My Angel

By CC

A/N: OO;; Uhm, er, please don't shoot me for taking a..::looks at calender::..Wow, a whole year! ::gets shot:: I mean, sorry for taking almost a year to update this.. . First was traveling, then the computer got a virus and deleted the completed story. That's when I gave up and figured that you guys could just make up the ending on your own!! ::gets shot:: I mean, I changed my mind in the end when I finally finally got a new computer and chose to write it up again.. Here.. Please don't shoot me if the wait wasn't worth it.. Now, enough for the whiny excuses, here's the story. ; It's a bit odd because now it seems a lot more like Yoh's the main character, but AH, WELL!:

-Chapter Two-

Yoh laid in his bed, silently staring at the wall in front of him. In his head, voices scolded him, "You could've saved him, but you didn't. It's your fault, Yoh. It's all your fault he's gone now." As the voices grew louder, the young boy placed his hands over his face and wept.

--

Anna, the itako, sat silently in front of the television, staring at a cup of tea in her hand. The way that she walked outside and saw Yoh crying alone in the rain was heartbreaking. She stood next to him and shielded him from the rain with an umbrella for over an hour, but she knew that it wouldn't help. She helped him inside and he went straight to his room, but she knew that nothing grew better since they came inside.

Actually worried, Anna walked towards Yoh's door, and opened it slightly to silently check on her fiancee. "Silently" checking on him ended when she saw the crippled mess he turned into. Her worries turned into slight anger.

"Coward," Anna told him firmly without hesitation.

Yoh stayed silent. He didn't want to hear this from Anna.

She looked down at him, "Why are you lying there like that, coward?"

He was now offended.

He threw his covers aside, sat up, and snapped, "I don't need this from you, Anna! You know what happened! Manta's gone. Manta's gone because of me!! What do you expect me to do? Do you want me to train and do chores for you even now?!"

The itako still stood at the door, without fear on her face.

"Manta," Yoh continued, "is gone because of me. Do you expect me to go around smiling happily? I can do that for other things, but not about this. Trying to act as if nothing happened won't achieve anything!"

After finishing his words, Yoh fell back to the floor, his arms blocking his face from Anna as he continued crying.

"Coward," Anna repeated.

He was getting angry. He began to scream, "ANNA--"

She cut him off, "And you really think that lying in bed like that will achieve anything?"

The words that she said struck a chord. Yoh's tears abruptly halted, as his eyes were now opened, realizing everything that he'd been doing. He slowly rose to his feet, staring at the floor.

Yoh stammered, "But..there's nothing that I can do."

Anna turned around and stepped out of Yoh's room. She quickly turned back around and assured Yoh, "Everything will be alright." His eyes widened in shock of never thinking of the phrase that he lived by until it was spoken at that moment. Before he could say anything, she closed the door, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts and with his decision on what to do now.

Yoh swallowed the lump in his throat and turned around to see his samurai spirit hovering over him.

"Sir Yoh?" Amidamaru wanted to make sure that Yoh knew what to do. Yoh smiled and nodded.

Yoh was about to rush out his bedroom door when something crossed his mind. He turned to his spirit, worried, "Amidamaru, where would we start? We don't have any idea where Manta would be!"

Amidamaru smiled, "I have faith in you. I'm sure that we'll somehow know when the time comes."

Yoh said, "But..what if.."

The samurai smiled again, "Everything will be alright, Sir Yoh."

Yoh's jaw fell open for a split second for letting that thought of everlasting optimism slip from his mind again. He thought, 'That's right. I need to remember that. Everything'll be alright. Everything'll be alright.' Why was everyone aware of this except for him?

Being reassured that the future would become whatever's for the best, spirit and shaman both rushed out of the huge house. As Yoh feet stepped onto the sidewalk outside, a chill ran down his spine and he stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" Amidamaru asked him.

"The cemetary," Yoh looked towards the direction of the spot that he first met Manta, "I know it. Manta's at the cemetary."

Immediately, Yoh picked up his feet and sprinted towards the hill that was bathed in moonlight, towards his friend in distress.

From her room, Anna looked out her window and watched the young shaman run towards Manta. She whispered, "Good luck."

--

"Amidarmaru," Yoh looked around the dark cemetary, "Do you see Manta?"

"No," the samurai also glanced throughout the area, "But.. isn't there something that we should be seeing that isn't here?"

The 'something' that Amidamaru was talking about came to Yoh's realization, and another chill ran down his spine. Yoh nodded, "You're right. There are no spirits around here, no ghosts. As if.."

"..they ran away," Amidamaru finished Yoh's sentence, "As if they ran away in fear."

"They did try to run away," a voice corrected them, "The poor ghosts were afraid of me. So I destroyed them."

Yoh looked up to the peak of the hill to see a silhouette, barely seeing the sadistic smile on their face. It was the same smile that tortured Yoh, the smile of the person that took Manta away. The person took off their black cloak and threw it aside. The silhouette changed drastically. Yoh now saw long, flowing hair being battered in the wind and a robe that touched their feet.

Even before a cloud moved from blocking the light of the full moon, Yoh knew who this hateful person was.

"Hao!" Yoh screamed in rage, "Where is Manta?!"

Hao grinned, "Why..right here." As if on cue, another cloud moved, allowing the moon to shine brighter upon the earth below it. Manta was tied to a tree next to Hao by a single glowing red line that ran around the tree's trunk, which seemed like rope, yet didn't. Tears were in his eyes and his mouth was open as if he were screaming, but no sound came out.

"What pain he must be in," Hao laughed, "The force that bonds him burns into his body like fire."

Right when Yoh thought that his rage could intensify no further, it did. "HAO!" Yoh's hands trembled as he clenched Harusame tightly, "Why?!"

"Because," Hao gave a giggle that was the most sinister sound that Yoh had ever heard, "it's fun to torture you, dear brother."

Yoh knew that words could no longer explain his anger at that moment. In an instant, he engaged his oversoul and charged at the person that Yoh now denied sharing blood with.

Before Yoh could even touch Hao, an invisible wall threw Yoh backwards. Regardless, Yoh quickly jumped back to his feet and charged again with little success. Once again on his feet, Again and again, confused with rage, Yoh lunged at Hao, but was struck back by a barrier, never being able to even touch Hao. Yoh looked up to see Hao with a demonic smile, mocking him with silences.

Yoh diverted his eyes from Hao, and his attention turned to Manta. Yoh's world was crushed. Manta was right in front of him, yet seemed so far away. Seeing the silent screams and the tears in Manta's eyes were torturous. Again, anger flooded Yoh's heart.

Amidamaru's voice warned Yoh, "Sir Yoh! You cannot fight like this. Please, calm down!"

Yoh replied to his spirit, "How can I calm down after Hao's treating Manta like this?!" With that said, he charged at Hao again, but instead of being deflected, Yoh's body was caught within the barrier, his body being tortured with pain.

Amidst the torture and agony that both Yoh and Manta went through, Manta used every dose of power left in him to scream, "Yoh! I love you!"

For a moment, all the pain that flowed through Yoh's body and the demonic laughing of Hao didn't matter to him. For a moment, Yoh's world wasn't crushed anymore. Yoh smiled. He didn't care about making Hao reget what he did. The only person that mattered was Manta.

Yoh managed to move his hand throughout the bone-crushing pain, and that started everything. He swung Harusame through the wall around him with all of his power, and his feet touched the floor, the pain now gone.

A look of shock swept Hao's face, "How did you..?"

"I just did," Yoh smiled. Yoh looked in Manta direction and the gleeful look on Yoh's face made the pain in Manta's body seem to go away.

"Manta!" Yoh called out.

"What is it?" His friend replied.

"Just wait one moment," Yoh's grin grew wider, "Everything'll be alright." Soon, there was also a smile on Manta's face. Instead of attacking Hao like he did before, Yoh ran straight to Manta. The invisible wall still stood in the way, but Yoh now easily struck it down. As the wall fell, the rope that binded Manta disappeared.

Yoh turned around to face Hao, now that he knew that his friend was well, but Hao was no where to be seen. Manta asked, equally confused, "Where's Hao?"

"Must've gotten bored," Yoh laughed, "No matter, you're okay now!"

Manta twidled his thumbs together, unable to avoid the topic of what he said earlier, "Um.. I.. don't.. know.. how to.. how to say this.."

Manta cursed himself in his mind, 'Darn it, Manta, say it! Tell him what you've always wanted to tell him. Tell him that he's your angel..'

The small boy kept mumbling, "Um.. um.. Yoh.. you're.."

Before another stutter could be said from Manta's mouth, Yoh leaned over and softly pressed his lips against Manta's.

Overwhelmed with shock, Manta was speechless.

Yoh explained before Manta could say anything, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have lived today. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be the person that I am today. I was the happiest person in the world when you told me you loved me. Manta...you're my angel."

As Manta's emotions turned from shock to undescribable joy, he took Yoh's hand and smiled, "And you're my angel, Yoh."

-end-