Chapter 9

Disclaimer : I Don't own Shaman King!

Thought / Dreams / Event from the past

'Telepathic voice'

-Telephone-

Letter

"Dialogue"

Emphasis

Dangerous tone

"A month and Yoh is still hasn't come here." Anna said with a scowl on her face, she nearly always in bad mood after reading Yoh's message that day, "Manta!" She yelled loudly.

A second later, Manta came running in, "Yes, Anna-san?" He asked nervously.

"Go with Horo Horo and Ren." Anna said coldly without looking away from the TV, "We need groceries".

"Okay." Manta said and left to get Horo Horo and Ren.

A month had passed after they returned to Japan and found Yoh's message, Ren, Horo Horo, Manta, Faust, and Ryu continued to stay at the Inn for the time being, in hope to meet Yoh again. After what they had go through the Shaman Fight, it's hard for them to just return to their previous life just like that, they were till worried about Yoh and want to talk with him again. Even though Ren didn't want to admit it, but Yoh had become an important part to their life, so they want to make sure Yoh was alright first before going home.

"Horo Horo, Ren!" Manta called out when he saw the two sparring at the backyard, they stopped their attack and looked at him, "Anna told you to go buy groceries with me!".

Ren and Horo Horo groaned and canceled their Oversoul, "Let's go then." Ren said with a sigh.

"The sooner we done, the sooner we can go back to our training." Horo Horo said in agreement.

They went out of the Inn and head out to the Food Store as usual, just like they did in the past month when it was their turn to go buy groceries, that day was not different as well, or supposed to be.

"Alright, let's get back." Manta said once he finished paying for their groceries.

"Finally." Ren said as he took one of the plastic bags, Manta and Horo Horo each took a bag as well.

They were walking back to the Inn when Horo Horo become bored at the silence and decided to look around, that's when he saw something that make him stop walking. "H- hey." He called out to the two.

"What?" Ren asked in annoyance.

Horo Horo pointed at the cafe across from them, "I- I'm not seeing things, right?" He asked in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" Manta asked as he turned to look at what the Ainu pointed at and jaw dropped, "Yoh-kun?!" He gasped in disbelief.

"What?!" Ren snapped his head to the same direction as the two and gasped, "It's him!" He exclaimed in shock.

In the cafe across from them, sitting near the window was none other than Asakura Yoh, along with Hao and the little girl, Opacho, they were chatting casually with an orange haired waitress while drinking something, while Opacho eating a cake.

"Let's go." Horo Horo said as he walked forward before Ren caught his hand, "What?" He asked with a frown.

"You and manta get back to the Inn first, before Anna send her Shikigami to get us." Ren said seriously, "I will spy on them and see where they are staying".

"Uh, alright." Horo Horo said in defeat, Anna did send her Shikigami once when they late before, so it's possible that she would do it again, and by doing so, they would lose their chance in finding out where Yoh hid himself from them in the past month.

XXXXX

"And here it is, my new creation this week!" Macchi announced excitedly as she placed three plates with a slice of cake each on top of the table where Hao, Yoh and Opacho sat, "Please try it and tell me what do you think!".

After Hao told the girl to get a past time job a month before, Macchi and Kanna were accepted in a cafe which sell sweets and drinks. They could try to sell their own creation in the cafe as well, and they could get 50 percent of the income if their creations get sold, the rest went into the owner because they make the cakes or candies using the ingredient available in the cafe and was selling them there along with the other products. So far, Macchi had created 4 type of cakes in a month, while Kanna was more interested in making Candies but only succeed in making one creation.

"Hm, this one look tasty as well." Hao commented as he took the spoon before trying it, he smiled and looked at Macchi, "It's good, but it's better if you don't put too much Cocoa, it makes the cake become bitter".

Macchi pouted, "I guess I need to remove the Cocoa then, I'm not good with it." She said sadly.

"Add Honey and Full Cream Milk." Yoh said to her with a big grin, "I'm sure it's better that way".

Macchi blinked, "Aren't you bad at cooking?" She asked in surprise.

"I'm bad at cooking, but I'm an expert in baking." Yoh said smugly, "If you want, I can teach you more about baking".

Macchi grinned at him, "Sure!" She answered before looking at Opacho, "What do you think, Opacho? Is the cake bitter?".

Opacho scrunched up her nose, "It's bitter." She said in agreement, "Opacho like the Strawberry Cheese Cake more!".

"Let's get you something not bitter the next time." Hao said as he stood up, "Ren has been watching up for some time now, it's better if we don't stay for too long".

Macchi looked out of the window and spotted the Chinese Shaman, "Yes, he is still there even after an hour." She said in confirmation.

"He must be get bored out of his mind now." Yoh chuckled in amusement before winking at Hao, "Let's take a bit of detour before we going home today".

"I don't know what you are planning, but alright." Hao said with a shrug and picked Opacho up from her seat and let the girl sat on his shoulders, "I'm in for whatever you are planning".

"Good." Yoh said and they walked out of the shop after paying for the cakes and coffee, tea in Yoh's case, telling Macchi to bring some more for the rest later.

They were acting like they didn't know that Ren was stalking them, "We need some new books to teach Opacho about Math." Hao said thoughtfully as they passed a Mall.

"Let's get them then." Yoh said and went into the Mall immediately.

Hao smirked, "You want to make Ren lose his patience, don't you?" He asked as he followed Yoh.

"Yup!" Yoh said with a big grin before they went to the Book Store in the Mall.

XXXXX

If only there weren't so many people around, Ren was sure that his eyes would be as wide as a plate and his jaw would drop as low as the ground, this was the second time when he couldn't believe his eyes. Really, not only Ren, even X-Laws would definitely couldn't believe their eyes if they saw what he saw. Asakura Hao, the most feared Shaman in the whole world, who really hate the normal humans so much that he wanted to kill all of them in the past, was now could be seen in the most crowded place in Funbari.

Ren knew that Hao had changed, he had seen the boy's change in behavior and he knew that Hao was the one who had helped Yoh from Yoh's letter, but still, he didn't expected for Hao to change that much in just a short amount of time. He came out of his shock when Hao and Yoh, along with Opacho, had disappeared into the Mall, he made up his mind and followed them into the Mall.

After what seems like forever, in which Ren had to follow the Twins entered the Book Store and bought some books, going in and out of ALL the stores available in the Mall and taking their time looking at EVERYTHING, but end up didn't buy anything at all, Hao and Yoh finally decided that it was time to get out of the Mall. Ren sighed in relief when he saw the Twins heading for the exit, he really was almost losing his patience the whole time the Twins taking their sweet time Eye Shopping. Ren kept his silent however and followed after the Twins in a good distance, and of course he was hiding his presence the whole time, so he wouldn't get found out stalking after the Twins.

The Twins and Opacho were walking to the forest direction, Ren raised an eyebrow as he followed them, wondering where they would heading for this time. They were just walking and walking until they got into a clearing in the small forest, Ren stopped walking at the same time they did and hid himself behind one of the trees.

"Umm, glad to be back." Yoh said as he stretched himself up, he flopped down to the grassy ground and lied down with his hands behind his head, "Don't you think so, Nii-chan?".

"What I think, Otouto, is that you are going to be the death of me." Hao said as he let Opacho down and followed Yoh's example, "My legs are killing me".

Yoh laughed in response, "But it's fun!" He grinned at Hao, "Did you see all those girls were drooling over you?".

"Over us." Hao corrected with a chuckle, "I did see them gawking and drooling over us. Couldn't blame them though, with the two of us, having the same face and similar body, you could say that they were having a feast for their eyes".

"A big feast." Yoh agreed with a laugh.

Yeah, certainly a big feast. Ren agreed silently as he was reminded of all the girls in the Mall who would turned their heads and followed every move the Twins make like they were seeing some Idols walking, he could easily found the Twins when he lose sight of them in the Mall was thanks to those girls.

Ren watched for awhile as the Twins chatting with each other and Opacho before turning around and left as silently as he could, he know that the Twins were living in the forest from what Yoh said, that he was glad to be back, so he would tell the others about this. He would lead them into the clearing and, since he was sure the Twins wouldn't be there forever, tracked them down from there.

XXXXX

Hao and Yoh stopped talking and looked at each other, "He is far enough, don't you think?" Yoh asked as he stood up.

"Yeah, he wouldn't see us." Hao agreed as he also stood up and picked the now sleeping Opacho from the ground, "Let's go home".

"Yeah, let's." Yoh agreed with a smile, "I'm sure Ren would bring the others to find us soon".

"What are you going to do?" Hao asked Yoh with a raised eyebrow.

Yoh gave him his mischievous grin, "You know what I will do." He answered as his appearance changed into that of Ninetails.

Hao also changed into his Ninetails forms, he know that Yoh's friends would be in for a huge shock from the way Yoh licked his lips, his Trickster side had starting out again it seems.

XXXXX

Ren had just stepped through the gate door of Funbari Onsen and was immediately welcomed by the sight of Anna and the rest standing in the frontyard waiting for him, Anna was standing ahead of everyone and her arms crossed, "Where is Yoh?" She demanded right away.

"You wouldn't believe what I'm going to say." Ren warned them, because he was having a hard time believing all of what he saw as well.

"Just tell me." Anna said with a scowl on her face.

Ren sighed, "Alright, here we go." He said and began telling the rest of his experience in stalking the Twins. He got the exact reaction that he had predicted earlier, they were all wide eyed and were jaw dropping.

"For real?" Horo Horo asked in shock.

"Asakura Hao . . . went into the Mall?" Manta asked in disbelief.

"And he didn't kill even one human?" Anna asked with a frown.

"Yeah." Ren nodded his head to answer all of their question as once, "Hao really has changed, or he wouldn't do all he did today".

"We won't find out the truth with just standing here and talking with ourselves." Anna said decisively and looked at Ren seriously, "We need to talk to Yoh and hear the truth from him whether he did spared Hao or now, lead the way, we are going now before they go to somewhere else".

Ren nodded and lead the way to the clearing, "They were here last before I decided to go back." He said as they stepped into the clearing, he looked around and saw that the Twins were nowhere in sight, "Guess we need to search manually for their location in this forest".

"Our Guardian Spirits could looked from the air to find them." Ryu suggested.

The rest were nodding their heads in agreement when a voice rang, "Oversoul! Hair in . . ." They looked ahead when Opacho jumped out from a tree and landed not too far from them, "Mama!" She was in her Oversoul form, making her looked like a Sheep.

"Opacho." Manta said with blinking eyes.

Opacho looked at them, "Think you can run fast?" She asked cheerfully with a big grin on her face.

"What?" Horo Horo asked and blinked in confusion.

Opacho only giggled and then turned around on all four, she looked at them from behind her shoulder, "Think you can follow Opacho?" She challenged before took off right away.

Ren's eyes widened, "After her!" He yelled as he began running after the speeding sheep girl, "She will lead us to Yoh and Hao!".

"What if it's a trap?!" Horo Horo asked as they ran after the small girl.

"It's not like we have any other choice." Anna said calmly as she took out two Shikigami papers, "Zenki! Kouki!" The big Shikigamis appeared and one of them lifted her up while the other lifted Manta up since he was small and couldn't run as fast as the rest.

They were running after the small girl, they kept running all around the place, going left, right, or even turning back around just to keep track with the girl. Finally, after a really long time of running, Opacho stopped and giggled cheerfully when they were all, except for Anna and Manta who were on top of the Shikigamis, dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

"Tired?" Opacho giggled as she dissipated her Oversoul and standing up facing them with a big smile on her face.

"You were playing us." Anna growled in anger.

Opacho merely giggled and walked slowly into ahead of them, they sighed and began walking after her again, what greeted them after they caught up with the small girl was all of Hao's followers chatting with themselves while preparing a feast.

"Do you think we will have enough rice?" Zhang Ching asked as he brought what looked like a big steel container filled with rice.

"I'm more worried about the meat." Kanna said to him, "From what Yoh-sama said, that Horo Horo boy eat more than twice of normal human do".

"Hey, do you think the Cookie is too hard again? Or is it perfect?" Macchi asked as she offered one of them to Peyote.

"It's perfect." Peyote said as he chewed on the Cookie.

"Peyote, Ching, help me with arranging the chairs and tables." Luchist said as he draped a cloth on top of the tables.

"Okay." Peyote and Zhang Ching answered together and walked to him.

"Mary need help." Mary said as she looked at the ingredients in front of her in confusion, "Mary doesn't know how to make the Chocolate Shake".

"I will take care of it." Kanna said as she go to her place, "Watched over the meat, don't let them too burn".

"Mary understand." Mary said and go to where Kanna previously stood.

"Do you think Opacho can stall them long enough for us to be ready?" Macchi asked as she helped Mary grilling the meat.

"Opacho is already here." Opacho announced her presence, "Is Opacho come too soon?".

"Opacho . . ." Luchist looked at her before looking up and saw Ren and the rest, "Oh, they are here".

"Already?!" Peyote, Zhang Ching, and Hanagumi all gasped in shock and snapped their heads to Yoh's friends.

"Opacho is sorry." Opacho said with big eyes.

"No, I don't think it's Opacho's fault." Luchist said as he picked her up and put her on one of the chairs, "Yoh-sama's Fiancee would get angry if you lead them around and around until we finished".

"It can't be help then." Kanna said with a sigh before looking at Anna and the rest, "Have a seat first, we are still in the process of preparing the feast".

"I don't care about the feast." Anna stated with a scowl as she marched over to her, "Where is Yoh?" She demanded as she slammed her right palm onto the table where Kanna was preparing the drink.

"Anna, there's no need to be rough like that, don't you think?" Yoh's voice draw their attention away from Hao's followers and into the direction where they heard him, only to see Yoh walking beside Hao with the two of them carrying a large bucket filled with fishes in between them, making them blink in surprise.

"Ah, let me carry it." Zhang Ching said as he rushed to help them and brought the bucket to Hanagumi.

"Ah, with this much fish, we can be sure to have enough for all them as well." Macchi said cheerfully and began preparing the fish while Mary making sure the meat would cooked perfectly.

Yoh walked over to Macchi and took one of the knife, "What are we going to make again?" He asked as he took one of the fish.

"Yoh, don't." Hao said sternly as he took the knife, "You are going to turn everything black".

"Hey! I have improved a lot after a year of making Breakfast for Anna, you know?" Yoh protested as he wanted to took back the knife.

Kanna chuckled, "Yoh-sama, you can help me with making the Chocolate Shake." She said before the two could started a pointless argument.

"Okay." Yoh left Hao and Macchi to take care of the fish and go to Kanna.

Anna and the rest of Yoh's friends could only stared as Yoh, Hao and Hao's followers going around preparing what looked like a feast while chatting normally. Finally, after they seemed to be done with their work and were cleaning their hands and the used utensils, Anna's eyebrow twitched as she had had enough.

"Yoh." Anna called out coldly with a crossed arms.

Yoh looked at her and smiled, "Yes? What is it, Anna?" He asked in carefree way.

Anna glared, "Explain." She ordered shortly.

"Yoh-dono." Amidamaru appeared and went to him, "We were all worried about you".

"I'm sorry to make you all worried." Yoh said with a sigh and gestured for the tables and chairs, "First, please have a seat." He grinned, "I'm sure you all are tired after the little cat-and-mouse game I told Opacho to play with you".

"What?!" Ren asked with a glare as his tongari grew longer, "So it's your doing, huh?!".

Yoh chuckled, "A bit sport would make the feast taste better, don't you think?" He asked cheerfully, but they could somehow see a pair of horn and devil tail coming out of him when he asked that.

Anna huffed and sat on one of the chair, she glared at the rest to sit as well, they did with a sigh. Yoh smiled and take as seat with Hao sat beside him and then Opacho beside Hao, the rest of Hao's followers were also taking a seat, Yoh and Hao sat at the head of the table while the rest sat in a row on either side of them, Yoh's friends across from Hao's followers.

"Alright." Yoh said as he placed his elbows on the table and folded his fingers together, "I guess it's time for me and Hao to explain everything . . . what kind of relationship we have, and what had truly happened in the Asakura Clan 1000 years ago, in the Patch Tribe 500 years ago, and in Izumo 13 years ago".

To be continued . . .

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