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Chapter Three: "Trust"
Ren bolted off toward Lyserg's body as soon as he could, for the green haired one was so full of rage and anticipation that he had began to sprint without another word spoken. It didn't seem to register completely in his mind that he was no match for the eldest Asakura. Luckily Ren got as close as he did when he did. He reached his hand forward and snatched the back of Lyserg's collar. He muttered Chinese curses beneath his breath as he proceeded to ground his heels into the mud and rip his body backward with all of the strength in his toned arms. At that moment, Lyserg's body was torn back through the air. The space his body once occupied was now replaced by a flare of flames that whipped in the center of the sky at the arrival of Asakura Hao.
Had Ren not have grabbed Lyserg at that moment, he would have been burned surely. They both fell backwards into the mud and the dirt as the laughter of the male filled the air and the other sleeping shaman awoke, suddenly aware of the presence that was now before them.
Lyserg coughed and spit, having caught mud in his mouth, staining his teeth. Cringing and wiping his mouth, he turned his head up toward Ren who got up before he had. ...Things always were like this, right? Ren had saved him on numerous occasions. The thought of Ren specifically looking out for him was a comforting one, but it was a bit of a stretch. When he first met Ren and Horohoro, he had defeated them effortlessly and ended up sending them to the hospital, completely destroying their weapons. When he found out Ren's past, he figured he was lucky that the other didn't swear some sort of revenge on him and decided instead to allow him to join their group and defend him.
Right now, Ren was being his protector like it seemed he always was. His hands were covered in mud, gripped in tight fists. Their guardian ghosts weren't there to help them, so why was Hao here? Did he actually plan on killing them now? Or did he have some sort of plan that they weren't aware of?
The green haired dowser heard the sounds of the other shaman rising up. Yoh stood up suddenly, almost as if the ache in his stomach didn't quite exist anymore, while Ryu and Horohoro were a bit slow to start.
"Nii-chan, what ar-" Yoh started in before Hao's slightly deeper voice (definitely more domineering voice) corrected him.
"I told you not to call me that."
Hao had appeared in mid-air it seemed and eventually he landed upon the ground with a gentle thud; clamor made from the rather large red lego boots he wore. Everyone's eyes were fixated on him but he didn't seem to move immediately. His intent was not clear at the moment, considering how his hands were hidden from sight by his poncho. Was he trying to attack?
Lyserg forced himself to stand up, trying to make it seem as if he weren't cowering behind Ren when that ended up being the case. None of them had their spirits on them, but when it came up to raw strength and fighting ability, Lyserg figured that Ryu and Ren had the best chances. But who was he trying to kid? This was Asakura Hao wasn't it?
"Hiding from me? That's unusual," Hao spoke brazenly, his eyes not even making contact with anyone. The shaman's eyes began to drift around, wondering exactly who it could be that he was speaking to since he seemed to stare off into nothingness.
Slowly however, Hao's eyes began to drift in Lyserg's direction. During this time, Ren gritted his teeth and allowed his eyes to wander about the landscape without moving his body. Where had their spirits gone? How could Hao sneak up on them without their spirits recognizing it?
"Oh, don't worry about your spirits. They are blissfully unaware that I am here. I didn't harm them. I didn't come here for them," Asakura Hao spoke, easily reading Ren's mind.
That was the one thing that got on Tao Ren's nerves, feeling as if none of his inner most thoughts were sacred when that bastard could stare into his head and pluck them out like eyelashes. His knuckles turned white until a numbing feeling took over them, causing him to open and close his hands to avoid completely exploding. All of them had the same unexplainable rage in their hearts toward him, but none of them could jump. They knew that the moment they did, they would be roasted; toast in a mere second.
"...What do you want from us?" Yoh led in first since the rest seemed to be hell bent on winning a staring contest with him until he spoke up on his intentions.
Lyserg noticed the way that every time Hao's eyes came back toward him, the purple haired male in front of him tensed up; his arms growing thicker with the rage he held inside when his hands tightened and his muscles. Ren's eyes began to slim vertically, glowering toward the Asakura in question. The air was thick with some sort of anticipation. Despite the fact that all of them, Ren being the number one proprietor, appeared to not shake with fear, when Hao began to raise his hand up Lyserg saw him shiver slightly. Hao's hand movement was feathery, and he held his hand out toward Ren... or the male cowering behind him.
"I would like to have a little chit-chat with Lyserg."
"You bastard," Ren started in immediately after.
Lyserg had his hands rested on Ren's shoulder blades as he stood behind him, unsure on where to place himself. From here, he could feel the way that he tensed up and he pulled his hands back. Hao began to laugh and Lyserg took it upon himself to move from behind the protection of his friend and into the open. The boy wasn't quite sure what he was thinking. Maybe he was crazy. He didn't know at the moment. It was something done on pure impulse when he opened up his arms and his wide stance spoke for itself before words passed his lips.
"Let's go then, you and me, mano a mano."
"What?" Ren began with his head whipping toward the green haired one. "You can't be serious, can you? You know he'd tear you in half!"
"I think we can trust him," spoke a voice that seemed to brim with that awkward innocence he'd always carried.
It was assumed that everyone in the immediate area stopped what they were doing just to glance in the direction of the person almost idiotic enough to make that kind of statement. There stood Asakura Yoh, not with some sort of grin on his face or anything but a look of genuine contentment. It was a bit unsettling, and thus he was met with many "WHAT"s, some more louder than others.
"What are you even saying?" Horohoro started in. To be honest, he didn't really care about Lyserg all that much, but the prospect of someone trusting Hao with anything was a bit farfetched.
"Well, I mean..." Yoh began, blinking gently and holding his finger up to his face. It seemed that even Hao was eager to see the others explanation for this.
"I can take care of myself, right Yoh?" Lyserg asked, glancing over his shoulder some, noticing the way that Ren seemed to pass a glance toward him before Yoh spoke again.
"No it's not that. Hao could incinerate any one of us right now if he really wanted to, and it's obvious that's not what he's doing. I believe, regardless of what the subject matter really is, he does want to just talk to Lyserg," Yoh spoke with that soft reasoning that the others had exhibited from him. A few of them, namely Ryu who stood by Yoh's side no matter what, were appeased by this whereas Ren was clearly showing the other side of the coin.
"So you mean to tell me that just because he could kill us and he hasn't, means that letting him just have Lyserg is a good idea?"
"Well, if he was going to hurt him or kill him, why not just do it here?" Yoh proposed.
The more that Yoh spoke, the more aggravated the young Tao was getting with this sort of argument. It made absolutely no sense to him and he wasn't about to try and think that it did. When his eyes floated back toward Lyserg, he didn't like the thought of letting him go with Hao. Ren still thought of that loss against him with Horohoro as a fluke. There is no way he'd be able to defend himself against Hao. Ren lost because he had underestimated him. Hao could win no matter what. He could underestimate all he wanted with the Spirit of Fire by his side. Even without that, the powers he'd received over the past 1,000 years or so surpassed all of them.
Hao seemed to notice this sudden influx of thoughts regarding him and his power and took a moment to give a gentle smile toward Ren.
"If you know all of this, you'd better listen to your friends."
Ren's entire body seemed to shake for a moment as his muscles tightened and forced him to keep a stationary position. Otherwise, he might just be too tempted to attempt clocking that bastard in the face. Lyserg frowned a bit, noticing Ren's spontaneous amount of interest he seemed to show and found it fit to console him. He just didn't know what to say.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Lyserg spoke airily before his eyes glared back toward Asakura Hao. "I wouldn't let him lay a damn finger on me."
The amount of defiance in the younger boy's voice was enough to make Hao begin to laugh, and despite how genuinely amused it sounded, perhaps that was the reason that everyone began to feel a little bit unsettled. His laugh seemed to expand in the air and command the attention of the ears around him. When he was finished he stepped forward and swiftly snaked the boy's wrist inside his palm. Lyserg pulled away instantly but to no avail. He'd go with Hao, but he didn't like being touched by him at all.
"We'll see you soon," he uttered promptly before his location with Lyserg was suddenly enveloped with fire; and just like that, they were gone.
