know what I was plotting. I ignored his short-lived presence in the room.
"Lucifer, that's a completely unrelated topic, but that Detective Lyserg did come asking about you. I told him that he was crazy, and that he was being too religious to believe that you actually existed."
"Wow…thanks Anna." The demon king sulked, moping openly in front of me.
"Don't mention it." I heard faint footsteps, like that of an empty corpse, coming back down the stairs, so I had Lucifer change back into a cat. My sister looked deathly pale and overwhelmingly sick as she descended the stairs and headed in the direction of the kitchen.
"Hey Anna." Ivy lifted a tired hand in greeting.
"Ivy? Are you feeling okay? You look awful!" I rose to my feet and hurried over to my sister.
"I'm fine Anna. It's this body; it's breaking down. At least this one lasted longer than the others. The prototypes are getting better." The young woman smiled weakly.
"Maybe you should go upstairs and lie down." I suggested as I scrutinized my sister.
"But my bedroom is—"
"—I know, but Hao is down here, and I don't want him seeing you like this. Go lie down upstairs, and I'll have Faust start on a new body for you as soon as he gets home with the groceries." I gently nudged her in the direction of the stairwell.
"Okay. If that's what you think is best." Ivy started on her way up the stairs, but for a minute looked like someone had pinched her as she remembered to ask me something. "Oh, and I almost forgot, Anna? You wouldn't happen to have feelings for Hao, would you?"
Her asking of that question so soon after what I had been doing with Hao made me more than a little nervous. Ivy would hate me and mistrust my motives if she thought that Hao and I were having an affair. "I—what are you talking about? I have a husband already—Hao's TWIN BROTHER. Don't be ridiculous."
"Oh…all right then. I was just wondering, because even if I hadn't seen you two in the kitchen together, I can tell by those marks on your neck. I've gotten plenty of my own to learn to recognize his handy-work." Ivy turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs. Outside, the storm picked up, Ivy's foul mood taking a turn for the worse.
"Ivy! Wait!" I started up after her, but a cat caught the hem of my dress in his mouth and pulled lightly, motioning for me not to go. "And why shouldn't I go after her? Because of something on your hidden agenda?" I sent one of my famous glares Lucifer's way.
The little demon in kitty form, dropped my skirt and changed back into the Hao-like menace form I had become accustomed to. "No. Not really. I just think it's best. Let her cool off. Then you can talk to her. Just like what Hao's doing with Yoh. Actually, this wasn't originally part of the plan, but I think it works in rather nicely since we are trying to pull them apart first before we push them together." His cute smile turned vicious smirk.
"I don't think we wanted this big of a chasm in their relationship. Just a little rift to be patched up." I remained the voice of reason as he plotted bigger, more elaborate things than we had first planned.
"Oh but Anna, this way is more fun for me. More drama, you understand. I'm such a drama queen, and I haven't had this much excitement since I,SR. Now THAT was what I call fun." Lucifer was getting more and more into this by the second. Soon he would be so deep in his plotting that it would be hard to pull him out.
I tried to stop him by playing his weakness for Ivy. "But I do feel sorry for my sister though…she's always a pawn in these things. I feel that she can only be used so much before she breaks."
"No, Anna. Ivy's no pawn, but the Queen. She can be used however we want, and she'll never let us down." The cat-like smile returned to his face, showing his pleasure in scheming and messing with my younger twin.
"Lucifer, do you think it's wrong to play God with people?" I asked in earnest.
"Of course it is. That's what got my brother and me kicked out of Heaven. You can never replace God, but you can have a hell of a lot of fun trying." Such a typical Lucifer answer.
"We'll try it your way then, but if it ever gets out of hand, I reserve the right to veto." I rolled my eyes as he did a 'happy dance'.
"You will not regret this Anna! This is going to be sooooo much fun!" I tried to look the other way as Lucifer 'happy danced' all about the room.
I tried even harder not to kill him as he hugged me. "Lucifer. Let. Go. Of. Me. Now."
"Sorry." The devil bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. Something at the top of the stairs caught his eye, and he hurried to get away. "Um…I gotta go. I'll see you later Anna?" Before I could ask the reason of his hasty departure, he was gone in a small poof of smoke, and thunderous footsteps raced down the stairs. Ivy appeared before me, looking severely muddled.
"Uh…" She stared at me.
"Um…" I stared back at her. Neither of us said anything of real importance.
"I'm sorry for over reacting before." She bowed politely, but before I could accept her apology and offer her one of my own, she raced on to her next sentence, not even waiting for me to speak. "I need some advice." She pulled me over to the couch and sat me down.
"What kind of advice?" I tentatively asked. It had been a weird day, and people were having serious mood swings.
"Um…well…is it wrong to fall in love with your cousin?" She was completely serious.
'Where did that come from?' Ivy's urgency about the matter confused me greatly. "I suppose yes. That would be incest, wouldn't it?"
"I suppose…. So it would then be wrong to sleep with your cousin?" She fidgeted in her seat.
"Uh…yes." I blinked awkwardly. 'What is she getting at?'
"So you don't support incest?" Ivy played nervously with the hem of her skirt.
"Of course not! Ivy, what the hell is going on?" I was fed up of her mysteriousness.
"It's Thorn and Hana. Upstairs. In her bedroom." Ivy blubbered out all the information that I needed to know.
"Why didn't you say something sooner!" I got to my feet and stormed up the stairs, pulling Ivy up right behind me.
"I don't know! I didn't know what to do!" We reached the landing at the top of the stairs just in time to see Hana exit Thorn's room looking a bit disheveled and totally depressed.
The three of us stared at each other, not daring to break eye contact. No one spoke. The tension grew thicker as the seconds ticked off the clock.
Hana was the first one to look away. His gaze dropped to his feet and he pushed past us. "Nothing happened, and nothing is ever going to happen, so just leave me alone." The teen slumped down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen to go out into the back yard.
I sent a worried look my sister's way. She returned the look. "Should I go after him?"
"No, Anna. He wants to be left alone." She paused for a minute, taking a look toward her daughter's door. "Do you think I should check on her?"
"No. Leave her to her own devices. Don't want her to think we've been spying on her do you? If she wants you to comfort her, then she'll come to you later." I patted my sister on the shoulder and guided her down the stairs.
"You're right. Still…what do you think happened?" She questioned me even though I had no knowledge of the situation.
"I can't even begin to imagine, Ivy. I can't even begin to imagine…" The storm got worse with the tears of two Allures raining down from the sky.
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Mikau: Well, that was depressing. It was fun to write for some reason… Oh well, who knows? I auditioned for a play yesterday, but I don't know when the cast list is going to be posted. It's a creative project, so students are going to be writing parts of the script. It's basically a collective work of poems and songs and short scenes revolving around the theme of Mothers and Daughters. I'm trying out for "Into the Woods" on December 12th, and am really excited about it. I don't know how I'm going to balance two plays along with everything else, but I still hope I get parts. It would be sooooo much fun! I just love the theatre!
Thanks to: ivyxhao 4 eva, kari tao (ren's little sister), KaZuYa MiNeKuRa, yo wuz up, Andrea Nefisto, Dannie, Sonseray, gothchibiangel666, and Touch of the Wind.
To Andrea Nefisto: "Hana wa desu." Is just Hana saying "It's me, Hana." Or "I'm Hana." Just me practicing a little Japanese. Thanks for the review!
PLEASE REVIEW!