Mirror Mirror
By
Mitsu
Fandom: Shaman King
Summary: "This doesn't seem quite fair." Not when a lamb is being its own a slaughter. HaoYoh. Multi chap.

AN: Hello hello:) First fic here! I hope it's at least somewhat bearable to read.
I included a lot of Anna in this chapter, so, don't let that throw you off :P

--

"It'll be a boy."

At that, Asakura Yoh almost spat out what he had been drinking, an incredulous look forming in his usually laughing eyes. He was almost afraid to ask.

"What will be?"

"Our child."

And knowing his not-so-sweet fiancée, he'd be in trouble if she ever did get pregnant. Keywords here were ever. Yoh didn't exactly see himself as the father type, he supposed.

"We're having one." She took another bite of her rice—sending Yoh a look. That was more of an order, really. Almost as if saying; you will be the one to very well help me bear that child. For the most part, someone who held an air like Anna didn't need many words to get to the point of what she was trying to say.

At this rate, Yoh would be expecting Anna to tell him next, that he would be the one to bear said infant! The idea to any other grown man seemed absurd, yet to Yoh, the thought came as no surprise to him. Anna had made him do next-to-impossible things before now, hadn't she? Bearing a child would be easy. It was dealing with Anna after giving birth that would be the problem.

"… Ah… I see." He said quietly, taking Anna's bowl from her when she jerked her hand out to him—though, she starred at him with usually calm eyes, he knew exactly what she wanted him to do next.

Though, Yoh didn't want to get up. It was nice and warm there on the warmers next to their small table—and cold throughout the rest of Funbari, it seemed. With the winter air settling in, the idea of sleeping in became more and more tempting each day.

Not to be mistaken, though—the inn had a heating system installed; but Anna insisted that she liked the cold. Yoh was tough enough to deal with someone as small as the winter air by now—or at least, that's what Anna said.

November was barely ready to end, yet; it seemed like Christmas had began already. Anna had complained about it frequently. 'What's the big deal? Some fat man breaks into people's houses. Sounds like a real criminal to me. Surprised that the police didn't do something about that kind of thing by now.'

As much as Yoh complained about such a life like this, though—it was peaceful. The Shaman Fight had slowly began to fade from his mind; as of memories of the last fight he had there. He hadn't forgotten all the precious friends he had met at the event—yet, he didn't bother to think about it too much.

The Shaman Fight will start again whenever, won't it? There was no use trying to figure out now. The only thing he could do was continue to grow stronger—and if not that, than somehow or another—he would try to gain the peaceful life he so desired to have.

Hao.

Though, that little lingering thought in the back of his mind never left. It was like an insect—sucking away; away and away until there was nothing left to take. Sometimes, he would get distracted—a dazed expression taking over his features—even while someone was talking about him.

I wonder if he's still alive…

Though, Yoh agreed that it had to be done; the nagging thought that he had still done it was still there. In some ways or another, he wanted to see his brother.

The general thought was silly! If Hao was alive, surely he would have seen him already. And Hao would have said some absurd line like 'that soul is mine, little brother. You can't have what's mine now, can you?

Everything seemed like a fading dream; although, sometimes; it was almost like he could feel his brother around.

"Yoh."

He paused from washing the dirtied bowls, smiling fondly.

"Mm?"

"Dozing off isn't becoming of a Shaman King." She stated; crossing her arms. Though, her cool expression didn't change, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

He laughed. "Mm! But I didn't mean—"

"Here." She… didn't want to hear his excuses, obviously. Instead, she held out a sheet—small writing in kanji scribbled hastily on it. "Shopping needs to be done." She offered a small—yet, obviously fake smile.

"If you finish early, you can get a head start on your training. Maybe even a few minutes for a break, hm?"

Yoh did nothing to reply by cry waterfall tears; his ghost partner doing the same in response.

--

Ahh, but you see. Despite what Yoh might think. He was never quite alone. Hao was quite skilled when it came to hiding himself.

His brother really was weak—never suspecting that Hao might be watching him—even if it had been only for a little while. Even while they were younger, Yoh at least had noticed it quite a few times—that someone, somewhere, might be watching him.

Had his brother really grown that weak?

Anna hadn't noticed.

Since Hao had drained his brother of his very soul, their powers had weakened slightly—well, the majority of Hao's powers had weakened.

With the union of their souls disturbed; so had the balance between one another's powers. It would be quite a while before they both gathered their strength back.

Hao, naturally, had been keeping his distance—at the state he had been in before; it would have been difficult to last through a fight; as pathetic as that sounded. However, Hao didn't like it much, either. It made him sound, almost… well.

Weak.

He visibly cringed at the thought.

Now wasn't the time to dwell on such matters, was it?

No, now was the time to take what rightfully belonged to him—his soul; the other half of his power.

And this time, no one would be there to stop him. No samurai spirit; no itako. No one particularly annoying, anyways.

An eyebrow rose when Yoh laughed an something the spirit had said. Probably something stupid. They really were opposites, weren't they? While, some said that Hao was a genius—some of the things Yoh said sounded like something first grade. Ahh, well. Their personality was split in half, wasn't it?

It wouldn't matter soon.

In the end, nothing would stop him.

Yoh. Your soul rightfully belongs to me.

--

"Mm? What was that?" Yoh's gaze shifted to the side ever so slightly. For some reason, something didn't feel quite right. A powerful aura was nearby.

Even Amidamaru took the defensive; taking a hand to Harusame.

'Yoh-dono. Stay back—'

Yoh paused when his spirit vanished; looking around frantically. That was strange! What could just make a spirit vanish like that?

"Amidamaru!—"

He, too was cut off when he felt two arms wrap tightly around him—being slapped sharply in the head.

It was just like him—short, yet, to the point.

Time was on Hao's time—yet, he was through with being patient.

After two lifetimes of failing, he would finally achieve what he desired, and rightfully deserved.

tbc