Chapter Five
Loose ends
After Yoh hit the doorbell for the tenth time, it was finally opened.
"My my, you look so lovely together." Keiko greeted them with a sweet smile.
"Mo-o-om…!" His son sighed with teeth clicking, and his breath visible under the lamps.
"Let's get inside, before we freeze to death, will you?" Came the harsh voice of grandmother.
"Uehehe, yes Obaa-chan." He smiled, but Anna took the chance to sneak in before him. Oh right, ladies first.
He was still chilling when they sat down to the table in the living room. Keiko quickly brought them hot cocoa drink.
"Where's Ojii-chan?" Asked Yoh just to break the awkward sipping silence. Grandmother joined them at that moment.
"I get to the point" Anna stole the word, and put down her empty cup. "Kino-sama. We are short on time."
"Hm?" Keiko gave her a disappointed look.
"Amidamaru is missing. Not lost missing, like he was erased from Earth missing." She explained, and as she went on, the eyes of mom and granny got ever wider. "I cannot find a trace of his soul."
Keiko opened her lips, to say something but hesitated.
"But we've got a new ghost at the Onsen." Yoh joined the conversation quite abruptly, yet his voice was calmer than ever.
"Yoh…" Anna sent him a worried look, but his warm eyes always made it seem like everything is totally fine.
"It's Hao." He said, with a vague smile, as if he couldn't believe it himself. Perhaps if he stopped stressing about it, he would just be gone like all the other problems.
"Khm!" Keiko choked on her sip, she coughed and drunk the rest of her drink to ease her throat. The others didn't even look at her.
"You don't seem surprised, Obaa-chan." Said Yoh, sitting in front of granny. She was staring at him with her empty eyes. She was blind but could see the clearest images in her mind, Yoh just knew it was happening at the moment.
"It is as I have feared the most." Answered granny with dull, tired voice. "It is very unfortunate to live with such a great burden" She looked at Yoh for real this time. ".You children have fought so much already, yet your trials have not ended."
"What do you mean, mother?" Said Keiko with voice still cracky from the little incident earlier. "Hao has been defeated. He's supposed to be in Hell for the next 500 years. What is so different now?"
"Now, he has a twin brother."
Anna grunted, and Yoh saw her hand clenching hard into the fabric of her skirt.
"It looks like the bond between you and that cursed spirit is stronger than we expected. He won't move on, because he's missing the other half of his soul.
"No…" Keiko sighed.
"So now I have to live my life with him watching my every step…?" Yoh dropped his head.
"No. It would be easier for him to just kill you and get it as soon as possible." Keiko hissed, carefully hiding all sorts of emotion on her face.
"You think that's why he took Amidamaru away, Kino-sama?" Asked the blond girl.
"If he wanted to kill me, he could've. But he waits."
"Indeed." Kino smiled for a moment and clasped her fingers. "He sure did a good job frightening you children. But don't fall for his tricks."
"Tricks?"
"Hao has come back from the spirit world." Granny straightened her back and looked to the side, as if gathering her thoughts. "Crossing from the spirit realm takes an enormous amount of furyoku. So much that, except for Hao, no one possessed the amount. The process is very painful, risky, it wrecks the soul, because it is unnatural." She looked back and held the silence for the sake of impact. "The shaman loses most of his furyoku trying to keep its own soul in one piece. It is supposed to refill naturally, within hours or days but it takes a lot of preparation. That is why he only comes back once every 500 years. But in this case, Hao just crossed over twice, within a few months and it must've really worn down his spirit."
"So that means, he has to spend all his furyoku to heal, and he is vulnerable." Anna made a vicious smile.
"Well, it's clear now." Keiko mirrored her expression, then stood up and look down to the others with determined eyes. "We have to destroy his ghost, before he regains his furyoku. Mother, do you know a few spirits we can lend?"
Yoh's calm expression faded away slowly but steadily. He remained silent ever since, as he looked to the big snowflakes falling through the window. It was hard for him, he felt worried for Amidamaru, he came here for help, and now he felt worried for the whole family...
"You don't have to worry."Said Anna, as it turned dark, and they had to stay for the night. "You're not alone in this." She smiled and held the folded yukata closer to her chest. It sure was a cold night. Still, Yoh felt the sweat drops rolling on his forehead.
"I just want to talk with him." He sighed, and hooked his backpack on his one shoulder. "Hao has Amidamaru, and I don't want things to get ugly. Better not risk him getting… upset." He headed towards the bedrooms. Anna followed slowly.
"He probably already is. After all, you are the reason he's a ghost now in the first place."
Yoh stopped, his back facing Anna.
"I dunno. I'd still have a try…" He didn't look back as he disappeared behind the door.
Anna stood there for a minute. She raised her hand to grab the handle, but stopped herself halfway. She huffed, and swished in her own room.