-x-Shaman King RP-x- Continued

Houka raised an eyebrow to Eioku's hesitation to keep speaking. "Well...." He said with a small smirk. "What is it?"

Eioku stuffed her hands in her pockets and kicked the dirt around with the toe of her shoe. This was probably the worst timing ever, but it wasn't as if they were charging out into battle or anything. She had a gut feeling that this was only going to bring her a hell of a lot of embarrassment, but what else could she do? Sit in silence? Nah, that was never really her style. Time to spit it out.

She lifted her head and took in a deep breath, staring up at him with flushing cheeks. As quickly as her courage had come through one ear, it exited straight out the other. Her knees suddenly felt weak and cold, her palms starting to sweat under the fabric of her pockets.

"I-I--... Uh... Really, uhm... U-Uh--..."

Suddenly, the five inch tall bat girl appeared on her shoulder, swinging her legs back and forth. "Eioku's in love with you." She said.

Eioku whipped her head around, batting at her with a flattened palm. "NIKKI!!" She shouted.

Houka's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Arika appeared behind him, giggling like crazy. "Whaddya know?" She said. "Pain in the ass in teenagers do get attention!" Houka did nothing but look at Arika, then look back at Eioku, furiously waiting for the punchline to some awkward joke. "Don't look at me Houka, look at her!" The female ghost was giggling so hard it matched the sounds of bats furiously mating.

Houka scratched his head as he looked down at the dirt. "Eioku.. I.. Um.." Grand appeared, shaking his head.

"Regular Casanova here." He said as Houka shot him a dark stare. "I think by his horrible attitude towards me and Arika means he feels the same."

"REMIND ME WHY I HANG OUT WITH THE BOTH OF YOU?!?!?"

Eioku found that she couldn't really force her eyes towards anything but her hands, mingling with one another, her fingers intertwining and fidgeting. Her cheeks flushed, the heat underneath her skin causing them to bud and turn pink.

"I'm sorry..." She said, softly. "I know, it's terrible timing, what with the next round getting ready to start... But I just... needed to say it before it was too late, regardless of your intentions." She paused briefly, ducking her head a bit to hide her eyes behind her bangs. "I like you... I like you a lot."

Houka rubbed his eyes once more as he too started to flush. Arika made kissing noises and irritated Houka to the point where he wished that she really was not the ammunition for his gun. Grand let a smile go across his big face for one of the first times in his undead life. Houka again kneeled down to her height and sighed. "Listen Eioku." He said, not knowing how to go on. "Um.... I'm not good at this. I do care for you, I really do but-"

"But he's just a prick who has to be unhappy." Arika said in a sing-song voice. Houka shot her another dark look as he focused back on Eioku.
"You know, when soldiers went into battle, the women had to know everything about the man." Houka's eye twitched.

"In your time, YOU ALSO CELEBRATED WITH A F*CKING TEA PARTY, AND FLOWER ARRANGING!!" Houka bellowed at Grand, turning back to Eioku for what he hoped would be the last time without interruption. "Now, Eioku." Good so far. "I do care for you a lot." No snide remarks yet. "But, I need to tell you that the middle of the Shaman Tournament is not a good time to start a relationship. After the second round, I'll go along and do what whatever you want."

Arika whispered to Nikki, "Are you as proud of yours as we are of ours?"

Nikki's small body winced away from the spirit at first, a little surprised by Arika's sudden approach. She chuckled anxiously, keeping in mind the purpose that she served for Houka's oversoul. Small explosive beads... those things that humans called bullets. Not something she wanted to tangle with. "Heh heh... I suppose that I am. Yours seems to have come quite a long way."

It took Eioku a moment to fully comprehend exactly what had been said. She'd imagined him laughing and walking away so many times that this was a new image to her eyes. Once it finally clicked, though, her eyes widened, and she let herself look up at him again. There weren't any gleams of deceit in his eyes; at least not that she could see.

"Houka, you're serious?" She asked, hesitantly.

Houka nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm serious", he said. He wondered why she needed validation that he was being serious.

Keeping a slow pace, she let her hand wander to his cheek, biting down on her tongue. She only let her fingers brush against his skin, as if moving too quickly or too rashly would cause him to disappear. Her eyes were narrow, as if she could cry, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"I won't hold back anything... If we have to fight one another, I mean." She said, softly. There was a certain doubt in her mind that even if she wasn't holding back, she couldn't win against him in a scuffle. After all, her oversoul was fast, but not as fast as his gun. That had been proven back in the hotel, when they'd first had a conflict. Oh well... Maybe she just wasn't fit for this kind of environment to begin with. She was far too emotional for this tournament.

"I know." Houka said, slightly grinning. "Although neither will I. Although, thinking into that right now may be thinking farther ahead." Well, it might be true. He wasn't sure yet. Besides, he still needed two people for the this round of the Shaman Tournament. "Hey, I still need food. You can come if you want." The shaman continued as he put his glasses back on and walked away. "I'm thinkin' chicken."

Eioku grinned, following close behind. The sound of the word 'chicken' put a nasty churning in the back of her throat, but she'd bare through it... Just this once. She ducked down, springing off of the ground and wrapping her arms around his neck, nearly dragging him down as she always did.
"You owe me for ditching me back at the hotel. Carry me." She commanded, sticking her tongue out.

Houka gagged as his neck was grabbed. "Fine." He said, holding Eioku. As he walked closer to the Patch village restaurant, he only wondered why he hadn't shot at Hao. He should have, the bastard certainly did deserve it. When they entered the restaurant, he put down Eioku and went to the counter to grab food. Bringing it back to a table, he started to eat.

MEANWHILE!

Yoh woke up in a bed that was just a slab of rock. "The hell?" He said as he got out of the bed, rubbing his eyes and walking out the door. "May have had some bad dreams, but it was still a good nap."

Aya stared at the floor. In the back of her mind, she felt so different but nothing had changed. She recalled her dream and laid back on the bed. She picked up the necklace and looked at it. 'I've never had a fire spirit before and Grandfather never challenged me like that. Something is different' Aya thought as her gaze moved to the ceiling. "Nonetheless. I can't use this as a medium." Aya stated to herself.

Tori looked at Aya and sat next to her. "Is everything alright, milady?" Tori asked. Aya nodded and turned over. Tori was a little confused and was quiet. "May I ask what your dream was about?" Tori asked. "Nothing important." Aya answered. "Well it must be. You've never hidden anything from me." Tori stated. Aya narrowed her eyes. "Drop it. Its not like it means something." Aya snapped. Tori looked at Aya worried and turned away. "Fine. I will ask no more." She replied, obediently.

Eioku planted her chin in her palm, staring down at her nails, carelessly. The smell of the grease was making her stomach churn. "So," she said, shifting her weight in the chair. "Why'd you ditch us, anywho? The life of a bad guy just not cutting it for you?"

Houka ate silently, except for the usual slurping noise when it came to noodles with his stir-fry. As he stabbed a piece of chicken, he bit it off the utensil and began chewing. "Well", he said in between bites, "I just was getting sick of not going anywhere. You know the feeling. Just kind of being there, hanging around but not getting enough action throughout. I mean seriously, I've been on Hao's side since I was a smaller and I used to be sent out kidnapping, or doing something to keep me busy." The boy stabbed another piece of chicken with his chop stick and began to eat again. "Although lately, I hadn't been doing much. Seriously, after kidnapping you and that loud Asakura chick, I hadn't really done a damn thing!"

"Makes sense. I suppose." There was pride missing from her tone. She scraped the end of her nails against the surface of the table, biting on the side of her cheek. Irritated. What a dumb excuse for an... excuse.
Eioku let her eyes wander down to his plate, distastefully. Seemed like a waste of money; it sure didn't smell all that appetizing. "So what'd you do? I mean, did you ever think about us at all while you were gone?"

Houka shrugged, only staring down at his food. With one chop stick, he kicked a piece of lone piece of chicken around the bowl. "I did what I did before." He said, finally stabbing the chicken piece. "I tried to further ensure myself a permanent spot in this tournament. Went all across that God damn desert looking for some stupid way to get me over here." Suddenly a shudder came over Houka as he remembered all the people he had to hurt even to get this far. He had forgotten about the fact that he would end up seeing them again in the near future. Under some mats of hair, he looked at Eioku. Crap. He thought. I really don't want to have to say it.

With a heavy sigh, he bit down hard on the chicken and threw his chopsticks back in the empty bowl. "Yeah..." He grumbled. "I guess... I... could have waited for you guys as opposed to going off on my own."

Way to go, Houka. He thought. So much for the image.

Eioku let a smile tug at the side of her mouth. She looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Don't you give me that look," she said, sitting up straight in her seat. "All I did was ask. I never said that I was upset."
She looked away, off towards some of the other shamans here, trying to calculate which ones would kick her ass if given the chance, and which ones would be successful in doing so.
"...The important part of this entire scenario is that you're here now, and that you're safe. I think that was really my only concern throughout."

Aya stood up and left the room. Something about that vision just irked her. She had never controlled fire and it scared her a bit but it made her angry just the same. What was it about this dream that pushed her buttons? She walked out of the dorm just thinking to herself.

Houka stared blankly and blinked. This whole "people caring about what happened to him" thing was quite new. So getting up, he put on his sunglasses, and looked at Eioku. "Well, I think I should get myself settled for the next round. I'll be around." As he left the cafeteria, Yoh walked past him. The two did not look at each other and Yoh went up to the counter, asking for his own food. As he brought it back to a table and put on moved his headphones from the position they were in over his ears. The boy slurped down the food, occasionally rubbing his eyes.

"Man I'm tired." He said. "That bed wasn't the most comfortable, but it was still good for a nap." As he turned around, he spotted Eioku, grinning at her as he finished his food. "Hey Eioku." He said, putting down his chopsticks.

Eioku stared down at the table, tracing the designs with her fingers. She sighed, bored, leaning her arms upon one another, planting her chin on her sleeves. "Well that wasted about an hour," she muttered, shutting her eyes.

"Hey, Eioku," a familiar voice rang out.

Eioku opened one eye, irate. Once she caught eye of the one who'd called out to her, she sat up right. "Oh. Hey, Yoh." She stared at him blankly for a moment, waiting for an invite to the table.

Aya took a seat in what she thought was a park. She stared at the ground and took a deep breath. "This isn't happening. Why the hell am I here!?" Aya shouted to herself. Passing shaman looked at her like she was crazy. "You want some of this? Keep moving." Aya snapped.

Yoh slurped his food, staring at his wife's cousin ((I think)). "You know, you can sit here." Yoh said grinning.