Summary: Hana, Anna and Yoh's son, is growing up, and has learnt how his uncle died. Confused and unsure of who to trust, he is determined to find the whole truth, even if it means hurting his Okaa. AnnaxYoh, PirikaxRen, JunxRyu, TamaoxHoro, JeannexLyserg
Rating: K+ (PG)
Chapter Notes: Sorry for the very long wait. First I was at a camp and then I went to California for two weeks. So, finally, here we are.
Pairings: AnnaxYoh, PirikaxRen, JunxRyu, TamaoxHoro, JeannexLyserg
Disclaimer: Shaman King belongs to Hiroyuki Takei. I own Seiharu, Tetsu, Gemmei, Kimiro and Lynne.
Key: In Japanese, Okaa means mother, Otou means father, Oto means son and Oji means grandfather.
Other: Dedicated to 'The dark midnight sky'! Thanks for everything
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Hana couldn't concentrate on Christmas. By nature, he was a curious boy and, after what he'd heard, didn't know how to react to his parents. He wanted to know why his Otou had died and how he could still be with them. It occurred to him once that Yoh might be a spirit, but he soon ruled that one out after realising that you couldn't touch spirits. Spirits can't kiss you on the cheek, or throw you in the air, or tuck you in bed at night.
His thoughts were momentarily destroyed when the presents were given out. From Auntie Pirika, he got a plush doll. Trying to look happy, he tossed it aside to receive Uncle Ren's present – a new plastic sword. He had broken his old one a few months before while fighting with his Otou. He did a few practise stabs in the air before Gemmei started to whimper and his Okaa told him off. Hana glared at his cousin before another present was placed on his lap.
He tore it open to find a book entitled 'Children's Bible Stories'. Looking up to see who gave it to him, he found himself face to face with Auntie Jeanne. He jumped, earning him a reproachful stare from Jeanne, before she moved aside and Uncle Lyserg placed his presents before him. Hana greedily ripped the paper and found more children's stories, but non-religious this time. He started reading the first one, stopping momentarily by a nudge from his Okaa. He looked up at Uncle Lyserg and Auntie Jeanne, gave them a dazzling smile, and then returned to reading.
Hana was a bright kid, and had been reading since he could remember. His Otou was always available when he wanted to practise, and he was quick to catch on. Within five minutes, he had read the first story in the book, only slipping on a word or two. But his Otou helped him with them, so it wasn't a problem.
From Auntie Jun he got a box of 'Temporary Tattoos'. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Uncle Ren grimace and touch his back. He wondered why, but didn't brood on the subject. Uncle Ryu was next, who gave him a tube of hair gel. Hana gingerly squeezed some onto his hand and rubbed it messily into his hair, where it stuck up at all angles. His Okaa gave an impatient sigh and rubbed it back smooth again.
At the end of the day, he was sat surrounded by all his presents, including a snowboard from Horo Horo, homemade cakes from Tamao, a book of jokes from Chocolove (something he got every year), chocolate from Millie, Ghost Stories from Manta, a German hat from Faust and, most interestingly, a necklace of beads from Kino. She would not give any details as to why she had given them to him. Hana compared them to his Okaa's, and concluded that his were shinier.
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Surprisingly for Hana, it was his Okaa who first realised that something was bothering him. He could see that she was treating him tenderly, but thought it was just because it was Christmas Day until he was being tucked into bed. He had to share a room with Tetsu, who was being tucked in by his own parents. Gemmei, Kimiru, Seiharu and Lynne were in other rooms with their parents. Hana could hear Lynne crying tiredly as his Okaa kissed the top of his head.
"Have you had a good day, Hana?"
There was something in her voice which made Hana suspect she knew something was wrong. He nodded unconvincingly as Yoh ruffled his hair, and watched the sceptical look on Anna's face. She got up and left the room just as Ryu and Jun did, leaving Hana alone with his Otou.
Yoh knelt down and kissed his forehead. "Have a good sleep, Hana my flower," he said, as he got up to leave. Just as he was going through the door, he heard Hana's voice.
"Otou, who's Hao?"
Yoh froze and Hana saw him visibly stiffen in the dim light. There was a cold silence.
"How do you know about Hao?" Yoh's voice was soft, but Hana felt afraid of his Otou for the first time in his life.
"I…I just heard Okaa talking about him."
"Never ask me about Hao again!" Yoh slammed the door of Hana's room, filling it with darkness. Hana felt sick.
"What was that about?" Tetsu's voice was probably the last thing he wanted to hear at that moment, but he didn't have the strength to reply. Hana buried his head in his pillow and wept.
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Yoh sat outside Hana's room with wide eyes. He couldn't believe that he's just spoken to his Oto like that. But then again, Hana had mentioned Hao. From the minute he found out that Anna was pregnant, he's sworn not to let his child know about what had happened in the Shaman Tournament. He couldn't imagine anything worse for a child than to find out that his Otou had killed his twin brother. Admittedly, Hao had deserved it, but Yoh couldn't help feeling that he'd killed a part of himself.
And now Hana had found out about Hao. Yoh wasn't sure how much he knew, but was sure Hana would find out, especially since he was surrounded by people who knew what happened. Yoh rubbed his temples. He couldn't forgive himself for snapping at Hana. The boy was just curious, like he was at that age. And he couldn't tell the boy himself because he'd sworn a vow.
Yoh couldn't face seeing his friends at that moment, so he went to his own room and slipped under the duvet. He was still there when, an hour later, Anna came in to go to bed herself.
"Is something wrong, Yoh?" she asked as she got into bed beside him. "Your friends missed you."
Yoh sighed. "I yelled at Hana," he said flatly. "He asked me who Hao was, so I lost it."
Anna betrayed no emotion but shock. "How does he know about Hao?"
"He said he heard you talking about him." Realisation hit him. "He must have been listening when you explained about the 1080 beads."
Anna leaned forwards and kissed his cheek. "I can understand how you feel, and I can imagine what Hana is feeling. You should go and apologise. I'll talk to him and explain in the morning because you can't."
Yoh nodded, but didn't feel better. Hana was stubborn, and it would take more than an apology for them to come together again. Anna watched as he got out of bed and went down the corridor as she sighed. What a bad way to end Christmas!
She knew Hana wouldn't accept Yoh's apology, but making him leave the room gave her a few minutes to think. She would have to tell Hana about Hao because of that stupid oath Yoh made when she told him she was pregnant. What could she tell him that wouldn't make him blow up with anger? Definitely not that Yoh was Hao's twin. That would just make the situation worse. The facts had to come slowly. She would tell them to him one by one and tell him later about the way Yoh and Hao were related. Relaxing slightly now she knew what to do, she listened out the door to see if Yoh had finished talking to Hana yet.
"Hana? Flower?" she heard him say; but there was obviously no answer because he shut the door soon afterwards and came back up into their room. "He's asleep," he reported. "I'll talk to him in the morning."
But inside Hana's room, the boy was still very much awake. He had heard his Otou calling his name but gave no reply.
His face was still wet with tears.
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In the morning, Tetsu woke to the familiar Tokyo sounds he heard each morning. He looked over at his cousin, who was still asleep in the bed across the room. Uncle Yoh had been really angry with him last night for, as far as he could tell, no reason at all. Hana had simply mentioned someone's name. Since Hana had asked him about it the day before, Tetsu had realised that he had heard the name 'Hao' before; his parents occasionally said it. But that gave no clue as to why Uncle Yoh had shouted.
Before he'd fallen asleep last night, he'd heard Hana sniffing quietly and guessed that he was crying. Tetsu had never seen Hana cry before. He was so tough and carefree that just the sound made Tetsu uneasy. Just before Hana went to sleep, Tetsu had heard him mumbling, "Otou, Otou…"
Tetsu saw Hana open his eyes and the two of them stared at each other before the former looked away. Something had been shared between them – a bond of trust? The power of hope? A sense of friendship? Even Tetsu wouldn't tell. But from that one look, he knew that Hana would never be the same again.
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Hana knew Tetsu could be relied upon from that moment. He wouldn't go around telling everyone that Hana and his Otou had fought. He shivered, even though he was quite warm, when he remembered the tone Yoh had used the evening before. He had never, ever used that tone with his before. Once again, the thought, no, the hope that he had been dreaming crossed his mind, but those hopes crashed around his head when Yoh opened the door.
Hana quickly glanced at Tetsu, but the boy pretended to still be asleep. He felt a glimmer of gratitude as he turned towards his Otou, not even daring to look him in the eye. Yoh saw this and also cast his eyes downwards. Hana thought he looked sorry for himself and thoughts of, 'You pig, you deserve this!' made him realise just how much had changed between them.
"Hey, Flower," his Otou said, trying to sound happy. "Had a good sleep?" In reply, Hana just glared at the floor. There was silence for a moment.
"Hana," Yoh started. "I'm sorry about last night. When you mentioned Hao's name, I just lost control because I promised myself that I'd never hear that name come out of your mouth. I'll have to go back on that now. Okaa's waiting to tell you everything you need to know. I made an unbreakable oath that I wouldn't tell you, or I would do it myself."
Yoh leaned in closer. "I know you probably hate me now, but I still love you, no matter what you find out."
Hana wanted to yell at his Otou to tell him how horrible he was to have yelled in the first place, but the words choked in his throat. He looked up, meaning to make a rude remark instead, but stopped when he saw Yoh's face. There was a tear running down his cheek; but he was smiling.
Hana reached out and slapped his Otou's face.
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Hana angrily stormed out of his room, leaving a shocked Yoh and a frightened Tetsu, yelling the worst insults he could come up with about his Otou. How dare he think that everything would be fixed by giving a little 'I love you' speech! He ignored Uncle Ren frowning at him; he ignored Auntie Tamao's concerned face and Kimiru's confused eyes; he even ignored Oji Mikihisa as he hurried noisily towards his Okaa's room.
Anna heard him coming and knew that Yoh had had no luck apologising to Hana. It didn't surprise her, but it still worried her. It would make the truth harder to accept. She wanted to hold Hana tight and keep the past away from his, for it could tear apart their whole family. She had known this would happen sooner or later from the minute she knew she was pregnant, but just stood by as Yoh swore an oath. She regretted letting him do that now.
They should have let him know gradually, but Yoh forbade her to even tell him Hao's name. She almost smiled when she realised that, eight years ago, she would never have let Yoh order her around like that. But something had changed her emotionally. Perhaps it was seeing her Yoh die and then come back again to defeat the person who threatened their lives. Or perhaps it was Hana.
Anna jumped as her Oto shoved the door open. He stopped yelling when he saw how calm she was, and realised this just in time to kick the doorframe before walking to his parents' bed. Anna helped him up and they sat facing each other; Hana with an expression of contempt and Anna with an impassive face.
Hana spoke first: "What's going on? Otou yelled at me for no reason and then tried to apologise without an explanation. I want to know who Hao is."
"Shh, Hana. You have to calm down if we're going to have a proper conversation. Let's start at the beginning. How did you first find out about Hao?"
There was a slight pause. "Yesterday," said Hana. "When you shut us in a room I wanted to know what was so important. I heard you talk about someone called Hao, some beads an Otou being dead."
Anna smiled sadly. "You need to know about Hao before I can tell you about Otou. The beginning of the story is about 1000 years ago. Hao, or an incarnation on Hao, was alive then, a member of the Patch. Do you know who they are?"
"Yes. They oversaw the tournament Otou was in."
"Good. But Hao was different, and extremely powerful. Not a good combination. He thought that all humans were weak and wanted to transform the world into a perfect one, unspoiled by humans, where only Shamans lived."
"But…what about Manta?"
"You're right. That would mean that Manta would have been destroyed, along with the rest of the humans. In a way, it was a good intention, but his vision consumed him and he would stop at nothing, even killing innocent Shamans, to achieve it. In the end, he was defeated by the 1080 beads you heard about.
"But, since Hao was so powerful, his furyoku enabled him to be reincarnated 1000 years later. He entered the same tournament as your Otou, with the same dream, and the same mad idea that killing weak Shamans would help him achieve his perfect world. He could see that Otou was a strong Shaman, but when he rejected Hao's offer to join his side, he chose to fight him in a final battle to the death.
"Hao was much stronger than Otou. He beat him easily and then consumed his spirit."
Hana didn't totally understand what that meant, but gasped, "Why?"
"Because it would make him stronger and get rid of an opponent. However, unfortunately for Hao, Otou had a big group of friends; that is, Uncle Ren, Horo, Chocolove, Faust, Ryu and Lyserg. The continued fighting Hao in Otou's memory and their will brought his spirit back to his body.
"To cut a long story short, Otou continued fighting Hao but was still losing badly. As he was nearly out of furyoku, everyone who was watching – Millie and her friends, Silva and Karim, Auntie Jeanne and Marco, all your other aunts and uncles, and Manta and me – gave our power to Otou. The two were now equally matched but, because Otou was following his heart, he won."
Anna leaned forwards. "Hana, Hao is dead. All his followers are either dead or too weak to do anything."
Hana sat, not saying anything for a while. "So, Otou got mad because he didn't want me to know that?"
"That's right. He had some painful memories."
Hana frowned. That didn't sound right. Just the background of some guy wasn't that important – was it?
"Your Otou was very upset that he yelled at you. I can't make you be friends with him again, but I ask you."
Hana nodded. "Fine," he said, and left the room, leaving Anna alone to hope that she said the right things.
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Outside Anna's window, two people stood listening. As the conversation finished, they turned as one and walked away, whispering to each other.
"Anna's changed. I'm sure she wasn't that nice."
"Is that really Yoh's son? I'm impressed – he was Hao's attitude."
"Imagine her not telling him that Hao's Yoh's twin!"
"Don't complain, it'll make our job a whole lot easier."
They walked into the morning crowds of Tokyo, separating to make sure they weren't being followed. One of them looked back briefly, whispering, "Hana…what a pretty name," before disappearing from view.
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-phew- I'm done.
Just two things I'd like in your reviews: Do you like the new (nice) Anna, and who do you think the mysterious people are? Oh, and don't bother asking why Hana got so upset because his Otou yelled at him. It's because he's spoiled. Badly :-)
Daedal: Nah, Ryu goes with Jun just because he fancied her and they look so cute together. And don't you dare keep the DVDs from me!
Hao's girl: Yeah, I pestered my parents to buy it but they said no. Besides, I don't know Japanese. But I wish I could have it just for the pictures of Hana.
Xiren: Yeah, now I think about it, that does sound a little weird. But Seiharu's only 4, I think I can forgive him. He'll probably be more unique when he grows up :)
Asn Water: Lol, yeah, I considered making all the kids completely wreck the Christmas tree before Hana went to listen, but it didn't really fit.
Umi: Hmm, I changed my view of Hana as well. He was supposed to be mischievous, but he came out nosy. And, you're the second person who's commented on Seiharu. As I said to Xiren, I think he'll get better when he grows up. The pairing of Ryu and Jun came from episode 23 (I think), where Ryu says he'd like to get to know Jun better (so cute!).
ChibiAzn3: Don't worry about it. Thanks for trying! I thought they didn't either and that was why I asked.
The dark midnight sky: You're welcome Glad you like it. I reviewed your story, by the way. It's excellent!
Special thanks to YohxAnna4Ever, Asn Water, Animeren, Bukashka and Crimson Dragon X for enlightening me on subjects like 1080 beads and Faust's first name, which, I found out, is Johann.
Thanks to my other reviewers, SKF, Hemila-Rose, PendulumxSwing, Jiaochan, OnEcRaZyGaL and Twighlight13.
And D, I thank you for my first ever flame…I think…
As always, please leave a review!
Xbakiyalo
