My Other Half

by Fragments of Imagination

Something has happened during Yoh's childhood, and that caused him to lose his sight. Being raised in a forest by the Spirits of the Nature, Yoh has become so fond of the Nature. What will happen when Hao appeared? (AU. Characters might be OOC. Don't like, don't read.)

10. Cooking Problem and the Solution

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King!

Thought / Dreams / Event from the past

'Telepathic Voice'

[Voice from the past]

=Telephone=

Letter

"Dialogue"

Emphasis

Dangerous Tone / Spell

Cooking Problem and the Solution

'So in the end, Amidamaru still chose to be your Spirit Partner?' Hao's voice rang in Yoh's mind after Yoh finished telling his Brother the latest update of his daily activities – as was ordered by the older Shaman before he left with Opacho, 'And that Manta boy … he insists in tagging along with you, despite your warning to not get close to you?'.

'That sums it up, yes.' Yoh answered as he enjoyed the Ofuro (Japanese Bath) that his house had, 'So, how was your day, Nii-chan?'.

'It's morning where I am.' Hao answered with a chuckle, 'Truthfully, it was late in the night here when I contacted you earlier. I'm too used with sleeping with you beside me, so I couldn't sleep, so I decided to try the Mind Link'.

'Well, that would be bad after you absorb me, wouldn't it?' Yoh asked with a sweat drop, 'I think it would be best if we don't sleep side by side again from now on, Nii-chan, or it would be hard for you once I'm gone'.

'Try saying that after you slept later, Otouto.' Hao deadpanned, 'You do realize that you're the clingier one between us, right?'.

'Eh, really?' Yoh asked in surprise, 'I didn't realize'.

'Well, you do.' Hao answered smugly, 'I bet you won't be able to sleep at all tonight'.

'Did you?' Yoh shot back with a pout.

'… Of course I can.' Hao answered after a moment of silence.

'You took Opacho as my substitute, didn't you.' Yoh said knowingly.

'I didn't!' Hao protested right away, but Yoh got a feeling that Hao was blushing at the moment.

'Don't be so worried. It's not like I'm going to tell anyone.' Yoh replied with a chuckle.

'… You're frustrating sometimes.' Hao replied in defeat a few seconds later.

'Nii-chan could be frustrating sometimes as well, especially when you decided to kill people in front of me.' Yoh replied easily, going back to enjoying the Ofuro.

'You're blind, Otouto, so you can just pretend that you didn't know I killed those pests.' Hao retorted calmly.

'That would make me a cold person like you, so no, thank you.' Yoh replied with a teasing smile on his face as stood up, and then he dried himself before wearing his night Yukata. 'It's late, Nii-chan. Oyasuminasai ne (Good Night)'.

'Oyasumi.' Hao replied softly, 'Don't forget to stay Hyoui Gattai with Amidamaru for as long as you can every day, and while you do your daily training'.

'Wakatteru yo, Nii-chan (I know / I understand, Big Brother).' Yoh replied while pouting, 'But, can you lessen my physical training? You know that I'm strong enough now, so can I just relax myself for the rest of my days? I hate training'.

'Your 'days' are still plenty, Otouto.' Hao grumbled even in his mind, before he was silent for a few seconds, 'But alright, you can relax yourself for now, but once the First – not the Preliminary – Round of Shaman Fight began, you started back with your training. Is that alright?'.

'Alright, that should be long enough relaxing time.' Yoh hummed happily as he replied, 'Thank you, Nii-chan. I promise I will still do the daily laps run'.

'Good.' Hao replied in satisfaction, 'Hurry up and sleep then'.

'Hai~ (Yes).' Yoh answered happily with a grin on his face.

XXXXX

"Let's see …" Yoh muttered to himself as he checked the storage box where he put the cooking ingredients – like eggs and vegetables – by making his Swallow Shikigami entered the box, while his hands were carrying a note book and a pen to write what he might need to buy later.

It was the next morning – and as Hao had guessed, Yoh couldn't sleep at all last night, and he only managed to fall asleep after Catty decided to stay beside him instead of inside her Sapphire Stone pendulum. Right now though, he was checking his food stock, since he was about to go on his daily laps run. He figured that he might as well bought the groceries after his running was done, rather than going out again after returning back home.

"There're still enough eggs to last for about a week, and there's enough rice to last me a month. Ah, I'm about to run out of vegetables." He said as he wrote Potato, Carrot, Onions, and Sweet Potato down on the note.

His eyes might be unable to see, but he could pretend that he could see just fine, so the people wouldn't look at him strangely when he 'looked' at the paper later. Besides, the paper was just for a reminder, since he was aware of how absentminded he was at times – especially when he was relaxing, which was what he was planning to do today.

"Yoh, should I call Yuki over?" Elfrost asked curiously as he landed on Yoh's shoulder, "She's strong enough to touch things, so she could cook for you".

Amidamaru blinked at the sight of the talking Bat Spirit. Even though Yoh had introduced him to the rest of his Spirit Partners, it was still a surprise to see the talking Bat Spirit – since neither Kai nor Catty was talking as well, even though the two animal Spirits were as old as the Demon Bat. He guessed that it would take a bit of time, before he got used to the sight of Elfrost talking while in his presence.

"Yuki?" Yoh asked with a frown, "You're going to ask an Ice Demon to cook near Fire?".

"Yuki is a Spirit now, so it's alright, don't you think?" Elfrost replied easily with a flap of his wings, as a substitute of shrugging.

"I don't think that it's a good idea." Yoh answered with a shake of his head – dissipating his Shikigami as he did so, while materializing Riku using Oversoul at the same time. "Yuki can't taste the cooking, so I'm not sure if the food would be edible later. Besides, Yuki had said that she needs to stay with Mom and her human friend, to help protecting them".

"I guess, we better try to find a Chef's Spirit then, so the Spirit could cook in your stead." Elfrost muttered thoughtfully, "I mean, you're a bad cook yourself, Yoh, so I don't think you should cook – least you cooks a charcoal instead".

"Elfrost, you're mean." Yoh pouted as he protested, "I'm not that bad of a cook".

"Yes, you are." Elfrost deadpanned at him, "Remember that time you tried to cook and almost burned down the house instead?".

"That was the first time!" Yoh complained, "I haven't gotten used to being blind yet!".

"But he makes a good point, Yoh-dono." Amidamaru interrupted before they could fight with each other, "Even if you're used to being blind now, but you haven't cook in a long time now. Surely your skill is a bit rusty now?".

"Fine, I will look around for a Spirit who can help me cook." Yoh said with a defeated sigh before ripping of the paper which he wrote on, and then pocketing it.

He then removed his blindfold, so he wouldn't attract unwanted attention – well, he still needed to be careful not to 'look' at someone right in the eyes, since they would know that he was blind then. Sure, Hao had used what little medical knowledge that he knew to fix Yoh's eyes – in the matter of appearance, so it wouldn't look dull and a bit grayish, since he said that he would need Great Spirit's help if he wanted to make Yoh capable to see again – but his eyes wouldn't react to light like a normal eyes, so he had to be careful.

Actually, he didn't have to wear his blindfold anymore because of this, but he still wore it to protect his eyes from the dust that was in the air.

"Your wallet is on the kitchen's counter, Yoh-dono." Amidamaru – having guessed correctly what he was thinking of – informed him when he was trying to remember where he had put his wallet.

"Thank you, Amidamaru." Yoh replied as he took the aforementioned wallet from the counter, "How much is in it again, Elfrost?" He asked as he opened the wallet for the Bat Spirit to see.

… Silence.

"Elfrost?" Yoh asked again when he didn't hear the response.

"Oh, sorry, I was still counting." Elfrost answered with a blink of his eyes, "I think there're more than 100.000 Yen in there, Yoh".

"Nii-chan left me with the big change money again, didn't he." Yoh commented dryly.

"Yeah." Elfrost answered with a chuckle, causing Yoh to pout.

"Not funny." Yoh complained as he pocketed his wallet inside his Coat as well, "It's hard for me to buy stuffs with the big changes, I need to exchange them with the smaller changes first".

"Maybe he just wanted to increase your track's distance for training, Yoh-dono." Amidamaru commented while trying to hold back a laugh, since Yoh's complaining face just made him looked cute.

"More as a prank instead of as a training, I think." Yoh muttered to himself as he walked out of the house, "Come on, Amidamaru, we need to perform Hyoui Gattai so we can get used to each other as soon as we can." He said as he held out his hand.

"Hai, Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru replied as he changed into his Hitodama mode, before flying over onto Yoh's open palm.

"Hyoui Gattai, Amidamaru!" Yoh said as he pressed his hand onto his chest, causing Amidamaru's Hitodama to enter his body. He then breathed out when he could feel that the Unity went well. "Alright, let's get start with the run." He said before taking off running through his usual track – but taking a short detour to the bank to exchange his money into a smaller changes.

XXXXX

"Really. The snow's pilling so high and it's still snowing, why didn't the school take a break for today?" Manta complained as he painstakingly walked through the thick pile of snow on his way to the school.

It wasn't like he hate going to the school – he like studying after all, so he enjoyed going to school – but he hated going to school while it was snowing, and when the snow had piled so much that it was a hard chore for him to even walk around. To top it off, he had to wake up extra early so he wouldn't arrive late to school later, since it took him a long time to walk through a pile of snow.

"No offense, but isn't it just because you're a bit on the short side, Manta?" Yoh's voice rang out suddenly, causing Manta to jump with a surprised cry.

"Yoh-kun!" Manta gasped when he looked at his side, "Since when are you here?".

"Just now." Yoh answered with a grin, "I heard you grumbled to yourself, so I slowed down".

"What do you mean slowed down?" Manta asked dryly.

"I'm on my daily run now." Yoh answered with a nonchalant shrug, "As I said, I mean no offense, but it was because you're a bit on the short side that you found it hard walking in this snow".

"I realized that." Manta said with a defeated sigh.

"Do you want me to help get to your school sooner?" Yoh offered with a warm smile.

"Eh?" Manta asked in confusion, "Ah! No, you don't have to carry me around, since it will be a bit embarrassing." He said once he realized what Yoh meant by that.

"It's still early on the morning, right? I don't think there's that many people around." Yoh commented with a tilt of his head, "Besides, I don't have to carry you around".

"Then, what do you meant by that?" Manta asked with a blink of his eyes.

"Kore da (This)!" Yoh answered as he stepped forward – materializing Arashi using an Oversoul as he did so, before forming a ball of whirlwind on his right palm. He then shot the whirlwind onto the road, hitting the snow and made them got thrown to the side of the road – and it still going until it was about 10 meters ahead of Yoh, before disappearing. "There." He said with a nod of satisfaction.

"Su- sugoi (Awesome)." Manta said with gaping mouth, "Yoh-kun, you really can do anything, huh?".

"I can't bring back the dead, since I'm not strong enough and I don't understand the way a body works – human and animal alike." Yoh replied right away as he 'looked' back at Manta, "I also can't use teleportation while carrying a passenger yet – much less a bunch of passengers, also because I'm not strong enough yet".

"Wait, what?!" Manta gasped in shock, staring at Yoh with wide eyes, "Bring back the dead?! Teleportation?! You mean, you can do them if you're strong enough?!".

"Well, generally, yes." Yoh answered with a nod as he began walking, forcing Manta to walk as well, "But there are a few restrictions in bringing back the dead, and I don't think I would ever manage to fill the requirements. About the teleportation though, I just need to get stronger".

"What- what are the restrictions and requirements in bringing back the dead?" Manta asked nervously, wondering just what exactly that a Shaman could do, if they were strong enough.

"Well, the dead person's body has to be intact, and the person couldn't die for longer than a few days – or else the skill wouldn't work." Yoh said thoughtfully as he remembered what Hao had told him about it, "Only a very powerful Shaman can do it, because it requires a great amount of Furyoku. Also, as I said earlier, the Shaman has to understand the way the body work, so the body's function can be started correctly. Then, the person's Spirit has to be around as well, so the Spirit can enter the body as soon as the body's brought back alive again. If just one of the requirements isn't met, then the skill will fail".

"Un- unbelievable …" Manta breathed out in awe, "Being a Shaman is really amazing".

"Not really." Yoh shook his head sadly, "For people like you, you might be amazed by our abilities – because you can see Spirits as well, so you wouldn't freak out. But for the other people who can't see Spirits, the stronger the Shaman is, the more feared they would be. This is mostly why I don't use my Shamanic ability in public unless it's necessary, since I don't want them to fear me".

"Yoh-kun …" Manta said sadly, for he didn't realize that being a Shaman was very hard.

"It's alright, Manta." Yoh said calmly as he cleaned the road from the snow again, before continuing walking, "The time keeps flowing, and changes come along with the passing of time. The people's opinion of Shamans is changing along with time as well. The people of the past feared the Shamans, then they began to think that Shamanic abilities are useful after some time of knowing the Shamans. Unfortunately, with the coming of technology, the people began to leave the way of Shamans behind, and they started to fear and treat the Shamans like freaks." He then smiled warmly at Manta, "Luckily for us, people like you who are amazed by Shamanic abilities instead of fearing it have increased in number lately. I'm sure that some time in the future – probably a decade or so, if my estimation is right – the people wouldn't fear the Shamans any longer. Hopefully, we will finally be accepted back into the society".

"Yoh-kun …" Manta said again, feeling touched and hopeful this time.

"The future is the future though, so we won't know for sure what would happen." Yoh continued as he 'looked' ahead again, "The only thing we can do now is try to make the people see that they don't have to fear us, and we're just as humans as they are".

Well, that is if Nii-chan somehow decided to give the normal humans a chance to change. Yoh added in his mind as he cleaned the road again – of course after making sure that only he and Manta was around the road. If Nii-chan still wouldn't change his view about the normal humans by the time he becomes the Shaman King, then I don't think that many people would survive the mass "cleansing". I can only hope that some of my feeling towards the normal humans could get through to Nii-chan after he absorbed my Soul, so he might be willing to spare the people with good hearts – he can see into their heart, after all.

"This is your school, right?" Yoh asked after a while of walking, stopping in front of the gate of the school building.

"Ah, yeah, it is." Manta said in surprise – they did manage to shorten the time for the trip, "Thank you for your help, Yoh-kun".

"You're welcome, Manta." Yoh answered with a smile and a nod of his head, before turning around to leave.

"Wait, Yoh-kun!" Manta called out before Yoh could take more than two steps, causing the taller boy to 'look' at Manta curiously. "Yoh-kun, where do you go to school?".

Yoh shook his head in answer. "I don't go to any school." He answered truthfully, "Any knowledge that I have I inherited from the Spirits of this world, so I don't see the need to go to school when I won't apply for a job in the city. Besides, the school bullies would surely try to bully me because I'm blind, don't you think?" He asked Manta with a carefree smile. Not to mention that I'm going to die soon enough, so going to school will be a waste of time, when I can spend my time enjoying my remaining life to the fullest.

"Ah, I guess you're right." Manta said a resigned sigh, knowing that there would be at least a bully in any school. "Well, do you think we can spend time together today?" He asked curiously then.

Yoh's expression broke into a huge grin. "As soon as I'm done with my run, I'm free to do anything that I want." He said cheerfully.

"Really?" Manta asked in excitement, "Then, how about we meet at the Madnalt* at the afternoon today? Around 2 PM. I would be out of school by then".

(*AN: Madnalt is the name of the burger shop in the Manga.)

"Sure, why not?" Yoh replied easily, "We're going to have lunch while we're there, right?".

"Yes." Manta answered with a grin.

"That's great! I don't need to cook for lunch today!" Yoh said with a chuckle, "I haven't found any Spirit that can help me cook yet, so I was afraid that I would ruin my cooking earlier".

"You don't have anyone cook for you?" Manta asked in surprise.

"Ee." Yoh replied with a casual shrug, "No living people are in the house aside from me at the moment, and it will stay like that for a month or so".

"Then, would you like me to cook for you?" Manta offered with a smile, "You have helped me today, so I don't mind helping you back by cooking for you. I can only cook dinner for you in weekdays though, since I have school".

"You don't have to, Manta." Yoh shook his head, "I don't want to burden you".

"But you helped me by cleaning the road for me to walk on." Manta argued with a grin.

"It's nothing big." Yoh argued back with another shake of his head, "Besides, I don't think Hao would like it if a normal human entered his house, even though he's away at the moment".

"Hao?" Manta blinked in surprise.

"Yes, he's my Nii-chan." Yoh explained with a smile, "Nii-chan hates normal human though, since he had had a very bad experience with normal humans in the past, and it's a miracle that he let me to be around you".

"Well, that's too bad." Manta said in low spirit, before brightening up again, "I know! How about you stay in an Inn for the time being? That way, the Inn would prepare the food for you. I'm worried about you, Yoh-kun, since it's dangerous to cook if you couldn't see what you're cooking".

Yoh blinked his eyes – which he could do now because he wasn't wearing his blindfold – in surprise. "Oh, that's a great idea, actually. Nii-chan left me with enough money too." He said in realization.

"Really?" Manta asked with a grin, "Okay, there's this Inn called the Funbari Onsen. It's an Inn away from the main part of Funbarigaoka, so it's a quiet place even though it's a bit of a walk to anywhere. Not many people stays there due to the distance, but I think it's also because of the rumor of how the place is haunted by ghosts, which shouldn't be a problem for a Shaman like you, right?".

"Yeah, no problem." Yoh said with a nod of agreement.

"Okay, I will show you the place after our lunch then." Manta said cheerfully.

"Thank you, Manta." Yoh said gratefully, "You don't know how much this solves my problem".

"Nah, it's nothing." Manta shook his head with a smile on his face. "Then, see you later, Yoh-kun! I'm off to school now!" He said with a wave of his hand, before walking towards his school building.

Yoh waited until he felt Manta's presence to be far enough before he continued with his run, starting with a light jog. 'Nee, Nii-chan?' He sent telepathically as he ran, 'Are you awake?'.

'Yeah, I am.' Hao replied slowly – a sign that he was sleepy, or very exhausted.

'Would you mind if I stay in an Inn? Just until you return.' Yoh asked him right away, 'You know that I'm a bad cook, and it's also dangerous to cook without looking, so I'm planning to stay at an Inn so I can get food easily'.

'It's alright, I don't mind.' Hao replied after a few seconds, 'Just make sure that the owner of the Inn treats you well, or I'm going to kill them once I'm back'.

Yoh chuckled with mixed feeling, happy that his Brother was concerned for his well being, and dreadful for a possible murder that his Brother might do in the future. 'Sure, I will, Nii-chan.' Yoh promised him, 'You sound tired, so I will leave you alone to rest now'.

'Yeah, I think a nap would be a good idea.' Hao said in agreement, before his side of the Link went silent.

LINE~LINE~LINE

To be continued …

LINE~LINE~LINE

Froim: Please Review, everyone ^ ^