Another week had passed by and Hao´s face was better. He still did fall sometimes when he wasn´t careful enough, but he never let that hold him down.
Yoh was always there to help him and the rest of the team aswell.
The day was starting sunny and everyone were on a happy mood. Even Anna.
She had let Yoh and Hao have the morning off. The twins laid in the sunshine eyes closed and smiling. Nothing could go wrong, right?
Wrong.
--
"Hey Anna? Are you feeling ok?" Yoh asked. "Why do you ask?"
"You seem a little out of it. Is something wrong?" Anna sighed. "I don´t know. Somehow I just feel that something bad is going to happen." Anna said. Yoh frowned. "I hope you´re wrong. We don´t need any more bad things happening."
Anna nodded. She agreed with Yoh. It had been a rough month, but they´ve survived somehow, so they really didn´t need anymore worries.
--
It was dinner time. Yoh, Anna and Hao were eating in silence. Tamao had gone somewhere and told she´d be back tomorrow. Ren was in China. Horo, Ryu and Choco were in town, but haven´t visited in few days.
Yoh sighed. "Why are you so quiet? It´s boring already so would you two just talk?" He complained. Hao raised his head towards Yoh. "Why talk, when there´s nothing to say?" He asked. Yoh sighed again and more loudly. "You know, you´re starting to sound more filosofic by the day." Hao pouted. That made Yoh laugh and even Anna smile.
A knock was heard from the door.
"Now, who could that be?" Yoh asked himself and stood up.
--
He opened the door and froze. "Yoh, honey." Keiko said and wrapped her arms around her son. "Nice to see you! You´ve been ok?" She continued as Yoh still remained silent. After Keiko, Mikihisa, Yohmei and Kino walked in.
"W..what are you all doing here?" Yoh asked once he found his voice. "It´s a suprise visit." Yohmei said. "We wanted to see if you´ve been slacking off after the tournament." Yoh laughed nervously, hoping that Anna had heard them come in and hid Hao somewhere.
"Anna, nice to see you." Keiko smiled. Anna bowed. "Aswell." She said.
"Okay either she was really fast or we´re in big trouble." Yoh thought.
"Well are you going to invite us in?" Kino asked. More like commanded. Yoh nodded and led them into the living room.
--
"So
how´ve you two been?" Mikihisa asked and took a sip of his tea.
"Just fine..." Yoh said. He felt so uneasy. He didn´t
know where Hao was, so he hoped that Anna had hid him well.
"Good to hear." Keiko smiled. "It´s been so long since we last saw each other." Everyone nodded. "Well, it´s nice that you visited us now..." Anna said.
"Are
you two feeling ok?" Mikihisa asked. Anna and Yoh nodded "Of
course dad." Yoh said. "Why wouldn´t we be?"
"Well,
you seem a little weird." Anna and Yoh glanced each other. "This
is bad! If they find him..." Anna thought. She had told Hao
to go to his room. She didn´t tell why though.
They talked another ten minutes or so and everything was going well.
"I´ll get more tea." Yohmei said and stood up. Anna and Yoh jumped up aswell. "NO!" They shouted.
Everyone blinked at them. "What are you...?" Yohmei started. "We can get it!" They said together. "Oh no, I may be old, but I can get my own tea." He said and opened the kitchen door.
Everyone fell silent.
"Yoh...?"
--
Hao stood by the doorway and felt that a hundred pair of eyes were staring at him.
"Yoh...?" He whispered.
Yohmei dropped the teapot on the floor and jumped away from Hao. "What are you doing here, you demon!?" Yohmei yelled angrily and prepared to fight. As did Mikihisa and Kino. Keiko stood back and stared. This was the first time, since they were babies, that she saw him. She couldn´t bring herself to say anything.
"Stop!" Yoh shouted and moved himself infront of Hao. "Don´t hurt him!" Anna yelled without thinking. She didn´t want them to hurt Hao. Even though Hao pretty much deserved it, but by the time, she had grown fond of him. He was her friend.
"Yoh, step aside." Mikihisa commanded his son. "No." Yoh said. "He hasn´t done anything." "He´s done enough!" Kino gritted her teeth. "He´s a monster!"
Again that word.
"I
won´t let you hurt him." Yoh said still not moving. "He
may have done all those things back then, but he´s changed! Give him
a chance!"
"That´s the last thing we´ll do!"
Mikihisa said angrily. "He killed my other son!" Yoh
gasped. "It didn´t go like that!" He tried. "Yoh, we
know better than you, so step aside." Kino ordered.
"No!"
"Move.
Now!"
"I told you, I won´t let you touch him!"
"STOP IT!!"
Everyone fell silent. Yoh turned and look at Hao. "H..Hao?" He whispered.
"Stop fighting...Stop it..." Hao wrapped his arms around himself. His eyes were wide and he was shaking.
Anna gasped. She remembered once when she had yelled at Yoh for not doing something he should and Yoh shot back at her. Hao had been the same. He was scared. Scared of someone being angry. Yelling. Whether it was to him or someone else. He was scared.
"Hao?" She tried.
Hao felt his knees shaking. He had to get out.
He rushed away from the room hearing Yoh´s desperate cries after him. He wanted to get away from them. From everyone.
"Hao!"
Yoh shouted after him, but his father held him down.
"Yoh,
let him go. It´s better that he disappeared from everyone´s lifes."
Mikihisa said. Yoh gritted his teeth.
"Yoh we have to
find." Anna said as she stood up. "Anna." Kino warned.
"I´m sorry, but he needs us right now."
Yoh pulled
himself out of his father´s grip. "Yoh!" Yohmei said.
"Don´t you dare to leave that door."
Yoh and Anna both stopped. "I´m sorry. But I have to find him before he gets himself killed."
"And why would he? He knows how to fight." Mikihisa said.
"He´s blind." Anna answered for Yoh.
--
Hao had run as far as he could without collapsing. He felt the tears in his eyes starting to fall.
"Damn it...Damn me for being so weak.." He cursed. He didn´t want to be like that. He wanted his old self back. Not the homicidal maniac, but the strong one.
A raindrop fell on his face.
"Great...Just what I needed." He grumped and walked on and tried to find som shelter. No way in hell he was going back to Yoh´s house, until his family was gone.
--
"Where
is he?!" Yoh asked loudly from himself. He and Anna had been
looking for him a good while now, but he was nowhere to be found.
"You don´t think he could summon the Spirit of Fire?"
Yoh asked. Anna shaked his head. "His energy is almost zero, so
there´s no way he could do anything of a kind. And the fact that his
blind don´t help it. He needs to be careful."
Yoh nodded. He was so worried for his brother. Hao couldn´t defend himself. He could be attacked this very moment Yoh was thinking. He just wanted him back.
"Yoh?" Anna interrupted him. "Sorry, let´s go." Yoh said and starting walking again. Anna nodded and followed him.
--
The rest
of the family were still sitting in the inn and thinking of what Anna
had just said.
"I hope those two know what they are doing."
Yohmei said. "Either way, we still have to get rid of Hao. The
counsil knows what to do so we give him to them." Kino nodded. "I
just don´t understand how the children could defend that monster
like that?"
Keiko stood up suddenly. Mikihisa turned his head to his wife. "Keiko, what is it?" He asked. Keiko just frowned. "Keiko?" Kino tried.
She still didn´t say anything, but rushed towards the door. "Keiko!" Mikihisa stopped her.
"Where do you think you´re going?" Yohmei asked.
"I´m going to find them." Keiko said and ran out of the door to the rain.
"I´ll go after her." Mikihisa said. "We´ll all go." Kino said and stood up.
--
Hao sat
under a big tree trying to avoid getting wet, but it was no use. He
felt his cheeks getting wet. "I´m such an idiot. Why did I think
that I would be welcomed to them. I´ve done so much wrong that I
couldn´t possibly..." Hao sniffed. He was just so tired.
"If
I just close my eyes for a moment..." He mumbled and fell asleep.
--
"Yoh,
let´s get back!" Anna shouted. The rain was falling so hard that
it was hard to hear the other.
"We can´t, we have to find
him!" Yoh answered. "He could have gone home already!" Anna
said. "Please Yoh, we´ll get sick like this!" Yoh sighed. Anna
was right. If they got sick, there´s no way that they could seek Hao
later.
"Okay Anna."
"Yoh!"
Anna and Yoh raised their heads towards the shout. "Dad?" Yoh asked confused. Mikihisa ran to them followed by Yohmei, Kino and Keiko.
"Are you
two alright?" Keiko asked. The both kids nodded.
"Let´s go
back to the house." Mikihisa said. Yoh whimpered. He wanted to stay
and search for his brother, but Anna was clearly shivering so he
coulnd´t keep her in the rain.
"I see you haven´t found
him yet." Yohmei said, clearly reliefed. "No." Yoh said
unhappy. "We have to try tomorrow."
"Yoh, son," Mikihisa
started. "It would be better to let him be. He doesn´t belong
here."
Yoh gritted his teeth. Some part of him wanted to punch
his father for saying that, but he knew that he was telling the
truth. Hao could never be accepted by everyone. Lyzerg obviously
hated him and his own family. There was no way....
"Keiko?"
Yoh snapped out of his thoughts by Yohmei´s voice. Keiko was staring towards her eye´s wide.
She started walking. "Keiko?" mikihisa asked.
She started to run. "KEIKO!!" They yelled after her. "Mom!" Yoh shouted. They ran after her not knowing what she was up to.
They reached Keiko under a tree where she was kneeling on the dirty ground.
"Keiko, what are you..?!" Yohmei shouted angrily before seeing what his daughter was holding.
Hao.
Keiko turned her head to them. Clearly saying that she needed help. Yoh and Anna were the first one by her side. Yoh gasped as he saw his brother. Hao was soked to the bone and deadly pale. But he was sleeping. "Mikihisa. Help me, please." Keiko said.
Mikihisa frowned. He knew he shouldn´t help that monster, but he trusted Keiko, so he walked to them and lifted Hao up to his arms. "We´ll have to be quick." He said. Keiko smiled softly thanking him.
"Let´s go."
--
AN: Okay maybe I´ll make another chapter since this is already mucnh longer than the others...
I hope you like this chappie! Please leave a review! ^^