Shaman King Fan Fiction ❯ Ivy, Shaman Runaway ❯ Confrontations ( Chapter 59 )

 

Confrontations

“STOP!!!” A shout resonated throughout the entire Church.

 

My gaze shifted to the door where a pissed off, out of breath Hao stood. Once he was sure he had everyone's attention, he started walking slowly up to me. “Ivy?” The look on his face was one of a poor tortured animal. It almost broke my heart to see him in such a run-down state.

 

“Hao…what are you doing here?” I barely murmured. The fact that he was actually standing there before me had not yet sunk in.

 

“Ivy…why are you doing this to me?” It was an honest question; like he thought that I was doing this just for the purpose of adding another cut to his already wounded body.

 

“I…” My throat stung, my mouth was dry, and my eyes burned. My voice was so cracked that I couldn't get out one solitary sentence.

 

Yoh answered for me. He wrapped his arms around me, and positioned himself so that he was partway between Hao and myself. “She's doing this because she loves me, and I love her. Why are you here Hao?” Yoh didn't sound angry as I had expected he would. Instead an eerie calm filled his voice as he tentatively asked his brother his motive.

 

Hao on the other hand, was the total opposite of calm. “What am I doing here, Brother?” Hao growled. “I'm here for my fiancée: whom you stole from me!!”

 

“I didn't steal her, she came to me.” Yoh frowned slightly at his mirror image.

 

Hao looked accusingly at Yoh and seethed, “Give it up Yoh, I'm not going home without her. I love her more than you could ever imagine, and I know she loves me too…Ivy?” Hao's gaze softened as he looked at me to confirm what he had said.

 

“Hao…Yoh…I…” I looked back and forth between the twins, and I could feel blood pouring out of my broken heart inside my chest. I finally settled my gaze on Yoh; I smiled softly as I untangled myself from his embrace. “Yoh, give me one minute. It shouldn't take long to settle this and then we can get back to the wedding.”

 

Yoh looked quizzically at me for a moment before nodding his approval.

 

I looked up into the anxious eyes of my former fiancée, and tried not to hurt him too much. “Hao…I…we have to talk.”

 

“Any conversation that starts with `we have to talk' is never good. Ivy…don't do this. I love you.” Hao tried one last desperate plead.

 

“I love you too.” I replied as the Church congregation gasped, Yoh looked pale, and Hao gazed astonished at me. “But I love Yoh as well.” My gaze dropped as I found I couldn't look Hao in the eyes. “I don't want anyone to get hurt over this, but I know that I can't avoid hurting someone. I'm afraid that that someone has to be you, Hao.” I started playing nervously with my skirt. “Hao, you're everything I want…any girl would be lucky to have you. I love everything about you…I want to be with you, but you make it impossible. You lie, you con, you use people, and you kill senselessly. I know that if I chose you, then I most definitely would get my heart broken again. That's why I'm marrying Yoh; he's everything I love about you, but he's kind, compassionate, and honest. Yoh won't lie to me, or trick me, or force me to do anything I don't want to. Yoh will never hurt me…” I finished by looking Hao in the eye, a sorrowful and longing look on my face.

 

I was a little surprised to find him smiling warmly at me. He raised his hand to gently caress my cheek. I raised an eyebrow at him as he slid his other arm around my waist. “I understand,” Hao pulled me close and kissed me one last time. I let him, and my arms soon found their way around his neck. Hao kissed me fiercely for a good minute or two before he pulled back and finished his sentence. “I understand, but I won't give up that easily. I love you and will fight to the death for you.”

 

Hao let go of me and turned on Yoh. “Fight me for her.”

 

Yoh blinked several times before innocently asking, “Why should I? Ivy is already mine. I don't see why I need to fight you for something that's mine in the first place. I love Ivy, and I don't think we should be treating her like she's some sort of object to be won. I know we're brothers, but we shouldn't be fighting over her like some toy…”

 

Hao smirked in a typical Hao fashion as he approached his brother. “Are you scared, little brother? You know I can win, and you're afraid to lose her…how sweet. Unfortunately now isn't the time to be sweet Yoh. Fight me for her, or I'll just take her now.”

 

“I won't let you!” Yoh glared at his older brother. “Give me a minute to change, then let's take this outside, Hao.”

 

Hao nodded and Yoh snuck off to change into something more moveable. The pastor looked completely confused. “So…am I to marry the winner of the duel to this young lady?”

 

Anna nodded. “Yes. The wedding will continue as soon as Yoh kills Hao.”

 

“Anna!” I whined at my older sister. “Don't say that!” Anna rolled her eyes at me.

 

“Don't worry Ivy, I won't lose.” A reassuring voice sung from behind me. I whipped around and found myself pressed close up to Hao.

 

“Ah! Oh…Hao...please…don't do this. I don't want either of you hurt.” I begged.

 

“Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Now, now Ivy. Wasn't it you who said that we wouldn't be able to escape this without someone getting hurt?” I hated when he used my words against me.

 

“No! I didn't mean it that way! Please don't go through with this!!” I grabbed onto his arm and held it close so that he wouldn't get away from me.

 

“Oh just let the bastard die, Ivy.” Isa yawned from her seat near by.

 

“Isabelle!” I turned toward her to scold.

 

“It's the truth.” She shrugged. “I'd be happy with you getting' hitched to either Asakura boy, and he'll obviously lose. He can't even see me.”

 

I looked back at Hao and exclaimed, “You can't?!”

 

Hao looked at me like I was insane, but politely asked, “Uh…can't what?”

 

I lowered my voice to a whisper. “See ghosts?!”

 

Hao smiled lightly and shrugged. “Nope. Not for my life.”

 

“You can't fight Yoh! You'll be killed!” I could feel the blood draining from my face.

 

Yoh reappeared in the room, dressed in more suitable fighting clothes. Hao addressed his younger twin, “`Killed', you say Ivy? What do you think Yoh? Shall we make it to the death?”

 

“Hao…I don't want to kill you; I just want you to leave my wife alone.” Yoh scrunched his face slightly.

 

“Fine then. If I win, I kill you and marry Ivy. But if you win, I will leave Ivy and you alone forever, and most likely finish myself off.” Hao smirked, happy with the terms of the fight.

 

“Agreed.” Yoh nodded solemnly, not wanting to lose his brother over this, but seeing no other way of protecting me.

 

“No!” I rushed in between the two. “I won't allow this!”

 

“Ivy, please…” Yoh begged for me not to come between them, worrying about me getting hurt in the process.

 

“No! I won't let you kill each other! Hao! Stop this insanity this instant! I'm marrying Yoh, and nothing you do will change that! Please! Before I lose one of you…”

 

“Ivy…I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be. I promise to end it quickly so he doesn't suffer.” Hao kissed me quickly on the cheek and winked.

 

“No…no more death…I'll only let you fight if you don't use any shamanic powers. No fire magic, and no samurai help. It will be less dangerous that way.” I sighed as I finally gave in, tears rolling down my cheeks.

 

“Ivy…” Hao smiled fondly at me, noticing how I was trying to protect him.

 

Both boys nodded, agreeing to my limitations before they grabbed their swords and headed outside. Everyone in the Church followed.

 

The contestants were ready, and the fight was about to start in the middle of the street outside the Church. The winds began to pick up as my mood deteriorated. Hao and Yoh took opposite sides of the battlefield, and drew their weapons, and began trash-talking each other. I hadn't known that Yoh could trash talk…it seemed like something Yoh wouldn't normally waste his time doing. That day was different. Yoh seemed so strange ever since Hao came…Yoh had become so unYoh-like.

 

“It's because of Hao.” Anna answered my mental musings. “Yoh is always different around Hao.”

 

I looked up at my sister inquisitively.

 

“It'll be okay, don't worry. He'll be his old self again as soon as Hao leaves. Then you can get married to Yoh, and everything will be okay. Sit down and enjoy the fight.” Anna's voice was cold and distant—just as it always had been. Sometimes it was hard to tell what she was feeling or thinking.

 

I nodded showing that I understood, but I didn't say anything. `This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.' I was so worried about the both of them. I didn't want them to die.

 

The sound of clashing metal woke me from my thoughts. The fight had started, and they were really going at it! You could really tell that Hao had been drained of his powers; Yoh was dominating the fight. Hao had a lot of scratches spread out about his arms and abdomen, but none of them were too deep, thank God. Anna smiled slightly, proud of the effects of her rigorous training on Yoh.

 

Yoh's obvious advantage over Hao didn't last for long as Hao got used to his new power level, and compensated for the vast amount of power he had lost. Soon Yoh's Hao got used to his `obvious advantage' became less obvious. In a matter of minutes, they seemed almost even matched—until Hao finally got a shot in on Yoh.

 

Hao had stumbled over a slightly rough patch of street and had dropped his guard; Yoh took the opportunity to take advantage of his brother's momentary lack of defense. Yoh swung at Hao, but Hao saw it coming and managed to duck in time. Yoh was thrown off balance, and Hao took the moment to strike, tearing the sleeve of Yoh's shirt, and causing a minor cut to Yoh's left arm.

 

I winced slightly at the sight of the blood. `My poor Yoh!' I silently prayed that Hao would reconsider killing Yoh if he won.

 

Yoh retaliated and swiped at Hao's right shoulder. The strike missed the shoulder, but did get a lock of hair. Hao was infuriated at losing the thirty-three or so strands of hair, and a thin layer of flames started to envelope him. Slowly but surely, Hao was regaining his powers. He threw a roundhouse punch, and it hit Yoh square in the jaw. Yoh was thrown to the ground, and his sword went flying.

 

Before Yoh could jump to his feet, Hao had his sword, and pointed it at Yoh's throat. Yoh sighed and smiled slightly at his older brother. “Promise me that you'll take good care of both Anna and Ivy.”

 

“Don't worry about them.” Hao raised his sword to stab Yoh right through the heart. Yoh just lay there and smiled sadly at his fate.

 

“No…” Anna sunk to her knees and started to sob quietly.

 

“YOH!!!!!!” I yelled. The sword plunged downward, only slightly missing the intended target. The sword dove deep into the skin, just missing the heart. Blood went everywhere over both twins.

 

Anna gasped and sobbed even harder when she saw all of the blood spurting from the wound. Tamao fainted, Ryu caught Tamao and then broke down in tears, Pilika gasped in horror, Jocko didn't make any jokes, Morty started panicking and shrieking, Horo froze and gaped in utter shock, Jun looked as if she might throw up, and Ren looked on the scene with a blank haze covering his face. Most of them didn't seem to be able to comprehend what was happening

 

Yoh gazed upward with a pained look on his pale face. He looked as if he would lose consciousness at any moment. I, myself, was having a hard time not fainting or crying.