Guess who forgot to update the last 4 chapters? So today I bring you four new chapters
Hao's first real smile! Yoh will have to wait for his a little bit longer though, I want them to develop a bit differently and after all, Hao's been through this twice already. He's a professional
The twins were almost two months old now and while Mikihisa sometimes went up into the mountains, Keiko's social life was suffering. She had arranged to go get coffee with a friend of hers, though it was only after Mikihisa and Yohmei had told her to go, to leave her precious children and catch up. They'd look after them for a few hours.
Now, she was all dressed up, both Yoh and Hao had been fed and changed, and she was fretting about this whole thing.
"Are you sure I shouldn't cancel?" she asked for the sixth time in a row. Mikihisa, holding Hao (Yohmei refused to hold him, opting to carry Yoh in his arms instead), gently pressed her purse into her hands.
"We'll be fine, we're all big boys," he said with a smile. They would be alright (as long as there wasn't any accident). Keiko rolled her eyes.
"That's what I'm worried about," she replied, but a slight, amused smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She just had to hope that her father and husband would take care of her two boys, even if she didn't feel particularly well about leaving them in their company. However, she also needed some time for herself.
"Alright, then," she said, her expression turning from amused to unsure. "I will be back home quickly, though," she added. Even though both twins would probably sleep for the next couple of hours, she didn't want to risk it. Mikihisa and Yohmei could take care of their basic needs, like changing their diapers or playing, in Hao's case, they could also feed him, and while Yoh knew how to nurse from a bottle, she would rather do it herself. She wouldn't be gone for long.
Keiko took her purse and quickly kissed Mikihisa on the lips, then gave small forehead kisses to both her boys.
"Mummy will be back soon, alright? Don't be naughty, darlings." She gave the one nestled in Mikihisa's arms a significant look, a warning to behave. She didn't want any accidents while she was gone.
As soon as his mother left, Yoh started squirming in his grandfather's arms. When Keiko didn't return, he started wailing. Hao looked very unimpressed with him, opting to scowl and turn his nose into Mikihisa's clothing.
"There, be a good boy," Yohmei rocked him back and forth, but nothing he did helped. Yoh didn't stop; if anything, he started crying more.
Mikihisa frowned. While Yoh knew Yohmei as he sometimes looked after the babies, he still felt safer in his father's arms. And Mikihisa knew that.
"Let's switch them," he suggested, setting Hao down. The baby made an annoyed expression. He didn't want to be held by the elderly shaman. Even if he didn't have reishi, he could feel his disgust when Mikihisa suggested switching babies. Yes, Yohmei never particularly liked him. Hao's mind reached out to the Spirit of Fire, satisfied that he was still nearby and could materíalize at a moment's notice. He knew that Yohmei was still angry about his decision to let him live, even if they've lived under the same roof for almost two months already. Keiko was always the mediator between them; she always stood unwaveringly on his side (and Yoh's, he supposed). She acted as a safe place, a barrier between him and the rest of the Asakura family.
And now she was gone. She was gone and left him with the two males. He knew that it wasn't for a long time, though his baby brain kept telling him to start crying, that mother was gone, she would never come back. He knew that's what Yoh thought as he kept crying, at least until the moment Mikihisa took him and he gradually calmed down in his father's arms. He knew Mikihisa well, just as well as he knew Keiko, and being near one of his parents did wonders.
Yohmei reluctantly took Hao into his arms. Looking up at him, Hao could swear that he seemed almost scared. He should be, Hao thought as he let out an involuntarily cute yawn. Gods, he hated this body. All he ever wanted was to sleep and feed, if anything. He hated it. All the things he wanted to do already seemed so far in the future, so unachievable. Especially now, looking into his current grandfather's eyes that just radiated disgust at having to hold him and not Yoh.
Mikihisa watched as Yoh opened his mouth to yawn as well. It was contagious, yawning. And Yoh was tired for sure, pleasantly full and ready to catch some more hours of sleep. The baby's eyes started to close, and he grasped Mikihisa's finger and kept it close.
Hao wasn't planning to sleep in the time Keiko was away. He wouldn't sleep; he wanted to keep an eye on them. He knew that Yohmei wouldn't be above attacking a sleeping baby.
The adults were chatting quietly. It seemed as if time didn't pass at all while they were speaking in hushed tones as not to wake Yoh up. From time to time, Yohmei risked a glance at Hao, always finding his narrowed eyes open, looking up at him.
When that happened for the fifth time, the elderly shaman leaned towards Mikihisa, nodding towards the baby.
"Is he faulty?" he asked. When Keiko was small, she mostly slept or cried at this age. That's what babies should do. Sleep and get their needs fulfilled. Of course, Kino was the one who took care of their daughter, almost never leaving the house until Keiko was able to eat solid foods, but Yohmei sometimes helped her take care of her. In his experience, babies weren't awake for such a long time.
Mikihisa let out a quiet laugh.
"No, he's not faulty, he's just curious," he commented, amused. Extending his hand, he ruffled Hao's tiny patch of hair.
Excited about his father's show of affection, Hao's tiny vocal cords betrayed him and he let out a quiet "Ah ah" in a typical baby voice. Immediately, he clasped his mouth shut. Damn this tiny body! He wanted to wait with speaking until he was sure he would be able to master speech, but this body always continued to betray him, embarrassing him. He had already undergone so much humiliation, he did not need to add another one to his list.
Yohmei managed a small smile.
"Are you sure this is Hao?" he inquired, his tone becoming light. Mikihisa chuckled.
"I'm pretty sure that's him. He always keeps a scowl of some sort and narrowed eyes," he explained. "Keiko and I distinguish them based on that." Hearing the explanation, the shaman nodded. It seemed logical that Hao and Yoh would be different in some way. However, he had so far maintained his distance from the little family. Sure, he kept an eye on them, but he never made a move to get to know the twins better. It always ended with the threat of having to interact with Hao, and he despised that idea from the bottom of his heart.
"Father, he's just a baby," Mikihisa said suddenly, noticing his frowned eyebrows. "He's harmless."
That's where you're wrong. The pram didn't set itself on fire.
Hao wasn't surprised that Yohmei knew about the pram. Honestly, with having so many shikigamis at his service, it would be more of a surprise if he didn't know about it. However, it seemed that Mikihisa and Keiko weren't aware that he knew. It made things all the more difficult. And Hao could hardly let them know about it. He was sure that Keiko would panic and she would never set foot out of the house out of fear for her children.
Hao had heard enough. He closed his eyes. This conversation was tiring him out. The adults weren't talking about anything interesting. Not the shaman tournament, not about starting Yoh's training early, they almost didn't breach the topic of shamanism at all. They were just talking about some events that had happened in the world during the past month and while that was surely interesting (Hao had a lot of catching up to do, after all), he didn't find that particularly useful.
Keeping his eyes closed, he appeared to be sleeping but in fact, he was still awake. His little act seemed to fool both men present.
"Whew," Yohmei released his breath. Hao chuckled internally. He reveled in the fact that he could still scare people even in this tiny body.
"He's finally sleeping, I thought that he would never fall asleep," he said in a low voice, trying his hardest not to wake up the "sleeping" baby.
Mikihisa adjusted Yoh's position in his arms.
"When do you want to start their shaman training?" he asked. Yohmei's eyes widened slightly.
"Yoh I want to start training as soon as possible," he huffed finally. Mikihisa's raised eyebrow prompted him to continue. "Hao doesn't need any training."
Mikihisa tilted his head in confusion.
"It's better not to let him become a shaman. Maybe I can find some spell to bind his spiritual powers…" Yohmei continued. If he wasn't pretending to be sleeping, Hao would frown.
What fools , he thought to himself. The Asakuras were truly the biggest fools around, thinking that they could bind his powers. If they even found such a powerful spell.
"Father, Hao is already a powerful shaman," Mikihisa reminded him carefully, casting a careful glance at his older son to make sure his eyes were still closed. Yohmei waved his hand in annoyance.
"I know that, but it would be safer for everyone. It's dangerous to let him have access to his full power."
Hao couldn't resist the urge to teach this fool a lesson. He stirred in his arms, gleeful that he immediately stiffened, looking down at the baby in his arms. Chuckling internally, Hao felt extremely satisfied with himself.
Mikihisa shook his head.
"You do realize that even if you don't teach him, Yoh will ask questions when he's older, right? He will wonder why he is the one who has to train while his brother can slack off. Besides, you could teach Hao some nice things to make the world a better place," he suggested.
"His idea of a better place is making the world for shamans only," Yohmei said, suppressing a sneer.
His son-in-law shrugged.
"Well then, teach him how to care for humans," he replied. Hao almost had to laugh.
With this attitude? I don't think so . However, he was careful not to project any of his thoughts telepathically. On the outside, he appeared just like any other baby. He was no different than Yoh. As it was a warm summer day, they both sported only their diapers, making them almost unrecognizable from each other.
Yohmei huffed in annoyance. It was clear that he didn't want to teach him anything. If he could, he would do the exact opposite, but he seemed to dismiss this conversation with: "We'll talk about it again when they're older."
Mikihisa gave him a look. It was obvious that Yohmei didn't count on him defying him. He had expected that he would go along with him, with this plan that he concocted. It was a foolish plan; they could never expect to manage such a feat.
"As you say, Father, as you say," he replied, his tone indicating that he didn't think that the result of such a conversation would be different when the twins were older. He wouldn't be able to convince Mikihisa because he didn't know the twins. He didn't know that their intentions weren't malicious. They were just babies, and they should be able to be babies as long as they could. Yohmei didn't know them; Mikihisa did. And he was sure that Keiko also wouldn't agree to such a plan if she knew about it. But she was away right now, and the duty to protect his children fell to him.
This time, Yohmei didn't say anything. Everything was written on his face. His eyebrows rose, maybe at the evident disrespect from his son-in-law, maybe at the insolence to defend the family's sworn arch-nemesis. Either way, they fell back into an uncomfortable silence, each doing his own thing, and the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of breathing and an occasional sigh coming from either Yohmei or Mikihisa.
The former now ran a hand through his hair.
"We're really hopeless without Keiko, aren't we?"
A grumble of agreement from the side told him everything that he needed to know.
"How about I make a barbecue tonight?" Mikihisa asked. Another grumble of agreement followed, and he closed his eyes. Where was Keiko when they all needed her?
One uncomfortable hour later, they finally heard some noise as Keiko slipped off her shoes and came inside, carrying a shopping bag in her hand. She was choosing her steps carefully not to disturb them, and the babies, if they were sleeping.
While Yoh had been sleeping soundly, not having a care in the world, Hao was drifting in and out of a half-asleep state. It didn't help that he had been pretending to be asleep, and several times, he almost fell into the dreamland. But now, he could hear everything; Keiko's footsteps, Yohmei and Mikihisa's curiosity as to what sacrifices she had returned with, he was also curious about that. Opening his eyes, he was satisfied that Yohmei stiffened, noticing his watchful gaze.
The elderly shaman made a move to transfer Hao over to Keiko, but she shook her head.
"Could you please carry him a little longer?" she asked, bending forward to take out several items from her shopping bag. Hao squinted, not really sure what she had in her hand; his eyesight was still too blurry to see it properly, but as she came closer, he could recognize the item as a romper suit. Crouching his nose, he realized that he could see some form of text on it too.
Keiko came closer to him, gently pressing the romper suit saying I AM THE FUTURE against his body, trying to see if she got the correct size.
"It's a bit bigger, but he will grow into it," she remarked, putting the piece of clothing away. It was high summer now and if the temperatures were nice, he wouldn't have to wear it for two of three more months.
Keiko tried another romper suit on Yoh, this one sporting a dark blue colour with silver text SMART LIKE MAMA, and nodded her head.
"This will do," she commented, satisfied with herself. She put the romper suits away, back into the bag. Now, she finally relieved Yohmei of his grandfatherly duties and took Hao back into her arms.
Hao's pupils were incredibly dilated as he glanced up at his mother, and slowly, his face spread into a smile, given just to her. With another baby coo, he kept his smile on, and Keiko mirrored his expression.
Excited, she turned to Mikihisa for a second.
"Did you hear that?" she asked, her tone rising in excitement. "He smiled!" She cooed at Hao, making him smile more, mimicking her own wide smile.
"You big boy, you're already growing up," she said, holding Hao up. He looked at her, his smile disappearing, before he slowly blinked, maybe not even realizing what had just happened, or he was just confused about it.
Growing up? Of course he was growing up, but he would like the process to be much faster than it had been so far. He hated these days that he spent sleeping or watching the ceiling when he didn't feel like napping. He rarely called for Keiko. He couldn't risk getting attached. She was only the mother of his current body. Nothing more, nothing less. And yet… as she held him and he gave her his first real smile, he couldn't suppress those feelings anymore.
He was getting attached.