[Shaman King] Hoshi ga Hoshii desu * chapter 26: the search

[lucathia]

Title: Hoshi - ga - Hoshii - desu
Chapter: 26/45

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 26: the search-----

When Yoh felt the sun’s warm rays on him, he cracked open one eye. His mind blurrily registered that it was probably morning right now.

Morning?

Yoh quickly sat up, pushing his blankets off of him. His friends and his aunt had agreed to meet at dawn to begin the search, yet he had somehow overslept! Yoh quickly changed his clothes. When he dashed into the dining room, he was still struggling to thrust his left arm into the correct sleeve.

“Ohayou!” exclaimed Yoh as he finally fixed his shirt and started pulling out his chair. Ren acknowledged Yoh with a brief nod, Horo Horo flashed Yoh a smile, and Manta smiled a bit forcibly. After all, he felt Anna’s overpowering, cold presence behind him. Yoh had no time to be cheerful this morning.

“Yoh,” was Anna’s short and sharp greeting.

Yoh turned towards Anna. “Ah, what is it?” He was already dreading what she was going to say. Was she going to yell at him for waking up late? Or was she going to yell at him for not preparing breakfast? Or was she going to ask him why his cooking always tasted so bad? Or maybe she wanted to yell at him for not helping her with the accounts for the inn? Or maybe he forgot to clean the hot springs yesterday. Or maybe the customers’ bed sheets had to be changed! Millions of “maybes” fought amongst themselves within Yoh’s mind.

“Yoh.” Here it was! Anna’s reprimand should be coming anytime now!

“I have to look after the inn while you guys search for him. Is that okay?”

Yoh blinked. So the answer was “none of the above!” Yoh, relieved, quickly said, “Uh, that’s fine. He might come here after all.” Manta was finally able to eat his share of breakfast without feeling too wary of what Anna was going to do to Yoh.

Yoh noticed Manta’s presence. “Manta! You haven’t been here for awhile.”

Manta nodded. “Well, you overslept today, so um...” Manta glanced at Anna, who glared at him. He immediately diverted his gaze from her. “Well, I was called over to make breakfast.”

“Oh. Gomen ne, Manta!” Yoh smiled widely and started eating his breakfast.

After they hastily ate breakfast, the task of deciding who should search where lay before them. Ren, who had stayed over the previous night, announced that they should first start by searching places that they knew Hoshi had been to before.

Horo Horo thought hard. “Well, I can’t say I really met him. I guess I did pass him once in the streets though. So I’ll go search around that area then.”

Ren nodded. “I saw him once in the graveyard, so I’ll go there.”

Manta thought about his meetings with Hoshi. It seemed that he had met Hoshi more times then anyone else here! “I met him first in cram school and then followed him to the bridge, so I’ll search around that area,” said Manta finally.

Anna, as she said before, would stay at Funbari Onsens. There was a slight chance that Hoshi might come here.

Yoh hadn’t even set his eyes on Hoshi before, but he had heard about him at the convenient store. For him, that was the obvious place to search. “I’ll go to the convenient store that I usually go to,” decided Yoh.

After determining where each person should search, they set out for their different destinations. They planned to regroup at Funbari Onsens at night time.

-----0-----

Sora wanted to sigh as she prepared a hasty breakfast for herself and Tsuki. It was very lonely this morning, and the house was shrouded in a gloomy silence. She only brought out two sets of plates. The third set remained in the cabinet, unused. The table, usually set for three people, was now set for two.

Tsuki silently sat at the table as Sora finished preparing breakfast. She sat down across from her son and began eating her share without a word. Tsuki glanced at his kaachan glumly, refusing to touch his food.

Sora continued eating, willing Tsuki to eat his breakfast without any questions. She didn’t have any answers for him. However, Tsuki was intent on not eating until his kaachan paid him some attention. He refused to touch his food, his gaze focused on his kaachan instead.

Finally, Sora put down her chopsticks, which clinked against the table.

Tsuki jumped a bit at the sudden sound. He diverted his gaze from his kaachan, whose attention was now fixed on him. Every now and then, he glanced back at her.

“Ano...” ventured Tsuki finally, uncertain of what to say.

Sora nodded for Tsuki to continue.

“Is Hoshi-niichan coming back soon?” blurted Tsuki.

Sora paused. That was a question that she also wanted to know the answer to. She hoped that the answer would be yes. She took in Tsuki’s yearning expression. She then smiled gently. “Yes, he will be coming back soon. He will come home, to us.” Those words weren’t just to reassure Tsuki. They also reassured herself. And if, no, when Hoshi came back, she thought, it would be up to Hoshi to decide whether or not he wanted to tell Tsuki the truth.

As Sora finished putting away the dishes, she began telling Tsuki her plans for the day. “I’m going to be out around this area. You stay home and look after the house okay?”

As Tsuki was about to protest about staying home, Sora continued. “We don’t know when Hoshi might come back. I want someone to be home at all times to welcome him back. So be a good boy and stay here, okay?”

Tsuki nodded without protest.

-----0-----

Hoshi quickly began mending his mental barriers a bit, determined to stop the onslaught of images. The images he saw felt out of place. They didn’t feel as if they belonged to him, yet at the same time, they did feel like they belonged to him. He was contradicting himself now. How could he feel so conflicted over the two images he saw?

He was breathing heavily, his heart pounding at an insane speed. That should teach him...never to tinker with his own mind. He hadn’t actually understood his ability to hear other people’s thoughts that well, so in return, he had created an unskilled barrier for protection.

Also, he had somehow managed to seal off some of his memories within those very walls. Taking down the walls triggered too many of those gibberish images. Unless he could find a way for the images to flow slowly through his mind, he would have to keep them sealed away for now. Otherwise, too many of the images coming at him at once would overwhelm him.

He left a tiny opening in his wall, hoping that it was big enough for him to hear other people’s thoughts, and small enough that those confusing images wouldn’t start flitting through his mind.

Hoshi finally stood up, albeit a bit shakily. He lifted the tour book from the ground and dropped it on the counter.

The store clerk named Cutter blinked.

“Um...are you okay?”

Hoshi nodded, wondering why he couldn’t hear the other person’s thoughts. Maybe the hole wasn’t big enough for thoughts to trickle in. He focused on trying to hear the clerk’s thoughts.

Sigh...I want to be outside, training with my spirit right now...

There. Hoshi finally heard the other person’s thoughts, but he frowned when he realized that the store clerk really was just a weak shaman. He had no use for him then!

What’s up with this boy? I wondered if his brother caught up with him last time. He came back in after this boy left...claiming that he had forgotten to buy a cd. Geez...it was as if they were playing cat and mouse! I hope they don’t do that today...

His brother?

The first image that came to mind was of Tsuki, beaming up at him. But that clerk wasn’t referring to Tsuki. He had to be referring to that boy who looked exactly like him. Asakura Yoh.

Hoshi’s heart skipped a beat. Was that why he felt so happy to hear Tsuki call him “niichan?” Was it because he truly did have a younger brother and was yearning to hear those same, exact words?

He hastily paid and started out the door.

He had to get away from here quickly, since they would most likely search this store for him. He shouldn’t have come to this convenient store, not when Yoh knew that he had come here before.

The tiny bells above jingled as the door closed behind him.

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

next chapter: tourist spot number one (the name of actual place shall be revealed in the next chapter!)