Kiseki

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Winter Solstice, or whatever your religion may be, happy holidays! Here's an extra long chapter to celebrate the holiday season!

Chapter six is here, and so are the long awaited mood swings. Ren's past with Hotaru is explained, the red headed boy's identity is discovered, Horo's 'lessons' with Hao begin, Amidamaru has a new stalker, and Anna starts to shape her evil plan.

When I put Hotaru's advice about sex in the last chapter, I knew I would receive questions. So here are the facts about gentle sex during pregnancy.

Sex in general is good for females. It's strengthens their immune systems, making them less susceptible to diseases and infections. It also keeps vaginal muscles stretched and relaxed, which comes in very handy come time to give birth. So yes. While it's not as profitable for males, sex for females is good.

Disclaimer: If it were mine, I wouldn't have spent half of the dub wondering why Ren and Jun and everyone else Chinese has British accents and why Lyserg didn't have a Chinese accent.

Chapter Six- Mo Hitotsu no mondai, Another Problem

"Tw-twins?"

"Lyserg, are you okay?" Yoh placed his hand on the dowser's shoulder, only to jerk in surprise when the boy all but crushed himself to the Shaman King. Strong arms wrapped around Lyserg's shuddering form in a comforting manner. "Hey, what is it?"

Lyserg shook his head, burying his tear stained face further into Yoh's shoulder.

Yoh looked helplessly at Jun, Ren, and Pirika as he rocked his whimpering lover.

"Poor dear." Jun spoke sympathetically. "He must not have imagined possibly having more than one."

Yoh nodded, still a bit confused. "Come on Lyserg. Let's go upstairs, okay?"

Lyserg nodded as he wiped tears from his cheeks, and allowed Yoh to lead him out of the room.

Once the two were out of ear shot, Pirika turned to the female Tao. "It's a little early for mood swings though, isn't it?"

"His hormones must be unstable as it is." Jun mused. "It isn't all that unlikely that he would have mood swings early, or anything else for that matter."

"Oh, the poor thing." Pirika murmured.

"Yoh, or Lyserg?"

Pirika turned to Ren, agitation in her violet eyes. "Lyserg of course."

"Yes, why would Yoh be pitiful Ren-sama?" Bason asked.

"Because," Ren answered, returning to his book once more, "he's the one who's going to have to deal with Lyserg's mood swings."

:-:-:-:-:

"Hao, untie me right now!"

"No."

Horo pouted. There wasn't much else he could considering the situation. Not only had Hao woke him up at the crack of dawn (12:32 PM to be exact, but it was a Sunday! The holy day of sleeping!), dressed him, and carried the ice shaman kicking and screaming from the inn; but he used the Spirit of Fire to fly them someplace hundreds of miles from human civilization and tied his wrists and ankles together! That wouldn't be too bad under different circumstances. After all, Horo loved nature, and if Hao had been a bit more: gentle, merciful, decent, less of a horny bastard to name a few; this would have been very romantic. But No. Mr Thousand-Year-Old-Pyromaniac-Shaman-I-Am-A-Sex-God-Bow-Down-And-Kiss-My-Feet-You-Will-Obey-Me-Or-Else had to make it so Horo couldn't move.

'And noone could save me.' Horo thought grumbling. 'No Ren, ignore me as I'm being dragged away by an evil homicidal maniac and I'm screaming for help. It's okay Pirika, Hao's finally decided to be as evil as you always said he was, but you keep on giggling with Jun. You don't need to get up to help me. And Manta, Lyserg, Yoh, Ryu, Faust, or anyone else who wasn't there, thank you for not being home. You all picked a really good time. And Kororo, well, Kororo DID try to save me unlike everyone else. It's not really her fault that Hao death glared her and she feared for her life.' Sneaking a peek at Hao, the ice shaman gulped. 'Oh shit, he looks pissed. I hope he's still not mad at me for ignoring him. Crap. I'm chained up and I'm defenseless, and there's no one around to hear me scream, and he's coming closer. And ohshitohshitohshitohshit-'

"Really, such vulgar thoughts Horokeu."

And this was way at times Horo really, really hated Hao's ability to read minds.

"Now, what do you think I'm going to do with you?"

Scrambling back as far as he could as Hao approached did little good. In his current position Horo couldn't get very far away.

"Now," Hao loomed over Horo, completely ignoring the 'epp' the ice shaman squeaked, "it's time you learn your place."

'Shit.'

:-:-:-:-:

In Yoh's room, Lyserg had started to clam down.

"What is it?" Yoh asked, Lyserg cuddled tight in his arms. "Why did you start crying like that?"

"There might be more than one." Lyserg murmured a choked whisper.

"Is that a bad thing?" Yoh really couldn't see what was so wrong with that. Another child was just another baby to love. Maybe it was the shock of having more than one child? Or maybe...

"You're scared." Yoh realized.

"Yes." Lyserg pulled away from his lover. "Yoh, I'm a boy. I'm not supposed to be having one baby, let alone two. And you remember what Hotaru said. I wasn't made to be pregnant, and one baby's going to hard on my body as it is. I have no idea how twin pregnancies work, but there has to be more complications. I don't even know how to handle one baby. How am I supposed to be able to take care of a baby anyhow? I have no idea how to be a mom, or-"

"Hey, hey." Yoh pulled the dowser back into his arms. "I don't know how to be a dad either. And you heard Faust; even if Hotaru doesn't look like it, she's a good doctor. She'll take care of you, and so will I. Besides, we don't even know if there is more than one baby. So there's no reason to panic."

Lyserg sniffled, nodding.

"Now that, that's been taken care of, let's get you something to eat."

"What?"

"You heard the doctor; 500 extra calories a day."

"I'm not hungry."

"Hotaru said you need to eat, so you're going to."

"But I don't want-"

"It's for the baby." Yoh quickly cut in.

Lyserg sighed in defeat, rubbing drying tears from his face. "Fine."

"I'll be right back." Yoh left the room.

In his distressed state, Lyserg didn't notice a spirit watching from afar. It took careful note of what was said and done. It was about to come closer, when Morphine entered to help console her shaman.

Immediately, the spirit departed, ready to return to it's master with it's valuable information.

The itako would be pleased.

:-:-:-:-:

The next morning, Lyserg awoke earlier than he had the past few days; which still wasn't that early. Jun and Pai Long had stayed the night, and from the smell coming from downstairs; Jun had decided to cook breakfast.

"This is awesome!"

But for who exactly was unknown.

"Who's that?"

Yoh shrugged at Lyserg. "No idea."

"I'm glad you like it Daichi."

"Keep it coming Jun-nuna!"

Entering the room, Yoh and Lyserg were greeted by the sight of a boy, now older than eight and no taller than three and half feet; eating an amount that would put Horo into a state of awe.

The Chinese female looked up to see the confused couple. "Good morning Yoh, Lyserg."

The boy, Daichi, turned with a grin that put the sun to shame (if not for the bits of rice and other foods stuck to his face). "Hiya! My name's Daichi, nice ta meet cha!"

Daichi had shockingly red hair, tanned skin, a scar on his forehead, and deep green eyes that were strangely familiar to Yoh. His clothes were... ripped... The blue shirt had the collar ripped, which wasn't all that odd in itself, but the jeans... While the right leg merely had a frayed bottom, the left leg was missing entirely.

Yoh smiled in return. "Hi Daichi... Um... What are you doing here?"

"Oh! My nuna said that Faust said that you lived here!"

Lyserg turned to Yoh "What's a nuna?"

"No idea."

"And so I came to visit and Jun-nuna was here, and she made me a second breakfast!"

"Second!"

No way that kid could have eaten an entire meal, then eat as much as he was right now. In fact, that kid shouldn't be able to eat that much in a day! And if the kid ate so much every day, why was he so small!

"Hey, has anyone seen Nii-chan?" Pirika came into the room. "He's been gone since yesterday afternoon, and so has Hao. If Hao did anything to my Nii-chan I'm going to..." She then noticed Daichi. "Who are you?"

"Daichi's the name! Who're you?"

"Pirika. What are you doing here?"

"Geez! Can't a guy get a meal around here without being asked a million questions?"

Pirika huffed, her irritation and worry over her brother getting the better of her. "You don't live here, I've never met you before, and you've eaten nearly all the food in the house! I have a right to ask questions!"

"None of your business Oba-san!"

"Oba-san! When I get my hands on you I'm going to-"

"What is all the yelling about!" Ren burst through the kitchen door. He had been training, when the racket from inside had become too much. This was saying something, because he was used to the quarrels that usually shook the house, whether they had been caused by Pirika and Hao, or Chocolove's bad jokes when he was here, or even him or Horo. But never had the noise been so loud or irritating.

"Ask him!" Pirika pointed at Daichi, then stomped from the room.

"Honestly, how can..." when Ren saw who it was sitting at the table. "You..."

"Ren-hyang! Aren't you glad to see me!"

It was quite the opposite in fact. Ren's already pale skin took on a more while pallor, his pupils had become dilated, and he seemed to be resisting the urge to run screaming from the room. "You, you're the she-demon's brother..."

"Yep, that's my nuna!"

"Where is she?"

"Umm..." Daichi searched his brain. What had his nuna told him before he took off? "She said... She said..." What was it? "Oh yeah! My nuna said that if I wasn't home by nine that she'd come get me because it's not nice to bother people so early in the morning; but Jun-nuna was here and she made me breakfast!"

Ren looked at the clock. 9:07. Shit...

"But she's never been here before so she probably got lost again, but she'll be here any minute now. And then you can say hi to my nuna! My nuna hasn't seen you in years and I bet she really misses you and-"

Before Daichi could finish, a knock was heard at the front door. After a few moments of conversation between her and Pirika (who had answered the door), Hotaru entered the room. "Hi everyone. Pirika let me in. Daichi, what did I tell you about- REN-CHAAAANNNNN!"

And without warning, the doctor know as Flame Brain pounced.

"Get away from me She-Demon!" Ren pulled out his Kwan Dao. He held the weapon before him, and if he didn't move Hotaru would soon become skewered.

"Ren don't-"

It was took late. Hotaru was about to be killed.

Doink.

What the hell? Doink!

Doink was indeed the sound made when the tip of Ren's glaive connected with Hotaru's shirt.

"Ren-chan silly, you know that doesn't work. Now come here and give me a hug!" She wrapped her arms around the struggling shaman. "Oh... My sweet Ren-chan! Look how much you've grown! But you still look exactly the same as the last time I saw you; even your hair, unfortunately. The spike thing is evil! Can I cut it off? Please Ren-chan? Can I, can I, can I?"

"Don't even think about changing my hair; and get off of me right this instant! Let me go! Get off!"

"Ren-chan, how could you say such nasty things when my widdle, sweet, innocent, baby Daichi-kins is in the room! And let me cut your hair!"

"You're the one who's being vulgar! And I am NOT letting you even touch my hair! Now let go of me!"

"No! You are mine because I say you are mine! And I shall never let you go! Mwahahahaha- ack!" she coughed. "Ahhahahahahahahahaha! Mine I say, all mine! Mwahahahahaahahaahahahahaha!"

"What is going on!" Lyserg demanded.

"I wonder why she wasn't impaled when she jumped on Ren's Kwan Dao." Yoh mused.

Jun set two plates in front of the boys, completely unperturbed by the entire fiasco. "Well, you must understand, Hotaru is a traditional Korean shaman."

"What does that have to do with being able to avoid Ren's wrath?" Lyserg asked, rice in hand.

"Korean shaman are impervious to blades." Amidamaru explained from behind Yoh. Around his neck was a pixie-like creature in the form of a six year older girl. It had chestnut colored hair that fell in spikes around her eyes and neck. It wore a white outfit with golden arrows adoring it, a black collar, and shimmery orange butterfly wings. She also seemed quite content to hang from Amidamaru's neck and play with the samurai's long, white hair.

Lyserg blinked, confused. "How?"

"It's part of the rituals." Daichi explained, Jun giving him yet another bowl of rice. "They have to dance and stuff when the gods enter their bodies, and to prove that the gods chose them, they have to dance on double edged swords and poke themselves with daggers and stuff without bleeding."

"Chibo-chan." the pixie said in agreement.

"Yeah, what she said." Letting out a loud burp, Daichi set his bowl on the table.

"So, are you immune to blades too?" Yoh asked.

"Nope. I'm a boy." Daichi hopped off his chair. "I can't be a shaman like my nuna."

"What he means is, Korean shamans are traditionally female." Jun explained. "Boys aren't trained."

"But my nuna taught me!" With a smile, Daichi went and tugged on one of the many belts that hung from Hotaru's pants. "Can we go now my nuna?"

"Do we have to?" the flame shaman whined. "I want to stay here with Ren-chan!" she rubbed her face against Ren's hair.

"I don't want you to stay!"

"But my nuna... You promised you'd take me to the playground!"

"Okay." Hotaru sighed, releasing Ren, who immediately went to the other side of the room. "Well I'm sorry to just come and go like this, but I did promise Daichi-kins. I'll see you all later! Make sure to eat Lyserg! It's important for the baby-waby-kins! Bye-byes now!"

"Later, and thanks for the food Jun-nuna!"

Hotaru walked to the back door, then paused. Looking back she saw Chibo-chan still firmly around Amidamaru's neck.

"Chibo-chan, aren't you coming?"

"Chibo-chan." the pixie stated firmly, holding onto the samurai spirit for dear life.

"But Chibo-chan, don't you want to come to the park with me and Daichi? There'll be a lot of butterflies and even duckies."

"Chibo-chan." the girl bit her lip. She wanted to see the duckies, but she wanted to stay with her new playmate. Coming to a decision, she shook her head firmly. The duckies would just have to wait. She was gonna play with her newest and bestest friend. "Chibo-chan!"

"Oh, all right then." Hotaru sighed. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Be a good girl."

"Wait! Where are you going?"

"To the playground with Daichi-kins."

"But what about your spirit?"

"Oh, Chibo-chan says she wants to stay and play with her new friend." Hotaru explained.

"You mean, me?" Amidamaru asked in surprise. Due to his despicable reputation, he was more accustomed to spirts fleeing from him; not clinging to him and refusing to let go.

"Who else silly? I'll come back and pick her up in a little bit. Make sure she stays out of trouble! Bye everyone!"

"Bye-bye!"

And with that, the two redheads left the Asakura household.

"Are you all right Ren-sama?" Bason floated next to his master, worried. Ren was still pale, and was hyperventilating. "Ren-sama?"

Ren snapped out of his daze. "I'm going to go take a shower. If SHE comes back, tell her I moved back to China."

"I'm confused." Lyserg sighed as Ren left the room.

"Hey Jun, what's with Hotaru and Ren?"

"Well, to say they have a history is a bit of an understatement." the Chinese woman sat down, a cup of tea in hand. "Both of our families are comprised of powerful shaman. And while my father was opposed to those outside the family, he did not want to make a enemy of Hotaru's family. The two met when they were both young. What started out as a simple affection grew into something much more."

:-:-:-:-:

"Hao-"

"Be quiet Horo."

"But Hao-"

"No buts."

"Bastard." Horo resumed pouting he had been doing since yesterday. Hao had insisted that he was the dominant one, seme, and refused to let Horo do anything without his say-so. And that meant ANYTHING. It was embarrassing to say the least when the ice shaman had to ask Hao if he could move or sleep; but it was down right humiliating when he had to ask permission to scratch his nose! And Hao didn't even let Horo scratch his own nose! Hao scratched his nose for him because the bastard wouldn't even untie him!

"Can we go home now?"

"It depends. What have you learned?"

"That you're a evil bastard."

"You were already aware of that before we had personally met. Try again."

Glare. "I'm not saying it."

"Then we're not going home."

"HAO!"

:-:-:-:-:

"Did they start dating and then broke up?" Lyserg asked.

"Or maybe Ren's dad did something to Hotaru and Ren blames himself!" Yoh exclaimed.

Amidamaru again tried, and failed, to remove Chibo-chan from his neck. "Were they forced apart against their will?"

"Oh heavens no." Jun chuckled as familiar memories played in her mind. "Hotaru became an obsessive fangirl and stalked Ren relentlessly for the better part of four years. It was a rare moment when she wasn't spying on Ren or at his side. Ren's spear attacks were useless against Hotaru's defenses, which left him quite vulnerable. It appears that even though the two haven't seen each other in several years and Hotaru has moved on, their relationship hasn't changed in the slightest." Setting down her tea, Jun looked up at Yoh, Lyserg, and Amidamaru. "Does that explain everything?"

Jun would have to wait a few moments for the boys to recover from the shock.

:-:-:-:-:

"And that's everything that was said."

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

The spirit that had previously been spying on Lyserg vanished. The blond woman who he had spoken to smirked.

"So he's scared. I don't know why Lyserg is worrying about giving birth. I will make sure he doesn't get that far."

First off, translations. Nuna is what boys call their big sisters in Korean, and Hyang is what they call their big brothers.

Second, this is based off of the traditional Korean shamans, or witch doctors. When Daichi is explaining the Korean shaman way, what he means is this:

Korean shaman are traditionally women. The undergo rigorous training. For their initiation ceremony they must channel the gods and dance upon razor sharp double edged swords. If they bleed or are unable to channel the gods, they are unworthy to be shaman. They also practice pressing daggers and words and other blades to their chests, arms, and even running the blades against their unprotected tongues. Passing the initiation is very important, because often times women will be plagued by illness or fatigue that could result in death if they do not become shaman. Boys do not become shaman, but Daichi was trained by his sister and does have a guardian spirit

All information about Korea comes to me from the Discovery channel and my mother; who is full blooded Korean, lived there until I was about one and a half, and had very traditional parents.

And third, I know, I know I took Daichi from Beyblade! You must understand, Daichi has been adopted by Hotaru and she refuses to be anywhere for very long without him.

And as for Hotaru's past with Ren, Hotaru worshiped Ren before she discovered Hao. However, Hotaru's relationship with Ren would comprise mainly of stalking, glomping, and trying to cut Ren's spike (which she can not stand). So, don't worry Ren fangirls, there is very little love between them.

Next chapter, will Horo's lessons ever come to an end? Whatever Hao wants him to say can't be that bad, can it? The number of babies will be revealed! Ren continues to battle against Hotaru, while Amidamaru tries to fend off Chibo-chan. Morphine beginning to feel a touch ignored, but Ryu makes his first appearance!

I thank everyone for their wonderful reviews and especially all the names. I will respond to them via message in a bottle.

Alice the Insomniac- Thank you for your kind words. And saying that Hotaru has a lot of spunk is a bit of an understatement.

NaTsUkO-ChAn- The Internet has a lot of information for the taking. Lyserg needs the fat to cushion the baby. Once he gets a bit puggier, he'll be able to cut back some. As for the sex, look to the top of the fic. Thank you for the baby names and your review.

Kuro Usagi- Thank you for complimenting my style. Take three years of AP English (basically it's a college course), and the writing has to improve. Thank you so much for the baby names! They've really helped me a lot. It means especially a lot to me because you included the meaning of the names, which is very important in Japan. Thank you for reviewing.

Jaded Mirror- Reviewing while you read is an interesting experience, and one I enjoyed. Hotaru was happy to hear how popular her character was. Waking up is now the least of Horo's problems. Your well wishes have been received, thanks for reviewing.

e n t w i n e d d e s t i n y- You'll find how many kids there are next chapter. Thanks for the review, and thank you for the compliments to my doctor.

Grace- I don't think you were being rude at all. It's simply a joke between my friends and I that I am so sheltered, once I really get into the world I'm going to be kidnaped or something along those lines. You're very welcome by the way, and thank you for reviewing.

Luna-san- I'm glad you enjoy the story even if you are opposed to yaoi. I think my younger sister described your feeling best when she said, 'there are just sometimes that yaoi can't be denied... even though it's really gross.' Anna won't be playing too big a role until later on in the pregnancy. I agree that there are a lot of stories that don't give the ghost the credit they deserve. And while I'll admit I've been a bit neglectful, both Amidamaru and Morphine, along with other spirits, have been mentioned. I have not written a scene where Amidamaru and Morphine learn the big news because I thought it would be redundant. Their feelings however, will be brought under more scrutiny as the story goes on. Thank you for reviewing, and if you want to read a fic that really places emphisiss on the spirits, look at the fic Rolling Stone. It is from Mic's (Chocolove's spirit) point of view and is truly something to behold.

Thanks to all who review. I hope you continue reading.

Ja min'na-san!