Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Ivy, Shaman Runaway ❯ A Walk Among The Roses ( Chapter 22 )

 

A Walk Among The Roses

“She's beautiful when she sings. I haven't heard her sing in a long time. She's only been with Yoh a day, and he's already got her singing again.”

 

“Opacho has heard her singing to herself sometimes. Something about freedom or something depressing.” Opacho and Hao were stationed on the roof of an abandoned building overlooking the garden.

 

“Right, but she sounds so beautiful even if she's singing a depressing song. Maybe it's just me…” Hao sat mesmerized watching me in the courtyard.

 

“Hmm. Master is right, Ivy's voice is very pretty. Good luck Master. Opacho is going back to camp now. He is very sleepy.” Opacho managed to get out through a yawn.

 

“Okay, Opacho. Good night. Here goes nothing.”

 

I was singing softly whatever first came into my head when someone sat down on the fountain beside me.

 

“You should sing more often; you have a beautiful voice.” The person cooed gently.

 

I recognized the voice, and I snapped my head upward to look at him, “HAO!! DON'T YOU COME ANY CLOSER! I swear I'll hurt you. You better get away from m—“ As Hao held up his hand to silence me, I found that I could no longer speak even if I wanted to.

 

Hao smiled apologetically at me “Sorry. I'll give you back your voice back in a minute; you just won't shut up sometimes…”

 

I glared menacingly at him and backed away, tripping over the lip of the fountain and falling backwards. I would have fallen into the water if not for Hao grabbing me around the waist and pulling me back up onto my feet. The sudden change in momentum caused me to fall forward into his arms with my own arms around his neck.

 

He leaned forward, and gently pressed his lips to mine. If he hadn't already sealed my voice, I would have been shocked speechless. As soon as I realized what was going on I pulled back and slapped him in the face.

 

After he finished making sure his jaw wasn't broken he sighed deeply, “I did come on a bit strong there, didn't I?”

 

I gave him a `DUH!!' look as I was unable to voice my thoughts of `Yeah, just a little; warning, sarcastic alert!'

 

He grinned sheepishly, “I'm sorry. I'll try to control myself, but you're so tempting, you know?”

 

My disapproving frown deepened.

 

“Really, all I want to do is talk to you. I promise I won't try anything. I'll give your voice back after you hear me out, okay?” Hao waited expectantly for my answer.

 

I sat back down where I had originally been, glared at him, but motioned for him to sit down next to me on the lip of the fountain.

 

“Thank you Ivy.” Hao sighed in relief as he took his place next to me.

 

“Hmph!” I snorted indignantly.

 

“I don't have a clue to where to start, Ivy, but I guess the beginning is best. The day that I met you and stopped you from destroying another village I knocked you unconscious and brought you back to my camp. My followers and I bandaged you and took care of you. You were out for three days, so I had a lot of time to plan what I was going to do with you, so as I usually did, I had a discussion of my plans with Opacho.”

 

==Flashback Hao's POV==

 

“Master?”

 

“Yes Opacho?” I looked down at my smallest follower.

 

“What is Hao doing with that pretty girl in his tent? Who is she? Why is she here? Many of Hao's followers are wondering why Hao brought her here.” Opacho had always been the one to inform the rest of the group about pretty much anything. No one else in the group had enough nerve to question me except Luca and sometimes the Hanagumi.

 

I smiled gently at Opacho as I answered his questions “The girl's name is Ivy. She's the one the Asakuras have been training to be the ultimate shaman. A master of all the shamanic arts. They were hoping that she would be enough to kill me, but she can't control her Allure powers. She's quite a mess.”

 

Opacho got that `oh' look on his face, but soon his brow furrowed again, “If she's bent on killing Hao, then why does he let her live?”

 

“I'm going to marry her Opacho.” I said dreamily.

 

Opacho's face went into full freak out mode 0.0 as he shouted, “WHAT!!!???? ARE YOU INSANE?! HOW DO YOU PLAN ON GETTING HER TO MARRY YOU?!! SHE'S SET OUT TO DESTROY YOU!!”

 

I couldn't help but laugh at Opacho's overreaction. “Easy, Opacho. She has no idea that she's been trained to kill me. I don't believe the Asakuras ever got around to telling her that her objective was to kill me. I believe they only warned her about me. Tell everyone in the camp that they are to only refer to me as `Master' until further notice, and that they are not to tell the girl my real name.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well, Opacho, this is what I'm going to do. When she wakes up, I'm going to seduce her and trick her into becoming my fiancée. I read her mind, and all she wants is to control her power, and not to have to kill senselessly anymore. I'll offer to help her to finally have total control over her powers if she marries me when I become Shaman King.”

 

“She may say no if she mistrusts Hao. He should probably try the `I'm so in love with you' act.” Opacho suggested.

 

“Good idea, Opacho. The Asakuras will just die when they hear that their little weapon has become the future Shaman Queen. She's a strong fighter, and when she's done serving her purpose I can always dispose of her. Hehehe…well, I'm going to bed Opacho. Tell the others for me, will you?” I turned and started to go inside my tent where Ivy was already peacefully sleeping in my bed.

 

“MASTER!! SHE'S NOT EVEN CONCIOUS!!” Opacho screeched.

 

I burst out laughing at what Opacho thought I was going to do. “Relax, Opacho! Someone has a dirty mind! I'm not going to do anything to her…yet. I'll wait a few weeks before I try anything like that.”

 

“Master is hopeless when it comes to women…”

 

==End Disturbing Flashback==

 

“Ivy, my original plan was to use you then lose you. Don't you see that that plan was abandoned long ago? I got to know you, and I fell in love. I had no idea how to tell you, so I tried to force you to love me back. I had no idea how much I was hurting you. Forgive me; I was so blinded by love that I didn't think about how you felt. I finally got it when I saw you kissing my brother. It nearly killed me to see you clinging to him like that. I wanted to kill him for even touching you. Opacho and I talked about it a little, and I decided that if you were happy, it would be okay if you stayed with my brother. So we brought your stuff for you, but you and I didn't get much time to discuss anything properly, and I wanted to see how you were doing, so I came to meet you here tonight. I just want you to forgive me. Do you?”

 

I rolled my eyes at him as I pointed to my throat and mouthed `My voice!?'

 

It took Hao a minute, but he finally got the message. “Oh, sorry! Here. Okay, now do you forgive me?”

 

“Okay, I forgive you.” I shrugged.

 

His jaw dropped. He obviously hadn't expected me to just up and forgive him. Even I thought it was a bit against my character, but he would just go on and on begging if I didn't cave. Besides, he seemed genuinely sorry.

 

“You…actually forgive me?!”

 

“Sure. You really do seem sorry, so why not? Now that I've forgiven you, you can say goodbye and leave me alone forever. I don't want to see you ever again.” I shrugged him off.

 

“Wait, never see you again? I have to see you! I'd die if I couldn't talk to you every once in a while. I sense that you still hate me.” Hao scrunched up his face in disappointment.

 

“Of course I still hate you. How could I not, after all the hell you put me through? I said that I forgive you; I don't have to like you.” I continued to stare into the fountain water.

 

“But I love you.” He whispered into my ear.

 

“But I love Yoh.” I echoed.

 

“How can you love him, and hate me? He has a fiancée: your sister. You'll only get yourself hurt Ivy. I won't let him hurt you like that!” Hao moaned.

 

“You've gone mad. I won't come back to you just because there's a chance Yoh'll hurt me.” I spat.

 

“You're right, I am mad! Madly in love with you!” He cried as he moved closer to me, seizing my hands in his own. “Do I have to yell it to the heavens? I, Hao Asakura, love Ivy Kyôyama!! I love you. I love you! I LOVE YOU!!”

 

“You're insane!!” I yelled.

 

“Oh, Ivy, if being in love with you makes me insane, I don't ever want to be even relatively sane again!” He picked me up and swung me around in the air happily.

 

I thought to myself how hilarious the situation was. There was the most powerful Shaman in the entire world making a total fool of himself for a girl. It was something you just had to laugh at. And so I did. He was so cute when he was lovesick! Just like his little brother. And I smiled. A real smile, not one of the fake ones I usually showed, but a real, genuine, authentic, bona fide smile.

 

I laughed until my sides were sore, and Hao swung me around until we were both dizzy and out of breathe. He collapsed in the grass and I lay down beside him, resting my head on his bare chest.

 

“I'm so exhausted.” I gasped.

 

“I could carry you home, and if I was super quiet I could sneak up to bed with you and be gone by morning, so no one but you would know that I was even there. What do you say?” Hao suggested eagerly.

 

“I say that I should slap all those perverted thoughts out of you.” I glared at him even though he couldn't see my face. “I have to say, I like you a lot better when you're not a jerk.”

 

“Really? So you don't hate me?” I could detect a slight hopeful tone in his voice.

 

“You're not one of my favorite people in the world, but…you're not so bad as long as you act like you did when I first met you.” I closed my eyes as sleep started to overtake me.

 

“Alright then. I'll try to be more like that from now on.” I almost fell asleep right then and there, but he started talking again, and I forced sleep to wait and my ears to listen. “You know what, Ivy?”

 

“Hmmm?” I hummed.

 

“I've always wanted to be like this with you.” He sighed contently.

 

“What do you mean?” I yawned.

 

“I mean you're practically sleeping in my arms, and for once I'm not forcing you to. You're not fighting to get away from me, and for once I can just hold you.” He sighed dreamily as he brought me closer to himself.

 

“Only because you promised not to try anything. I don't see the harm in letting you have a little fun as long as you're not trying to hurt me or force me to do anything.” I whispered back.

 

There was a long silence between us and it remained unbroken until Hao nibbled on my ear a little and whispered “I love you Ivy. I've always loved you.”

 

“And I used to love you.”

 

“What?!” I could feel Hao move beneath me as the shock settled in. “When was this?!”

 

“The first three months I knew you. I fell in love with my `Master'. When I found out you had used me, I hated you, and I have hated you until today. Now I only feel minor disdain towards you.”

 

Hao raised an eyebrow at me. “Isn't that the same thing as hating me?”

 

“No. Disdain is a little weaker than hate. I'm just not afraid that you'll kill me or anything anymore.” I stated.

 

“I wish I would have known back then. Then we could have avoided you hating me altogether.” (sigh) “I'm just not very lucky in love, am I?”

 

“No apparently not.” Long thoughtful pause. “I should go home soon. It's really late; the sun will come up in a few hours, and I'm tired.”

 

“You could stay and we could sleep here, and watch the sun raise together. What do you say?” Hao invited hopefully.

 

“Yoh gets up at sunrise, and he'll notice if I'm not in bed. Something just tells me he will.” I turned him down softly.

 

“What do you love about him?” Hao asked bitterly.

 

“His voice, it's soft and loving. His smile, it's gentle and never sneers. His personality, loyal, determined, trusting, innocent, honest, and lazy. He's just an all around great guy. I couldn't pinpoint the one thing that made me fall for him.” My voice hung in the air for a second, but drifted off with the wind.

 

“I hate him so much.” Hao seethed.

 

I sat up and looked down at him, “Hao…” I whimpered.

 

He sat up and looked me straight in the eyes, “Well I do. He's taken the only person I've ever really loved away from me, and he's going to break your heart, I just know it.”

 

“Hao.”

 

“It's true Ivy! There's no use denying it. He already has Anna; you said it yourself, he's very loyal. He won't cheat on her. Especially not with her own—“

 

“—Stop it Hao! I know! That still won't stop me from loving him. There's nothing you or I can do about it! Good night Hao.” I stood up and started to walk out of the garden until Hao stopped me.

 

“Ivy!! Wait!” He cried out desperately.

 

I turned on my heels “Yes? What is it?!” I snapped.

 

“Goodnight.” He said as kissed me on the forehead.

 

“Night.” I muttered as I stormed off, leaving Hao standing there.

 

I was positively exhausted, but I couldn't pass out in the street, so I trekked my back to the house. I thought everyone would be asleep, but I was wrong. Someone was waiting up for me when I got home.

 

“Finally you get home! I've been up three hours waiting for you to get home! We have to talk…”

 

==Hao's POV==

 

`Damn. We had a good conversation going there until stupid Yoh came up.' You're the one who asked why she loved him. It's your own fault. I reminded myself. `That's the second time she's walked away from me for him. I'll get him one of these days.'

 

“I can help you.” A voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness.

 

“Who's there?! How do you think you can help me?” I shouted back at the voice.

 

“She's ruining my life, and in two nights I'll return her to you here. Be here, or I'll never be able to get rid of her.” The shape stepped out of the shadows and I was agog at who stood before me.

 

“You! But you're…”