Yoh opened his eyes and blinked at the twilight sky above him.
"Wow," he said out loud, before stretching his arms and legs to either side of him – his fingers caressed the grass around him as he lay comfortably on a neat mound hill, just on the outskirts of the village. "That was an awesome nap!"
Yoh took a moment to appreciate the colour of the twilight sky interlinking with the shades of blue and purple that was being cast along what little clouds there were. He slowly sat upright and removed his headphones from his ears and placed them around his neck, a faint sound of music coming from the speakers could still be heard in the dead of night.
Yoh was smiling, his eyes closed, his expression seemed as though he was remembering a pleasant dream.
Well… he thought. I guess I should be getting back to Anna and the others…
Suddenly, Yoh heard a rustling sound coming from the shrubbery just a few feet in front of him. He opened his eyes and scanned the scene around him, he was now completely alert.
"Is someone there?" he called, in the most un-threatening voice he could manage. The rustling noise came again, and suddenly a small figure appeared from the shadows.
Opacho fell onto the ground with a thump, but then scurried to her feet. She gasped as she came face to face with a familiar Shaman.
"Opacho?" muttered Yoh, a little surprised. "What are you…?" Yoh trailed off as he realised Opacho was starting to cry. She stood her ground, her eyes fixated onto Yoh's. She made a whimpering noise before she began to wail.
"Opacho! Don't cry! Did you hurt yourself?" quickly stammered Yoh, trying to comfort her. He got to his knees and tried to inspect her.
"Hao-sama!" yelled Opacho. "Hao-sama! Hao-sama!" she repeated.
Yoh's eyes widened slightly. It hadn't occurred to him that Opacho might be lost. Or even, Hao might have been close by.
"Opacho, Opacho are you lost?" asked Yoh, he tried to smile to reassure the little girl. Opacho opened her eyes and nodded, she then tried to wipe her face with her fingers. Her face softened slightly as she noticed Yoh was smiling at her.
"Opacho ran away from Hao-sama, Opacho ran away because Opacho was scared." she mumbled. Yoh placed both of his hands on Opacho's shoulders, looking at her directly. "Opacho didn't mean to run away. Opacho was confused. Opacho is scared."
"I don't understand Opacho, did Hao do something to upset you?" prompted Yoh.
"No! Hao-sama would never upset Opacho on purpose!" she paused briefly, before taking a big breath. Then she blurted out:
"Hao-sama told Opacho that Opacho will die." Opacho began to cry again. Yoh seemed stunned. He blinked hard, and then tried to dismiss his feeling of anger and confusion. Opacho wrapped her arms around Yoh's neck and began to cry harder. Yoh just knelt there, trying to comfort a distraught Opacho. After a few moments passed, Opacho whispered,
"Hao-sama told Opacho that everyone will die."
For a moment the breath in Yoh's lungs escaped him as he tried to digest the words of the little girl. At that very moment, Yoh noticed a figure had appeared before them. Yoh looked up and saw that his twin was standing above them. Yoh could not read the expression on Hao's face, but for some reason, Yoh was not afraid of him. Even after the dark words spoken by the child in his arms.
"Opacho." muttered Yoh. Opacho calmed for a moment as she looked at Yoh's face, she saw that he was gazing at something in front of them and so she turned around. At the realisation of Hao's presence, Opacho leapt from Yoh and into the arms of her devoted carer.
"Opacho sorry Hao-sama! Opacho sorry she ran away!" she cried. Hao gripped the child in his arms and held her exceptionally tight. Yoh stood up slowly and watched the two of them together. He could sense that something was not quite right with this scenario he found himself in. He could sense this because of how long Hao was embracing Opacho, and Hao's expression seemed to be that of great pain. Opacho began to calm. Hao loosened his grip of the little girl and she relaxed, and soon enough, Opacho had completely exhausted herself and fell asleep, her arms and legs still wrapped around Hao's torso.
Yoh just stared at Hao, unsure of what to say. Hao's eyes fixated themselves on Yoh for a moment, he then turned and began to walk away.
"Hao, wait a second." muttered Yoh. Hao stopped, he did not turn back.
"What is it, Yoh?" replied Hao. Yoh had never heard this tone of voice come from Hao before. His voice sounded… bleak, empty. Not full of arrogance or confidence as it always had. Something was different about Hao, something was wrong.
"What did Opacho mean?" asked Yoh. "She said that you told her everyone will die."
A few moments of a deathly silence passed, and now Hao did turn around. He walked a few paces back towards Yoh until he was standing right in front of him. Hao almost managed a dumbfounded smile.
"You don't know, do you?" he said slowly.
"Know what?" shakily asked Yoh. "Just tell me what the hell is going on!"
"The – humans, their space mission failed. The asteroid will hit in 3 weeks."
"What asteroid? What space mission? What?" Yoh babbled. Hao's expression became agitated.
"For goodness sake!" hissed Hao, trying to keep his voice low so not to wake Opacho. "Do you ever pay attention?" Hao shifted Opacho closer to his left side so to look at Yoh more directly. "The world itself is going to end Yoh. We're all done for, finished. Everything."
Yoh looked shocked for a moment, but then he began to giggle. Hao could not believe that Yoh wasn't taking this seriously. "What's so funny?" he asked, surprised. He could not fathom how Yoh would laugh in a time like this. "How can you laugh at this?"
"It's just, seeing you so worked up about this – obviously who ever will become the Shaman King will fix everything!" smiled Yoh.
"That's exactly what I thought too, but I've already been to see the shaman council. There is nothing the Shaman King can do to reverse this. It's beyond any spiritual power existing in this world. This is really it." Hao paused, his eyes looked to the ground as he sighed deeply before continuing. "And… and I am not powerful enough to stop it, either." Hao sharply turned away from Yoh. Yoh was no longer laughing. Hao's eyes became cold and dark as he turned back towards Yoh. "I just had to explain to Opacho that there was nothing I can do to save her." said Hao, coldly. His eyes seemed riddled with guilt and deep pain. Hao began to walk away from Yoh. Yoh paused and inhaled sharply before speaking into the darkness for his twin to hear:
"You don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore, Hao. It must be liberating for you, huh?"