Haku, wake up

Haku could hear the same voice calling out to him again. It was still the same situation, he couldn't move. He could feel the owner of the voice trembling, as if he or she desperately wanted him to wake up. He wanted to wake up but something was holding him back.

Tone's angry yet hurt face emerged in his mind, You will regret this, Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi

That's right… He had betrayed his promise about supporting Tone no matter what he did. He was better off here in the darkness, it would cease Tone's fire now that he was out of the picture. Right?

Haku, please wake up

"I'm sorry" Haku thought towards the owner of the voice.

It''s me, Chihiro, please wake up. Please wake up I'm begging you

Something in Haku snapped, how could he have not noticed that the voice belonged to her? How could he have left Chihiro worried? He remembered about the droplets on his hand. How could he make Chihiro cried? He needs to wake up and tell her it's all right

Yet Tone's face appeared again. Did he deserve to wake up and see the girl he loves?

Tone says that staying unconscious isn't going to cease his anger

How did Chihiro found out about Tone? Did Shinano told her? Something about Tone said… "Oh god please don't tell me Chihiro had met Tone" thought Haku. Now he was seriously trying to fight against the darkness, if lying unconscious wasn't going help, why prevent himself from waking up and seeing Chihiro? Haku wanted to wake up, he wanted to see Chihiro.

Tone said that if you wanted me to be safe you will need to wake up

Haku could feel his conscious regaining, he could move his fingers. His spiritual energy was now repairing everything that was damaged during his fight with Tone. He felt his mind getting clearer with every second that passed.

That's why, please wake up! Haku!

Haku opened his eyes to the blinding lights.

There were two silhouettes standing above him. When his eyes got used to the lights, he found out that it was Chihiro and Shinano staring at him, both wearing a relieved expression. Haku sat up and before he could say anything, Chihiro crashed into him and hugged him tightly.

"You are finally awake" Chihiro began to sob onto his shoulders.

"You were out for a day, she was worried sick" Shinano said

Haku nodded and patted Chihiro's back while hugging her.

"I'm back, I'm back" Haku whispered into Chihiro's ears, calming her down. Chihiro soon fell asleep in his arms, Shinano's expression told him that he had something to tell him. Haku therefore carried Chihiro bridal style and told Shinano to lead him to her room. After placing her down on her bed and covered her blankets, Haku gently stroked her face. It hurts to see Chihiro in this condition. Forcing himself to turn away, Haku beckoned Shinano to follow him to the living room.

"You look like there's something you want to tell me, what is it?" Haku asked

"Chihiro Ogino has already met Tone" When those words left Shinano's mouth it struck Haku like lightning. What he heard just now wasn't a hallucination. "She has told me the story, it seems that Tone has no interest in possesing a high spiritual body" Shinano told him the encounter between Chihiro and Tone while Haku listened silently. When Shinano finished his story, Haku closed his eyes and took a deep breath

So, you've never changed

"Lord Kohaku… Just who is Tone? He seems to know you" Shinano asked Haku curiously. Haku let a bitter smile climb up his face and spoke: "Me and Tone go a long way back. He was a nice and gentle person, arrogant sometimes. Some things never change huh. Wanna hear his story?"

"Sure" Shinano replied, both of them sat down on the sofa and Haku began his story. Hopefully finishing and not stopping half way like last time.

"Tone was a very talented spirit, it only took him five years to got as strong as he was during our last encounter from zero" Haku took in the surprised look on Shinano "I had never seen anyone more talented than him. In the same year when I replaced Yubaba as head of the bathhouse, I took him in as an apprentice, not wanting such talent to go waste. He was willing to learn and practiced hard, he caught up to me the next year. If you remember, I became the Master in the very same year. Which means that I had very limited time to teach him. I used all of my free time and taught him everything I could. I would say he was like a child to me but he was more like a brother, considering his age"

"What happened next?"

"Tone became 13, as you know, the year when he had the rights to talk in court. During that year, Tone was easily the strongest of all of the spirits. Nobody stood a chance against him, not even me. The only reason I could defeat him during our friendly battles was because he just wouldn't practice defense. Any experienced fighter would know that not learning defense could lead to your defeat. And when we fought during our last encounter, I could barely keep up with his attacks and he has practiced defense. It was that final blast that defeated him, while he still had the stamina to fly away, I was knocked out cold. Anyways, Tone was envied by most of the spirits in court, and they would always keep an eye out for Tone just to find any mistakes he made to have him out of the story. Tone was aware of this and always went along with them. He never got mad at them, pranked them sometimes by appearing behind them and ask what they were doing, while attacking them wouldn't be against the law since they were the ones who tailed him first but he never lifted a finger towards them. 'They are innocent' He would tell me, 'I would never hurt innocent people' While no one stood a chance against him, he never fought against anyone unless it was a friendly battle"

"So would it be safe to assume he went down the wrong path?"

"No," It pained Haku to tell the next part of the story but he forced himself to "I pushed him down the wrong path" Haku ignored Shinano's surprised face and continued his story

"Five years ago during one of our daily meeting, Tone suggested that we expand our territory towards the World of the Living. I know what you are going to say, it is against the rules. That was exactly what the officials that were jealous of Tone's talent said. Tone had a very good reason to back up his idea, which you already know from Chihiro's story. However, those officials had long wanted him dead, did you think they would listen to reason? The court is a much darker place than it seems. I could have saved him, with his reasons and all, but I didn't. I chose to keep to peace of the court, and removed Tone out of the story. I couldn't bear to kill him, so instead I decided to absorb all of his spiritual power and throw him out of court. It was the only way I could think of that would get him out of the story yet keep him alive. He was taken away by guards. While he could have easily got those guards off him, he didn't. At first I wondered why, then I remembered that he would never harm the innocent. He glared up at me with tears and hate in his eyes. I once promised him that I would support him in everything he did, but I broke that promise." Haku could feel the guilt building up inside him and it was transforming into tears, he clenched his fist, refusing to let them drop. A tear slipped out of his control and went down his cheek

"Lord Kohaku…"

"You know what made it worst? When I was tidying the room he used to stay in, I found his diary. Curious, I opened it. In the first page was a photo of me and him when we first met. I began reading his diary and realised that it was filled with moments between us. All those times we spent together were recorded. There was one page that wrote 'Master Kohaku is so busy! I want to become stronger so that I can help him out and with that we will get more time to spend together' That sentence broke my heart" Haku took a deep breath. Even after five years, Tone was still a deep wound that wouldn't heal. Remembering everything he read from the diary, two more tears trickled down his face

"The worst part of the whole diary was the last entry: 'I've decided to tell Master Kohaku to expand our territory towards the World of the Living. With my reasons, Master Kohaku would definitely agree! Besides, Master Kohaku promised that he would support me in everything!' I.. I.. I must had broke his heart when I made that decision. He looked up at me, trusted me, and what did I give him in return? A broken promise"

"My lord…"

Realising that he had lost his composure, Haku quickly wiped off the tears that stained his cheeks and eyes. He smiled a fake smile and patted Shinano on his shoulder "Well that's the story between me and Tone. I'm going to check on Chihiro" While he was walking towards the stairs, Shinano caught his hand.

"Lord Kohaku, it really wasn't your fault"

Haku smiled and gently pry Shinano's hand from his.