Stupid boy. Stupid, ignorant, self-centered assface. Seriously, who the hell does he think he is? Making me drag my butt all over Funbari Hill just to FIND him. I swear to god if he's at that music store listening to Bob Marely's latest album...
Hell, I tell you. Complete hell.
Now I know I'm being a bit uncharacteristically mean. And I know I promised I'd behave a bit better here, for his sake anyway. But while I was out looking for Yoh, who was going to have hell to pay with the she-devil once he got home because he was supposed to have made dinner an hour or so ago, it brought fourth this unwanted nostalgia. Well...
Not nostalgia exactly. (I didn't really mind having to look for someone, but it sure as hell put Lexie in a foul mood.) But De-ja-vu for sure. Searching for Yoh was far too similar to having to hunt down customers who owed cash or some sort of exchange for their 'tab' with me. Now I know, it doesn't see like the best idea for Drug dealers to keep tabs with someone, but come on! Imagine this; the school's bully Godfather (or mafia leader, whichever you prefer) goes to you for a little "pick me up" but doesn't have all the cash on him at the moment. Would you turn him down?

I didn't think so. Let's be logical, who would be stupid enough to NOT start a possible business relationship with the school's godfather? That would give you sooooo much freaking protection if you got into trouble, or decided to turn your life into a doppelganger of Alpha Dog, it's not even funny!
Anyway- back to what I was saying. Needless to say when you had to hunt someone down for their dues, it wasn't usually a happy occasion. Usually I would you my spirit familiars to help me out with that. Lift them in the air, knock them around a bit, maybe even suffocate the a tad if it was needed. Besides, they were dead useful when the idiot decided to pull a gun out on me. It's absolutely priceless to see the face of some macho who's acting like their about to shoot you have their gun knocked out of their hands by "nothing" after you've just muttered a spell under you're breath, but otherwise, haven't even moved an inch.
"He better not have gotten himself into any trouble," I muttered under my breath. That would just be our luck wouldn't it? Find him dead in some alley because he didn't want to give some punk his money. "Shit..."
The cards. I bit my lip and quicken my pace as I headed to the music store. The cards I had drawn were The Fool, The World and The Tower. The technique of divination I was using had each card represent a different time period. The first card represented the past, the middle was the present and the last was the feature. The two cards I had just begun to worry about were the World and the Tower. Well... the Tower really. That's what I had drawn for the future. What if I was at the crossroads where the future became the present? Double crap. I closed my eyes briefly and prayed that Yoh would keep his head in whatever sort of trouble he was in. Why? Simple. The Tower, face up, was never a good sign.

Disruption. Conflict. Change. Sudden violent loss. Overthrow of an existing way of life. Major changes. Disruption of well worn routines. Ruin and disturbance. Dramatic upheaval. Widespread repercussions of actions.
All of those were possible meanings/interpretations/reasons for (or when) the Tower was drawn. In short, you never wanted to see that card get drawn for your present or future. EVER.

By the time I turned to the last street before the music store, I had picked up a run. I had been hearing a fluttering sound, like bug wings, but ignored them. It was still hot out, bugs were to be expected. I was so close to the music store when something scaly shoved me. Letting out a small yelp of shock, I fell to the ground and skidded on the sidewalk as if I had been riding a bike. Ow.
"What the fuck was that for?" I shouted as I pushed myself off of the sidewalk and to my knees to inspect the damage. I ripped up my hands so I wouldn't hit my face, they stung. I had rubbed parts of my legs and arms raw. Blood trickled down my elbow from a nice cut there. Nothing a little bit of rubbing alcohol couldn't take care off.
"Hello? I'm waiting for an apology!" I heard a clicking sound in response.
Wait... Clicking? I looked up and almost screamed. About a foot away from me stood, on four legs, this hideous looking bug. It had huge pincers and was just so... ewwwww! Did I mention it was like three feet big?
Ho.ly. Shit.
"Yikes! Get away from me!"
And with that, I crab-walked myself backward as fast as I could into... legs?

"Are you not fond of my familiar?"

xXx

A heavenly sent cool breeze washed over the two. 'Perfect,' he thought. Everything for once, for this small moment in time, truly was perfect. Really it was. The stars were shining beautifully in the perfect spot to gaze at them. The two now good friends were side-by-side, just like they had been for awhile.
Yoh sighed contently, unaware of the hell he would raise when he came home. Unaware that Raven was ready to call the cops, thinking he was about to be killed or that Anna was ready to put out a sign with his photo on it reading- WANTED: Dead or Alive. Poor kid had lost track of time.
"Ahhh. This place is still the most comfortable, don't you think Amidamaru?"
"Yeah..."
Yoh blinked and rolled over to face his ghostly friend. Amidamaru never just said 'yeah'. If he were to agree, he would say more than that. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," replied the ghost. "I'm just worried about the Shaman Fight."
"Not you too!"
Amidamaru sighed. "It's just that... It's been almost half a year since I met you, Master Yoh. And you have greatly improved as a Shaman, integration runs smoothly-we can even integrate fully after that fight with the Chinese boy, Ren, and it even runs smoothly as well. But... as I spirit I cannot grow stronger! And with only my death-bound abilities, I doubt if I will be able to help you in the Shaman Fight. I... am worried! About your safety and your cousin's as well as her friends' safety."
Yoh grinned and couldn't help but laugh. "Is that all?" How he could be so slack bothered Amidamaru, who promptly threw a momentarily fit. "Come on, Amidamaru. We won't know about anything 'till the time comes. I've never even bothered to think about the future. Puts too much stress on the body. Ya know? And I wouldn't worry too much about Raven and her friends. She seems like she's ready for this. Her and Coral were pretty giddy when we talked about the Fight. Who would have thought Manta's had a cousin too? And a Shaman at that..." He looked off into the distance for a moment as if remembering something. "Coral seems pretty strong to me... she was actually summoning dead bodies here yesterday, or at least so I've been told. That seems better than Anna even! Anna only deals with spirits but she was dealing with the bodies!"
"That does seem impressive," Amidamaru agreed. It was indeed one step ahead of Anna if it were true.
"And Raven's... Raven's got these freaky monsters! She summons familiars just like my grandpa did only these ones are different. They're like... I dunno creepy I guess. She and Coral are good. I'd doubt they let anything happen to Aimee either. They seem tight like that. Besides, everything will be alright. Why worry about what we can't control?"
Laughter came from behind them. "No words wiser," said a voice from behind. They turned to look and-
"The street vendor?!"

xXx

"Shaman Fight Selection Committee?" I scoffed. "Prove it." True, this guy already knowing about the Shaman Fight was probably proof that he was in on this. But I wasn't going to take any chances. What if you was a psycho killer out to eliminate his competition?
The man sighed. He was really tall, about 6'3" with broad shoulders. He had russet skin, lips that Angelina Jolie could be jealous of, muscles that told me he really should be a body guard. "I repeat, my name is Chrom, Asakura-san. I am from the Native American tribe, the Patch-"
"Never heard of them," I interjected. Did he mean 'Apache'? He sighed again.

"We are a tribe entirely made of Shamans like you and I and-... I'm sorry, my Japanese is quite horrible, as is my accent I'm sure."

Boy was that an understatement.

"You lived in the United States for a while. Did you not, Asakura-san?"
"I did..."
"Then might we please switch to English?" He begged in his slow Japanese accent.
"Sure," I replied and switched to English. I was still more used to that anyway.
"Thank you!" He bowed and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a Dark Pink Color, and it had a gray screen in the middle. There were straps and buttons, with these lighter pink pointed things
sticking out at the ends.
"What's that?" I asked.
Chrom chuckled. "This is an Oracle Pager. Should you agree to be tested for qualifications towards the Shaman Fight, I will give this to you. It will display instructions, possible missions, ways to accumulate points and the dates of times for any of your fights. All will be given by the Great Spirit, I trust you know of him?"
I nodded. Who didn't know about the Great Spirit?
"Then you have no choice but to accept my challenge- to a match."
"Can't. I need to find my cousin."
"If you decline now you will not get another chance for 500 years, you are aware?"
Again I nodded, "Yoh's more important than a stupid competition."
"Ah, so Yoh is your cousin? Fear not. He is well, my peer should be visiting him in several minutes from now. Do you still wish to decline? I have others to test before the night is over."
So Yoh was safe? Damn. Why did I have to get so worked up over nothing? "Alright Chrom, I accept your challenge."
He grinned. "Very well. I wish you luck."

"Heh, says you."