[Shaman King] Hoshi ga Hoshii desu * chapter 19: phone call

[lucathia]

Title: Hoshi - ga - Hoshii - desu
Chapter: 19/45

Author: lucathia_rykatu
Email: rykatu@yahoo.com
Series: Shaman King
Rating: PG
Genre: General
Feedback: will be highly appreciated
Spoilers: end of anime
Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to its rightful owners (which does not include me!)
Archive: livejournal / fanfiction.net

Summary: "I want the stars" -- An amnesic Hao only remembers that the word "Hoshi" is special to him. Found unconscious in America, Hao takes on the name of Hoshi and eventually returns to Japan. This is his story after the anime.

-----Chapter 19: phone call-----

Five people stood in the silent room, Yoh's previous words weighing heavily on their minds. Yoh stood with his head tilted downwards, his long bangs shadowing his eyes. Anna stood with her arms crossed, her foot impatiently tapping the ground. Horo Horo stood with his eyes wide open, his body rigid. Ren stood with his back to the door, his arms crossed as well. Tsuki stood next to Yoh, wondering what was going on.

They had never expected Hao to be back, for the fact that Hao was even alive had barely crossed their minds.

Anna frowned. Hao was back. What Ren said when he entered the room ran through her mind again. He said that he met the long-haired shaman in the graveyard a few days ago...Anna's frown deepened. A few days ago? Why did he just mention it now? He should have told them the day he met Hao!

Anna glared at Ren. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

The three pairs of eyes, Yoh, Horo Horo, and Tsuki's, swerved around to land on Ren, waiting for his answer.

Ren took a step back, surprised by the sudden attention.

"Well..."

If possible, Anna glared harder. "Well what?"

Ren glanced towards his side as Bason materialized. Ren looked down, a faint red tinge coloring his cheeks. He quickly muttered, "I had to do some special training with Bason."

"Special training?" questioned Anna.

The redness in Ren's cheeks deepened. "To overcome his fear of..."

"Fear of?" Anna glowered.

Ren looked away and whispered...

"Cats."

Silence.

Until Horo Horo burst out laughing. "Cats? Bason is afraid of cats? Those cute, fluffy creatures that go nyaa?"

Ren's face reddened some more as he started shaking. Horo Horo continued laughing without noticing that Ren's redness wasn't just from embarrassment anymore. "Kisama!" shouted Ren. He whipped out his spear, which immediately shut Horo Horo up, and started chasing Horo Horo through the inn.

After Ren and Horo Horo left the front of the inn, the room became relatively quiet. Although Anna finally got Ren's answer, it wasn't one that she had expected. She glanced towards Yoh, about to command him to call the police to inform them about Tsuki's whereabouts, but instead, she remained quiet.

She couldn't command Yoh, not when he had that look on his face. Anna tore her eyes away from that expression that didn't befit Yoh. She quietly left the room, walking towards the phone in the hallway.

Picking up the receiver, Anna dialed the police's number.

-----0-----

Only two people, Yoh and Tsuki, were left in the room now. Yoh, however, didn't seem to notice Tsuki's quiet presence. Yoh had a slight frown. His eyes were looking far, far away.

Ren had been practicing with Bason so that he'd be able to fight cats...that meant that Hao's new spirit was a cat?

Yoh closed his eyes, his heart constricting.

"Matamune..."

-----0-----

Hoshi noticed Sora's worry, his own brow furrowing as he asked her what was wrong. When Sora didn't answer immediately, Hoshi glanced around the house, looking for any disturbances within. Alarms started going off in his mind when he noticed the absence of a certain little boy.

Hoshi's mouth slowly parted as he asked, "Where's Tsuki?"

Sora bit her lips and averted her eyes from Hoshi. "He disappeared."

Hoshi's eyes widened as he stopped dead in his tracks. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped. "Really?" whispered Hoshi, his voice deathly quiet.

Manta glanced at Hoshi, wondering who it was that disappeared to have caused such a reaction in Hoshi. Manta didn't think that Hoshi was the kind to become concerned over a missing person.

Sora fretted. "I don't know what to do...I called the police and they said they couldn't do anything until tomorrow!"

Hoshi opened his mouth to answer just as the phone rang. Sora quickly rushed towards the phone to pick it up. She pressed the receiver to her ears and closely listened to the policeman's words. The two boys could only hear slight bits of the conversation.

When Sora put down the receiver, she quickly told the two boys what the policeman had said. "The police told me that someone reported to them Tsuki's whereabouts." Sora paused and then said, "He was taken to Funbari Onsens."

"Funbari Onsens! That's Yoh's place!" exclaimed Manta.

Sora blinked and looked at Manta. "Yoh…as in Asakura Yoh?"

Manta nodded.

Sora smiled grimly. "It seems that I have to meet him sooner than I expected…I was going to wait until we settled down before confronting him. Now I have no choice but to go."

"Why is it such a hard thing to confront Yoh? He's not a very intimidating person," declared Manta.

"That's what I've heard too," answered Sora. "I've heard that the youngest Asakura was an easy-going, laid back boy. I came to Tokyo first instead of Izumo because I wanted to meet him before meeting my parents. I don't know…I thought that he might listen to my plead and help me persuade my parents to accept Tsuki."

"What does Yoh have to do with your parents?" wondered Manta.

"Kino-haha and Yohmei-chichi?"

Manta blinked. "Eh? Your parents are Yoh's grandparents? Then you're Yoh's aunt!"

Sora nodded. "So you're an acquaintance of my nephew? Sorry...but I have no time to chat right now. I have to go pick up my son."

"Wait, I'll go with you since I know the place." Manta moved forward to accompany Sora, but Hoshi grabbed Manta's arm to restrain him.

Hoshi gave a slightly apologetic look to Sora. "Sorry, okaasan. I have to show him something before I go with you. I"ll catch up with you later."

Sora had expected Hoshi to be there to support her, to guide her when she was going to meet the nephew she had never seen before. But it seemed that Tsuki's disappearance, which was leading towards her encounter with Asakura Yoh, had bad timing. Why? Because it was extremely rare that Hoshi had brought a friend back home with him. When they lived in America, they had lived in the countryside. Hoshi didn't have much of an opportunity to make any friends. Now that they moved to such a populated city as Japan, Sora believed that Hoshi finally had a chance to make new friends. And today, Hoshi actually brought a friend home...and Tsuki had to be missing to spoil Hoshi's plans.

Sora paused for a bit before saying, "All right. Be sure to come later...I need you there."

Hoshi gave a small nod as the door shut close behind Sora.

The room was uncomfortably silent as Hoshi motioned for Manta to follow him into his room.

Hoshi opened his closet and plunged through his clothes. Out came t-shirts, jeans, long sleeved shirts, sweats, shorts, khakis, and a whole lot of other battered clothes. Manta blinked. He hoped that those clothes weren't the clothes that Hoshi was going to show him since Hao certainly didn't wear any of those kinds of clothes. However, while Manta was once again lost in his thoughts, Hoshi had stopped his onslaught of clothes. He reached down into the deepest corner of his closet and pulled.

Out came his boots and his gloves.

Then came his cloak and his red pants with star stripes.

Lastly came his star earrings.

Hoshi gently grouped them together. Although his clothes didn't trigger any of his memories, they still had a nostalgic pull on him. All Hoshi had to do now was turn around and show these to Manta, and then his identity would be clear to him.

-----to be continued-----

translations
chichi – father
haha - mother

Next chapter: Identity