Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Hoshi ga Hoshii desu ❯ I am alive ( Chapter 10 )

H o s h i - g a - H o s h i i - d e s u

"I want the stars"

by Lucathia

chapter 10: I am alive

Hoshi narrowed his eyes. It was that name again.

Yoh.

Manta had blurted out "Yoh-kun" in the classroom, yet he had not call Hoshi by that name a second time. This pointy-haired boy also mentioned "Yoh," but instead said that Hoshi wasn't Yoh.

After waking up from his nightmare, Hoshi knew that his name wasn't really Hoshi. He had called himself "Hoshi" simply because the stars were the first things he had seen when he had woken up. Hoshi laughed inwardly. If the first things he saw were ants, maybe he would have called himself "Ant."

Anyway, he felt that his name started with an "H," so he would never name himself after something as absurd and insignificant as "Ant." Calling himself "Hoshi" felt right. When Manta had called him "Yoh," Hoshi had felt that the name was familiar, yet he knew that the name wasn't his.

This boy at the graveyard confirmed that.

After standing up, Hoshi discovered that he was around the same height as the boy in front of him, so he was eye-level with the boy. The darkness caused the other boy's golden eyes to look even more golden. They flashed sharply, as if daring Hoshi to say something to their owner's statement of "You are not Yoh."

After a moment of silence, Hoshi smiled, as if to agree with the boy's previous statement, and watched as the other boy became apprehensive.

"What are you doing here?" asked the other boy in a slightly louder voice.

Hoshi continued smiling.

"Why, to look at the stars of course."

The boy opened his eyes wide, glaring at Hoshi. "Stop JOKING WITH ME! You...you!"

Hoshi was somewhat amused by the boy's reaction. After all, he was only telling the truth. What was wrong with that? Well, maybe it was the tone he spoke in and the words he chose to use that angered the boy. His tone and word choice were slightly...mocking.

"What about me?" asked Hoshi.

"You...you shouldn't even be alive!"

Hoshi stopped smiling. That was probably why Manta was so shocked in seeing him at cram school. Manta might have thought he was seeing a spirit. But no matter what Manta or this boy thought, Hoshi was clearly alive and healthy.

Hoshi grabbed the other boy's wrists.

"Well, I'm alive, aren't I?"

The boy glanced at Hoshi's hand, a solid and warm hand. There was no doubt that Hoshi was truly alive.

The boy closed his eyes, as if hoping that when he opened them, he would discover that this replica of Yoh was just an illusion and wasn't standing there in front of him. When he opened his eyes, however, Yoh's twin remained in the same spot.

"Let go of me."

Hoshi dropped the other boy's hands.

The boy stared at Hoshi in the eye. "You are supposed to be dead."

Hoshi sighed in mock frustration. "Didn't we just go over this subject? I'm clearly not dead."

"Then I, Tao Ren, will make sure that you are!"

Hoshi's eyes widened slightly. The other boy, Ren, whipped a broken-looking sword out of nowhere.

"Bason, Oversoul!"

A large, Chinese warrior appeared and began to merge with Ren's sword. Hm...so that was how an Oversoul was done. So far, Hoshi had not been practicing merging with Hoshisuke much, so he hadn't discovered all the different ways of merging yet. Seeing Ren's spirit merge with his sword, Hoshi now knew that for a higher level merging, all he needed was a medium.

Well, Ren used the hilt of a sword, a weapon that was appropriate for the Chinese warrior.

What would be an appropriate medium for Hoshisuke?

Hoshi wanted a medium that would surround him, a medium that could be found anywhere, anytime. He wanted a medium that was part of Nature, a medium that no one but himself would think of using.

Hoshi smiled.

As Ren charged at Hoshi, Hoshi begin his Oversoul.

"Hoshisuke, Oversoul!"

Hoshisuke meowed.

And merged with the air molecules around Hoshi.

Ren's eyes widened as his body stopped moving.

Hoshi stood in front of Ren with Hoshisuke's presence surrounding him, as if embracing him. His power coursed through the air around him, and he felt that if he wanted, he could easily crush this miniscule life form in front of him.

"What's wrong? Too scared to move?" Hoshi smirked, his arms crossed.

Meanwhile Bason apologized nonstop to his master.

"I'm so sorry, Bo-chama! So very sorry! I...I can't fight against cats!"

Hoshi laughed. Well, he was wrong about Hoshisuke not being threatening. Apparently, there were some people who were afraid of Hoshisuke. And the first one that Hoshi met wasn't even a normal human but a spirit.

Ren glared at Hoshi.

"Damn you!"

Hoshi rose his eyebrows. "I'm already damned."

"Then damn you again!"

Hoshi shook his head. "Not very original aren't you? Well, since you've ruined my peaceful stargazing, there's no point for me to stay here anymore. Bye."

Hoshi turned around and started walking away. Ren was obviously still stuck in the same place.

When Hoshi was at the very edge of the graveyard, Ren yelled as loudly as he could.

"GO TO HELL..."

"ASAKURA HAO!"

When Hoshi finally made it back to Sora's house, he trudged into his room and fell onto the soft mattress of his bed. He gazed up at the ceiling, wishing that it were the night sky instead. But the ceiling was just a ceiling, so the stars weren't visible at all.

Ren had called him "Asakura Hao."

His name was Asakura Hao.

Not Hoshi...but Hao.

Hoshi pronounced that name a few times, trying to hear how it sounded. When he pronounced "Asakura," he felt his tongue touch the ceiling of his mouth to form the "r." When he pronounced "Hao," he had to open his mouth and then narrow it.

It was his name...

It was definitely his name.

to be continued

next chapter: breakfast confrontation

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