"Don't strain yourself." Hao said from the doorway when his brother made a movement to stand. "And above that, you should have made the introductions as soon as I made my presence known. It's impolite to keep your friends in the fog, Otouto." By the looks on their faces, especially the little one, this must have been the shock of their lives. He wondered how they would've reacted if he waited a little longer to show up.
It was not in his intention, Yoh and he had a deal. They can meet and be together as long as no one else knows about his existence. It was easier for Hao to protect him this way from afar. But when he heard from one of his followers that his little brother is going to fight someone from the Tao family as unprepared as he was, the elder twin knew he had to go and see for himself how far Yoh has evolved.
"Gomen ne, Onii-chan." Yoh grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his friends. "Manta, Amidamaru, this highly educated talking mouth is my twin brother." He knew why Hao came to town, but he wondered why did he come to the hospital. Perhaps he figured out quickly from watching the fight that neither his Guardian Spirit nor his friend is going away any time soon.
"Elder twin brother." The fire shaman corrected him softly. It had to be known. "Asakura Hao. A pleasure." Studying them for a while he figured the two out quite fast. Amidamaru was a legend during his second life, on the negative side, but Hao was very interested in him back then. He was pleasantly surprised to know him now as his brother's Guardian. The little one was a total coward who made up for it in loyalty.
Yoh sensed his brother's approval and grinned. That and the fact that neither of them is burning at the moment. "Hao, these are my friends. Manta is the smartest person I've ever met and Amidamaru is my Guardian Spirit. He's a 600 years old Samurai." He only hoped his brother would be proud of his choices so far. He was the only person in his life that Yoh wanted to impress with his achievements.
"I heard of you, I must say it's an honor to meet you finally." He remembers even now how 500 years ago people still wouldn't stop talking about the great Samurai how single-handedly he defeated the Emperor's men hundreds in numbers as well. Now, his little brother's protector. How times have changed...
"Likewise." Amidamaru bowed his head respectfully before his Master's kin, happy to meet someone from Yoh's family (it feels that they getting even closer if he is allowed to, as far as he knew the younger brothers have always looked up to the older ones and he can tell already that this is no exception). "What is this?" He looked around from side to side, fearing another battle. Yoh has not recuperated enough to fight again so soon. "This surge of power..."
Right. Sometimes he forgets how his power affects other spirits and shamans, that usually happens when he stays away for longer than he had originally planned. "Forgive me, that would be my Guardian Spirit. Spirit of Fire." At the mention of its name the spirit showed itself in its diminished form. It doesn't like it too much being like that, but then again he cannot destroy the building that's been keeping his brother alive.
"But he is so cute." Manta cooed trying to approach the small burning spirit and pinch its cheek. Spirit of Fire opened its mouth to bite off the human's arm, too little used to shaman contact other than its Master and its Master's brother and even less than that used to human contact. Manta laughed nervously while quietly retreating understanding now Amidamaru's words.
"Don't let its size fool you. It is one of the most powerful spirits I have ever encountered." In his 600 years of life as a ghost, he has never felt such power. Definitely, the form he is seeing right now is not its true one. Too much reiryoku for a too small being to hold in without being destroyed or consumed from inside out.
"Thank you, it took us years to get where we are now." Finally. Some. Appreciation. For. Their. Efforts. This one is a keeper. "If my spirit showed its true form right now, it would destroy this building and we don't want that. I am using my furyoku as we speak to keep it in control." He looked at his brother and spoke with genuine appreciation. "I like him, Yoh. I like him quite a lot."
If he were to be honest, he expected his brother to choose as Guardian Ghost some lazy spirit just like him to nap together or hold contests of who can sleep longer. Amidamaru was truly a pleasant surprise. "You know me, I only surround myself with the most friendliest spirits." Yoh grinned.
"Wait a minute." Manta called out, seemingly the only one who connected the dots. The twins looked at him curiously. "You have a spirit which means you're a shaman, which means you're in the competition which means..."
Oh. So that was the problem. "Don't worry that enormous head of yours about that." Hao patted the human's head smiling down at him. "I'll merely burn him out of this life and his spirit so badly it will take him the next 500 years to recover. Nothing too bad." Manta fainted and Amidamaru's jaw dropped to the ground. The boys laughed simultaneously. "I don't plan to fight against Yoh. If it comes to that I'll simply withdraw."
"Not letting you do that, Nii-chan." The younger twin intervened softly. If he had to go down, he'd rather do it in a fair fight losing against his opponent. Not have him or her back down because of him. Everyone has an equal chance to win and everyone deserves to try it at least once. This conversation was not over and they will most likely resume it again soon enough.
"And we are not having this conversation while you're laying on a hospital bed." The elder shaman said firmly, dropping the easy-going attitude from earlier replacing it with a stern look eyeing his brother up and down. "How could you have been so careless?" Those bandages were neither small nor short, covering most of his chest side. Either too much care from the hospital or wounds too bad.
"You know how hard it is to hang in there while being one with your spirit when you're fighting another." Yoh whined childishly. Of course for someone like Hao who is super strong and over a thousand years old that was super easy. But that did not apply for him as well! "...I take you're not too impressed." His eyes slowly fell, knowing now he failed to achieve what he really tried to.
"You're in the hospital when you could have been at home, of course I'm disappointed." The elder twin pointed out as if that piece of information was obvious, noting the sudden drop in his brother's mood. "But that will pass." Yoh looked up at him in surprise, he rarely just lets it pass. Almost never. "I'm glad to see you again and to know that from your very first fight against another shaman you came out victorious."
The lazy shaman glanced at his friends. "I know you guys won't mind if I asked for a couple of minutes alone with my brother, right?" He asked apologetically, feeling bad about sending them away after they stayed with him through the nights and the fights and not to mention the horrible hospital food, how they went into the town for him to bring him his favorite stuff.
"Visiting hours are nearly over anyway." Manta shrugged, gathering his things. They were twins who hadn't seen each other, from what he picked up, in a long time. He could understand that, wishing only he'd thought of it himself before so he could've left them alone sooner. They probably had a lot to talk about. "I'll go get some ice cream and then head home."
"I will join you." Amidamaru said appearing beside him. "The streets are not safe at night." The short boy sighed and asked himself where was this generosity last night when he was being followed? But he accepted anyway. At least if trouble showed up now, Amidamaru would be able to contact Yoh. And who knows? Maybe even Hao could throw a helping hand.
Once they were out of the room joined along by the Spirit of Fire as well, the younger shaman tried to rise from the bed hissing in pain with each move. "Yoh, don't-" Hao walked up to him to help him back.
Yoh wrapped his arms around his twin's neck, burying his face in the other's shoulder inhaling his scent. "I missed you, Onii-chan." He said softly. "Terribly. You've been gone for seven months, I thought you left for good." Endless nights spent wondering if he had been truly abandoned by his brother and when those nights won over, the question what had he done to upset him so badly would keep him awake during the day.
"I know. I'm sorry. I never planned to stay away this long." In his over one thousand years of age, his little brother is the only person he has ever apologized directly. "Forgive me." The only one whose forgiveness or anger at him mattered. He hated seeing him so upset and he was angry with himself for being so slow and taking so long. Especially when his research came back empty. Truly a waste of time.
"Only if you promise to stay for longer than the usual couple of days." He knew he couldn't bear his brother leaving again so soon coming back after months of being gone. "Please?"
"I'll see what I can do." For Yoh, he would try to stay. Heck, for him chose to follow another path after one thousand years of having the same one goal. What's to him breaking a few rules here and there if it's for his little brother?