Chapter 6

Disclaimer : I Don't own Shaman King!

Thought / Dreams / Event from the past

'Telepathic voice'

-Telephone-

Letter

"Dialogue"

Emphasis

Dangerous tone

"What happened to Yoh-sama, I wonder?" Macchi asked out loud as she let her head leaning on the table, "It's rare to see Hao-sama getting so panicked like that".

"Yoh-sama had gone missing, so of course Hao-sama would get panicked." Kanna said as she pulled a cigarette and light it up.

"Eres Correcuto (You're right)." Peyote said calmly as he picked at his music instrument, "Hao-sama had told us that what he had done all this time was not really his decision, his hatred had blinded him".

"And now that the hatred gone, Hao-sama had returned to his original caring self." Opacho chirped happily, "Hao-sama is clearly caring so much about Yoh-sama, so Opacho is sure Hao-sama would return with Yoh-sama".

"I think I like this side of Hao-sama better." Zhang Ching said as he took a meat bun and popped it into his mouth.

"Mary think so too." Mary said with a rare smile on her face, "Hao-sama cares about us as well, that thought makes Mary really happy".

"Right!" Macchi agreed with a grin, "This caring Hao-sama is better than the all hating Hao-sama!".

"You are right, and certainly Hao-sama is relived as well that he can be himself once again." Luchist said with a smile as he stood up from his seat, "Well, let's get back to the house like what Hao-sama told us to do".

"Opacho want more of the sweet cake!" Opacho told Luchist with a cute pout.

Kanna laughed, "Well, we will buy you more cakes, you can eat them at the house." She said as she ruffled Opacho's hair before going inside.

XXXXX

"So . . . what now?" Amidamaru asked to break the heavy silence that had engulfed the group.

"We need to find out where X-Laws had gone." Anna said coldly before turning around, "Searching manually would taken too much time, I'm going to tell Tamao and Yoh's family about this. I and Tamao will try to find their location, you all go around anf find out as much information as possible." She ordered as she walked away from the group.

Ren crossed his arms and thought about what he should do before remembering about Hao, it's clear that the fire Shaman had changed from what he saw during his time treating Hao's injury, so maybe Hao would agreed to help. As much as he hate it, Hao was Yoh's Twin, if someone could find Yoh's location the fastest, it would be Hao.

He turned around and wanted to go to the cave before remembering that Anna said Hao had been seen in the Village since the Afternoon the day before, so it would be pointless to go to the cave now. But he didn't know where to find Hao, he turned to the rest, "Any of you know where Hao is?" He asked them seriously.

They blinked at him, "Why do you want to know?" Horo Horo asked in confusion.

Ren glared at him, "Just answer me." He growled in anger.

"I saw him and his group in Silva's cafe." Amidamaru answered him calmly, already knowing what the Tao was planning to do since Yoh told him that Ren was helping Hao to heal.

"I see." Ren said shortly and began walking in a fast pace immediately, he wouldn't say it out loud, but the thought of Yoh being out there with X-Laws make his skin crawl. X-Laws was known for their cruelty and they had the tendency to torture their opponent, the possibility of Yoh being tortured was just too high for his liking, and it was enough to make him worried for his friend, the best of friend that he could possibly hope for.

"Hey, Ren!" Horo Horo called out as he and the rest following the Chinese Shaman with confusion written on his face, "Why the hell you want to meet Hao?".

"As much as we hate it, it's a fact that Hao is Yoh's twin." Ren said without slowing his pace, "If anyone here could tell us where Yoh is the fastest, it's him".

"But what if he wouldn't tell us?" Manta asked in worry.

"He will." Ren said simply.

"How would you know that?" Chocolove asked in worry as well, "Yoh nearly killed him, why would he help us find Yoh?!".

"That's right, Ren." Ryu said in agreement, "As far as we know, Hao might be glad that X-Laws got their hand on Danna and is hoping for them to torture him!".

"I just know." Ren said simply again and keep quiet after that, ignoring what the rest tried to tell him or asking him.

A voice in the back of his mind pointed out at him that what he said was the same thing Yoh said, when he asked how Yoh know that Spirit of Fire had been returned to the Great Spirit and that Great Spirit would be recovered enough in two or three years to start over th Shaman Fight.

Could it be that Yoh somehow spared Hao? Ren thought with narrowed eyes, now that he thought about it, Hao's injury was not as bad as it should be, if Yoh attacked Hao with intention to kill, Hao should be dead already. Yoh had been saying from the start that he didn't want to kill Hao, so there's a huge possibility that Yoh spared Hao and make sure his attack wouldn't kill Hao.

If that's true . . . Ren thought with a frown, he was then reminded that Hao had healed too fast, faster than how it should be, even with him being able to heal himself. Hao's condition was not in any place to be able to use his power to the fullest, Could it be that Yoh had somehow helping Hao as well? He thinned his lips, Now that he thought about it, Yoh never said that he's feeling guilty about killing Hao, they were the ones who assuming that by themselves, and Yoh only said that he did what was needed.

In Yoh's line of thought, killing Hao was unnecessary, he wanted to change Hao, not killing him. If Ren know Yoh better than the others, he figured that Yoh didn't kill Hao on purpose, he spared Hao and he did what he need to do, and that was defeating Hao, not killing him.

Yes, Yoh spared Hao. Ren concluded to himself as he looked up when he arrived at Silva's cafe, Hao and his followers were nowhere in sight, If Yoh knew that Hao was alive, he might as well be the one who returned the Spirit of Fire to the Great Spirit, since it's impossible for Hao to do it himself, he had painstakingly stole the Fire Spirit from the Patch, so it makes no sense in just returning it like that. He guessed that Yoh did that to make sure Hao couldn't kill anyone anymore, he snorted in amusement, Yoh really is something, always one step ahead of everyone, huh?

"Hao is not here." Horo Horo mumbled when he saw that Hao or his followers were not around.

"Silva!" Ren called as soon as he caught sight of the Patch, "Do you know where Hao stay?".

Silva raised an eyebrow at him, "Why are you looking for him?" He asked curiously.

"Yoh had been kidnapped by X-Laws." Ren explained in a hurry, "Hao might know where to find Yoh, it's easier than we just go around looking for useless clue".

Silva sighed, "Those Twins, always manage to get themselves in trouble, huh?" He muttered quietly to himself before looking at Ren, "Follow me, I will show you the house." He then looked at the other Patch Official in the cafe, "Kalim, I leave everything to you, I will be back shortly!" He said and, after hearing an affirmative from his friend, nodded to the group to follow him.

When they arrived at the house, they saw a sight that was unusual for them. Peyote was playing his music instrument while Zhang Ching was trying to sing following the music, the Hanagumi and Opacho were laughing at the weird song created by that combination, while Luchist was standing nearby, watching all of them in amusement. They were surprised that the once deadly group was acting like group of friends having fun without a care of the world, that was something they thought would never happened to Hao's followers.

Luchist looked up and leaned out of the wall, "What's going on here?" He asked seriously, causing the rest to abandon what they were doing and looking at Ren and the rest, "Why are you here?".

"I will get to the point." Ren said seriously, "Where's Hao? We need to talk with him".

Kanna narrowed her eyes as she and the rest stood up, turning to them with tense postures, "Why would you need to talk with Hao-sama?" She asked suspiciously.

"Look, Yoh has gone missing and Hao would be able to tell us the fastest." Ren answered coldly, "So, where is he?".

Hao's followers relaxed and returned to their previous position, "Hao-sama isn't here." Luchist said calmly, "He told us to stay here until further notice before he just go by himself".

"Hey, Ren." Chocolove whispered to Ren, "Are you sure it's X-Laws who kidnapped Yoh? What if Hao was the one who kidnapped him instead? And Lyserg went to the X-Laws to ask for help?".

"Excuse me!" Macchi snapped angrily, she stood up and turning to them, placing her hands on her hips, "Hao-sama only gone just- how long? 10 minutes ago! While from what Luchist found out, Yoh-sama had gone missing from last night!".

"I guess they make sense." Manta said hesitantly, "X-Laws had left the Village from last night, along with Lyserg's disappearance. If Hao only go out about 10 minutes ago, then he couldn't be the kidnapper".

"And I can confirm it." Silva said with resigned sigh, "Hao was in my cafe, along with them, this Morning and I clearly heard him asking what was causing the ruckus, your theory would be invalid, Chocolove".

"I'm just saying." Chocolove said defensively.

"Are you stupid then?" Ren snapped in anger, "If that was the case, then there's no need for Lyserg to go straight to them, he would inform us first before suggesting us to go to X-Laws." He hissed before looking at Luchist, "So, Hao left after he heard that Yoh had gone missing?".

"Yeah, that's right." Kanna confirmed calmly, "Hao-sama gone to rescue Yoh-sama, so don't randomly accuse him to be the one who kidnapped Yoh-sama".

"Eh, Hao is?" Horo Horo asked in disbelief, "Why would he do that?" Confusion was written all over his face.

"Hao had changed, that's why." Ren said in relief.

"Are you saying that you believe what they said?" Ryu asked in shock, "This is Hao that we are talking about!".

"I know." Ren said calmly, "As I said, Hao had changed, so I believe what they said, Hao had gone to help Yoh".

"How would you know he had changed?" Faust asked calmly, he was the only one among them who was not surprised so much, mostly because he was busy staring at his Eliza.

" . . . " Ren felt like kicking himself, he had gone and said all that without remembering that the rest didn't know that he was the one who helped Hao to recover.

"You helped him, didn't you?" Silva asked calmly with a crossed arms.

Ren's eyes widened and he looked at the Patch, "How do you . . .?" He trailed off when he saw Silva's smug smirk.

"Why do you think I showed you the way to this place?" Silva asked calmly, "I was on a late night flight when I saw you sneaking around into the cave in the cliff." He explained to the boy, "I was confused why you would go out that late in the night, but then I felt Hao's Furyoku from the cave, so I know that you are helping Hao".

"Ren, you . . ." Horo Horo looked at him in dismay, "You betrayed us?".

Ren's tongari grew, "Listen here, I did help him, but that didn't mean I'm siding with him!" He yelled in anger, "I only helped him because I saw something different in him!" He then turned to Silva, "You too, why didn't you report it to Goldva? As a Patch, isn't it your job to report to them if you find Hao?".

Silva shrugged, "All of the Patch knew that Hao is still alive after that attack, the reason we are searching for Hao is just to be sure about it and ready for any sign of law breaking, if anyone else would be stupid enough to do it." He said answered calmly, "We couldn't interfere with this matter, you know we have a rule to remain neutral. That time I fought alongside you was because Magna and Nichrom had violated our law, so even if we know Hao is still alive, we won't do anything".

"But didn't you want to stop Hao as well?" Manta asked in confusion.

"Yes, I did." Silva answered casually, "Stop him, but not kill him, he is still my Ancestor, and I kind of hoping Yoh will succeed in his plan to change Hao for the better".

"And he succeed." Ren said with a nod, "I saw it myself when I treated his injury, Hao doesn't have that insane glint in his eyes anymore, that's why I even help him in the first place".

The rest were staring at Silva and Ren in surprise, "But, what if Hao begin killing people again?" Chocolove asked in worry.

"We won't." Luchist answered calmly, gaining their attention, "Hao-sama told us that we won't kill anymore, he said his eyes had been opened".

"Now, the question is . . ." Ren started with a crossed arms, "How will Hao save Yoh without Spirit of Fire?".

"Eh?!" Hao's followers gasped in shock, "He doesn't have Spirit of Fire?!".

Ren raised an eyebrow, "You didn't know about it?" He asked nonchalantly.

Luchist frowned, "He didn't say anything about Spirit of Fire, so we assumed that he still has it." He said thoughtfully.

"Spirit of Fire had been returned to the Great Spirit right after the explosion." Silva told them with a frown as well, "Why would he return the Spirit of Fire? And how will he save Yoh if he couldn't perform any Oversoul?".

Peyote then laughed, "You forget who you are talking about." He said confidently, "Hao-sama is the strongest Shaman in the world, he can fight even without a Guardian Spirit!".

The rest of Hao's followers began laughing as well, "Eres Correcuto, Peyote!" Luchist said in agreement, leaving Silva and Yoh's friends to stare at them in bewilderment.

"Your faith to him is beyond comprehension." Ren said with a shake of his head, which only serve to make Hao's followers to laugh more.

XXXXX

Hao, in his Ninetailed Fox form, stopped running when he saw a big Mansion ahead of him, he hid behind a rock and thought about how to get to Yoh. The best way would be in his Human form so he wouldn't reveal his Secret to them, but he had make a big mistake due to his haste in rescuing Yoh.

A sweat drop appeared on his head when he thought about his mistake, his clothes had been torn to pieces when he transformed into his Fox form, he wouldn't have anything to cover himself when he reverted back to his Human form. He would die of embarrassment if he broke in to rescue Yoh, but without a single cloth to cover his body. He whined in frustration, he really felt like kicking himself for making such a mistake.

His tails moved up and down slowly as he thought about what he should do before he remembered about the Iron Maiden, Jeanne didn't wear anything aside from boxer inside the torture device, the girl would create an Oversoul to cover her body whenever she was out of the Iron Maiden to fight, if she didn't already wear a clothes beforehand, that was.

He could try it, creating an Oversoul to form a set of clothes so he wouldn't have to throw away his dignity, yes, he could try it. The problem was he didn't have a Guardian Spirit to make an Oversoul to attack- no, that's not really a problem, he could just summon back a Spirit from the Otherworld, he just didn't know if his old friend would want to help him after what had happened.

Better try it first than nothing, He thought decisively and his tails spread out like a fan, the black tips of his tails turned into black fire. A second later, a small Oni appeared on the ground in front of him. Thanks to the fact that he was an Oni Summoner before becoming an Onmyouji, he could still summon Onis at will. He reverted back to his Human form and immediately took the Oni and used it to form an Oversoul, he sighed in relief when he managed to make a pair of black colored shorts shaped Oversoul.

Hao looked down on himself and found it quite strange that he didn't wear any shoes, gloves, or any other accessories like before, but he decided to just shrugged it off and began a new task. He knelt on the ground and draw a pentagram inside a circle, he then wrote the Kanji of the 4 directions, each on it's respective direction, on the outside of the first circle before drawing another circle outside them. He didn't have a Rosary with him, so he had to use his Magic to summon the Spirit, but at least he still could do it.

He finished making the sign and wrote the Spirit's name in the center of the star, he clapped his hands to clear them from any dirt, he then hold out his hands into the drawing he made before closing his eyes. "With the Energy the Mother Nature granted upon me, I summon thee from the Spirit Realm into the Living." He chanted softly but firmly, "The one I seek is a feline with two tails. Matamune The Nekomata, Heed My Call." His voice was echoing by the time he said the last line.

A bright light erupted from the pentagram, he opened his eyes slowly to see an orange Cat standing on two feet, the male Cat was wearing a simple kimono and has a pipe in one of his front paws. "Hao-sama?" The Nekomata asked with blinking eyes.

Hao smiled, "Yes, it's me, Matamune." He replied to the Spirit.

Matamune blinked a few times more before focusing his eyes on Hao's Oversoul pants, "What in the world happened to you?" He asked in surprise, "Have you lose all your wealth until you couldn't buy even a pair of pants?".

Hao laughed sheepishly, "Well, I made a mistake earlier, which causing my clothes to torn into pieces in my haste." He explained with a sheepish smile and a bit of blush adorning his face, "I don't have any choice, it's either this or I go naked, and I would prefer to save a bit of my dignity instead of going around naked".

Matamune smiled warmly with tears flowing from his eyes, "Welcome back." He said warmly, causing Hao to blink at the Nekomata in confusion, "You have regained your true self once again, a Gentle Master instead of the man full of vengeance whom I betrayed due to my fear. Welcome back, Hao-sama." The Cat bowed lowly to Hao, "I'm sorry for leaving you, please forgive me for betraying you, Hao-sama".

Hao smiled and pulled the small Spirit into a warm welcoming hug, "I forgive you, Matamune." He said softly, "Thank you for coming back to me".

Matamune wiped his eyes, "What can I help you with, Hao-sama?" He asked after he was released from the hug.

Hao scratched the back of his neck, "Well, you see, I had returned the Spirit of Fire back to the Great Spirit, it was not mine to begin with." He explained sheepishly, "I need a Guardian Spirit, Matamune." He then looked seriously his old friend's eyes, "Will you accompany me as my Guardian Spirit once again?".

Matamune smiled and nodded, "Gladly, Hao-sama." He answered firmly and respectfully.

Hao sighed in relief, "Thank you." He said before standing up, "Now, I'm sorry that it's so sudden, but we need to perform an Oversoul, Matamune." He said seriously.

Matamune's eyes narrowed as he felt the tension in the air, "What happened?" He asked seriously.

"X-Laws kidnapped Yoh." Hao explained as he motioned to the Mansion ahead of them, "They brought him there, we need to save him and for that we need to perform Oversoul".

Matamune smirked, "Let's give them what's coming for them, shall we?" He hissed excitedly.

Hao smirked back, "Oh, they don't know what's coming to them." He said confidently before turning around, "Let's go, Matamune".

"Yeah, let's." Matamune said as he turned into his golden colored Hitodama.

XXXXX

Yoh groaned as he was awoken rudely, he was awoken by water being dropped on him, he opened his eyes and immediately noticed that his hands were chained above his head and he was in kneeling position on the ground.

Memories rushing back to him. He was attacked last night and was brought to a building somewhere far from patch Village, when he woke up, he was already in the cell and was chained as well. Marco and Lyserg were outside the cell, Lyserg staring coldly at him while Marco accusing him working together with Hao, Jeanne was not with them, but he could tell that the girl was somewhere in the building.

It turned out that Lyserg had seen Hao in the Onsen yesterday Afternoon, he immediately thought that Yoh didn't kill Hao on purpose. While it's true that Yoh didn't kill Hao on purpose, he was surprised that Lyserg would immediately thought that he spared Hao like that. He wondered if Lyserg would still accusing him like that if he failed to kill Hao was not because he spared his Brother, but by a mere miscalculation. Probably still would, because Lyserg was never putting that much faith in him, he know that deep inside the boy's heart, he feared the time where Yoh would become like Hao. The thought that the one he considered as his friend would do something like that had pained him so much, betrayal was not something he like to deal with, because it's hurt too much.

Yoh didn't say anything at all and simply ignoring Marco and Lyserg, saying that they could think whatever they want, he didn't care one bit. That statement led Marco to believe that he really had been siding with Hao right from the start, how the man would believe him to be siding with 'That' Hao was beyond him, and so the crazy man began to whip him as punishment for helping the Evil One, as he put it. Seems like the crazy man had forgotten that, if it's not for him, they all would have died already when 'That' Hao got his hand on the Great Spirit.

"Wake up, sinner." Marco's voice growled from nearby.

He looked up to see that not only Marco, but Lyserg was there as well, both of them were looking at him with hatred filled eyes. Lyserg was standing outside the cell while Marco inside the cell, his whip in hands. He sighed and looking away immediately, too lazy to even talk with the crazy pedophile man.

"Are you going to admit your sin now?" Marco asked coldly.

"Why would I?" Yoh snapped at him with a really sweet smile, "You are not my God, why would I doing something like admitting my Sin to you? I would prefer to admit them to the real God, don't you think?".

Marco growled again and raised his whip, then he swung it with as much force as he could to whip Yoh. Yoh gritted his teeth when the whip hit his arm, he refused to scream though, he wouldn't give the man the satisfaction the man's seek from his sick hobby of torturing people.

"You are acting strange, Yoh-kun." Lyserg stated coldly, "It seems that Hao had changed you so much, maybe when he ate your soul and released you again".

"Oh no, you got it all wrong." Yoh said with a straight face, "You just never seen this side of mine, because you just decided to lock yourself in this little world called distrust." He raised an eyebrow, "You fear me, don't you? That's the reason why you automatically assume that I'm siding with Hao from the start, because you are just too afraid of me simply because I'm Hao's Twin." Lyserg's eyes widened at that, he looked at Yoh with fearful eyes, "Heh, bull's eyes." He said sadly and looked away again, "Think what you want, I don't care." He repeated what he said previously and keep quiet after that.

"Don't you dare talking like that about Lyserg, sinner." Marco sneered before whipping him again, he still didn't make any pained sound and just glared at the wall, "You are the lowest among the lowest, siding with the Evil".

"I beg to differ." A new echoing voice resounded throughout the small cell before a long haired figure appeared from the thin air, "You are even lower than him, taking pleasure in torturing innocent people." Hao then swung his big sword Oversoul, nearly identical with Yoh's Spirit of Sword but was made using one medium instead of two, hitting Marco and Lyserg using it's side so they wouldn't get killed but effectively throwing them away from Yoh. "Yoh is more of an Angel than your so called Holy Maiden." He said coldly before destroying the chain tying Yoh's hand together with a blast of Furyoku. Hao took Yoh's hand and they disappeared into thin air again, reappearing so far away from the building the X-Laws were in.

"Asaha!" Yoh called out cheerfully, "You saved me, Thank You!" He grinned at his Brother.

Douji Asaha, or more known as Asakura Hao since only Yoh called him by his real name, looked at Yoh in worry, "Are you okay?" He asked as he checked over Yoh, "I'm sorry, I should come sooner".

"I'm alright." Yoh reassured him with a warm smile, "Just a bit stung by the whip wound, but it's nothing bad, you can help me heal them".

"That's good." Hao said in relief and let his Oversoul to dissipate.

Yoh looked at the Nekomata in surprise, "Why, hello Matamune." He greeted the Cat Spirit, "Long time no see!".

Matamune smiled, "Long time no see, Yoh-sama." He said with a bow, "I'm happy we could meet again after such a really long time".

"Quit with formality." Yoh said as he scooped the Cat into his arms and nuzzling his face into the Cat, "My, I really miss you, Kitty Cat, you have grown so much after 1000 years!".

Hao looked at Yoh with a pout, "You give Matamune a nuzzle, how about me?" He asked sulkily.

Yoh laughed and let Matamune down, he then turned to Hao, "Well, come on then, let me greet you with a proper hug this time." He said with a big grin, "You were injured before, so I don't want to cause you more pain." His grin then turned wicked before he launched himself at Hao, tackling him and causing both of them to fall, "Welcome back, Asaha! I'm glad to have you back!" He exclaim as he practically squeezing the life out of Hao.

"Yoh-sama, you are going to kill him." Matamune commented with an amused expression.

Yoh gasped and pulled back immediately, "Sorry." He said sheepishly.

Hao chuckled as he sat up, making Yoh moved to the side in the process, he looked at Yoh with a warm smile, "I'm glad to be back." He answered softly.

Yoh smiled back before looking at what Hao was wearing, "What happened to your clothes?" He asked in surprise.

Hao blushed, "Um, I was panicking when I found out that you were with X-Laws, so I just kind of act first - think later." He explained, "The fastest way to reach you was to transform, since it's hard to teleport to your location because I didn't know the exact location, so I just did it without remembering to remove my clothes first, they were torn to pieces now".

Yoh burst out laughing when he heard the explanation, "I'm not that defenseless, Asaha." He said after he controlled his laugh, "If I'm cornered, I will just send my furyoku into the Earth or any other element to help me." He patted Hao's shoulder, "Make sure you wouldn't repeat this, panicking would never helping, so you better don't go into panic mode again".

Hao pouted cutely, "Hai (Yes)." He said in defeat, he was acting really childish around Yoh sometimes.

Matamune chuckled, "Hao-sama." He called out to get Hao's attention, "I suggest that you search for some clothes soon, before you caught a cold".

Yoh looked around and noticed that they were in Funbari Onsen's backyard, "Well, I will get my stuffs from here then." He looked at Hao, "Let's go, you can wear my clothes for now, we are on the same size anyway".

Hao nodded, "But where should we go after this?" He asked as he stood up, he offered a hand to Yoh, "I mean, it's pointless to get back to the Patch Village, and you can't stay here for I'm sure Lyserg would tell your other friends that you had betrayed them".

Yoh smiled an lazy smile as he accepted Hao's hand and tood up, "Let's go to the forest near here, we can build a house deep in the forest, and of course you can buy the land from the Government if needed." He said in carefree way, "Daijoubu, nantoka naru (It's alright, everything will work out somehow)".

"I guess you are right." Hao said witha smile, "We can run around freely in the forest too, right?".

"Yup!" Yoh agreed with a big grin, "Now, let's get you clothes so you can help me packing my stuffs".

Matamune hopped onto Hao's shoulder and they began walking to the Inn.

To be continued . . .

Hao : I thought you said that you will update once in two days, so . . . why now?

Froim : I changed my mind, I will update until finished now.

Yoh : (Gasp!) You will completed the story TODAY?!

Froim : Yes.

Hao : Wow.

Yoh : Well, at least the Readers wouldn't have to wait now.

Froim : Please Review ^ ^