Author's Note: Yuuki~desu! Yohooo~ Kept you guys waiting, haven't I? *snickers* I think this story is coming along pretty good, if I say so. Not to mention the positive feedback...

To Roseanna Marie: Thank you so much! I almost got a heart attack when you said you disagreed with your sis. Lol. Don't scare me like that again! I hope I won't disappoint you! Oh yeah and give your sis a big bear hug for me for spreading a good word about this lil' story of mine ;)

To SamayaChrisSky: Yup, I love Yami too! He was originally supposed to be something like a heartless and cold spirit that cared only about Yin, but somehow gained more of a character as I started writing. Lol. Writing about OCs like this makes me wish they were real!

To everyone else: Thank you for reading this story!

Let's see what I've got in stock for you in this chappie, shall we?

YUUKI'S HANDY DICTIONARY!

Jian- chinese straight sword

Rope dart- type of traditional chinese weapon consisting of a rope from 3 to 5 meters long and sharp metal dart on its one (or both) end(s)

Deer horn knives (Lu jiao dao) -also known as crescent moon knives are specialised chinese bladed weapons consisting of two steel crescents crossing

FONT EXPLANATION:

"Characters Talking"

Main character thinking

Stressing something or time skips announcements

"Main character's spirit talking"

Chapter 12: Mysterious Argument

Crawling up the staircase from the basement was even more of a pain than I expected. My cramping muscles protested to the littlest movements and by the time I got up, I knew exactly where on my body I would find beautifully blooming purple bruises tomorrow morning.

It was worth it, it was worth it, it was worth it... I repeated in my head over and over, gritting my teeth.

After what felt like eternity, I finally got to the couch and plopped myself on it with a grunt of pain, followed closely by a sigh of relief.

Now if only I could lie like this for a few hours...

"Ah, Yin-sama!"

I howled inwardly, my disappointment overwhelming.… Hey, you up there! I don't care who you are, Buddha, Allah, God or whatever! But know I'll expect full compensation for all that shit I have to endure. And soon!

"Yes, Opacho?" I murmured, not bothering to turn my head. More like being unable to...

"Umm... Opacho was wondering... What is for lunch...?"

I glanced at the wall clock from the corner of my eye, praying it wasn't past 1:00 PM.

Much like everything happening in my life lately, time also wasn't playing in my favor as it was almost 1:30 PM.

Dejected, I buried my face into the armrest of the couch. "I'm sorry Opacho. I'll get to it right away." I mumbled into the soft fabric. "I should be finished in about an hour. Could you tell that to Hao, too?"

I felt a sympathetic caress of her small hand on my head."Hai, Yin-sama." she agreed softly and left.

About three minutes later, I hauled myself to my feet and limped to the kitchen. Grabbing the appropriate ingredients from the fridge, one big pot from under the sink and checking on the state of our rice cooker, I was ready to cook.

Curry it is.

Unlike the dinner yesterday, lunch was silent. Extremely so. It made me so uneasy that I finished my plate in record time and set out to wash up.

I nodded thankfully at Hao when he brought me his and Opacho's dishes but otherwise made a point of ignoring him. There was something up with him today that my sixth sense could pick up on. And to say it didn't like what it felt was an understatement.

I cried inwardly when instead of leaving, he leaned on the counter to my right and stared at me.

"What?" I growled. "Something on my face?"

"I am merely wondering why you have decided to train today. I thought you would rest for two days to recover your strength." he remarked indifferently.

I knew better than to believe his current facial expression. He was genuinely curious. "Yes well...I didn't feel all that tired this morning." I said truthfully, hoping he'd leave it at that and go on to do whatever it was he was doing the past two days.

"I see. But I don't think it's such a good idea to push yourself this much after that tiring journey from China..."

The level of fishiness of this conversation grew at an alarming rate, letting me know I wouldn't like what was to come.

"It's... It's nice that you care about my health but... I- I don't think you have a reason to worry. I'm perfectly fine." My mind was whirling, trying to decipher hidden meanings behind his words.

He smirked, surely proud that he caught me unaware with this talk of his. "Now, now. I think it's better to be safe than sorry. That's why I don't want to see you anywhere near the dojo the next two days."

He... He's ordering me not to train?! He can't be serious! He's never done that before!

I really couldn't believe what he just said, until something just clicked inside my head. Knowing it was highly dangerous to examine it with him so close to me, I did what he most likely waited for me to do. I lashed out.

"You have no right to order me around like this! This is my house and I'll go wherever I want to go and whenever I feel like it." I hissed at him, dirty dishes long forgotten.

He watched my reaction apprehensively, probably knowing I wasn't all that mad at him. "Not when it might influence your performance during the Shaman fight."

I roared wordlessly, sensing there was no more need to go on with this argument. He got what he wanted and I had no way of opposing him right at this moment. Not when he was partly right.

But there is a way to rile him up just as much as he did to me.

I turned to leave the kitchen, but stopped in the doorway and glanced at him over my shoulder. "I got it. I won't go anywhere near the dojo." I announced coldly and stomped to my room where I grabbed my ankle-long baby blue haori, white silk purse that looked a bit like an over-the-shoulder over-sized perfume satchel which held my wallet, and my usual sets of weapons – deer horn knives, rope dart and jian.

"What do you think you are doing?" resounded angrily from behind me.

I peered at Hao's reflection in the mirror of my vanity table, glad to see he was just as put off by my actions as I was by his 'request'. "Packing." I said as matter-of-fact, my eyes sweeping over the room to see if I'll need anything else.

Still not looking at him directly, I gave him some last-minute information. "There are some leftovers in the fridge and I've left enough money in the envelope hidden in the pantry with biscuits to last you a week."

Abruptly, I walked out of the room and passed Hao's fuming form in the small hallway, heading for the main door.

Before I could take two steps from him, however, his hand latched onto my wrist, turning me around roughly to face him.

His expression was like an emotionless smiling mask, under which boiled fury that could rival that of a nature itself. "You're not going anywhere." he proclaimed a little too controlled, as if he had a hard time speaking.

I had to swallow my own rising anger as I had to reason with him. "Now look here. You don't want me pushing myself because it might tamper with your goal. Fine. I won't. But I need the training. So to reach consensus, I'm going out to recover my furyoku as soon as possible and then train. Do you understand?"

I swear I could practically see the moment he got it. "You... Are going to... meditate?"

"Yes, Hao, I'm going to meditate! Will you let go of me now?!" I shouted, irritation getting the best of me.

His grip on my wrist slackened and I used that chance to flee, stopping only to put on my white flats.

Once outside, I masked my furyoku (or what was left of it) and set out on my journey to find the perfect place for my meditation.

"Mistress?"

Though my spirit sounded almost distressed, I currently couldn't bring myself to care. "Hm?"

"Are you... Are you sure this is the best place to meditate?" he stuttered.

Dodging a floating will-o-wisp for the hundredth time, I looked at him and blinked innocently. "You don't like it?"

I never knew wolves could sweat-drop, but apparently Yami could. "That's not what I meant. I thought you needed someplace calm in order to concentrate better...?"

I laughed and shook my head, continuing my walk down the old, overgrown aisle. "I know I used to meditate a lot in that cell back at the Tao mansion but that doesn't mean I need a strictly quiet place to do so. In fact, if I want to regain my spiritual power quicker, I should stay in close proximity to not only nature but human spirits also." chuckling, I spread my arms wide and made a pirouette, gesturing to everything around us. "And what better place is there for this than the biggest and oldest cemetery in the neighborhood?"

As if summoned by my words, spirits inhabiting nearby graves flew up from the ground, circling around us.

"...Great." he cheered sarcastically, his eyes watching the spirits with clear distrust.

Smiling with understanding, I came up to him, patted his head reassuringly and once again made my way to the three lone sakura trees I could see in the distance.

We were silent the whole time after that, at least until Yami's patience snapped. "Do you plan on ever telling me what the hell was that argument about?"

I eyed him thoughtfully and nodded. Without having to say anything, he erected a barrier around us.

Sure that it would hold up, I divulged what I concluded. "It seems Hao is testing the borders."

My spirit threw me a confused look. "Testing the borders?"

"Yes. He was trying to see how much influence he had over me. There is probably something he knows he'll need me for but isn't sure I'm the right person for it." I was merely guessing, but it rang true in my head, just as it had when I was in that kitchen with him.

"Any ideas on what it might be?"

I shook my head negatively. "I wish I knew." I said wistfully.

"So we're stuck."

"That, my dear Spirit of Darkness, we are." I agreed sadly, sitting down under the closest of the three trees.