Besarki: So, you guys didn't actually meet the quota, which really irked me. However, I felt bad for those who do review or PM me. As a result, I'm posting the chapter but the quota has been upped for the next chapter and I won't just post that one like I did this time. I mean it. -.-
Ahhhh! Second to last chapter of the actual story! Then the epilogue but we aren't counting that!
Annnnnd! The poll has officially concluded! It was a close run! Super close! But there was a definite prevailing force! Drum roll please!
...Fine, I'll do it. *Beats drums*
The winner issssss...
Living For Tomorrow. THE SEQUEL! Yep, that's the top choice chosen by voters. To those who voted, thanks! If your choice didn't win, I'm sorry. I'll do my best not to destroy this story with a sequel. :) Sheesh. You guys make me work. Work, work, work.
Anyway, let me really explain what I meant by the Hao arc:
Living For The Moment was the Yoh arc and the Anna arc. Though I never told anyone about the Anna arc you can probably guess when it started (1-20 was the Yoh arc. Chapters 21 and 22 were part of both arcs, though 22 was more Anna than Yoh. Chapter 23 was the first part of the solely Anna arc. It lasts until the last chapter--28. Chapter 29 is the epilogue so it's not part of an arc) You're probably wondering, what about HANA?! Well, Hana is the main character. He doesn't really need an arc, but if you MUST have something where Hana is the one in trouble, I'll add it into Living For Tomorrow. Or I'll try, anyway.
In short, when I say arc, the characters are focused on the character of the arc, but the story isn't necessarily. Do you sort of get it?
Oh, and I realize that I never touched on these:
The Song Clue:
I gave a clue early in the story which stated that you should pay attention to the songs used in the beginning of the chapters. One of them wouldn't match the chapter, and something about it (the title, artist, or lyrics) would give a hint toward what happened in the next chapter. The song that this was hinting toward was Before The Worst by The Script, which appeared in chapter 21. The clue was the title: Before The Worst. The worst happened in chapter 22.
The Jesse McCartney Song:
Never ended up using How Do You Sleep? I replaced it with The Man Who Can't Be Moved.
So that's over and done with.
Well, we've got some more Hao this chapter. I know you missed him last chapter :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You got me standin' at the bottom of this mountain that we've made
(Mountain that we've made)
And the ground is shakin', from all of our mistakes
(All of our mistakes)
But there's no one, but then the ice is in our way
It's a matter of time
We can rewind
If only you knew
What my heart is through for you
I'm tryna break through
Don't you think it's worth the chance?
Let's leave the past
Is that too much to ask?
And where do we stand? (Where do we stand?)
Can we pull through this avalanche?
(Avalanche, avalanche, oh, this avalanche, avalanche, avalanche)
Can we pull through this avalanche?
(Avalanche, avalanche, yeah, this avalanche, avalanche, avalanche, oh)
Avalanche
~Avalanche, Marie Digby
Hana
"Hey Hana, would you like to see something cool?" Oji-san asked, the mischief in his voice poorly masked. Not that it mattered much. I didn't even notice.
"Sure!" I exclaimed.
Hao chuckled, then pointed to an open power outlet on the wall. "Do you see that outlet?" I nodded, staring at it. "If you put your mother's tail in that, it'll turn her into a Christmas Tree."
Kaa-san, who was curled up in the armchair by the fireplace, snarled furiously. "Funny, Hao," She hissed.
He laughed. "I thought so."
My mother and uncle went on with their cheeky threats and retorts while I just sat there looking confused. What was a Christmas Tree?
Just then, Tou-san walked in carrying two bags and a big box of something. Probably donuts, judging by the little loops on the side.
"What's with the tense atmosphere?" Tou-san asked, fighting a grin. How he found this funny was beyond me.
"Your brother is putting bad ideas in Hana's head," Kaa-san grumbled.
"Again?" Tou-san sighed.
Forget talking! I'm hungry! I thought to myself. I saw Kaa-san smile out of the corner of my eye. Oh, you heard that, Kaa-san? Well, I am. I haven't eaten since yesterday. That's a lot of hours. A lot! It might not be for an adult or anything but for a kid like me--
"Give Hana the box," She said. "His internal whining is giving me a headache."
Tou-san laughed, but offered the case as he was instructed. "Here, Hana. Sorry it's late."
"It's okay," I said, stealing the box and going to sit in the corner of the room to stuff my face.
My father handed Hao one of the bags then opened the other one for himself and Kaa-san. He left the room for a minute and came back with a ceramic kitchen plate--predictably for Kaa-san since she didn't have the opposable thumbs needed to hold food like the rest of us did.
That fact proved to be true when Tou-san opened the bag, pulled out a container of something, and dumped it onto the plate. Kaa-san rolled her eyes, but it's not like this was any different from any other day.
"You know, Anna," Hao started, "if you gave Yoh's idea a try, you might not be in this situation."
"Shut up, Hao," She snarled. "It's not worth the risk."
He chuckled lightly. "You're right. You should stay as a fox forever."
She didn't say anything, but continued to glare at him hatefully.
"Though I suppose remaining in this form would have its upsides," He pondered aloud. "For instance, even if Hana had placed your in an electrical outlet, it wouldn't have done anything."
I took a break from eating my breakfast and turned around to stare questioningly at my uncle. "Wha shas jaat jeen?" (What does that mean?)
"It's part of her always-active oversoul. I made it out of the Great Spirit's power, so of course it's extremely effective. She has five tails--one for each element. If she catches it in time, each tail could completely nullify its respective element."
Pieces of donut fell out of my mouth. Kaa-san shook her head.
"Lovely, Hana."
I quickly chewed up the rest and swallowed it. "But that's awesome! That makes you like, invincible or something, right? Wow, it kinda sucks that you got that power now. It would have really helped earlier."
"Being immune to the elements doesn't make you invincible," Hao corrected. "Plus, she's still under the mercy of a mana limit. If she uses it all up, she'll turn into a regular ghost again."
"So? Then you and Tou-san just have to make her a new body again."
"Building bodies isn't easy, Hana," Tou-san told me. "It takes a lot of mana, and a lot of time."
Was he serious? "And kami knows that you don't have a lot of either of those."
"Hehehe. I know, Hana, but it's not as easy as it sounds."
"Why are we even talking about this?" Kaa-san asked, annoyed.
Hao snickered. "You were curious about the elemental thing, Hana?"
"Yeah?" I wasn't sure where he was going with this.
He smiled dangerously. He reached over to the end table beside Kaa-san's chair and picked up his glass of water.
I realized what he was doing at the exact same time as Kaa-san.
"Don't. You. Dare," She growled.
His smile never once wavered. "Bottoms up," He laughed. He held the glass over her and tipped it over.
One of her tails was immediately above her, outlined in a light blue aura. The incoming water was instantly drawn in around it, the particles floating there in midair for a moment, then joining to create a large sheet of cerulean water droplets. And then the sheet was dissipated, vaporized before my very eyes.
Not a single drop had escaped her expert aim. I could only stare in shock.
Her tail finally relaxed, falling back to the soft cushion of the red armchair. I was stunned. Stunned beyond all belief. She could do that? I dropped my box of donuts.
And then Hao threw a second glass of water at her. The result couldn't have been more different. Water dripped from her face, drenching the now-wet chair even more.
"Hao," She snarled, drawing out his name as her teeth became more and more exposed.
He flashed her a grin, and she took off after him like the streaming bullet of a fired gun.
---0---0---0---0---0---
I grunted as my foot slipped from the hold in the stiff brick chimney. I shook my head and kept on climbing.
"Grrr-uff. Grrrr-uff," I panted, (AN: It's a weird bark pant) scaling higher and higher up the structure. I just had a little more to go, and then...
"Oh, hi, Hana!" Tou-san greeted from the top of the chimney. He was sitting cross-legged with his body facing the backyard, though his head was peering down at me. "What are you doing down there?"
"Some help would be nice," I grunted.
He laughed, and reached down for me. "Sure!" He slipped his hands under my arms and lifted me up and onto his lap."There." He gave me an apologetic smile, then. "I'd put you beside me, but there's no room."
I shook my head. "No, it's fine." I'd been in Kaa-san's lap plenty of times so I was used to this. Plus, they were my parents. I kinda had to give them this right. I should be happy they were doing this and not dressing me up in ridiculous outfits like most parents did. "Why are you up here, anyway?" I asked. The whole reason I had climbed the chimney in the first place was because I'd seen Tou-san sitting on top of it. Curious, I tried to climb up after him. It took almost an hour, but I finally got it.
"I'm just watching the clouds," He answered. He seemed plenty content with just that, but I didn't really think that that was much of an answer. Surely he had to be doing something more important than sky gazing.
"Tou-san?" I tried again.
He looked down at me, and, after a minute smiled. "You're too smart, Hana. I can't hide anything from you."
He was hiding something? The possibility hadn't even crossed my mind, to be honest. I decided to play along, all the same. "Keeping secrets isn't nice."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
"I'll let you off the hook if you tell me what you were keeping a secret."
He laughed. "How is that letting me off the hook?"
I crossed my arms. "It is."
"Okay, Hana," He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes, then turned them to the horizon. The sun was awfully low for how late it was in the morning. Hmm...
A flash of chance reishi suddenly filled my head with the image currently in my father's, and I immediately knew that Tou-san was thinking something that he shouldn't be.
"Tou-san...?" I trailed.
He turned to stare innocently at me. "What's up, Hana?" And then he saw my eyes and the flames raging within them.
His own mahogany eyes widened and he gasped. "What did you see?"
I frowned. I'd seen a lot, but none of it made sense. I was using an oversoul, but it wasn't mine, and there was a lot of energy being given off--some of it already deposited even before the oversoul was activated. What was going here, and why was Tou-san thinking it. "What was that?"
He stuttered. "N-Nothing. Please don't think about it. Try to forget you saw anything." That didn't sound like something Tou-san would say.
I stared at him suspiciously, holding my gaze until a bizarre-looking beam caught my attention.
The confrontation with my father already completely forgotten by my growing mind, I caught sight of a peculiar vision on the ground.
Kaa-san was sitting under a tree, eating an apple that had been growing from it just moments ago. I cocked my head. How had she gotten that down?
Kaa-san paused in eating the fruit to offer a quick glance up at me. "Do either of you want one?" She asked. She must have heard me again. Her reishi sure was active lately.
I leaned toward her. "How'd you get that off the tree?" I yelled.
She didn't answer with words, but instead gave us a visual display. She stood up, turned her head toward another apple hanging from the thriving tree, and set her face with the crest facing the hanging fruit.
The crest began to glow, shining brighter and brighter until it was bursting with a white spiritual energy. Suddenly, a beam with a vague representation of the head of a fox at the tip fired from it. The beam shot upward until the head reached the apple. Then, as if it was a living, thinking creature, the fox tipped beam opened its mouth and plucked the apple from the branch. As soon as the fruit was harvested, the beam vanished, and the apple fell into a basket formed by Kaa-san's tails.
She allowed the apple to gently roll off before she turned back to me. "Like that."
I nearly fell off the roof.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!?!" I shrieked.
"Fox Fire," Tou-san answered. "It's like her old attack, Mana Beam, but it's only a white-ish gold in color and it has a fox's head in the front. It can grip things and reach heights that she can't on her own, which is what she's been using it for, but really, it's an attack--a really strong one."
"That's nuts!" I exclaimed. That was her oversoul? Awesome! Too bad she had to lose it when she turned back. Speaking of which... "Hey, didn't you say you were almost done with Kaa-san's body? She's going to be back to normal soon, right?"
He looked surprised. "How'd you know that?"
"You told me," I sighed. Moron.
"I did? Oh, I forgot then."
"Tou-san..."
"But yes, we're...almost done."
I might be oblivious most of the time, but it was pretty hard to miss the meaning behind that hesitation.
However, before I could ask him, an apple flew up and clonked me on the head. I yelled out in pain, gripping my probably bruised face. A second later, the apple fell into my lap.
Kaa-san snickered from the ground, though I didn't find anything funny about this.
I refused to look at her or even Tou-san, for that matter. Instead, I turned out to the horizon again.
And I frowned. Was it just me or was the sun getting closer?
"Tou-san," I started. He looked down at me, curiously.
"What is it, Hana?"
I pointed at the flaming red orb. He and Kaa-san followed my finger and my eyes. "Why is the sun moving toward us?" I asked him.
He squinted, scrutinizing the big red object. He stared at it in silence for several seconds then, at the very same second, both he and Kaa-san seemed to realize what it was.
"GO!" Kaa-san shrieked.
I nearly jumped off again. What was wrong now?
Tou-san grabbed me and immediately jumped off the chimney. He landed on his feet next to Kaa-san and the two turned quickly toward the horizon.
I struggled out of Tou-san's arms just as Hao came bolting out from inside. Matamune and Ohachiyo flanked him. "What's wrong?" He asked, echoing my thoughts.
Tou-san pointed to the red blob. Oji-san paled.
I was getting annoyed. Why did everyone know what this thing was except for me?
I decided that enough was enough. Whatever this thing was, it was dangerous. I had a right to know what it was, and they were going to tell me whether they liked it or not. With that mindset, I pointed toward it and demanded to know what the offender was in the most fierce and authoritative voice I could possibly muster up.
Kaa-san, Tou-san, and Oji-san all stared at me in disbelief.
"You really can't tell?" Oji-san asked after a minute.
I crossed my arms angrily. "If I could, then I wouldn't be asking."
Kaa-san shook her head. "We don't have time for this. Hana, go inside, and stay there."
"No! If there's a fight, then I'm helping."
She snarled, her eyes wide and furious. "I'm not giving you a choice. GO INSIDE!"
I looked at Tou-san. "You think I should stay and help, right?"
"Hana..."
"NO!" Kaa-san interrupted. "Hana, inside now!"
Not this time...
The last time I did as I was told, someone I cared about died. I wouldn't make that mistake again. This time, I wasn't listening to my mother.
I threw myself forward and shot toward the red figure.
"HANA!" Kaa-san shrieked. I paid her no mind. I refused to let what happened before happen again--to anyone.
"Matamune!" I called.
"Hana-san," He said, appearing beside me. He looked sort of worried, and I knew why.
I smiled at him. "Don't worry, Matamune! I know exactly what I'm doing." Though that was a lie, I was pretty confident that, with all I'd been through, I could handle this.
Okay, I knew it wouldn't be that easy, but I couldn't give up. Not now.
"I trust you, Hana-san." With his words spoken, he turned into his spirit ball mode.
I unclipped my necklace, pulled Futsu no Mitama out of my pocket, and took hold of Matamune's spirit ball. In several swift actions, I threw them together. The shone and sparked, and then formed.
"Oversoul! Oni Goroshi!" The huge samurai-hilted sword grew to its full size in my hands and with it, I rushed forward.
I could hear my family behind me, but I ignored them and their frantic cries. Whatever this thing was, it was threatening my family and ruining our gathering. I couldn't let it get away with that.
I ran and ran and ran, running continuously across the grassy fields. My feet never let up.
My parents were still behind me, and I didn't mind them being there as long as they didn't try to stop me. I kept running.
I kept going, on and on, running as fast as I could until I finally slowed to a stop. Because I had reached my destination. The enemy was in sight. My fear shook me, but I didn't back down. I'd come too far to do such a thing now.
I swallowed nervously, but stood my ground.
The red behemoth that stood shimmering before me was many times my size, but he didn't scare me. I could fight him.
I could fight anyone even this monster--even the elemental Spirit of Fire.
Spirit of Fire.
He was once Hao's spirit ally, but when Hao went to be Shaman King, just before he was overpowered by some freak attack of my father's, he sent the SOF back to its rightful owner, Lyserg Diethel. However, the future detective had been absolutely disgusted by the abomination that had killed his parents and he cast it away. The Spirit of Fire traveled as a free spirit, devouring souls and growing in power. Not even the Patch were able to take it down.
Because of all that, it didn't seem very likely that I'd be able to do any better, but I had to try.
I readied my sword, my hands shaking slightly. I'd never give up.
The Spirit of Fire opened its mouth and descended toward me.
Suddenly, two twin blasts struck the monster.
The first was Kaa-san's fox headed mana beam, Fox Fire. The attack came over the Spirit of Fire like an ocean wave, throwing it over by knocking it off balance.
The second hit, exponentially more powerful than the first, came in the form of the Spirit of Earth's crushing fist. Spirit of Fire collapsed.
Kaa-san skidded to a halt beside me. "Reckless oaf!" She scolded.
I grinned apologetically. She rolled her eyes. Tou-san and Oji-san were there with us soon, too.
"Are you okay, Hana?" Tou-san breathed.
I nodded. "I'm fine."
Hao snickered. "What are the chances that the Spirit of Fire would show up here?"
"Not high," Kaa-san agreed.
Spirit of Fire slashed its hand across the Spirit of Earth's torso, leaving a trail of fire behind it. The SOE brushed the fire off, flinging it towards us. Kaa-san's tail flashed forward, causing the flames to choke themselves, extinguishing them.
"Nice job, Anna," Hao commended.
She flicked her tail. "Of course."
SOF pushed SOE over, forbidding it to rise.
Tou-san clenched his fist, granting the Spirit of Earth a boost in mana and in power. The loosing allowed the SOE to rise back to its feet and push the SOF away. Not that it made much of a difference. SOF just pushed it back down again.
"The Spirit of Fire has eaten a lot of souls while Spirit of Earth hasn't eaten any," Oji-san told us. "Because Yoh won't let it, not because it isn't capable, that is. Anyway, this is a one-sided battle. Even though SOE has much more mana."
I dropped my arms. "Then what do we do? Oni Goroshi will hardly do anything against Spirit of Fire. Ohachiyo doesn't have enough power and neither does Kaa-san, so you and I are useless, Oji-san."
"I wouldn't say useless."
"I would."
Kaa-san interrupted us. "If everyone attacks at once or at least in sequence, we may be able to overpower it. It's just Spirit of Fire, not Spirit of Fire and Hao."
"This is true," Hao agreed, clearly feeling pretty proud of what she had just said.
"Spirit of Earth, did you hear that?" Tou-san yelled. Spirit of Earth nodded once, and Tou-san grinned. "Good. Throw it!"
The Spirit of Earth backed away, allowing the Spirit of Fire to rush it, then grabbed its opponent and threw it high in the air. Hao and I hit it back and forth with our sword and now-extended club, then Kaa-san brought up the finale with a powerful Fox Fire.
Totally useless.
We tried again, but the same thing happened. We needed a better plan than this.
Spirit of Earth tried to do it a third time, but Spirit of Fire wouldn't fall for it again. It faked an attack and threw Spirit of Earth across the field.
Tou-san ran after his spirit ally in hopes to restore it. Hao took over the fighting, beating the Spirit of Fire with Ohachiyo's club. The Spirit of Fire didn't seem to recognize its former master and went on attacking mercilessly.
Kaa-san stood beside me, guarding me from the random embers that passed or bounced off Hao's club.
We weren't getting anywhere, and we all knew that.
That's when what Tou-san had been thinking earlier drifted into my head.
My eyes turned on Kaa-san. Her spiritual power was overwhelming, but because she was only a ghost, she couldn't use it to its full potential. The power of the Great Spirit had been imbued in this form. If we could harness that then...
This wasn't the time. Not for asking, not for wondering. This was the time to act.
I grinned. I don't know why no one had suggested this earlier. Tou-san obviously knew about it, and with Kaa-san's reishi, I'm surprised that she never picked up on it.
There was a time for questions, and there was a time for actions. This was a time for actions. I'd gotten strong on our journey, stronger than either of my parents knew. Kaa-san's spiritual power was higher than mine, and I knew that. However, if Tou-san was worried about that, then I could erase his worries with ease.
Because I had a secret weapon that no one knew about.
I quietly exorcised Matamune so that no one noticed and then turned to my mother.
"Kaa-san." My mother jumped and her eyes traveled to mine. I gave her my brightest, most confident smile.
"Oversoul!"
Besarki: I STOPPED THERE?!?!?!?! That's what you get for not meeting the quota :) Snicker snicker.
Before you all start freaking out, relax. This story has a happy ending. However, it's not Disney happy. Every worthwhile story needs its sacrifices. Those sacrifices may already be paid, but maybe not. You'll see. XD If you meet the quota that is...
Well, there's only one chapter left now. Exciting, and pretty sad. It's very bittersweet, but at least we still have the Hao arc so we should be okay. YAY! Oh, and because it's in sequel form, Living For Tomorrow will be the length of a normal story, not just the ten chapter arc. Hooray!
Sighhhh. Sorry the ending to this chapter was kinda lame. I got really bored. Have you ever been incredibly bored but you don't feel like doing anything? That's how I felt today. Oh, and I have pretty exciting days today and yesterday. Story time! Ready?
Yesterday, I walked into my bathroom and found at least thirty baby spiders crawling around. I nearly had cardiac arrest. I don't really mind most bugs, but I hate spiders. Snakes, sharks, crocodiles. I can take 'em. Spiders? Not so much. I forced my father to come upstairs and get them all. I felt kinda bad because they were baby spiders, but the fact that bugs don't have brains and therefore probably can't feel pain made me feel a little better. Still, I'm a big believer in not harming living creatures. I just make exceptions for spiders. .
TODAY, my stepmom was leaving for Hershey and she was packing the car. She accidentally backed out of the garage with the trunk's hatch open. Completely shattered. There was glass everywhere. My brother and I were outside for almost two hours sweeping it all up. Oh, and did I mention that it was POURING? So, that was fun. Not really. SIGH!
Last thing: In Living For Tomorrow, would you like Hana's spirit ally to be Matamune or Amidamaru? I'm pretty much indifferent. Matamune would be easier, but it's supposed to be Amidamaru. Your choice.
That is all.
MEET THE RISEN QUOTA! OR I'LL MAUL YOU WITH MY CROWBAR!
Byesss!
...Just before I posted this, zenbon zakura reviewed. This reviewer just saved your butts. The quota is met. The quota will be normal next chapter. Everyone thank zenbon zakura. YOU'RE LUCKY! NEXT TIME YOU WON'T BE! GRAH!