Chapter 4: Meet the Parents
"Reeeeeeeeeen, get the phone!" Jun called from the bathroom.
"Why should I?" Demanded Ren.
"Because I'm in the shower!" Yelled Jun not effected by her brother's rudeness. Damn, he couldn't argue against that.
"While you're at it, could you drop by the kitchen and give me my wallet? I think I left it there by accident." The phone rung.
"Why the hell do you need your wallet while you are in the shower!?" The phone rang yet again.
"Ren, the phone!!!" Jun called. 'Why me?' Ren asked himself as he picked up the phone and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"
"Ren, this is Lyserg Diethyl."
"Oh."
"Erm... did Jeanne call you?" Asked the dowser uncertainly.
"Yes she did." Said Ren changing his tone of voice. "In the middle of the night!" Lyserg was a little taken aback, by that statement, but didn't say anything. "So you want to talk to me about that wizards' school?"
"Yes. Are you going?"
"Maybe..."
"Ok. Because we are going to come pick you up in a few hours."
"Fine. I'll tell you my answer when you get here. Yoh has my address." Ren hung up, and saw Jun walk into the kitchen with her hair still dripping.
"What was that about?"
"Everyone seems to believe those stupid letters." Said Ren.
"Well I think we should go." Said Jun.
"Give me a good reason that it isn't a really bad joke."
"Because... If this were serious, they wouldn't have wasted all this paper. And besides, Yoh and the others seem to believe them."
"You've been eavesdropping on my phone calls!" Said Ren accusingly.
"No I haven't! Iron Maiden Jeanne left a voice message. It seems that Horo- horo and Chocolove are coming too."
"Joy!" Said Ren with sarcasm. "And also, even if is the truth, I highly doubt that father is going to let us go. He hates me."
"He hates you, but I doubt he can say no to me." Said Jun mischievously. There was a pause.
"Oh, riiiiiiiiight."
"I'll call him when your friends arrive."
"Fine by me."
"And... we'll wait for them outside."
"What's the point?"
"It's nice."
"Fine..." 'Why do I even listen to her???' Thought Ren.
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(Anna's POV)
I let Yoh sleep in today. He seemed pretty tired so I decided us to leave two hours later. Lyserg just called Ren and I was making use of my new servants. Tamao was pouring me a glass of water, and Hao was training his psychic abilities. At the same time, he was making breakfast. Unfortunately, the shrimp known as Manta was having trouble adjusting to seeing plates and pans moving and flying around without anyone holding them. If I say so myself, it would be much more convenient if Yoh could cook breakfast by sitting on a chair, and levitating cooking utensils with his mind. The only bad thing was that if Yoh did it, he wouldn't 'accidentally' knock Manta on the head with Tupperware. Speaking of Yoh, it was now 8:00. Time to wake him up.
"Oi, shrimp,"
"Yes, Anna?"
"Wake Yoh up."
"Erm alright..." Manta ran off slamming the door behind him. A few moments later, Manta came downstairs with Yoh.
"Gooooooooood Morning everyone!" Yoh greeted cheerfully. I nodded to him. Then Yoh stopped. "Anna cooked???" I rolled my eyes.
(End POV)
"No... I did." Yoh spun around.
"You can cook, Hao?" Yoh asked amazed.
"I find the human method of cooking slow and inefficient. I use telekinesis to cook food." Hao raised his hand causing six plates of food to drop onto the table.
"Whoa... cool! Teach me how to do that!!!"
"Maybe later."
"Wow, Hao this is good!" Said Yoh.
"Well, it's better than leftovers and burnt toast, Yoh."
"I swear, Anna I didn't know the setting were that high!" Protested Yoh.
"Whatever."
"Um... when are we going?" Asked Lyserg, who was silent for the whole morning until then.
"In ten minutes." Said Anna abruptly. "I want you all down here by 8:40- sharp. Hao get the spirit of fire ready."
"Spirit of fire?" Keiko and Mikihisa Asakura appeared at the doorway. "HAO???!!! Yoh get over here!"
"Hello Dad..." Said Yoh not moving an inch.
"Great. Now I have to gain Mommy and Daddy's trust." Muttered Hao. "Why do I even bother?"
"Yoh, stand back!" Called their father summoning his spirit.
"Dad, you can trust him!"
"No we can't! Don't you realize how many people he's killed? And why is he alive anyway? He's supposed to be dead!"
"He's my other half!" Yoh stood in front of his brother.
"Nonsense. Yoh, I'm going to ask you one last time to get over here!"
"No."
"What?!"
"No."
"Why you-"
"Can't we just talk about this, honey?" Asked Keiko. Mikihisa sighed.
"Alright. You come on." Yoh grudgingly followed his parents into a room. "Anna-keep him umm... busy."
"Of course." Anna waited the three Asakuras to exit, then rounded on Hao for ideas.
"Ok, genius, what now?"
"I have no power over Keiko and Mikihisa's decisions. Only Yoh'll be able to make them trust me." Said Hao.
"It's a shame everyone is trying to kill you." Said Lyserg crossing his arms. "If Yoh's parents didn't happen to walk into this house today, we would have been in China already."
"True."
(In the room)
"Yoh dear, can you tell me what is going on?" Asked Keiko intently.
"It's nothing."
"No, really."
"It's nothing!" Said Yoh a little louder than he wanted to.
"You are lucky that Yohmei told me about this. You going to Howarts alone with your brother? That's like committing suicide! Hao has killed thousands of innocent people yet you still trust him?" Said Mikihisa angrily.
"My friends will be their too, and yes, I do trust Hao."
"Friends won't help you now! You were lucky to defeat Hao once!" He said shaking his head. "I just can't believe you are going to forgive him for all he has done!"
"Well my friends and I do!"
"Yoh, I'm only going to say this once. You are not going to Hogwarts with Hao, and that is final!" Yoh started glaring up at his parents.
"But-"
"It's for your own good."
"Yeah, but it's not like you'll understand!" Yoh's parents were taken aback by this, and Keiko looked very guilty. "You two are never home anyway, so how would you?"
"Yoh, I-" Mikihisa put his hand on his shoulder.
"You what?" Yoh was very uncharacteristically angry now. "You know what, I don't care anymore. Ok? Because both of you ignored me ever since I was born. And you two dumped me in a house-alone in Tokyo thinking that it would be alright, it was lonely. The only person in this house besides me was Anna, yet you still never gave a damn about me!" Yoh pulled himself from his father's grip and ran upstairs to his room slamming his door behind him. His parents were left in the room speechless. Until Hao came in with an equally angry Anna.
"Nice going, Asakura. You make Yoh cry." His parent's said nothing. "And since you didn't know, it is a very bad sign when Yoh cries. You don't know do you? Honestly, you should pay more attention to your kids, Asakura. He's in his room." Hao indicated to the stairs. Again, his parents said nothing and walked up the stairs calling Yoh's name.
(Somewhere in Hokkaido...)
"Horo-horo, that was your 11th coffee!" Said Pillika to her brother.
"Yeah I know, I feel great!!!!!!!! " Said Horo-horo. Pillika sighed.
"Oh well... Big-brother, watch out! You're suffocating Kororro!" Pillika cried.
"Oh whoops!" Horo-horo let go of his little spirit who flew out of his arms and into the safety of Pillika's arms.
"Kurru!"
(Back to Funbari Inn...)
Everybody was silent as they waited for Yoh to come back down.
"What's going on?"
"Yoh is in his room..."
"No, I mean what is he 'thinking'." Said Lyserg. "I've thought that you and Anna can read minds."
"Fine fine..." Hao closed his eyes and felt his brother's emotions. For the first time in many years, he felt the other half of them. "He is feeling guilty for shouting at his parents..."
"He shouted at his parents???" Said Manta incredulously. "That's new."
"Good thing is that he's stopped crying." Said Anna.
"I hope he's alright." Said Tamao quietly.
"Yeah."
(Yoh's room)
Yoh sat cross legged on the floor talking to Amidamaru. He didn't mean to shout at his parents, but there was defiantly something keeping them apart. Did they feel ashamed that they tried to kill him when he was born because they couldn't tell which one Hao was? Then there was a knock on the door. Yoh picked up his memorial tablet and walked over to the door not bothering to put on a fake smile. He looked at his parents' worried faces.
"I'm sorry." They said at the same time.
(Half an hour later)
After a long discussion with 'the parents' Yoh finally convinced Mikihisa to let them all go. (With the help of Anna!) It turned out that Yoh had put up with a lot of stress after the Shaman Fight, and he was pushed to his limit that day. After that was over, Yoh felt more happy than usual, and didn't complain when Anna made him do 100 push-ups before going for her help. After he finished, him, Anna and Tamao said their goodbyes and boarded the Spirit of Fire. Hao gave it directions, while Lyserg looked at his map. Anna didn't say a word throughout. Tamao was sitting with Anna.
"Ok... in this speed rate of... 100 MPS (Mile per second) we should be in China in one minute."
"Great!" Said Yoh grinning happily."
"You know Yoh. You should really express yourself more often. It's unhealthy and it leads to outbursts like what happened today. Furthermore, it'll also make my life a lot easier without your negative emotions." Said Hao.
"Sorry." Said Yoh.
"Manta, If you're about to vomit, do it over the Spirit of Fire. Not on it." Said Hao eyeing the short kid without any concern whatsoever. Manta nodded and ran over to the edge. Yoh turned his head knowing what was coming next.
"We're here!" Shouted Lyserg. "Let's land now!"
"Sure. Where do you want to land?"
"Um... Ren's house?" Suggested Yoh.
"Whatever."
They landed at a huge mansion with lots of deco and art. They saw Ren and Jun outside waiting for them.
"Hao, um... hide the spirit of fire and don't come out until I tell you to." Whispered Yoh to his brother. "I want to gain their trust first. If you come out immediately, Ren is most likely going to kill you."
"TRY to kill me." Corrected Hao.
"Just stay out of sight."
"Very well." Yoh, Lyserg, Manta, Tamao and jumped off, ran over to greet Ren as Hao and the spirit of fire disappeared out of sight.
"Hey Ren!" Ren nodded.
"Hello." Said Jun.
"Took you long enough." Said Ren with a scowl.
"Sorry." Said Yoh. "There's something I need to talk to you about before we leave."
"Go on."
"Well, Hao is alive an-"Jun gasped.
"He's what?" Shouted Ren. "When I find him, I'm gon-"
"It's ok; he isn't going to kill us!" Said Yoh. "We can trust him. He's going to Hogwarts to help us kill this evil guy called Voldemort." Yoh's friends nodded slowly. Ren glared at Yoh for a minute, then he finally approved.
"Fine." Said Ren. "But if anything happens, It'll be your own fault."
"Deal. Now lets go to Hogwarts!" Hao jumped down from a tree next to Yoh. He nodded to Ren not expecting a reply. Ren nodded back. Then Ren turned to Yoh.
"I have to ask my father first-Jun do the honors."
You've got it." Jun opened her cell phone and dialed En Tao's number.
"Hi this is Jun." She said.
"Oh, what can I do for you?"
"Ren and I want to learn at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Of course, if it's okay with you."
"I don't think that is really necessary-"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesse Daddy! I looooooooove you!" Jun said while crossing her fingers as everyone else tried to suppress their laughter.
"Aww. Ok."
"Yeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!!!" Cheered Jun as she hung up without even saying goodbye. "We're going." Ren and Jun got their stuff ready. Ghosts, weapons, clothes and cosmetics-in Jun's case. When everybody was ready Yoh pulled Ren over to the rest of the group.
"Ok, let's go meet Horo-horo!"
"The popsicle is coming?" Said Ren disapprovingly. "Well that's just great. He's probably hyper."
"All the more reason to pick him up now!" Said Yoh. "Let's go!"
"Spirit of Fire!" Hao called. His spirit raised high above him and picked everybody up on to its back.
"That's our transport?" Said Ren raising his eyebrow.
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
"No..." said Manta the spirit of fire flew into the air. "Gonna vomit..."
"Reeeeeeeeeen, get the phone!" Jun called from the bathroom.
"Why should I?" Demanded Ren.
"Because I'm in the shower!" Yelled Jun not effected by her brother's rudeness. Damn, he couldn't argue against that.
"While you're at it, could you drop by the kitchen and give me my wallet? I think I left it there by accident." The phone rung.
"Why the hell do you need your wallet while you are in the shower!?" The phone rang yet again.
"Ren, the phone!!!" Jun called. 'Why me?' Ren asked himself as he picked up the phone and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"
"Ren, this is Lyserg Diethyl."
"Oh."
"Erm... did Jeanne call you?" Asked the dowser uncertainly.
"Yes she did." Said Ren changing his tone of voice. "In the middle of the night!" Lyserg was a little taken aback, by that statement, but didn't say anything. "So you want to talk to me about that wizards' school?"
"Yes. Are you going?"
"Maybe..."
"Ok. Because we are going to come pick you up in a few hours."
"Fine. I'll tell you my answer when you get here. Yoh has my address." Ren hung up, and saw Jun walk into the kitchen with her hair still dripping.
"What was that about?"
"Everyone seems to believe those stupid letters." Said Ren.
"Well I think we should go." Said Jun.
"Give me a good reason that it isn't a really bad joke."
"Because... If this were serious, they wouldn't have wasted all this paper. And besides, Yoh and the others seem to believe them."
"You've been eavesdropping on my phone calls!" Said Ren accusingly.
"No I haven't! Iron Maiden Jeanne left a voice message. It seems that Horo- horo and Chocolove are coming too."
"Joy!" Said Ren with sarcasm. "And also, even if is the truth, I highly doubt that father is going to let us go. He hates me."
"He hates you, but I doubt he can say no to me." Said Jun mischievously. There was a pause.
"Oh, riiiiiiiiight."
"I'll call him when your friends arrive."
"Fine by me."
"And... we'll wait for them outside."
"What's the point?"
"It's nice."
"Fine..." 'Why do I even listen to her???' Thought Ren.
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(Anna's POV)
I let Yoh sleep in today. He seemed pretty tired so I decided us to leave two hours later. Lyserg just called Ren and I was making use of my new servants. Tamao was pouring me a glass of water, and Hao was training his psychic abilities. At the same time, he was making breakfast. Unfortunately, the shrimp known as Manta was having trouble adjusting to seeing plates and pans moving and flying around without anyone holding them. If I say so myself, it would be much more convenient if Yoh could cook breakfast by sitting on a chair, and levitating cooking utensils with his mind. The only bad thing was that if Yoh did it, he wouldn't 'accidentally' knock Manta on the head with Tupperware. Speaking of Yoh, it was now 8:00. Time to wake him up.
"Oi, shrimp,"
"Yes, Anna?"
"Wake Yoh up."
"Erm alright..." Manta ran off slamming the door behind him. A few moments later, Manta came downstairs with Yoh.
"Gooooooooood Morning everyone!" Yoh greeted cheerfully. I nodded to him. Then Yoh stopped. "Anna cooked???" I rolled my eyes.
(End POV)
"No... I did." Yoh spun around.
"You can cook, Hao?" Yoh asked amazed.
"I find the human method of cooking slow and inefficient. I use telekinesis to cook food." Hao raised his hand causing six plates of food to drop onto the table.
"Whoa... cool! Teach me how to do that!!!"
"Maybe later."
"Wow, Hao this is good!" Said Yoh.
"Well, it's better than leftovers and burnt toast, Yoh."
"I swear, Anna I didn't know the setting were that high!" Protested Yoh.
"Whatever."
"Um... when are we going?" Asked Lyserg, who was silent for the whole morning until then.
"In ten minutes." Said Anna abruptly. "I want you all down here by 8:40- sharp. Hao get the spirit of fire ready."
"Spirit of fire?" Keiko and Mikihisa Asakura appeared at the doorway. "HAO???!!! Yoh get over here!"
"Hello Dad..." Said Yoh not moving an inch.
"Great. Now I have to gain Mommy and Daddy's trust." Muttered Hao. "Why do I even bother?"
"Yoh, stand back!" Called their father summoning his spirit.
"Dad, you can trust him!"
"No we can't! Don't you realize how many people he's killed? And why is he alive anyway? He's supposed to be dead!"
"He's my other half!" Yoh stood in front of his brother.
"Nonsense. Yoh, I'm going to ask you one last time to get over here!"
"No."
"What?!"
"No."
"Why you-"
"Can't we just talk about this, honey?" Asked Keiko. Mikihisa sighed.
"Alright. You come on." Yoh grudgingly followed his parents into a room. "Anna-keep him umm... busy."
"Of course." Anna waited the three Asakuras to exit, then rounded on Hao for ideas.
"Ok, genius, what now?"
"I have no power over Keiko and Mikihisa's decisions. Only Yoh'll be able to make them trust me." Said Hao.
"It's a shame everyone is trying to kill you." Said Lyserg crossing his arms. "If Yoh's parents didn't happen to walk into this house today, we would have been in China already."
"True."
(In the room)
"Yoh dear, can you tell me what is going on?" Asked Keiko intently.
"It's nothing."
"No, really."
"It's nothing!" Said Yoh a little louder than he wanted to.
"You are lucky that Yohmei told me about this. You going to Howarts alone with your brother? That's like committing suicide! Hao has killed thousands of innocent people yet you still trust him?" Said Mikihisa angrily.
"My friends will be their too, and yes, I do trust Hao."
"Friends won't help you now! You were lucky to defeat Hao once!" He said shaking his head. "I just can't believe you are going to forgive him for all he has done!"
"Well my friends and I do!"
"Yoh, I'm only going to say this once. You are not going to Hogwarts with Hao, and that is final!" Yoh started glaring up at his parents.
"But-"
"It's for your own good."
"Yeah, but it's not like you'll understand!" Yoh's parents were taken aback by this, and Keiko looked very guilty. "You two are never home anyway, so how would you?"
"Yoh, I-" Mikihisa put his hand on his shoulder.
"You what?" Yoh was very uncharacteristically angry now. "You know what, I don't care anymore. Ok? Because both of you ignored me ever since I was born. And you two dumped me in a house-alone in Tokyo thinking that it would be alright, it was lonely. The only person in this house besides me was Anna, yet you still never gave a damn about me!" Yoh pulled himself from his father's grip and ran upstairs to his room slamming his door behind him. His parents were left in the room speechless. Until Hao came in with an equally angry Anna.
"Nice going, Asakura. You make Yoh cry." His parent's said nothing. "And since you didn't know, it is a very bad sign when Yoh cries. You don't know do you? Honestly, you should pay more attention to your kids, Asakura. He's in his room." Hao indicated to the stairs. Again, his parents said nothing and walked up the stairs calling Yoh's name.
(Somewhere in Hokkaido...)
"Horo-horo, that was your 11th coffee!" Said Pillika to her brother.
"Yeah I know, I feel great!!!!!!!! " Said Horo-horo. Pillika sighed.
"Oh well... Big-brother, watch out! You're suffocating Kororro!" Pillika cried.
"Oh whoops!" Horo-horo let go of his little spirit who flew out of his arms and into the safety of Pillika's arms.
"Kurru!"
(Back to Funbari Inn...)
Everybody was silent as they waited for Yoh to come back down.
"What's going on?"
"Yoh is in his room..."
"No, I mean what is he 'thinking'." Said Lyserg. "I've thought that you and Anna can read minds."
"Fine fine..." Hao closed his eyes and felt his brother's emotions. For the first time in many years, he felt the other half of them. "He is feeling guilty for shouting at his parents..."
"He shouted at his parents???" Said Manta incredulously. "That's new."
"Good thing is that he's stopped crying." Said Anna.
"I hope he's alright." Said Tamao quietly.
"Yeah."
(Yoh's room)
Yoh sat cross legged on the floor talking to Amidamaru. He didn't mean to shout at his parents, but there was defiantly something keeping them apart. Did they feel ashamed that they tried to kill him when he was born because they couldn't tell which one Hao was? Then there was a knock on the door. Yoh picked up his memorial tablet and walked over to the door not bothering to put on a fake smile. He looked at his parents' worried faces.
"I'm sorry." They said at the same time.
(Half an hour later)
After a long discussion with 'the parents' Yoh finally convinced Mikihisa to let them all go. (With the help of Anna!) It turned out that Yoh had put up with a lot of stress after the Shaman Fight, and he was pushed to his limit that day. After that was over, Yoh felt more happy than usual, and didn't complain when Anna made him do 100 push-ups before going for her help. After he finished, him, Anna and Tamao said their goodbyes and boarded the Spirit of Fire. Hao gave it directions, while Lyserg looked at his map. Anna didn't say a word throughout. Tamao was sitting with Anna.
"Ok... in this speed rate of... 100 MPS (Mile per second) we should be in China in one minute."
"Great!" Said Yoh grinning happily."
"You know Yoh. You should really express yourself more often. It's unhealthy and it leads to outbursts like what happened today. Furthermore, it'll also make my life a lot easier without your negative emotions." Said Hao.
"Sorry." Said Yoh.
"Manta, If you're about to vomit, do it over the Spirit of Fire. Not on it." Said Hao eyeing the short kid without any concern whatsoever. Manta nodded and ran over to the edge. Yoh turned his head knowing what was coming next.
"We're here!" Shouted Lyserg. "Let's land now!"
"Sure. Where do you want to land?"
"Um... Ren's house?" Suggested Yoh.
"Whatever."
They landed at a huge mansion with lots of deco and art. They saw Ren and Jun outside waiting for them.
"Hao, um... hide the spirit of fire and don't come out until I tell you to." Whispered Yoh to his brother. "I want to gain their trust first. If you come out immediately, Ren is most likely going to kill you."
"TRY to kill me." Corrected Hao.
"Just stay out of sight."
"Very well." Yoh, Lyserg, Manta, Tamao and jumped off, ran over to greet Ren as Hao and the spirit of fire disappeared out of sight.
"Hey Ren!" Ren nodded.
"Hello." Said Jun.
"Took you long enough." Said Ren with a scowl.
"Sorry." Said Yoh. "There's something I need to talk to you about before we leave."
"Go on."
"Well, Hao is alive an-"Jun gasped.
"He's what?" Shouted Ren. "When I find him, I'm gon-"
"It's ok; he isn't going to kill us!" Said Yoh. "We can trust him. He's going to Hogwarts to help us kill this evil guy called Voldemort." Yoh's friends nodded slowly. Ren glared at Yoh for a minute, then he finally approved.
"Fine." Said Ren. "But if anything happens, It'll be your own fault."
"Deal. Now lets go to Hogwarts!" Hao jumped down from a tree next to Yoh. He nodded to Ren not expecting a reply. Ren nodded back. Then Ren turned to Yoh.
"I have to ask my father first-Jun do the honors."
You've got it." Jun opened her cell phone and dialed En Tao's number.
"Hi this is Jun." She said.
"Oh, what can I do for you?"
"Ren and I want to learn at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Of course, if it's okay with you."
"I don't think that is really necessary-"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesse Daddy! I looooooooove you!" Jun said while crossing her fingers as everyone else tried to suppress their laughter.
"Aww. Ok."
"Yeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssss!!!" Cheered Jun as she hung up without even saying goodbye. "We're going." Ren and Jun got their stuff ready. Ghosts, weapons, clothes and cosmetics-in Jun's case. When everybody was ready Yoh pulled Ren over to the rest of the group.
"Ok, let's go meet Horo-horo!"
"The popsicle is coming?" Said Ren disapprovingly. "Well that's just great. He's probably hyper."
"All the more reason to pick him up now!" Said Yoh. "Let's go!"
"Spirit of Fire!" Hao called. His spirit raised high above him and picked everybody up on to its back.
"That's our transport?" Said Ren raising his eyebrow.
"Yeah, isn't it great?"
"No..." said Manta the spirit of fire flew into the air. "Gonna vomit..."