The Only Child, a shaman king fanfic

Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

Keiko rubbed the bridge of her nose as the clock chimed eleven. The entire house was dark and quiet. Father has probably been asleep for hours, she thought. Yoh, too. It's far too late for such a little boy to be awake.

She opened the refrigerator door, squinted into the bright light, sighed, and let it swing closed. I need to come home from work earlier, she thought. Maybe I can have a real dinner for once.

But she knew the reality of what it meant to be an Asakura, and she shoved the thoughts away. Keiko walked down the quiet, empty halls, the skirts of her red and white robes making a soft, pleasant swishing sound.

She paused outside the door hung with a makeshift sign and squinted at in the half light. Big, scrawly letters in green crayon spelled out YOH ASAKURA. She smiled and traced her finger along the backwards 'k'. He can write his name now. He's getting so big. The door creaked under the light tap of her finger. Keiko peeked inside.

Toys and clothes cluttered his bedroom. A towering stack of records threatened to topple over at any second. Keiko tiptoed over to the desk. A crumpled, unfinished page of homework lay on top- his kindergarten class was learning addition.

A deep breath startled her. She turned around and stared at her little son. Yoh slept peacefully, lying on his tummy with one knee tucked against his chest. His covers heaped on the floor, and he shivered just a bit, hugging his stuffed cat under one round arm. One bare foot dangled over the edge of the bed.

Keiko smiled. Carefully she picked up the pile of sheets and blankets and tucked them snugly around his warm little body. Yoh roused slightly, curling up in a tighter ball and hugging his cat closer to his little chest. Keiko patted him on the back and tiptoed away, closing the door behind her.

Her own bedroom, though spacious and walled with windows, felt cold and empty. She turned on the lamps and rubbed her elbows as the room slowly filled with warm yellow light. Keiko changed into her yukata and shook her hair loose. She slid into the cool sheets of her bed, reached for the book on her nighstand, and opened to her bookmark. It was only about ten minutes after she had put on her reading glasses and picked up where she left off when she heard her door creak open.

"Mommy?"

Keiko slid down her glasses. "Yoh? What are you doing?"

A brunet head tousled from sleep peered around the door. "I wanted to make sure you were home," he explained.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Grampa never tucks me in," he said. He hung onto the doorknob. "You're the only one who tucks me in, and I woke up and I was tucked in and I wanted to see you." His big brown eyes shone sheepishly. "Can I come see you?"

Keiko patted the empty space beside her. "Come here," she said gently. He ran to her and jumped on the bed, still clutching his stuffed cat. "Just for a little bit, all right?"

"All right," Yoh said cheerfully. Keiko went back to her book. Yoh wriggled under her arm until his little cheek was pressed against her stomach. He sighed deeply and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Keiko took him by the wrist and pulled the thumb away. "Big boys who want to be shaman kings don't suck their thumbs," she chided.

"I'm not the shaman king yet, Mommy, I'm five," he pointed out. He wiped his thumb on his green plaid pajama shorts and hugged his cat. Keiko turned a page. "Mommy?"

She skimmed the next paragraph. "Yes?"

"I'm getting a new teacher in kindergarten," he announced.

"What's wrong with Mrs. Himura?" she asked.

"She's having a baby," he said. "So we hafta get a new teacher, so she can stay home and play with the baby and feed him bottles and stuff."

"That's nice," Keiko said absently.

Yoh nibbled on his cat's ear. "Mommy?"

"Hm?"

"When are you having a baby?"

Keiko looked at him over the rims of her glasses. "What on earth gave you that idea?" she asked.

"Mrs. Himura is-"

"I know, I know," Keiko interrupted. She sighed. "Honey, a mommy can't have a baby on her own. She needs a daddy. And your daddy-"

"Is training," Yoh finished flatly. He twined a long strand of Keiko's dark brown hair around his chubby finger.

Keiko closed the book. "Why do you want me to have another baby?" she asked gently.

Yoh let go of the curl he'd formed; it spiraled straight. "I'm lonely," he said. "Can I have a baby to play with?"

"Babies are a lot of work, Yoh," she said. "It takes a long time for…for them to come. And then they're so little that they're hard to play with for a long time."

"I know, but…but I want someone to play with," he objected. He straightened up, balancing on his knees with his hands on her shoulder. "Mommy, can I have a brother?"

Keiko's heart plummeted. You have a brother, she wanted to tell him. You have an older brother who can play with you and take care of you and keep you from being lonely.

But she couldn't tell him that. Her son's twin was dead. Hao had taken her child's body and his life, replacing the precious soul that was supposed to be a little bit of her and a little bit of her husband with his own reincarnated evil. She had lost her child- she had nearly lost them both. And because of Hao, her husband was gone, trying to train away the sins of his past. And the one child she still clung to could not be hers entirely. Instead, she had to leave him to his training, rather than taking him to school and soccer practice. She had grown accustomed to her long hours at the temple for the simple reason that she could lose herself in her work and not think of her child on his own.

"Mommy?"

Keiko set the book aside. "I'm sorry, honey, but there aren't going to be any other babies," she said.

Yoh frowned. "But I don't want to be alone," he said. "I want to have somebody to play with."

Keiko stroked her fingers along his soft bare leg. "I know," she said gently. "But there can't be any other babies." She picked Yoh up and set him on her lap. "It has to be just you."

Yoh leaned his head on her shoulder, one arm still holding his stuffed cat. Keiko stroked his back with her fingertips, feeling the slow, steady rise and fall of his breaths. Yoh put his thumb in his mouth, and this time she didn't rebuke him. Slowly he fell asleep. His head drooped against her elbow. Keiko held in her arms, studying him carefully. He was the child she had waited for, and the only child she would ever have. And even though she wasn't supposed to become too close, she couldn't help it.

After all, she was his mother.

Author's Note:

Yet another short and sweet one. Who loves Baby!Yoh? I love Baby!Yoh!

Keiko appears very little in the series, but I can't help but feel that she's a rather opinionated lady. And I'm sure she has views on the fact that Hao stole the life of her firstborn child, since he hijacked the body before the baby was born.

It also bothers me that Mikihisa and Keiko spend very little time with their child, especially when Yoh mentioned later on in the manga that he's only met his father twice. That really makes me sad. Maybe I'll write another oneshot on that, if people are interested in it.