Okay, I had four wonderful reviews for chapter one, and something told me to just post the next chapter anyway! I hope you take your time and have fun reading this little piece of work.


He gasped awake, eyes wildly scanning the room. The early sun shone through the paper door, lighting it up from the outside. Where was he?! What happened when he teleported back to Funbari Onsen? He slowly remembered seeing Yoh's confused face as Ren stood behind him, seething with rage. He remembered the pain getting the better of him. He remembered calling his other half's name before blacking out.

A snore brought his senses to a heightened state again. He looked around the room, and there was a small sleeping body in a corner of the room, huddled up in a ball. The snore came again, and this time, it sounded very close. He became aware of an arm draped over his chest, irritating his wound slightly. His pupils dilated with surprise, and he pulled the blanket away from him. Yoh was sleeping soundly beside him, arms and legs in a disheveled mess. His left arm lay across Hao's chest, while his other was tucked behind his head. His hair, missing its topknot, had been twisted into an unusual shape as he in turn had twisted and turned during the course of his slumber.

He very gently pulled the blanket over both of them again, taking care not to wake his twin. For a few moments, he stared at Yoh's sleeping face.

"How disgusting." He thought, as Yoh's mouth hung wide open, snores emanating from within it. A thin line of drool ran from the side of his mouth to the pillow. "Is this how I look when I'm sleeping?"

He smiled, and stroked Yoh's shoulders gently. As if on cue, the slightly younger Shaman rolled over and snuggled up against him with a groan, bringing his right leg over Hao's waist and hugging him closer as he gripped Hao's shoulder with his right hand. He smiled, and slowly tried to find sleep again.

He was jolted awake once more, as Yoh stretched himself before him, yawning.

"Aaaaahhh……" the boy groaned, as his joints were stretched to their limit. "Eh, nani?" his right hand was on something firm and soft. He gripped harder, and felt a sudden stiffness spread across the surface.

He turned, and saw Hao's face looking down at him sleepily as his hand was placed on his twin's tensed abdomen.

"AAAH! Sumimasen, Onii-Chan!" the frantic apology was waved away by Hao.

"It's okay."

"Why are you here, Onii-Chan?" Yoh asked him softly, not wanting to wake Manta, or Anna for that matter.

"Ano… ore…" Hao struggled to find the words. "There are some important things I need to tell you. But first, I am so very sorry. Gomenasai. For… you know."

Yoh didn't need even need to think to know that Hao meant everything up to the battle where they had last parted.

"Ah." Yoh brushed the apology off, as if it never happened at all in the first place. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine…" Hao groaned. The throbbing had started to come back again, albeit not as intense as it was for the past week. "Ugh…"

Yoh raised himself up on his elbows and looked at Hao properly for the first time in his life. Peering into those large onyx eyes, he tried to read what was in his twin's head. It was easy seeing the remorse in the eyes of his double. He knew Hao missed Opacho. He knew that his twin no longer had the urge to kill human beings.

"Otouto, I do the reading of minds, not you." Hao retorted, smile playing on his lips. Yoh grinned back widely.

"I know." He replied. "But it's not hard to see what you're thinking."

Hao blushed.

"Sou-ka?" Yoh chuckled softly at Hao's innocence.

"Onii-chan?"

"Hai."

"Come live with us. With me." He almost pleaded.

"What about Anna? Last time we met wasn't exactly an experience that she found pleasant." He remembered Anna staring at him with despair, right after he had absorbed Yoh's soul.

"Anna?" Yoh scoffed. "She was the only one concerned about you when you appeared yesterday, destroying our garden."

"Sorry about that. I couldn't control my powers at that time." Hao replied sheepishly. "But…"

"Hmm?"

"Back then…" and Yoh knew he was talking about their last battle. "Did you… do you… hate me?" his voice quivered.

"Baka…" Yoh said casually, resting his head on Hao's shoulder. "I could never hate you."

"Will you forgive me?" Yoh suddenly felt moisture dripping onto his forehead. Hao was crying. Hao was crying?!

"Nii-chan, what's wrong?" he turned over and held the weeping boy by his shoulders as he tried to play it cool.

"Forgive me." Hao said softly, tears dripping down his chin. He was sorry for everything. He was sorry for burning his father's face the night he was born. He was sorry for killing Lyserg's family for not joining him. He was sorry for taking Yoh's soul.

"Nii-chan…" Yoh whispered. He pulled Hao into an embrace, holding his twin's face against his chest. He rubbed away the stream of tears that streaked Hao's face.

"Don't cry." Hao looked up at him. He smiled back at his older twin. "Everything is going to be alright in the end."

Hao nodded. He couldn't stop the flow of tears though. Yoh looked down at him, and smiled.

"I suppose sometimes it's alright to cry." He said, changing his stance. "Even for someone as emotionless as you."

"Urusai." His voice was muffled, being buried in Yoh's shirt. Yoh smiled again, and stroked his brother's silky dark brown hair.

"Where's breakfast?" Yoh jumped. Standing at the frame of the door was Anna.

"I'll get it done now!" but before he could jump to his feet, Ren entered the room and placed a dish laden with food on the table.

"What's that?" Yoh asked.

"Breakfast." Ren replied casually. He glanced at Hao. "Kisama. So you woke up. Finally." He sat in front of the television and was about to turn it on when Anna stepped into his line of sight.

"What are you doing?!"

"My house. My television." Anna said simply. She snatched the remote from his hand and switched the box on, flipping through channels almost lazily as she chewed on the food Ren had cooked.

"Ren… I didn't know you cooked." Yoh commented. Ren blushed again, and tried to hide it.

"Jun." he said simply. Yoh understood immediately. So Ren's sister was responsible for Ren becoming gradually softer and softer since the time they met. He lowered Hao back down onto the futon and examined his twin's developed body.

"Hey… what happened to the Great Spirit?" he asked. Hao's eyes darkened.

"I don't know… he wouldn't come when I summoned him." He replied. "Must I go back to hell to retrieve this minion of mine?"

"Why?" Yoh queried. "Why do you need the Great Spirit? It's not like you're going to use it to destroy the world any more, is it?"

Hao smiled, looking uncannily like Yoh when he was faced with a difficult situation, Anna noted.

"No." he replied. "I'm going to help you become the Shaman King. Even if it takes going back to hell again for that."

Yoh grinned.

"Arigato, Onii-san. But the fights have been suspended for now."

"Sou-ka?"

"Hai."

"Oh well… guess we'll just have to wait then." He tried to push himself to a sitting position but the strain on his abdominal muscles threatened to tear open his wound again. He let out a quick cry of agony and collapsed back down onto the futon, chest heaving with pain.

"You shouldn't exert yourself, Nii-san." Yoh raised his eyebrows in concern. "The last thing you want to do is die on us. Let us take care of you. I'm a good cook!" he ended, laughing awkwardly.

"Hmph." Hao sneered, resting his head on his hands. "Well, whatever." He idly eyed the television. "Guess I'll take advantage of the hospitality while I still can."

"Normally I would ask you to pay for this." Anna said suddenly. "But since you're Yoh's brother you escape the penalty."

"Ah… arigato, Anna." Yoh grinned at her.

"I'll think about it." Was the reply, as she got up and went to the kitchen to deposit her dish.

"Think about what?" Hao wondered.

"The punishment." Yoh replied, crying rivers.

"Yoh-dono." Amidamaru appeared, also weeping.

"Baka." Ren looked them over, a small smile on his face. The door opened, and Faust entered the living room.

"The doctor is back." He scrutinized Hao's body, and clucked with disapproval, as he noticed the scratches on Hao's back. He took out some cream from his kit, and handed it to Yoh.

"Onii-chan, turn over." Hao complied, groaning with the effort. He felt his hair being brushed away from his back, and tied firmly at its end. Then…

"Uaaah! Cold!" he cried out, arching his back as Yoh applied the lotion onto his back. He soon sighed with relief as the burning sensation in his back caused by its abuse slowly faded away as Yoh rubbed the ointment into his skin.

"Wow, how did he get so muscular in the first place?" Yoh wondered again as he kneaded Hao's wiry back and shoulders. He noticed that Hao's back held a lot of tension, and proceeded to ease out the tension gently. Hao groaned with relief.

"Otouto, how did you get so good at this?" he moaned.

"Ah, I massage Anna all the time." Yoh replied, focused on the task ahead, drawing more groans from the reclining boy.

"What happened to your poncho?" he asked Hao.

"I held it against my wound to stop it bleeding some more." The boy replied. "Why, you want it?"

"Iie… I was just wondering why… why you don't wear… normal clothes." Yoh voiced. "You don't wear anything under that poncho. Don't you care what people think about you when you walk down the street half naked wearing those baggy trousers and that loose fitting cape thing?"

"Look who's talking." Hao commented smugly. "Look at what you're wearing now."

Yoh looked at his own unbuttoned shirt with rolled up sleeves and went red.

"At least I have something to show." Hao continued, turning over and tensing up his abdomen to prove his point, although with a wince. Yoh visibly shrank as all eyes on the room were on him. He tried to cover himself up by crossing his arms over himself.

"Nii-channnn…" he laughed, running his hand through his hair. "Why did you have to embarrass me like that?"

Hao smiled. Although Yoh couldn't see it, he knew full well that his twin was smirking into the pillow.

"It's what brothers do. Embarrass each other." He said simply, stretching his hands upwards and making himself comfortable as he enjoyed the massage. He soon fell asleep again, still tired out from the past week of suffering.

"Ren, if I have to tell you one more time that Hao is no longer our enemy I'll let you know with this sandal." Anna said in one sentence. "Don't make me show you how."

Ren's pupils dilated and he gulped. He dropped his sword, sat down stiffly and sweat-dropped, as he abruptly turned toward the television.

"Hao. You're dirtying the house with the mud you've brought in." Anna said. "Yoh, prepare the bathhouse for him."

"Hai, Anna-san. Ne, Nii-San. Wake up; I'm going to get the bath ready so you can relax in it." Yoh poked Hao a few times in his back before he hurried away, leaving him still slumbering on the futon, facedown. Anna eyed the sleeping boy who was the mirror image of her fiancée. Strange. Was he becoming more… human? Did he even sleep before this? If he didn't, why sleep now? And what was with the small chat and genuine smiles? Anna hypothesized that a part of Yoh might have implanted itself into Hao either when their souls merged, or when Yoh dealt the blow which caused that now-not-so mortal wound to Hao.

Either way, she wasn't going to go easy on him. Not especially if he was going to pick up after her lazy fiancée, and follow in his footsteps of napping and "resting more often than others" attitude. She doubted it, though. There would be no possible way that Hao would find her training exerting at the very least. Very well, he could train Yoh, then. And if he found that accursed Great Spirit, he could guard the inn.

"Anna." Yoh's voice startled her from her selfish thoughts. "The water's ready."

She motioned casually to the sleeping boy, and Yoh understood immediately.

"Onii-chan." He shook Hao's shoulder, and his twin groaned in protest. "You need to clean up, Onii-chan. I've prepared the bath for you."

He pushed Hao onto his back, and lifted him up gently, once again noting the lightness of his other half. He tottered all the way to the bathhouse, and gingerly lowered the long-haired shaman into the water, before stripping and jumping into the steaming water.

"The water feels good." Hao commented, just like he had said, too long ago in Patch Village.

"Ah, you're right." Yoh grinned, recalling Horo-horo flying into a fit of exasperation after he had seen the total acceptance of Hao in the water.

"So, what was that important thing you were going to tell me again?"

"I watched the stars the other day." Hao replied, nonchalantly. "The next Shaman King battle will be held in Britain."

"Nani?! Seriously?!" Yoh choked in the water, and went into a coughing fit. It was some time before he managed to speak again.

"Yes." Hao's simple answer told Yoh that he was dead serious.

"So you need to train more." Anna's voice found its way into the bathhouse.

"AH! ANNA!" Yoh screamed, eyes popping out of his head. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!"

He floundered about in the water for a bit, trying to find something to cover himself up with.

"Don't bother. I'm leaving." Anna said coolly. "Hao, you're going to help me train Yoh. Even if it means him going through hell again." She slammed the door shut.

"Oh, and by the way Yoh, it's nothing I haven't seen before." She poked her head in to retort, before leaving for good.

Yoh cried a river of tears.

"Such is my life." He sobbed. Amidamaru appeared beside him, crying as well.

"Yoh-dono…"

Hao smiled at them.

"You do love her, don't you?" he said softly.

"Yeah…" Yoh smiled. "In many ways I don't see fit."

"Anyway…" Hao continued. "You still have your Oracle Bell?"

"Ah."

"Two months, three days and three hours from now, you'll receive a message saying that the next fight will be held in London, UK."

"How do you know that?" Yoh was in awe.

"I read the stars all the time." Hao replied. "Aren't they beautiful?"

"Ah."

"Someday I'll teach you how to read them as well. One night. Just you and me." He looked up at the sky, enraptured by the beauty of the universe.

"Kisama!" Ren slid into the water, followed by Manta. "You didn't tell us you were going to stay in here with him as well. He could have murdered you and we wouldn't have known till it was too late."

"Nani." Yoh grinned at them. "He would never hurt me. Besides, Anna came in."

Their jaws dropped.

"Anna came into a male bathhouse?"

The twins nodded in unison. Manta stared at them.

"You know, it's weird when just a week ago, you guys were mortal enemies, and now you're taking a bath together in Yoh-kun's place." He commented thoughtfully. "I wonder what Lyserg would think of this." He added as an afterthought.

"Wait wait wait…" Yoh said, eyes widening. "Where did you say that next battle would be?"

"London, UK."

"Oh no."

"What?" Hao asked, curious at the sudden slumping of Yoh's shoulders as well as Ren and Manta's knowing glances.

"Lyserg lives in London."

Hao started as he realized the truth of it.

"Oh well, I'm sure that if I talk to him nicely he'll be fine with it. I'll tell him I'm sorry I killed his parents that day." He replied, with a smile. "Everything will be alright in the end."

Manta and Ren exchanged glances again, although this time with incredulity.

"Your words reek with what Yoh would say." Ren said snidely. "What has he done to you? Taught you 'Complacency 101 for the Bakayarou'?"

Yoh laughed happily.

"Everything will be alright in the end." He repeated. "I like that phrase."

"BAKA! THAT'S WHAT YOU ALWAYS SAY!" they screamed at him.

"Ahh… Sou Ka?" he scratched his head, absent mindedly. They gave up and sighed, blowing bubbles in the water as they slowly submerged.

"Nii-chan, let me wash your back." Yoh offered. He figured that since Hao was here, the least he could do was get closer to his twin, and washing his back was as close as he could get in terms of family ties.

"Nanda?!" Hao exclaimed, choking in the water as he goggled at the thought. He went into a coughing fit similar to Yoh's earlier one. Ren's and Manta's eyes were as large as dinner plates as they witnessed Hao's further loss of the cool, calm character he really was.

"Nii-chan daijoubu." Yoh reassured him as he thumped him on his back to help him get over the coughs. "We do this all the time." He picked up a sponge and lathered it up as he waited for Hao to turn away.

The long haired Shaman sighed. He knew there wasn't any way out of this. It didn't stop him from trying, though.

"Chotto… chotto matte!" he tried to talk his way out of it. "I'm hungry, I want some food!"

"Nani!" Yoh grinned. "I'll cook a delicious lunch for you afterwards, okay? There's nothing wrong with me scrubbing your back. You can scrub mine later, Nii-Channn…" He whined, trying to placate his twin.

"Hai… hai…" Hao agreed, subdued. He leant against the side of the hot bath as Yoh happily scrubbed his back.

"Ne, Ren." Manta started. "How long are you staying here for?"

"If what Hao says is true, then not for long." Ren replied. "I need to train some more so I can defeat Yoh. I will be the Shaman King!" he proclaimed proudly, as he always did.

"Ah." Yoh smiled at him. "Daijoubu. I don't really want to fight you because I don't really want to be the Shaman King now."

"Uh?!" Ren stared at him, flabbergasted.

"There's no reason for me to be the Shaman King." Yoh replied happily. "Onii-san doesn't want to rid the world of humans anymore. The only reason I entered it was to defeat him and also give Anna an easy life. She's having an easy life now, isn't she?"

One could almost hear the crickets chirping, except there weren't any at that time of year.

"You do realize that Anna's going to murder you, right?" Ren said. "Not that I'm concerned, but what happens after I become the Shaman King? Is she going to come for me then?"

"Don't talk about Anna like that." Yoh said staring at him, not unkindly. "I love her. She loves me, although she doesn't show it the way people usually do." He continued scrubbing Hao's back.

"Besides…" He continued. "I don't want to fight my friends. I had enough problems with Lyserg when he joined the X-laws. There's really no reason for me to win any more." He finished, smiling at them again.

"That's where you're wrong." Hao spoke up, from being silent for the past conversation. "You see, Yoh. You HAVE to become to Shaman King because if you don't, MY former minions will continue my original plan of seeing the world rid of humans."

"How do you know that?" Ren asked, skeptically.

"I know." Hao's answer was clear and concise. He looked up at the sky again knowingly, as if to confirm what he had said was really true, although it was daytime.

"Matte oh." Ren spat out. "You mean you looked at some stars and figured this out?"

"What's so hard to believe about that?"

"Baka. No one can tell what the stars really mean."

"I can." Hao smiled sweetly like he always did when he was having an argument. "Even from five hundred years ago I could tell what the world was going to be like today. And all that just from reading the stars."

"I don't believe it." Ren was adamant. Hao continued grinning.

"Fine." He said. "Don't. And all this time I'll be training Yoh so he'll defeat you in the end."

Ren's hair became just a little pointer and stiffer.

"Kisama! I never said I didn't want training anyway!" he shouted. "If you're training Yoh then I'll stay here for as long as I need!"

"Ah… Daijoubu desu." Yoh smiled happily again. He didn't voice out the fact that Ren was easily accepting the help of a former arch enemy, Hao, in his blind ploy to become more powerful. No matter, it would just mean more company for the coming winter months. He began to wash Hao's hair without his consent, although he didn't really need to ask for it.

"Yoh, do you still have the Spirit of The Earth?" Hao asked. "It's important for me to know so I can train you on the proper way to use it."

Yoh nodded.

"Hai, Onii-chan." He replied. "I still have him. And Amidamaru." He added.

"Sugoi, sugoi." (Good, good). "We can try multi-spirit Oversouls then." Hao said wistfully. "I wonder how your oversoul would look. A samurai combined with the Spirit of Earth. Interesting."

They exited the water, feeling calm and refreshed, and headed back into the inn. As expected, Anna was watching her favourite soap on the television, while idly toying with her beads, and Faust was feeding himself intravenously. The afternoon sun poured in through the various openings that the inn had, giving it an almost natural perspective.

"Okay, I'll cook lunch now." Yoh announced, before heading toward the kitchen. Manta and Ren stared at him.

"Dressed in that towel?" Yoh stopped abruptly.

"Ah… domo." He sighed. "Gomen, Hao. I'll get you some clothes."

He dashed upstairs and returned with another one of those white school shirts he usually wore when not fighting, and a pair of brown denim trousers. Hao picked them up with distaste.

"Nanda Kore wa?" he retorted. "Do you expect me to wear these things? I have my own clothes, thanks."

"Iie, Nii-san." Yoh said, grinning. "You're not wearing those filthy blown out trousers before I've washed them. Anna will kill me if she sees you walking about in those."

"Hai…" Hao sighed.

He donned the clothing, keeping well out of sight of Anna. He missed his loose fitting poncho. The freedom to move his arms about and not be constricted by this long sleeved dress shirt. For a moment he considered buttoning it up, but discarded the idea as he realized that he would be about a size larger than Yoh, seeing as his body was more developed. He tied his hair neatly round the back of his head instead of letting it run freely as he always did.

Manta and Ren had a double take when they he entered the kitchen to stand beside Yoh.

"Both of you look absolutely the same!" Manta exclaimed, while Ren glared on, clad in his usual Chinese training clothes missing the slippers as he was indoors. Hao chose to ignore them, and so did Yoh.

"Sooo… otouto, what's for lunch?"

"I'm trying a new recipe." Yoh replied, sticking his tongue out as he gutted an eel. "Fried eel with tempura. And miso soup, of course. Anna gets cranky when she doesn't have her daily take of soup."

Hao's stomach chose that inappropriate moment to growl loudly. Yoh grinned at him, while Ren and Manta gawked… again.

"Did you see that?" Manta whispered to Ren. "Hao actually gets hungry!"

Ren nodded, staring for a bit before getting milk out of the refrigerator. He was about to drink from the carton when Yoh lifted it from his hands.

"Sorry. Anna doesn't like it when people drink directly from that." He got Ren a glass and poured the milk for him. "There." He replaced the half full carton back and slammed the door shut.

Manta followed Ren to the living room where they sat quietly next to Anna and tried to enjoy her soap opera.

"When am I going to start training?" Yoh asked tentatively, as he fried the eel on low heat.

"Today, of course." Hao grinned.

"Ah… nani?" Yoh groaned. "Just give me a few more days of rest."

"I cannot." Hao said evilly. "You need to start training so you can beat all my 'gumi's. They have attained great power because of my teachings, and also because I wasn't there to restrict them from what they have learnt."

"Demo… demo…" Yoh tried to protest. "You're not well enough. Look at that wound!" he ran his finger down Hao's torso, feeling the cut he had made and causing his twin to stiffen up.

"Ahh! Yamenasai!" he slapped Yoh's hand away, panting with the pain. "You're out to hurt me, aren't you?"

"Iie." Yoh grinned. "That's nothing compared to what you and Anna are going to do to me for the next two months."

"Are you done with lunch yet?!" Anna's voice nearly lifted the roof. "You wouldn't let your beloved go hungry for the next three minutes would you?!"

"Ahh! Iie!" Yoh shouted back. "Although I think three minutes is pushing it." He said to Hao softly.

Hao smiled back. This was going to be a long two months. And he still needed to get his Great Spirit back.

Meanwhile in Hell, the Great Spirit was reincarnated, even more powerful than before. Hao felt the sudden surge of furyoku and smiled. This time, when he went back to hell to claim what was his, he wouldn't be alone.


I really had fun typing up this chapter. However though, I have no more chapters waiting on "Standby" so you'll have to wait a few days for the posting of the next one. Don't worry, I like writing, so I promise you all chapters will be at LEAST 3,500 words. Review if you like the story so far. It's always nice to have other people commenting on your work, no matter how long the reviews are, or what's in them.

The more reviews, the more interesting the story gets as I pick up other people's ideas!!