Disclaimer: Shaman King does not belong to me, and will never belong to me. As much as I would like to own them, it's a sad case I don't. So don't sue me. You'll get nothing in return anyway, so why bother? I only own Yakiten village and part of that lame plot with the village in it.

If I Could Change The World
written by: da*mouse

Chapter 4: The Prelude

The rain was pouring. Huge drops dropped from the sky, pounding relentlessly on the dirt.

Ren sat at the doorstep to Yoh's house, not able to bring himself to leave as of yet. His eyes sweeping keenly over the dark, brooding skies, the downpour, he fought the suppressed the empowering worry that was threatening to overwhelm him. At this point of time, he knew that the only thing that could help to diminish his fears would be a talk between him and his easy-going friend. Grudgingly, he was forced to admit that his greatest rival was a sharp, perceptive shaman. Surely Yoh would be able to make something out of this strange situation.

VROOOM…SCREEEE! The loud sound of a revving motorcycle engine and the abrupt tread of brakes jolted Ren out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a familiar motorcycle stopping some distance from him, under the protection of the roof.

Ryu removed his helmet, and shaking out his hair, which was wet, hanging loose and making Ryu looked like something out of a bad, B-grade horror movie. Ren held back a snort of sarcastic laughter as the older man immediately grabbed a comb.

Ryu looked around with a distracted air as he ran the comb through his hair, mumbling something about the damn, sudden, unexpected, most important, strange rainstorm. Ren coughed loudly to avert his attention. The other man gave a start, and then saw Ren sitting at the steps.

"Yo, Ren." Ryu greeted. "Sorry I didn't see you earlier. You know that you're kind of short and all…" Ryu grinned at the scowl that came over Ren's face.

"Put a sock in it." Ren muttered. He gestured towards the dark house. "Yoh's not at home." He said, somewhat unnecessarily. "Why are you here?" He added, suspecting the answer might be the same to his own. Looking for answers.

Ryu tilted his head towards the heavy rainfall. "You think?" He said, confirming Ren's thoughts. "Something is wrong."

"I know." Ren said shortly. A silence lapsed between the two, they had nothing much to say to each other. Above them, the clouds continued to gather rapidly, forming a huge black abyss that rivaled night skies, although it was only late evening. Rain continued to fall, showing no sign of stopping at anytime.

A worried look passed between the two shamans.

A few more minutes passed, and then a figure appeared at the gate, and began walking towards them. "Yoh-danna?" Ryu called. The figure gave no reply, but continued advancing.

Ren immediately put a hand to his kwan-dao lying beside him, and Ryu hopped off his motorcycle, and stood up straight, holding his wooden sword. The man – presumably – then stopped a few meters from Ryu and Ren. Putting down the umbrella and shaking the excessive water, the stranger caught sight of Ren and Ryu, and bowed courteously.

"Ren-kun, Ryu-kun." He said politely, and took off his hat to reveal a head of tousled blonde hair. Faust VIII stood before them, clad in his usual thick white coat and orange scarf. The two shamans relaxed their stance, and Ryu put down his sword.

"Faust-san." Ren acknowledged curtly, nodding at the German doctor, feeling just a bit uncomfortable. He always felt a tad uneasy around the doctor, being that Faust was definitely…eccentric, to put it in civil terms. Among their little group, Yoh was the only one that could converse well with Faust. But then, Yoh did that to everyone around him.

"I take it that Yoh-kun is not at home?" The necromancer asked, looking at the deserted house.

"The reason you're here as well…?" Ryu raised his eyes again to the unnaturally ominous clouds that provided the, to put it mildly, intense, shower.

Faust nodded. "Can't you sense it?" He asked, his voice low. "All around you?"

Ren's golden eyes narrowed. "Evil." He said flatly.

"Yes." Faust said simply.

Nothing came from Ryu, but his stiffened posture said as much.

Ren remained on the doorstep, Ryu beside his motorcycle not far from Ren. Faust chose to lean against the tree beside the house, partly hidden in the shadows. The three waited as time crept passed. Stifling a sigh, Ryu checked his watch. "Where is Yoh-danna?"

"Maybe we should look for him…and Anna-san?" Faust spoke up. Worry was reflected in his eyes. "Perhaps something might have happened…?"

"No." Ren spoke up. "Wherever Yoh is, he would be fine. We should just wait for him here…" His voice broke off as someone appeared at the gate, without an umbrella and soaking wet.

"Yoh!" Ren yelled, standing up. True enough, it was Yoh, making his way towards them. Yoh, dripping wet, although an umbrella hung from his left hand. Ren stared, and then gave a snort. "I guess it's true about what they said about birdbrains not being able to come out of the rain," he said, smirking.

To his surprise, as well as Faust's and Ryu's, Yoh gave no reply, but just walked to the front door in an almost mechanical stance. Ryu's mouth dropped opened, and Faust's eyes widened.

"Yoh-danna?" He said cautiously.

Yoh turned to the trio then, an eerie sense of calm on his face. "Let me be, for the moment." He said quietly, and then pushed open the door with one hand.

Ren frowned. The brown-haired shaman was behaving weirdly, but for Ren, all he wanted to do was to tell Yoh about the situation upon them, what they had all sensed. "Listen," He said, his tone serious. "There's something wrong with this rain…and I know…"

"I said. Let. Me. Be." Yoh interrupted, his voice full of uncharacteristic authority, each syllable dead-weighted.

"Yoh-kun…" Faust took a step forward, only to have the door shut in his face.

The three shamans stared at the closed door, each intuitively knowing that things had just gotten a lot worse.

Anna never had a lot to say, the house was never noisy with her around. But without her, the silence was almost deafening. Her absence left a shrouded atmosphere that was so foreign. Or maybe it was just him, he didn't know. All he knew that he was confused, and devastated.

There was no reason for her to leave, not in the midst of…Yoh found himself at loss for thoughts. He didn't know what exactly they were in, but certainly she would not have chosen to leave – now – on the reasons that she stated.

That she didn't love him.

The mere thought alone sent another stab of pain through him. The thought that she spent all those years with him plainly out of duty…with no feelings, not even a drop of emotion…pained him.

Maybe she never loved him, but that was not the basis for her leaving. She had other reasons, he was sure, and it hurt that she didn't trust him enough to tell him. Rather, she chose to lie…or did she? What might the other grounds be? Why would Anna leave him? Why?

Above everything else, his twin's presence hung ominously in the air. Did he have something to do with this scenario? What kind of evil plans were Hao hatching? What did Hao want?

Yoh dropped his head into his hands. There were so many questions in his mind, so much bewilderment, but he was sure of one thing, and one thing alone.

He was already missing Anna.

A bowl of food dropped in front of Anna, half of its contents spattering onto the ground.

"Eat." Kanna said contemptuously, chomping on her cigar, staring at Anna, her eyes narrowed slits.

Anna met her gaze for precisely one second, and then turned away, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "You're welcome to take it for yourself." She said coolly.

"Hao-sama orders you to eat." Kanna tapped her foot, her boot only a few inches away from the bowl.

Anna stared at the offering, her lip curled into an expression of disgust. She stood up, and the blue-haired girl found herself instinctively taking a step back. "Firstly, I don't take orders from that moron you call a master. Secondly, I would rather starve to death before I eat any of his food." Anna's tone was chilly. With that, she spun on her heel and turned to leave.

A gigantic figure of ash suddenly rose in front of her, blocking her way. "Stop right there." Kanna held her cigar between her fingers. "Firstly," she mimicked. "You should be grateful that Hao-sama is giving you food. Secondly, anyone who insults Hao-sama would have to die!" Her face wreathed in an expression of fury, she waved her hand. "Ashcroft!"

Ashcroft obeyed immediately, taking a huge step towards Anna. The itako barely bat an eyelash as she took off her beads, and with one whirling motion, entangled the ash figure in it. Before Kanna could gave another order, Anna twisted her beads, and Ashcroft toppled onto the ground with a loud roar, crumbling.

Kanna's eyes widened with shock and disbelief. The other girl turned and gave her death glare. "Pathetic."

"How dare you!" Kanna took a long drag out of her cigar. Then she shouted. "Ashcroft! Reborn!"

The giant ash-made puppet began forming itself, but halfway through, a huge ball of fire blasted, destroying it in matter of seconds. Kanna herself was thrown back. Coughing, she rose to steady herself, and found herself looking into the eyes of Asakura Hao.

"Hao-sama!" She immediately dropped into a reverential bow.

"Now, Kanna. There's no way to treat a respected guest." His words were light, but his tone was steely.

"She was impertinent towards Hao-sama's name. I, as Hao-sama's servant, served to teach her a lesson about paying due respects to Hao-sama." Kanna answered defiantly.

"I am capable of punishing those people myself." Hao said, his voice hard with authority. "And I do not appreciate your intervention in this matter. Be gone, Kanna."

Kanna's lip curled distastefully as she kept her head bowed. "Yes, Hao-sama." Taking a step back, she disappeared, leaving Hao and Anna in the clearing. A long silence descended upon them.

"Ah, Anna." Hao voiced out first. He leaned against a tree, smiling. "You have admirable strength." He said, referring to Ashcroft's easy defeat. "Kanna is a formidable opponent." Frankly, even he was shocked when he saw how easily Anna managed to subdue Ashcroft. Of course, if the battle had gone on, Anna might not be a sure victor, as Hao alone knew the extent of Kanna's powers. Saying that, it was impressive to see his brother's fiancée initial taking down of the ash figure in matter of seconds. Anna, he knew, had grown so much stronger since they last met.

And all the better for his plan.

Anna said nothing.

"I trust the food was not to your liking?" He tilted his chin towards the untouched bowl.

Anna laughed coldly. "Do you honestly think I would take anything from you?"

Hao tapped a finger to his chin and yawned. "No, I should think not, actually."

"Then we understand each other." She snapped.

"And so what would you eat, Anna?"

"None of your goddamn business. And you have NO permission to address me by my name." Her voice was tinted with fury.

Hao studied her silhouette interestedly, detecting a slight tremble of shoulders. Walking a few steps, he raised his hand to her golden hair, twirling a lock of hair between his fingers. "Must you be so stubborn? I truly mean you no harm…"

Anna whirled around with the speed of lighting when she felt his touch, and delivered a powerful slap right across his face. The force of her slap caused Hao to move back a few steps, one hand covering the already swelling cheek.

"Do not TOUCH me." She seethed, trembling with suppressed anger, fighting to keep her dignity in front of this hated lunatic. "Touch me again, and I SWEAR you will live to regret it, Asakura Hao."

His eyes flashed with anger as he massaged his swollen cheek. A scornful smile twisted his lips. "I supposed I am not as gentle as my dear twin brother?" His sarcastic emphasis on the word was not missed.

Her rage was so immense that it was taking every ounce of control she possessed to keep the fire from gushing out within her. "Don't EVER compare yourself with Yoh." She said through gritted teeth.

"Why? Because he is not worthy?" Hao said mockingly, raising an eyebrow at Anna.

"No. Because YOU are not." She retorted, and spun on her heel, disappearing into the trees.

As Hao watched her walked, afigures materialized beside him. Mari. "Hao-sama?" She asked, her voice serious as her eyes followed the itako.

"Let her be." Hao responded quietly, an odd tone in his voice. Without another word, he, too, disappeared, leaving Mari standing by herself in the clearing.

Mari clenched her doll in her hand. "Mari…hates…the itako…" She whispered fiercely, a dark shadow tinting her eyes.

Anna!

Yoh jolted from his sleep, sitting up on his futon, scanning the darkness around him with an almost despairing air. Something from his dreams woke him up…the recurring nightmare…Anna walking into the fire.

A fleeting feeling swept over him, chilling him to the core. Suddenly, Yoh was never more certain. He knew what was happening…his dream told him that much. And he knew where Anna was. He still didn't know why she left, but at least he now knew where she went.

His twin was back, as he had already known, and had already begun his plans. Yoh could feel it, Hao's aura, radiating. His plans…would mean death for numerous people.

And his fiancée was with his twin brother.

He couldn't understand why, but he knew what he had to do now. Dwelling on the past wasn't going to help with anything. He had to stop brooding, and start taking notice of everything else around him. That, he was sure, was what he had to do. He had to find his own answers.

And he had to stop Hao.

The rain continued pounding mercilessly.

Ren took a few sips from his glass of milk, and then set the glass down, twirling with it idly. He, Ryu and Faust sat quietly at the kitchen table, where they let themselves in – and remained - after Yoh disappeared into his room last evening. The three of them had chosen to make themselves comfortable for the night at Yoh's house, seeing that it was the rain was too heavy to allow them to travel back to their own homes.

And the fact that Faust and Ryu were worried about Yoh. Ren, too, although he wouldn't admit it.

Neither of them knew what was happening, but all of them knew that Yoh's present mood had something to do with a certain scary blonde itako, seeing that she was no where in sight.

"Anna-san might be in danger." Faust said, breaking the silence.

"That would explain the funk that Yoh-danna's in." Ryu said, his forehead creased into a frown.

Ren chose not to partake in the two's hypothetical conversation and flipped on the television instead.

"…Good morning, and we bring you Tokyo Update for six o'clock this morning. All around Japan, the rain had been falling non-stop since yesterday evening. This was a strange phenomenon seeing that the weather forecast had called for hot and sunny days for the next two weeks. Weather experts everywhere were baffled by the turn of events with regards to the weather and were seeking explanations, as the rain does not connect with temperatures taken by various experts. Flooding had begun to affect rural areas of Japan."

"…In related news, a small village towards the south of Tokyo was apparently flooded over by the storm. Yakiten Village had simply disappeared from sight and in its place was a huge lake. It was yet another baffling event that no one had answers to as of the moment. As we speak, experts were diving into the lake in hopes of finding survivors or any other clues that can explain this mystery. So far, nothing had been found. It was as if that Yakiten Village never existed. The only explanation now was that Yakiten River had overflowed to the point where the whole village was submerged in water. What that remain unexplainable was lack of bodies, survivors or even lumber. More updates would follow as the search continues."

Ren frowned darkly at the television screen. Yakiten Village, eh? It sounded quite familiar but yet he could not quite place it.

"Yakiten Village was the village where a lot of shamans were residing." Faust's voice broke into Ren's reverie, as if reading his thoughts. The doctor had a puzzled look on his face. "I don't understand it." He added. "The village was situated on one of the higher points in Japan. How could it be submerged in water? It makes no sense."

Ren turned sharply to the necromancer. "You were saying…?"

"Remember? We met a lot of shamans from that particular village during the fight." Faust reminded the Chinese boy. "And a lot of them were families, too."

Ryu snapped his fingers. "I remember!"

"Something's not quite right." Ren mused.

"Now you tell me." Ryu snorted. "I thought we agreed on that last night."

"No. Faust's right. It doesn't make any…"

"YOO-HOO! Hey-ho!" A blur in blue whizzed in. HoroHoro jumped off with a proud smile as his snowboard halted to a stop. "I bring you HoroHoro!" He said grandly, unaware that a certain Chinese shaman was pressed underneath his snowboard.

"GRRR…" Ren growled, and thrust his kwan-dao upwards, causing the Ainu boy to fall over with a yell.

"Must you make such a spectacle of yourself?" Ren scowled, pointing his weapon at his comrade.

"At least there's something out of me to make of!" HoroHoro retorted, slamming his snowboard on Ren once again.

Ryu just sat at one side, laughing hard at the image of a squashed Ren.

Faust wedged himself between the two battle-prepared shamans. "HoroHoro-kun, Ren-kun, now is not the time…"

"Hey, where's Anna?" HoroHoro interrupted, looking around him with a fearful air. "Is she going to…?"

"Anna-okami's gone. We haven't seen her since Yoh-danna came back yesterday looking like his cat had died." Ryu said shortly.

"What?" That was HoroHoro's only response.

Ren laughed. "Very intelligent…not."

Before HoroHoro could proceed to pummel Ren, Faust once again stepped in, being that he was the only one with the maturity to stop them from fighting. In a few words, he summarized what had been happening to the blue-haired Ainu.

As Faust finished, HoroHoro rubbed the back of his neck, the confused expression still on his face. "So Anna…just disappeared?"

"Hey guys." A familiar voice broke into the chaos. All heads turned to Yoh standing at the doorway to the kitchen. He grinned, and waved. "Wow, there's a lot of you in here."

Everyone stared at him with dropped jaws.

"Don't worry, I'm calm. I mean, I'm okay now." Yoh walked into the kitchen and poured himself some tea. "I just needed some time to myself to figure some things out. And I did, so I'm okay."

"About?" Ren demanded.

"What is going on." Yoh took a sip of his tea. "It's Hao. Everything. The storm, the foreboding. Those were signs."

A dead silence transcend over the little group. Then Ryu slapped his thigh. "I knew it!" He exclaimed.

"…no, you didn't…" HoroHoro muttered under his breath.

"So he wasn't dead." Ren summarized, his voice low. "I should've known that pests would die hard."

"And Anna's with him."

Another pause. Yoh had just confirmed what was on their minds when he mentioned Hao. Then Faust spoke up. "So Anna-san is gone."

"By her own will." Yoh said softly. "You have to understand that."

His words were greeted with surprised looks. But no one chose to comment.

"Yakiten just vanished." Ren suddenly remembered the mysterious happening, and relayed it to Yoh.

Yoh's face bellied no expression. "So Yakiten was his first target…"

"Yoh-danna! We MUST rescue Anna-okami!" Ryu broke in.

"Yes, we must." Yoh affirmed, smiling at Ryu. "But before that, I still needed to know…more. So I must go back home. To Ojii-san. He would help me understand."

"Whoa, time out!" HoroHoro exclaimed. "What the heck is going on here? I started out to talk to Yoh about this weird feeling I have about…"

"Moron. We're way beyond your weird feelings, or haven't you been listening?" Ren mocked. "To put it plainly, the bastard's back." His golden eyes glinted.

Yoh was already beginning to leave. "I have to go now. Time is running short, and time is precious, and is everything from this moment on." He turned to his friends. "Are you with me?" He asked quietly.

HoroHoro grinned. "Since when we're not?" He said, answering for the rest of them.

"And I never passed up any opportunity to kick some Asakura butt." Ren said, looking meaningfully at Yoh. Yoh burst out laughing at that one, the shadow of the usual easy-going, no-worry Yoh coming back.

"Then let's go." Yoh grinned, and the five shamans stepped out to the rain.

"Come on, Miko." Chocolove urged his leopard as they trudged through the rain, hurrying towards Yoh's residence. The rain was pelting, showing no signs of slowing down. The comedian huffed impatiently and continued running.

Reaching the gate, both man and beast skidded to a stop to avoid a full-on collision with a huge group coming out from Yoh's house.

"Chocolove!" Yoh exclaimed, surprise on his face.

"Yo, Yoh." Chocolove grinned, and smiled at everyone else. His smile faltered when it settled on Ren. "Don't worry, no jokes." He held up his hands. "Actually, glad I caught you all here. Don't you think there's something weird about this rain?"

"Yes." Everyone chorused flatly, and the comedian grinned sheepishly.

"Chocolove, I can't explain now, but yes, something's wrong." Yoh said, an unnaturally serious expression on his face. "It would help if you are to come with me…can you? I'm now going to my grandparents'. I need their help."

Thunder clapped suddenly, shocking the small group. It seemed to reverberate through Yoh's head as he winced, holding a hand to his forehead. Then his eyes widened, as the resounding thunder turned into laughter.

"Hao!" He said outloud.

"Hao!" Chocolove echoed. "How's the how with Hao? Hahaha!"

CRASH! Ren's kwan-dao smacked him squarely on the head. "That…is the WORST joke EVER under circumstances!" Ren hissed.

Yoh still held his head, eyes shut tightly. Smart…very smart. But it took you long enough. I'm looking forward to the final battle. But you have to get stronger, my dear brother. Oh, much much stronger…and don't worry about…

Anna. She's quite safe and happy with me…

Anna! Yoh's eyes flew opened as his darkest suspicions were confirmed. Flashes of his nightmare flew through his mind, and he felt dizzy with the kaleidoscopic images…

"Yoh-kun! Are you all right?" Faust rushed to support Yoh as he stumbled.

"…Yes." Yoh gasped. "Let's go. No…time. No time!"

"Wait a minute! Hey, I…" The rest of Chocolove's sentence was lost as Ren lost his temper and gagged him, dragging him along as the group continued their journey through the rain, thankful that at least, the trop would not be long.

Lyserg sat rigidly on the train as it sped towards Tokyo, the newspaper clipping clenched in his hand. The clipping announcing the baffling disappearance of Yakiten Village.

All his shamanic instincts told him that this was the work of another shaman, and he could not shake off his hatred and suspicion for Asakura Hao. There was nothing to confirm his thoughts, but his hatred. That was why he was taking the fastest way possible that he could get to Yoh.

He needed answers and explanations about the current turmoil of Japan. And he had a hunch that he would find it with Asakura Yoh.

Jeanne kneeled before the statue of Virgin Mary, hands folded, praying earnestly. The doors to the church then flew opened, and a blonde-haired man strode in. He stopped a few steps from her, and kneeled down.

"Jeanne-sama." He said reverently. "I received a message." He held out a piece of paper to her.

Jeanne took the paper, and scanned its contents. Her ruby eyes widened, and then flashed. "Marco." She said, her voice firm, portraying authority of someone far older than her fourteen years. "Gather whoever you can out of our team."

"Jeanne-sama, you don't mean…" Marco wore an expression of shock.

"Yes." Jeanne affirmed. Her pale hand crumpled the notepaper.

"The Destroyer is back."

The Asakura elders were gathered in the sitting room, waiting.

"You're sure that he would be here?" Mikihasa asked.

"I know my grandson. And you should know your son, too. He would come, no matter what. Like the rest of us, he had already sensed him. But oh, for Yoh, the feeling pulsates much, much stronger." Yohmei said, by the way of a reply. He closed his eyes and leaned back. "As usual, fate rested with Yoh."

"It's not fair." Keiko spoke up, sorrow evident on her face.

"It's not." Kino agreed.

"But that is the way it has to be. Always will be."

Hao smiled with satisfaction as water poured over rooftops. Whether did he or did he not acquire the Great Spirit all those years ago, he couldn't really care, as of now. But he did find out that he could manipulate another element.

Water.

He could not control it as well as fire, but managed to make it bend to his will. And it fitted into the best of his plans.

Beside him, all his minions wore similar expressions of pleasure. All, except one.

Anna fought to keep her disgust and rage from bubbling over as she stared at the destruction that Asakura Hao had created. She raised her eyes to the longhaired shaman, her expression grim.

Inhumane…

Had she really agreed…to go to him? And to see all of this before her…? How could someone look so much like her Yoh, and be so evil?

Never was there a moment she didn't think of Yoh.

"Anna!" Hao called, and then walked to her. She clenched her fists, and forced herself to look at him. He smiled lazily, the smile so like Yoh's but at the same time, so different. "I've decided to tell you what I want…with you."

"I'm dying to know." She shot back sarcastically.

Hao just smiled sweetly at her, and leaned towards her. She took two giant steps back, glaring at him.

"I want a spirit. And I need you to summon it for me."

Anna narrowed her eyes, and Hao continued.

"I want…Matamune."

-To be continued-

IMPT NOTE: Matamune would not make sense to anime-watchers. I shall give a brief explanation. Matamune is the spirit of Hao from 1000 years ago, a fiercely loyal and VERY powerful cat-spirit. However as Hao turned evil with all his glorifying madness, a disappointed Matamune turned his back on his master and helped to defeat him. He since then lived as a spirit, and Yoh encountered him when he was 10 and on the way to meet his fiancée. Basically that's all that's need to know now. Further explanations would be made in the next chapter.

da*mouse ®
posted 2nd February 2004

RANT!

What can I say? There's one word to describe me writing this chapter and it would be STRESSFUL. I worry about events proceeding too fast, and then I worry about it being too slow. I worry about bringing Yoh out of his depression much too early, but then I worry about making him too much like a sappy wimp. Just a note though, I do think it is more plausible for Yoh to snap out it, fast. Because if not, it would kinda be unlike Yoh, plus the fact I am going to have to spent the whole chapter angsting over angsty Yoh which was just so overdone. But I had to get the plot on the road if not I'll be stuck at the crossroads forever.

Forgive me if this chapter stinks to no end. But I just had to update [get beyond the whole Yoh/Anna depression thigamajig] so that I can continue, if that makes sense to anyone. Would be revising, probably. Expecting flames, so go ahead. I myself am not too happy with the way the whole thing came out.

And after half a year, too. Boy, I suck.

So please please pretty please REVIEW! COMMENT! FLAME! WHATEVER! I think I really need it at this point.

Sankyuu! :D