EDIT: August 20th, 2004
Author: The Dead
Title: This
Pairing: Soon to be Amidamaru/Yoh, implied Amidamaru/Mosuke
Rating: PG-13, R-ish
Parts: 1/2
Status: Unfinished
Content: Shounen-ai, fluff, angst, mild lime
Summary: Kinda PWP-ish. Yoh falls asleep in the cemetery and Amidamaru wakes him up... fluff & angst ensues.
Author's Notes: Thank you Caelestis for beta reading! This is my first Shaman King fic, so please excuse any errors. Let it be known that I loathe 's editor.
/blah/ = thoughts
HR = Elapsed time
ThisChapter one: All over again
Yoh sat alone in the cemetery, gazing up at the rapidly darkening sky. He had gone there straight from school, neglecting his homework in favor of (as he would put it) communing with nature. He savored his time alone. He used these rare moments to really think about everything, his grandfather training him in the mountains, his mother cooking dinner when he was a toddler (one of his earliest and fondest memory of his mother)… He didn't like to dwell on the more unpleasant memories.
Yoh sighed and lay back on the sun-warmed grass. The first lone stars were coming out. This is the best time of day, Yoh thought with a smile. He loved those soft pastel colors more than the vivid blue of the daytime. He groped around in the grass, feeling for his CD player. When his fingers brushed the smooth, cool plastic he turned it off. He tossed his headphones somewhere in the general vicinity of the CD player. As much as he loved listening to his favorite music without interruption, he also enjoyed nature's music. A soft breeze gently rustled the overhead leaves; a sparrow twittered and tweeted about night approaching… a squirrel scolded some other creature for stealing a nut. Yoh folded his arms under his head as a makeshift pillow and closed his eyes.
"Lord Yoh?"
The shaman heard an insistent voice calling him. "Mmmm," was his quite eloquent response. His sleep clouded mind knew only two things: one – he wanted to sleep and two – the voice was keeping him from sleep. "Go 'way," he mumbled and rolled over, covering his head with his arm.
"Lord Yoh… you shouldn't be sleeping alone out here, especially at night."
Yoh's sleep muddled mind was confused. /Out here? Alone?/ The voice must surely be mistaken. Why, he was tucked away in his bed, at his house… but why was he cold?
"Lord Yoh." The voice sounded irked.
Something tickled Yoh's nose. He attempted to raise his hand, but found that he couldn't move. What's going on? Something – no, someone – must have him pinned down. Yoh quickly swam back to consciousness. The voice that had called him was familiar… And he couldn't move. /Oh! /
"I'm awake now Amidamaru," Yoh ground out. He heard a soft chuckle, and suddenly he could move again. "Damn it! You didn't have to wake me with sleep paralysis." Yoh sat up and glared at the tall, broad-shouldered silhouette standing over him. The ghost smiled and sat down. "I apologize, Lord Yoh." The shaman stifled a yawn. "Oh well, no harm done." He smiled, already forgiven the samurai for the rude awakening. He wasn't one to hold a grudge for long.
"Why are you out here alone?" Amidamaru asked.
For a moment, Yoh simply stared at him. The samurai looked… different. He wasn't wearing his cloak, armor, or sandals. He was clothed in that dark robe that was open all the way down to his waist, exposing a vast expanse of smooth tanned skin and hard muscle. Yoh blinked. "I… came here after school. Guess I lost track of the time, huh?"
When did it get so dark? Yoh wondered. The last time he had seen the sky it was tinged pink, struggling with purple for the sky while a few stars came out to see who the victor would be. Apparently, they had both won. The sky was a dark blue, almost black… and it was so bright. There was a countless number of glittering diamonds twinkling at him.
Yoh turned back to the ghost. He was watching him with a peculiar expression, a smile on his lips. "What?" Yoh asked.
Amidamaru brushed back a lock of hair from the boy's face. "You look so cute when you're asleep."
Yoh blushed.
Amidamaru grinned and leaned back on his arms.
"Well, uh… I better get home. Anna's going to kill me… you know how she gets." Yoh rose to his knees and patted the ground in search of his CD player.
"Stay here with me, Lord Yoh." The shaman paused and looked back at Amidamaru. He was watching him again, with that peculiar but decidedly pleasant look.
/I wonder…/
"Hmmm… Anna's probably sleeping, since it is the middle of the night. I'd wake her if I came home this late." And besides, Yoh thought, the stars are pretty tonight… The stars weren't the only thing that looked pretty, a voice in the back of his head remarked. Yoh quickly de-railed that train of thought. He knew where it led.
A few minutes passed in silence.
"Amidamaru…"
"Yes?"
"What was it like… dying?" Yoh asked tentatively. The ghost looked startled, but quickly regained his composure. "It was such a long time ago… and yet… I don't think anything can ever completely erase it from my memory." Amidamaru returned his gaze to the sky. "You know the story. I was outnumbered, in the fight… But I had made a promise to Mosuke and I refused to break it. Nothing could keep me from meeting him – not even death. He was my only friend, my only companion. Other than Harasume, he was what I held most dear to me."
Amidamaru's brows drew together as he relived that fateful night once again. Yoh turned sympathetic eyes from Amidamaru's slumped figure, regretting asking him the question in the first place. Yoh opened his mouth to say something, but Amidamaru resumed talking before he could.
"That night is what had me labeled a fiend, and the legend that you know was born. There were over 500 that I killed that night, as you know. But I eventually tired, and a lucky samurai penetrated my defense. I was able to battle some time after that, but I could feel myself growing weaker. The ground was red, as I recall, and I remember at that time realizing that some of it was my own blood. The last thing I remember was the sun rising over the horizon as I lost feeling in my limbs and fell to the ground I had been fighting on."
"I'm sorry." Yoh whispered. Amidamaru turned a sad smile to the boy beside him.
"It's ok. It happened long ago."
"What about Mosuke? You were good friends weren't you? To stay there waiting for him all those years."
"He was more than a friend to me… he was my brother. My partner, my rival… he was my world. And he's remained my world for the past 600 years… until I met you." There was nostalgia in his voice.
"Amidamaru…" The samurai turned with questioning eyes. "Were you and Mosuke…"
Yoh leaned in close to Amidamaru's ear and cupped his mouth with his hand to contain the sound, even though there was no one there to spy on them. Amidamaru leaned closed to Yoh on reflex as Yoh whispered.
"…Lovers?"
Amidamaru sputtered, shocked. Where the hell had that come from? His eyebrows reached for his hairline as he blushed beet red. He searched for a non-offensive answer. Yoh was his lord… Amidamaru sighed. He could never keep anything from the soft-spoken boy he had promised to protect. "…Yes. There was something between us."
Instead of acting shocked or disgusted, as Amidamaru had expected, Yoh leaned back into the grass crossing his arms with a smile. Yoh regarded his ghost with thoughtful eyes as he smiled softly. The samurai looked at him with pleasant surprise reflected on his features. An awkward silence ensued as the air filled with tension. Yoh started to speak, and then paused as he searched for the easiest way to phrase his next question.
"Amidamaru…" Yoh waiting until the samurai looked at him before he made his query. Amidamaru's azure eyes seemed to bore a hole through him.
"Yes, Lord Yoh?"
The shaman swallowed. "Can… can ghosts have… sex?"
Amidamaru blanched. "What? Lord Yoh, I-! You're a shaman! You should know!"
Yoh laughed and scratched his head.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Can you?"
Amidamaru frowned. He wasn't sure where this was headed.
"I don't know." He said at last.
"You've never tried to before?" The samurai blushed at Yoh's direct questioning, and complete lack of shame.
The samurai blushed again. "I've never thought about it before, because… Or perhaps since I became a ghost."
Yoh pondered this for a moment. "I want to try." Yoh nodded to himself as he felt the finality of his statement. It took a few moments for Amidamaru to catch up with Yoh's thoughts.
Amidamaru frowned. "Try? What…"
Yoh smiled softly at the confused samurai. He leaned forward slowly until his lips were almost brushing the samurai's own. His eyes were half closed as he breathed in the scent of his ghost familiar, his gaze raking over the slightly parted lips before him. With a soft sigh, he leaned in.
"This…" Yoh whispered.
Review replies:
uppertorso: Thank you for reviewing. I'm working on the second part… It should be up in maybe a week.
Author's notes: Well I can see that hardly anyone reviewed this. ;; I would really appreciate a comment. Tell me what you think. Did you like it? Hate it? Are there any glaring mistakes that I missed? Let me know.