Chapter 1 – Meeting

'My head hurts …… my chest hurts …… blood ….. I'm sick of all this blood ….. I'm sick of being so weak……'

A single light could be seen in the small house located near a big, green forest, outside the town. The house, painted in red, had a single floor and a small garden. It was near an abandoned railroad. Inside we see a girl and her guardian ghost. The girl's 14 years old, she has long blond hair that went a bit curly on her back and blue eyes. And she's a shaman. Her guardian ghost, Kitty, is an orange cat.

It was a day like any other for Amy: waking up, eating, doing some homework, watching tv, all the time being followed by her loyal spirit. The sun was no longer on the sky, as it started to get darker. It was time for Amy to do her daily jogging before starting cooking dinner.

"Kitty, come on, don't be a lazy spirit cat and follow me, it's time for jogging" Amy called after her spirit. In a few seconds, the spirit appeared, not pleased at all.

"Amy-san, why must I come with you? Jogging doesn't help me to train like it does to you."

"You're the one to complain" said Amy. "Jogging doesn't affect you at all, you can't get tired only from this. And you know I don't like to walk alone near the forest, it sometimes gives me the creeps" Amy finished shivering a little.

"If I wouldn't know you for so long, I'd say you're not a shaman … being afraid of a simple forest" sighed Kitty.

"Aww, come on, you know I'm not usually afraid, but when it's dark, it is pretty scary, you don't want to come because it scares you too when it's dark, just admit it" Amy teased her spirit as the cat got a bit annoyed.

"Oh, fine Amy-san, it's not like I can win against you …….."

"You're definitely right here, Kitty" said Amy proud, as she made her way outside the house, followed by Kitty.

Outside, the air was perfect for a September day. Just a bit chilly, with a slight breeze. As Amy started her jogging, she looked up the sky: there wasn't a single cloud on the sky and the stars were beautifully shining on the dark blue sky. Soon, the stars were replaced tree roots with leaves still green. The single sound that could be heard in the forest were the few yellow leaves that Amy was stepping from time to time.

In almost 15 minutes she arrived at the small, crystal clear lake.'I've finished half of my jog for today pretty fast' she thought happily.

"Kitty, look at the sky, the stars are beautiful when you look at them from here" said the girl with joy.

"Yes, indeed they are, Amy-san. And the way they reflect in the lake is also very beautiful" said Kitty. Amy agreed with a nod.

"Let's sit here for a few minutes, you know I just love stargazing and the stars are soooooooooo beautiful tonight. Please, Kitty?" she asked.

"Very well, Amy-san, but not much, it still is pretty chilly and you might catch a cold. An you still have to cook dinner and finish your algebra homework"

"Have I told you you're starting to sound as my mom? Wait, I think I remind you this every day, actually" said Amy, in an amused tone.

"It's my duty as your guardian spirit to do so, Amy-san"

"Yeah, I know" said the girl smiling, while she closed her eyes. "But for now, let's just relax a bit"

There was a relaxing atmosphere in the air, too calm. The wind stopped blowing completely and the stars were shining brighter and brighter. Amy could hear only her breathing. 'Such a great feeling, I could sit here forever …….. Guess nobody would complain if I'd fall asleep for 5 minutes or so ……. In plus, Kitty stays on guard'. As she nearly drifted asleep, there was a sudden noise not far from the two, which alerted Kitty and woke up the pretty sleepy Amy. But when the rustling grew closer and closer, Amy alerted a bit too.

"Kitty, animals don't usually come out around people, do they?" asked Amy a little frightened.

"No, but they might be wolves or something wanting to hunt, even thought they wouldn't come too near either, but who knows … stay on guard, Amy-san"

'Wolves ……. Oh, my, I'm doomed ….. wait, I'm a shaman, Kitty's here too, I shouldn't be so frightened …… calm down, girl, relax' she thought as she took a deep breath and said:

"Kitty, get ready …. We won't sit here and wait to be attacked by whatever it is, we'll be the ones to attack first" said Amy firmly.

"Yes, Amy-san" answered the spirit and and Amy grabbed a stick nearby:

"Kitty-cat! Oversoul!" said Amy loud, but also as soft as she could, and ran behind a tree, waiting for the wolves or whatever it was to come. The rustling was nearer and nearer until it was at the tree Amy was hiding and:

"Take that, you evil-doing beast" and smacked not too hard what was coming to her. But it wasn't the height of a wolf; in fact it was a bit higher than her. And the moan he gave after he was hit and also after e fell down didn't belong to a wolf or animal for sure. It belonged to a human. That's when Amy looked at what she hit and almost screamed : "OH SHIIIIIIIIT!"

Lying on the grass was a boy with long brown hair, moaning in pain, but not only from her hit, but from another nasty injury on his head. And there was definitely another one on his chest, because the white shirt or whatever he was wearing was dirty with blood stains. Amy came face to face with him as he opened his eyes a bit and Amy gazed in a pair of chocolate-brown eyes. She was completely lost in those eyes full of many emotions: pain, anger, hurt ……

"Why exactly did you hit me?" he asked through gritting teeth.

"OMG! I am terribly sorry, but, anyway, my hit is not the problem, you're badly injured." She almost yelled again. "You're coming straight away with me to my house so I can treat your wounds, they're really nasty!"

Before the boy could object, she got him on his feet. He felt the pain even worse from the cause of Amy's hit so when he found himself on his feet, he didn't have the force to open his mouth and object. Also, Kitty was out of the oversoul and, in her usual form of a cat and asked Amy:

"Amy-san, do you think it's safe for you to take him home so soon? We don't know if he can be trusted, you've just met him, we don't even know his name, Amy-san!" said the spirit, watching the boy that could almost walk suspiciously.

"I can barely walk and talk, do you think I have the power to hurt anybody in any way, spirit?" the boy almost hissed.

"You can see spirits?" both Amy and Kitty almost yelled. The boy, a bit upset by their yells, answered:

"Of course I can, I'm a shaman" the boy sighed.

"Okay, that's enough talking until I tend your wounds, then we'll all do the talking. You mister have some explanations to do" said Amy.

"I don't give explanations to anybody" he hissed again.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, now you'd do well to shut up, you're hurting yourself when you're talking, you know" Amy said and the boy sighed again.

After a long and exhausting walk for the both of them, Amy finally rested the boy on her bead, ignoring the fact that she'll have red spots on all her blankets and her pillows. As she went to grab an aid kit, Kitty sat in front of the boy, still looking at him suspiciously. When Amy sat him on her bed, he seemed to relax a bit, probably because of the comfort and warmth of the room. As Amy came back, nobody said a word as the girl prepared herself to be nurse for the injured boy.

"Alright" she said "I'm gonna ask you now to please take your ….. aaaa ….. shirt off so I'll be able to clean all the wounds. That if you can do it, if it doesn't hurt you"

The boy slowly opened his eyes and watched Amy for a few seconds, than took what he was wearing over his chest off, while saying in a slightly sarcastic tone: "It's called a poncho, you know."

Amy was ready to give him a smart answer, but instead gasped when she also saw the big cut on his chest.

"Oh my, now that is a nasty wound. And it started to get a bit infected too. You're lucky I found you and that I also took some first aid courses" she said with a bit of concern to the boy, which surprised him, but he didn't show it. He kept a cool façade, but e couldn't help to wince when Amy started to disinfect his wound from his chest. With some anger, he asked:

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Disinfecting your chest wound." She answered as calm as she could. "Then I'll take care of the one from your head, which is less severe than this one, and then of the tiny scratches. Kitty, please, could you make our guest some hot soup? I can handle him, be sure of that" she said smiling reassuringly at her spirit.

"Oh, fine, I'll trust you with this one" said Kitty and left the room.

After that, everything went silent. Amy was disinfecting and bandaging the boy's wound in silence, and the boy, even thought it hurt him, didn't say a single thing. When she thought she finished, she asked:

"Is that all? I thought I saw you limping a bit. Are your feet hurt or something?"

The boy, while watching the ceiling, thought a bit, then said:

"I've got a small scratch on my left foot, under the knee"

"Okay, then I'll roll your red pants" she said as she started rolling, but gasped again: it was another nasty cut. "You know, you're full of surprises ….. and you said it was only a small scratch, yeah sure"

The boy decided to ignore her comment. She finished bandaging him as Kitty walked in with a big bowl of hot soup. When the boy saw her finish, he wanted to say something, but Amy cut him out:

"Nope, we'll do all the talking after you eat. I don't think you've ate too much and pretty good at taste, so eat up and build your strength."

The boy blinked, then decided to listen to her. Amy and the spirit watched him as he finished eating, then Amy went to put the bowl back in the kitchen. 'I'll do the washing later, now I have to listen to this boy's story …… I was so caught with his wounds that I even forgot to ask him his name ... so silly of me, as always' she thought, as she returned to her room, newly this boy's room now, and sat down on a chair from her desk.

"Alright, I'm all eyes and ears now. But before you explain me how you got these wounds or tell me as much as you want, let's introduce ourselves." Amy said. The boy looked at her again a bit, then slightly nodded.

"Glad you agree with this one. Soooo ….. me first. My name is Amy Mortersen and as you can see, I am a shaman. My guardian ghost is Kitty, you've seen her already. This is my home, I'm 14 years old and ……… that's all I can think about right now to tell you about me. Your turn" she finished smiling friendly to the boy.

The boy again looked at her for a few second, before he decided to respond to her.

"I suppose I'll just have to tell you my name only, then you'll know everything about me"

"Why? What do you mean?" asked Amy curiously.

The boy smirked and said:

"My name is Hao Asakura."

isa18: Hey there ! Well, this is my first story. I hope you'll like it. I want to thank Sima-chan (HAO-Addictive) and Andreea (my best friend) for helping me with the story. Thx girls ! And I'm not sure when I'll update, but it will be pretty often. Anyway, review if you like it. Huggies all !