Chapter 10
Disclaimer : I Don't own Shaman King!
Thought / Dreams / Event from the past
'Telepathic voice'
-Telephone-
Letter
"Dialogue"
Emphasis
Dangerous tone
"What truly happened?" Anna asked with narrowed eyes, "Are you saying that the what the history that has been passed down from generation to generation in Asakura family is not true".
"It's not true because they were faking it, those traitors." Yoh said with an angry scowl on his face, "Just by remembering their betrayal is enough make my blood boil in anger".
"Eh?" Anna's eyes widened, along with all of Yoh's friends, they never see Yoh that quick to anger before.
Hao took Yoh's hand into his and squeezed it lightly, "The one you heard about, it was about me saying that I want to kill all humans, right?" He asked her.
Anna nodded, "I heard from Yohmei-sama that you suddenly decided to erase the humans from existence, that's why they united to kill you." She said as she remembered what she had been told before she delivered Chou Senji Ryakketsu to Yoh.
"Don't you think it's strange that I so suddenly decided like that?" Hao asked with a sour smile.
"It's not sudden then?" Ren guessed, "You already think like that long before that?".
Hao sighed and shook his head, "First, have you heard of 'The Origin of Ninetails'?" He asked softly.
"Yes." Horo Horo answered, "The story is famous in my Tribe".
"The rest?" Yoh asked shortly.
"We have." Anna answered shortly as well.
"But that story is only being made up, right?" Manta asked curiously.
"It's real." Yoh told him with a smile.
"It's hard to believe." Ren said to him, "We don't have a proof that Ninetails really exist".
"What if I say that the proof is right in front of you?" Yoh challenged him with a mischievous smile.
Ren raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion.
"People don't believe the story because they have never seen Ninetails with their own eyes." Yoh began as he stood up and looked at all of his Friends and Fiancee, "No one ever see them before because they don't want to be seen, Humans have the tendency of destroying those that they fear." His eyes slitted and turned Turquoise in color, his ears grew longer and became furry like Fox's ears, his nail sharpened into claws, and finally, nine Fox tails grew from his tail bone and spread out like a fan. "Ninetails, living among humans in human skin, capable of controlling their own circle of live and birth . . . I was the first Ninetails ever gracing this Earth, the one from The Origin of Ninetails".
All of those in the tables, including Hao's followers but excluding Hao, were gaping at him in shock, Hao's followers were because they didn't know that Yoh was the first Ninetails that was being told in The Origin of Ninetails, while Yoh's friends didn't even know that Yoh was a Ninetails to begin with.
"The Mystical Fox that the story was telling about was my Mother, Yue." Yoh continued softly, "The Woman with the ability of a Shaman in the story was a Shaman named Asanoha, and the teenager who ventured into the forest in hope to find the Mystical Fox and the Ninetails was a Shaman boy named Asaha." He looked at Hao, "Or now more known as Asakura Hao".
"EH?!" They all turned to look at Hao, who only smiled at them and nodded.
"Indeed." Hao said calmly, "Before we tell you about what truly happened in Asakura Clan 1000 years ago, you need to know what kind of relationship I and Yoh actually have".
"And that is?" Anna demanded.
Yoh smiled at them and changed back into Human form before sitting down on his seat, "Well, to understand our relationship is to know of how we met first, so Asaha, would you please?" He asked lightly as he looked at Hao.
Hao smiled, "Well let's started with this . . ." He said slowly to gain their attention, "Winter had come and turned Japan into a White Country. The land, the grass, the houses and the trees were all covered in snow, and most of the animals had gone into hibernation . . . ".
Winter had come and turned Japan into a White Country. The land, the grass, the houses and the trees were all covered in snow, and most of the animals had gone into hibernation, the humans were also too lazy to do some activity. Well, most of them though . . .
"I can't believe it." A boy with a long reddish brown hair tied in high ponytail and a pair of onyx eyes wearing the attire of an Onmyouji, no older than 13 years old, grumbled to himself as he walked through the hallway of his new residence, which was a wide one, 10 times wider than his previous home back when he was so young. "Where in the world is my room? How ridiculous, the owner of the house get lose in his own house".
"Mappa-sama." A maid bowed to him when he come arrived in his back garden by chance, "The Emperor had come to visit you".
Mappa sighed and sat down on the wooden floor while facing the garden, "Let him in and escort him here." He said calmly without looking at the woman, "Don't forget to prepare some tea for us".
"Right away, Mappa-sama." The maid said and left.
Hao sighed and looked up at the Sky, "I really miss our smaller but comfy home, Mother." He said longingly.
"Oh, you don't like this house I granted you?" A man voice rang before the Emperor's face come into view in front of Mappa, Mappa's eyes zeroed on the man's eye immediately, 'Why is it?" The Emperor asked as he moved and sat down beside Mappa.
"It's not like I don't feeling grateful that you would provide me a place to stay." Mappa began with a sigh as he looked at the Emperor with a bored expression, "But this house is just too wide!" He exclaimed in frustration and threw his hands up in the air, "The first day I'm here and I already get lost for the 10th time just now." He sighed again while covering his face with his right palm.
The Emperor laughed, "I see, you get lost in here." He said with a nod before smiling at Mappa, "Alright, I will prepare a new house for you near this one, I will turn this one into a place for your apprentices to stay instead, how does that sound?".
Mappa looked at the Emperor with a raised eyebrow, "You will really do that?" He asked curiously, the Emperor nodded, "How long I need to wait?".
"That's depend on how big you want your house to be." The Emperor said calmly and raising an eyebrow at Mappa.
Mappa looked thoughtful, "Just a quarter from this one, I guess." He said thoughtfully before smirking at the Emperor, "The house is only half of that, and the rest is a back garden. There will be a kitchen in the house where I could cook for myself, there's no need for any maid, and the bath is a big enough for two people".
"Ah, you are the type who like a house that is not too big but comfy, aren't you?" The Emperor asked with a chuckle before nodding, "I will get build it near this one, it would probably be ready in half a year or so".
Mappa frowned, "Does that mean I have to stay here for that long?" He asked in distaste.
"Where else if not?" The Emperor asked simply, "It's not like I'm going to allow you to live on the street like you did in the past, and it's dangerous to stay in the empty house near the forest".
Forest? Mappa thought as he remembered a story from his Mother about a Mystical Fox who was her friend that lived in the forest, along with the Fox's child, the nine tailed Humanoid Fox. "It doesn't matter if it's dangerous." He decided and looked at the Emperor calmly, "I can protect myself just fine, so I will stay in that house until my new house is built".
The Emperor gently rubbed his beard that was grown from his chin, "Well, since you are a strong Onmyouji . . ." He looked at Mappa and smiled, "I know you can protect yourself, so alright, I will let you stay there for now".
"Good, because that house really is originally my Mother's house before she went to stay in the Village." Mappa said in satisfaction.
"Oh, really?" The Emperor asked in surprise then smiled, "Then it's rightfully yours, I will make sure that one will be well taken care of after you stay in the new house".
"Thank you." Mappa said gratefully.
"Well, now that the house problem had been solved . . ." The Emperor began and looked at Mappa with a smile, "You know, your name doesn't fit you anymore, for the person who had saved this Capital and my life".
"You have a problem with my name?" Mappa asked casually, "So, what? You want to give me a new name?".
"If you would allow me." The Emperor answered calmly.
"I don't care." Mappa said with a shrug, "Do what you want, but I will reject it if I don't like it".
"Then I will keep changing it until it please you." The Emperor answered lightly, "But I dare to bet that you will like this one".
"What is it?" Mappa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Makura Ha*?" The Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow.
(*AN : Remember episode 14 where Pirika misreading Asakura Yoh's name in Kanji into Makura Ha?)
Mappa gave him a look that was saying, 'Are you kidding?' "What kind of name is that?" He asked with a sweat drop as he stared at the Emperor.
The Emperor laughed, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" He said cheerfully, "It's so fun to see a change in your nearly almost never ending calm expression, so I just want to tease you a bit." He reassured the boy.
Mappa sighed again, "Get serious, Emperor." He said in boredom as he played with a strand of his hair.
"Well, let's see, you had saved this Capital, which is where all the treasure of our Country is being kept." The Emperor explained, "A name that will suit you as this treasure keeper . . . Dai Onmyouji, Asakura Hao . . . how about it?".
Mappa blinked, The way it pronounced is a bit similar to my real name . . . "Alright, I accept." He said simply with a smirk at the Emperor, "So you wish of me to be the treasure keeper, you want me to keep protecting this Capital against all the Evil Spirits?".
"Precisely." The Emperor said with a nod, "I, as well as this Country, need you and your ability, Asakura Hao".
Mappa, who was now named Asakura Hao, simply smiled in answer.
Soon, Hao moved to stay in his house at the edge of the forest, all of his belongings had been moved there as well, and he had finished enchanted his house so no Evil Spirit could taken residence there.
"Alright, I'm done for the day." Hao said as he wiped his sweat from his face, "Who knows that tidying up the room without my Shikigami's help would be this tiring?" He asked himself rhetorically before smiling in satisfaction then proceeding to take a warm bath.
After finished taking a bath and dressed, Hao walked out of the house and looked at the forest, he was curious about what his Mother said to him, and he had promised his Mother that he would befriend and protect thee boy with Fox tails who had his face. He love his Mother and had long since vowed to himself that he would keep his promise to his Mother, so, now that he had the chance, Hao wanted to meet with the Mystical Fox and her Son.
Hao looked around to make sure that no one was around before entering the forest, he couldn't help but feeling exited that he would finally meet the ones that his Mother loved like her own family, if they were his Mother's family, he could treat them like his own family. He never told anyone before, because it was really useless in telling normal humans, but he was lonely and tired to be feared all the time, if he was with a non-human beings, then he could be himself without being feared.
The forest in Winter had mostly consisted of leaf-less trees and stones, he rarely saw any animals in Winter, even the pet dogs that humans keep were being lazy in the cold air, so it's no wonder that he didn't come across any animal at all in the forest. He wondered if he had come into the forest at the wrong time, he should really wait until it's Spring time before searching for the Mystical Fox, but he was just couldn't wait to meet a possible new friend and family.
He ended up arriving in a place where he could see a long frozen surface, he know then that he had come into the river area, albeit it was frozen now, which was available in the middle of the forest. He heard a faint sound of footsteps and turned to the source, he didn't expect himself to come face to face with the same face as him, at least not that early in his searching.
Hao stayed still and looked at the humanoid Fox curiously, the boy was acting as if he was only observing an inanimate object, so calm and openly curious, like Hao himself. The boy was humming softly as he looked at Hao from head to toe and circling him, as if it was the first time the boy had even seen a human being. "Strange." Hao heard the Fox boy mumbled to himself as he sniffed at Hao, "This boy has a strong Energy surrounding him . . . he is an Oni Summoner, but also an Onmyouji . . . what a strange combination, I wonder why he would come here in the middle of Winter . . . normally people would stay away from the forest in Winter and prefers to stay at their warm home".
Hao blinked, "Of course it's because I want to meet you." He answered the boy's self talking, causing the boy to jumped and looked at him with wide eyes filled with shock and slightly open mouth.
"You . . . you could see me?" The boy asked in shock and disbelief.
Hao nodded, "Yes, as clear as daylight." He answered lightly, "Why do you ask? Are you supposed to be invisible to the eyes? I mean, even Shaman's eyes?".
The boy nodded and blinked his eyes, "People don't aware of my existence." He explained, "They don't even know that I'm exist, so they don't away, and because they don't aware, they couldn't see me, even Shamans".
Hao blinked in interest, "Oh, but I knew of your existence, a boy with nine Fox tails with the same face as me." He explained with a smile, "My Mother was a friend of your Mother, she had witnessed your Birth and told me about you." His smile widened, "Mother said that if I ever see you, I can treat you as my friend and I have to protect you".
The Fox boy laughed, "Protect me?" He asked cheerfully, "I can protect myself just fine, and here I thought that you would ask me to protect you".
"I can also protect myself just fine." Hao answered with a shrug before smiling at Yoh again, "Where is your Mother, Yue-san?" He asked curiously.
The boy's face saddened, "Mother died about 10 years ago . . . some Onis killed her." He said sadly.
"I'm sorry." Hao said with a sad expression, "My Mother died just a year after yours." He then smiled, "But they are in a better world now, at least I believe so".
The boy smiled, "You are right, they are in a better place than this world now, watching over us and protect us." He then bowed a bit at Hao, "Nice to meet you, Onmyouji. The others who can see me called me simply by Fox boy, but my Mother had kindly bestowed upon me a name, my name is Yoh".
Hao bowed as well, "I'm known by more than one name, one had given to me by my first friend, and another one had just given to me by the Emperor." He said calmly with a smile, "But I wish you would call me by the name bestowed upon me by my Mother, Asaha".
"Just as what was written in The Origin of Ninetails, we had become friends in no time at all." Hao told them with a fond smile, "I spend all of my free times with Yoh and we taught each other all the knowledge we have, we both didn't have any family left, so we treat each other like Brothers".
"Asaha help me figure out how to use my Magic to shift my Ninetails form into a human form, and we decided to live in Asaha's house after a new Mystical Fox came to fill up my Mother's vacant post." Yoh said before closing his eyes, "But it seems that just treating each other like Brothers was not enough because Asaha wanted to be a Ninetails like me".
"Only becoming Brothers at heart is not enough for me, I want to be like a real Brothers with him, the same Kind as him." Hao added, "But since I was the head of the Clan, I need an heir first, and I didn't think that it's a good idea to have a child after became a Ninetails, so I only asked him if he could make me become a Ninetails as well after I have a Son".
"The only way for a human to be a Ninetails is for a Ninetails to inject one of their tails, which is filled with Magical Energy, after the said human pledge their loyalty to the Ninetails as their Warrior." Yoh continued, "I don't know how I know it, I just know, and I told him that information".
"I pledged me loyalty to him without hesitation." Hao told them, "I became his Warrior and he turned me into a Ninetails." To proof it, he showed them his Ninetails appearance, earning a chorus gasp of shock, "No one knew that I'm a Ninetails as well in the past, so I continued my live while pretending to be human".
Hao and Yoh sipped their Chocolate Shake to ease their dry throat, the rest saw them take a drink and followed suit, they were already captivated by the story soon after the twins started, and they were dead curious about what would happened next.
"Live was peaceful that time, outside the occasional time when we had to do some exorcism and fighting Onis." Hao said after a long time filled with silence, "But just like in most story, our peaceful live had come to an end not long after I turned into a Ninetails".
Yoh opened his eyes to look at the rest, and they were surprised to see anger and regret in there. "The people were already wary of me because I have the same face as Asaha while they know that Asaha was the only Son of Asanoha, as long as they thought that I'm not dangerous, I didn't think that they will attack me . . . until that day." He looked down on his drink to hide his saddened eyes, it always hurt when he remembered that he was the reason that all of it happened, " 'Sometimes I wonder how this world would be if those selfish creatures called humans were to disappeared, the world would be a better place, don't you think?' " He laughed dryly, "Such a simple words spoken out of whim, to think that those exact words would be the trigger to what was about to come . . ." He shook his head in regret, "The one who caused our peaceful live to end was me, because I was the one who said those ominous words . . .".
"Sometimes I wonder how this world would be if those selfish creatures called humans were to disappeared, the world would be a better place, don't you think?" Yoh asked out of the blue as he lied down on the garden with his head resting on Hao's lap, he was enjoying the feeling of Hao's finger combing through his hair, so much that he never noticed the shadowed figure that had run away after they heard him and saw his Ninetails form.
"I don't think a world without humans would be better, because then we would never meet." Hao answered softly then began scratching the base of Yoh's ear, earning a delighted moan from Yoh, he chuckled, "You are very sensitive in this spot, Yoh".
"Shut up, Asaha." Yoh grumbled as he changed back into his human form and sat up, "It can't be help. Cats, Dogs, Wolfs, and even Fox have sensitive ears, it feels so nice when someone gently scratched them".
"Well, it's late, how about we go to rest for the night?" Hao asked as he stood up and offered a hand to Yoh.
"That's sounds good." Yoh said with a smile as he also stood up, they went to the house together after that.
Yoh was awoken that night when he heard the some strange noises in the house area, he frown and sat up before focusing on the noises.
"Don't make too loud noises." Someone hissed.
"Are we really going to kill them?" Yoh's eyes widened when he heard the question.
"That Yoh guy is a Fox in disguise, and he had bewitching Hao-sama into his side, they want to kill humans." Another reminded the previous one.
Yoh growled and turned to his side to woke Hao up. Hao was just newly turned into a Ninetails, all of his senses were numbed and couldn't be used perfectly until the change fully taken effect, so he didn't awaken by the noises. His Sixth Sense though, wasn't numbed by the change, instead it was strengthened twice than previously.
"Hmm, what is it, Yoh?" Hao asked sleepily as he sat up.
"The people found out that I'm not human." Yoh said urgently, causing Hao's eyes to widened in an instant, "They said that I'm bewitching you into my side, they want to kill us".
Hao growled and stood up immediately, he took his Shikigami Papers and stood protectively in front of Yoh. Yoh also stood up and turned to face the door, if worse come to worse, he would use his power to protect Hao, he was already found out anyway.
The door opened and a bunch of men entered the room, Hao crossed his arms and was glaring at them, "What are you doing here so late in the night?" He asked coldly.
"Kill them!" One of the men yelled and the battle began.
"I thought there's only a bunch of them." Yoh said as he absently played with the straw of his Chocolate Shake, "Turned out that all of the apprentices in Asakura Clan had come together to kill us, we were totally surrounded from all sides".
"We fought and knocked most of them unconscious, we didn't want to kill any of them." Hao said with a sour smile, "But one of them managed to sneak behind me and nearly kill me, but Yoh saw him and protect me, at the cost of his own life".
Their eyes widened and looked at Yoh, "I didn't think clearly." Yoh admitted, "If that time I only use one of my tails to protect Asaha, then I wouldn't die, but I was too panicked to think and just threw myself into the way. I used my body to shield him from the attack, which pierced me right through my heart and kill me instantly".
"When I saw Yoh fell into the floor and didn't breath at all, if I say that I was mad then it's an understatement . . . I was truly and completely driven into insanity right there and then, a monster with a thirst of vengeance." Hao said as he gripped his glass tightly until it cracked a bit, "I couldn't think of anything at all, aside that I wanted to kill them, wanted them all to die for killing Yoh".
Matamune, who had been silent all the time while watching them at the balcony of the house, jumped down and then moved to sit on Hao's lap, "That time . . .when I saw Hao-sama, I was frightened that he had changed so much." He began with sad eyes, "I knew that he had completely snapped that time after Yoh-sama's death, and I fear him . . . before I know it, I already had my Onigoroshi and was already charged at him, and I killed him with my own eyes instead of protecting him like a Guardian Spirit I was supposed to be".
Hao smiled softly at Matamune and patted his head, "If it's not for you though, my Soul will corrupted even more." He said to his friend, "You had saved my Soul by killing me that time, so don't blame yourself too much".
"But . . ." Matamune started with his ears dropping.
"No buts, Matamune." Yoh cut him off, "Even if you stayed with him until the end, he would only end up killing even more due to his hatred. It's a side effect of becoming my Warrior, he was driven into insanity because he had failed in protecting me." He explained to the Cat Spirit.
"What happened after that?" Macchi asked with a pale face.
"Well, since the Asakuras killed Yoh-sama simply because of their fear even though he never did anything to endanger them, they had summoned the wrath of Mystical Foxes upon themselves." Matamune explained to them, "The Mystical Fox who had taken over Yoh-sama's Mother's post in that forest abandoned them, she still killed the Onis when they endangering the Nature, but she ignored it if one of the Asakuras were attacked by Onis, the same happened in the whole Japan".
"That was what really happened back there." Yoh said to them all, "As you know, since the history said that Asakura Hao had suddenly wanting to kill humans, they were faking it".
"Indeed." Matamune agreed, "The people began to talk about them behind their backs because they had lose the favor of the Guardian of Nature, the Asakuras were worried that they will lose their Power of Authority and fame, so they create a fake story." He shook his head, "They said that Hao-sama had suddenly want to kill all humans, and they had killed the Son of a Guardian because of mistaken identity, they were just cowards who were afraid to admit their mistake. The people believed them, because it's not a secret that Yoh-sama had the same face with Hao-sama, all except one, The Emperor".
"How do you know all this, Matamune?" Hao asked curiously, "The Emperor couldn't see you, if I remember correctly".
"Indeed, he couldn't." Matamune answered with a nod, "I didn't talk with him, I was simply went to him out of curiosity after he visited your graves soon after the incident." He explained, "The Emperor didn't believe their story at all, but he stay quiet since he didn't have a proof. The fake story though, had enraged the Mystical Foxes even further, and not only the Foxes, another being called the Forest Nymph had also enraged by the lies.
"The whole Japan was in chaos at that time, the Mystical Foxes completely abandon the humans, they let the Onis roamed free and didn't bother to kill them if the Onis didn't cause any harm for the Mystical beings and the Nature. The Forest Nymph had make it impossible for any plants to grow during that period, the humans also couldn't take foods from the forest because all of the road had been blocked.
"The Emperor couldn't stand to watch his people suffering, but there's nothing that he could do. Although, he did do one thing that caught the interest of the Mystical Foxes and the Forest Nymph without knowing it, he was writing a short story based on reality, The Origin of Ninetails was what he wrote." Matamune smiled when they all widened their eyes in shock, "The Emperor was a friend of Hao-sama's Father, he knew the real story and he wanted the world to know what had happened as well, in hope that the people would respect Nature even more. He wrote the story without revealing any of their names, but the people know right away that the Shaman boy in the story and the Ninetails were Asakura Hao and his adopted Brother, Yoh.
"One of the Fox went to him and asked how he know the story, so the Emperor told the Fox that he was a dear friend of Hao's Father and had heard everything directly from Asanoha-san and Yue-san when he visited his friend. The Emperor then begged the Fox to protect his Country once again, because it wasn't fair to endanger many innocent lives for the fault of the Asakuras, and he promised to give anything in exchange.
"The Emperor's youngest Daughter, Princess Sakuya, had entered the Emperor's Chamber by chance at that exact time to ask her Father to play with her. The Mystical Fox had taken immediate interest with the innocent Princess, who also captivated by the male Fox's beauty, and ask for the Emperor to give the Princess to him in exchange for the returning the Country to it's original state.
"The Emperor was shocked by it and nearly rejected the idea if not for the Princess agreeing to the Fox easily, the Emperor could only agreed and the Fox left with the Princess. The Fox kept his promise and Japan returned to it's original state, while the Princess become the Mystical Foxes and the Forest Nymph for her bright personality. Princess Sakura was the Mother of the Third Ninetails who had graced the world, Kugou." Matamune finished his tale.
"Wait!" Horo Horo interrupted, "How come a girl have a child from a Fox?!".
"Oh, it seems that I forgot to tell you . . . " Yoh drawled, gaining their attention, "Mystical Foxes could shift their form into a half human so they could talk to humans easier than using Telepathy all the time, so it's possible for a Mystical Fox to have a child with a human".
Manta raised his hand, Yoh nodded at him, "Um, how about what had really happened in the Patch Tribe 500 years ago?" He asked curiously.
"Hm, let's see . . ." Yoh began thoughtfully, "I and Hao decided to try and reborn away from the Japanese people, so we decided to try the Patch Tribe".
"One thing we didn't know was that they had something against Twins, they thought that Twins were bad omen, one of them had to be killed right away." Hao told them seriously, "Guess who they chose to kill that time? Yoh was taken away from me right after he was born, and that event make me resent the Patch, I distanced myself from them and didn't want to have anything to do with them. I might married someone, but it was arranged so I could produced an heir, nothing more than that".
"But Asaha did love his children, he had a Son and a Daughter that time." Yoh told them with a smile, he had saw Hao's memories about the children and immediately adore them, too bad he couldn't meeet them.
"Yes." Hao agreed, "I love them very much, that's why when they got mistreated by the humans, my hatred grew too much, and when my Daughter died, killed by a run away criminal, I snapped again. This time though, instead of become thirst of vengeance like what happened 1000 years ago, I was possessed by a Demon and couldn't break free by myself".
"Asaha is an Oni Summoner, see?" Yoh told the rest when they looked confused, "If he was a normal Shaman, then he could break free from the Demon easily, but since he was an Oni Summoner, he couldn't do it himself. An Oni Summoner is the best choice for a Demon to use as their vessel, because they were closer to Underworld than normal Shaman and could connect with the Underworld, the couldn't break free by themselves since they are just too compatible with the Demon and Asaha's hatred just made the Demon stronger".
"So, that's why I did all those crazy stuffs." Hao added, "Because it's not really my doing, but the Demon's doing." He then looked at his followers, "The same happened in this time, I already got possessed by the Demon when I saw the Asakuras wanted to kill me and Yoh right after birth, and the reason why I saved you when we met before was because I managed to break free even if it's for a few seconds, besides, the Demon thought that you would be useful, so it spared you".
"During the battle in the Land of The Stars . . ." Yoh said and got their attention to him right away, "When 'Hao' ate my Soul, it's not because I couldn't stop him from doing so, but because I let him to do so".
"Why?" Ryu asked with gaping mouth.
"So that I can try to get the Demon out of Asaha's body from the inside." Yoh explained, "I nearly killed the Demon that time, but then I got pulled back into my own body before I really killed him".
"Ah, was that because I pulled you back?" Amidamaru asked in surprise.
Yoh shook his head and chuckled, "It's not really your doing." He told his Guardian Spirit, "Although you did pull me back, but I can resist you easily to do what I want to do, I got pulled back before I killed the Demon was because my body was vacant and need a Spirit to fill it, my body pulled me back forcefully." He explained with a smile, "I never did anything like getting my Spirit out of my body before, so the force was too strong for me to resist and I got pulled back right away".
"So, that's what really happened." Hao concluded, "Any of you have a question? If there is, feel free to ask".
Silence engulfed them when no one making any noise, Yoh sighed and clapped his hands, "Well, since you don't ask anything, we will close this story time." He said and gestured to the food on the table, "Why don't we eat first? For Anna and the rest, you could go back to the Inn once you are done, if you want to. I'm sure you need time to let everything sink in, so I won't force you to stay here".
"I guess, it's for the best." Anna said in everyone's place, "One question though, what about our engagement?".
"I will let you decide whether you still want to be with me or not." Yoh told her gently, "It's not like we have to be together, so if you want to break it, I'm alright with it since it's not easy to accept that you are engaged to a Mystical Creature".
Anna nodded, "I will think about it." She said and began eating.
Yoh smiled and began to eat as well, the rest followed the example and began eating as well. Once Yoh's friends went back to the Funbari Onsen Inn, except for Amidamaru who had decided to stay with Yoh, Hao and Yoh looked at each other with a smile before turning into their Ninetailed Fox forms and went to run around in the forest to their heart content.
To be continued . . .
Froim : Review Please ^ ^