Chapter Seven
Viva la Vida
A/N:
I've changed my mind folks. The next chapter contains the climax, not this one. I wrote half of this and thought that I needed to add some things that I was going to push off to afterwards. But, I decided to put them here. It would drag on the next chapter forever, and thus, I think it would be distracting after reading so much in one installment. I'm just making sure that it will come out right, instead of half-assed. :D
Yeah, I get to pick on Hao. It's too fun to pass up.
I hope that if you are reading this that you have at least finished reading the Ozorezan Reservoir arc in the main SK story. If you haven't, then…blah.
BTW, I think the plural form shaman is shaman. Shamen isn't a word and shamans sounds a little strange to me. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. And what do you call a group of shaman? I have no clue, but I'm tempted to make a name for them…
I chose the title of the chapter rather for what it means than the actual song. It literally means 'live the life.'
I do not own Shaman King, which belongs to Hiroyuki Takei, or any songs by Nickelback and Coldplay. This is merely a work of fiction, much to my own disappointment.
ooOOooOOoo
Yoh awoke to a set of brown eyes identical to his own staring intently back at him. He cried out, rolling away from them and burying himself back in to the covers of his futon.
"What the hell were you thinking last night? Were you drunk?"
"What," Yoh questioned toward the angry voice coming from somewhere above him.
"I woke up to find your drooling mug mere inches from mine and realized that I had no idea when, why, or how I got here. Give me some answers before I beat them out of you."
"I…," his mind came up blank.
"You're useless. You probably can't even remember our own family name at this hour of the day."
"Wait…what time is it?"
"Quarter after seven."
"Why didn't my alarm go off!"
"Silly humans and their instruments are beyond my comprehension."
"Breakfast has to be ready in forty-five minutes! Anna will kill me!"
"Oh, well. I never liked you anyway."
"You're going to help," he commanded, jumping out from beneath the bed covers and grabbing Hao by the front of his yukata.
"Let go of me," he shouted back, attempting to rip his twin's hand off with his own.
"Tough luck. Rules of the house mandate that you get to do what I say until you learn how to respect others."
"You insolent brat! I only agreed to those rules so that Anna would let me go!"
"She wrote a spell for it," he declared, letting go of Hao," Apparently she used one of the methods that she found in your book."
Hao's angry face took on a pale hue.
"She wouldn't tell me what would happen if you refused, though. She said you knew."
"Fine," he uttered quickly.
"Is it that bad of a punishment?"
"Never mind," he said, shaking his head and causing the long hair behind him to sway at the motion," Let's move."
With his eyes still clouded from sleep, Yoh walked out of the sun drenched room. Hao followed behind, yawning as his muscles stretched. They climbed down the stairs and made their way around the house to the kitchen.
"Did you sleep well," the younger asked.
"Why do you want to know," he said bitterly.
"Just curious."
"You're just trying to hide the fact that you're concerned for my health. I don't need a sling."
"Yeah. You're absolutely right," Yoh mocked.
"Somebody grew a backbone overnight. A very flimsy one, mind you."
"Just answer the question, Hao. You don't have to be so moody first thing in the morning."
"Well, I'm feeling generous today, so I'll enlighten you with my thoughts. The answer to your question is no, I did not."
Yoh stopped in his tracks, the flood of last night's memories finally returning to him. With a startled look at Hao, who was walking away as Yoh stood there, he forced his mind to draw a complete blank. The elder of the two stopped as well, his back to his twin.
"What were you just thinking?"
"Uh…I forgot."
"Yeah," he said, turning and walking over to him," and I'm a princess." Hao shoved him against the wall and drew his face close to his twin. His eyes searched Yoh's looking for an answer. They burned with fire suddenly as he locked his reishi onto Yoh's mind.
"What are you hiding from me," he demanded, his voice taking on strangely hollow and foreboding aspect. Yoh stared back, the blank wall of his thoughts protecting his mind from Hao's dangerous one.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about what Anna wanted for breakfast."
"You know that you're a terrible liar?"
"Yes."
Hao's eyes narrowed as he continued to search for anything that would give away, anything at all, about what his twin had been thinking. He found nothing, just blank resistance.
He huffed out of annoyance, turning around and storming away from Yoh in to the kitchen. His twin followed shortly after.
That was close.
"I heard that. Don't think that I won't find out."
"Whatever you say, Hao."
"Where do you keep your knives?"
"Uh…last drawer on the right," he admitted apprehensively. Somehow, he didn't think that Hao should have access to them.
"I'm just helping," the elder assured, taking out a large butcher's knife," Or do you not want me to?"
"No, I appreciate it."
"Good, my service rarely is," he grumbled and walked around the room, searching the drawers," What are we cooking?"
"Mmm…Rice and eggs?"
"You don't sound sure of yourself," he mocked, opening up the fridge," What does she normally eat?"
"Rice and eggs."
"That's boring," he looked around inside," Let's make something better."
"Like what," he asked.
He sneered wickedly at his twin, popping his head up over the door of the fridge to do so. The action made Yoh uneasy.
"Excellent," he laughed cruelly, "You can leave me alone now."
"I'm not sure that Anna will…," he began, but the rest died out as he took in the vicious glare that Hao flashed him.
"Grow up. I won't poison the food."
"I…Anna…."
The ex-pyro growled and slammed the fridge door shut. He walked over to the Yoh, spun him around, and pushed him out of the room. The sliding door shut behind him with a loud snap.
Confused at what just happened, the young shaman sat down at the table and stared in to space. The sounds of chopping and dicing soon accompanied soft footsteps from within. With nothing better to do than stare in to space, Yoh laid down his head and surrendered to sleep.
****
It felt like barely a second had passed by when the younger of the Asakura twins was hit painfully in the back of the head with a hard, blunt object.
"Ouch," he shrieked from the floor, clutching his skull. Seeing pretty white stars dancing around his field of vision, he looked up at his attacker. Hao, unsurprising, stood above him with a rather smug look on his face, a large frying pan held in his right hand.
"You hit me with a pan," he said incredulously.
"Yes, I did. It was very satisfying, too," he smirked, raising the pan again to hit him a second time.
"OK, I'm awake! What do you want?"
Hao stopped aiming, "Set the table. Your lady will want food momentarily."
"Fine," he assured," help me up."
"I don't feel like it," Hao admitted with a shrug, walking back in to the kitchen.
Yoh groaned, and nimbly jumped up to his feet. He slid the door of the kitchen open and walked in. He stood in the doorway, too shocked to say anything.
The small island in the middle of the room and the counters beyond were covered in massive plates of prepared food. Among them, Yoh could make out yakizakana, kare raisu, onigri, and yakodon. There was also another dish that he had never seen before that looked like a loaf of freshly baked wheat bread. The cuisine appeared to have come straight out of the Heian era and looked and smelled absolutely delicious. His mouth watered while his stomach growled menacingly.
"You like?"
He turned around to face Hao, a smile spreading on his face. The onmyôji stood impassive with his arms across his chest, watching his twin for a response.
"This is uncommonly kind of you, Hao."
He snorted. "Don't get that idea stuck in your head. I didn't do it for you. I was just sick of the lowly things that you make. They can barely pass off as edible."
"You keep telling that to yourself. You're just embarrassed at the fact that you actually did something nice for a change."
"I would never do anything nice for some bastard such as you," he scowled.
"Whatever. I don't believe you."
"Don't 'whatever' someone who just slaved over a stove for the last hour in the sake of feeding your sorry ass."
"Actually, it was forty-five minutes," he corrected.
"Don't mock me. I'll snap your neck."
"Fine, just do it after Anna gets her food. You'll have a better chance of living after I die," he sighed, grabbing a few of the numerous plates and making his way back to the living room. Hao mimicked his actions, murmuring to himself as he did so.
"That's more like it."
Once all the plates, drinks, and utensils were out on the table, the residents of the inn began to file in a slow trickle. Ren, wide awake and dressed, was naturally the first. Followed by him were the half-dead bodies of Ryu, Horo-Horo and Chocolove. Manta and Tamao came next and sat down at their respective seats near Yoh. Faust came some time later, an IV drip already in his arm. Anna came second to last, eyeing the food with a critical eye and taking her usual seat to Yoh's left at the head of the table. Hao seated himself to his other side, intently waiting for the last person to enter the room.
Hao, Yoh thought at him, knowing that he would hear it regardless of whether he wanted to hear it or not, when he comes in, please don't say anything to him. He won't eat the food if he knows you made it all.
The ex-shaman showed no outward sign that he had heard him. He only watched as Lyserg walked in from hallway and sat down stiffly across from him. His broken nose was bandaged awkwardly, making the British boy look like he had a white beak. Hao smirked at his accomplishment, his own shoulder not even bothering him. They glared daggers at each other.
Anna spoke sternly, addressing the growing tension in the room," I don't want any fighting this morning. The person to strike first gets kicked outside without food for the rest of the day and can clean the onsen with his own toothbrush. Now, I'm hungry, so let's eat."
With explosive vigor, the assembled crowd attacked the food in front of them. Horo² ate in massive bites, barely tasting, or even knowing what the things he stuffed down his throat were. Ren studied the food carefully, judging every aspect of the things he had never seen before eating them. Satisfied that they were OK to eat, he dug in with renewed hunger. Yoh tasted his twin's efforts like Ren had, but succumbed to nearly crying at the sheer deliciousness of it. Certainly, Hao was a much better cook than him. Even Anna and Lyserg ate more than their fill, a rare occasion for the former. Yoh couldn't help but feel a sense of smug accomplishment emanating from Hao, who ate his own food contentedly.
Anna suddenly turned to Yoh and gave him one of the only compliments he had ever received from her. He could have sobbed with happiness, but he knew it was really Hao who deserved the credit.
"The food is good Yoh. Almost too good for your skill level."
"Thanks Anna, I---."
"I made the food," Hao stated flatly, watching the boy opposite him as he did so.
Lyserg suddenly clutched his neck, trying to make himself vomit. The others situated around the table stared at Hao in stunned silence, but not taking the news to the extreme that the British shaman had.
"Lyserg, enough," Anna commanded," the food is fine. Great, actually."
Yoh stared at his fiancé with a bewildered look on his face.
"What," she questioned coldly," It is."
"Sorry to say it Yoh," Ren said," but your twin here beats you in the cooking field. By a long shot, too."
"I have to agree with him, Yoh. As much as I hate to say it, he beats your food any day," Horo-Horo seconded messily, his mouth still filled with food.
The other people assembled nodded in silent agreement.
"I don't believe this," Yoh whispered to himself.
By this time, Lyserg was on the floor faking fatal poisoning.
Hao cackled at both the unintelligent display of child-like behavior and the thrill of finally beating Yoh in something that didn't require shamanic powers to accomplish.
"Lyserg, he didn't poison the food," Yoh assured," He ate it himself, remember?"
"How could you know that," the greenette challenged, stopping the silly charade," it could be some sick suicide attempt."
"I didn't, but that's actually not a bad idea. At least it would get me away from him," he admitted, jabbing a thumb in Yoh's direction.
"If you ever do so, I will personally make sure that you spend your afterlife in eternal agony," the okami hissed.
"As long as I don't have to see your fiancé's face in hell, I really don't care. It doesn't matter anyway. You'll all be dead when my powers return."
The room went even quieter than it already was. Lyserg had had enough of this, standing up and storming out of the room without another word. Hao watched him go, waving goodbye to his back.
"Which reminds me," Anna said casually, throwing Yoh off guard," Goldva contacted me last night and said that she was sending over someone today. She would have come herself, especially after not visiting before we left, but she was too busy. Something urgent about the Great Spirit acting up. She wouldn't elaborate."
"How does that remind you of hell?"
"It's what we were planning on after they came that reminded me. You can do it tonight. I don't want any objections," she commanded.
"Why would I ever object to something like that?"
"Because you have to teach him before you get to do it."
It took Yoh a good minute to recall what they were conversing about. He paled as the realization hit him.
"What are you guys talking about," said a rather confused-looking Chocolove.
"Yeah," Horo-Horo said," You two aren't making any sense. You're hiding something good and I want to know what it is."
Anna looked at them, glancing at Hao before she addressed them," You'll know after the Patch Official comes. Whoever he is, he can't know, at least not today."
"Why? We won't say anything. It's not as if you're stealing the great Spirits," Ren questioned," You aren't, are you?"
"Not exactly," Hao replied, the corner of his mouth beginning to curl up in a smirk.
"Not now, I said," The itako warned with a sharp glare to him," You can tell them later."
"Anna? Do we really have do it," Yoh asked in an alarm pitch.
"Yes. No objections from you, either."
He laughed nervously.
"Good. Now if you're done eating, go do the dishes. As for the rest of you," she addressed the mixed crowd," and Yoh when he is done, I want this house absolutely spotless before the Patch comes. That includes you, Hao. Judging by the fact that you cooked and brought out these dishes, your shoulder is fine."
"It never hurt anyway."
"I don't care. The point is that you can move without injuring it."
"You can move without hurting yourself," the doctor asked, baffled," It should take at least a week for that to happen."
"I told you, I'm fine. See," Hao said with great annoyance at having to repeat himself. He showed Faust, lifting his arm straight out over Manta's head.
"Interesting…," he mumbled, starting to talk to himself in fast, complex German.
"What are you all still doing at this table? I said move," Anna commanded.
"Actually, future sister-in-law, you didn't. You said that we had to get the house clean before the Patch came, not that we had to do it now," the Hao corrected. He flashed a charming smile at her, not at all looking unlike his twin.
"You dirty old man. Don't you dare flirt with me," the itako warned between clenched teeth.
"You never said that the other day. You know, when you came to 'talk' to me upstairs."
Anna was livid. Her eyes took on a murderous glint as she glared at Hao. Yoh froze in his seat, too scared of her to even warn his only sibling. Hao smiled back at her, not even fazed by her surmounting rage.
"If you want, I can tell them about what we discussed," he spoke, his eyes lighting up mischievously," I can't wait to see their faces once they realize that their 'Okami' is not as great as she may seem."
He was smacked across the face faster than Yoh's eyes could register. The loud sound of skin hitting skin at high speed echoed throughout the room and everyone went silent. Hao didn't seem too surprised himself, but rather the smile plastered on his visage continued to exist. A large red welt was beginning to form on his cheek; as small side effect of causing Anna to loose her temper. He quite liked it when she was angry with him.
"Fine, Anna," he said, the grin slowly fading off of his elegant features," I won't tell them. You can be the one to inform them of your little secret."
The itako was dangerously close to throwing him out the side of the house. She breathed deeply, trying to keep herself ignorant of his remarks.
"Yoh. I'm going for a walk in the city," Anna declared angrily," Make sure my inn isn't destroyed when I'm gone and finish your chores."
"Sure," he sighed.
"Tamao, come," she demanded.
"Coming Lady Anna," the pink girl squeaked. She jumped up to follow the angry woman out of the house, Ponchi and Conchi just behind her.
"Hao," Yoh whined," did you really have to push her that far? I was having a good day, and I doubt that I'll get any peace later tonight."
"Yes, I did. She was getting on my nerves."
"But that doesn't mean that you had to instigate her into smacking you! You could have done what she said and left the room without a big conflict."
"That is what you would have done," Hao accused," I, however, will not be talked down to by your 'intimidating' fiancé. You should stick up for yourself once in a while; you may end up somewhat confident."
"So? That's me! You still don't have to push her so much. That's why you're always getting yourself into these types of situations."
"I don't care. I'm not in the mood to deal with your ridiculously annoying voice," he exhaled noisily," I feel a migraine coming on, and if you don't mind, I'm going to some place dark and quiet to wait it out." He got up and walked off in the direction of his room.
"Is that your answer to all of my questions? To just walk away from them?"
Hao lifted his hand over his shoulder and flipped him off.
"Well, at least the food was good," Horo-Horo offered to the tense room.
"You blind-sided pig," said the Chinese shaman.
ooOOooOOoo
What have I gotten myself in to?
Silva asked himself that over and over again miserably, giving the seemingly stoic old inn a long stare. Truth be told, he was expecting the place to have burnt to the ground with giddy pyromaniac laughing his head off amidst the wreckage. Still, he thought, looking at the inn, something could still be wrong. To the average human passerby, the inn looked like any other inn. But, they had no idea that the place was inhabited by a group of goofy shaman and an anal, ancient, teen/man/child. Fearing for the worst, he walked under the stone archway and entered the house.
Inside, the shaman were running around in synchronized mayhem, if that made any sense. They were multi-tasking their chores, somehow not colliding with one another. Horo-Horo scrubbed the wood flooring of the hallways. Ren and Chocolove were cleaning the guest rooms, darting from one room to the next. As he passed by them, taking in the sight of this strange cooperative phenomenon. They didn't seem to notice Silva. He turned and watched as Ryu and Manta, a very mismatched pair, attempted to move the furniture around so that they could clean the dust off of them. Yoh and Hao were nowhere to be found.
A loud clanging sound from the room to his right proved otherwise. He walked over to what he presumed was the kitchen and stared at the housewife of a shaman. Yoh was on the cool floor sorting an eclectic display of cookware, completely absorbed in his own mess. The poncho-clad Patch grinned at his antics.
"Hey Yoh."
The Asakura shaman looked up, surprised at the sound directed at him. His face lit up as he realized who was talking to him and stood up to greet Silva.
"So they sent you," he said, smiling," I thought that Goldva would have sent one of the new officials."
"I offered to go. She agreed, mostly because I knew how to get here and wouldn't mind too much being around you guys. The others didn't objects, so it was all okay. They're too busy anyway."
"With what? I thought that the fight was over."
"Not necessarily. The Great Spirit hasn't given a true answer yet, but Goldva is suspecting otherwise."
"Really," Yoh inquired," What makes her say that?"
"Have you noticed any strange whether patterns?"
"Umm…Do you mean like a sudden drop in temperature in the middle of summer?"
"Yeah. That's one of them."
"What else is there?"
"An earthquake nearly decimated an entire village in China a few days ago. The whole area was torn up by some unseen force."
"And she thinks that the Elemental Spirits have something to do with these?"
"Yes. And what's more is that they aren't missing. The Spirit of Fire showed up not too long ago. It was kind of neat when they were reunited," the Patch admitted," They all lit up like lights of New Years."
"Cool, but that's a little suspicious, don't you think? When did it these phenomenon start happening?"
"Actually, the first was the cold front. So I guess it was the day you came back here."
"That's weird. She thinks it some kind of sign that the fight is really over?"
"Yeah, but that's Goldva for you. I think it's angry that the king hasn't been announced yet. By the way, where's Hao? I haven't seen him."
"He's…," Yoh started," well, he was sort of in a fight with Anna. It wasn't anything bad, really; he only ended up getting hit across the face. He's upstairs now, asleep I think."
"Anna did that," he asked incredulously," I knew she was easily ticked off, but what did he do to her? Did he attack her?"
"Not in the sense that you're thinking. He threatened to say something, and he was…well, you get the idea."
"Huh. Has anything else happened?"
"Not too much," Yoh sighed," he's been kind of quiet. I thought that it was because he hates the situation we're in, but I'm beginning to think otherwise. He's barely said a mouthful to me at a time, and most of the things he says are insults. Lyserg came to visit yesterday and didn't know that Hao was here. It was pretty ugly. They fought until Lyserg's nose was broken and Hao's shoulder dislocated. Again."
"Ouch," he winced," Any progress with making him friendlier?"
"Not really, but he did make breakfast this morning. That was a surprise."
"I wouldn't have thought of him as the kitchen type," he said, his eyebrows lifting in surprise," Hmm…Where is Lyserg now? I didn't see him either."
"Actually, I haven't seen him for about a couple of hours. He went to his room after he found out that Hao cooked and I haven't heard from him since."
"He won't attack him will he?"
"He said that he wouldn't, and no angry sounds have come from upstairs, so I assume that he won't."
"That's good to hear," Silva confessed," Why isn't Anna making Hao do any chores? I would have thought that she would do something like that."
"She has ordered him to, but he's ignored her. That and he said he had a migraine."
"Not too surprising."
"Yeah, he just got up and left. I think he's still tired after what happened last night."
"What happened last night? You mean the fight he got into with Lyserg?"
"No," he said quickly, forgetting that Silva had no idea what he was talking about.
The lights in the kitchen went out suddenly, followed by an angry whisper.
"Do you want to run that by me again?"
Hao stood just inside the closed door, his hand wavering over the light switch. He glared with bloodshot eyes at the two men in front of him.
"Hi Hao, Silva's here."
"Don't talk so loudly," he spoke in a low undertone, slamming his hands over his ears," I can barely listen to myself think with this headache. Your chattering was driving me up the Great Wall upstairs. Do you people have to think so loud?"
"Don't be such a grump," the younger teased.
"I'm not in the mood to argue with you. Do you need anything out of me," he asked Silva," How about a thank-you card?"
"No. Yoh's told me everything," he replied blankly.
"Fine," he switched his attention to Yoh," Is there any aspirin to be found in this dump?"
Yoh walked over to the cabinet above the stove and pulled out a small bottle. "Here," he said, handing it to his twin.
Hao took it and popped the cap off, downing the white pills dryly. He turned around when he finished, intent on leaving, and tripped and fell over one of the numerous pots littering the floor.
"Sorry, Hao," he apologized," I was trying to organize the cabinets."
The ex-shaman groaned from the tiled floor. He lifted himself up carefully, trying not to hit anything that would make a loud sound again. "You should have just killed me when you had the chance," he mumbled," It would have been kinder."
Yoh started at the dramatic change in subject. He watched in silence as Hao left through the shoji doors without another word.
"Does he really mean that," Silva asked quietly.
"I'm…," he began," I…don't think so. I think he's just in a bad mood."
"Yoh, I need to clarify something with you."
"Yes?"
"Even though you consider me as a friend, I'm still under orders from Goldva. If she orders me to kill him, I will without hesitation."
Yoh looked at his feet and sighed," I know. It's your duty as a Patch to do so."
"That's right. I'm sorry if it will come to that."
"Well, I still have to try," he said, his mind slowly returning to the events of last night," I beginning to think there's something really wrong with him. At least, more so than I originally thought."
"Whatever you say, Yoh. You know him better than I do."
A thought struck the teen that he had pushed off when he had spoken up at Hao's trial. To him, it seemed out of place amongst the other accusations his twin faced, but then again, he didn't truly know him. Not all too sure how to ask this, he began hesitantly, "Hmm…Hey Silva? Did Hao really rape someone?"
"Well," he admitted," my many times great grandmother, the one he was married to, accused him of it when she found out who he really was. It was too late to do anything of course. He was already dead when she gave birth."
The new information was certainly different from what he was expecting. It made sense, of course. From his experience, most people were afraid of once they discovered what he could do and would probably take the same course of action under those circumstances. But his wife? That seemed a little fishy.
A sudden realization hit him like a Tokyo metro bus. If Hao didn't tell her who he actually was, which it sounded like he definitely didn't, his mistrust of people must have started even further back in time. Yoh already knew this was true, but the factual evidence got him thinking; it finally gave him at least some direction to look in. The only problem was, he admitted with a disappointed lurch in his stomach, was that there were no living people left from the Heian era aside from the man himself, and that was definitely out of the question.
"Hey Yoh? Can I grab some food before I go? I haven't eaten yet today."
"What," he started," You just got here! From the United States! Across the Pacific! You're going to leave so soon after traveling nearly **** miles?"
"Sorry, but I have to get back. I teleported here, so it's not really an issue."
"You teleported," he said in awe," How in Great Spirit's name did you do that?"
The Patch gave him a look that have him the impression that he was talking to an absolute idiot," It's not all that impossible. We're shaman if I recall correctly, not some wannabe 'sci-fi' cult. Besides, it's not very hard. Hao used to do it all the time, remember?"
"Oh. I forgot about that."
"Hmm. That you did," Silva replied in an absent tone," Now, can I please eat something? I'm starving."
"Sure," Yoh said," there are still some leftovers in the oven if you want them."
"You mean the stuff Hao made?"
"Yeah, it's actually pretty good," he confessed, walking over to the stove and pulling out a still-warm plate, "Here, try some."
Silva eyed the food hesitantly.
"Oh, come on! Not you too!"
"Well…Alright. If you insist," he gave in reluctantly. He took the offered plate with his silver adorned hand and sat down at the small island. Tentatively, he ate the food in small bites. After realizing what it was, he began to scarf it down in a Horo-Horoish manner.
"What do you think," he encouraged," Good, right?"
The older shaman nodded and paused in his eating," It's very good. But, if my taste buds are correct, then this food is a little ironic."
"How is food ironic?"
"What he made isn't actually Japanese, or at the very least not this. This is ashoge. In our tribe, where it was originally made, it's used as a way to thank someone. It's name literally means 'thank you."
"Really? That's odd…"
"And what's even more ironic, and I find this very strange in regards to his behavior earlier," he continued," is that now I recall that it was actually Hao himself who came up with the recipe."
Yoh was stunned speechless.
"Exactly. Like you said, I guess he really didn't mean it when he said that he hated you. Maybe this his way of thanking you for what you did for him. Just a supposition, really."
Yoh's shock slowly began to melt into contented warmth. He smiled.
Maybe Hao isn't as empty as everyone makes him out to be.
ooOOooOOoo
"What the Hell do you think you're doing? Stand back up and fight me!"
Yoh lay on the ground, the wind knocked out of him from the force of the blow that his twin dealt him. He stared up at the sky, wondering how he got himself into situations like these. Hao stood a few yards off, Harusame in his right hand.
"How do you expect to survive in hell if you can't even block your own sword?"
"Fine," Yoh groaned. He slowly eased himself back up on his feet and got back in position to fight. Forcing himself to concentrate, he tried to focus his mana on the earth under his feet and hoped that something would happen. Without warning, Hao charged forward at a full run. The ancient samurai sword was armed to the edge with an oversoul provided by Ren, who stood watching over by the fence with an amused expression on his face. Anna stood next to him, her slightly annoyed presence only adding to the growing tension. Lyserg, Horo-Horo, and Chocolove sat on the ground on the opposite side of the yard, next to the wall of the house.
With growing trepidation, the other shaman of the inn had listen as Hao, his strange headache gone nearly an hour or two after Silva had left, told them of what Anna planned for him to do. They had rejected the idea at first, fearing for Yoh, but they eventually began to accept the idea as Anna stepped in and reinforced his argument. Reluctantly, the agreed to watch as Yoh trained without them.
The twins clashed in a loud boom.
Like the time before that, the earth was as impassive as, well, dirt. Nothing happened when the two collided, except for the younger of the two being pounded back to the hard ground.
"Why can't you follow simple directions," the elder sighed, staring down at Yoh," I told you to focus on the individual granules, not the dirt as a whole. You cannot even hope to control the tiniest particle without first understanding it. Get back up and do it again."
Yoh stood up once again and tried to do what Hao had told him to do. He really did try to focus on each tiny little grain of sand, but there were just so many that it seemed impossible.
"Nothing is impossible. Focus now or you will end up on the ground again and we can do this all over again."
Hao once again charged and swung the sword out toward Yoh. The younger's very seldom anger button began to throb at his brother's reluctance to stop for a moment. He felt the ground underneath his feet vibrate slightly as Hao's feet pounded into the ground in his dash. If only he could see how hard this is for me, he thought as his body collided with the earth for the tenth time today.
"What do you mean 'if only he could see how hard this is for me? I went through all of this without a single word of advice. Consider yourself blessed," he ground out between clenched teeth," You make me sick to my stomach to think that you are half of my soul. Now get back up and do it again. But this time, do it right."
Yoh did as he was told. His back was starting to throb with the abuse and his patience was beginning to wear thin, very uncharacteristic for latter. He glanced at Hao before he turned his attention back to the earth. He was glaring at him with menacing dark eyes, his mouth turned down in a grimace. Yoh quickly averted his gaze; the enraged eye contact made him uneasy.
The ground looked like it always did. Different brown shaded grains of dirt, mixed here and there with green patches of grass. I certainly didn't look special. He didn't know how Hao was able to stare at it for hours at a time. Unlike the spirits and ghosts he was used to dealing with, the earth, the physical aspect of it at least, was not nor ever had been living. He couldn't think of it as being alive. It was a totally foreign subject to him, to be able to control something that did experience life coursing through its veins. Anna was right about that; it was something that he wouldn't have been able to grasp without Hao's help.
"Think of the earth as something living," Hao offered after hearing his latest mental conversation," It's alive whether or not you think it is."
He switched his perspective. Trying to think of the dirt as living was baffling to the young shaman. It was dirt after all. But, now that he really thought about it, it did support the other things that lived on this planet. The earth provided sustenance, along with water, to the living and grew the wood that sheltered them. It transferred its life force, not something necessarily spiritual, to others. Rather than being 'alive' per se, it had a sort of life force for which other beings lived off of. Maybe that was what Hao was talking about. He didn't know it would work of he thought of it that way, but it was worth a shot.
Like before, he concentrated his mana on the individual grains of sand. But this time, he envisioned them as something living rather than a dead force of nature. He felt nothing. Hao hurled himself forward, the grimace on his face twisting into an enraged snarl.
"You should have listened to me," he shouted," I'll make this one hurt." He jumped up as he yelled this and brought Harusame down forcefully. Yoh's stomach lurched as he braced himself for the worst and hoped beyond futility that the earth would protect him.
The ground before him erupted in a cataclysmic explosion.
He watched in astounded amazement as Hao was caught in the flying mound of soil. The massive chunk burst upward and slammed back into the ground as Yoh lost his focus. His heart soared at the accomplishment.
"Yoh. Help him out of there," Anna called from the other side of the yard," he's under that pile of dirt you moved."
He laughed and tried again. Unlike last time, the earth moved at his whim. It parted in a small hole, giving the stunned ex-shaman beneath it breathing room and an exit route. The samurai sword shot up through the hole and landed a few yards away, covered in soil.
Hao climbed out carefully after it, not trusting the dirt under his feet to obey the laws of physics. He collapsed on the solid, grass-covered lawn upon breaching the light of day.
"Not bad for a total newbie," Yoh congratulated himself, reaching his hand down to help his twin to his feet.
"You stupid child," he gasped up at Yoh," You have absolutely no idea what you're dealing with."
"Well, I don't think you could say exactly that," he sighed," I did what you told me to do. I understood how to use the earth."
"I didn't mean that," Hao growled, getting up on his own accord to glare him in unmasked fury," I meant that you have no fucking clue as to what you could have just done."
Yoh looked at him in confusion.
His eyes burned like glowing black coals. Hao began in a low voice that slowly escalated in pitch, addressing all of the assembled shamans, "You know nothing of the implications of the power you now know how to wield. The very balance of nature could be upset by a miniscule action. Entire ecosystems can be destroyed with a flick of a thought; I've seen it happen and it's sad.
"So, I suggest that if you want to continue to investigate this particular field of shamanism that you listen to everything I say to you and obey it, no matter how foolish it sounds to you. I didn't get the title of the greatest onmyôji that ever lived by simply walking outside one day and decided, 'hey, that sounds like fun!' It's that very thing that separates the stupid ones like you who destroy everything from the ones who save the world from its own inhabitants.
"There is nothing more dangerous than the forces of nature. As a shaman, you should already know that. There is a reason why only a select few are able to grasp the concept of controlling an element, or even all five. What you just accomplished was only the half of the big picture. It doesn't take a lot of mana to control either, and if you had accidentally decided to put a large portion of your reserve in to that display, I would not be standing in front of you and giving you a lecture on the importance of mana preservation. You could have just blown up your house and killed all of us. I doubt that the stupid smile on your face would last for very long when you realize that the ones you love are murdered in front of your very eyes. Do I make myself clear to you all?"
The young shaman before him was surprised at the Hao's little speech, but he knew that he was right. He couldn't help but get a vibe of pained nostalgia emanating from him as he finished speaking. It was hard to watch as his eyes burned with different emotions throughout it, especially when he ended with the implications of not being careful. Yoh watched him as he locked gazes with everyone, waiting for their approval that they understood what he had said. He ended with Yoh, glaring up at him defiantly.
"And what about you?"
Although neither of them really didn't have a choice in the matter, Yoh thought about what Hao was offering to do. Everything that the ex-onmyôji had worked for was now gone in the blow of a sword. It seemed cruel that Yoh had done it to him, even if he was unintentional. He was going to teach Yoh, his other half, his twin, his brother, worst enemy the very things that had caused him to gain so much power. It was a baffling concept, but one that he knew he could handle, no matter what Hao threw at him.
"I understand. And, I'm sorry for doing that to you," he apologized, motioning with his hands to the hole in the ground.
"As you should be," Hao snorted arrogantly. A slow, but steady maniacal grin was hinting at blossoming across his face," I suppose I'll kill you know. After you train long enough that you are able to use the Spirit of Earth, you can come back."
"Wait! Wait," Yoh stammered as Hao walked over and picked up Harusame off the ground and wiped it off on his jeans," How will I know that I can use it? And how long will that be?"
"I don't know how long it will take you," he replied, the insane-looking smile tugging at the corners of his mouth," And when you get there, search around. Fight the demons. Take a walk. You can figure it out yourself."
"Hao," the Ainu spoke up from his seat by the house, the excitement in his voice growing apparent," can you teach me how to use them as well? I want to learn."
"I doubt that an idiot such as you can even grasp at the concept," he said back, testing out the sharpness of the samurai sword on a nearby log. It sliced in half easily.
"I want to as well," the Chinese shaman said," and don't even think of calling me an idiot. I'm smarter than all of these low-lives combined."
"And that's why you aren't very bright. All of their intelligence combined couldn't screw in a light bulb."
"Me too," Chocolove amended," It might help me with my jokes."
"You disgust me with your pathetic dreams," Hao hissed at the comedian. He looked at Lyserg, who had not let his eyes wander away from Hao, and asked," So what about you, Holmes? Want to learn how I killed your parents?"
The British teen glared back with unrestrained hate, but otherwise showed no inclination that he had even registered that last remark," If it will allow me to become stronger than you in your 'prime', then yes, count me in."
"And Anna, my dear, what do you make of all of this," he smiled, turning to face the itako," will you be so generous as to let me kill them all?"
She narrowed her eyes dangerously," Watch your mouth you filthy old man or you'll end up at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. As for killing them, you may if you teach them all. Correctly as you said you would for Yoh."
The ex-onmyôji couldn't have been grinning any wider," You are most generous today, Anna. Very well," he said, addressing the others," I will teach you, and then kill you. But, to control a specific elemental spirit, you have to have the corresponding power. That goes for you as well, Yoh. I can't change that. Onmyôji are excluded from this rule, but none of you are capable of achieving that title in this lifetime."
"I will take care of you first," he said, walking over to his silent twin," I will teach them while you are in hell. Faust can revive you."
"Wait, Hao," he pleaded, trying to buy himself some more time," How is he going to do that?"
"It's in my book. Now, hold still," he commanded, his voice dangerously close to resembling insane laughter," You wouldn't want me to ruin your body so bad that you can't be revived."
"Anna! Don't let him kill me! I've changed my mind!"
"No he hasn't," Hao cackled, aiming the sword at his twin," And besides, you don't want to rain on my parade, do you?"
"Let him do it," Anna ordered," I still expect you to make dinner. Don't make me wait."
"Yes, Anna," he stammered, backing up against the bamboo wall behind him. "Hao, isn't there something else we can try? I don't really need to go through hell, do I?
"Yes, you do. Now, stop moving!"
"Hao, I'm sorry if I offended you! Please, we can work this out peacefully!"
"No way, this is too much fun," he laughed, and plunged the Harusame in to Yoh's heart. Yoh dropped to the ground, letting out a noise that sounded like a combination between a sigh and a surprised yelp. Hao stood over him, his giddy, glowing smile illuminated by the afternoon sun.
Yoh looked back up at him, his vision fading. He heard Hao speak in a voice that only he cold hear, "Bye-bye, little brother."
His vision went black.
ooOOooOOoo
Dying certainly was much different than Yoh had anticipated it would be. There was no bright white light, no glowing Great Spirit, and no sense of eternal peace. He had reason to suspect that this was only because of Anna's doing that he wasn't in the Great Spirit and thusly did not experience the aforementioned events. No sooner than he had closed his eyes and uttered his last breath than the world around him appeared.
He was in a large gully, the rocky cliffs above him surrounding him. The sky above was pitch-black. There was no light source, only a very slight red light that bathed everything with the same amount of it. No shadows existed here. No other beings popped out around the corners. No sound. He was in Hell.
The most disorienting aspect of it all was the sense of a massive reserve of energy flowing through his body. His heart, a constant thing in the living world, did not beat. No blood pulsing through his veins. It was very unsettling. His feet, much like the ghosts and spirits he surrounded himself with, were slightly transparent. He stood up from his sitting position against the side of the canyon and looked around. Absolutely nothing.
He walked around, searching for anything that could point him in the right direction. Nothing appeared until a lengthy amount of time passed. Then again, it felt the even time didn't flow here. At the end of the long gully, a tall staircase led up to who knew where. With no other clue, he followed the path over to the stone, if it was stone, stairs, and began his ascent.
At the top of the stairway, a small shrine awaited him. A lone pentagram adorned the sloping roof. The pathway leading up to it was lined with paper lamps, also adorned with pentagrams. The shrine itself wasn't much. Just a pedestal, a roof over it, and a tiny cushion that he doubted belonged to any person. Or ghost, really. He was about to leave the shrine and walk in the other direction of the canyon when he heard a voice speak up from behind him. It didn't sound like any human voice that Yoh had ever heard before.
"Excuse me? You must be Yoh."
He turned around, but no one was there. Confused, he turned his head and looked behind him again. No one was there, just as the shrine had always been.
"Down here, Master Yoh."
Yoh turned his body back to the way he had come in and looked down. A strangely familiar figure stood there, not even reaching the height of his knees. It was two-tailed, orange cat with black stripes, and he, judging by his voice, wore something resembling a yukata.
"Hello, Master Yoh," he said, smiling a very cat-like smile," I don't believe we have met before, but I already know you. You don't know me, I'm afraid, but my name is Matamune."
"Uh…hello, Matamune," he greeted back awkwardly. Truth be told, he had never conversed with a cat before. Very strange, this Hell.
"I see you like my necklace," he meowed," Master Hao gave that to me nearly a thousand years ago."
"Wait, did you say that Hao gave this to you," he asked incredulously," You mean Asakura Hao? My twin? You knew him?"
"I knew him very well. At least, I knew him better than anyone else has, aside from you," he sighed miserably.
"Really? Then you can tell me what happened to him?"
"I'm afraid it's not really that simple. It's quite a long story, if you ask me."
"That's alright, Matamune," he smiled," I have all the time in the world."
Matamune looked up at Yoh with a pained look," Master Hao used to smile just like that."
"Please, Matamune," he pleaded, sitting before the cat spirit," I'm trying to help him."
"I know that, Master Yoh. I've been watching the two of you for a long time now."
"You can stop with the 'master' thing. Just plain old Yoh is fine with me."
"What happened to him was simply not one thing, Master Yoh," he meowed, ignoring Yoh's input," Rather, it was more of a bunch of events that happened within the same proximity of each other that caused him to be the way he is today."
"Okay," he assured, urging the cat to continue, gently.
"Oh, Master Yoh," Matamune sighed, tears beginning to pour down his furry orange face," He literally went insane, and it was all my fault."
ooOOooOOoo
Hmmm….brainfoodz. Yayz. Om nom nom.
Sorry I abuse Hao. He just doesn't listen, that grumpy old man. Tsk tsk. The next chapter is the one to look forward to. It's my favorite. :D
The only thing I really have to complain about is Matamune's complete and utter rejection from the anime. He's such a great character and it makes Hao' back story much more complex. That pretty much killed the anime for me, other than Hao's horrible English name change. No offense to those named Zeke…hehe. *epic fail*
Thanks for reading this, and please review! :D