H o s h i - g a - H o s h i i - d e s u

"I want the stars"

by Lucathia

chapter 17: on the way

Yoh led Tsuki towards his cozy residence turned inn. The two dark silhouettes simultaneously moved towards the building beneath the night sky. Yoh kept sneaking glances at Tsuki along the way because the younger boy was full of surprises.

The boy next to him was called Asakura Tsuki. That itself was surprising because Yoh didn't know any other Asakuras other than his grandparents, his parents, and his long deceased ancestor who defeated Hao 500 years ago. And Hao was, of course, an Asakura. So counting himself, Yoh knew seven Asakuras. That wasn't a very big number considering how many people there were in the world. Yoh had to wonder where all his other relatives went.

Yoh felt that the younger boy whom he was leading towards the inn right now had an extremely high possibility of being a relative of his. Yoh warmed up at that thought. Ever since he defeated Hao, Yoh had this weird, twisted feeling inside. He didn't know what that foreign feeling was because he had never felt that way before. It wasn't like the empty feeling that he felt before he met Hao. Yoh always had that empty feeling inside of him—he just didn't notice it until Hao appeared. After all, he and Hao were twins. More precisely, Yoh was a part of Hao. Hao's appearance reminded Yoh that he wasn't complete.

The twisted feeling he felt now...that was different from the empty feeling from before. Meeting Tsuki, however, calmed his twisted feeling.

Yoh didn't know if it was because he was glad that there were other Asakuras in the world, the idea that he might have relatives that he didn't know about. Yoh was far from alone since he was always surrounded by his loyal friends, his trustworthy spirit, and his demanding fiancée, but he thought it'd feel nice to have more familial ties, more people who shared the same blood as him.

Another asset about meeting Tsuki was Tsuki's mention of a "Hoshi-niichan." Tsuki had mistaken him for Hoshi...meaning that he and Hoshi looked a lot like each other. Yoh's heart began pounding faster. It either meant that Tsuki was most likely his relative, since his older brother looked so much like him, or it meant that "Hoshi-niichan" was somehow Yoh's own older brother.

Hao.

Yoh shook his head at that thought. Hao wasn't dead...that much he could tell because he didn't feel empty inside. But to think that Hao might have found his way back to an Asakura family was somewhat bizarre. Besides, if Tsuki really were part of Yoh's family, Tsuki would most likely not accept Hao. No one in the present Asakura family accepted Hao. They had all sworn to seal Hao away.

When Yoh finally saw Funbari Onsens in the distance, he smiled at the warm lights peeking out from the inn's windows. Tsuki tugged on Yoh's shirt.

"Yoh-san."

Yoh glanced at Tsuki. "Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

Yoh smiled and faced towards Funbari Onsens. "Don't worry. Your kaachan will be able to find you."

"Really?"

Yoh nodded. "Everything will be fine. Nantoka naru."

Manta was stunned into silence. The boy in front of him didn't remember who he was. And now he was asking Manta to tell him. Manta wasn't sure if Hoshi's words about "not remembering" could be trusted.

Meanwhile, Hoshi was calmly staring back at Manta. Manta blinked and decided to clear up his own confusion.

"What do you mean by not remembering?" asked Manta doubtfully.

Hoshi shrugged. "I guess I have to explain it to you since I'm asking you for help."

Manta nodded in agreement.

Hoshi continued. "Well, I don't remember anything. I woke up under the night sky...and my mind was blank. I didn't remember where I came from, why I was where I was, how I got there, what I was doing there, and most importantly, I didn't remember who I was."

Manta's eyes grew wider with each of Hoshi's words. "Then how did you come by with the name 'Asakura Hoshi'?"

Hoshi glanced up at the tiny lights in the night sky. "The stars were the first things I saw when I woke up. I felt a sort of affinity with them...so I told the family that found me that my name was Hoshi."

"The family that found you?"

Hoshi nodded. "I took on their name."

Manta blinked. "Wait...that means that the family that found you is the Asakura family? Yoh's family?"

"Yes...the very same...I was shocked when I found out their name...I almost couldn't believe it." Hoshi turned back towards the water.

Manta pressed on with his questions. "Why were you shocked? I thought you didn't remember anything."

Hoshi shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't remember anything, but I met a boy at the graveyard who called me Asakura Hao. Anyway, enough with the questions."

"But I'm not done yet!" sputtered Manta.

Hoshi looked up exasperatedly. "I feel like I'm a suspect under interrogation. One more question then."

"Who did you meet at the graveyard?"

"A boy who called himself Tao Ren," answered Hoshi.

"You mean you've met Ren already?" Manta didn't even know that Ren was in Tokyo. When had he come anyway? The last time Manta heard of Ren, Ren was still in China.

Hoshi glanced back at Manta. "I thought I said only one more question."

Manta dropped silent, but his curiosity still wasn't satisfied. He had several more questions that he wanted to ask. Right now, all he got out of Hoshi was that Hoshi didn't remember who he was, that the family that had found Hoshi was the Asakura family, and that Hoshi had met Ren in the graveyard. Only the bare facts.

Hoshi was giving Manta a determined stare. "So are you going to answer my question after you asked me so many?"

"About your identity?"

Hoshi rolled his eyes. "What else?"

Manta gulped. "Well, I think you are Asakura Hao."

"You think?"

Manta nodded. "I'm not sure because you don't act like the Hao in my memory. And you're not wearing your old clothes."

"My old clothes...I can show you them. Will you be sure about my identity after that?"

Manta nodded again.

"Okay then...why don't you come to my house?" asked Hoshi.

Manta's eyes widened. "You mean you live in a HOUSE?" Manta always thought that Hao slept somewhere outside, like in the graveyard, or in the park, or SOMEWHERE outside other than in a house. But then, since a family found Hoshi, it made sense that Hoshi lived in a house.

Hoshi sweatdropped. "Of course...where else would I live?"

to be continued

A/N: No cliffie this time. :) And not a very suspenseful chapter. This chapter was a bit longer, but I cut some stuff out and moved it to the next chapter. Which will be titled "Found." That means half of the next chapter is written already! Rejoice!

The 333 reviewer will get to request a side chapter! (Meaning a chapter that will not affect the plot much...there are quite a few restrictions, but I'll figure them out with whoever the 333 reviewer is...if there is a 333 reviewer that is )

translations
nantoka naru – Yoh's famous line...everything will be fine if you let them run their course. I'm not sure how this is worded officially in the English version.

next chapter: found

please review!